Founded On Purpose

Kt McBratney: [00:00:00] Welcome to Founded on Purpose. I'm your host, Kt McBratney. Each episode, we welcome a founder, investor, or ecosystem builder to answer the same set of questions. And while those questions might be the same, the conversations and insights they open up are always wildly different. And I would say impactful.

So today I am talking with Ashwat Narayan, the co founder and CEO at Social Currant, the platform that matches social impact organizations and nonprofits. With influencers and content creators across social media platforms. He founded the company while a student at George Washington University graduated 2022 and is building the company to some great heights in an incredibly pivotal time.

Ashwath, welcome to the show.

Ashwath Narayanan: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

Kt McBratney: I feel like January 2025 is like such a necessary time to talk to you about not just what you're building with Social Currant, but why and The first question, we start with everybody, [00:01:00] if you're game.

Ashwath Narayanan: Always.

Kt McBratney: In one word, what's your purpose?

Ashwath Narayanan: I, um, cheated on this a little one, a little bit, because I went and tried to watch a little bit of the other episodes, and so I knew, I knew this question was coming, um, and so I had a little bit to think about it the last 15 minutes at least. And I was going back and forth between a few words, but I think the one I stuck to was consumption.

Um, I feel like a lot of what I do and what I'm trying to do and what we're sort of trying to do at Social Currant is change how people consume things, whether that's consuming media, whether that's consuming products, whether that's consuming behaviors. How do we sort of like change and impact how people consume things for the better?

And so I sort of came up. I was like playing around with media impacts, but consumption felt like a lot more relevant to what I'm trying to do and what we're trying to do at Social Currant.

Kt McBratney: That is, that's a first that that word has been a purpose on the show and I love it. [00:02:00] When did you kind of like this, this awareness around like how we as a culture and as individuals consume media, um, consume products, consume so much, like when did that start?

Like when did you become to be like aware of it and feel called to actually work on doing it better?

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah, so I've been, I've been involved in sort of in media for the longest time, whether that's been through sort of how I consume media, whether that's been through how I write and all sorts of things.

But it really started when, um, after high school, I took like a gap year to work at a marketing agency and I was helping sort of Um, Organizations run social media campaigns. And I was thinking through how sort of I was on the other side of consumption where I was trying to get other people to consume media to consume products.

And that's what really kick started my insight into media. And then when I moved to the US, when I moved to college, just being in GW, being in DC. [00:03:00] I started looking at more into more of how politicians consume and distribute media, nonprofits consume and distribute media. And so that's also another place I sort of started getting into the media space, um, which then along the way brought me to social Currant.

But for the longest time, I've been involved in media and consumption and how sort of, um, I consume media, but also how I get other people to consume media.

Kt McBratney: It's such an interesting thing because we are all part of that ecosystem and that cycle, right? Whether you consider yourself a content creator or have a personal brand or absolutely, you know, gutturally allergic to that concept, like we all as humans, regardless of how we use social media, right?

Or, or the, or the formats or the channels we do, like we as a society, like it's such, it's just woven into how we operate. Daily, do you think that a lot of people do you think that that there's um a shift in how people are aware of how they're They're [00:04:00] consuming or or participating in the consumption.

Have you noticed any difference like especially within your generation, right? You work with a lot of different generations at Social Currant and the organizations that that your your clients are But have you noticed any shifts in terms of awareness?

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah, I mean, I, I think over the last five years, you know, as Gen Z gets into the sort of workspace, workplace, as Gen Z gets more consumer behavior, uh, consumer power, I think there is more awareness around consumption.

I think there's more active consumption. I think people know when they're being sold to. I think people know when specific media is being generated to influence them. So I do think there is more active awareness around consumption. At the same time, I do think. How people consume information, how people distribute information for consumption is getting more and more sophisticated.

And so even though people know that they're, you know, being, you know, sold specific media or sold [00:05:00] specific products, um, and they're aware of that, there's also so much behind the scenes that I think people have gotten sophisticated at distributing information. And so, um, you know, yes, um, Gen Z and people know that they're, um, Consuming media more actively, but also, um, I think there's so much that we all don't know about what we're consuming and how it's influencing us as well.

