#awinewith Sherry Saeedi
MEET Sherry, Founder of Verswire.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
Amazing. Let's do it. Sherry, welcome to Spark tv. I'm so excited to have you here.
Sherry Saeedi (00:14):
Thank you so much for having me, Danielle. How are you?
Danielle Lewis (00:17):
I'm so good. We were just saying strong coffees and teas all round today, so just fueling us today instead of wine, which is necessary after the day, after your day and my start to the day. But so good. I'm so excited to hear and share your story with the Spark community. So let's just get straight in and start there. Let's tell everyone who you are and what you do.
Sherry Saeedi (00:42):
Oh, great question. Who am I?
Danielle Lewis (00:45):
How long do we have?
Sherry Saeedi (00:49):
Honestly, I'm a student of the music industry. I wouldn't call myself an expert. I think being an expert in something that's rapidly changing at all times, and that's ever evolving, I would never, I'm a sooner the music industry. I've been in it for about 16 years. I started out as management when I really didn't know what I was doing, and I figured it out and then I knew what I was doing and did that for about eight years. I loved it. I loved touring. I loved taking care of artists. And then I realized that I wanted to do something really groundbreaking. I wanted to disrupt the industry in a way that we could create solutions for people in different silos of the music industry that desperately needed it. The first thing that, the first silo that I wanted to go after was ticketing. I wanted to create basically a ticketing platform where it was made for an artist.
(01:40):
It was commission free. It gave me all the tools I would've needed as a manager, and so I created it myself. And this is also when I was, I mean, I grew up on welfare. I've never had money. I literally scraped together all the cash I had just so I could create prototypes. I went and found investors, Ben Jean Joel Madden partnered with me on this venture. Fast forward during the pandemic, all of our tickets went off sale because obviously we were a ticket company. So within One Call, we decided to pivot to live streaming. And the year that was supposed to kill us, we grossed 10 million. We landed 4,000 clients, and we sold at a 30 million valuation.
Danielle Lewis (02:20):
Holy shit.
Sherry Saeedi (02:23):
Who ever tells you, oh, that sounds like it's harder. I don't know. Or, Hey, only 2% of startups succeed. Fine be the 2%.
(02:30):
So I didn't want to stop there. That was one silo that I was like, check. And then I thought to myself, and I was just like, you know what? I feel like all the solutions that are created my own first company as a great example, it's an ancillary income that we are creating for artists because why? Because we've just learned to accept that artists just make money from touring and they don't really see money from their own masters. And I just went, huh. And I was in management for a while. I did a ton of contracts. I've worked with all the different majors, all the different indies, and I just said to myself, the core of the model just needs a rapid shift, not a slight shift, definitely not a copy and paste, but a massive makeover. And the same way that you wouldn't call Uber a better taxi, we're not a better label. We're a VC for artists. That is what Verse Wire is. This is why literally all of our merch says we're not a label. We're our own category doing things so differently. And we've introduced a new business model, which I'm honored to say works. We first read a little bit to go ahead and first prove our case study. Our case study was Beauty School Dropout.
(03:38):
We use this new model where we basically invest in artists, we take equity, and then we bring in our label services team to run their label services as part of their business. And then our ars are, what do you know, multi-platinum gold artists such as Mark Habbas and Pete once. So when I say, Hey, let's change this song here, versus when Mark says, let's change it, they're going to listen to the man that I would too. So we brought the best of the best, and Mark and Pete really ain't r the project really well, and we surprised ourselves. We went from a total of 4 million streams for the band to 60 million now. Wow. We found them in a corner of a thrift store playing to a hundred people the same year they opened for Blink and Madison Square Garden, and we're on a full tour with em. So that led us to a total of 12.3 million, raised a partnership with Cobalt and a vision that works.
Danielle Lewis (04:38):
That is incredible. Oh my God. And so much to actually unpack.
Sherry Saeedi (04:46):
I know. I literally just put 16 years into two minutes.
