Beyond The Views - Sam Ryan - Leadership in Action- Episode #54

It’s no secret that there are many influencers who promote entrepreneurship on social media, but are they promoting an accurate picture? Today’s guest would disagree. He’s an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web development who founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier. Welcome to the show CEO of Flocksy, Sam Ryan. In this episode, Sam clears up misconceptions about entrepreneurship, shares his background, and tells us where he likes to travel when he isn’t busy running a business. Takeaways: Many people have the misconception that being an entrepreneur is inherently fun and glorious work that will have you driving ferraris and sitting on the beach. In reality, it takes time and effort, and is often slower paced than most expect. Influencers on TikTok or Instagram tend to advertise strategies that are about making money quickly, rather than ones that establish strong business foundations.  Flocksy was created to consolidate outsourced creative work. Instead of needing to utilize different sourcing sites and having difficulty finding creatives, Flocksy provides a one stop shop for finding vetted quality creatives. When you’re an entrepreneur, outsiders won’t fully understand the nuances of running your own business. Having a network of entrepreneurs to rely on for guidance and feedback is a valuable tool for those who are new to the space. When you first start being an entrepreneur, growth is much slower than expected. You may be balancing a day job, which would require you to work on your business in your free time.  While getting a business from 0 to a million is difficult, scaling it presents an even larger challenge. Figuring out how to be a leader, hiring team members, and establishing the necessary functions of a company all present unique challenges.     Links:  Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/actuallysamryan  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samrjyan/  Website: https://flocksy.com/  Quote of the Show “I want to create things that help other people.” - Sam Ryan Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action YouTube - https://youtu.be/9BHV0PN0hro      Transcript: Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Today's guest is a traveler. He's an investor, a developer, and a blockchain enthusiast. He's an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web.   He founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier, He's the c e O at Foxy. Please welcome Sam Ryan. Sam, welcome to the show,    Sam Ryan: man. Thank you, mark for having me. I am excited.    Mark Stiles: Cool. Well, let's get right into it. What is a common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur?   That was a    Sam Ryan: great question. So I would have to say, um, I think that a lot of people think that it's a really fun and glorious job. Something that you get a lot of attention. Um, they know it's hard work, but you see people driving around in Lamborghini, so Porsche and they have big houses. And especially with like the whole crypto, uh, faith that happened.   A lot of those people fell into the entrepreneur area. Um, you can think FTX stuff like that, just money going all over the place and people are like, oh, these people are sitting in The Bahamas making a lot of, uh, money doing nothing. Um, that does happen for a few people and I think they're the lucky people, especially when crypto is involved.   But for the majority of entre entrepreneurs and leaders, uh, leaders, , when you talk to them, they're probably not gonna explain exactly what's going on, but you are working on

It’s no secret that there are many influencers who promote entrepreneurship on social media, but are they promoting an accurate picture? Today’s guest would disagree. He’s an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web development who founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier. Welcome to the show CEO of Flocksy, Sam Ryan. In this episode, Sam clears up misconceptions about entrepreneurship, shares his background, and tells us where he likes to travel when he isn’t busy running a business.



Takeaways:

  • Many people have the misconception that being an entrepreneur is inherently fun and glorious work that will have you driving ferraris and sitting on the beach. In reality, it takes time and effort, and is often slower paced than most expect.
  • Influencers on TikTok or Instagram tend to advertise strategies that are about making money quickly, rather than ones that establish strong business foundations. 
  • Flocksy was created to consolidate outsourced creative work. Instead of needing to utilize different sourcing sites and having difficulty finding creatives, Flocksy provides a one stop shop for finding vetted quality creatives.
  • When you’re an entrepreneur, outsiders won’t fully understand the nuances of running your own business. Having a network of entrepreneurs to rely on for guidance and feedback is a valuable tool for those who are new to the space.
  • When you first start being an entrepreneur, growth is much slower than expected. You may be balancing a day job, which would require you to work on your business in your free time. 
  • While getting a business from 0 to a million is difficult, scaling it presents an even larger challenge. Figuring out how to be a leader, hiring team members, and establishing the necessary functions of a company all present unique challenges.

 

 

Links: 



Quote of the Show

  • “I want to create things that help other people.” - Sam Ryan



Ways to Tune In:

 

 

Transcript:

Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Today's guest is a traveler. He's an investor, a developer, and a blockchain enthusiast. He's an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web.