Kt McBratney: And it's, and it's happening so fast. Like, um, I also come from my marketing agency background. I, my degree is in mass communication. So studying media consumption has been like, is it common thread between us? And it's like, to your point, even when you know you're being sold to, or you know, that somebody, a company isn't just putting out a message just out of the good of their heart.

There is so much innovation and smart strategy and sometimes dangerous strategy, right? Depending on, on where you fall on your values, uh, happening and it's evolving so quickly that sometimes I worry that I can't even catch up enough. To be savvy. [00:06:00] So it makes me glad to hear and heartened to hear that there are other folks out there that are, that are aware of this and thinking about it, right?

Because it's, it's complex. It's such a complex system.

Ashwath Narayanan: A hundred percent. And I think access to information is easier than ever. Like you can. Do and get information on anything, but it also makes it harder because I think the expectation that everyone has access to information is moving so fast there. We will operate and live in less than 24 hour news cycles.

There's something happening all the time, which means everyone has to know what is happening all the time, which is sort of how we're consuming. So I think I think that's also 1 thing we're seeing over the last Five, six years, as well as like, just the information.

Kt McBratney: Yeah, I think it's going to be really fascinating to see what plays out in the next five years of that cycle, right?

Like, do we just keep moving at this clip? Does something change? Does something break? Do we keep fragmenting in terms [00:07:00] of platforms? All of that, it's going to be We'll have to, we'll have to, obviously we'll be in touch, but we'll have to maybe do a follow up and be like, all right, where are we at? Touch base, like a, like a pulse check, which side note, I'm just going to plug your newsletter real quick because it's so good.

And it helped, it truly helps me stay on, keep my finger on the pulse without having to do a big heavy lift. So we will do a link in the show notes. Um, but thank you for putting that out there.

Ashwath Narayanan: No, and I think I feel like I think the newsletter helps me too, because I think it pushes me to be more active around how I'm staying up to date on consumption.

So, but I'm glad it helps. Um, if the goal is to help.

Kt McBratney: So the second question, I think, like, is interesting timing. Um, And you can take this question personal, professional, however you would like to slice it. But what's been your most recent win? Um,

Ashwath Narayanan: that's a great question. Um, I don't know, I think the, sort of, we founded Social Currant with the goal of how do we sort of [00:08:00] help non profits, impact orgs, invest in content creators, invest in people instead of platforms.

And I think, 2024 more than ever saw people acknowledge and understand that they need to do that. It's not fully a win because the circumstances through which they saw and accepted that weren't the best, but I think, I think more now, more than ever, people understand how people are consuming information.

People understand the need to invest in content creators in people instead of just running a meta ad or sending out a press release. And so I think I would say like that, that sort of. Changing behavior on how we, um, communicate around impact is, um, sort of a win that I want to build on in 2025.

Kt McBratney: Yeah. And you guys have been releasing some data from the past year that, that highlights and really showcases and is evidence of that, of that shift.

But I want to go back to a phrase you said that I found particularly intriguing, which is investing in people, not platforms. [00:09:00] You gave us the example of. a press release or a meta ad. Tell us more about what you mean by investing in people.

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah. So when we founded Social Currant about four years ago, we were founded with the goal of helping nonprofits reach young people more effectively.

And this organization called Community Change came to us and they were like, Hey, we are trying to create more awareness around this policy. Um, how do we get more awareness around it without sort of leveraging the same tactics? but also how do we sort of represent our community that we're trying to reach in the advertising tactic itself.

And we were like, why don't we find, you know, um, a bunch of people who got the policy and get them to talk about the policy. Um, and so we helped them hire, train, recruit about 15 content creators on TikTok and Instagram who were impacted by the policy themselves. And literally all they did was Do a video talking about, you know, this is what I use the policy for.

You should too. Um, and they send 10, 000 people. So, you know, a resource page with more resources on the tax policy and, [00:10:00] um, you know, community change found and invested in these creators to share their live experiences. But one of the big things they did was none of these creators had ever talked about a policy before, and they were empowered to talk about something they cared about in partnership with an organization, um, which meant community change was able to sort of invest in them and also empower them to continue to do that again, because once they had done it once, they were more likely to be able to talk about a cause they care about or something they wanted to in the future.

