Raj Kotecha: That's a Great Question

I started this whole podcast just so I could share this episode.  Back in 2009, when Gary Vaynerchuk bragged about answering every email, I had to give it a try.  He replied, we built a studio in his hotel breakfast room and the following conversation changed my life. We spoke about a digital evangelist writing a book, an influencer starting an agency called VaynerMedia and touched on the philosophy of the internet.  The best phone at the time was an Apple iPhone 3GS.  Most "vloggers" used a Flipcam.  The iPad was meant to take over the world.  And there was no Instagram or Snapchat.  That's what makes this conversation SO evergreen.  Everything Gary Vee spoke of can still be applied today (you'll still hear it echoed on The GaryVee Audio Experience podcast).  And I did apply it.  On the show you'll hear about the lessons I applied and how I build the Creative Content Agency with the very lessons and strategies shared with me in this podcast.  If you listen to one of my shows, make it this one.   For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).    

How does Jay Z choose a business partner?  He had two, a loud music industry rising star by the name of Dame Dash, and thoroughbred entrepreneur of few words - Kareem "Biggs" Burke. This interview was created by AmongstFew as part of their collaboration with Biggs for the AmongstFew x Reasonable Doubt clothing line.  The first overseas collaboration of it's kind, Biggs hit the stage at The W Hotel Dubai to talk about why he collaborated with this native Dubai brand, and then we REALLY get into the nuts and bolts of why and how he created Roc-A-Fella, which gave birth to the greatest of all time, JAY-Z. There are SO many gems in this interview, especially as Biggs can communicate so much in such few words.  I also got to interview one of my business heroes in the hip-hop world.  I moderated and hosted the panel, and the panelists themselves were B.J. De Gusman (Creative Director, Jungle Beige, Dan Greenpeace, International Artist Agent and Sadiece Holland, Online Personality and Creator).  For more information on the brand check out www.AmongstFew.com. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

Briar is a star in Dubai's marketing and entrepreneurship scene.  As founder of her own Dubai based personal branding agency, this Kiwi has grown her Deals in High Heels brand with hard work and style gathered along her journey via New York and London.  You can find more of her content at http://dealsinhighheels.com. This unreleased interview is part of a chat we recorded in late 2017.  I wanted to put it out because the video we made feels so much better as audio-only and because Briar is a practitioner, we get into some details about tactics around making money in Dubai and leveraging social media.  It's a great follow on episode from EP 8: Keynote at Al Ain Media and Marketing Forum (Raj live in Abu Dhabi). For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).  

Ritesh Tilani is the VC and Entrepreneur to check in with in the Middle East.  As co-founder of Enhance, he facilitates start ups coming into the Middle East Region, as well as growing his own, including the well known online gifting platform, Joi. Educated in France and Singapore, and seasoned in the States, Ritesh’s business now covers the UAE and Saudi Arabia, offering everything from cakes and flowers to singing telegrams, all branded to a global standard. In the episode he gives an overview of Dubai’s tech scene, including some honest observations on the infrastructure and market size.  We also talk about networking, how to hack your way into an internship and a little on My Friends Your Friends, one of my events where 200 people gather for a drink with a mutual friend in the room. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

If you are brand new to my outlook on marketing, content and business, I need you to listen to this podcast.  In 2017 I was asked to give a keynote at the Al Ain Media and Marketing Forum.  Truth is, up until my agent's car service picked me up, I had no clue where Al Ain even was.  Turns out it was in Abu Dhabi, to a largely Arab / Emirati crowd and so I had to slow down my speaking, keep the speech squeeky clean and come up with my simplest explanations around how I do content-first marketing. I ended up giving a talk I'm super proud of because a) it's a great addition to this podcast and b) it acts as a utility item for people to listen to before they meet me in person.  As such, I hope you like it! PS I barely got this up in time for my 1 a day challenge to launch this show as I just landed in England and grabbed the mic - so apologies for the ever so slightly shorter intro and post-game. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).   

Eric and Jeff Rosenthal are ItsTheReal - hip hop sketch comedy writers, actors, journalists and podcasters, with an incredible show called A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal (on all podcast stores now). Back in September 2017 - I organised and sponsored a live recording of their show, where they interviewed BBC 1Xtra’s DJ Semtex.  Ahead of their interview with him, I interviewed them, in front of a live audience.  We spoke about their background, career highs and lows, working with Kanye early in his career, including his first trip to the Grammy’s, giving yourself permission to be great (based on another chat I had with Gary Vaynerchuk), and if success were a cocktail (or mocktail in their case) - what would be the ingredients.  This was easily one of my favourite podcasts to create - it’s so much fun and the 30 minute chat goes by super quick.  We had some additional support on this episode because it was part of a larger event, so shout out to David Gersch, my partner on the event, Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen, in Shoreditch, London (our venue host) and One Globe Studio, our audio and video production partner. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

