Spark of Ages
In every episode, we interview B2B Marketing leaders, executives, and innovators about their successes and challenges, asking them how they broke through and what spark in their careers took them to the next level.
Spark of Ages
Bootstrapping a Community Wildfire Response/Sandeep Parikh - Altadena, Crowdfund, EffinFunny ~ Spark of Ages Ep 36
Sandeep Parikh shares his journey of resilience after being displaced by the LA wildfires, discussing how the disaster tested his strength as a father, husband, and creator while inspiring new approaches to filmmaking and community building.
• Surviving the devastating LA wildfires that destroyed over 9,000 structures and left countless homes uninhabitable due to toxic contamination
• Co-founding Eaton Fire Residents United to map toxin spread through affected neighborhoods when official support fell short
• Maintaining creativity despite compounding challenges to Hollywood from pandemic, strikes, and now natural disasters
• Pioneering crowdfunding success with culturally authentic projects like DesiQuest and the upcoming film "Vidhya's Guide for the Afterlife"
• Building genuine creative relationships with fellow artists instead of constantly chasing validation from industry gatekeepers
• Leveraging community support to maintain creative independence and ownership of artistic properties
• Transforming personal trauma into art that connects with audiences seeking authentic representation
• Using "all parts of the buffalo" – drawing on diverse experiences from computer science to improv to create unique work
When the LA wildfires tore through Sandeep Parikh's neighborhood, destroying over 9,000 structures and rendering countless homes uninhabitable from toxic contamination, he faced the ultimate test of resilience. But true to his nature as a creator, he found ways to transform disaster into opportunity.
From the ashes of displacement, Sandeep co-founded Eaton Fire Residents United, a grassroots organization mapping the spread of dangerous toxins through affected neighborhoods when institutional support fell short. This community-driven approach mirrors his philosophy as a filmmaker – finding unconventional paths when traditional structures fail.
That spirit of innovation has defined Sandeep's career, from his early days breaking ground with web series like "The Guild" and "Legend of Neil," to his current success crowdfunding culturally authentic projects like "DesiQuest" and "Vidhya's Guide for the Afterlife." He reveals the strategic thinking behind these campaigns, including a brilliant live improv show that served as both entertainment and fundraising event.
Beyond financial success, Sandeep values the creative independence this model provides. After spending ten years fighting to regain rights to earlier work, he cherishes maintaining ownership of his art while building direct connections with passionate audiences. His journey demonstrates how authentic community building can replace traditional gatekeeping in entertainment.
Throughout our conversation, Sandeep shares invaluable wisdom for creators navigating uncertain terrain – the importance of establishing genuine relationships with fellow artists, using "all parts of the buffalo" by drawing on diverse life experiences, and measuring success through depth of audience connection rather than conventional metrics. Even in disaster's wake, he shows how creativity can thrive through resilience, community, and unwavering authenticity.
Join this powerful exploration of creative perseverance in the face of unprecedented challenges, and discover how disaster can become a springboard for your most meaningful work yet.
Check out Vidhya's Guide for the Afterlife on Kickstarter and follow Sandeep's journey through his Patreon where you can join his community of supporters
Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/
Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/
Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/
Email us with any feedback for the show: spark@postion2.com
Welcome to the Spark of Ages podcast. Today we're hanging out with my co-host and brother Sandeep Parikh, and I get to talk about him because he has so much to share. Sandeep is a true renaissance man of the digital age. They in LA or in in Hollywood, call it a Multihyphenate, who's blazed his own trail as a director, actor, and digital showrunner in comedy, gaming, and interactive entertainment. Sandeep's worked with a lot of names, you know, comedy Central, Sony fx, Nickelodeon, TBS, Hasbro. You may recognize him from his breakout role as Zaboo in the Guild as I have. I've walked down the road with him and people recognize him, which started as an internet series and ended up being bought by Geek and Sundry and ran for six seasons. Right now he's starting in this quest, a Dungeon and Dungeons and Dragons series making waves in the. T-T-R-P-G game world, which is tabletop role playing game world. Got it. That's about to hit Hasbro's official d and d channel this spring and recently he just teamed up with Rekha Shankar to raise crowdsource capital via Kickstarter for his next movie Vidhya's guide for the Afterlife. Behind the camera, Sandeep has directed numerous web series of his own called Legend of Neil, which is based on the video game Zelda wrote for the animated Netflix series Glitch Techs, and has directed commercials for brands like Walmart and countless Silicon Valley startups. Besides being the co-host of this podcast, Sandeep is also the co co-host of Your mom, is a podcast with Milana Vayntrub, who's also been on the show, as well as the show, ABCD, American Born Chatty Desi's podcast. So go check out those after you listen to this show. So Sandeep attended Brown University where he has a degree in computer science and theater. So Sandeep, welcome back to the show. Yes. 'cause I know you've been away for some time. Um, we've really missed you. My triumph in return. We as in me and your producer, Anand, have really missed you as well as the audience. A lot of times they're like, where's that guy who makes all this stuff real? Um, and where's that guy? That sounds a lot like you. Yeah. Your, your
Sandeep Parikh:voice double. Apparently my barely we're that close. Sometimes our parents can't tell us apart. Can they? I mean, do they always? Yeah, they always say, sometimes they're like, I'm on the phone with them for like 10 minutes and they'll be like, well, Rajiv. And I'm like, you know, you've been talking to not Rajiv for a while. Right? And they're like, huh? Who's
Rajiv Parikh:that? Why are you talking to me about something completely different? Yeah. It's just that Rajiv is so multi textured. And of course I get called, uh, sun Sanjeev. I get called my son's name, Arjun. So I get called all kinds of things. Mm-hmm. From our parents. It's this affection that they have for everybody. So. One of the things I think that's gonna be interesting to talk about today is that the reason why you've been away for quite some time. Yeah. You've gone through this incredible difficult, uh, for many and most heartbreaking experience and maybe a point of resilience experience called the LA fires. So you are, yeah. I guess would you call, would I call you a climate resilience survivor?
Sandeep Parikh:I suppose so. That sounds very fancy for how I feel, but, um, you know, you said a lot of fancy things in the bio, so, uh, I guess I'll, I'll chalk that up as well. Um, yeah, it's been, um, wildly, it's been the hardest experience of my adult life, I'd say, uh, the most challenging experience, uh, since becoming a father. And, you know, as sort of, um, a. You know, a co-leader of our family. Uh, and, uh, it's, yeah. So we, we were displaced from the, the LA wildfires, the al we lived in Altadena. Um, and were over 9,000 structures were, there's no better word than decimated. Um, and, uh, has laid waste to, was once a, uh, you know, a, a, a beautiful, gorgeous neighborhood, um, that, uh, you know, where we raised our son for all five years of his life. And, um, there's no way of sugarcoating it. Um, it was, um, super challenging. Our house, our, our house still stands, um, however, uh, it is, uh, sort of infiltrated or, or has been, uh. So sort succumb to, uh, ma massive smoke damage and ash and char and soot. Um, and that's that we're finding out more and more in the research that it's, uh, highly toxic, um, filled with lead and asbestos, cyanide, a whole bunch of other really damaging neurotoxins. So we're, it's, it's unclear as to whether or not our house will be safe to return to anytime soon. Every week is a new wild challenge that either involves, uh, a shouting match with, uh, with insurance or discovering some new neurotoxin or trying to figure out where, um, kid's gonna go to school. And it's, it's been, um, an absolute, uh, wild ride and it's certainly tested our resilience as a family. Yeah. Tested me in, in, in, in all the ways that, that I can, uh, name, you know, as an artist, as a father, as a husband, as a, yeah. So it's been, um, it's been super, super challenging. But, um, you know, I, I am. Heartened by the, the level of, uh, like outpouring of, of, of real support from, of course, family and friends, but even strangers that have sort of, uh, stepped up and, and tried to help in, in, in the many ways they can. I'm also a part of, um, I guess I'll mention this, uh, that I'm, I'm working with an advocacy group that I, I helped name, uh, using my creative, my creative brain. Alright,
Rajiv Parikh:got you. Got, well, you're a creator and you're a leader and an organizer, right? You started your own business all your life. You've been an entrepreneur, and so those skills serve you well. When you're in situation,
Sandeep Parikh:there's this like element of, uh, I, I think that I, I don't know, it is probably some combination of you and mom and dad and, and all these influences in my life really sort of, I. When I, when I, when I feel like I'm faced with a challenge like this, I can't help but somehow find a way to c to, to step up. I feel like there's always a vacuum in these times, um, of, of challenge where people are looking for leadership, they're looking for answers they're looking for. And so when I feel like I am in it, in the mix of it and I start finding various answers to things, I, I feel compelled to wanna share those answers. And then before I know it, I'm a part of an organization that is, that is, uh, that is dedicated to that and trying to just utilize all my skills. So the organization is called the Eaton Fire Residents United, EFRU. Um, and, uh, you can find it at ef ru la and the, so. Real mission of that organization is to, uh, map, essentially we're creating a dynamic map, um, that, that is taking all of the, uh, industrial hygienist testing that's being done on, on homes that are still standing, uh, because there are so many people that can't afford that testing, don't have, uh, or, or, or insurance is, is pushing back and not allowing them to. So, uh, we're trying to gather all that data, you know, it's all volunteer based. People are just uploading their, their test results. It's all in anonymous, by the way. So, uh, you know, we take privacy super seriously. So you're
Rajiv Parikh:not like saying this home is this, not specifically
Sandeep Parikh:this home, but the area around the home. Yeah. So that you can map it and you can literally see, oh, here is how the lead has, has moved through thanks to the wind pat patterns, uh, based upon certifiable test results, or this is how arsenic. And so we're, as you know, we're breaking it down by the toxins as well so that you can, um, you know, really see how this stuff has, has moved through the through. The town and through LA
Rajiv Parikh:I, I think a lot of folks were forced to move back. Right. Or maybe didn't realize this and they just went back. Exactly. And so right after the, like you guys, uh, as it was happening left mm-hmm. Pretty much right away. It was a scary thing to leave your home right away.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. I mean, we were, we were, we were, we were, we were evacuated. I mean, technically we were, we left before we were technically evacuated. Um, because we were, we were in some ways warned, uh, thanks to this, this local weatherman. And when I say local weatherman, I don't mean like a guy on tv. I mean a guy that has his own Patreon that does hyper local weather for Altadena. It's this. That's cool. Uh. This unbelievable guy, Edgar McGregor. And he, I single handedly this guy and his Patreon, I think saved countless lives because he warned folks ahead of time that, Hey, these, these, these winds are gonna be unprecedented, uh, and if a fire is to break out that it will be near impossible for it to be stopped. So get ready to get out. He said that. A week or so ahead of time, a week ahead of time. And so, yeah, a lot of us were informed of this idea that the Santa Ana winds were going to be huge, and that if any fire breaks out, just get ready to bounce. And, um, that's exactly what we did. We just were like, you know what? We see the fire in the mountain. Even though it was miles and miles, you know, at least 10 miles away from us specifically. We were like, let's just get outta here. You know? Yeah. Let's just get outta these winds are absolutely insane. I've never seen anything like them, um, that are, you know, once in a hundred years kind of thing. Santa Ana wins. And so, yeah, because, because of that guy and because of Patreon, we got out of there.
