At the age of 21, Doug Cohen launched Flud Watches form his mom’s basement after dropping out of high school in New York. Known for his passion for music, but with a desire for fashion and apparel, Doug went the non traditional route of creating a line of watches instead of t shirts like many clothing entrepreneurs of his time. Leveraging his connections and a bit of hustle resulted in many musicians repping his brand which eventually resulted in partnerships with the likes of Disney and National Basketball Association. You can now find Flud Watches in major retailers offline and online.
Secret Entourage Academy
Secret Academy Episode – Sam Morris
After creating an app that got up to 3000 active users per day, Sam Morris got a scary email from Google telling him they were terminating his account for program violations. From that moment, Sam started to develop Everbadge, a mobile ad network that allowed advertisers to advertise across iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices. Sam understood the risk of entrepreneurship and quit his job to focus on Everbadge full time only when he was certain his family would not be in jeopardy. His gamble has paid off and Sam is on track to clear well over six figures per month in revenue.
Secret Academy Episode – Patrick Petitti
Although still a student at Harvard Business School, Patrick and a group of friends have tackled the challenge of being an entrepreneur by launching HourlyNerd. HourlyNerd is new startup that aims to connect top MBA students with local businesses for employment, consulting, or contract work. What’s more impressive is that Patrick got the attention of well known entrepreneur and celebrity Mark Cuban to invest $750,000 without appearing on Shark Tank. All it took was one simple well written email and Patrick is here today to talk about HourlyNerd and reality of meeting Mark Cuban and how $750,000 transformed his business.
Secret Academy Episode – Braydon Moreno
An idea that started from a napkin has now been brought to reality with the help of over 1200 people. Braydon Moreno is the co-founder of Robo 3D Printing, an affordable 3D printer that has secured over $650,000 in crowdfunding through Kickstarter.com. With the majority of most Kickstarter campaigns typically falling short of expectations, Braydon shares his advice on how he was able to reach that goal but more specifically the actionable steps he took to ensure he had an idea worth fighting for and the right way to gain exposure all the while keeping his backers happy and up to date on the latest. His awesome story is one to make you rethink the possibilities of seeking investors.
Secret Academy Episode – Los Silva
Author of the book “Local Marketing for Busy People,” international speaker, and considered one of the top LinkedIn Marketing & Transformation Trainers in the world, Los is currently leading the team at Startup Jungle, a digital marketplace for startup education businesses with marketing, sales and financial support to gain traction, scale and reach critical mass. Los has worked with start-ups, business executives and companies such as Red Bull, Splash Post, Schmooz.me, Heineken, Ethan Allen, Budweiser, House of Blues and Walt Disney World. business education, publishing agency that develops products sold globally and used in colleges and universities nationally such as Baylor, MIT, Wake Forest and more. With this venture, he consistently helps clients as a successful entrepreneur to build businesses and create sustainable value propositions for their brands. Los has been recognized and featured in the Business Journal, Under 30 CEOs, Mixery, App Sumo and more.
Secret Academy Episode – Mikkel Pitzner
Mikkel Pitzner has been a friend of Secret Entourage for quite sometime now. It was back in 2009 that we found him running the Gumball Rally with his Ferrari 599. At that point and all the way until 2013, we actually never had any idea what Mikkel really did for a living, other than he invested in businesses and had a solid mindset in business and entrepreneurship. Today he shares with us in his first and ONLY interview on his upbringing and the lucrative businesses that led him to fortune then ruins and now back to the top.
Secret Academy Episode – Amish Shah
My name is Amish Shah. I’m an Inc. 500 Entrepreneur. An adventurer. A ‘Reality Hacker’. And a loving family man with a dream. I grew up in a broke family in New Jersey, selling newspapers and candy to get by. As a teenager, I was passionate about entrepreneurship, and making money online. But one thing led to another… I drifted down some murky streams… and ended up narrowly escaping jail time for illegal hacking. It was around this turbulent period I found a new hobby: I became curious about the ‘unseen’ forces that quietly define our reality. From metaphysical science to quantum mechanics to planetary frequencies, sacred geometry and even lucid dreaming. And when I merged my two interests into one unified perspective… well that’s when things got a little crazy.