https://youtu.be/5vHUIiI2PFo
The post Young Serial Entrepreneur: David Zamarin Sold His First Startup Lick Your Sole At 15, Now He Is Founder And CEO Of Detrapel Show 025 first appeared on mitchellchadrow.com
0:00you’re listening to the listen up show
0:01door knob entrepreneur podcast I’m
0:03Mitchell Chad row your host today on
0:05show zero to five today we’re here with
0:08David xamarin what will we discuss on
0:10this show we’re actually going to cover
0:12a lot lessons of a young entrepreneur
0:14programs for high school
0:16entrepreneurship David’s experience with
0:18crowdfunding and crowdsourcing which we
0:20also happen to have covered back in show
0:22zero one five and how he learned to
0:25balance business fund and a long list of
0:27extracurricular activity the key to
0:30working with mentors and having an
0:32outside advisory group friend it’s your
0:37business it’s your family if you’re like
0:40let’s get started
0:42a trusted friends Mitchell here this is
0:45going to be an awesome show I first
0:47heard about David’s Ameren before
0:49interviewing Jeremiah Joseph DeLeon in
0:51show zero two three
0:53which you can actually listen up to at
0:55Mitchell chadroy comm slash show zero
0:58two three
0:59Jeremiah recommended that I interview
1:02this young serial entrepreneur who is
1:04now only 18 years of age he’s the
1:07founder and CEO of debt repeal his
1:10second startup David actually sold his
1:13first startup lick your soul when he was
1:15just 15 I then read more about him
1:18through different media outlets like
1:21Philadelphia Business Journal CBS
1:23Philadelphia Fox 29 Philly and more so I
1:27decided to feature him on my young
1:29serial entrepreneur series you may
1:32recall I interviewed Scott Packer Ella
1:34from show zero one two founder of no
1:37snow app and meteorology optics at
1:40Mitchell chadroy calm slash show zero
1:42one two another young serial
1:45entrepreneur to listen up to our last
1:49show with Zeff and Moses Blacksburg and
1:51get the show notes and resource links go
1:54to Mitchell chadroy calm slash show zero
1:56to four please sign up to my email list
1:59for the latest special offers exclusive
2:02for our listen up show start-up
2:05entrepreneur podcast audience at
2:07Mitchell Chad Road comm slash sign up I
2:10have been providing business advice
2:12resources in help
2:13entrepreneurs for over 20 years and I’m
2:16looking forward to helping all of you
2:18sign up for my email list again at
2:20Mitchell Chad Road comm slash sign up I
2:24will provide you with full transcript
2:26for each interview my II bought 30 tools
2:28to start up the startup checklist and
2:31many other education and training
2:33materials all back at Mitchell Chad Road
2:37comm slash sign enjoy the show today’s
2:40guest David xamarin David the first
2:43question that we have for you is the
2:45podcast is all about business family and
2:48life so first about your family are your
2:50parents also entrepreneurs as well a
2:53Mitchell unfortunately no they’re not my
2:56mom’s actually a civil engineer who went
2:58to director University in Philadelphia
3:00at the age of 29 I both are immigrants
3:03to the US I have never you know had any
3:06Audrey Rowe background before then I
3:08came here with no language pretty much
3:09nothing my father is a little bit more
3:13versed in the business world however is
3:14still not in my definition of an
3:16entrepreneur no offense to him obviously
3:18but he’s more involved in finance is all
3:21starting a sangria company currently but
3:23most of his life you know you graduate
3:25from a South University of Philly
3:27in finance went into the stock brokerage
3:30industry and then you know after the
3:32stock market crash no one decides to do
3:34private residential and commercial
3:36mortgaging has been doing that with real
3:39estate since then but realistically
3:41they’re not entrepreneurs and you have
3:43brothers and sisters I have two
3:46half-brothers one is nine and one is
3:50three our startup round for all your
3:52hosting needs head on over to Mitchell
3:55Chad Road comm slash hosting Mitchell
3:58Chad Road comm flash hosting for all
4:01your web hosting need who do you use to
4:04host this website so tell us a little
4:06bit about the story about how you got
4:08started with lik your soul and how did
4:10the idea actually come to your mind to
4:13start to not only start it but then turn
4:16around and actually sell it at such a
4:18young age sure so I’ll actually take you
4:21back a little bit before then uh in my
4:24sixth grade year I got this idea and
4:27decided to take $100 loan from my father
4:30to buy a bunch of beats and G shocks
4:33which were just headphones and and
4:35watches that were popular and I decided
4:37to sell them at flea markets over the
4:39summer and I made about roughly $10,000
4:42in that one summer and I split it in
4:44half with my dad and then over the
4:46course of the next two three years when
4:48I was in middle school I was investing
4:49the money and I lost all of it by
4:51investing my friends ideas or in other
4:53ideas I was trying to pursue and then
4:56came around the time where I was ninth
4:58grade and I was in my Spanish class and
5:01I had a flyer passed around that talked
5:05about youth entrepreneurship in a
5:06program that was in the city at first
5:08round cap which is one of the largest VC
5:09firms that we had venture capital firms
5:11that we have in America so immediately
5:13kind of caught my attention and I
5:15decided to go ahead and interview for
5:17the program because their mantra would
5:19start something real and I was really
5:21interested in business so I interviewed
5:23I got the spot there was only 20 people
5:25accepted out of I think it was around
5:272000 I were interviewed for the specific
5:30cohort that I was in and I went ahead
5:34with the program I was the only freshman
5:35at the time everyone else was a senior
5:36and I got involved and I you know that
5:39was talking about following your passion
5:41starting a business based on what you
5:43like or what you’re interested in and I
5:45sing about a lot of different ideas but
5:47then came a con where I started thinking
5:49about shoes because I was a secret it’s
5:51time for some reason and I actually got
5:55some advice from one of my mentors start
5:57issue cleaning company because initially
5:58my idea was to actually come up with
6:01some kind of spray that could be peeled
6:03off whenever got dirty but I wasn’t a
6:05chemical engineer or anything so I
6:06actually had no idea how to do that so
6:08instead I was told to do a cleaning and
6:11conditioning company for shoes and I
6:14took a little bit of a pivot on that
6:15instead I actually did a cleaning
6:17conditioning repair company for
6:18university sports teams shoes so every
6:21single University team from Temple Penn
6:24Drexel and LaSalle I contracted on a
6:27bi-weekly basis and did their shoes
6:29so that was kind of amazing that I did
6:31for roughly four months or so and I knew
6:34that we only had one scalable part of
6:36the business and that was our
6:37conditioning service which once I’ll get
6:39into it but if my company
6:41that repels competitor pretty much what
6:43we did was we bought this water and