 

He founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier, He's the c e O at Foxy. Please welcome Sam Ryan. Sam, welcome to the show, 

 

Sam Ryan: man. Thank you, mark for having me. I am excited. 

 

Mark Stiles: Cool. Well, let's get right into it. What is a common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur?

 

That was a 

 

Sam Ryan: great question. So I would have to say, um, I think that a lot of people think that it's a really fun and glorious job. Something that you get a lot of attention. Um, they know it's hard work, but you see people driving around in Lamborghini, so Porsche and they have big houses. And especially with like the whole crypto, uh, faith that happened.

 

A lot of those people fell into the entrepreneur area. Um, you can think FTX stuff like that, just money going all over the place and people are like, oh, these people are sitting in The Bahamas making a lot of, uh, money doing nothing. Um, that does happen for a few people and I think they're the lucky people, especially when crypto is involved.

 

But for the majority of entre entrepreneurs and leaders, uh, leaders, , when you talk to them, they're probably not gonna explain exactly what's going on, but you are working on a lot. Um, so when I first started, uh, flui, um, yeah, I had a bunch of friends and they were all in the, they were professionals work nine to five.

 

Um, and I was the working my full-time job. And then I was also working at nights coding marketing, doing a whole bunch of different jobs and. , you have to learn stuff constantly and a lot of times if you're working a regular job, um, it's you. , do that again and again. And you slowly advance your career. You are changing every 20 minutes.

 

What? Like something you're learning something new. Um, so I think that's step one. And then step two is scaling up a company. It's way more difficult than most people, uh, can imagine. Like getting the company from zero to a million. It's really difficult. But actually scaling it up, getting a team in place, making it so you get to the next.

 

That is incredibly hard. Um, so that is where you learn a whole bunch of new things, especially leadership, I would think. I think the, uh, entrepreneur is the first step, um, where you are working by yourself with a small group of people. Then that switches over to where you are leading a whole company and people are looking up to you to make those decisions.

 

Um, you have to pick the right people to work directly with you. You have to make sure they're picking the right people. So again, you're learning everything over. So, uh, yeah, to sum it up, I think it's a lot more work and a lot more difficult than most people think. And you do have those pluses. You do sometimes make a lot of money.

 

You have your own schedule. But yeah, it's different than most people would think. 

 

Mark Stiles: So Instagram influencer, taking a picture with a Ferrari, you know, no one is, is in that uh, room with the paper stacked up coding, taking pictures. Look at me, I'm an 

 

Sam Ryan: entrepreneur. Yes, ex. Exactly. And especially when you're trying to grow a company that is scalable, it's really easy to start, I wouldn't say easy, but it's different to start a company and.

 

make Some bucks right away, make some money, but actually making a foundation that can hold like firm as it grows. That isn't gonna be on Instagram, that's not gonna be on TikTok. That's a whole different set of skills than a lot of stuff you see on Instagram. and I would go as far to say that a lot of people you do see, um, if you think of like the king of Instagram, um, liver King, all different people that over social media, right?

 

um, they're working way harder than you think. it looks like they're just walking around taking a ten second video. That ten second video probably took them all day planning it out. So I do think that even those influencers are putting in a lot more effort and trying to make it look easy, because that's part of the persona, but putting a lot more effort than you realize.

 

Mark Stiles: Yeah. And I always find that interesting, the whole influencer, uh, space, because, you know, I understand that it's, it's a marketing platform, but you know what, what is it really? I mean, they're, they're, they're showing ease of process. They're showing ease. They're really, they're just splashing marketing, right?

 

I mean, that's all they're doing. That's not, I mean, they're an entrepreneur because they're a marketing entrepreneur, right? Mm-hmm. , but you know, they're not. Entrepreneur in the sense of building, and, uh, I guess they are. I guess they are. Mm-hmm. , let me, uh, let me backpedal that one. But making it look easy is, uh, is something that always kinda bothered me.

 

It's like, let's, let's have some influencers posting. Look at, look at us at Flaxie, and we're coding into the night, you know? And. You know, be real about it because I think it puts a lot of, uh, misconceptions in people's heads, like you said, um, where, you know, all I have to do is, is go down to the town hall and, and file a doing business as, and boom.