And so that's what I mean by investment. And in people is really how do we help nonprofits find people that are impacted by the work they do, but also have platforms and invest in those people to get them to share their stories more effectively or get them to talk about a cause more effectively, instead of taking the money and giving it to Meta and running an ad that's like a link click to, you know, a website with resources.

It's like, how do we give people money to talk about causes they care about, but then also build their long term capacity to continue to make a difference, continue to talk about causes they care [00:11:00] about.

Kt McBratney: Which even as a, as a phrase and as a framing is such a difference to how a lot of people in the marketing, the media, um, and, and the impact space talk about those strategies.

A lot of times it's like, Oh, we should invest in TikTok. We should invest in short form video. So they talk about a specific platform or a specific format, but they're not talking always about investing in humans who are delivering a very human message, right? Even if it's a hundred percent fact based, it's still human, right?

And, and when we talk about the, the, the causes and the change and the policies that Social Currant and your, and your clients and your creators care about, they're really human at their core, aren't they?

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. And I think a lot of this is like, Just investing in humans and, you know, building long term power for humans and people, just people.

I think a lot of this work is just people connecting with people, um, [00:12:00] and which is why I like doing it so much.

Kt McBratney: I want, oh, I'm so tempted to skip ahead and I'm going to. This is typically the last question, but now I'm like chomping at the bit for it. What is your favorite thing about what you do? And what's the most challenging thing?

Ashwath Narayanan: I think the, the favorite thing is just how many different people, like I get to interact with so many different people that are passionate about so many different things, but also very creative. Like I feel like I operate at the intersection of like these really cool nonprofits that have staff and founders and executive directors that.

Really believe in what they're doing and are looking to make a difference. Then on the other side, there's creators who also really believe in what they're doing, but are also so creative have so many different unique ways of telling stories. And so I like the, the intersection of sort of impact storytelling and sort of how, um, we can leverage these creator stories, but also then have make a difference.

I feel like the people I meet, [00:13:00] um, and then the ability to sort of Harness those stories of those people is, um, one of my favorite things about the work we do at Social Currant, um, and just over the last three, four years, um, and then I think the challenge, I think we operate in a space that for the last 10, 15 years has invested in specific tactics and is slow to adopt new tactics and trying to move from sort of how do we, you know, run a TV ad or a Facebook ad or a press release into like, let's, You know, pay someone to do a video, I think is really hard.

And so I think that's always a challenge, but it is moving for the better.

Kt McBratney: What's that process like? Like you, you're an active part, you and the team are such an active part of facilitating that change within organizations. Um, and it feels like given the data that you shared and some of the stories you have, the pace is so much different than those.

Older tactics of like, [00:14:00] let's run a TV ad and like the lead time and the cycle is just so much more compressed. Is that, what's, what's, is one, is that even true? And two, what is it like, like operating at that pace?

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah, I mean, I think the big sort of blocker around this challenge first is even the fact that a lot of times the people running a lot of these organizations or funding organizations aren't consuming media or consuming at the same level as us or even their staff.

So I think how do you get past that? The second one is definitely sort of like speed and um, capacity, right? Like it's non profits are traditionally already under staffed and um, it's in many cases easier to run a one off, you know, ad or a, you know, produce a video and not have to do anything after that versus build capacity around like.

Finding a creator, signing a contract, talking to them, building a relationship, but then doing that at scale. So I do think time and speed [00:15:00] is one of the big factors that impacts this. Um, and staffing, I think also, it's, it's similar to social media, um, roles too. It's, I think a lot of organizations under invest in social media because it's hard to create social media properly and that scale and that speed and influencers is sort of in that same bucket.

Kt McBratney: Yeah, yeah. I mean, like my, my career in marketing aligned with the birth of, of social media, especially as we know it now. And even then it was still hard to get, um, adoption. And, and I noticed that same trend where the decision makers and oftentimes the, the budget holders knew that there was something there to those tactics and those strategies, but like they didn't consume that media.

So that note that, and that insight that the media consumption. Right. And the content consumption patterns are just very different sometimes between the decision makers and the staff, um, and the audience. And acknowledging and helping bridge that disconnect is so powerful. [00:16:00] Um, and even then like it felt like social media was moving quickly and was understaffed, right?