Danielle Lewis (04:51):
No, but I love it because, well, a few reasons why I love it. I love it because you weren't a tech person coming into a tech-based industry and deciding that there was a problem, that things needed to change, and why not have a crack at it, which I absolutely adore, and I love that one Business exit wasn't enough. Let's do it. Let's do it again. So let's go all the way back to Well, hell yeah. It seemed to be done now, which is so cool. There
Sherry Saeedi (05:23):
You go. When I tell people I have an idea, they listen to me now, they're like, yes.
Danielle Lewis (05:27):
Yeah, well, actually, so let's skip forward. Do you find that now that you've actually been on paper as success, that things are a little bit easier the second time around?
Sherry Saeedi (05:37):
Yes. I will say that I think some things are easier and some things are harder. I think it's easier to get people if you're like, Hey, let's hop on a call. I want to talk about your client, or they will take your call. What I think is harder is their expectations are very, very high in terms of, for example, spend or resources, which isn't a bad thing, but it's also just like, okay, there's a lot of negotiation there. But I'll still say, I mean, I'll say this until the cows come home, being a woman in the music industry, it gets easier as you get older, but it's still hard. And then nevermind. My first company, I went for the two most male dominated industries.
Danielle Lewis (06:17):
Yeah. I was like, N Tech, hello?
Sherry Saeedi (06:19):
I was like, yeah, that's fine. And we started eps when we started the prototypes and everything when I was 24 girl, and I always looked younger than I actually was. So they're like, oh, she's 18. I'm like, Hey,
Danielle Lewis (06:35):
You're like, I know what I'm doing. It's fine. I know,
Sherry Saeedi (06:38):
I
Danielle Lewis (06:38):
Know mean that's super interesting though. Young music industry, tech industry. I mean, what are the challenges? Hit me with a couple of 'em.
Sherry Saeedi (06:48):
People just by default assume you don't know what you're doing. People by default assume that there's men that came up with your idea, not you. Oh, literally the most ridiculous things. People assume that you don't have the ability to lead a team because you're either going to be too nice or bitchy, because the one thing that I'll always say about a woman is there's no sweet spot. We're not just, oh, she's a leader. She's either bitchy or too nice. She's either overreacting or lets everyone walk all over her. She's either like a boss. She's not a boss, she's never a boss. She's either a
Danielle Lewis (07:30):
Boss bitch. Yeah.
Sherry Saeedi (07:31):
She's either a boss bitch or there's no sweet spot. And we don't say these things about men. We don't. And so I realized a long time ago is like, I'm never going to be in a position where I just get normal feedback. Like, oh, okay, cool. That was cool. Yeah, it's just you're either too much or not enough. How did
Danielle Lewis (07:57):
You deal with that? Obviously you just went, fuck off. I'm doing it anyway. I did. How did you manage it?
Sherry Saeedi (08:07):
I'd be lying if I said that. I still don't deal with it. I mean, look, do I deal with it as much? Not nearly as much, probably like 10% compared to how much you really used to get to me. But truly, I just kind of took the fuel as like, all right, I'm just going to prove you wrong. But I also, I don't let things, if someone's blatantly being disrespectful or just using being painfully chauvinistic and stuff, I'll just call it out. But I'll do it quickly and then I'll move on. So for example, if someone's just being very sexist or rude, I'll just be like, that's a very rude comment you made. And they're not used to being called out like that because usually they're like, you can't have emotion behind it, which is ridiculous because I'm a human being and you are the one that's, for example, saying something that's inappropriate or whatever. But you have to do it in a completely blunt. Okay, that was a very rude comment. I'd appreciate you not saying that again. Okay, so moving on, you have to call it out. But what I've realized is the second you show any type of reaction because women aren't allowed to react, then you're being emotional or just unstable. And it's so interesting, the labels we get that the men don't, if a man reacts to disrespect, you're like, yeah, get 'em. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (09:33):
Exactly.
Sherry Saeedi (09:34):
And it's so interesting, but I always, I'm like, don't let things slide, but don't let
Danielle Lewis (09:41):
Them derail the situation.
Sherry Saeedi (09:43):
Totally. And trust me, I'd be lying if I said, it still doesn't bother me sometimes, but I call it out calmly, swiftly, and I move on. And you'd be surprised it actually doesn't happen again, because there's a strength to that. There's a power to that. But yeah, it's fucking annoying.
