Nothing Happens in a Vacuum: Interview with Naomi Shah, Founder and CEO of Meet Cute
I recently went one on one with Naomi Shah, founder and CEO of Meet Cute.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Naomi: Absolutely! Well, first things first, I’m the founder of Meet Cute, a venture-backed entertainment company that has created hundreds of original, scripted audio rom-com stories. The goal is to tell inclusive, feel-good stories about human connection that are relatable for every type of listener.
Before Meet Cute, I was on a different track. I initially graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in human biology from Stanford University and worked on the investment team at Union Square Ventures (USV). While working at USV, I spent a lot of time on the wellbeing category of our portfolio. Part of this work included looking for new media company models to invest in. My research in this area soon became the beginning of Meet Cute’s earliest business plan. A couple of the partners at USV sat me down and asked if I could see myself operating a company and stepping off the beaten path. My parents owned a company together, so I had grown up seeing what it meant to work for yourself. It’s hard work, but rewarding work.
The thing that’s the most instrumental to my growth across the board has been accepting that things take the time they take. When I founded this company, I had so many ideas. We have an amazing team here and a lot of support, so I’ve been able to hit the ground running, but there’s a lot more to be done. It makes me excited for the future.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Naomi: Storytelling is so important, it’s one of the few things that has the ability to connect everyone. Rom-coms, specifically, are a special kind of storytelling. Growing up, I always watched rom-coms with my dad at the end of the week. It was our way of decompressing, of unwinding - they’re total comfort watching. As much as I love the genre, I wasn’t really seeing a lot of diverse experiences and people looking back at me on screen. Romance and rom-coms are far from dead, they are now being revamped and reimagined with modern characters and situations.
I wanted to create a rom-com entertainment brand that was not only inclusive but could be consumed easily, in short, consistent formats. Something that could really meet people where they are spending their time online. Meet Cute publishes an original six-episode series representing communities including Latinx, Black, Native American, LGBTQ+, and stories of all ages and backgrounds. Over 61% of our writers, 50% of our voice actors, and 50% of our producers are female and/or non-binary. These stories matter, it was just time to put new people in the driver’s seat.
I’ve learned so much about the media business in my time building Meet Cute, and I’m still learning every day. The advice I would give to any entrepreneur is to have conviction and trust your gut. It just may not happen overnight. So have patience, and stay focused and disciplined. Starting a company is no small feat. There will be so many decisions along the way you never thought you’d have to consider, but approaching each obstacle with perseverance and consistently showing up makes all the difference. Building a company from the ground up is a very vulnerable place to be, but I think the world needs more of that.
Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Naomi: Our business model brings together the largest network of up-and-coming writers, directors, and actors into the mix. Entertainment comes in a variety of different forms today, including social media, movies, music, podcasts, and books. Utilizing popular voices from a variety of spaces has really proven to be our biggest asset. This unique way of hiring talent, from anywhere, and the success we’ve seen in the short term just confirms to me that this is a model of content creation worth pursuing. In addition, I noticed a market gap for a story incubator of sorts — a company that provided feel-good stories to audiences at scale, in an accessible and short-form format. That became the inspiration for Meet Cute.
My advice to those who want to test a business idea is to complete a trial run on those you trust. If you have people in your corner that will be honest and upfront with you about the pros and cons of your product or service, that will only help to further your success. Constant feedback and improvement are vital in today’s market as the world is constantly changing, and honest feedback early on will help shape your product for the better long-term.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Naomi: Every business is different, and each requires a different set of key steps to grow the company. For Meet Cute, it was having a specific niche of rom-coms. I’m a personal fan of rom-coms (who isn’t?) The audience around rom-coms and romance is voracious, reading and watching everything they can. I zoomed out and thought first how I could breathe new life into an engaged community, and create a digital-first entertainment brand. I was also excited about what the future of Hollywood and entertainment could look like. The first step was identifying a niche, and identifying an audience, and the next step was sticking to it and staying disciplined. Gen Z is hyper-nimble in how they consume media, switching from platform to platform with two clicks on their phone. They are always doing 5 things at once, which is why short stories work so well. They are also right to expect to see themselves and their friends reflected back in the content they consume. That means every kind of life experience, from all over the world, from every kind of socio-economic, cultural, personal, professional, and educational background.
Unfortunately, there is no roadmap to growing a startup business. I’ve experienced so many ups and downs on this journey, but the mistakes I’ve made along the way have been my greatest teachers. I would advise others to embrace every mistake as a learning opportunity. A situation might have you feeling down and discouraged, but altering your perspective to see failure as a lesson learned is such an essential mindset to have as an entrepreneur. There will be many failures along the way, it’s how you handle each one that makes a difference.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Naomi: Be authentic, try to connect with people in real ways. All of our stories are meant to make people laugh and feel good, feel seen, and know they’re not alone in their experience. To remind everyone of hope. Everything we do at Meet Cute in terms of trying to reach people about Meet Cute is tied to that core tenet.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Naomi: Communication and creativity. Getting everyone aligned on goals and (over)communicating, especially in a remote work environment, is paramount. You can’t just go through the motions and expect people to understand what’s in your head. A good, effective leader should constantly strive to make the company a better atmosphere for employees, and I believe that one of the core qualities needed to do that is communication.
I also believe a leader must be creative. It’s important to be able to step outside of the box and pivot and adapt to change. The world is constantly changing, and as a leader, you need to be on the lookout for new paths to build your product or service that haven’t been done before. Turns out, it can usually result in a better overall consumer experience too.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Naomi: My best piece of advice is to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and then listen. Nothing happens in a vacuum, without the help, insight, and ideas of others.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Naomi:
Take time to be creative: Successful entrepreneurs cultivate new ideas that haven’t been tested at other places. There will be people who will question and doubt you, but if you believe in your business, and your team does then everything else will follow. Don’t be afraid to venture off the beaten path.
Acknowledge there are things out of your control: There will be bumps in the road you didn’t anticipate, but as long as you approach them as a learning experience, and remind yourself this is a marathon, not a sprint, things will work out.
Set incremental milestones: The best way to measure a business’s growth and success is by setting quantitative goals. We set those up in the earliest days at Meet Cute and it’s been wonderful to step back and reflect on how the company started and where it is now. It’s a big part of building something new, the ability to see how far you’ve come, and how far you’ve yet to go.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Naomi: The best piece of advice I’ve received was actually from my dad years ago when I was working on science research projects in middle and high school. He told me that I should never be afraid to ask for advice and to be “fearless” with questions. His point being, there is nothing weak or wrong about asking people for help. It actually shows that you are curious and want to learn. I’ve carried this piece of advice with me throughout my professional and personal life. Sometimes it might seem easy to do everything yourself, but it’s not sustainable. Now that I have some experience under my belt, I always make sure I have an open-door policy with Meet Cute employees. I want them to feel comfortable coming to me with questions and hopefully, we can help each other grow.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Naomi: Meet Cute releases a new series every month across every audio platform, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We also post about all things rom-com on our social channels as well as in our weekly newsletter. Visit the Meet Cute website for more information!
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
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