Like social media is an entire thing. It's not even like it was in 2010 where it was like you have Twitter, you have Facebook, you have Instagram, you have YouTube. It's like so fragmented. There are so many, there's so much nuance. There's so many products within even one. of those platforms that it can be overwhelming, I think, for some people to think about how they start.

So in addition to, you know, some of the advice you've inadvertently given without, I, I'm viewing it as advice and I'm hoping that our listeners will as well. Like how, what do you, what do you tell people when they're like, yeah, I know I should be doing this, but I don't know where to start?

Ashwath Narayanan: I think I get asked that question a fair amount.

And my like, go to is always sort of like, start by consuming the way you would want your audience to consume [00:17:00] your content, right? I think it's like, it's hard to be good at TikTok when you don't understand TikTok as a platform. It's hard to be good at LinkedIn if you don't understand LinkedIn as a platform.

So I would say like, the biggest thing is start consuming so that you know the culture of a platform or of social media, you understand it. Um, it doesn't have to be, you know, ten hours a day. It can be ten minutes on each platform, but you never know until it's like Okay,

Kt McBratney: please, please don't do ten hours a day.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. Everyone.

Kt McBratney: I hope you're not doing ten hours a day. Do you feel like you're on Do you feel like you're like on the platforms more?

Ashwath Narayanan: I don't think so. Thankfully not. I think like I'm, I'm on platforms a fair amount, but I see like TikTok is my main one and I use it more, less than like a work capacity.

I'm on LinkedIn a fair amount for work. Um, but I think for us, most of our work is how do we sort of find and invest in creators and they're the ones that are, you know, big on these platforms and we don't have to do a ton with the platforms ourselves. So [00:18:00] thankfully I'm not consuming too much content.

Kt McBratney: With that said, you know, like we've, we've gotten into like some, some media or semi like heavy topics, right? With media consumptions, the impacts of those, all of that. I'm curious, you, you, you talked about some of the creativity and connecting with people as one of the best parts of your job. How do you play?

Ashwath Narayanan: I think, um, the last year I haven't done a ton of that, unfortunately, it's been sort of super busy, but I think for me, um, doing a lot of work with creators does energize me. Um, and I think a lot of it's like, also within building the business, doing parts, doing as much of the business that. energizes me is I think the main way I try to sort of balance myself.

I think I try to, um, build tasks and things into what I do that I genuinely like doing. Um, there's so much of building a business that is, um, you know, not [00:19:00] fun in many ways. Um, and I try to sort of. Balance that enough so that I do get to do fun, whether that's, you know, talking to creators that I care about on an active basis or whether that's engaging with the team or whether that's intentionally sort of, um, you know, reading and consuming the content.

I like, um, stuff like that. I think that's my biggest one is just like building separation into the work I do because so much of what I do is just work.

Kt McBratney: The media narrative around being an entrepreneur and running a startup seems glamorous. It seems, you know, fast paced and high stress too, but there's this idea that like, you're always talking about code or having some big deal or, or all of these things, which that happens.

But also a lot of it is like filing taxes, putting together policies because you've hired to a certain scale and you need to have a certain new policy implemented or, you know, managing people and, and different personalities and different outcomes. And like, [00:20:00] That not sexy glamor is part of it, I think doesn't get covered as much.

And like, great. If you love doing your company's taxes, I love that for you. But I don't think I've met a founder ever who like those necessary important pieces are what gives them the joy and what called them to do the work. It just, it has to get done.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. And for me, it's like being able to write the newsletter on a sort of monthly basis or being able to like just read, um, creator economy news or being able to hop on a call with the creator and just pick their brain about like the content they're creating or think about like their business, um, I think is like what energizes me.

And it's, you know, in addition to, obviously, I have to do the taxes, but it's like, how do I build in enough of what I like to make sure that, um, it keeps me going is, I think, an important thing to do and all founders should be doing.

Which is really important because, like, to your point, like, you're like, well, I haven't done a great job of it this year.