 

Mm-hmm. , I'm gonna make millions of dollars. Fascinating. So, Floy, let's talk about it. You started out while working for a company and then, and then you started, uh, building something on the. After your 40 hour, nine to five? 

 

Sam Ryan: Exactly. So it actually, uh, was another company that my brother and I had going. It was Hatch Wise, so I was working with him on that full-time.

 

Um, and then started working on Foxy on the side, so that would take up my evenings and everything. Um, I went to school for development, computer science, um, at the SUNY University of Morrisville. Um, so got my four year degree there and I, uh, wanted to create, so. New that could help people. Um, and in my space with Hatch wise and talking to a lot of people, I saw a need for creative services that were affordable and you, you got team members that were vetted.

 

Um, so basically what. Flexy is, just to jump back for a second, um, we provide a team of creatives that work on video editing, um, illustrations, copywriting, um, all the stuff you kind of need to get your marketing done. And before that was all scattered all over the place. You go to Upwork, you go to freelance.com, um, and you have to find the different, um, places to hire and then maybe go on TRS Slack to work with them.

 

So what we created was, Platform that actually connects, does everything. It's, uh, Trello combined with Upwork free, uh, fiber, all that. We find the talent for you, and then you just pay one flat fee a month. And so I saw a big need for that, and it w it hit a nerve with people and people loved it and it took off, uh, started in 2016.

 

Wow. So, 

 

Mark Stiles: so are you a virtual assistant aggregate. 

 

Sam Ryan: Yeah, you could look at it like that. So it's half software because what our software does is you start a project and we form a team for you. So you like have this, every time you start a project, you see the same team members you're working with. You can delegate the task to them.

 

If it's video editing, let's say you want to edit a podcast or something, you'd be like, okay, can you. , edit this. They get used to you, your brand, all of that. Um, so that's the software aspect of it. And then we do the vetting. We do the, we find the people for you, um, and we connect them with you based on like a profile you fill out when you sign up.

 

Mark Stiles: So they become part of your team in essence, and you start to trust them and start to give them more, more business and so on and so forth. Exactly. Cool. Cool. So how many, um, are actual in Fox. 

 

Sam Ryan: So we have like over a hundred like creatives, team members that you work with. Um, and then we have a full staff of marketing people, developers, all that.

 

And that's another 30, 40 

 

Mark Stiles: people. And you're the c e o. So you know, it gets kind of lonely at the top. Who do you, who do you share with? So 

 

Sam Ryan: I work directly, uh, with my two brothers who join me, uh, George and Charles. Um, so they're, they're kind of the people I go to and I, um, I talk to, to like throw ideas around and everything.

 

The, uh, honestly the only issue I've had with that is we're all kind of working together on the same product, so you only can toss around ideas and stuff so much. So, um, that's when I began, uh, like looking for different. Different, uh, platforms and different, like, ways of connecting. Um, and that's when I found EO and I kind of like, uh, was it, so actually a friend of mine recommended it.

 

Uh, he works at different company. He's been using EO for a long time and he, uh, was. Said, Hey, I was talking to him about these frustrations and he was like, Hey, it sounds like you need eo. They, it changed my life, honestly. Um, this is him saying it, and he was like, uh, I would not have been able to get my company.

 

His company's making 20, 30 million a year except for eo. and that was like, this is so cool. So, um, I looked into it more. I've been going back and forth and I'm joining in January. So super excited about that. Super excited to be able to talk to other people that are working in different fields and not have to feel like I'm being marketed to.

 

And so what Russ was telling me and what different, um, people talk, I found other people that have used EO two and they kind of explained like if you go to any of those meetups and stuff and you. They'll always be that person handing out business cards. That person that's like, buy my service, buy my product.

 

And you feel like it's very transactional and you can talk, but everybody else wants to talk. And I have a lot of knowledge on my side, um, that I want to give to people, but I also need to learn stuff too. So I'm looking for more of a friendship, a community, and less of being sold here. So that's the main reason I'm excited, uh, to join EO and continue advancing my.

 

So what were some 

 

Mark Stiles: of the questions that you were asking your friend Russ? He's not in a Boston Chapter EO member, right? 