6:45stain repellent online that use
6:47nanotechnology to spray on shoes and
6:50what we would do was you know we would
6:52pretty much service athlete’s shooter
6:55this was the idea was to kind of spray
6:58them and it would cause a penalty factor
7:00for up to a whole year but I waited
7:02about four months the entire duration of
7:04me having company I waited to get the
7:06product I ordered it online
7:08I paid six hundred bucks for the product
7:09itself then it was $1,000 additional
7:11court equipment like a full respirator
7:13mask bodysuit gloves and even
7:16specialized plastic from that company I
7:18actually never understood why I needed
7:20all those things up until the moment
7:22where I actually had to call them and
7:24ask them for a private label agreement
7:25thinking that speed things up however
7:27they denied means of making way under a
7:29million dollars and I was you know just
7:31sitting there and thinking about what’s
7:33next idea pretty much what I was going
7:35to because I knew this is the only scale
7:36part of the business and luckily I
7:38actually had an opportunity somebody
7:40came to me and offered to buy out the
7:41company and I took it I took it right
7:43away I kind of ran with it I made a
7:45decent amount during the four months of
7:46making really good revenue and I decided
7:50to sell it and then came around the time
7:52where we were in a position where you
7:54know two weeks later I was thinking okay
7:55what’s my next move and I and I thought
7:58about it and I started doing research on
7:59nanotechnology and specifically my
8:01competitors products and I realized that
8:04when I went on their safety data sheets
8:06online that it caused cancer and birth
8:07defect so it’s very harmful it actually
8:09dried off white and ruined fabrics so
8:11kind of like a blessing in disguise I
8:13actually never got the opportunity to
8:14use it and then came to time wearing I
8:17was starting to do research about you
8:19know like I said two weeks after this
8:20whole process after I sold the company
8:22and started researching nanotechnology
8:25saw what is known as the lotus leaf
8:28which is a natural occurrence in nature
8:30and I and I pretty much just bought
8:32online decompose into my school lab took
8:36about three weeks or so two weeks came
8:38up with 99% of the formula so get to a
8:40lab in Fort Lauderdale and we they added
8:41a 1% proprietary part so so so look
8:44let’s impact a lot of that because that
8:46that’s a lot of information for a lot of
8:48people out there listening to I mean
8:51this is all being done by someone at
8:53that particular point
8:54time who was 1516 not even 17 years of
8:59age correct yeah I was I was 15 I sold
9:01the first company I was still 59
9:03corporated d’etre pal sure so so let me
9:06just ask you a quick question because we
9:08talk a lot about not only having a
9:11business idea not only executing on that
9:14business but having a plan to sort of
9:17bring in revenue so sale sales
9:19distribution and I know you talked a
9:21little bit about your private label
9:23agreement that didn’t necessarily go
9:25through and that that might have been a
9:27challenge initially but tell us a little
9:30bit about because I’m really curious
9:31about how you actually then approached
9:33temple and Penn and Drexel
9:36and some of the other universities local
9:38here to Philadelphia and actually got
9:41them to sign on so that you can create
9:44some revenue before selling it at a
9:46profit
9:47sure so obviously going through such a
9:50large organization private institution
9:52public takes a lot of time so we
9:55actually bypass that we didn’t actually
9:56get direct contracts with these
9:57universities what we did was I found
9:59friends that were associated with sports
10:01teams or just knew the managers of
10:02sports teams and went directly to those
10:04managers or the players and asked them
10:07to sign on as a team so you know it was
10:10it was a contractual basis that wasn’t
10:13something to do but rather than TV so
10:15and that way we v has over internal
10:17process of going with universities and
10:19actually being quantified be
10:23professional and not really directly and
10:25and so in talking about sales and
10:28structuring various sales agreements
10:31distribution channels and different
10:33distribution sales agreements that you
10:35might have we had spoke to the people
10:38that had started barefoot wines and had
10:41sold that and one of the things that
10:43they had talked about in that episode
10:45was the importance of having sales and a
10:48sales distribution network so how did
10:51you compensate these friends and and how
10:54did you enter these various contracts I
10:56mean what resources did you use to you
11:00know develop the contracts and and to
11:02sort of structure you know the
11:05arrangement that you have with your
11:06friends to cut them in on any of the
11:08Revit
11:08you that was going to work share sure so
11:12I think it was around my 8th grade year
11:14my mom my mom’s always pushed a really
11:16like CDs vibe on me my parents always
11:19wanted me to go you know into school and
11:21that’s why I ended up going I always had
11:24a kind of studio series back now I was
11:26always taking school seriously and so it
11:28came around the time where he was eighth
11:30graders so I was applying to the high
11:32school that I went to which was a
11:35conjunction to my middle school yet the
11:36reapply though to get in because it was
11:38in the public school but it was a
11:39special mission magnet school and so I
11:44ended up doing internships every single
11:48year after my eighth grade year I did
11:49about four internships a year
11:50specifically with law firm because I
11:52thought I was going to be actually an
11:53attorney growing up because that’s what
11:55I wanted to do my whole life and I
11:57actually know did that I learned how to
12:00write contracts I learned a lot of
12:01contract law through the attorney that
12:03was that is so currently my attorney my
12:06start-up attorney and he you know he
12:08taught me a lot and showed me a lot of
12:09the ropes so I actually wrote a lot of
12:11contracts myself or I got standard
12:13contracts the first maybe three or four
12:15I got for free because being a kid you
12:16could use that to the advantage or just
12:19in general being a startup you can use
12:20that to your advantage there’s always a
12:21lot of ways to make the parole payments
12:23and you know I decided to do that I
12:26decided to talk to people and actually
12:28get no weapon through my story and take
12:31a liking and mean from there
12:32I you know use those resources and tried
12:35asking friends or whoever to put me in
12:38contact with other people and the
12:41friends that I would do is I was just
12:42give them commissions for those kind of
12:43sales so um I know one of my friends
12:46specifically for Temple University got
12:48me the basketball team and that that
12:50basketball team also went to the
12:52football team and it just kept going on
12:53from there it’s actually spiraled but
12:55initially I gave I compensated in just
12:57for the basketball team and then I ended
