“So, how’d you get your first job?”

“So, how’d you get your first job?”

This is the first question Nathan Chan, founder of influential digital magazine Foundr asks all his interviewees, including Richard Branson.

Produced solely by young entrepreneurs for young entrepreneurs, Foundr came to fruition when Nathan noticed that there was nothing out in the wide world for those dreaming of bigger and better things.

Starting with nothing but ambition, a laptop and a handful of dollars, Nathan sought to create a destination for like minded, aspiring entrepreneurs and thus, Foundr was born.

Now a multi-faceted media business, Foundr has its eggs in the baskets of training workshops, podcasts and its magazine.

“I never thought it would be where it is today,” confesses Nathan.

“It was just a side project of mine and it took off.”

Speaking at Start Up Grind, Nathan revealed the hardships the magazine succumbed to during the early days including struggling to get interviews, — “no one, and I’m talking no one wanted to talk to us” — the embarrassment of having to use a stock image on their first issue and the big setback of getting sued for trademark infringement.

But, with struggle comes success and Nathan hit the big time when he pitched to Richard Branson and scored an interview — now available for free for all Foundr subscribers.

“(When pitching to Branson) I asked myself, ‘why couldn’t he be on the cover of my magazine,” confesses Nathan.

“I played on the fact that Branson’s first business venture was a student magazine, so from this I related it to Foundr’s readership who were also young, aspiring entrepreneurs, if not the next leaders of today,” says Nathan.

“So, can you give me a shot?”

Publicly, Foundr is known for their massive social media following, having grown to a massive 750,000 over the past 16 months alone on Instagram.

Revealing the key to social media success is to simply dominate and test each channel to see what works best for your brand.

“Marketing is all about throwing things against a wall and seeing what sticks… Instagram stuck for us,” chuckles Nathan.

A visual platform, ensuring your followers are delivered good looking content on a consistent basis is vital. Setting a standard for your brand and training your audience were Nathan’s words of wisdom.

It’s no surprise the audience were grilling Nathan over how best to grow their following with the bossman laying it out plain and simple.

“Great content and quality,” says Nathan.

“As long as your content is valuable to your audience and serves the market, you will start building a loyal community.”

Wise Nathan, very wise.

Written by Eryn Crowl