 

Sam Ryan: No, he's, he's in Austin, Texas. Okay. Um, yeah, so basically I was just going over like it, put it this way, if you're talking to people around you that a professional job, you say the company makes 10 million a year, they're just blown away and they're like, this is so great, but.

 

they don't understand that you have to pay people all the different difficulties That's financing. You don't come away with that much money. Um, that's just one example. The other example is they don't understand why you can't go out, hang out, why your weekends are busy, um, why you're constantly like trying to learn new things and like, uh, figure out where the next step is for your company.

 

And being able to talk to somebody that is in the same boat as me would be really helpful. So that's kind of just going over that type of stuff 

 

Mark Stiles: with. without being sold to. I love that because that is exactly what EO offers, right? It's that vulnerability sharing of experiences and not having that awkward, this person wants something from me, they want a deal outta me or what have you.

 

Um, exactly. So, so let me ask you this. How did you find your way into this space where you're, you know, where you felt that there's a, there's a, a need to be solved, 

 

Sam Ryan: so, In the beginning, like growing up, I always liked inventing, so I like would I create things all the time? I liked the creating new things, um, coming up with new ideas and that was kind of like when I was a young kid, that was why I invented myself.

 

Like some like, uh, inventor, like creating cool things. Um, and then I realized as I got older that was probably not like a super viable way of living. Like it. , very difficult to be an inventor, and I did like coding a lot. And I was like, wait, I can create a lot of things online. I can create new businesses.

 

I can create things that add value to people's lives. So that, like throughout all of college, I tried different ideas and I talked to a lot of different people. And then, like I said, in the in, um, when I, in 2016, when Foxy first came around, the idea is because a lot of people needed that and it could help solve somebody's problem, and it was like, okay, this is exactly what I wanna do.

 

Like this kind of helps me wake up in the morning and get excited, is that I'm actually changing a bunch of people's lives. And we've be, we've had people that, like we did a trade show in 2016. We still have people that have been with us that whole time, that whole journey. And that's just exciting.

 

Seeing those people, their, their businesses have grown because of us. Um, and it's, it's a trickle effect. You're helping people grow who are helping people grow. And um, that's kind of what makes me wake up in the morning and gets me excited and got me into the space. 

 

Mark Stiles: I love it. And it's, and you said it's a monthly fee.

 

So is this based on a, a monthly recurring revenue 

 

Sam Ryan: model? Yep. It's a SaaS product, so it's basically every month, uh, you pay either 4 95, 9 99 or uh, 1495, and you get access to the teams and the different levels of basically how much work you can get done and the different teams you have access to. 

 

Mark Stiles: Got it.

 

So you pay a fee to be part of the team, and then you pay per project. Is that, is that how it works? 

 

Sam Ryan: No, you, you just pay that one fee and that covers everything. All the projects, 

 

Mark Stiles: everyth. . Got it. Wow. So that seems like a pretty cool deal. Um, so let me ask you this. You started coding as a kid. Mm-hmm. . Did you teach yourself how to do 

 

Sam Ryan: that?

 

Yep, I got, it was a big Python book in the beginning and then PHP and my sequel, and it was just giddy on a computer and like trying simple websites. I think the first website I created was a simple HTML and CSS website, like blog type thing. Um, and then like got more involved in WordPress and stuff, but I realized like the power of backing coding and that's kind of what I focused on, computer science, um, and going like that throughout college.

 

It was, uh, pretty funny though because I did teach myself coding, so I knew pretty much a lot of what there was with like how to code websites and stuff. So a lot of the reason I went to college was just so I could get the full round experience of everything else, including Cody, and make sure, um, I was.

 

Moving forward with my Korean stuff, no matter what I did. But I'd be in the class. I could like throw up a website, not to both, but like really quickly and they'd like want this whole semester. And so I'd end up like going up and telling the class how to kind of do what they were doing and show them the hacks and stuff because the professors were like, they, they knew what they were talking about, but they definitely had more of a like a semester type.

 

Like this is gonna take a whole. Three, four months. And I'm like, no, you can do this in like two days if you do this, this, and this. So it was a lot of fun. Um, but it definitely helps to like teach yourself and, uh, get 

 

Mark Stiles: ahead of it. That's, that's, uh, that's pretty interesting. So you're in class, they give an assignment that's gonna take the whole semester and you're done in two days.

