This episode of Mic Drop dives into the unique blend of hip hop and keynote speaking with Raj Nathan, the Startup Hypeman. Raj shares his journey from a young rapper struggling with basic rhymes to a sought-after keynote speaker and pitch consultant for startups. He discusses the power of storytelling, the impact of authentic expression through hip hop, and the strategic construction of pitches that resonate deeply with audiences. The episode also offers a glimpse into the organization of Hype Week, providing valuable insights into creating and marketing successful events. Raj's approach to communication, deeply influenced by his musical background, presents a refreshing perspective on connecting with audiences and delivering messages that stick.
Raj Nathan, known as the Startup Hypeman, is a multifaceted entrepreneur, blending his passion for hip hop with expertise in startup pitch consulting. His dynamic approach to storytelling and audience engagement has made him a notable figure in the entrepreneurial and keynote speaking worlds. Raj's innovative pitch framework, Que PASA, has guided numerous startups to success, emphasizing the importance of empathy and clarity in communication. As the organizer of Hype Week, Raj showcases his ability to energize and unite the startup community through carefully curated events. His unique journey from rapping about simple rhymes to empowering startups with compelling narratives exemplifies the transformative power of integrating diverse talents.
Embracing Hip Hop for Authentic Expression: Raj discusses his passion for hip hop and how it has shaped his approach to storytelling and keynote speaking. He emphasizes the art form's ability to engage audiences through rhythm, rhyme, and raw emotion, sharing how integrating rap into his presentations energizes and connects with listeners on a profound level.
The Que PASA Framework for Pitch Perfection: Nathan introduces the Que PASA (Problem, Approach, Solution, Action) model, a powerful tool for startups to create compelling pitches. By leading with empathy and addressing real-world problems, Raj highlights how this framework helps startups stand out and make a lasting impression.
Organizing Hype Week: Insights into Event Planning: Raj shares the behind-the-scenes of Hype Week, a series of events celebrating the startup ecosystem. He discusses the importance of early planning, securing sponsors, and creating a buzz to ensure the event's success. Raj's experience offers valuable lessons for speakers looking to organize their own paid events.
A Live Performance: Raj's Rap Artistry: In a display of his musical talent, Raj delivers a freestyle rap, showcasing his improvisational skills and the powerful blend of hip hop and storytelling. This performance underlines the episode's theme: the transformative power of combining diverse talents to create unique, impactful experiences.
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ABOUT MIC DROP:
Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter its starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.
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ABOUT THE HOST:
Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.
On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (moo-DEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. Josh has been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world. His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh
is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com
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In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits.
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Raj Nathan:
The first run I had at Writing Raps, I don't think I could get past rhyming cat with hat.
Josh:
Hey friends, Josh Linkner here. Delighted to bring you season three of Mic Drop, the number one podcast for professional speakers and thought leaders. On the show, we connect with experts at the top of the field. Unpacking their success to help each of us grow and thrive. From elevating your artistry to booking more gigs, Mic Drop is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to reach the next level. Together we'll accelerate the path to growth, success, and most importantly, impact.
Speaker 3:
The best keynotes start movements and incite change. When you couple an electrifying speech with a project that fuels audience engagement, the result is lightning in a bottle. What I'm talking about here is a book. That's where our friends at Amplify Publishing Group come in. With 20 plus years of experience and hounded by some of the industry's most renowned veterans, including bestselling author and global superstar, Mel Robbins, the team at Amplify knows not only how to produce a fantastic book, but how to leverage that book and make it work for you, your brand and your business. Amplify not only knows books, they know the world of keynote speaking and thought leadership. Having published CEOs and executives, they take positioning into consideration at every step of the way. Whether you have a one line concept or a comprehensive outline, Amplify is ready to work with you. Visit Amplifypublishing.com/micdrop to schedule an exploratory call and receive an exclusive editorial one pager tailored to your concept. That's Amplifypublishing.com/micdrop.