12:59up compensating for the other team as
13:00well because the wasn’t connection in
13:02the very beginning and all I had to do
13:04was he’s given I offered him 15% of the
13:07net profit which was for us a decent
13:09amount anyway our margin for fantastic
13:10so you know that’s something that was
13:13easy for us to do the contracts were not
13:15hard to write I happen to go off of and
13:17then I you know put my own spin on it
13:19in ninth grade I didn’t know that
13:23we’ve a lot of knowledge or didn’t have
13:25the best vocabulary but it was
13:27definitely sufficient enough for what I
13:29needed to do now we talk to a lot of
13:31entrepreneurs about starting their
13:33business whether they want to form an S
13:36corporation or an LLC or if they’re just
13:38going to obviously do a sole
13:39proprietorship or or the like and so
13:43with lik your soul
13:45what what what type of entity was that
13:48and given the fact that you were
13:50underage how did you how did you arrange
13:53work for those whether you incorporate
13:57it or whether we ll see how did you
13:59actually form that yes so I literally
14:03liability company and so has every other
14:05company that I’ve ever owned at you know
14:07it cuz I’m actually on a few now but
14:09I’ve always made my structures LLC’s
14:13simply because that’s what I’m
14:14comfortable with
14:14however I think people need to
14:15understand that first and foremost if
14:18you’re if you’re by yourself in the
14:19business if you’re the only equity owner
14:20your LLC is actually going to protect
14:22folks is act as a full proprietorship so
14:24that’s something them you know make sure
14:26that you understand and there’s
14:28obviously different reasons like each
14:29corporation you should be with you know
14:31whatever they choose to be we personally
14:33decide to be decided to be an LLC or i
14:35person’s side of that simply because I
14:37thought the most flexible structure that
14:39would fit for my company needs at the
14:41beginning we might we may or may not be
14:43transitioning I’m not sure yet
14:45however I think it’s also important for
14:48us to understand or for two people in
14:51general to understand that you know when
14:54you’re under age there’s not too much
14:56there’s not many difficulties actually
14:58so what I did was in terms of
14:59incorporating in the state of
15:00Pennsylvania I was legally allowed to do
15:02that even though I was underage the only
15:04thing I need a legal backing for or just
15:06backing in general from anyone that was
15:08over eighteen or twenty one with
15:10signatures on contract so most of the
15:12time I add a cosigner or and which was
15:15like for example my mentors my mentors
15:18really built everything for me in the
15:20sense that like they helped me learn all
15:22the ropes and because I’m outdated aside
15:24everything so in a sense you know in the
15:26beginning they actually helped me out in
15:27that way to I use them as cosines for
15:30certain contracts and stuff like that
15:33you had met these mentors through the
15:35startup corporation high school program
15:38here in Philadelphia
15:39yeah it’s currently called schoolyard
15:42ventures action they change their name
15:43but I went through that program that was
15:46the program that I went through my
15:47freshman year and I stayed with them
15:48until my junior year without that
15:52company for that organization rather
15:54cause is a non-profit is definitely
15:57something I would recommend to any high
15:59school entrepreneur or any other than
16:01that as well because you can learn a lot
16:03to be a mentor to that group as well so
16:06when you’re looking for special
16:07resources to help start a business I
16:09know that we talked about that earlier
16:11to generate ideas you’re looking to
16:12start a business like we’ve been talking
16:14about with David or an LLC or an S
16:17corporation or a C corporation or even a
16:19non-profit if you actually go to
16:21Mitchell chadroy comm slash Inc sciency
16:24those are resources that will help you
16:27start a business an LLC an S corporation
16:29a C corporation we’re a non-profit
16:31Mitchell Chad Road comm / Inc
16:34now you talk to us a little bit about
16:37the the challenges that you’ve faced in
16:39your first startup and and also the the
16:43decline of your private label agreement
16:46and and how you kind of went into debt
16:49repeal so can you can you talk to us a
16:52little bit about this new opportunity I
16:54mean you’ve already kind of explained to
16:56us about the technology but but just
16:59just maybe go into a little bit more in
17:02depth in terms of the challenges or the
17:04setbacks that you learned about and and
17:07how that’s helped you with with debt
17:08repeal you know going forward and today
17:11sure so I think from the biggest
17:14mistakes we made were anticipating the
17:17wrong mark at the beginning which is fun
17:19like every company’s and go today you’re
17:20going to learn what’s best for your
17:21company later on but initially we
17:23actually launched the company with for
17:25example you know we did a trial run in
17:27the store in Philadelphia with no labels
17:29small bottles that were fat and ugly
17:31that we sold for $25 and we sold out in
17:34a week so we had great you know kind of
17:37we had a good run on it however when we
17:40actually had a physical launch we went
17:42straight to the b2c market as well as
17:44b2b but mostly focused on the BBC market
17:47which was great and we made in about the
17:50eight months that were actually running
17:51that about 80 grand so it wasn’t it
17:53wasn’t a bad business it wasn’t a bad
17:55market for us
17:57however for I guess what I learned from
18:00that aspect of one he tells me take you
18:02to see hard and I think that it depends
18:05on you know you have to be ready to be
18:06actually doing that you have it is
18:10capital intensive if you want it to be
18:12it doesn’t have to be it depends on how
18:13you structure your business and what
18:15kind of retailers you go for I also
18:17think that you have to be worried that
18:18it’s a lot harder to convince multiple
18:20people to buy a product as opposed to
18:22just a business or to someone who needs
18:23it that you think needs it at least and
18:25so I think for us when I was thinking
18:29about the whole scenario about I think
18:32eight months down the line I had my
18:34manufacturer out of Fort Lauderdale
18:35actually declared bankruptcy and refused
18:38to disclose the 1% proprietary part to
18:41us so the huge issue with that process
18:46for the last you know year and a half
18:48into the six to six different labs as
18:51well as overseas labs to try and help us
18:54out until I see me on lab by myself this
18:56summer and figured out this spring
18:58actually I mean but most people in their
19:01four years or 50s would have found this
19:03to be an overwhelming overwhelming
19:07challenges and yet you you you overcame
19:10them by constantly continuing to try to
19:13find a manufacturer I think you
19:16mentioned the number of manufacturers
19:19that you actually went through so how
19:21did you how did you have that type of
19:23resolve how do you where do you where do