 

Teach, helping teach the class. What did the , what did the professor say? 

 

Sam Ryan: So the professors, sometimes they wouldn't like it because it, there were hacks around it and stuff too. So let's say word fest, they were, they weren't quite sure how word. , um, what like worked and stuff. So they might be like, create this website.

 

Be like, you know, you can download WordPress and throw up a theme and make this website look amazing in like two hours, right? And then they'd be like, wait, no, we want you to code it from scratch. That was one part of it. But the other part was definitely like just kind of showing them the hacks and stuff newer.

 

Newer technologies, um, like the different css, how you can import different css, bootstrap with a great one. Like, oh wait, bootstrap exists. You don't have to code everything from scratch. So, and with that they really appreciate it. Wouldn't it be like, okay, here's some hacks to help you get a website up and going really fast.

 

That's still customizable. That's pretty 

 

Mark Stiles: cool. That's pretty cool. So as you were a kid coding, did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur or did you not realize what, what was out? So I knew I 

 

Sam Ryan: wanted to create my own business. Yeah. Um, I actually for a time, my brother and I, uh, started a small engine repair shop and that was when I was like 14.

 

Um, so for like a year and a half we did that and we like, were making a lot of money and it was like really, I mean, for me being 14, I was like, this is amazing. Yeah. Like you can actually create something. People use that. So I would say about like, when I was like 14, 15, that's when I really realized, okay, I wanna actually be an entrepreneur.

 

I want to, um, create things that help other people, help businesses. And I always wanna be at the forefront of like, what's new, what's up and coming? Hence the whole blockchain, ai, crypto, all 

 

Mark Stiles: that. Well, let's talk about that. So this, so that's a hobby of yours right? At this point, blockchain and crypto Yep.

 

And all that. Tell us about it. Where do you see that going? 

 

Sam Ryan: So with, uh, the, so with crypto, I'll divide up into two different parts. Okay. Because there's crypto, which is Bitcoin, and then you have all the different smaller currencies. Um, and with that, I think that like there are a lot of people that vested, whether it's Dodge Coin or the different cryptocurrencies, and that is more of just a risky kind of bet in my opinion.

 

I do think Bitcoin is the future for transactions, for actually making, um, for currency exchange. It cuts out the middleman completely and then going with the whole middleman and banking, I think U Atium is the next. Big thing when it comes to disrupting, um, an entire, uh, ecosystem. And if you think about it right now, there are middlemen everywhere.

 

Um, whether it's in banking, finances, insurance, um, real estate, um, energy, all that. There's somebody that's making some money for literally doing nothing but connecting you. And they also can shut you off at any point. So they can just delete the records and like, think about banking like you actually.

 

They have their own computers and stuff storing info, but like there's no actual way of confirming that this is actually true. Like they could delete everything that would be gone. Um, with the, with U Atium and the whole blockchain, what it does is it creates, um, uh, record of everything. Think of like a ledger, basically an online ledger so you can keep track of every single thing that's ever happened.

 

And nobody can delete it. Nobody can get rid of it, and it's there forever. So like, I think a use case would be, um, with banking, you could have the transactions of what people are spending, but you could also see what they're spending when they're spending. Um, you could do it for like, uh, energy. Um, one, one thing that I saw the other day that I thought was pretty interesting is, um, shell is.

 

going to be implementing it to help them trade oil. So like keep track of where, where the oil is going and stuff. Um, and then I think it was, we talked about, uh, briefly, but about like real estate agents using it, um, and. to help list property or to help with the seller fees, like figuring out who gets what and all that.

 

But like if you think of a database that's online that keeps track of every single thing that no one man has any, um, or one person has any, um, direct control over, then it can literally disrupt any area, um, that we have. 

 

Mark Stiles: Right. . So you said Shell Oil is already starting to use, is it, are they using the smart contracts?

 

Is that what it is? Yeah, so that they can, they can track everything within seconds and, and understand what their, what their users are using. Oh, that's, that's pretty interesting. Yeah. I went to a conference, uh, web three conference and it was pretty eye-opening. When you say it could disrupt virtually any industry, I tend to agree with you.

 

here we are still in web two. What do you think it's it's gonna take to kind of move, move 

 

Sam Ryan: that needle? That's a good question. So I think there are a couple things in play. Um, I think one is it's going to take a generational shift. I think you have a lot of younger people that are getting into professional jobs that are making like, why aren't we using this?