Rajiv Parikh:It's nuts. That's amazing. That's amazing. Glad glad this person can be so helpful. 'cause I could imagine just what happened with people when people didn't leave. Yeah. They, they just ran into a situation where they're all crowded and trying to get out and they don't get to take all the stuff or they get trapped.
Sandeep Parikh:Well, that, that was exactly what I was specifically worried about. I was like, you know what? Be, before we even got our evacuation ordered, I was like, let's just get outta here just in case it gets crazy clogged. Like why even bother, uh, messing with it? Plus we had, we didn't have power at the time, so it was, you know, we have a five yearold and we're having like a candlelit taco dinner and we're like, why don't we just not be here? Just do this somewhere else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn't know that we were not gonna be able to return, honestly, at that time that we were leaving, it was like we sat in our home. You know, we, I, I just, I. It felt like our home was so far away. There's like, but if it ever got to us, like, are you kidding me? This whole place would have to burn down. And that's literally what, yeah. What transpired? I, I, I, I can't believe it. So, still can't believe it.
Rajiv Parikh:What are some of the key lessons you learned from going through this that we should all think about in terms of being prepared? It's, you know, it's one thing to be, to say for someone to be prepared. Yeah. You know, we talk about it in Northern California more. Mm-hmm. It's like, uh, be prepared for the next earthquake and mm-hmm. Sort of have, you know, we, some have some things tied down. We're forced to, the bigger buildings are forced to, to, to renovate themselves or make them seismic ready. Um, some people have a to-go bag or go bag. Yeah. Um, but I think most don't, other than having maybe earthquake insurance, most people don't do very much. What are some lessons you recommend to all of us? Learnings that you represent to us. Yeah,
Sandeep Parikh:I mean, this is such like a lesson in like, you know, uh, what assessing your own level of risk. Uh, and, and we've been through this now twice in some ways, right? With the pandemic and now the LA wildfires. So my risk, personal risk assessment is, and especially now that I have family, um, is, yeah, I, I don't want to take any chances. I don't necessarily want to go so far as to like build a bunker, 80 feet down underneath my home or anything like that. Or, you know, I think there's some, but I think there is, there are measured steps that you can take to prepare yourself, um, that are reasonable. Um, and at, at the very least, it starts by checking out whatever the. You know, public health guidelines are in your, in your region. I mean, I think that is like a no-brainer. And these go bags are pretty cheap, and you can put one in each of your cars and, you know, have one under your bed and they're like 80 bucks each or something like that. And get 'em on Amazon and they'll, they have water for three days. They have, you know, basic food, basic supply. Like, there's stuff that you can absolutely do. Simple things like, Hey, don't throw away your sneakers. Um, you know, old sneakers, like stick, stick those under your bed. So you have sneakers. If you wake up and there's an earthquake and glass shattered and there's a bunch of glass shattered between you and your kids' room, well then you can slip on your shoes and not, and you know, like, there's like, there's like sort that's a good call.
Rajiv Parikh:Yeah.
Sandeep Parikh:Really simple things that these, and there's these websites that have it all. And you know, now you have ai, so you can just ask the question. You can have a conversation with Gemini and or, or whatever you'd like to use and, and go like, Hey, how should I, I live around here, how should I prepare for the, you know, uh, events that by the way I'm using, I'm utilizing ai. So, so much to help me, uh, in, in a bunch of different ways. Um, but specifically I'm using it to, um, go up against when I need to go up against, uh, uh, insurance, um, and having it break down my insurance policy for me. I'll, I'll write an angry letter, you know, in, and then I'll say, Hey, make this less angry and make this sound professional, polite, but firm and it will do it. Uh, and, and it's been so wildly helpful, um, in tracking all that stuff. So, you know, you gotta use all the tools that are at your disposal when you're talking about your family survival and, um. So I you, yeah. So have a
Rajiv Parikh:have a go bag. That's my lesson bag. Keep sneakers under your bed. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, maybe can't have that old pair of sneakers in your car, have a change of clothes in your car. Uh uh. No. All that stuff shut off stuff like gas and water before you go. Um, I think you did some of that. Gas, water, electricity, electricity. You can't, it's hard. You, honestly, we
Sandeep Parikh:did some
Rajiv Parikh:of that,
Sandeep Parikh:but the most important thing is to just get the hell out of there. Yeah. Like, that's the thing is that I, I talked, you know, right afterwards I was talking to this fire captain who I happened to run into at a fr at a friend's house when we were couch surfing. He's this guy who's working, he was, he was off from the, uh, the wildfires. He was like on a, on a, you know, a shift off. Um, and he was, and I was like going through a list of things that I, that I thought I totally messed up on, right. I was like, oh man, you know, I didn't shut off the gas. Actually, I didn't like, there were certain things that we didn't do. And he was like, none of that matters. He's like, you guys got out. He's like, none of that is going to be the reason that your house burns down. Like, you know, I was like, oh man, I left like a, you know, I had like an extra gas can that I, that I, you know, had an extra gallon gas. Yeah. I remember freaking
Rajiv Parikh:out about that. I was, and I was
Sandeep Parikh:like, man, I left, I tied it down, but I didn't have time to, like, I didn't know, I didn't wanna dump it out. I didn't know what to do with it, you know? So I just, you know, I, I forgot about it and I was so freaked out and he was like, none of that is gonna be the reason your house burns down. He's like, these are a hundred miles an hour winds that are like blowtorching homes. He's like, this is not, there's nothing you could have done that would've stopped your home for from burning. So let let go of that guilt or that fear, that fear that this was somehow your fault or you could have done something. He's like, you did the most important thing. You and your family got out. That's huge.
Rajiv Parikh:Alright, let's shift to gears a little bit. So, what's the biggest challenges for you from this? This. A hundred plus year event wildfire as it relates to the business and entertainment industry. So a lot of news happening about production happening overseas. Another challenge, yet another challenge to Hollywood after the pandemic and the writer strike and the actor strike. Yeah. I mean, how, so how do you view this current environment, uh, as a result of all this? Or, or has this been a time where there's a massive creativity or maybe both.
Sandeep Parikh:I, I, I, well, you know, I think that's to come probably the massive creativity. Um, in some ways, or at least the evidence of that. I'm sure that I think any, any sort of trauma leads to, leads to art in some capacity, because that's the way we process things as human beings. Um, so I'm. I'm eager to, to see, I just watched a movie the other day called Seven Days. That was all, that was a beautiful rom-com that was set in the time of, of COVID, uh, and it was like, you know, and I was like, oh yeah, that's right. You know, cool Art Co comes from our, our group trauma. So I, I'm sure that's gonna be what will be the result of, of this as well. Um, but you know, yeah, the, the, it, it does feel like in many ways the sky is falling. Um, if you are, you know, like me set out to LA to, um, become a filmmaker and you see how the studio system is sort of collapsing and to, um, and you just listed off all these major events that have, that have really curbed our, our ability to, um, at least plug into the, the existing infrastructure and systems that were in place for us to effectively, um. Make a living, uh, uh, have a middle class lifestyle, um, and still create art. That that's really what I think h Hollywood was, was really able to do. Or, or at least the sort of, uh, negotiations that sprung up between or, or the, the, the sort of ecosystem that sprung up around That's right. The studio and, and, and, um, the various unions, right? Like we sort of created this little ecosystem that was self-sustaining, where people could have a middle class lifestyle, um, and, and be a working actor, not have to take another job, be available for auditions at any time of the day, um, you know, and, and not be working a full-time job. So, so that, all that stuff, we're seeing that infrastructure crumble before our very eyes. And so that's. Yeah. That's, that's wildly challenging. Um, so luckily that's
Rajiv Parikh:happening. I mean, we had, I think your friend Matt talked about this, right? Yeah. That, uh, the reason he can, you know, you can have super high quality people be ready at any time is because of the unions and Right. I, you know, I'm one of these Yeah. Business school sort of folks I come out of, oh, we don't like anybody in the way of getting things done. We want a free market. But in a way, this basically, the unions enable a super high quality, um, market for people. Correct. Because if, if you are, if you, if you're not available, you're not gonna get access to the highest quality people. If those folks have to just jump from big project to big project, they're gonna find things more consistent and stable.
