IAM1710 – Content Creator and Podcast Host Focus On Gaming and Tech Industry News

Samuel Adams Teaser 00:00

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, there's a lot of gaming podcast out there, but there are some that don't take it as seriously as it could be taken, not that obviously gaming is always just about fun and entertainment, but at the same time there's a lot that can be analyzed and that's where I've found my thing.

So it's been pretty fun.

Intro 00:17

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships? Generate. And grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkins values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:44

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we are repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics, or as I like to call them, business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners and what I like to call the CB nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month we are focused on technology. We're a technology company that does dot, dot, dot. Technology is no longer an afterthought or something that you might do and is actually a core part of your business. If you are a real estate investor, you're using it. If you're a financial firm, if you're a cleaning company, an author, or speaker, you are using technology. If you are in any business, you are using technology, and if you're not, then you're probably going to be disrupted by an organization that is.

So this month we are going to look into purposing episodes that are around technology, whether that be firms or organizations that are actually using and investing in technology as a core part of their products and services or potentially those individuals that are using and leveraging CEO Hacks and CEO nuggets that center around technology and sharing ways that we can leverage it as well. Remember that you are a technology company that does dot, dot dot. Sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Samuel Adams of Caffeinate. Samuel, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Samuel Adams 02:13

I appreciate you reaching out. I'm glad to be here.

Gresham Harkless 02:16

No problem. Super excited to have you on, and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Sam so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

Sam is a content creator and podcast host with work on a variety of platforms online, specifically focusing on the gaming and tech industry news and analysis pieces. Sam has reached over half a million people worldwide over the course of six years of work, and he can be found at youtube.com/SamuelAdamsmedia.

Sam, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Samuel Adams 02:42

Yeah, absolutely.

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Gresham Harkless 02:44

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Samuel Adams 02:50

Well, my business has just become a business recently because obviously with most businesses you don't really start out profitable. You start in the red and then you work your way up. But in high school, I was always really into gaming and YouTube and technology, and I thought that I would just give my best try at it. And so over the years, I've gone from having a basic entry-level microphone and webcam to moving up and getting better lighting and green screens. And just as it's gone on, it generated a following. So I've just continued to do it and now we're here. So it's been a really cool journey.

Gresham Harkless 03:21

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's one of the reasons I wanted to start the podcast was right in line with, different ways that maybe, 10, 20 years ago you may not have been able to create a business, but having the opportunity to be able to create content, be able to take some of the things you're passionate about and be able to build a business and build opportunities around, that's been absolutely huge.

Samuel Adams 03:37

Yeah, absolutely. Because especially with the growth of stuff like Twitch and Mixer and YouTube itself, where all these various platforms give you a platform to share a message of any type. This wasn't possible even in 2005 when YouTube began. The fact that it's grown in the way that it has allowed me to grow into it because I'm graduating college in May.

Gresham Harkless 03:57

Congratulations.

Samuel Adams 03:59

Thank you. I had no idea what I wanted to do going into college, but after throwing so much time and effort, and resources into this, obviously the overall industry is shifting in such a way that this is actually a viable thing now. So it's pretty cool.

Gresham Harkless 04:12

Yeah, definitely cool. And a lot of times it's funny when you start school and you're not sure what to do, you're looking for jobs and things like that because I went through the exact same thing. By the time you graduate, there are different jobs and opportunities that didn't even exist. Maybe, three or four years before that.

Samuel Adams 04:25

Yeah, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 04:26

Yeah, so I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about, what it is that you're doing with your podcast and all the content that you're creating. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?

Samuel Adams 04:34

Yeah, sure. So whenever I first began, it was always just random videos here and there that didn't really have any kind of rhyme or reason to it, but obviously series are a better thing. And so about a year ago, we just did our first anniversary, I started a daily gaming podcast. And so basically, it just takes little nuggets of news from the gaming industry and it packages it up into basically a between 20 and 30-minute show where it's not overwhelming for people to listen to. If you're at the gym or on a jog or whatever it is, it keeps you informed.

It's seen an incredible amount of growth thanks to Anchor a podcast platform that's pretty new to the scene. It's been getting a lot of funding, but to be able to record it live on Twitch, rip down that audio, and put it up on podcast services and YouTube, has shown incredible growth both algorithmically for the channel and also just as a native podcast. It's been nuts. But on top of that, I've done a series throughout the years.