Josh:
Today's show bounces from hip hop to keynote speaking to poetic insight with a guest who's as unpredictable as he is talented. Meet Raj Nathan, the human dynamo who raps as smoothly as he flows into a yoga pose. He's not just a voice, he's an entire concert of ideas. A blogger who pens thoughts as deftly as he crafts rhymes. A podcaster who speaks to your soul. As a keynote speaker, Raj turns every stage into a storytelling canvas, painting vivid images of success and innovation. Dubbed the Startup Hypeman, he's the maestro of messaging in the entrepreneurial orchestra, striking a unique chord in the world of business and creativity.
Today on Mic Drop, we'll unravel Raj's journey, from a microphone loving youngster to a storytelling maestro. Get ready for some insights on transforming success, the rhythmic magic of hip hop, and the art of striking communication in the business world. Plus, we'll drive into his Que PASA pitch wizardry and the thrill of orchestrating what Raj calls Hype Week. Tune in to an episode that's all about vibes, verses, and visions of success with my inspired and eclectic guest. All right, Raj, welcome to Mic Drop.
Raj Nathan:
Thank you for having me, Josh. Super excited to be here.
Josh:
Yeah, me too. It's not every day that I get to hang out with somebody who is as diverse as you are, a rapper, yoga instructor, blog, podcaster, and of course, a keynote speaker. I'd love to hear sort of your backstory. I've gotten know you a little bit, but for those listening that are new to you, how did you go from where you started to where you are now with such a diverse set of stage experiences?
Raj Nathan:
How much time do you have? No, I think, so even when I was young, I don't think I was shying away from a stage, quote, unquote, whether it was just making my family laugh or something else. I started rapping when I was in late middle school or early high school. So the idea of being on a microphone has always just been something I've gravitated towards. As I got older, probably around my early mid-twenties is when I started to actually realize what drives me. The turning point was, I'm sure you're familiar with that Simon Sinek TED Talk, The Golden Circle and the Why, How, What Model. I actually saw that at, funny enough, at a Eprise Company kickoff event, which is the company that you started, that I happened to work at the first few years out of college.
When I saw that video, I was just blown away and it actually made me go through a personal exercise afterwards. It was a multi-month journey, but I started to really think through, what drives me, what is my why, my how, what's my what. What I landed on that has felt good ever since is that I think the reason I'm on this earth is to make it more expressive and to help others put their expression out into the world. Through the best way I can do that, the how, if you will, is through storytelling in its different forms. Once I landed on that, I was like, wait, how come every... This is weird because this is cool. Everything I've ever done that I really cared about has been through that lens. Even something you think, oh, that doesn't apply. The way I think about it, the way I approach it mentally goes through that lens.
So that's what's led to, I started out working in marketing and sales and stuff like that. Then my first business was around personal brand development for individuals. That led to creating Startup Hypeman, which is working with startups on their pitch and their go-to-market message. Then that quickly started to branch into the other stuff. As I started to have success in one arena, I felt more comfortable bringing more of my personality. That's where I had always been rapping, but I didn't necessarily feel comfortable in a conversation, telling people I'm a rapper or I used to say it but not feel confident in saying it. Be like, oh yeah, yeah, it's that thing that I do.
One success in one area I think breeds confidence and success in another. So now very happily, I will tell people all the time that, yeah, I'm a rapper and here's my album. You want to listen to it, stuff like that. Again, all of it comes back to at the end of the day, across working with startups, across hip hop, across yoga, across doing announcing and TV broadcasting for MMA. These are all different forms of expression or [inaudible 00:06:40] I should say. These are all different forms of storytelling ultimately in the name of expression.
Josh:
There's a number of different areas I'd love to drill in on with you. You certainly, you go-to market Hype Man experience and stuff. But as you were talking about rapping and freestyling and hip hop for a second, let me start there. What drew you to that art form specifically and how have you sort of developed your skillset and knowledge of that? Then the third part of my question is how do you apply that to other stage skills like keynote speaking? So give us a little preview into your world of rap and freestyle.
