If you’re an entrepreneur, creative, or social media enthusiast, chances are you’ve heard of the new live-audio chat app Clubhouse that’s exploded during quarantine.
I sat down with Dan Fleyshman – a philanthropist, social media mogul, serial entrepreneur, and the co-founder of the online learning platform for entrepreneurs 100 Million Academy – to discuss his thoughts on Clubhouse. Dan has had extreme success on the app, creating popular rooms such as Money, Investing, Side Hustles, and Building Wealth.
For reference, Dan is the youngest founder to take a company public at 19, and has angel invested in 35 companies. He is also the founder of Elevator Studio, which has spent more on Instagram influencer and celebrity posts than any other company in history. Essentially, this guy knows his stuff – and he thinks Clubhouse will be the #1 app of the year.
Anais, author:
Why do you believe Clubhouse is the next big thing in social media? How have you been using it?
Dan:
There are a few reasons for all the hype about Clubhouse.
- It’s exclusive. The app is still “invite only” while it’s in their beta testing.
- Movie stars, rappers, beauty executives, comedians, and venture capital executives are spending hours in the rooms. So there’s great networking and learning.
- It’s easy to consume since it’s audio. You can jump in and out of rooms to listen to, or participate in conversations ranging from social injustice to raising capital for your startup. So I’m excited to see the evolution of Clubhouse in 2021 and beyond.
A:
What advice would you give to rising entrepreneurs and business owners who want to leverage the app?
D:
Leverage Clubhouse for the network effect. It’s a fast way to grow your network. The reason why it’s so powerful is that people like long-form content. The group of people on Clubhouse are naturally intellectually curious. It’s like a live version of networking. You can find the people that you look up to and listen to them live, ask questions, and interact.
A:
What advice would you give to creatives (i.e. writers, videographers, etc. like myself) who want to leverage the app?
D:
Since Clubhouse is strictly audio based, it feels like an interactive podcast. There’s no chatting, messaging, likes, comments or video capabilities, and they may not ever add those features to keep it hyper-focused on the audio. Creatives need to think of the value they provide and the stories they can tell via audio and approach Clubhouse like that.
A:
What are your rooms like? How can my readers get involved with your rooms? What can they learn?
D:
My rooms have frequently been listed as the top rooms on the social media platform. I feature a fascinating group of speakers from all types of business backgrounds ranging from Ecommerce, VC, social media, authors, makeup brands, consumer products, ad agencies, music artists. Etc. A few include Grant Cardone, Gary Vee, Tai Lopez, and Soulja Boy.
A:
That’s all from me! Do you have anything else you’d like to include?
D:
Clubhouse is extremely addicting. The amount of hours that my friends and colleagues are spending on the app is shockingly high. You need to put some rules in place when hosting a room to maintain control.
My thoughts on Clubhouse etiquette:
- 30 second intros
- 60 second questions
- 120 second answers
Fantastic thoughts from Dan Fleyshman – I’ll definitely utilize his advice next time I’m on the app, and I hope you will too.
Anaïs DerSimonian is a writer, filmmaker, and educator interested in media, culture and the arts. She is Clark University Alumni with a degree in Culture Studies and Screen Studies. She has produced various documentary and narrative projects, including a profile on an NGO in Yerevan, Armenia that provides micro-loans to cottage industries and entrepreneurs based in rural regions to help create jobs, self-sufficiency, and to stimulate the post-Soviet economy. She is currently based in Boston. Besides filmmaking, Anaïs enjoys reading good fiction and watching sketch and stand-up comedy.