I have the Drop, which covers new games and stuff coming out. And then I have a couple of other ones here and there that come on and off as the season's passed. It's pretty cool to get a rhythm to it. And Caffeinate has just been great for the channel and me overall.

Gresham Harkless 05:34

Yeah, absolutely. And are there any platforms that focus on different aspects of gaming? Is there a specific genre or is it just any aspect of gaming?

Samuel Adams 05:42

It depends. Obviously, I cover more in my own shows. The stuff that's more like if a stock fluctuates or if there's a company that shuts down or a new company that starts up with founders from another previously successful developer, publisher, whatever it is.

I don't necessarily talk about what the best guns are in Call of Duty or what's happening in Fortnite. I break down the science behind the gaming industry and how it works and what specific moves mean for the future of it because I'm a very business-oriented guy and so I love that. And it turns out that a lot of people love that and there's a giant lack of that kind of content out there that people are really looking for.

So I found my niche.

Gresham Harkless 06:20

Absolutely. I love that. And everybody's always looking for the niche and the opportunities because that's usually where those happen, where somebody's not covering it and doing it at that level, and you get to come in and create that.

Samuel Adams 06:30

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, there are a lot of gaming podcasts out there, but there are some that don't take it as seriously as it could be taken. Not that obviously gaming is always just about fun and entertainment, but at the same time, there are a lot that can be analyzed and that's where I've found my thing. So it's been pretty fun.

Gresham Harkless 06:46

Nice. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And you might have already touched on this, but this is what you feel distinguishes you or your organization and makes you unique. What do you think your secret sauce is?

Samuel Adams 06:57

I think that I have a pretty good blend of being somewhere between a novice and a professional in what I do. I still maintain that kind of the guy in his bedroom that makes videos kind of thing. But on top of that, you can take it to the next level with complex thoughts and genuinely deep discussions that a lot of people don't normally touch up. I think to be able to take a piece of news and to analyze it and even just give it between five and 10 minutes instead of just, touching it and keeping on going, I think there's a lot of people that don't really do that.

And so I think that to give a brief yet, deep analysis is something that I bring to the table that a lot of people don't. And so I think that's something that I do pretty well.

Gresham Harkless 07:34

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's definitely a great example of a secret sauce because a lot of times people are so advanced that they don't know how to necessarily talk to the beginners, I guess you can say, and then there's so much of a beginner that they can't talk to the advanced people. So to be able to navigate both of those waters is definitely huge.

Samuel Adams 07:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I think there are a lot of news podcasts out there that will touch on it. And like you said, they might go a little bit too in-depth, or they might assume that their audience knows something, which there's value there because if you have a knowledgeable audience, you don't necessarily need to go as deep.

But I've caught myself sometimes where I'm talking about something that builds off of a previous story and it's like, wait, let's break this down because some people might just be joining in. So I think that's something that a lot of people could benefit from doing more, as well.

Gresham Harkless 08:13

Absolutely.  Now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Samuel Adams 08:24

I don't know if anybody said this before on the show, but I'm a follower of Gary Vee with off his Gary Vee Podcast and shows and his Facebook content and I take a lot of what he says to heart. Of course, there's a lot of vulgarity and what Gary Vee tends to throw.

Gresham Harkless 08:37

It's funny. Yeah. What, whatever you're about to say. I was like, let get the bleep ready.

Samuel Adams 08:41

Yeah, yeah. No, but the thing with Gary Vee is that although it is laced with profanity there is a lot that he does right in that he approaches everything from a very business-savvy perspective. There's an incredibly huge just plethora of tips and tricks and mindsets and practices that he throws out on a daily basis. And so I just have collected that over the years and I tried to abide by a lot of the stuff that he says.

I think the main thing that my hack would be is just following his stuff and then looking at also Online guides that help maintain a balance of work and life because as somebody with a small business, it's difficult to not get sucked into it, to where you wake up and go to bed and you've filled your entire day with that kind of thing, especially in the comfort of your home.

It's incredibly tempting to work constantly, and so I think it's a good way to strike a balance between that and use your time efficiently.

Gresham Harkless 09:32

Yeah, absolutely. And I know Gary Vee talks about this a lot, he touches on this a lot about creating a business for what you want, understanding what your goal is. And I think that you touched on that, where if you want to have that work-life balance, you can create your business a certain way. But if you want to work 25 hours a day, then you can definitely do that as well.