19:26you find that that type of strength and
19:28and fortitude to kind of you know find a
19:31solution and kind of move forward well I
19:35think Duffy takes a lot of grit that’s
19:37definitely one thing that I think I’ve
19:39actually used to have at the time my
19:43scenario was a little bit different
19:44because at the same time that we were to
19:45be to see we actually did b2b and at the
19:48time when we lost our manufacturer we
19:51ended up buying products from overseas
19:53that were very similar but a lot worse
19:55than quality and didn’t do exactly as
19:57they were supposed to um but we you know
19:59the companies
20:00we’re buying her I was didn’t care about
20:01that they needed the initial effect and
20:03that’s what worked for them so we sold
20:05that to them and we actually made it a
20:07seven-figure business in a year so I
20:10mean it works for us sense that you know
20:14we were able to pivot our market and
20:16pivot our resources to using other
20:18companies and other manufacturers to
20:21fill the issues that we had and then on
20:23top of that to make matters even better
20:25it’s really all about how Simone
20:27believing what you do I truly believe in
20:29what I do I love what I do and I think
20:30that it’s something that needs to happen
20:33and even though I know my future plans
20:35might be going in one way or another I
20:38still believe that something like this
20:39is something you know where I specialize
20:41in business development development
20:43something that I like I enjoy doing what
20:46I do and I think that in general I think
20:47something like this you can always find
20:50solutions to problems I mean that’s what
20:52Entre Nous supposed to do if there’s a
20:53problem your business I think you’re
20:55supposed to solve that and yeah I think
20:57there’s certain times in a business
20:58where you have to know when to get out
21:00and when it’s time to pack clothes
21:02however I still think that it’s very
21:05important as an entrepreneur to be able
21:07to fight through certain issues and
21:09problems had for example I not had to be
21:11the side of the business and you would
21:13and I didn’t see the potential in this
21:14business but anything this could be an
21:16eight-figure business and I probably
21:17would have given up but I believe in it
21:19and I believe that it’s all in our power
21:21as people were entrepreneurs to solve
21:24the issues that we have at hand though I
21:26think because of that I was able to kind
21:27of get through those issues now we
21:32talked a little bit about lick your soul
21:35in terms of how you how you were able to
21:37use friends to to get into the various
21:41universities and establish deals that
21:44way so you mentioned that debt repeal
21:46has now been a 7-figure grossing revenue
21:50product so how were you able to get into
21:53the not only the b2b stores or the
21:57industrial space but but also get into
22:01the various consumer retail space as
22:05well how have you been able to develop
22:06that and get into those short those
22:09those distribution channels so we
22:12actually launched the bee
22:14home again this week earlier this week
22:16however this entire time we were due to
22:19be as I mentioned and I think for us
22:21initially it was all about was all about
22:24my connections all about networking I
22:25think one of my strongest skills is
22:27definitely networking I love to know
22:29Kirk I love to me people I love helping
22:30people connecting them with people I
22:32think that they may need and I believe
22:35that you know in the future I will get
22:37that back one way or another and so
22:39because of that I actually was able to
22:41establish a lot of connections early on
22:42because a lot of people took me
22:43seriously
22:44and I believe that’s because I decided
22:45myself seriously obviously but I think
22:47it’s very important as a young
22:49entrepreneur specifically they need to
22:50present yourself in a way that is
22:53diplomatic as well as it’s respectable
22:55and just in general you trustworthy and
22:58able to fulfill the promises that unique
23:01or just simple things that you say so I
23:04do because of that I was able to build a
23:05lot of great connections early on and it
23:07just it built on from there and then
23:09once I got the press I got a lot of
23:10great organizations behind me always had
23:13an extensive extensive list of advisers
23:15and mentors personally that it haven’t
23:18even taken equity but sit on my board
23:21without any equity and just in general
23:23that you know advise me on any kind of
23:26basis anytime and then any moment I need
23:29them anytime I feel without taking any
23:32equity I think that’s important to
23:34mention just because I think it’s all
23:36about building relationships in life and
23:37definitely helps out in business
23:39specifically so so so debt repeal in
23:42terms of a structure is similar in
23:44structure as like your soul it’s a LLC
23:48sole member here in Pennsylvania correct
23:52yeah and tell us a little bit about some
23:56of your actual clients if you could and
23:59and and the the law firm or the attorney
24:02that you’re actually working working
24:04with because I think that people out
24:07there who are looking for those types of
24:08resources I think you know and it sounds
24:12as if you like to be helpful to others I
24:14think that that would that would be very
24:16helpful to especially other young
24:18entrepreneurs who are looking to
24:20obviously do the same and take their
24:23business to the next level
24:24sure so I mean personally I think it
24:27depends on who you need but my start-up
24:29attorney is each Flamel it’s he
24:31specifically in Philadelphia PA I know
24:33he does the surrounding regions as well
24:35but I also use different companies all
24:40the time
24:41we’re back by Saul Ewing which is a
24:43large regional firm they have an office
24:46in Philadelphia and I know they’re
24:47facing many other busy as well but
24:50they’re big firm they back us who
24:53doesn’t work with their Debbie springer
24:56okay sure
24:58yes so she know she’s ahead of us the
25:01snake program that they have they’re
25:02called ramp which is push it’s pretty
25:04much an accelerator plugin for startups
25:06wearing that we get deferred legal fees
25:09from there and in terms of companies
25:11that I’ve reached out to we work with
25:13Stella Global to the food distributor
25:15we’ve worked with a different kinds of
25:18companies in terms of like casinos or
25:21just in general
25:22carpet companies carpet cleaners carpet
25:24manufacturers textile manufacturers
25:26throughout the entire US there’s there’s
25:29many different markets that a lot of
25:30people actually don’t know that we’re in
25:32but it’s actually a lot more in-depth
25:34than most people think
25:36are you allowed to talk to us a little
25:39bit about some of those major clients
25:41that you do have in terms of not only
25:43who they might be but actually how you
25:45went about systematically getting them
25:48as clients sure I mean in general like I
25:52mentioned the Stella Global was probably
25:54the first one I actually ever had again
25:56brought through through a mentor um and