Kt McBratney: Y'all, we're coming off of a very [00:21:00] huge election year, not just in one of the races, but in many, many, many, and globally. I think I saw something like there were 17, like global, national, like globally national, like leaders being elected. And it's a lot. So like, what I'm hearing is that you intentionally like have baked this in knowing that in 2024, you weren't going to get, you know, it's not like you're able to take a month off and do a sabbatical.

Right. Right. And like most founders aren't able to do that for quite some time, but you don't have to wait to give yourself those. doses of play, those, those, you can build in a pattern and build a routine and give yourself those moments of play. So you're not stretching yourself too far.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly.

Exactly.

And I think for me, I also noticed a shift between 2023 and 2024. I think I was busier, obviously, in 2024, but I felt busier in 2023, which was weird. But I think it's like, that was the change. It's [00:22:00] like, how do I sort of add more into what I'm doing that, um, helps me keep what I'm doing was what I started doing more intentionally in 2024 versus 2023.

I was doing everything. Um, and I wasn't building in balance.

Kt McBratney: And that's a path to burnout, and none of us want that. And I think that's also, though, very relatable for anybody li doing, um, any kind of mission driven work, whether you're an entrepreneur, working in a non profit, doing it personally in your own advocacy.

Um, when you're mission led, it feels like you've got to give it all, all the time. But as we know, and there are some incredible leaders and, and creators out there who remind us like rest and recovery and creativity and taking care of ourselves is also part of how that work gets done, right? You don't have, if you sacrifice yourself to the purpose, there's one less critical resource to drive that purpose forward.

Ashwath Narayanan: Right, exactly.

Kt McBratney: Which I think a lot of people know like intellectually, but how do you actually. Operate like that is the challenge and [00:23:00] you've given us a useful framework.

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah. And I also think, I feel like a lot of times being an impact founder, it can be hard to like, I think you're generally, you care a lot and I think it's important.

In many ways to take a step back, um, and understand how you can impact what you care about. And for me, it's been understanding that social Currant is how I make a difference. Um, I think earlier it used to sort of be like, how do I do everything and anything to make a difference? And now I'm like, okay, how do I channel my energy into social Currant?

And use that to make a difference and that's been helpful in terms of like not trying to do anything and everything, um, about what I care about because I think otherwise you burn out really easily.

Kt McBratney: Absolutely. We've talked about a lot of things you've gotten right, especially that entire last section.

I'm curious, when was the last time you were wrong? [00:24:00]

Ashwath Narayanan: I mean, I think like in a very tactical way in 2024, we underestimated the role of short form inside of media consumption. I think a lot of conversation has been around TikTok and Instagram and YouTube shorts. And I think people do want to consume that content and that.

is how culture is formed. But I do think we underestimated how much audiences want to consume depth. I think how much audiences want to connect with the people they consume content from in formats outside of short form. I think that was like a big tactical sort of like area we didn't invest enough in whether that was YouTube long form or with Twitch or sort of streaming.

I think people want more depth from Their content. And I think we over indexed on like, how do we get short form media out there? And that's not to say you don't get up with short form. It's just harder to do that. And so I think that was like a big tactical thing. [00:25:00] Um, we sort of got wrong in 2024.

Kt McBratney: Honestly, I think a lot of folks did, right? Because there's so much buzz and data, right? It's not just, it's not just a story. It's true. Like around short form. And also. You see, what is that, you know, this, the incredible spike in video based podcasts that are long form, you see the call her daddy. And of course, like, you know, we know Rogan continues to be where, where that show is in the ratings, like long form never died, but that was kind of the short headline that it was given without folks reading the rest of.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. Exactly. And I, I, I think it's like anything that does one tactic over others, I think is just inherently not the way to go. I think it's, it's more how to sort of balance multiple tactics in one space. And I think we went, you know, over and doxxed 90 percent of our [00:26:00] work on one tack, like one sort of space, and we should have split it up and balance it out a lot more.

Kt McBratney: Which is the beauty kind of of being wrong about something is like one, it's going to happen. Like I was wrong this morning about like seven things. Um, but it's what you do with it. Right? Like you're going into another very critical year of work and as humans, right. As humans in a rapidly evolving landscape of products and consumption and creation.