RZA is a rap God - no two ways about it.  I can’t think of a hip hop nerd in the world that would turn down a conversation with him and I was SO LUCKY to get this one way back in 2009, backstage at a Wu-Tang Clan show in London. We talk about RZA’s take on artistry, diversification and how lucky we are to be creative people in a position to leverage our talent to spread joy and also gain personally.  This interview is one of my all-time proudest moments because I love the RZA, but it also led to The Golden Chamber Mixtape Hosted by Wu-Tang Clan (Google it) which Vik and I (as the Lovesoul DJ’s) did with DJ Fricktion.  Oh yeah, we also get into how Fricktion’s crazy a$$ came up with the idea and how we got the name and so much more. If you are creative, the last half of the RZA interview, and esp the last few minutes, changed my life, and I hope it changes yours too. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

One thing I love about the hotel industry is that so many high ranking executives started at the bottom.  This is certainly the case for Olivier Harnisch, who left school at 16 and was a waiter that wasn't even allowed to address customers.  Now he's the CEO of Emaar Hospitality Group, with Dubai's most recognisable hotel brands including The Address, Vida and The Rove. In this interview we talk about how he knew, from 8 years old, that he wanted to be a hotelier.  The conditions imposed by his Uncle that got him his first job, which led to a chance encounter with James Bond and so many other stories. We also talk leadership, maintaining relationships with spouses and friends when you have a C level role in hospitality, getting into flow, dealing with negative people and what you can lessons you can apply from leaders of the hotel world. Extra thanks to Jonathan Worsley of Bench Events for pushing me to record this podcast.  For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

Jay-Z and Beyoncé just released the "Everything is Love" album on Tidal this week and I made a last minute switch on this episode and pulled up a 2012 interview with the All Out King of the turntables, DJ Neil Armstrong. Neil toured with Jay-Z through some amazing times in Hov's career, from marrying Beyonce to headlining Glastonbury and rocking the VMA's with that epic "Empire State of Mind" performance with Alicia Keys. We talk about how Neil's authentic musicality, expressed in his legendary mixtapes, led him to a face-to-face meeting with Jay Z, separated only by a set of turntables.  This high pressure performance led to Neil seeing the world, performing to millions of fans and a special performance for President Obama at The White House. We also speak on Kanye West's antics, (well before the recent Donald Trump stuff) when he interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMA, and how Jay Z runs his team and addresses moments like that.  This podcast has a lot of jewels in it so make sure you enjoy it and take notes - there's a lot of stuff we talk about in the post-game part of the podcast that you can apply to your everyday hustle.  

I still can't believe I managed to hustle some time with the billion dollar CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh.  You should read his book "Delivering Happiness" immediately to find out how he took Zappos.com from $1.6m USD to a billion (at which point Jeff Bezos at Amazon scooped it up at a cool $1.2bn valuation). In this episode, we talk company culture, hiring and idea generation and meet Jenn Lim, CEO of Delivering Happiness, a consulting verticle aiming to quantify happiness as a source of competitive advantage in the workplace. In the second half of the podcast, I reveal how I got the interview (the technique still works today).  This is really one of the most crucial post-game explanations I've ever given.  This is a short easy podcast so enjoy! For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).    

Mopreme Shakur is the step-brother of legendary rapper, American icon and political revolutionary Tupac Shakur. He is also the first rapper to ever appear on an RnB record - the monumental "Feels Good - Remix" by Tony! Toni! Toné! Recorded in Los Angeles, California back in 2009, Raj sits in Mopreme's home to talk about the Thug Life movement, the changing music industry (then at an all-time low due to piracy) and of course his relationship with 2Pac. In the breakdown, Raj explains the chance occurrence meeting Mopreme's crew on Hollywood Boulevard which then led him to Mopreme's home, and how Raj's project, The Golden Chamber Mixtape (hosted by Wu-Tang Clan) earned him some credibility.  Raj also shares what he loved about Mopreme referring to his brother as Makaveli the Don. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).

Raj Kotecha has spent over two decades creating content, building audiences and gathering communities around the subject of media, entertainment and entrepreneurship. In the mid-2000's, a time when he was best known as an international DJ and party promoter, Raj acted quickly on the opportunity to create video content exclusively for YouTube.  Focussing on his passions, Raj amassed a library of exclusive and unheard content created with artists, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Raj Kotecha's podcast, That's a Great Question shares both new and previously unheard content from Raj's world.  In the second half of every episode Raj reviews and reflects on the content, the lessons he learned and how he applied them.  He also shares how he hustled his way into making the content happen. For more content from Raj Kotecha head to www.RajKotecha.com/podcasts, including his show "OPP - Other People's Podcasts", co-hosted by Grammy Award winner Fatman Scoop. This podcast is co-produced by Arjun M Shah and the intro music comes from the song "Riddem" by Hype and Fever (special thanks to them and Live Entertainment London for permission to use the audio).