25:59you know we worked with directly to
26:01present actually in you know he loved
26:03the product and stuff like so so you
26:05know we actually had our contract pretty
26:07much based in the sense that they
26:09sprayed on stainless steel because he
26:10has antimicrobial properties in the
26:12product and it actually you know was
26:15used in the process of transporting meat
26:18because the blood had to be sanitized
26:20all the time this way they have to just
26:21wipe it down so it’s a time and cost and
26:23just in general we worked with other
26:26companies such as textile companies
26:28those I’ll probably not name simply
26:30because I know that there’s a lot of
26:31people in this industry that are trying
26:32to get into these Texas areas but at the
26:36same time I’m very confident that we
26:37would never
26:38you know get beaten by different umpires
26:40is because our prize is very proprietary
26:42and we have a good one but I think I
26:44wouldn’t even be allowed to mention them
26:46regardless because they they’re just
26:48manufacturers for larger companies such
26:50as I can imagine the companies that they
26:52manufacture for such as Under Armour
26:53Victoria’s Secret stuff like that but
26:56and then they’re but they’re but they’re
26:58here in the US I know you had mentioned
27:00having issues with your outside
27:02manufacturer correct when you when you
27:05lost the private label and then you were
27:07looking for you know someone else to
27:09help you manufacture the product correct
27:11well we didn’t have a private label we I
27:13actually invented the products I this is
27:16my product that we’d be using we just
27:18had a manufacturer that was contracted
27:20for us as a contract manufacturer in
27:22Fort Lauderdale that’s the one that I
27:24lost due to bankruptcy due to their
27:26bankruptcy and they refuse to release
27:29that one for some proprietary part and I
27:31was using a private pretty much a
27:34private label from overseas those are
27:37the guys that I left without our own
27:39product as their protocol isn’t that
27:40great anyway gotcha so tell us a little
27:44bit about then protecting your patent on
27:47debt repeal I mean who helped you file
27:50that and and and talk to us a little bit
27:53about you know moving what happened I
27:56guess in the interim with the consumer
27:58market that now you’re you’re kind of
28:00back in I mean obviously that that kind
28:02of goes to the issues that you were
28:03having before but maybe maybe tell us a
28:06little bit about that as well so in the
28:09original formula that we had with the
28:10original lab I had a four lawyer we had
28:12a provisional currently we don’t have
28:14any patent I only were going to pursue
28:15an either simply because you make type
28:17of silica blend that we have inside the
28:19formula and that’s just proprietary to
28:22us into our lab now it’s actually our
28:25lab it’s not just a contracted
28:26manufacturer we have a facility space
28:28out of North Carolina that we use and
28:32we’ve contracted nanotechnology tends to
28:34work out of there so that’s that’s where
28:36we’re at in that case but that’s an
28:38outside that’s an outside vendor that’s
28:40not your own lab correct we actually
28:43have the space back space it is it’s not
28:46enough I than it’s a so it’s actual
28:49you’ve actually hired employees to
28:52obviously do that inside correct yeah
28:57pretty much so we contacted a lab that
28:59is contact or a contract their employees
29:01to be pretty much like sub employees
29:04subcontractors for us to just work on it
29:06but we have the formula we have
29:08everything else we own all the
29:10proprietary information and everything
29:11like that yeah just out of curiosity
29:14show so how many employees do you have
29:16or are they independent contractors sure
29:19I guess with a combination of everything
29:20including part-time and full-time it’s
29:23nine of us but you know in terms of
29:26founders equity and actually equity in
29:28general right now it’s currently only me
29:29however I’m trying to bring on people
29:31like Jeremiah and just other people in
29:33general because I think they see the
29:34same vision that I see you think that
29:36together we can bring this through the
29:39amount of revenue that we think it
29:40deserves and then from there potentially
29:42have an exit as well or just leave it as
29:45a lifestyle business and have a manager
29:47take it from there
29:48yeah so what what’s your advice to two
29:51teenagers now who say they want to start
29:53their own business or have an idea
29:54sounds as if you really want to help you
29:56want to give back so what what are what
29:59are some of the key things that you
30:00would you would tell them to start doing
30:02sure so I mentor at a few different
30:04programs and I believe that some of the
30:08biggest things that we do as
30:10entrepreneurs is t not specifically is
30:11yet actually started everyone says they
30:14want to be wealthy everyone says they
30:15want to be successful everyone says they
30:16want to own a business everyone says
30:18that they want to be an entrepreneur
30:19that’s kind of the fad right now but the
30:22difference is the people that are
30:23actually destined to do what other one
30:24to take that leap of faith and take the
30:26risk and actually do it because it does
30:27take it does take a lot out of you it is
30:29risk it’s a huge this don’t get me wrong
30:31many people aren’t meant to do this
30:33however those that truth is that they
30:35are you to just pull the plug and really
30:37do it so I think the first thing is
30:39really just get started get started your
30:41idea you don’t even need to incorporate
30:43right away you know do some market
30:45research get the surveys out ask friends
30:47and family and even people that you
30:48don’t know on the street whether or not
30:50your idea is something that people would
30:52buy or company it’s a for example not
30:55long the people and it’s a service or
30:56maybe it’s just a group or industrial
30:59companies then ask companies companies
31:01is something that they would buy or
31:03on the street I think it’s important to
31:06obviously number one get customer
31:07feedback and be pretty much you know
31:09you’re working for the customer the
31:10customer is buying from you you’re not
31:12buying from the customer there’s a
31:14reason why you have to satisfy them and
31:16that reason is because they’re the
31:18people that should matter the most to
31:19you in business so if it makes any sense
31:23at all to start a business you should
31:24probably ask the people who you’re going
31:26to decide what they think first so I
31:28think it’s very very important to get
31:31some market research done when you are
31:32trying to start a company or just trying
31:34to do anything in general the has to do
31:36with business and requires to start song
31:40you know we talked a little bit about
31:43crowdfunding and crowdsourcing and I
31:46know that that we had a show on that
31:48back on our show zero one five and I
31:52know that you had mentioned about
31:54earning $10,000 before like your soul
31:57and then you sold like your soul you