Raj Nathan:
I think I was drawn to hip hop early on just because I've just always liked words, even when I was in first grade, now that you're asking that, I'm thinking, I was the first grade... We didn't have a formal spelling bee, but I was the top speller in first grade. So I think I've always been fascinated with words and the way they're constructed. Hip hop is the one music form where you have so much creative licensing with how the words are going to come out, you can say a lot, and 90% of it doesn't have to individually be on beat, but in totality it will actually ultimately all be on beat. So I think just the fact that it's a lot of wordplay involved and the fact that it is, I think one of the purest forms of storytelling is probably why I was drawn to it.
I think I just saw a lot of different music artists really being passionate and about who they are and what their message was. So I think that probably is what drew me to that. It took a while to get the confidence to really do it myself. I'll tell you, the first time I was rapping, it was probably, it was awful. I want to say the first run I had at writing raps, I don't think I could get past rhyming cat with hat. Then you keep writing and you keep practicing and you figure out how to do polysyllabic rhymes, you figure out how to do analogies, wordplay, internal rhymes, alliteration, all those things that are what make a lyricist really strong.
Then as I started to hit more stages, it just felt natural to be like, well, why not take this talent that I have and infuse it into this, literally, this arena? So a lot of times what I'll do when I'm asked to keynote at a company event or a conference is I'll hit the stage, music's playing, and then I start rapping and then that literally gets people off their feet, they're bobbing their heads, they're clapping along and stuff, and we'll use that as a way to get the crowd really juiced up and energized. It's great.
From my viewpoint, I'm in my most authentic pure form of delivery. Then I get to look out to all these people who are vibing along with it as well, whether they've heard the song or not, doesn't really matter. They're like, what is happening? This is amazing. There's a guy rapping right in front of me right now. We'll use that as the kickoff and then that will segue into a keynote talk from there, which will have some tieback to why we did the music upfront. It's not just a random insert, it's like, hey, we were... Think about a message that was being delivered in that song and then we'll do a keynote talk on storytelling, messaging, pitching, whatever it might be. Even now, what's cool too is I'm more recently getting inquiries to just literally be like a 30-minute act at a conference of just performing music too. So it's nice that it can be used as part of a keynote talk. It also, it stands alone as its own just performance piece too.
Josh:
It's funny when you think about just your normal keynote telling or storytelling, you're expressing ideas from a stage, you add one layer on top of that, you might have spoken word poetry, so now you're adding much more precise language. It's less conversational, again, more precision, and you might add elements of rhyme or repetition. Then on top of that, you get into freestyling or rap where you're also adding rhythm and rhyme and you're really playing with timing, which is a little less so in [inaudible 00:10:52] poetry. So on the one hand, it's really an elevated art form. On the other hand, it's harder. I was curious, do you ever find it more restrictive because you're to a degree constrained, now you have to be in rhythm and rhyme and beat as opposed to just speaking, what are the pros and cons of expression, your key skill when you're having to comply with the rules and regulations so to speak, of rapping?
Raj Nathan:
It has to be the right venue. So I've done it enough times to where I've had, it's gone really well and to where I think the audience would probably say it went fine, but in my mind I'm like, ah, no, that did not go well. The times when it doesn't go well is if you don't have the right venue set up for it. So one example would be I did an event once where the speakers that were playing the music and playing the monitors and playing the microphone are just like a hotel ballroom, overhead built-in speakers that were never really built to play more than almost like hold music when you're waiting on a customer service line and they can do a microphone, but someone's speaking at a normal volume into a microphone, not someone who's bringing everything they have in their voice while also playing music at the same time.
So what happens is, again, I don't know if the audience knows it as much, but for me I'm like, this is really hard to do right now because I actually cannot hear my own music. So staying on beat is a lot harder and it has happened where I get offbeat and then in real time what I have to do is adjust the tempo of what I'm rapping or intentionally not rap a few bars to be able to get back on beat, which as I say it, that's actually probably a pretty difficult thing to do. I don't know if I've ever given it the credit for being difficult. It's just something you have to do in the moment. So you do it and you don't think about it. But I think that's the con is if it's the wrong venue setup and the wrong AV setup in particular.