Ashwath Narayanan: 100%. And I think it's. Yeah, it's definitely the sort of over, not over focusing, but it's, I think more than that. It's just, I think, tactically, we did something last year and I think, um, this year we're going to build on it. And I think, you know, it's being open to sort of diving deeper into how people consume media and going beyond the sort of like first half of the headline for sure.

Kt McBratney: That leads into this other question, and we've, we've, we've talked around it a bit in different ways, and I'm curious if you want to [00:27:00] double down on anything you've already said or, or bring up something new, but what is the single biggest missed opportunity in your field?

Ashwath Narayanan: I think it's, I mean, I think it still continues to be the fundamental sort of work we do, which is how investing in people.

I think people, um, Organizations, um, the impact space still does not leverage and invest in people to the extent that they can. I think whether that's investing in content creators, whether that's investing in better staffing practices, whether that's investing in more long term capacity building of organizations, I think it's just investing in people is just not something that happens in our space, um, in the impact space enough, but I do think that's changing and I do think it'll change, but I think that's just something we're missing just Because I think a lot of how we make a difference is through the people that are part of this work, and we're just not investing in those people enough.

Kt McBratney: Can we take a second and talk about the impact space [00:28:00] for hot sack? Uh, because I feel like it's a phrase a lot of people know, especially if you work in it or feel, feel, or are connected to it in any way. What do you define as the impact space? Right? Because I feel like it's, it's, it's like purpose. It's like community.

It's like content. It can be very, very broad, but it can also be like super hyper specific. And it really depends for me. It depends on like who I'm talking to and in what context and what their familiarity and proximity to it is. So like, where do you, like, how do you define what the impact space is and where you fit in as a, as a founder and as a person?

Ashwath Narayanan: Yeah, I mean, for, for me, when I say that phrase, I think I'm generally just referring to, um, anyone or any entity that's making a difference for the better, um, to some sort of impact. And I think where I sit in the space is, I think, one, we're trying to make an impact through helping orgs invest in creators, but I think more importantly, we're trying to, Support a lot [00:29:00] of folks in the space, um, make a difference by communicating more effectively by getting their ideas out there by, um, breaking through sort of, uh, fractured media ecosystem.

So I think for us, we're trying, we see ourselves more as like supporting and building infrastructure that allows the impact space to grow.

Kt McBratney: A lot of times platforms and agencies definitely delineating between the two cause they're very different. Um, but they're thought of as like. Vendors and service providers and like means to an end.

And I really like how you're thinking about social Currant and the work that you're doing and how you're leading that work as building infrastructure and building support systems versus others in the spaces. And this precedes you and me and, and all of that where it is more extractive. It's like, Oh, nonprofits or causes or whoever clients have money to burn.

How do we get that money out of them? [00:30:00] But you're looking at it as how are we building infrastructure? Yes, for our company to, to grow and sustain and all of that, but also create impact in how messages are being delivered and how they're being received and put into action, like how they're actually doing the thing, not just getting distributed.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. And I think it's like, I think 1 out of 2, like 1 out of 3 members of Gen Z say they're more likely to buy from a brand if they're impact minded. I think 1 out of 3 TikTok users consume their news from TikTok influencers. Um, half of Gen Z has been inspired to donate to a nonprofit because an influencer recommended them.

And so I think there's all these trends. Around how consumption patterns are changing. And I think our goal is to allow nonprofits and impact works to leverage those trends by building sort of this infrastructure, but by building capacity, like most of our clients run their first campaigns with us, but we want [00:31:00] them to be able to run this more because if there is to be any difference made.

It has to come from them and they have to be able to know how to communicate. And so that's, that's why it's really important for us to sort of think of ourselves as infrastructure. Cause I think this, how we, how we sort of grow and evolve is changing over the next 10 years. And this has to go beyond just like our one off campaign into like more of the nonprofit space has to adapt and the impact space has to evolve.

Kt McBratney: Yeah. And as you build that infrastructure, of course, there's business for Social Currant and also. You're building capacity, infrastructure, and systems and, and teams and relationships that won't make sense for a social Currant to be a part of, but will still further the end objective. Right. And so allowing and empowering and, and helping lay that groundwork with your clients, with the broader ecosystem enhances the cap, the capacity because you can't and shouldn't carry it all.