Samuel Adams 09:49

Yeah, absolutely. And it's something where I can turn that on if I need to. Like if I have contracts with companies that reach out to me to make videos, I can work for 14 hours on these videos and then I can turn that off and not do anything for a couple of days because I run it that way. And it's been nice to be able to figure out a good balance, but also not become lazy with it.

I think there's also a sensation.

Gresham Harkless 10:09

Absolutely. Absolutely. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget.  This is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Samuel Adams 10:20

If I could hop into a time machine, and I guess first I would take a picture and be like, this is what actually happens whenever you keep making videos. But I think the one nugget that I think I could share with people is that even if you don't realize it, the lessons that you're learning while you're creating whatever you're doing, whether it be any kind of small business, whether it be a podcast or an online content creation group, whatever it is, you learn so many valuable skills that can be applied in so many different areas of life.

Even just as a perfect example. Before I began doing all the podcast stuff, I had a deep southern accent and wasn't great at public speaking, and now I'm giving the commencement speech of my college graduation and it's like.

Gresham Harkless 10:59

Awesome.

Samuel Adams 11:00

That kind of stuff. I wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't for this. You can learn so many things through just life experience and creating a small business and being a CEO.

Gresham Harkless 11:11

Yeah, absolutely. And it takes a lot of guts and courage sometimes to do that and to understand that it's part of the process. Like Gary Vee talks a lot about documenting and documenting and not creating, but documenting the process. But understand that, Rome wasn't built in the day. That's not just a cliche, that's something that's real.

Samuel Adams 11:26

Yeah, absolutely. And you can look at any content creator, myself included, and go back to where I was starting with like I said, a terrible camera, terrible mic, and I was terrible at presenting things and talking. But you grow through the years and you grow through these experiences, and that brings a lot of value to any business and any kind of thing like that at all.

Gresham Harkless 11:44

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I know you touched on this, but I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO .

We're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on this show, but I wanted to ask you Sam, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Samuel Adams 11:57

I think being a CEO to me means that you have a vision and you might not necessarily know every step that it takes to get to that vision, but at the same time, you know what you want to do and you have a general idea of the first step. It's just taking these steps time after time, and learning from each step to place your own way on your own path to achieve whatever dreams you have.

And so where I'll be in a year, two years, three years from now, I'm not entirely sure, but at some point, I would love to own my own kind of content creation media group or something like that. And so I think that being a CEO of what I've got right here is just taking it day by day and figuring out the needs of you and your organization as they come.

I think that's what it really means to be a CEO, to be a leader in that way.

Gresham Harkless 12:41

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that a lot of times when you're able to do that and you're able to pay attention to it, just like you mentioned with you being able to give your commencement speech, if you just take it day by day and you master that day, be the best at that day, you never know what's gonna happen down the line.

And all of that work that you did prior to that actually builds into what you are and where you are at that time.

Samuel Adams 12:59

Yeah, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 13:00

Awesome. And I appreciate your time again, Sam, what I want us to do is pass you to the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best they can get ahold of you.

Samuel Adams 13:10

I think that the best additional piece of advice, an additional piece of content that I could give is to always take care of yourself and ensure that you are grinding, but not grinding too hard. Also, if I could go back and say one thing about anybody that's starting up wanting to start up, don't let opportunities pass you by, because there are so many times you could be passive in everything that you do, and it's in our nature to be passive in a way.

But to be able to embrace the opportunities that come your way and to be able to explore every nook and cranny, I think is incredibly valuable. But yeah, if anybody wants to follow me and figure out my content, I'm on youtube.com/Samuel Adams Media. You can follow me on Twitter at Pretty Chill Guy, and you can always find me on Instagram at Samuel Adams Media.

And through that, you can find a plethora of other content, information, contacts, and all that good stuff.

Gresham Harkless 13:57

Awesome man. We'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes as well. But I appreciate you. I appreciate, getting the opportunity to hear from you and all the awesome things that you're doing, and congratulations again on graduating and giving the commencement speech.

That is an awesome story and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Samuel Adams 14:11

I appreciate it, and I appreciate for having me on.

Outro 14:13

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO podcast, powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, subscribe and leave us a five-star rating.

Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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