Then I think the main pro of it is from an audience perspective, it's different. It's energizing and it gives people something to talk about. That's what I've found, time and again is it becomes the thing that gets talked about throughout the rest of that event or that conference or whatever it might be. It's the thing that makes people take their phone out and be like, oh my God, this is happening at a work event that I'm at. It's kind of like the virality you might get in a normal consumer setting where someone goes to a concert and they post on their Instagram like, oh, I was at this show last night, or they're posting the live stories. It's like that gets replicated on a smaller scale, but because of a work event. Then I think ultimately it just ends up reflecting back really positively on whoever was putting... Whatever company or institution was putting on the event because it's like this is the thing that got people talking, got people buzzing.
On my side, from the delivery aspect, coming back to your question of the pros or the con vs the pros, it allows me to, from a speaking performance standpoint, really capture the audience upfront and now they're really going to be bought into whatever I'm going to say after that that is more educational or informative. I think it helps break a barrier between stage and audience as well because I'll be like, depending on how the room is set up, I might jump off the stage and go in between people's rows of seats or I might be, just like you'd see someone at a concert, I might bend down and be slapping people's hands or high-fiving them while I'm rapping, that kind of stuff. So I think it helps take it from this one way thing into a co-creating opportunity in a really organic and authentic way.
Josh:
Super cool. I mean, most of us don't have the experience. Is there anything, just even a quick tip or two that you think that we speakers can learn from rap professionals? Not that we want to incorporate rap. I'm not suggesting that, I'm [inaudible 00:15:08], for example, sharp performing rap on stage, but are there elements of that craft or art that I could learn from and become a better speaker of as a result?
Raj Nathan:
Yeah. Well, and I will say upfront, most people should not go on stage and rap if it's not an inherent talent they have and they can't pull it off, it'll backfire. I think a couple of things we can learn from the hip hop world overall, and this is something that I say in a lot of my talks is, if you want to succeed in business, whether you're a startup, whether you're a sales org, whether you're whatever else, think like an entertainer. What I mean by that is the entertainer has one goal in mind and that is make an emotional connection with my audience and as a result, the entertainer, if you think about a band putting together their set list for a show, they will cut songs out of the set list if it's not going to help create the energy they want to create.
I think a lot of times as speakers, we can get into the audience, I should really talk about this because I know a lot about this and the audience should know about it, but if it conflicts with the overall energy or ultimate feeling you're trying to give to your audience, then it's worth tabling that extra piece of information. You don't have to say everything to be able to get it out or to be able to get the message across. Another thing I like to look at is, if you look at different artists and the different styles they have, different rappers and the styles they have, I think the ones who are really, really successful are the ones who can switch between styles within a single album. So here's an example, all respect in the world to the rapper, Twista, if you're familiar with him, he raps super fast.
He's got the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest rapping ever on a song, and he's great. I listened to a lot of Twista in my life and he's had a lot of success. But if you look at where Twista was never going to break through into the full mainstream, the way everyone... Not the way everyone else is, the way some others have is because every Twista song is a fast rapping song. So it's kind of like you can afford to miss a Twista song as a result because you know you're going to get that same thing on the nine other songs on the album or whatever it is.
Whereas if you can be someone like a Jay-Z or a NAS or a Missy Elliot, right? These are people who really, really break through because based on the song you don't necessarily, it's not a given the exact style you're getting. They can go fast, they can slow it down, they can be sing songy, they can be street. That ability to know your range if you will, and then work within those ranges across an individual talk or across a whole suite of talks that you might do, I think is a really valuable and important lesson on the speaking side because it makes it so... It makes everything that you do for the audience, a can't miss thing because it's never necessarily repetitive.
Speaker 3:
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Josh:
Such a great point, man, and about range, and of course that's across multiple dimensions. You're talking about with Twista it's speed, but there could be cadence, there could be tone, there could be intonation, there could be gesture, posture, like any of the artistic tools that we have as a keynote speaker to effectively tell a story and create emotional connection. So switching gears actually, probably more like building on that, you help startups create emotional connection and be persuasive in a different realm. You're not performing in front of a corporate audience, but they are to a degree helping to promote their companies, raising capital, enlisting the help of partners, rallying teams, et cetera. You're of course known as the Startup Hypeman. Why does the world need a hype man and what do you help startup leaders do by bringing the skills that you have in other dimensions to the world of startups?