Sandeep Parikh:And it's all Exactly. And it's also why when you do book a job, you get paid really, really well and people say, wow, that's your, that's your day rate. That's insane. You make like 2000 bucks a day or whatever. And it's like, yeah, if we were working 50 for, you know, three 50 days of a year, then you, I'm sure that would be a crazy rate. Crazy, crazy. Yeah. You're, you're not working that amount, so you need to get that stuff. You need to get those residuals. Those are the things that allow you to essentially in the, to downtime be training for when, when it's your time to when, when you book a job and you're actually up at bat. Um, so, but yeah, that, that kind of infrastructure is, is, is, is sort of falling apart and then Yeah. I think with AI being Is that It is, is that because of,
Rajiv Parikh:is, is that because of the rise of streaming or is that, is there something about this that's part of it specific to the wildfires? Has the wildfires just challenged
Sandeep Parikh:that? No, I think the wildfires like exacerbated. Yeah. Just, just exacerbated it. Exactly. It's sort of like if, if there was a scab that was starting to come over because of, uh, you know, the, the strikes and the pandemic and all the other, and the, and AI and, and all that. Like, if there, if there was, hey, a scab is starting to form, this is okay, this just ripped that scab off, um, again and, and sort of, uh, exacerbated the wound. Um, but yeah, you, you know that from, from our perspective, this is what I love about working with Aninha, who's also the producer of this prod podcast and, um, and, and my, uh, COO at, at f and funny, um, Mike production company, is that we really just, we constantly just look at ourselves in the mirror and say, Hey, what can we do the two of us do to keep. Our creativity flowing to keep us afloat, to keep, uh, our, our, you know, income coming in, revenue coming in, you know, hell or high water. We just have that mentality of like, we are going to be those, we're gonna be those weeds that survive the apocalypse. You know, the ones that we're gonna be the like, uh, the, a stubborn weed that keeps Yeah. The,
Rajiv Parikh:you know, that comes up through the cracks we're they're never gonna go away. Exactly.
Sandeep Parikh:Our roots are just gonna go so deep. We're gonna find that just one little, you know, uh, ounce of water that's buried deep to, to keep us alive and keep us moving and keep us making stuff. Um, and I think the other thing we do, the other thing we do to become hardy is, is have really sincere, authentic relationships with our, with our community and the people that we've worked with for 20 years. And we care about these people and we, we, we try to bring them aboard. If our ship's not totally sunk, then come on a board and see how you can grab an ore and we can try to figure out how to, uh, you know. Do, do a cool project with you. Like that's the thing they're doing with Reka. Yeah. That you mentioned. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Yeah. I think
Rajiv Parikh:this is, uh, this is straight out of in, you had two really interesting innovations. I. Um, you've done many of them, right? Uh, you were in the, you were in the web world doing productions before it was cool. You were doing interactive as in choose your own, uh, ending or choose your own story world before it was, before it became interesting or became cool or big yet, and now you're playing the, you know, it's not, I don't think it's even big yet, but That's okay. Not even big yet. It could be, it'll be, I'm still, I'm ahead of the time that you're ahead of your time. Yeah, yeah. I'm ahead of the, ahead of the time. Your time will come on that one. And then the, the, like you just did a production, right? Your, the Sea quest, right? And, and what was interesting is how you got it funded and now you're, it's crowd gonna do a movie and how you got it funded, right? Yeah. Through the crowd, through crowdsourcing. Talk about that. That's really interesting. Yeah. Look, I
Sandeep Parikh:don't think, um, Hollywood was ever, um, just handing things out to, um, south Asian directors necessarily. Um, you know, and, you know. Not to play the race card per se, but it is, you know, people do hire, people tend to hire those, or, or feel connected to stories that reflect their own, right? Yeah. And so then the people that are in power, they're in a certain, they, they're of a certain demographic or of a certain, whatever it is, race, culture, whatever you wanna call it, are just gonna, they're just going to inevitably be attracted to projects or creators of a certain ilk. And I think it's subconscious. And I don't, and I don't think that anybody's overtly trying to, you know, uh, suppress South Asian voices. But my point is, is that that, that there was no easy paths to it. We didn't, like the Mindy Kaling's and the Hassam Minaj of the world grew, came, you know, with us. Like we, we are that generation essentially. We didn't have the sort of, uh, the, you know, the grandfathers and grandmothers before us pulling us up necessarily in Hollywood specifically. So like, um. You know, we have to carve that out for ourselves. Uh, and so all that to say, um, when you have a project that you're passionate about or a, a, a creator's voice, you who you want to uplift and put and put out there, or, you know, a, a, a story that you're desperate to tell you, you just do whatever the hell it takes to, to make it happen. And, and. Part of that for me recently has been recognizing that, hey, in the, the 20 years I've been out here and doing stuff for the, you know, like, like the Guild you mentioned and the legend of Neil and things that have a fan base. Maybe not like a, oh, my show was on HBO fan base, but a show that's really touched people's hearts and, and that, and that for us, care about this. People still
Rajiv Parikh:follow you. They still buy merchandise. They, they still, when you're at a convention dress up like you guys do from dress up as your, for whatever reason, I mean, there's a passion, whatever for Yeah. Whatever reason
Sandeep Parikh:that they really connected, they deeply connected to the stuff that we made. I think they felt represented by it. You know, we were making shows about. Um, you know, video people who love video games, people love gaming, uh, quote unquote nerds, people who felt like they were the underdogs, um, who's, who were only picked on in, in media, who are only looked down upon in media as the butt of jokes. And we gave them voices from an authentic point of view, because we are gamers and we are nerds. And we were like, no, we can be cool. I mean, we literally have a, a guild song called I'm The One That's Cool. That was like a rock song that we put on, on YouTube that has some millions of views. And I think that's, that's because we like, really touched these people in a way that they, they felt, Hey, I like, I feel like I am beloved in this. Um, and I, you know, and they're speaking for my, for my voice and I, and that what I've recognized now is that. You know, these, these are fans in the sense, but they're also, they're also like, uh, advocates. They're like, they're like people who just care so much that they want to see your thing get made, uh, and, and they really go to bat for you. So it was like, Hey, look, why not try to tap into that, uh, really service that, um, and, and service that need that, that they have to, to be further represented, um, and see if we can get, you know, thousands of people to say yes to our product, uh, or our, our project instead of begging for and trying to convince the, you know, the suit at the top of, of Paramount or whatever. There's a gate. Those are gate those, those are
Rajiv Parikh:gatekeepers. They have a job. Their job is to enable the millions of dollars that they have at their disposal and the distribution channels that they have to, to get out to market. And now there's this alternative channel that, you know, before you could do something potentially on YouTube and just put it out. Right? And some people have risen spectacularly through that, but you still have to get high quality productions. Funded somehow, right? It's hard to go from, it's hard to go from something kind of chin seed to then getting it funded in a big way. And you've done actually a lot of that too. Um, but then in this case, you utilize crowdsourcing, right? So
Sandeep Parikh:for the DA for Daisy Quest, which is a Dungeons and Dragon show, uh, which people are like, what's a dungeon dragon show? I mean, that's what they're, you know, uh, maybe not met, maybe not seeing, is that these dunes and dragon shows are selling out Madison Square Garden. They're like, they, I mean, these are, these are becoming, um, a really valid form of entertainment, um, that again, people feel very seen by them. Um, and so we're like, well, we want to do one that's, um, from a South Asian's perspective, um, like, let's, you know, we have such a rich, uh, mythology, um, you know. Uh, our culture is so steeped in incredible stories of, you know, whether it's H Mann or Maha or, you know, all these like really incredible ancient stories that I feel like are really underrepresented, at least in the western world for sure. Uh, and so we're like, oh, well let's do d and d kind of with that influence with the bunch of South Asian, um, you know, improvisers and performers and, uh, it, you know, so what better way to see if your idea that you think is cool actually has residents than to put it out there, uh, for a crowdfund to see if anybody's willing to put their money where their mouth is. And it, you know, we had 2,608 people do that to the tune of $150,000. Um, and were was able to fund a, a, a season of that. Um, and, and, and from there we've, we, you know, the, the show has grown. We, we did a, how, how did the show do season?
