Having launched two web startups by age 18, Shaun Newsum is no stranger to entrepreneurship. His most recent startup is AudioShot, a music sharing app. Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media, talks to Shaun about music, entrepreneurship and AudioShot.
Erik Huberman: What made you want to become an entrepreneur?
Shaun Newsum: When I was in 8th grade, there was a competition in my school where we teamed up and made stock investments and whoever made the most money won. That sparked my interest in all things finance, capital, investment. All of that was the prequel to my becoming an entrepreneur.
EH: Tell me about AudioShot.
SN: AudioShot is a new, easy way to share music. We set out to build a way to share music on any device, across any messaging app. The two top activities that people do on their mobile phone are message and listen to music. There was no easy way to merge the two of them, so that's why we created AudioShot. Our goal is to make that as easy as possible and create a new way for people to connect.
EH: How are you changing the world?
SN: Everyone loves music, and we want people to share what they're feeling. Music is such a fleeting thing, that we wanted to make it take only five seconds to share a song. It's all about capturing the moment, in the moment.
EH: Why Santa Monica?
SN: For me personally, I used to work at Vevo in NYC and they had an L.A. office. My fiancee came to UCLA for her doctorate, so we moved from New York to L.A. and moved to Santa Monica. There's just so much going on here, and in walking distance. I think when you're starting out it's important to have easy access to a lot of different types of people.
EH: Do you have one piece of advice for an entrepreneur starting their own business?
SN: This is one of the mistakes I made earlier one, trying to do everything yourself. Getting an idea off the ground takes a lot of work, no matter how much funding you have. Always be willing to work with an expert or a consultant. Lean on the people that have expertise to help guide you.
EH: Is there anything you'd like to share with the Santa Monica community?
SN: I love the fact that there's going to be a Metro train in Santa Monica now. I'm looking forward to going Downtown for happy hour.