Danielle Lewis (10:00):
Yes. It drives me wild. My first business was a tech business, and it was interesting. So the first networking event I ever went to, I was thinking, oh my gosh, this is so exciting. Of course, it was a room full of men. I think there was three girls, three women there, and I just remembered, so this guy was drinking a beer, and of course when he was talking, he was spitting, and he was like, I don't know how you ever think this is going to happen. You're young, you are blonde. This is the tech industry. And I'm like, I walked out of there so determined. I was like, are
Sherry Saeedi (10:35):
You kidding me?
Danielle Lewis (10:36):
I was, no,
Sherry Saeedi (10:37):
But you know what it is. That's ridiculous. And I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But I also in a weird way, take it as like a, okay, you're threatened by me. Interesting. Because the way I look at it is I don't think a secure person would ever feel the need to put down a young woman. And the people that have put me down routinely in the past and whatever, I don't give a shit because I'm like, how insecure do you have to feel about yourself to put down a young woman and go back on your hype? Or, okay, if that makes you feel better, carry on now, watch. Now watch what I'm, I love that. You've got to let it roll off or else you will lose your mind. You have to, and again, it's the joy and curse of being a female.
Danielle Lewis (11:23):
Yeah, I know. And it's funny the way I've probably taken a similar tack to you in the sense of using it to fuel my determination and fuel my fire. But yeah, I love that idea of actually saying, okay, so I'm being underestimated a little bit here. Maybe I've got an opportunity to actually shine because you're all underestimating what I'm about to do.
Sherry Saeedi (11:47):
Totally, totally. And just watch. They want to talk about you. Give them something to talk about.
Danielle Lewis (11:53):
I love that so much. So going from welfare to starting a tech business, that's a huge leap. So you talked about being in management. How did you get there? How did you go from welfare to managing artists to then to tech platform? What was that process like for you? Did you just wake up one morning and say, that's it, I'm starting a business? Did you educate yourself? What was that initial ideation phase for you?
Sherry Saeedi (12:24):
Of course, I always say that you should turn I've, welfare is not easy. That's what I grew up in as a child. I was moved around 20 different times to four different countries, a lot of instability. And I mean, I think everyone's upbringings are different, but no one kind of has an unscathed one, and we're all just healing from whatever we've gone through. And I think the best thing that I ever heard was turn your pain into purpose. And I wanted to turn it into purpose. And art. So funny enough, when I was trouble childhood, whatever, but I loved shows and I wasn't allowed to go because my parents just thought that's where people did drugs and all that stuff. And I'm like, what? They watch too much tv. So what I would do is I would, for example, say I was going to quote unquote Stacey's house, and then I would fly and go to the show, but I had to go early because my alibi had to make sense.
(13:20):
And by the way, my parents know that I lied after the fact years later, years later, I was like, by the way, and so I'd get to the shows and these were my friend shows, these were local shows, and I would just show up and like, Hey, can I help? Can I set up Merch connect? I was there. And they'd be like, sure, because I was so helpful. A few times they were like, Hey, we don't have a manager. Do you want to manage this? And I was like, 16. I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. But I was like, sure. And I just literally studied and Googled, and every mentor I could get ahold of, I would call and just be like, Hey, can I just sit with you and just understand what it is to be a manager? And I learned very quickly.
(13:54):
And then I started managing more bands. Then I started going on tour. Then I was on Warp Tour for eight years. And then I really was very good at what I did. And then management companies picked me up and I really loved it. But my transition from management to starting my company is I wanted to do something incredible in this world, and I wanted to leave this industry better than I found it. And with managing artists, I could only service seven at a time. I wanted to change the game. I wanted to help thousands at a time. And I knew I couldn't do that with management. You just can't. There's not enough hours in the day. And I said to myself, I'm like, I've always wanted to be in entertainment. I kind of just fell into music because of my bait and switch lies. Whoops. Hey, it worked. Whatever. Doubt.