Rajiv Parikh:We've done lot. So you, you raised, you raised a hundred. So crowdfunded you, you know, you raised, you set out to raise $50,000. Yeah. And, and like within hours, I think you hit your goal six hours
Sandeep Parikh:we hit our goal. Yeah, you hit your goal. That's cool. Which
Rajiv Parikh:hit the algorithm and got you to sit on the front page of Kickstarter. That was brilliant. Yeah. They, we became a project we love on Kickstarter, which is great. We love, you want that badge and then you want that badge and then it popped, it popped from there and kept going.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. I think at the time it basically hit your,
Rajiv Parikh:it hit your stretch goal. And I mean, this was, it was pre Elon Twitter,
Sandeep Parikh:and so really it was like the Twitter sphere was a buzz with it. Like all the, the massive T-T-R-P-G players were all retweeting it and supporting it. And, um, and from there I think it just sort of, sort of caught, caught, you know, caught steam and, uh, caught fire a bit.
Rajiv Parikh:And then, and then after that, after that you had, you had the show, you put it out. You, you basically pioneered a, um. The, the, you know, basically the tabletop role player game, right. S HUDs Dragons, which is very different format than watching a typical show, right? Yeah. Built this very loyal audience, and then from that you were able to turn it into the, to something even bigger.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. It's, it's kind of like watching an improvised fantasy novel happen before your very, very eyes with a, a group of storytellers who collectively tell a story together. Um, and then there's this gamified element with dice that's sort of randomized what's gonna happen. And it's, it's a really cool format. Um, and yeah, I mean, like, I, you know, we created the show. I measure the success. My metric for success is the, uh, uh, number of characters per comment. So it's not just, Hey, do we get millions of views or we get all this stuff. The fact that people wrote like. You know, a two page comment of how that show made them feel, feel, seen, feel heard. The sh like, we got a lot of, like, this is the show I never knew I needed in my life. Um, and especially from second generation, um, immigrants of all, all types, not just South Asians. Um, and, you know, th that to me was, okay, we have struck a nerve now, now the job is to not give up, uh, to keep creating, uh, which is not giving up. But, uh, and then just getting more attention for the show. Um, well see.
Rajiv Parikh:Let's stop there for a second. Okay. 'cause I wanna, 'cause when I first saw that first episode right, of this quest mm-hmm. I didn't know what to do with it. Okay. 'cause I'm used to produced shows. Right. Well, this is a Purdue show. Yeah, it is a Purdue show. And I'm used to something that, you know, but there's, this was, so this was like much longer than a typical show. Right. It's a couple hours. Yep. Or longer. And it was, it, you know, I've seen you do and seen you and many of your friends who've gone on to do incredible things do improv. Yep. And this was like a form of both together. And I think what was unique about it, you have to really live and feel that story as something much greater, a a greater commitment. And as a result, when you get those comments that are two pages, you're getting someone who is investing in you in that level of depth. And they're extremely, they're, they're expressing passion for it, which is what you really want in anything you do. You want people who are maniacally passionate.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. No, I think it's, it's not a, uh, it's not, you're right. I see what you mean by produce now you mean like, oh, I'm, I'm. You know, when you watch a show, you're very much, uh, you know, if you're watching Last of us, you are, you know, watching these characters play, like play out the story in a very, um, visceral way. Um, I. What we, what you do in tabletop that's very different is that you, you're sitting around a table, you are sort of orally stel telling the story together as a group, uh, inhabiting characters playing, you know, encounters and these things, but you're, you're kind of. Voicing them almost like in a podcast style. This is why I liken it to a, to a novelization. Um, it's like when you pick up a fantasy book, sometimes you don't, you need to get to page 200 before you're like, holy cow, now I'm into this world. Um, and, and, and you're right, it does require a, a little bit of patience or at least an understanding of, of, of what you're sort of getting into. But I also feel like it's probably what people first said when Joe Rogan was like doing a four hour podcast, you know? And that's right. They were like, why the hell am I gonna listen to this jerk jerk talk for four hours? You know, whatever. Um, and it's like, you know, it's a different way of, of connecting, you know, with, with story. Um, and, and, and I think in, in some ways, if a deeper, more meaningful way, um, than, you know, your, your traditional sort, you know, your traditional fair on that you might find on, on. Yeah. I, I think it's fun to,
Rajiv Parikh:it's that, that's why it's D out. Yeah.
Sandeep Parikh:Madison Square Garden. I, I was thinking, I think it's why it's selling at Madison Square Garden right now. These guys that are on Dimension 20 in, in critical role have such gigantic followings. Um, and it's because they are, uh, again, they're just, they're just connecting with people on such a, such a deep level with their storytelling. And so,
Rajiv Parikh:and you're finding that same effect for the South Asian version where you've mixed in mythology, Hindu mythology, I would assume a lot of this is sourced from that. You're blending into this story, right, into this Equest story, and then from that you, it's so,
Sandeep Parikh:it's not just Hindu, it's, it's, it's sick, it's Islamic. It's like, yeah. It's like, it's like all the. It really is. We try to be sort of like non-denominational South Asian about it. Um, so that it could be, you know, just as inclusive as possible. You borrow possible barring
Rajiv Parikh:stories and elements and create weapons and characters from all these places. And they are, that's, you feel actually, if you come at it from afar, pretty related. 'cause all the stories mix and intermediate for sure. It's beautiful. Yeah. Um, so then you take that and you build the relationship with Ika, right? That's right. And then from there, what happened?
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, so Rikka Hunker is, um, you know, uh, a real up and coming, uh, incredible comedic talent. Um, she was the head writer at college Humor and had done a, so what I did for Stacey Quest was I needed to find every, like. I needed to like have our own, like South Asian Avengers. I like, I was like, what's every South Asian that's ever been on one of these, like sort of hit TT rrp G shows and can I meet them and can I get them all to come together? Right. So, uh, Reko was one of them. She was on Dimension 20, which is a big show on a, on, on a network called Dropout. Um, and, uh, you know, she, she said, she said yes, she'd be into it. Uh, and from there, uh, she was an absolute superstar on the show. She's like one of the funniest people on the show. She plays a, a character called Lud Ante, um, which is a, an auntie that, that is a barbarian. Uh, and it makes like powerful lu news that, that, that do all these magical things. Um, and so it's a very, she plays a very kind of, um. Uh, I don't wanna say stereotypical, but like an auntie, you know? Uh, yes. Who is Will, if you, if you're
Rajiv Parikh:South Asian, you will know what auntie means. You'll know this auntie, this auntie's in your life or auntie an Indian, you know, auntie. Auntie. What does auntie mean? You know, auntie? Yeah. Uncle and auntie and I, I even say this, but it's my team sometimes stop being an uncle, you know, they're like, oh, re we're stop. So I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be so preachy, tell you what to do. So, kind of one dimensional,
Everyone:but, but she play. Yeah. She is an auntie with
Sandeep Parikh:texture and persona. It is, it is. She plays, she, she's, she's a barbarian in all the ways. And you know those aunties that are like, yes, they will shame you for eating too much or, or not eating enough, or whatever it is. But then they also will be the ones that will, if anyone talk, talk shit about you, they're be the first ones to be like, they're gonna throw down. Like, you never cross an auntie. They, yeah, exactly. They, their, their hearts. So for you, the auntie loves you.
Rajiv Parikh:You, it's like you, it's like your mom. They got that mom gene. That's right. Just kinda. They're gonna be like the Tigris and just like,
Sandeep Parikh:that's right. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. They'll, they'll, they'll tear down mountain, they'll, they'll, they'll do what it takes to, to make sure you're okay. Um, and so that's, that's who she is for the, anyway, she was so hilarious and all that. And then, and this is the thing that how we approach projects with creators that we're interested in working with, we always ask them, Hey, what's that project that no one is green lighting that you just can't stop thinking about? What's that, that script that you can't, you just can't put away and you keep coming back to and everybody says you're crazy and you, you know, like that kind of thing. Like, what is that project for you? Um, and for Ricka, it was this movie that she was working on, um, that was, um, had a really cool, fun sci-fi hook. It's essentially, it was, it was a movie that she wrote, um, in the wake of her grandfather's passing. Um, and uh, and, and the sort of the challenges like that, that she felt. During the 13 day Hindu ceremony for, for, uh, we have this like sort of, it's kinda like sitting Shiva type thing, but it's like this 13 day ceremony. There's all these like rites and rituals and like pujas and things that that happen. But she had a difficult, as a second generation, she had a difficult time like sort of understanding what was going on. Everyone has a different, every uncle has a different interpretation of what's happening. Is she grieving the right way? And in that. Angst. She felt like, am I a good Hindu? Am I just like the worst Hindu in the world? Like, I don't understand, like I don't know how to grieve my own grandmother or grandfather in this case. Um, and, uh, that is a proper
Rajiv Parikh:way.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. And so then we then she wrote, she, the, the twist that the sci-fi twist of, of our story is that, um, uh, in the middle of this, the Hindu rapture occurs and every Hindu on the face of the planet is taken away except for her there thereby proving that she is the world's worst Hindu. Uh, and it's like, what, what happens now? Um, and I just, I fell in love with the script. I was already like sort of in love with, with Rica's comedic abilities. And I was like, how, you know, I just said yes with my full being, uh, like how do I help you make this movie in whatever way, shape, and form? You know? And I also knew I really wanted to direct the movie, but really my first place of coming from it was like, how do I just help you get this into the world? If my directing is what helps that, then let's do it. If not. I'll help in whatever way I can. Uh, it. And then I did, I pitched myself as director eventually, and, and she was like, yeah, let's, let's, let's do this. Let's make this thing. And then it became another, and then, and then you, you got to crowdfund. You put it together.