 

Why, what is happening here? And we still have a lot of, uh, people that just have no idea what it is in powerful positions that making those decisions. So I think it is just gonna take time, just like anything to get used to it. Think of how long it took for web two to take over there. There were still industries that just refused to use it while they had like old computers and then all of a sudden people figured it out, um, and they were like, wow, this is.

 

this is great. But a lot of that with younger people moving into those positions, millennials and stuff like that, I think that millennials definitely have a good understanding of this. I think Gen Z has even a broader understanding and they're ready to adapt faster. Um, and that goes with ai, virtual reality, um, everything.

 

I, I, you need that generation to come in. Um, and that's one aspect. And the second would be you need it to get competitive. You need other companies to start using. show how much money it can make them or save them, and then everybody else just, that's how the We work. Everybody else is gonna be like, I need to make money too.

 

So if you have like, um, Another one was MetLife. They're using it to help people track, uh, insur. Like if somebody dies, you can track and see if you know that per, uh, if, if that person had insurance basically. So that's still early stages, but they're planning on using that. But let's say that does make them have a competitive advantage then.

 

You're gonna have all the other insurance agencies quickly start using it too. So you need to show that can help you make more money and scale up, um, and save money too. 

 

Mark Stiles: Right. It's interesting. One of the big takeaways, there was a bunch of takeaways that I had. It was actually a web three and real estate, right?

 

Where they come together. Um, but one of the big takeaways was, remember 1994 when people were first talking about the internet and they all thought it was a fad and it was just a passing trend. Well, that's kind of where we are with web three, but where, where you're going with it is, is very similar to one of the takeaways is that we need to do it together, right?

 

It needs, it's a collaborative effect, right? So everybody, um, together needs to kind of rise up and go on chain, right? So, um, I see big disruptions in the future. Um, I see my industry being completely disrupted. I see banking industries being completely disrupted because why not? Right? If you can trust where it's coming from.

 

One of the things I was thinking about while I was there was the mortgage industry, right? This is debt financed, right? Why not? Equity financed, right? Mm-hmm. , why not fractional ownership where it's crowdfunded? I mean, there's already crowdfunding starting to happen, um, in, you know, in the fiat currency space.

 

But you know, why not have an equity funded through chain where everybody can realize I'm gonna invest $500 at 5% return. Well, I'm gonna invest $500,000 at 5% return. aggregated together and boom, you've got a mortgage for somebody to buy a home with, right? And then they make their payments back through smart contracts.

 

It's really, mm-hmm. really interesting. And it, it just feels very blue sky right now, which is, which is exciting, uh, for, you know, change agents and people who enjoy that kind of stuff. So, do you see your space going into that world, going on chain? 

 

Sam Ryan: So I'm not sure with Flui, um, if we'd go on the chain, not quite sure what direction that would look like.

 

Um, I do think that cryptocurrency is something we would accept, or I definitely like, uh, Bitcoin, um, different cryptocurrencies we would accept. So on the currency side of things, yes, definitely that is going to be a part of, uh, what we. Do. Um, but with the blockchain side, I don't think foxy directly. Um, but there have been interesting ideas of like, uh, product that you could make.

 

Um, so for example, when somebody has a design, um, you could put that on when somebody creates a design, let's say. For a client, a custom logo, custom mascot, you could put that on the blockchain as an N F T or something and then they would have ownership for that forever if you could, uh, make that into a product or something.

 

I think that is definitely something interesting that clients would be like, okay, I got this really nice mascot created. Now everybody knows it's mine for eternity to 

 

Mark Stiles: basically, Had, did you dip your toes into NFTs or what, what they referred to as digital collectibles? Uh, when I was done. No . 

 

Sam Ryan: Why not? It was a Okay.

 

So it was just a little too risky. Um, so honestly, I think it's, So unexplored at this point, and it is still a little foreign to me. I'm still digging into it, but like, it doesn't seem like the safest bet. I mean, I think it was Justin Bieber's. Um, this is after the fact, but still it, his keep off at 1.5. It went for 69 k.

