Johannesburg – Ex Google employee Jason Grishkoff chats with IOL about the concept behind www.indieshuffle.com as well as www.submithub.com.
Q: Is SubmitHub your first startup?
A: Nope, it's actually my fourth! Two failed, but the other (a music website called www.indieshuffle.com) has been stable and healthy for 7 years.
Q: What gave you the idea?
A: I got tired of receiving PR emails for www.indieshuffle.com, the aforementioned stable startup, and decided there must be a better way to receive and process information. So I created www.submithub.com which is a tool that allows artists to easily send their new songs to music blogs.
Q: How is it doing?
A: Very well! In only a few months it has seen more than 50 000 submissions and has nearly 10 000 users.
Q: Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
A: No. Prior to this I was happily working for Google as a loyal employee.
Q: What made you choose this career path?
A: It started as a passion to fill my time on the side, and at the time I never anticipated it could be a "career path." I just do it because I love it.
Q: What's next on your list?
A: Try to take over the internet?
Q: What would you say to someone who wants to be an entrepreneur?
A: Stop planning and start doing. A minimum viable product will be more successful than a carefully planned business that never launches.
8. Please explain what your start-up does
I'm currently running two businesses:
1) a streaming service that finds the best new music: www.indieshuffle.com
2) a tool that allows artists to easily send their new songs to music blogs:www.submithub.com
Q: Would you say you need a degree to get started?
A: Yes and no. It all depends on your idea and your experience prior to starting that business.
IOL