Rajiv Parikh:Yeah. You put your community together as part of it. She has her community. You have a community, you have some intertwined members of that. And then with that group, um, you guys put together another Kickstarter campaign. Mm-hmm. And I thought this, this one you raised, you blew out even faster. You hit over $250,000 very quickly, like almost no time. Right? Your initial limit was set at 50 and you blew that out. And, but there was a way in which you've launched the campaign that got you more visibility. Of course, as you know, I'm meant to go to market. So there's ways in which you've launched it that drove it even faster. So maybe you could share some of those tips with us.
Sandeep Parikh:So what we did for this one that was very different than Dey Quest is that we decided to have like a launch show. Um. You know, a, a lot of us are performers. We obviously have relationships with really great performers, and we thought, Hey, let's see if we can call in that one favor, get a kind of best of the best together, and let's do a show. Um, that a set effectively, it's a show format that pitches the movie to the audience. So it is an improv show that. Is about Reka telling the world, this is the movie I want to make and this is why I want to make it. Um, and that's sort of the like, through line of the actual show. But then we like gamify various elements of that, uh, in improv games throughout the show. And we got toge. We brought together a cast that if, again, if you were in like our circles or if you were in the world of TT Rrp G or in the world of improv comedy, you would be like, this is a super group. We essentially put together like, oh, it was amazing. I, I like the Temple of the dog. Uh, for, for, I
Rajiv Parikh:I kind of fell into it for, yeah, I fell into it. I had the YouTube brunch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had this YouTube, I had YouTube up and you know how YouTube suggests things for you? Um, it becomes part of my LinkedIn at night when I'm just viewing stuff and my wife's not up and we watched our normal shows. I'll put it on, and then this one came up and I was like, oh, I, I didn't know there was a one hour show about. About, uh, yeah, it was like a one hour Yeah. About, about Rick's Shs movie, which we
Sandeep Parikh:tried to make the pitch about our movie, the most entertaining thing you could possibly watch. Yeah. Um, and that ended up becoming such a powerful tool for us. So first of all, we live streamed that on the day of our launch. Uh, so we, we had the show live and we had a packed audience at the Dynasty typewriter, which is this really cool theater in LA that is like one, one of the main hubs of, of, of like. Hip comedy in LA these days. We packed that house out. Uh, we then had live stream tickets so that if you couldn't make the show, uh, it was available to everybody around the world to watch live as well. Um, and, and, and our Kickstarter went live that day. So, um, in like during the show, we are lit. It's almost like a telethon at that point. We're like, we raised this much at this point. Like, can we get to this much while we're doing the show, which is modernize
Rajiv Parikh:Jerry Lewis. Telethon.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, I think we raised something like 15 grand or some, something like that throughout the course of the actual show itself. Um, but really it was also then having that video as a tool for, uh, attention grabbing throughout the entire campaign. 'cause now that video, uh, which was doing really well on the YouTube algorithm, like you were talking about, and we were also cutting that up into clips, put posting that on TikTok, YouTube and, and you know, Instagram and wherever else. And so that was just driving a bunch of awareness. In, in a way, it, it was, it was what replaced Twitter for us from the DEI quest, because Twitter is a different vibe now. Yeah. To, to put it mildly. Um, and so we knew we weren't gonna get that same level of support. A lot of those creators that were supporting us the last time on Twitter were left Twitter. Um, so that wasn't gonna be what, what, what was gonna do it. Um, but yeah, we thought, hey, this is the most fun way that we could tell. Like, this is what we're good. We, I've been out here for 20 years doing improv. Like, this is what we're best at. Let's do an improv show. And then we got, you know, this just incredible cast. Bre, Brendan Lee Mulligan, Izzy Roland, Felicia Day, uh, from the Guild and uh, uh, like Jordan Myrick, Sam Rice, uh, I'm gonna forget people through, through sing who's gonna be in the movie as well. I, I could not stop laughing at that. All of these people have hilarious. Was hilarious. So well done. Like are just so, like such masters of improv. Um, and uh, we were so lucky to have them together. It was great.
Rajiv Parikh:Yeah. So it's, it's getting, so it's like around your fundraise, building a vehicle, using your community of super talented improvs to get the message out. One of the, of, of course you appeared early on, they came in, it was like, it was super cle, a super clever way of promoting, turning it into an event. And, and I think that's part of it, the momentum. Now we have all these tools. We can get in front of people where we don't need approval from anyone. We can create it ourselves and literally get it all out. But then when we get it out, we have to make sure that everything's aligned with it. So it's like planned and unplanned and serendipitous feeling all that coming together at once.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, I mean, I think that you get, that's right. You have to be super responsive too, right? You can't just, like, like there, there's a world in which that, that didn't really take off. There's, so there's other ways that we have to drive attention and, and so it wasn't, you know, we weren't like putting all our eggs in that basket, per se. Um, but it was, Hey, let's just try these various things. See, you know, see what is, uh, holding people's attention and, and you know, because that, that's it. Like I was just watching this like Instagram video the other day from this creator that I love. Um, and he did a thing on like, you know. Just like, like a tip tips on how to, how to, how to be a creator these days. And one, one of them was, um, you, you can't just create stuff, you know, cr the creation of the art is 40% of it. Um, the, the, the, the marketing of it is 60%. And he, and so then, you know, people are like, well, so what? I gotta be an editor. I gotta be a, uh, a cinematographer. I gotta do all these things. And he was like, no, you don't have to. You just have to get people's attention. And so whatever the hell way you want to do that, but you, that, that is part of the job of being an artist is how do you get people's attention to your art? If that's what you want to sustain you and sustain the life for your family, then that has to be a part, part and parcel of the design of the art. For you. So no, you, you don't have to necessarily be on Instagram or any of these things. If, if that's not how, how, if, if, if you can get attention some other way that's more efficient for you, do that. Yeah. Or more for that speaks to you. Um, then, then do that. But you, you must design some way to get attention when you are creating your art.
Rajiv Parikh:I think it's brilliant and, and it's a really helpful way for aspiring creators to understand how to get this together. So in your case, it's a combination of community, people you take care of in a genuine way and take care of you over time. And it all comes together. Like if you look at, if you, if I, and if you know Sandeep, you'll know, you'll see many, uh, similar people who've been in various roles with him over time. Right. From whether it's producing or. Uh, you know, above the line, below the line kind of work, right? Yeah. They're coming with you and they carry with you and they promote with you and, and all these connections work with you, and that's, it's a, it's a, that's working together as part of getting, taking advantage of the mediums that are out there.
Sandeep Parikh:Totally. I always say that like, whenever people who are new, you know, or at, at, at, at a panel, they always ask, you know, like, what's the advice you give to somebody? I always say like, listen, treat like the people that you collaborate with early on, the people that are in your level 1 0 1 improv class, the people that you meet as junior executives or junior, like, you know, assistants or, or people at the mail room of ca. That is your graduating class. All those guys, you guys are all freshmen together and you know, you, you guys are going to rise the ranks together. And so if you create authentic relationships with the most talented people that you find that are in that instead of like striving to like, get a senior's attention, you know, be like, I'm gonna date a junior my first day. No, no, no, no, no. Like, like focus on the people that are around you in your class. Who are the most talented people there that you really jive with? Who are the people that you really connect with? Like, what are their hopes and dreams? How can you guys work together and create a cool class project together? And 'cause those people are going to be the ones five years from now that are going to be the executives and that are going to be a, a, you know, a, a series regular. Um, and, and you can sort of graduate together, uh, if, if you really have those authentic relationships that you've created at a, at your, at the start.
Rajiv Parikh:In a way, I, I, uh, to, as an aside in a way, you're going against the grain of normal human thinking. Uh, a lot of time. I, I, I wouldn't say we, I, when I grew up, we, I would, you'd find who was cool and who's not, who to pick on, who to be friends with. And it goes against that part of what I thought was human nature. Whereas you create these gradations and you, you pick and choose amongst them. And what you're saying is amongst that group, consider everyone to be interesting. Maybe you attach yourself more to certain folks that jive with you the most, but you know, you don't need to necessarily put down others in this, in this quest. Get like, 'cause all those folks, those folks will be the one, you never know what will happen. And those folks will be the one that maybe out of nowhere connect you with all sorts of people. And
Sandeep Parikh:then, or wanna be
Rajiv Parikh:part of that
Sandeep Parikh:tribe of yours, or you'll just have a great time with them and you will, you will like, at the very least, even if you don't shoot to the moon, you will have an authentic relationship with people that you really love working with. Which is like in the end, you know, kind of so much, it's sort of becomes like the, like enjoy the process instead of the result kinda thing. Because I think whenever you're going like, Hey, who's out there? That's cool. You're, what you're doing is you're like setting like. There's like, there's like an extrinsic, uh, determinant for what is good and, and then you are trying to measure them up to that and then measure yourself up to that versus, like, intrinsically feeling in your heart of hearts. Like, who makes me laugh? Who makes, who moves me when I see them? Who am I always like, like, you know, riffing with at a party and we just can't stop coming up with gr crazy fun ideas or, or joking with, you know, you know, or who is like, who's reading my writing. Um, just because they care about me and wanna see me succeed and then gives me really great notes and really like, cares about it. Like, that those are like, that's when you tap into like what's intrinsically going on with, with, with what your own measurement for Cool. Which should be as like, you know, like, yeah, I'd say, who's impacting you? I'd say
Rajiv Parikh:don't. Yeah, don't underestimate your own gut feel for the kind of person. That you, that that person that could be your great partner or great collaborator with go with your own.