 

Um, a board ape just went for like 400 bucks. I think the minimum was 60 K back in the day. Um, so I think. Really all over the place. Um, and so I'm, I'm kind of waiting for it to level out a little bit. Yeah, I do think that what's happened though, um, you saw the whole thing that happened with ftx, right? Oh yeah.

 

Um, and Sam Bankman Freight, and I think this is a, if you think.com boom back in 2000, I think this is kind of making people realize you can't just throw money at something. You have to get people who are putting money into something. Um, from a business standpoint, understanding what they're putting money into, right.

 

before we had so much money going around and it was so overhyped and it was such a cool thing. I'm hoping that after this it becomes less cool and more, Hey, how does this actually help us? Yeah. And you already see Chase and stuff working on their, uh, their coin. Um, China has their coin that they're using, so there's a lot of people that.

 

Taking it really seriously. I just think there was a lot of money thrown around at stuff that people didn't know what they were throwing it at. 

 

Mark Stiles: Right. Frenzy without any substance. Right. That's the, that's the, uh, marker of a, of a crashing, uh, space. And uh, I think we saw that firsthand. Tell me, tell me, so that, that's a, that's a hobby, that's a passion.

 

What else are you passionate? . 

 

Sam Ryan: So passionate about being outside. Um, I love boxing. Um, love, exercise, working out, running. Um, pretty much anytime I can. . I love my job. I love doing what I do, but if I can get away, get outside, get physical exercise in, um, I, I'm all for it because it helps make everything up.

 

It helps not just be glued to the computer. Um, so going outside, um, working out, stuff like that. Um, investing I like just in investing. Um, and then, yeah, uh, Bloy takes up a lot of time. So that's how much travel. You do 

 

Mark Stiles: some travel. 

 

Sam Ryan: Yeah. Um, I love traveling, so, but that I kept from work with me, which was nice.

 

But, um, last year I went over to Amsterdam in Iceland, um, and that was after the pandemic and it was first time to Iceland. That was one of those places that. Completely blew my mind away. I was not expecting it to be as cool as it was, but, um, yeah, I, I love getting out of the country. Um, did two road trips across the United States.

 

Um, the first one was five years ago, and then during Covid, me and my fiance, we got in, um, a car and just drove across the country. Um, both of us worked, um, on our computers and we were going for a month. We just went up the, uh, out west and skied all the different mountains and stuff. So that was really, 

 

Mark Stiles: I love it.

 

I, I love stories about that. When and during Covid, a lot of people did very similar, similar things. So let me ask you this. Someone wants to get in touch with you, get involved with Foxy. How do they best reach you? 

 

Sam Ryan: So Twitter, um, and LinkedIn are the two best ways of reaching out to me. Um, and then you could always, uh, reach out to me at my 

 

Mark Stiles: email as.

 

Got it. And what's the, what's the ha uh, handles for Twitter and for LinkedIn and then what's your email? 

 

Sam Ryan: So my email is, um, sam foxy.com. So feel free to email me at any point. It might take a little bit to get back to you, but I definitely will. Um, and then Sam Ryan, uh, for Twitter and LinkedIn. 

 

Mark Stiles: Got it, got it.

 

Cool. So Boston, you heard it. You're gonna see, uh, Sam here shortly at some of the events. Go up and say hi. Let him know you heard this and, and, uh, look forward to digging a little bit deeper. Sam, I really appreciate you coming on the show and, and sharing with us. And you know, I'm a, I'm an web three enthusiasts too, so I really got a, got a charge out of it as well.

 

So, but thank you. I appreciate you very much. Thank 

 

Sam Ryan: you for having me on. Mark and I, I really enjoyed this. The whole conversation was great, but it's always great. Talk about web three, um, blockchain, all that type of stuff. So really great talking to you about that. Uh, yeah, and let me know if you ever wanna talk about it more.

 

Very cool. 

 

Mark Stiles: Well, I'll be seeing you at some events. Yep, absolutely folks, thank you so much for listening. That is it everyone, if you learned something today or you laughed, , you want to dig a little bit deeper into Web three? Tell somebody about this, share this podcast. Maybe we'll get some more conversations going about it.

 

Thanks again, Sam. Thank you, mark. Have a great day. And this has been another exciting episode of Leadership in Action. We will see you next time. 

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Beyond The Views - Sam Ryan - Leadership in Action- Episode #54
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