31:59made some money there I know you would
32:01indicated that your first batch of
32:03product cost you about $80,000 and we
32:07really didn’t go into any detail and to
32:09make it I’m sorry we sold one eighty
32:13thousand worth in the first month how
32:16did you create so so in terms of the
32:18money that you use to obviously not only
32:20create the product but pay people to
32:22obviously develop the product and put it
32:25in the you know put it in the you know
32:28the bottles to get it out there how did
32:29you how did you basically fund all of
32:32that was that was that through all the
32:33money from that you had made prior in
32:35your prior businesses yeah so actually
32:39like I had mentioned before another
32:41thing I actually didn’t mention is I
32:43grew up very very poor so because my
32:44parents were in the red so I had very
32:46big sense of independence in the early
32:48age on didn’t have any help from family
32:51or you know my family always did
32:53everything for me that they could but it
32:54wasn’t what I needed to start a business
32:56for example never took out any loans or
32:59anything like that started with a
33:00hundred dollars made someone off that
33:02lost it like I said and when I fought
33:04with your soul I think it took me
33:05another hundred or two just to buy
33:06supplies and get started from there
33:08but I think I mean big misconception in
33:10entrepreneurship is people who don’t
33:12have money think you need money to start
33:14a business and people who have money
33:15think it’s too hard
33:17right and so I think coming from someone
33:19who started multiple businesses is
33:21barely any money I think it’s actually
33:23very doable
33:24it’s definitely obviously going to take
33:26longer to get more successful along the
33:29way but that’s all part of the process
33:31and I think you know it’s all in your
33:33hands for example I think that if you
33:35are about to start a business you only
33:37need a few hundred dollars you don’t
33:38necessarily you think will pay like I
33:39said right away you don’t necessarily
33:41need to have depending on business again
33:43look for example liability insurance
33:45right that’s something that you can buy
33:46after the first 200 trusted people have
33:49bought your products ok so I think it’s
33:51very very important to be able to
33:53utilize and save your funds that you
33:56making the business immediately so what
33:58we do is and what I’ve done actually is
34:01I put all the money that I made from my
34:03prior businesses into that repeal and
34:05from there especially from Lakers focus
34:07we made a decent amount on that I sold
34:11that now I used all the money in Tedesco
34:13wasted a lot in many different aspects
34:16like for example paying for a two
34:17thousand dollar website in the very
34:18beginning that didn’t even work right so
34:21there’s a lot of things that we blew
34:22money for that
34:23didn’t I deserve to have that kind of
34:25money put in the beginning anyway but
34:28nonetheless you did that that was a
34:29great lesson to learn and I definitely
34:31wanna do that again and instead what we
34:33could well you know every single penny
34:35that still comes in through this day to
34:36this day through that felt is reinvested
34:39back into the company because if you
34:41want your company to grow the fastest
34:42possible as possible at fast possible
34:44you need to reinvest all your money into
34:46it I don’t take a salary anything that
34:49I’ve ever bought I buy with obviously my
34:51own money I did start to other companies
34:53or I started another company rather and
34:54just got named the CEO of a different
34:56company but I started a second company
34:58to kind of supplement my cash flow that
35:01I wanted to live with so that I could
35:02reinvest all the monies coming in from
35:03debt repel back into business so you
35:06might have already covered this but so
35:08what do you tell somebody who thinks
35:10that they need to do some crowdfunding I
35:12mean you know it might be for some
35:15people but it might not necessarily be
35:17for others and I think that what you’ve
35:19just indicated is very instructive in
35:21terms of realizing that you could do
35:23more with less than what you might think
35:26but so what is your overall feeling then
35:29about crowdfunding
35:30um that’s a good question
35:34I believe Connie is definitely
35:36subjective two different oscillators I
35:40think personally I did a crowdfunding
35:41campaign is desperately needed money
35:44planning you manufacture we got a
35:46venture capital offer along the way that
35:48was beyond way beyond the money that we
35:51wanted for the crowdfunding campaign and
35:53we started intelligence process although
35:55I never took that venture capital
35:57offered that offer was on the table so I
35:59canceled the indigo campaign that we
36:01were doing and because of that was the
36:03reason why you actually didn’t get fully
36:05funded but but how many how many
36:07entrepreneurs with even more experience
36:10would have had the the mindset the focus
36:13to obviously not take that because I I
36:16think that most people would be like wow
36:19you know this is this is really what I
36:21want and you were able to basically say
36:25no this is this is not really what I
36:27want this is this is more than what we
36:29were looking for and actually turned it
36:32down where does that come from how do
36:34you how do you I mean at such a young
36:37age how do you how do you how did you
36:40develop that you have to really just
36:43learn how to take risks in my opinion I
36:45think it’s very important to understand
36:47the process of business and everything
36:50that you do in life but specifically
36:51businesses is a risk because you’re
36:52putting everything out online
36:53being a young entrepreneur specifically
36:55I think it’s even better in in my
36:57scenario or any Anyang on Canaria to
37:00take that risk at an early age because
37:03you have things to fall back on so at
37:05the end of the day even though my
37:06parents aren’t wealthy or my parents
37:08aren’t necessarily backing me I knew
37:10that if anything were to happen I could
37:11always rely on my parents or you know
37:13I’d always be okay my expenses aren’t
37:15you know I don’t have a mortgage I don’t
37:16have a have a car that I’m financing I
37:18don’t have any of that so for me I’m not
37:20going to be in a position where I’m
37:23losing money if anything goes wrong and
37:27I think most entrepreneurs forget about
37:28that because there are there are
37:30resources such as parents which is in
37:31general other things that you can do to
37:33kind of fill empty space that you may
37:36have when you’re about to take a risk
37:38and you’re scared to do so so I think
37:40you just have to learn how to take this
37:41and really understand that if you’re not
37:43going to take a risk
37:44you’re not going to get the reward if
37:46you’re not going to take that week and
37:47not going to get you’re not going to
37:48make the jump you know I mean so sure no
37:50possibility of success succeeding if
37:53you’re not going to take the chance to
37:54do so and if you get they in your mind I