Sandeep Parikh:I,
Rajiv Parikh:I would,
Sandeep Parikh:I would, I would even go so far as to not, just don't underestimate it, nurture that gut feel, connect with that gut feel, have conversations with that, meditate with that gut. Feel really under, go deep within you. Understand yourself. What are you trying to do out here? If you're coming out to LA and you just want to be the next X, y, z or you just wanna make a bunch of money, like, I, I think you're gonna have a lot, a, a lot harder of a road than if you go, man, I really have this story to tell. I really need to get this, this message out there, this, this thing that happened to me, that this thing that's meaningful to me out into the world. Like, if that is your motivation, then like, and, and, and by the way I say this after 20 years of, of doing it the other way, truly, like, I don't think I understood this. For, for so long. Really? This, this is the advice that I'm like giving to myself or, or, you know, I, I think we give ourselves that, that I've advice earned every day.
Rajiv Parikh:Earned. Yeah. I think it, it's, you realize much later, this is what really works. Um, not necessarily what others version of great is. It's your own version. Yeah. So, hey, now let's go back a little bit. Did, um, you were supposed to be, uh, a good, uh, Indian son and when you went to Brown, you were supposed to work in computer science. That was your, that's what you got your degree in. Yeah. Right? That's why, uh, mom and dad were paying all that money to go to, for you to go to this amazing Ivy League school. Indeed. Um, but then you went into the arts. What got you sparked on? Well, that's, that's
Sandeep Parikh:honestly interest, their fault, fault for not knowing. That's the, that's their fault for not knowing what Brown University was or all of you or me. Even I, none of us knew, I don't think really understood. We were just like, oh, is Ivy League school? Yeah, it is. Go to, of course, don't go there. Go to Ivy League school. Like there was no very good. It was the only Ivy League I got into, and so it was just like obvious that I was going there. We, I, I mean, I didn't even visit the school beforehand. Like, I don't know how this, wait, wait, hold on.
Rajiv Parikh:Now that's not fair. My, our parents talked me into going to the state school, so to get a scholarship, so
Sandeep Parikh:right to school. He's literally talking
Rajiv Parikh:to dad
Sandeep Parikh:about this yesterday and he still, like, has this deeply held belief that you should go to the cheapest undergrad and the then go from the most expensive graduate school. Right. So, yeah, you're right, you're right. He was, he was like literally just talking about that yesterday. Um, it was hilarious that, uh, no, but my, my point was, is that, you know, brown. Maybe unbeknownst to us was this like, is the most liberal of the liberal arts, right? So like they really encourage you to explore. I mean, they encourage, it's like, it is, it's so built on like intrinsic motivations. Like what do you want to explore in, in our giant curriculum offering? You can take any class pass, fail you, you know, they, you can drop out right before the final and get, and get an incomplete instead of a, a failure. Like, they set it up so that it's like, we are not going to punish you for trying something out of your wheelhouse and re recognizing whenever you do in that time, uh, that it's not for you. We're not going to, like, we want you to try different things that is built into the DNA of it. And so I got there, I fell in with these, with this wrong crowd of, of wrong people. These crowd of very bad people, these, these very bad improvisers and comedians and, and writers and artists and, you know, these are people that went on to be, you know, writers of the Cobert report, writers on Fallon, writer, you know, these are like incredible people. Um, and uh, yeah, I just started start. It's actually kind of, it roots back to being your fault. Rajiv. I don't know if you recognize this, but Okay, I'll, I'll, I'll take it. I went to Harvard Summer school one year. Right. So listen, I was the. I was the, yeah, right. I was the good Indian boy. Right. And why was I the good Indian boy? Because in fifth grade I was getting b's. I got like two B's or something like that. And, and then you said to me, Hey, if you get straight A's I'll get, you'll get baseball card, you'll get a set of baseball cards. Knowing that, that was all I wanted in the world was a set of baseball, was was baseball cards. And so then from that point on, I was Mr. Like, I'm getting straight A's. I want baseball cards so badly. So I was very extrinsically motivated by baseball cards.
Rajiv Parikh:Anyway, so, and I, and I only had to keep that incentive for a couple years. 'cause once you got hooked
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, you never got a beat again. That's right. Then, then I didn't get it. But, but still, like, that's for whatever reason, you went the other way when I went to Harvard Summer School and you were like, Hey. 'cause I was like, I'm gonna take chemistry and I'm gonna take physics. And you're like, don't do that. Take something weird. Take, take creative writing. And I was like, really? Okay. And so I did, I took creative writing in at Harvard Summer School, uh, my, my senior year or junior year or whatever that was. And then, um, I was like, it's that, that sort of started the, the, the artist in me. It sort of like lit the flame, I think. And then, so then by the time I got to Brown, it was like, yeah, no, of course I'll get like a practical, pragmatic degree. I'm not gonna, I'm not crazy, you know, or I'm not, I don't, I don't wanna be disowned by myself, Asian immigrant parents. Um, I like, like. So, but I am going to, you know, try to join this improv troop and see what that's about. And by the time it got to senior year, I really fell in love. I made my first film over the summer one year, and I really fell in love with, to me how it lit up both sides of my brain. Like I felt like for the first time really in my sort of academic career, did I feel like the left side and right side of my brain lit on fire. As I produced a film, I felt like my logic side was like problem solving, trying to figure out how we're gonna get done in this budget and this timeline. And then my creative side was just obviously, um, I. I was like, how are we gonna tell this story? Um, so yeah, that I just fell in love with filmmaking and I told mom and dad, uh, that I wanna move to LA and give it a go and put my CS degree to the side. And, uh, mom cried and you gonna
Everyone:make money? Yeah. That's okay. We support you. I still remember mom saying, okay, we support you. She cried. Jesus. Something like that.
Rajiv Parikh:She's awesome. Yeah. Uh, she will cheer you on. All right. So that's, that was the origin of the spark that well, you never looked back. Never went back and learned, uh, Python and Java.
Sandeep Parikh:Uh oh, I learned those things. All those things. Definitely. Yeah. I learned Python and Java. Yeah. So I learned all that in, in retrospect, like I almost wish I didn't. I, I wish I saw CS as a tool for art earlier on. Yes. And, and, and there are ways in which it has actually, like you mentioned earlier, the, the interactive stuff that I, that I did and, and my, I I was writing scripts and pseudo coding, um, as I was creating choose your own adventure, live action, um, story. Uh, so that was, in a way it did make use of my, I did use my degree at some point. Yeah. I, I'd
Rajiv Parikh:say that in general, I think it's really useful to learn, like being mathematic, to understand the mathematical side structured logic, understand how to write code. Um, I, you know, after engineering, I, um, went into, um, technology sales instead of actually building technology products. And then later when I started companies, I always saw it as writing a set of procedures. Um, you design your business to, as a set of almost code modules where everything works together. That's cool. Um, where, where component, these are components that need to flow together, right? And so you wanna make it so that each organizational unit or functional unit can run on its own while interacting with the others.
Sandeep Parikh:Mm-hmm.
Rajiv Parikh:So
Sandeep Parikh:I, and you want the, you want that code to be extensible to a certain extent. So if you scale, uh, that, you know Right. You, you, you don't, you don't break the, uh, the basic infrastructure of, of, of your, you know, basic program. Yeah. So listen. Yeah, that makes total sense. You, you know, what I find with, with my artistic pursuit, and I wonder if you feel the same way actually as an entrepreneur, is that it sort of uses all parts of the buffalo in the sense of like, all like I have, because of my pursuit of being a filmmaker. It, it, it is used every experience I've had growing up and like nothing is wasted at some point. Like, oh, someone's, you know, while I'm on set, people are like, oh, you were a gymnast. Can you do a back flip? Yeah, sure. Okay, great. Let's put that in the music video that we're shooting, you know, like everything that I thought was like, why did I do that? You know, in my life, why did I waste my time? No, it actually sort of came back into the art in some, some way, shape or form. You sort of, you, you, you, you end up mining e every little bit of your life experience so that you can, you know, pursue your dream of becoming a filmmaker or, you know, tell this interest story in the most unique way or the most from you point of view, way that you can. I don't know if that's, that's true of entrepreneurial. I totally
Rajiv Parikh:feel that way. I, um, I'm in growth marketing, digital marketing with a worldwide team serving primarily. Technology centric clients, even the dental clients or the, even the more basic businesses are now technology centered. And I find that in getting to those clients, all the, the sales skills I learned when I was at NCR back in, back in the day, national
Sandeep Parikh:cash register, where I,
Rajiv Parikh:where I went for a year of sales training. Like they gave you a year of graduate sales training. Some of the most important lessons I learned was not, not just in, I was in that class and then this amazing guy, uh, that I should keep in touch with. Rich Lutts, who taught me, uh, about major account selling. And he taught me, he, he, one of the great lessons he taught me was, um, I was a salesperson. I was running all over the, the New England area. Talking to all these big companies, GTE, ge Pepsi, trying to sell these computing systems, right? PCs and servers right there. Mm-hmm. The old Pentium PCs, four 80 sixes and multi-unit servers. And he sat down with me one day and he said, Rajiv, lemme just teach you a little bit about sales. I've been at this for 20 plus years. So say you're successful at, um, at, at Pepsi, and you sell a bunch of machines. You're sitting here in Hartford, Connecticut, you sell a bunch there, and then you sell a bunch here at, um, ITT Hartford, which at the time was, you know, har now the Hartford Insurance Company. What's gonna happen to you next year? I don't know, rich, I'll just make a bunch of money, hit my numbers. He's like, no, Rajiv, um, they're gonna split your territory in half. And they're gonna get, you're gonna have to choose which one you want. So like I'm sitting, you're sitting here with the three big insurance companies that are all it driven, where you can work with me, I'll, I'll do the strategy. You know, he's the senior guy getting the strategy. I'm this 20 old kid, something that hardware, and he's like, you can basically, we can work together here where you can literally focus on these few places and nail it. Or you can run around like a chicken with your head cut off all over the state, all over the region. What do you wanna do? And it was like, wow. You know, prioritize, pick a few things, go super deep in them. Pick a community of folks. I, I ended up, we've ended up building an account team together that just went after these insurance companies, each one of us with different competencies and we made it work. And so like tho those lessons are with me to this day,
Sandeep Parikh:right?