Raj Nathan:
I think the world needs a hype man, and the startup world needs to improve on this because there are too many startups encountering what I call rush hour syndrome. Which if you remember the Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan movie Rush Hour, there's that scene where Chris Tucker goes, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? That's what I think is just happening to too many companies, particularly young companies is they've got the next big thing as far as they're concerned, and maybe they do and they should believe that, right? They shouldn't not believe that, but they've got it all in their head and then it makes sense in their head. But then when they talk about it, when they articulate, when they pitch it, the people look at them, their audience, whether it's on stage, in a competition or in a boardroom behind closed doors or in front of customers, the response is more like, huh, what do you do again?
Or I would argue even worse. The response is, oh, I get it. So you are another insert generic app software platform thing here, and I think when the stakes are this high for these young companies who want to make it and need to raise money or get customers quickly, you really can't afford to be seen as another anyone. You got to really stand on your own as the only you. So for that reason, if you focus and you dial in on what your message is, you have a much greater chance of success, whether it's to raise capital or get customers or anything in between. I think at the end of the day, every problem that exists in... This might be a bold statement, but I think every problem that exists in the world ultimately is a communication problem. Obviously that makes sense if it's like, oh, my customers don't understand what I do, I have a communication problem.
But also if your developer on your team is not doing their job the right way, is it that they're lazy or is it that they actually, you didn't communicate to them the right way, what your expectations were or in return they weren't listening the right way? Those are both sides of communication. So ultimately I think everything is a communication problem, and particularly as it comes to pitching, the more you can be... Can have something that is interesting and memorable and consistent across your different conversations, the more you are going to get a lot of the boons in your direction, if you will.
Josh:
So it's funny when you think about what you were just describing for startups, if you pulled out the word startup and inserted the word keynote speaker, the same issue applies, that we're not maybe as good at telling our own story. It's funny, like the shoemakers kids, we're good at communicating on stage, but maybe not good at communicating our value proposition or why we're different. So I think there's so many skills that can apply. You talk about helping startups create the perfect pitch. What are the elements of a perfect pitch? Also, maybe if you could frame that perfect pitch around how we as speakers can pitch ourselves to potential customers interested in hiring our services.
Raj Nathan:
So the base formula that I tell every... Whether they're working with us or not, the drum that I bang is this pitch formula I came up with a few years back and I call it the Que PASA elevator pitch formula. The idea behind this is, what is that upfront introduction you can give someone? There's plenty of people who are like, well, you got to have a one sentence introduction and that's it. Or you got to get it across in five seconds or 10 seconds or you've lost people. I would counter with that is true if what you're saying is poor, if what you're saying is uninteresting, then what I have found through this Que PASA model is you get about 60 seconds to talk to someone and give a clear introduction of your company, and the flow of information is the right way. They will hang on to your every word.
So in the Que PASA model, what it stands for is problem, approach, solution, action, problem, approach, solution, action. If you speak in that format, you are leading with context and frame of reference for why your offering should even exist. But most importantly, you're leading with empathy. You are showing you understand where the target audience is today, and you relate to that, you empathize with that, and for that reason you are doing something about it. So here's an example of a company we worked with a few years back. The company's called Fan Food.
So if you follow the Que PASA model, as a diehard sports fan, there's nothing more frustrating than going to your favorite team's game and missing the big play because you were stuck waiting in line for a hot dog and beer, Fan Food keeps you in the moment, use our mobile ordering app and get your concession food delivered directly to your seat so you never miss a big play again. Download Fan Food in the app store today. Now, that was a relatively shorter one in the Que PASA model. It was probably like 24, 25 seconds, but I'll ask you, Josh, at any point in that, were you like, when is this going to be over or were you curious to hear the next sentence?
Josh:
I was curious to hear the next sentence, and I loved how you started with the problem because you immediately captured our attention. Hey man, knowing that you're a good improvisational person, could you do an example of using the Que PASA model for a keynote speaker? Just make a fictational speaker. Maybe they speak on customer service or leadership or whatever, but help us see that through the lens of how a keynote speaker might use that model.
