Proof of Concept

Ep. 40 How to Actually Reach your Goals

On Episode 40 of Proof of Concept, we sat down and recorded our thoughts about why we have a podcast. We spent most of our time talking about where our motivation for the podcast comes from and why do it. We also reflected a little bit on ourselves and why we continue with Proof of Concept. We also spent some time talking a little bit about things that keep us moving forward. Tune in and enjoy :)

Ep. 39 From Reselling Birds in Ghana to Making Millions by 23 (w/ Sharif Caesar)

On Episode 39 of Proof of Concept, we had Sharif Caesar. A current 23-year-old Sharif was raised in Ghana and came over to the States with his dad when he was a child. After being bullied for not wearing name brand (when he came over he didn't even know what a name brand was), he decided to make money a priority. After years of scaling his brand, @realmelaninking, to over 5.4 million followers, he's been able to generate 6 figures a month. This has allowed him to retire his girl and build a 13-bedroom house for his family in Ghana. I know you guys will all enjoy this one :)

Ep. 38 How Noticing a Netflix Lip-Sync Problem Led to Thousands in Revenue (w/ Shrikar Lekkala)

On episode 38 of Proof of Concept, we had Shrikar Lekkala, an incoming junior at UIUC and Co-Founder of Metafrazo, which provides an AI Dubbing and Translation solution for educators. Since their founding, they’ve secured 5,000 MRR and have worked with content creators like Mr. Beast and Mr. Nightmare If you want to hear How Metafrazo has allowed him to take a gap semester, how it all started when he was watching an episode of Netflix’s Moneyheist, Why freestyling is important and Shrik’s past rap career, the impact being around other founders has had on him through UIUC’s iVenture program, how Metafrazo just recently closed a big deal from the school, and all of Shrikar’s predictions for Metafrazo’s future as well as how own, I’ll know you’ll enjoy this episode

Ep. 37 Behind the Scenes of Growing Chicago's Largest Highschool-Sports Page (w/ Derrick "Sloche" Echols)

On this week of Proof of Concept we had Derrick Echols, founder of Sloche. Beginning with just his camera and him at a highschool basketball game, Sloche has since scaled to a 136K follower community. "Community" is used intentionally; Derrick has not only scaled followers, but true relationships as well, making him beloved and an icon in the highschool basketball community. If you want to hear how he did it all, how "YouTube University" played a pivotal role, how hard it was to leave his NBA dreams behind and turn to media, how at times he almost thought about quitting, and how it all came together, I know you all will enjoy. Thank you :)

Ep. 36 How a Former UIUC Student Signed 34,000 Artists and Raised 390K in Funding (w/ Avi Patel)

This week on Proof Of Concept, we welcomed back Avi Patel, founder of Nitrility. The solution artists and creators have been waiting for. We talked about his recent experiences with VCs, how he’s been able to raise hundreds of thousands in funding, signed over 34,000 artists, and even how he met one the staples of his childhood, Vikkstar, on a recent trip to Europe. Since dropping out, Avi has stacked experiences on experiences, and in doing so has powerful insight about the venture capital space, entrepreneurship, and how important building a brand can be. I know you all will enjoy :)