- Off Balance
- Posts
- Off Balance #46
Off Balance #46
🎙️ Nothing Ventured - Aarish in conversation with Amman Ahmed, Exited Founder of Music For Pets on how streaming to 50m dogs and cats got him acquired by a music label 🐶
Aarish Shah
July 30, 2024
In partnership with
👋🏾 Hi friends!
Well I’m back in Italy to take in some air, some sun and a fair amount of heat.
It’s been a tremendously trying 6 months on a lot of fronts and it’s always worth remembering to give yourself time to reflect, regroup and recharge.
And, let’s face it, with views like these, why wouldn’t you?
Whatever you’re doing this summer, whether watching the Olympics or building your business, I hope you get the opportunity to take a break and just… Breathe!
As you know, I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance - The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄. I’m setting myself the target of getting through a large portion of it whilst I’m away in Italy during August - wish me luck!
Now let’s get down to business…
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝟱𝟬𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
I've talked to a lot of VCs and venture backed founders on Nothing Ventured, but what about the success stories from folk who've taken a different path?
On our latest episode, I spoke to Amman Ahmed, founder of MusicForPets, a bootstrapped business producing relaxing music and TV for mans best friends to help with a range of anxiety issues, think of it as Netflix for your pets, or just Petflix!
MusicForPets exited to Create Music Group in 2023 and Amman remains as President for MusicForPets and VP Business Development.
Prior to founding MusicForPets, Amman founded rormix, an app to help you discover emerging music and roundwaves s network of YouTube channels that focus on making music to help you sleep, relax and concentrate.
What did his journey look like?
💰 Took VC funding.
😭 His team told him he was useless.
⚙️ Quit and built side hustle of his side hustle, completely bootstrapped.
🐕 Streamed to 50m pets globally having spent only FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS on marketing over 7 years.
🤢 Got courted by investment bankers who tried to sell him to pet food companies.
🤯 Found an email in his spam that led to an 8 figure exit to a globally renowned record label.
You. Could. Not. Make. This. S#it. Up.
❓ Want to know what happened next...?
Check it out on YouTube!
If you have any feedback, or if there’s something you’re desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail or ping me online - I’m very open to conversations.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with “Off Balance” and, more importantly, tell me why you’d like to connect 💪🏾)
Don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe to Nothing Ventured on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, it really helps more people see what we’re doing - you can find links to these (and more including my Office Hours) right here!
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If you’re a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If you’re a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale 🚀
As always, my office hours are open, if you’d like to chat about anything finance, tech or venture releated, just grab some time 😊.
I hope you found Off Balance #46 valuable. As always, I’d love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know 😊
🚀And that’s a wrap for this edition of Off Balance - I’d appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if you’ve got something you’d like to say.
📨 If you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
🎧 Finally, if you’re a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods - it really helps us spread the word.
That’s it from me so until next time…
Stay liquid :)
Aarish
Take a demo, get a Blackstone Griddle
Financial operations heating up? BILL Spend & Expense can help you take control. Automate expense reports, set budgets across teams, and get real-time insights into company spend. Take a demo to learn how and we'll give you a 28" Blackstone Omnivore Griddle—so you can take control of your next barbecue, too.
Reply