37:56think you still that mentality you’ll
37:58understand that you have to do it
38:00there’s no other way around it
38:02you know we stated before that the
38:05podcast is all about balancing business
38:07and family and life so as a young person
38:11involved with school and you have
38:13business and obviously we talked a
38:15little bit about your family and their
38:16influence on you as well how do you how
38:20do you balance all of that how do you
38:22balance your school relationships and
38:24your family and your work I mean you’re
38:26under 18 years of age I mean I remember
38:28when I was 18 so how did how do you do
38:31it I mean it’s all about prioritization
38:34is high management I learned how to
38:35manage my time very early on because
38:37what I went through for middle school
38:39that same old I went to high school but
38:41the magnet school that I went through it
38:44was a 15-minute commute one way and I
38:46had to commute you know from 6:00 in the
38:49morning I would wake up I would be on
38:51the train by 6:45 and I would be home
38:53usually around midnight action and I was
38:55doing like my freshman year of high
38:56school for example I did twelve
38:58different clubs I did Robotics did a
38:59little be everything I could possibly
39:00dabble in to to find what I personally
39:03loved it took a lot of my club at home
39:07because has a sad question I think the
39:09potlatch on prioritization things a big
39:10theme of life in life rather and I think
39:13I’m a big opponent of people who say
39:16that you need to have a work work hard
39:17pay are down especially in young age
39:20because I believe that if you’re if you
39:22should want to be successful in whatever
39:25your definition of success is because it
39:26does not feel happy money but you know
39:30if you really have that idea in your
39:32mind in that mind so that you have a
39:33need to be successful you want to be
39:35successful then you need to put in that
39:37time because there’s nobody else is
39:38going to a 40 you know i forgivable in
39:41high school
39:41heading into the day i don’t party i I
39:43never really have had that opportunity
39:44to say I’ve never been in that position
39:46not that I haven’t had the opportunity I
39:48choose not to have that opportunity not
39:50to do it as you’ve got to be in that
39:52scenario I’ve never I big sports my
39:56entire life goes on
39:57a club team on a national team I mean
39:59we’ve done I’ve done personally a lot of
40:02different things and followed my passion
40:04for the plumber for example I don’t
40:06believe when you are asked from the
40:08other that when you’re doing it is what
40:09I don’t mean it’s a job so you know it’s
40:12a passion I mean you love to do and if
40:14you have a passion something you’re
40:15going to do it no matter what
40:16it sort of flowing you’re going to be
40:18excited to do what you love so high
40:19place what I love dreams so I’m excited
40:22I’m doing anything absolutely
40:23magnificent
40:24I’m out of the roof excited because I
40:26love that stuff I love entrepreneurship
40:28and everything that provides a novel
40:29revolves around it so I think you know
40:32what you find what you love and what you
40:34what you truly believe in has to be
40:36there or you what you say have to really
40:39match what you do and because of that I
40:41think you need to learn how to pray
40:42where times your time say I never went
40:45to social outings that many that much as
40:47I like socialize with older people and
40:49develop relationships ining last me
40:52forever and that’s how I’m saying that I
40:53didn’t have fun in high school
40:54I love doubling more known kids in high
40:56school but at the same time I didn’t
40:58have time to go out on the weekends and
41:00ask me and and I also you know was
41:02running some kind of innocence so and
41:04then again I also did not trying to be
41:07throughout my entire four years I did so
41:09many different activities I think you’re
41:11just important for me to understand that
41:12I didn’t have free time at the item that
41:16time and just lay down on my phone and
41:18watch people’s videos or snapchat videos
41:20or anything like that I have social
41:22media but I know a lot of my friends for
41:24example that claim that they want to be
41:25successful would rather sit in least
41:28twenty minutes watching some stupid bees
41:30would remove as a person getting out
41:32there and making call they didn’t need
41:34me that day and just forgot to do so I
41:36know I know I am I just know what I want
41:40to get on till I finish your thought our
41:43mission how essential it is to keep to
41:46find what works for you and keep doing
41:48that so for example for me I use my
41:50abakada religiously
41:51I mean whiteboards I have three weapon
41:54tiny am i doing room right now a copy I
41:56saw on my laptop I still have my nose on
41:58my phone and you know but I said the
42:01calendar that I use different apps of
42:03Trello to keep all my things together
42:05you know you haven’t renovated and find
42:08what works for you and stick with it
42:11- no you’re the youngest entrepreneur
42:14that we’ve had so far on we’ll listen a
42:16podcast and I say this with all respect
42:20you you sound like you’re you’re way
42:22beyond your years of course and you’re
42:24like an old soul and I do a lot of
42:27estate planning with all different types
42:30of people from from their teenage years
42:31all the way up into their 90’s I’ve had
42:34clients that are over a hundred and so I
42:36kind of ask this question even though
42:39you’re a young person because I’m very
42:41impressed with you and I think that you
42:43can handle it so let’s talk about legacy
42:46and how legacy is important to you at
42:50such a young age
42:52what type of legacy do you want to leave
42:56yeah yeah actually just because I might
43:02have taken a different role where I kind
43:05of transitioned into a personal brand
43:06now as you I’ve been on quite a
43:09different quite a lot of different media
43:12outlets so I do have something to uphold
43:15and with that being said I really sat
43:19down and thought about what I want what
43:22that is so I think I’m actually the last
43:26come on in my family my dad and I have
43:29the last two that are alive right now
43:32and so I think you know for me it’s more
43:35than just my need at this current moment
43:36it’s more about meaning impact and
43:39really understanding or
43:41understanding but rather kind of
43:44proposing to the entire world and to
43:47Duncan specific young people
43:49specifically especially the ones that
43:51are impoverished or just in general not
43:53in the best scenarios because you could
43:55be a wealthy kid into the lining with us
43:57as either but I want to be a legacy
44:00about specifically cater towards
44:03starting things starting your life early
44:05I don’t think this time to that play and
44:08there’s time to be kid don’t get me
44:09wrong I’m still kid at at the end of the
44:11day and I still do kid thing I still
44:14make mistakes but at the end of the day
44:17you know I want something I’ll go and
44:20get it now instead of waiting two or
44:21three days five years whatever it has to
44:23be so
