Business Upside [BU]: Was there a defining “aha moment” that led to starting your business?
Adam Azim [AA]: In all honesty, it was as if I was being carried by the wind and I was simply going through the motions. As Einstein said, we either treat everything as if it is a miracle, or we treat nothing as a miracle. Considering all the output and what I was able to generate in terms of content, I experienced an “aha moment” almost every single day since I started this endeavor or initiative. We mentioned dreaming and imagination earlier. We fail to consider that dreaming and imagination serve as the basis for a real and true meta-analysis of reality itself, given the centrality of art and poetry of all things in the very manner by which the world is organized. And if we find that dreaming and imagination is at the heart of a meta-analysis of reality itself, if the mind can surprise us in terms of its ability to organize the world around it, then what is the motive behind limiting dreaming and imagination?
[BU]: What was the biggest obstacle you faced in the first year of your business?
[AA]: Coming to terms with the fact that this kind of business – namely, content creation – is something which goes on forever and it is not something which you limit or stop for a certain paycheck or monetary payoff. But I was able to overcome that obstacle quite fast when I realized that there are other rewards associated with this kind of business other than a paycheck or monetary payoff. Moreover, I would have undermined my personal growth above all else without a focus on generating quality content over the long haul and opting out of growing at the expense of others by cheating them out of quality. Take mass media, for instance, and how much they have lost to the internet and social media ever since the start of the 21st century. It has been said that approximately two-thirds of all media consumption has now shifted to the internet and social media, and there is a moral explanation behind this shift as well. The explanation is not limited solely to technology or innovations such as “creative destruction” in the industry itself.
[BU]: How did you convince your first client/customer to trust your business?
[AA]: By putting what you have to offer in terms of content forward to everyone and let them be the judge of the veracity and quality of it. And like we said, what does it mean when they are all quietly listening and reading? There is meaning behind it which we should try and decipher. There is a lot of noise out there. Everyone is acting and reacting to one another. Everyone is generating publicity, and most of it is negative and toxic. Yet, everyone is quietly reading and listening in this case. There is meaning behind it.
[BU]: What are the top 3 things every startup must focus on in the first year?
[AA]: For one, you are going to have to give more than you take in the beginning. Second, it takes a while until you establish a certain flow. And third, it all becomes more of a mission or purpose rather than a business or job.
[BU]: If your brand was a person, what personality would it have?
[AA]: Hard-nosed and incendiary. Getting people to think and feel uncomfortable a little bit. But at the same time, show love and compassion to others.
[BU]: What’s the hardest part of scaling a small business into a bigger venture?
[AA]: The hardest part is wielding the kind of influence or impact which would render the business into a bigger venture. In a sense, wielding the influence or impact ties into content and life experience. And then the content and life experience tie into background and identity like we mentioned before. And do we even have a choice when it comes to our background and identity? For one, we don’t choose our parents or our race and in many cases our culture and religion either. I doubt we even choose our spouse or car, let alone all the aforementioned elements of our background and identity. So, if we don’t choose the very basic elements of our background and identity, then how much else are we really choosing?
[BU]: What keeps you going during uncertain times?
[AA]: Reining in on the appetites and desires which are driving us and may even spin us out of control. Withdrawing and isolating from the world, and perhaps even abandoning the world and leaving the world behind as an ascetic practice which would then balance against appetite and desire. That is the only way to maintain control over the appetites and desires which will drive us to spin out of control. Some of the most high-functioning and intelligent people in the social world are very much inclined towards spinning out of control. They become genocidal and sociopathic. Thus, we should always consider withdrawing and isolating from the world or perhaps even abandoning the world and leaving the world behind as an ascetic practice which would then rein in on all the appetites and desires which are driving us in the first place.
[BU]: Have any mentors guided you during your journey?
[AA]: There are too many to account for, but the most memorable one and the one dearest to me is my spiritual guide, who as a matter of fact hinted at planes being grounded and people going into lockdown eighteen months before it even happened. Foresight and intuition are everything. And you either have it or you don’t. You have to be chosen in a sense to have such foresight and intuition.
[BU]: If you could collaborate with one business or entrepreneur, who would it be and why?
[AA]: Perhaps the White House in order to develop a sound and reliable strategy when it comes to dealing with some of the major conflicts we are faced with at the moment in places like Europe and the Middle East and Asia, but especially Europe. Europe is the most difficult one to deal with at the moment. But if they are listening to this or reading this, and if they have been listening and reading for all this time, then that suffices for me. I don’t need to be in Washington every day or go through the hassle of seeing people all the time or hearing what everyone has to say in order to have some sort of influence or impact over the development of what is perhaps the most important decision-making process and strategy in our country and maybe even in our world. Moreover, everything is digital and online nowadays. Like we said before, the cyber-world has colonized the physical world.
[BU]: How do you mentally recover from business setbacks?
By entertaining the idea or becoming a monk or a hermit one day. I am training myself for it.
More Information
Company URL: www.adam-azim.com
LinkedIn URL: http://linkedin.com/in/adam-a-azim-94bb111b2