Rajiv Parikh:Whenever I think of our folks where us running around all the, we could take on this client, that client, this client this, that thing. It's like, no, no, let's focus on particular areas where we could be really awesome, right? Because that you only have so much time and you only have so much energy to focus in one in, in a few places and really differentiate yourself. And even then, it's hard.
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, exactly. And that, yeah, that's what I mean, I guess like, you know, you never know what life experience is gonna rear its head back into your life later and what sticks with you and like yeah. Everything that you think was, or something that you think was totally a waste of time ends up being this useful thing. I just feel like it's like yeah, using all parts of the buffalo except that you're the buffalo. Yeah. No, I,
Rajiv Parikh:I, I agree. I think you is, you need to be able to go back, even if you think something's wasted. You never know when it'll pop up in your life, and you have to be, I think part of it is I dismissed many things that I did and I don't, and now I'm, as I get older, I'm more open to those things coming back and serving as lessons or good stories. Yeah. That inform where I'm going. Um, okay. We are, in terms of self-improvement, what area of your filmmaking craft are you trying to work on right now? Um,
Sandeep Parikh:so I'm, I'm trying to study. Um, other independent film that's like roughly in our same budget level to really get a sense of what I find really appealing about them, like what they do really well, you know, with their limited resources. How do they make, how does this movie, let's take seven days as an example of, of the movie that I was just talking about, you know, as a, it was a movie where two people had shot in one location the entire time. How did they make it not feel claustrophobic? You've at, at a certain point in the movie, you kind of lose yourself to the story. And, and what I noticed was it's like, wow, they shot, they really shot the hell outta this apartment. I mean, every angle you could possibly imagine. And it never felt stale visually. And I thought that lent itself to making the movie feel like it had big scope, um, even though it was literally shot in an apartment and. You know, uh, part of that was actually, I watched that movie with my community. So I have this thing where I have a Patreon that, uh, if folks can, uh, sort of be with me on the journey of, of making this movie, if they contribute to our Patreon, and then they can watch these movies with me, and then we have a little discussion afterwards and it's, it's, and that's been so valuable to have these conversations with. The, the, the people that are going to, that have already, many of them have also kicked, you know, kicked in for the Kickstarter of course. And so they're just like, like, it's like having constant audience feedback of like, the, throughout the process. Um, and that's been just genuinely so inspiring and helpful. 'cause you're not getting, you know, notes and ideas from executives who have like, sort of the ulterior motive of keeping their job. Um, you, you're getting it from the, the fans that really love and care about film or, or, and care about your project too. So they're really, like I, and I'm telling you that they, the stuff that I hear from them is, is so, uh. Valuable. It's more valuable than, than, you know, a paramount exec who's been, you know, or, or can be, um, you know, just as valuable you is. That's
Rajiv Parikh:the paramount exec that helps you with your next movie. No, no, of course not of course. But your version of the, your version, the mohamad that's coming out thing this a thing. And
Sandeep Parikh:in fact, in fact, uh, you know, on would say this too, who worked at Paramount, which is why I keep picking on it. Um, but, uh, he would say like, you know, we're all in, in some ways, we've all done the 10,000 hours of watching content. Yeah. You know, so we have our own sort of expertise around what matters to us, what moves us. We may not know that technicalities behind how everything's produced per se, but we know what is impactful to us. So I'm constantly surveying that, um, with, with my community, uh, uh, and these again, are the people that are gonna be the loudest advocates for it and the, and the, the deepest supporters. So. I think it's, it's, it's, it's that, uh, I'm just trying to really stretch myself. Um, like really trying to understand my, sort of my, my crutches and my go-tos, which, uh, tends to be goofy comedy, uh, at times or, or sophomore comedy or whatever it is. And really try to get to something a little bit deeper emotionally. Um, and so, uh, yeah, just kind of just stretching myself a little bit and, and, and, you know, making myself a little uncomfortable. 'cause I think that's where the, the next sort of iteration of, of, of artistry will come for me.
Rajiv Parikh:I, I like that is in that dis discomfort. Yeah, I like that. That you're using, and I think you're doing this even as you are doing, uh, the movie, right? Um, v's. Guide for the afterlife. You've documented. For everyone that's supported you or hung your email list, the process you've gone for through, uh, what you did to get there, how much the net is after you pay all the different expenses for fundraising, right? Um, they feel like they're on your journey and they can then, because you're transparent like that, they can feed back to you. I feel similarly about the community I'm working with. I think in many ways you're more open than I am and, uh, you just throw yourself out there and I think your community lifts you up and, and it's one of the things we, I need to do better, which is ask for help.
Sandeep Parikh:Um, it's very Brene Brown of me, you know? Yeah. Uh, just trying to be VA vulnerable, uh, warrior, uh, leader through vulnerability.
Rajiv Parikh:Well, you know what we're gonna do now? We're gonna go to the game. Okay, great. Are we still calling it the Spark tank or you're calling it the Spark Tank? Welcome to the Spark Tank, right. Today we're thrilled to have our own very own co-host, Sandeep Par. Joining us in the hot seat, Sandeep has not read the script. Sandeep your mind is a fascinating landscape of creativity from the cult phenomenon of the Guild to directing web series and even diving deep into the world of tabletop RPGs. With this se quest, you're constantly forging new paths. This is the ultimate word association challenge, where every response unlock a new dimension of your creative process or reveal the colorful chaos. When we open our brain of a professional improviser, this is where storytelling meets spontaneous thought. Where digital innovation collides with the art of human connection and we're a single word, we'll unlock a universe of unexpected ideas. So here's how it works. I start with a word. Ep you respond with the first word that comes to your mind. Okay. Okay.
Sandeep Parikh:I was like, okay, do I have to do a monologue or something? This is Okay. No, just a word. Okay, got it. It's a lot of stuff then, then I'll respond. It was, and we'll keep this, it was a monologue. Got it. To get to Word association. Word association.
Rajiv Parikh:Okay. And we'll go back and forth. So, so Sandeep, are you ready to see where your synopses take us?
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let's see. Oh, all right. I'm gonna empty my mind. This is gonna be, there is no speed. There is no speed. Really
Rajiv Parikh:big. Really?
Sandeep Parikh:Uh,
Rajiv Parikh:unique New York. Unique New York. Okay. Is that, is that something I should learn to, to speak better? Okay. Here we go. Play
Everyone:improv, acting emotion, authenticity, vulnerability, depth, richness. Richness.
Sandeep Parikh:Go there. Why did you say richness? Richness. Why did I say richness? Richness. Uh, well, I guess I was trying to dig deep and I think that if you dig deep, it's where the, it's where the, the juice, the juju is, it's where the good stuff is, right? So you go to the depths of your conscious brain or subconscious brain to dig for story ideas and you'll find a rich, fertile ground of, of, of unique
Rajiv Parikh:stuff. That's where play is at its greatest when it's uncon, when it's unsupervised unconstructed on just play. Yeah, I think, I think that's beautiful. Okay, next one.
Everyone:Okay. Character actor, craft macaroni and cheese.
Sandeep Parikh:Amy's. Amy's Oh, oh, organic. Oh, hippie, uh, mushrooms.
Everyone:Colorful. Oh, oh, okay. Uh, spectrum wavy, uh, surfing aquamarine. John
Sandeep Parikh:j Jason au What? Alright, explain that one J. Oh, Jason Mao. He played Aquaman. I like that. Uh, it's, I don't know,
Rajiv Parikh:the first thing Did you really like, did you like Aquaman? Uh, uh, Aquaman. That was for me. That was an airplane movie.