Raj Nathan:
Yeah, okay. I do want to make this very authentic and not contrived or anything, so give me, what is the speaker knowledgeable about and who's the conference or the type of event that that person is trying to speak at?
Josh:
Right. It's a person who specializes in customer service, elevating customer relationships, building [inaudible 00:26:40], that kind of thing, making better customer experiences. They're deep body of work. They've written books on the topic, they've spoken all over the world, and this is for a restaurant chain who's considering hiring them for their annual leadership conference.
Raj Nathan:
Yeah, okay, great. In the restaurant world, we tend to focus on what happens when the customer first walks through the door, and we want to make sure that they have a great experience from the host all the way to when the waiter speaks to them, and all of that is necessary, but it's just the start of the relationship and a real relationship is built when that customer decides they want to come back a second time and a third time. Most restaurants think the only way to do that is through discounts. The reality is the way to do that is through service, I'm so-and-so and I teach or let me think through, I'm so-and-so, I'm Kip Sal. I'm Kip Sal, and I know that the key to repeat customers is incredible service. When you have service, this, this, and this happens, and your customers not only come back, but they bring their friends the next time too.
Josh:
Yeah, it's really good because you're sharing the problem. You're talking about this little turn. Most people think blank, but the truth is blank. So you're demonstrating some uniqueness and thought leadership, and you're now characterizing what the world could look like afterwards. People keep coming back again and again. So I really love that. It was a really good example. Thanks for playing along with that. I had another question for you, just because you have such interesting experiences and skills, you host a paid event, Hype Week, and I know you've been doing that for a while, and it is very successful. A lot of speakers are considering or have considered hosting their own paid ticketed events. Instead of getting paid by Coca-Cola to go speak at their offsite, they host their own event and sell tickets and deliver their wisdom and insights to people who are paying to be there. Help us understand that model a little bit. What is Hype Week? How does it make money, and what advice or insights do you have for any speaker who's looking to perhaps produce and host their own paid event?
Raj Nathan:
Yeah, so this past year, 2023 was the inaugural Hype Week. It was a collection of different events designed to celebrate the startup community. It happened over five days. We did nine events in five days, some big, some small. The culmination of it was the concert release party for my new album, which was... We got the whole startup community together in Chicago, and we played a full concert, which was going through the songs on my album, and it was a ton of fun, and it was a party, and that's what it was meant to be. I think, and I'm going to share these lessons, not necessarily because I did all of them well, but because some of them I did well, but others I'm like, well, next time, this is what's important to make sure. It's important to understand, to really pull it off, you have to get sponsors.
If you take on all the cost yourself, it's nearly impossible. So getting sponsors is key, and the earlier you have the conversation, the better. Somehow, Hype Week was pulled off with seven weeks of advanced planning. It was the last week of September, and the second week of August was when we decided we were going to do it. What I learned was that, there were a good number of sponsors who were interested, but they were like, I wish you would've talked to us X months ago because we've already allocated our budget for the rest of the year. So if you're planning an event, you should be talking to potential sponsors six to eight months in advance, maybe even earlier than that. It really helps to have some base deck that you're going to put in front of them. It does not have to be a storytelling deck.
It just needs to be like, what is the event about or the series of events about? Whose the audience? What are your projected numbers for this? The thing is, you don't have to be accurate. You just have to give people an idea and then what are the ways you want sponsors to get involved? That's one element that I... We did the deck and everything. We were just a little bit late with the timing. So next time through, I know to go to sponsors way earlier, it's also important to think through, where do you want to make money off it? Is it ticket revenue or is it all sponsor revenue? That will help guide your journey. If it's ticket revenue, then what you kind of have to do is figure out a time-based structure. So you release tickets, and there's a great offer on the tickets because it's the pre-sale, if you will.
Think about how a concert is, right? There's the pre-sale first only for Amex cardholders, have your version of closed group presale that has the best rate or best access if it's not a pricing difference. Then you do public and then at either at one or two points throughout, you drop flash sales. So we did, I think 10 days before, we did a flash sale and it was like, use this code and it was 25 bucks off the ticket. The ticket price ranged from 50 to 70 dollars depending on when you bought it. Then this discount code, you could get it for almost half off, or maybe it was half off.
