Kerr Wilson
SoundSurf

What inspired you to start your own business?

We saw the amazing exposure and fan engagement creators were receiving on video platforms (e.g.YouTube), yet there was no direct way of supporting them or continuing the value add.

SoundSurf allows an organic conversion for viewing content into directly supporting the creator through ticket, merchandise and content sales, or simply sending them a financial tip.

We also saw the huge inequality in payouts as platform dictate how much creators get paid. SoundSurf runs a business model where creators keep 100% of their earnings, creating a frictionless interaction for fans to support creators, and only the creators!

What is the best part of running your own business?

I'm a big believer in community and having a team working towards a joint vision brings me the most joy while working at SoundSurf.

I really can't thank my co-founder enough - Chris Milligan. We have a way of jamming ideas that always dives into the true value we are trying to create for our key stakeholders. The way we collaborate is always a good time. Thanks, Chris!

What is the biggest challenge you have faced running your own business and how did you overcome it?

My biggest problem has been my distraction. I have found it easy to change ideas when things don't seem to be working.

In the early days of SoundSurf, we would work towards a product launch and move on to our next big feature before testing what we had made.

I've learned to be confident in our product and always look for customers to first try our new features, and then suggest product iterations/new features. Build a brand inside out, and build a product outside in.

What is your 5 year vision for the business?

We want to be the primary platform for creators to host and sell content/tickets/merchandise while gaining offline exposure by securing performance spots.

What is the one piece of advice you would give to anyone wanting to start their own business?

Start small, collect data/market feedback, test your product-market fit as soon as possible, and grow/adapt accordingly. I couldn't recommend this book more: 'The Lean Startup' by Eric Ries.

Before reading this I was effectively flying a plane without reading the beginner's manual. This book provides fantastic points of reference at every stage of a scale-up company, and is particularly important in times of uncertainty (there are lots of these moments while starting a business!).

Were there any key moments during your time at NUBS which ignited your entrepreneurial spirit? 

One module stands on in particular and I believe it was called 'Business Enterprise' in second year. The module was a guided but rather hands-off approach for our team to set up our own business, from the ideation stage all the way through to launching and acquiring our first paying customers.

This module forced us to consider (and quickly realise!) all the moving parts of setting up a business which can't always be taught in a classroom, from naming the product, pricing, acquiring partners, talking with suppliers to manufacture a product, marketing, customer research, finding product-market fit, iterating.. the list goes on! It was definitely a wake-up call but also a really fun course the most impactful while setting up my own business.