Danielle Lewis (14:39):
Yeah,
Sherry Saeedi (14:40):
I know, right? But yeah, I was just like, okay. And I really sat literally on my bedroom floor in my shitty apartment, and I was like, all right, what can I do? What are some solutions I can think of for this industry? And I've always been really good with ideas. It's literally my last name backwards. Not even kidding. If you look at it, that's what it is. Oh
Danielle Lewis (15:01):
My God, I just realized that now I'm looking at your name on the screen. Oh, that's so cool.
Sherry Saeedi (15:07):
It's actually, yeah, and I thought of Veeps very quickly. I'm like, huh. And then I started mapping it out and doing some research, and I closed my laptop. And at that time I was living in dc. I've never had much money before this whole company, but I was like, I went out. I went to California and met with all my friends and potential investors, and I flew back and forth four times. And by the time I met my investors and partners, I had $80 in my bank account. I was beyond broke. I didn't have enough money to send myself home. Even after that, I had to call my friend to have her Venmo me just a hundred bucks so I can get a one way flight back home. And when I moved to LA to start this whole venture, I just had enough money for a mattress, and I stacked up boxes as a nightstand. I was 24, and I was just like, okay, this is going to be a really good story. One day.
Danielle Lewis (16:00):
Yes,
Sherry Saeedi (16:01):
Here we are.
Danielle Lewis (16:02):
Oh my God. I love that. I love it. Okay. So many levels there, because I think working, so going back to being at the shows and helping people out, you were there a bit early because you were lying with your parents all good. But it's like, I feel like today people don't want to work for free. There's this funny thing. So back in my day, because I'm an old person, I did internships, and nowadays you can't do free internships. You've got to pay people and it's all regulated and what have you. But I was like, I just wanted to get out there and learn as much as I could and get in front of the people that nobody else could get in front of. I mean, I just think there's something powerful about being helpful, which is exactly what you did.
Sherry Saeedi (16:49):
You're absolutely right. But you know what? The most powerful thing through that entire journey of mine just thus far is take your ego out of it. Learn. I still consider myself a student of the music industry. I don't care all these titles and whatever, man, just show up and just be grateful and eager to learn. Because had I not done that, I wouldn't have the skillsets that I have been able to have been able to get throughout the course of my career, just learn and also figure it out. That's also one of those things where I think in general, of course, it's easier for someone to sit you down and tell you this than that. But also, Google is the best thing ever. Literally research and learn on your own and just be eager. And also don't let statistics and don't let people's words of, it's always jealousy, statistics, okay, whatever.
(17:51):
Like I said, 2% of startups succeed. Be confident enough that you're going to be the 2% and really believe that. And I don't know if it's delusion, but it helps me look. I literally, I knew with no context, no money. I just knew when I started my job, my journey in music industry when I was 16, I'm like, I'm going to do something. I don't know what it is, but I'm going to do something. And if you don't believe in you, no one's going to believe in you. It has to start with you. You emulate that, and it's just be hungry and put your ego down. Just be like, okay, teach me. No, I don't know. So please teach me or look it up. Or research. Look on TikTok. There's so much information out there for you to get what you need and succeed at what you're trying to get. And it's a shame to never be able to reach the full potential of who you are just because you're afraid of failing. There's no such thing as keep going. Yes,
Danielle Lewis (18:48):
That's it. I love that. There's a good one. That's the only time you fail is when you actually stop. So just don't.
Sherry Saeedi (18:53):
Hundred percent. Yeah. How many times I have bankrupted myself, and if I stopped, I never would've been able to change the lives of so many of our clients. I'm honored that I get to say that, but it's because I didn't give up. The entrepreneur journey is the most rollercoaster ride of your life, and you feel like you're on top of the world. And the next second you'll just be like, what am I doing with my life? And you are haggling over $2 for a smoothie because you're paying your team. That's it. Yeah. Money for yourself. You'll question yourself so much, but just keep going because the universe will fall in love with a stubborn heart. Just keep going one foot in front of the other.