44:24we start on your life as early as you
44:25possibly can because there’s nobody out
44:27there is going to be focusing on you are
44:29helping you or doing anything for you
44:32better than you can yourself well I know
44:34that your goal is a huge push for youth
44:38entrepreneurship and I think that you
44:41know if everybody in the audience from
44:43kids that are in high school to college
44:46and those that are obviously older and
44:49looking to sort of transition into
44:51entrepreneurship I think there’s a lot
44:53of wisdom in what you’ve been talking
44:56about our Fast Pitch Mitchell Chad Road
44:59comm slash books for books audiobooks
45:03guests recommendations and the books
45:05that I read to start off each day
45:08sponsors are fast pitch my book club
45:12recommendations I get Mitchell Chad Road
45:14comm slash books to see more of my
45:17recommendations and recommendations of
45:19our guests just go to Mitchell Chad Road
45:21comm slash books it’s your number one
45:24resource for book reviews and
45:26recommendations some really quick
45:28questions supposed to be fun and also
45:31kind of go a little bit more in depth in
45:33terms of who you are as a person so our
45:36first question in this fast round David
45:38you’re ready right yep perfect best
45:42business advice that you have ever
45:45received
45:47sure time is my mouth Isle asset and the
45:51next is our audible inspirational book
45:54which is sponsored by Mitchell Chad row
45:55comm slash audible name a book that has
45:59either helped you in business family or
46:01life that’s that’s really inspired you
46:04and will help others the education of
46:07millionaire by Michael Albert what one
46:10thing contributes most to your success
46:15this is actually also a book but if
46:17anyone wants to read acting is a great
46:19one to in and contributed to my success
46:20as his mentality called the power of
46:23broke the business Pacific book by Dana
46:24John native came out that mean by this
46:26and that mentality I think is what
46:30really helped my success how about a fun
46:32fact about you that maybe not a lot of
46:34people know about but maybe it would do
46:37would tell
46:38a lot of people something additional
46:40about you other than just you know your
46:42business acumen sure
46:46I am absolutely love with soccer I play
46:49soccer religiously I’ve played club my
46:51whole life and as well as state team
46:55state select teams and I’ve played on
46:57showcasing double regional champions
46:59even have made national karma how about
47:03your worst advice that’s being given to
47:05young entrepreneurs today what’s that
47:10sorry the worst advice being given were
47:13young entrepreneurs today yeah I would
47:17probably say that the worst advice is
47:19that you need mind to start a business
47:22mm-hmm and when you think of the word
47:25successful what first name comes to your
47:28mind
47:30wow I haven’t been asked this one before
47:33I’d probably say Mark Cuban okay and in
47:41two years from now whatever that’s why
47:43I’m no I hear you
47:44look up in LA two years from now what
47:47are you doing two years from now am i
47:50doing hopefully being on the verge to
47:52sell the company as well as in my third
47:55and hopefully final year of college I’m
47:58trying to finish early cool worried
48:00where you going right now I’m at Babson
48:03okay and and what do you what are you
48:06studying what are you doing
48:08entrepreneurship huh it’s an all-hands
48:10oh yeah everyone gets a degree in
48:14business administration but you get the
48:15contouring different things I’m kind of
48:17due to concentration so yeah no no super
48:20you know as we as we say goodbye I have
48:23a few additional sponsors but I
48:25certainly want to find out how we can
48:28all obviously not only keep in contact
48:30with you but I’m going to ask you to
48:32basically at the end of the show wrap up
48:34and tell everybody the three major
48:37lessons the three major takeaways that
48:39everybody can sort of take away from
48:42from this show today it would be so
48:44helpful to us and we would really
48:46appreciate it and Mitchell chadroy comm
48:48slash books I know David has already
48:50given us
48:51number of great books that you can you
48:53can obviously get at Mitchell chadroy
48:55comm slash looks like I said I love
48:57books David it sounds like you really
48:59love books as well correct right our
49:01wrap-up round
49:02Mitchell Chad row comm slash photos for
49:06all your graphic design needs David now
49:10how can people keep in contact with you
49:13and then as we leave the show maybe we
49:17can wrap up and the three major lessons
49:20learned from today’s show sure so the
49:23best way to keep in contact me is any
49:25through any way through my public social
49:27media outlets such as Twitter or
49:30Facebook preferably not Facebook that’s
49:32more private nowadays but any of my debt
49:35repel links or my personal links which
49:37just all has to do with my name you can
49:39follow me on many almost anything is at
49:41David Zamorin or Advent repeal or you
49:45know through our website through
49:47dodgeball comm you can find the email
49:49and and now let’s listen up to David as
49:54he summarizes the three main points so
49:58are you ready David yep
50:01number one okay number one start as
50:05early as you can
50:06number two take as many risks as you can
50:10and number three be sure to know what
50:16you really want David this has been
50:20awesome I’ve really enjoyed it quite a
50:23bit I’m really thankful that you came
50:25onto the show and I really do know that
50:28there’s a lot of people out there that
50:31are going to really use all the wisdom
50:33that you’ve provided us today so I want
50:36to thank you very much I’m really
50:37excited to find out how you’re doing and
50:39we’re certainly going to keep in contact
50:41with you so again thanks thanks so very
50:44much thank you missile thing so may you
50:47take care now
50:48be good now but bye bye Nova in closing
50:52let me have for my listeners helpers
50:54please subscribe to my email list at
50:57Mitchell Chad Road comm slash sign up
50:59you will get all the full interview
51:01transcripts my ebook 30 tools to start
51:04up where
51:04talk about these free resources in show
51:07zero zeros tech you’ll get the startup
51:10checklist education and training
51:11materials and other resources just by
51:14signing up at Mitchell chadroy comm
51:16slash sign up
51:18[Music]
51:25it’s your life go howl back at Mitchell
51:31chadroy common slash signup help me
51:33boost the rankings of the listen up show
51:35the startup entrepreneur podcast by
51:38providing a well written review in
51:40iTunes
51:41Mitchell chadroy comm slash iTunes it
51:44helps other people find the show if you
51:46actually need instructions on how to do
51:48this you can find that back at Mitchell
51:50Chad Road comm / sign up thank you so
51:53much for subscribing to my email list
51:55and providing a written review on iTunes
51:58until next time
The post Young Serial Entrepreneur: David Zamarin Sold His First Startup Lick Your Sole At 15, Now He Is Founder And CEO Of Detrapel Show 025 was republished on startupssmarter.com