So drop your flash sales in to reignite people. Keep reminding people, and remember when you're selling tickets, if you're not Taylor Swift, everyone makes their decision in the last seven to 10 days, and many of which make their decision in the last 72 hours before the event. So don't beat yourself up that no one's showing up to this. A lot of people plan to, they just don't actually make the decision until very late. That's just how we are as humans by nature. We delay actually making the decision. Then also within that structure, have a distribution system.
So it's not just you pushing out. This is something that I think we did pretty well for Hype Week, was we had lined up about 15 to 20 distribution partners for the different events. So what you're seeing from an audience perspective is many people are talking about it and being like, come to this thing, versus just you being the one saying, come to this thing. So it's like the equivalent of a channel agreement, but basically establish your distribution partners who will put your message in front of their audience and set them up for success. Give them the exact copy. They can always tweak it, but give them the copy they can use. Give them the creative assets they can use, make it as easy as possible for them to promote you. Do not put any of the work on them to have to figure out what to say or how to talk about it or any of those things.
I would do this differently next time. I would even incentivize my distribution partners. I would give them all unique tracking links and I would say, or just unique signup codes, whatever it needs to be. I would be like, hey, if you sell X number of tickets, you get your own discount on the ticket to my event, and you'll get it at this rate. If you sell this many to this many, you get this other bonus offer. What I didn't do that I will do the next time through is create incentive packages for the distribution partners.
Josh:
So Roger, we covered a lot of topics from how to discover range as a performing artist to how to craft the perfect pitch and even how to sell tickets for your own event. I was hoping, man, that you could bring us home with some of your art, some of your rap or hip hop, whether it's something from your new album or something that you want to make up as you go. I'd love to hear, if you don't mind sharing a few minutes of you in your essence and expressing yourself if you'd be so kind.
Raj Nathan:
Let's give it a shot. Let me see if I can drop a couple of freestyle bars here. All right. Yo, Josh and I are kicking it on Riverside. He just asked me all of a sudden, can you spit aside? Well, let me spit a line for you and I can give you some of this bigger rhyme. Here's the deal. Yo, his name is Josh Linkner. Everybody who comes to him knows he's the top thinker, yo, he drops listeners and he adds value because when he hit the stage, everybody's going to rally. Oh, I got the belt on. I'm the world champ. When you come and see me, you know you'll get your world stamp. Because I go global, whether it's domestic in the US or whether it's abroad in the UK, everybody knows when the hype man hits, it's going to be okay. So all I got to say is this was fun being on the Mic Drop. We keep kicking it until the mic stopped, until we hit record and press stop on that bitch. Oh, I shouldn't have sworn. I'm sorry. I had to scratch that itch.
Josh:
Amazing. Amazing. Well, thanks my friend. I really admire your creative genius. You're pushing the boundaries on all fronts of business and life. It's been an honor having you on Mic Drop and wish you all the best success going forward.
Raj Nathan:
Thank you. It was a pleasure.
Josh:
What a fun and rhythmic conversation. Raj took us on a vivid journey through his mind and work illuminated by his diverse talents. That range of talent really struck me, the way that all these seemingly disconnected aspects of his life and career, they all added up together to make Raj such a compelling speaker. It's a reminder to us all that those life experiences that we think might not matter, actually matter a lot. To that point, Raj's storytelling prowess rooted in the rhythm of hip hop, underline the power of self-expression in keynote speaking. You're making music up there even if you're not playing an instrument. When Raj shared the secret sauce behind his Que PASA elevator pitch formula, he showed us that empathy is the key ingredient in crafting impactful messages.
Finally, I really appreciated how Raj was able to connect art and keynotes, music and announcing all these disparate entities coming together to make him a unique and inspiring speaker. That's literally a wrap on this week's episode. See you next time on Mic Drop. Thanks so much for joining me on another episode of Mic Drop. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. If you love the show, please share it with your friends, and don't forget to give us a five star review. For show transcripts and show notes, visit micdroppodcast.com. I'm your host, Josh Linkner. Thanks so much for listening, and here's to your next Mic Drop moment.