Danielle Lewis (19:37):
That's so good. It reminds me, so you talked about your capital raising process, so flying back and forth from dc, having pennies to your name. I remember when I started my capital raising journey, I didn't even know somebody that could lend me a hundred dollars, let alone invest a hundred thousand. I was like, oh my God. So I love your point about just go find it, figure it out, research it, Google it. That's literally what I did. I was like, who invests in Australia? Totally crazy. Oh my God,
Sherry Saeedi (20:10):
Look it up. Ask, take a million meetings. And people, even with my, I'm not even exaggerating with you, even with my second company, I had an amazing win. I had a case study of I know what the fuck I'm doing. Was it easy to raise money the second time? Yes. Did I still take 200 investment meetings to land seven? Yes. And you're going to have moments where you're screaming in your car and you're tired. Just do it. It will work out. And it's one of those things where people don't owe you their money. And investing is a really big deal. I literally would be like, I would sit with people, I'm like, who do you think I should just talk to? And they're like, these five people. And I'd set up five meetings. It's exhausting. It's exhausting. But it's also like this wasn't like, if it was easy, everyone would do it. And if you wanted an incredible swing for the fences,
Danielle Lewis (21:04):
I love that too. I love that you said you took 200 meetings, because I feel like people, especially when it comes to investment, they're like, okay, who are the top two people that would invest in my company that are in the right niche that are, and I'm like, oh, that's not how it works.
Sherry Saeedi (21:19):
Oh, no, you said everyone speak to everyone and their mother. Sometimes your investment might completely come out of left field. You took a random meeting that you didn't even know where to go, and you're like, oh, wait a minute. And this is my second time. By the way, the first time was significantly harder because I had been in the industry for about eight years at that point, and I knew a lot of people, but who's to say I know how to run a company? You know what I mean? And I did Do
Danielle Lewis (21:48):
You knew. Knew that you knew how to run a company.
Sherry Saeedi (21:52):
I knew and I believed in me, and people believed in it. And the thing about raising money is you don't raise well the first times, right? You're not looking for that million dollar paycheck. You're looking for a hundred thousand dollars tops to get you going, prove your concept, then raise more, prove it again, raise, raise, raise. And you have to, if it's your first go around, you have to do it that way. Then when it's your second and third and fourth will work a lot faster. You get to ask for larger sums if it makes sense, if your business needs it. But if you take three investment meetings and all three say no, and you get discouraged, keep going because I took 200 for my second company.
Danielle Lewis (22:35):
Yeah, I love that because, and I love actually that you talked about the staged investments as well, because I do feel like when it is your first time, you've got to prove to people that you will do what you say you're going to do. That was the biggest thing I found is every time I'd come back and say, Hey, you know how you gave me that money and I said I was going to do X, Y, Z. Well, I did that and this is what's next. And that, I think that was the power.
Sherry Saeedi (23:00):
Totally. And it's just one of those things where I really do think that, I think everyone has a lot of great ideas, but it all comes down to execution. Because one of the things that people would say to me with my first company, ves, and even with First Wire, where they're like, well, aren't you scared? Someone's going to take your idea and do it themselves. I'm like, God for it. I'm like, you don't have me. You think Veeps didn't take 7 million pivots, and do you think anyone else could have pivoted in the middle of a pandemic to a livestream company? I'd never done a livestream before, and then scale and then handle 4,000 artists and 10 million of Gross Rep, or even my existing company, verse Wire. How many times we've adjusted and made sure we had the most amazing resources. And team. I would love for there to be more verse wires because it just proves that the model works, and it just proves that there's a real need out there. But I'm not afraid of competition. Take my idea. You don't have my team. Period. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (23:56):
That's it. And I don't think people understand how hard execution is. A, you don't have me, B, you don't have the team. You don't have the persistence to just keep going when it is tough.
