Interview with entrepreneur Sebastian Ravitz
Sebastian Ravitz is a 24 years old entrepreneur from Los Angeles. He has been riding the entrepreneurial rollercoaster for about 5 years now, having worked for startups that promised equity, but never received it - and all of those commom entrepreurial challenges. He successfully launched his own company when he was 21. It was a digital marketing agency that has now helped companies from stage 1, all the way to 10xing their monthly revenue. We have conducted an interview with Sebastian.
Which is the most difficult entrepreneurial challenge you had ever experienced?
The most difficult entrepreneurial challenge is actually coming to terms with what being an entrepreneur encompasses. While incredibly fulfilling, you’re also faced with so many obstacles that aren’t just a one-time battle. For me the most recurrent was self-doubt, especially early in my career. I was constantly questioning whether or not I had it in me. I knew deep down I did, but the doubt in the back of my mind became pretty distracting at times. It wasn’t until I really felt my first wave of success that it became easier for me to reassure myself I was on the right path. From there, each success became another reinforcing block in the wall behind me, preventing me from turning back.
Growth hacking has a negative connotation in today's context especially after the renewed calls for greater regulation of social media platforms. What is your view about this?
People often assume growth hacking means cheating the system or falsifying results. But it is just finding unique opportunities to take advantage of the way platforms are built. It’s all about ways to ignite a viral effect, to get creative, and to fuse together different techniques to find new strategies.
What kind of unique approach do you use to intrigue people online?
It’s all about implementing emotional and behavioral psychology into your brand and your marketing strategy. Remembering that people are people with emotions and desires. This is the key to reaching and activating them. When I start with a new product or brand, my first step is figuring out how I can get people to relate to it. What emotions can I evoke? What aspects of the product can resonate with people’s needs?
Which sector(s) are your strengths?
Probably finding ways to intrigue and connect with people – as I mentioned above. I’ve always been fascinated by people, which led me to the study psychology at university. Finding ways to intertwine human emotion and the connection between people and brands is my strength.
How long have you been working in this field/industry?
About six years. Even during my first internship in college, I was immediately drawn to and intrigued by the job of connecting the brand with the target audience.
What do you aim to achieve in the next 5 years?
It’s really hard to say. My companies are pretty diversified across industries right now, and I’m actually loving that. It lets me experience very different types of clients and customers, which means we’re constantly having to figure out new tactics to reach different types of people. I love creating and finding products or company that have an impact on peoples’ quality of life. It’s definitely exciting building brands that provide customers with products they enjoy, but the idea of creating something that positively changes someone’s life, I guess that’s the feeling I’m looking for.