Like, yes, of course we want social Currant to be a huge, big [00:32:00] company. And also you. You're not going to be everything for everyone. That's not the vision. That's not the need. And no one can succeed at doing that. Exactly. Exactly. I'm curious as a founder, this is your first like full time founder role. How do you know what advice to take and what to say?

And let go of.

Ashwath Narayanan: I actually, um, spent a lot, I've thought a lot about that question, weirdly enough, cause I think when I started off as a, I mean, I'm still a first time founder, but when I started off, I think I was, um, it was sort of like, you have to get. And you have to talk to people and ask questions. And that was all the advice that was being sort of spread around how we need to be able to ask questions.

And I think what I found myself doing a lot of times was I think being a founder, you have to make so many decisions. And I was trying to push the decisions I had to make to someone else. I realized I wasn't looking for [00:33:00] advice on, you know, what to do. I was looking for someone to tell me what to do just because like every single thing I do.

Impact so many people. And so I was like, it's hard to make decisions. So I was always like, tell me what to do. Um, even though I was asking for advice. And I think over time, I started realizing that, like, no one has the context around. Social Currant or a decision I make that I do and even if it ends up being the wrong decision, it actually was the right decision because I used all the contacts I have to make a decision.

Right? And so I think that's where it's like advice. I wasn't looking for advice. I was just looking for someone to be my boss and tell me what to do. And I think. Shifting to, like, believe that, like, I have the context I have, I think, has been an important thing for me, because I still go and ask people for advice, but then I use that advice along with the contacts I have to make a decision, and it's never the wrong decision, um, just because I use the context I have, um, to make that decision.[00:34:00]

Kt McBratney: God, that is such good advice on advice and this idea that You're the right founder for your company and there's a reason that you're leading it. And like, there might be people who have built something else, but it's something else and in a different time and with different circumstances, and they're wholly different people, even if there are similarities, right?

Like no one is you leading your company at that precise moment in time and giving yourself almost permission to trust yourself. Exactly. Exactly. That's so wise. I feel like I'm going to like, write that down. Um, so thank you. I, okay. We're at the last question, which is wild. And we've never landed on this one before, so I'm super excited because I feel like it's so relevant to you and Social Currant and, and, and all of that.

What is a hill you would die on?

Ashwath Narayanan: This is like still very relevant to the work we do, but like, I think. Like, being [00:35:00] an influencer is a real job, like, I think a lot of times, conversations around influencers are centered around who a lot of people think are traditionally influencers, which is celebrities, but like, being a content creator is very hard, you're constantly dealing with creating content for an algorithm that doesn't listen to you, you're constantly getting debt threats and so much hate, you're getting doxxed, and so, you're not getting paid by the platforms, brands are always trying to pay you less.

And so I think like being a content creator is a real job and being an influencer is a real job. And I think a lot of people that consume content from influencers unfortunately don't see it that way. Um, and I will always, um, sort of die on the hill that. Being an influencer is a real tough job.

Kt McBratney: And, and culturally, I think, you know, you can go back as, as far as like the early days of the studio system in Hollywood or the silent movies.

Like we have [00:36:00] always been awful at compensating people for creativity and storytelling. Yep. But we Can't stop consuming it. We just want it all for free.

Ashwath Narayanan: Exactly. No, and I think it's like, I don't think it's like a conversation around what jobs are harder. It's just, it's a real job and it's a hard job and there are many real hard jobs and being an influencer is one of them.

Um, and I think we need to sort of acknowledge that.

Kt McBratney: Yeah. You're also an entrepreneur. You're building a business, you're building a brand, you're navigating platforms as they're changing in real time and policies are changing and features are changing. And I love how you said the algorithm, it doesn't listen to you.

Like you should just have that on a shirt. I would buy it. I would wear that hat. Just a little idea for some social Currant merch. Um, thank you. Awful. This has been so just amazing talking to you about everything from our media consumption to Tik TOK, to taking advice as a first time [00:37:00] founder. So appreciate the time.

Everyone go check out social Currant, connect with Ashwath, like do all of the things there's going to be plenty of links in the show notes, and we will see the next time on founded on purpose.