Sherry Saeedi (24:07):
I know, I know. And you're going to have your days, but just remember their thoughts, their moments, let them pass and show up the next day. Because it's like, I think a lot of people just want, for example, the final product. Let's just say it's a house that's your final product, and you're looking at the house and you're like, man, that's what I want. It's like, cool, well, why don't you just lay down a brick every single day? Just lay down a brick. And you might get frustrated. You might just be like, this brick is meaningless. It's just a brick. Well, if you keep laying down a brick every single day, you're going to turn around and then you'll have your house. But there's no shortcut because easy come, easy go. You want something fast, fine. You got a paper house, period. It doesn't work that way. And I tell people, I had really great success in my management days, but it was still a lot of grinding. And it took for my first win, real win. When I sold Veeps, it took 13 years for my life to change in a day.
Danielle Lewis (25:11):
Yeah, talk to me about that. So talk to me about selling a business. How did that come about?
Sherry Saeedi (25:17):
It was really cool. I mean, that's your moment. That's like you don't have, so I'm still an owner and I'm very happy to say that, but that was our fourth offer for acquisition. And it was one of those things where I didn't want to sacrifice the integrity of my company. I wanted to make sure my entire team, they had job security, and this was the best move for my team, all the clients that trusted us and the future of the company. And it aligned. I mean, these things take a minute, but I would just say that when you're nearing to the point, this wasn't an exit, it was more of a jv. Still me and my partners are still owners, but it's like, just don't lose the integrity of why you did what you did. And if someone wants to come in, sometimes people come in to buy you just to get rid of you.
(26:11):
That is a hundred percent a fact. Some people come in, buy you and then want to change everything that you work so hard to build. What's the point? And I will say, hold off for the right deal. Make sure that you just, I go to sleep so soundly at night because I have made sure that my team, my clients have always been taken care of. And if you lead with that, things will work out better than you could have ever imagined. Because had we, for example, taken some other deals that wouldn't have been the, and we waited for the right one, and it was a huge moment. I bought myself sushi that night. I remember,
Danielle Lewis (26:52):
Wow, you really went all out. I know.
Sherry Saeedi (26:54):
I splurged. I know I splurged. It was weird. It was weird because it was 13 years that I've, at that point, I had been working so hard and then literally my life changed in a day. And I was like, oh, cool. Let's do it all over again. And then I'm like, God, damnit Sherry.
Danielle Lewis (27:13):
Was there any kind of rest in between?
Sherry Saeedi (27:20):
I like working. I enjoy it. I did go to Europe for a month, but I was working all throughout that. I was already brainstorming the business model for reverse wire and stuff. I did a little Euro trip, but I honestly was just so excited to come back and just do it all over again because it's exciting. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work, but it's fun to do the impossible. And that's actually a tattoo that I have on my arm. It's actually Walt Disney, his exact quote. It's kind of fun to do the impossible because it is. It's when people question you doubt you when you're the 2%, that feels great. And I think that statistic would go up higher if people really took the chances they've always wanted to take and just believe in themselves. Because it's not about how much money you have, it's not about how famous you are. I didn't have anything and I believed that's it.
Danielle Lewis (28:19):
I love it so much. Now I feel like I could talk to you all day, but let's leave the Spark community with one last thought. So I always like to ask our guests, if you could reflect on one piece of advice that has served you well over your time in business that you would pass on to another woman in her journey, what would it be?
Sherry Saeedi (28:41):
Ooh. One.
Danielle Lewis (28:43):
I know. How long do we have?
Sherry Saeedi (28:45):
I know. I know. God, I really have to think about that because I want to make sure I leave it with a all one that kind of ties it all together. Let me think. You
Danielle Lewis (29:00):
Can do multiple if you like as well.
Sherry Saeedi (29:02):
Honestly, I would say, I mean, as cheesy as it sounds, no matter what, don't give up because anyone that questions you is clearly threatened by you. And what I would also say is don't wait for anyone to, in any sense, whether it's a man or even another woman or anyone, don't wait for anyone to save you. Don't wait for anyone to come in and swoop you. Be the hero. Be your own goddamn hero. One foot in front of the other every single day you can do it. And if I could just literally tell this to every woman for the rest of my life ever, I would. And that's it.
Danielle Lewis (29:47):
You are amazing. Thank you so much, Sherry, for sharing your journey and your wisdom with the Spark community. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you.
Sherry Saeedi (29:57):
Thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun. So much fun. Thank you.
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