Sandeep Parikh:It was, it was, it's exactly where I watched it. And I love Jason Mi. Um, and uh, I like the first one lot, so I enjoyed
Everyone:it. Second one's
Sandeep Parikh:cute. I, that's the only one I've seen. I I didn't see the rest of them and, um, yeah, it was great. I, I think I'm on
Rajiv Parikh:longer
Sandeep Parikh:flights than you are, so that's why it is. I did meet Jason Miha at a convention You did? Uh, and we had an incredible conversation. He's such a lovely guy and he was so easy to talk to. We like just RIFed for forever. Um, but I was taught, he's so tall and so when I was talking to him, I literally, like, by the end of our conversation, I finally like, put my head down for the first time and I like this massive crick in my neck and talking to him.
Rajiv Parikh:Okay. This trigger something for me. You've actually been on a show with Robin Williams. I have. Who is probably to any improv or comedian, one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest. He's, he's Mozart. He's Mozart. How was that experience? I mean, it was transformative.
Sandeep Parikh:Um, uh, he wa you know, I worked for, I worked on the crazy ones, which was the, the, the final show, um, uh, right, right before he, he passed. And, um, I worked on it for four days. I was like the main villain character to his hero. So we were like squared off, head to head. It was really, really fun episode. I got a bunch of scenes with him, a bunch of scenes with Sarah Michelle Geller, um, and it was just, uh, he, he was, he taught me so much in those four days. Um. Was he always riffing the whole time? He, well, he, he was having authentic conversations the whole time. So like, you know, there was a lot of times that we were standing there getting, uh, you know, rehearsing and we'd rehearse our scene and then, uh, you know, typically they'd say, okay, second team on. Um, and so that just means after we do our rehears clocking rehearsal, usually our like, kind of body doubles like second team. It's like people that are sort of the same height and maybe usually same skin color ish because you have the light for, for, for us would step on. But Robin. Was was like, no, I'll stay. And I was like, oh, if Robin's gonna stay, I'm gonna stay. Yeah. You're not going anywhere. Yeah. So me and Robin were just like, start chatting about whatever it is. And he just was he, he was so, again, he was just so authentic and he just like talk about, he loved comics and he talked, he loved Zelda. So we talked about like BL meal, all these things. And so we had all these great conversations and he knew everybody's name on set. He was like thanking everybody by name to like catching up with them. And you just notice this, like this real, I, you know, I don't know how he was earlier in his career, but it felt like to me that, you know, whether he came to this or whether he was always this way, there was this, I. Such level respect for everyone around him, for everything that they do. And this, this, this feeling where he just didn't take an ounce of it for granted. Like he just, he felt like, it felt like he was treasuring it the whole way. Um, and he just was so cool. Like there was one, there was this one moment where we're, uh, uh, me and a bunch of the other Casper who were like day players we're all sitting in a, in the room in like the break room chatting and talking about like, Hey, what were the movies that he was nominated for? And we were like, trying to remember all the movies that he was nominated for, for an Oscar for, and as we were like, we're like, was it this? Was it that, um, we hear from the back, we hear from the back like, who was Bicentennial Man?
Everyone:And it was Robin Williams making fun of himself as if Bicentennial Man was the one. So he was listening to the conversation all
Sandeep Parikh:time
Everyone:and he
Sandeep Parikh:just like jumps in and it was just, he was such a, such a delight of a human. And just, yeah, I think just never taking it for granted was something that I, that, that I really, I really learned
Rajiv Parikh:from him. That's amazing. Um, I think our producer will let us do one more, so
Everyone:Okay. Um, uh, gaming, uh, last of us, I don't know.
Sandeep Parikh:That's, yep. Mm-hmm. Last of us. It's a video game
Rajiv Parikh:last of us.
Sandeep Parikh:That's a,
Rajiv Parikh:that's a t that's a TV show on HBO. The last See I know. So little by gaming multiplayer game. Is it a multiplayer game or it's just a game?
Sandeep Parikh:Yeah, I was gonna say Mario
Everyone:Kart. It's okay. Mario Kart Tortoise. Uh, tortoise. Shell flip, uh, of gymnastics. Pommel horse champion nadia com. Oh, perfect. 10. Simone Biles. Hmm. Uh, uh, struggles. Okay. Comeback story. Uh,
Rajiv Parikh:Hoosiers. Hoosiers.
Sandeep Parikh:What are your favorite comeback stories of all time? Uh, I should have said Rudy. I was like, comeback. I was like, Hoosiers was a Hoosiers a comeback story. Um, what are your, I mean, Simone Biles has gotta be up there. What are your Yeah. Simone Biles, right? Simone Biles has gotta be up there. Absolutely incredible. I mean, talk about a cha talk about how, uh, s someone who man led, led through vulnerability, right? Like Yeah. She let it out there. She let, low was low. People know she was Yeah, I mean in, so, and the things that were set about her, uh, after admitting that she was having all these mental health issues and struggling with being in the limelight that way and then just come back and kick so, and winning it all so much ass and winning. So, I mean, like that is to me, I. The what, what a triumph, what, what a way to, um, to, to, to demonstrate resilience on the largest stage imaginable. That is, that's incredible. Um, and so, and so and so inspiring. That's awesome.
Rajiv Parikh:Yeah. That's awesome. Alright, I will, I'm gonna ask you one more question. Okay. And then we're gonna, we're gonna maybe even act like co-host again. We'll see. Tell me the second thing that you love. Not the first thing, the second thing.
Everyone:Hmm.
Rajiv Parikh:Say I guess I,
Sandeep Parikh:I, the first thing I would say is being a dad. Um, and so then for the second thing that I love, it's performance. It, um, specifically. Uh, man. Do you love being on stage? Is that fun for you? That sweet, sweet taste of the audience? Laughing at something you riffed up at the top of your head is, is the most like, uh, dopamine inducing feeling on the planet. Like, you just feel you, like you said something or you, you, you created something in the moment through improv, even like as you in standup or whatever. And, and then the audience, it rips through the audience. That feeling is, is unmatched. I love that feeling.
Rajiv Parikh:It's incredible. Compared So you primarily were improv more recently did the most Yeah. Stand up. Stand up. I love sending your clips to people. Especially cool. Especially your, your, some of the ones like sw thick. I think Indians love that. My American friend, all friends love that. They think it's hilarious. Um. Would you, could you pick one over the other or are they just two different Si Two different kids? Yeah. They're two different kids.
Sandeep Parikh:They're, they're, they're just, they're just two different kids. I mean, I, I, you know, improv is my first love, so like, I had to choose. I would, I wouldn't give that up. But, um, yeah, there's. Like improv is like more of the team sport, right? It's like, it's more like playing on, on like on a volleyball squad squad or a base or basketball squad or something like that. Like that's like when you're, you feel like you're, you're in community as you like build this incredible thing. And, and, and, and people love it where standup is a little bit more like, probably like gymnastics or something. You're like up there solo, you're like, alright, I hope I land this flip perfectly. And I pointed my toes throughout, you know, and I hope I don't fart. Oh God, here we go. I'm the
Everyone:leotard. Ready. Yay.
Sandeep Parikh:You know? So, uh, and so it's, it's very vulnerable and the, and those highs are very, very different, um, than the, than the team highs, you know, but both wonderful
Rajiv Parikh:things. Yeah, no, this was great. Um, uh, I know we cook this one up 'cause we just haven't had a chance to do an episode in a long time. And I think, yeah, I've missed a, you know, in many ways. Yeah, in many ways I think people. Or those who listen. And I've gotten so much amazing feedback from people, right? And a lot of them were like, Hey, where's that guy that sounds like you? That, that basically, you know, makes all that geeky stuff interesting and comes in from another angle and all that. And I was like, well, well, let's do this one together and get you back. So I, I'm really glad to have you here. I
Sandeep Parikh:help all the budding entrepreneurs who want to really like, dig deep in a go to market, cut literally anything out of this episode.
Rajiv Parikh:Wait a minute, this is not all about go to market. This is about innovation.
Sandeep Parikh:About innovation,
Rajiv Parikh:and innovation has go to market in it. And I think there are many, many lessons about how to build yourself up, build up a community, how, uh, when there's established mechanisms for getting something you want funded. Funded, and then there's unconventional ones. And the unconventional ones really make you, you have to go out there in a way that you. Probably you're taking even more chances, right? Yeah. And I, and I think that's what's remarkable is that, and let me say this about
Sandeep Parikh:the other of, about those un unconventional ways too, real quick before we bounce, is that, at least in the way that we did it with crowdfunding, the major difference between that and getting funded by Comedy Central and my prior shows stuff is that I get to own it all. We get to own the creators, get to own it all. And I gotta tell you, after having do a, doing a 10 year battle to get back the legend of Neil from Comedy Central. To so that, just so I could put it on YouTube. Oh, that's all, all, all I wanted was for people to see it and not have it be buried and lost forever. You're not even using it. It's on the shelf. You're not, you don't even care about this project. The website, it is dead. The website that they have was dead. I was like, I will give you whatever you want. You can have all the revenue. I don't care. I just want people to see it. The website's gone like, please let me see it. Let's split the up. Whatever. That I, we don't have to do that for De Se Quest. We don't have to do that for Vid DIA's Guide. We get to be the owners of our art, and that is, man, it, it may not be as, you know, much money or whatever. I mean, in some ways it, it seems seemingly like it might be, but, um, you know, it, it's, man, there's, there's nothing like owning, owning your art that is, or owning what you build. I, I think that that really is meaningful. Yeah.
Rajiv Parikh:I, I think in a way it is. If I were to abstract it to the business world, it is nowadays how a lot of businesses are getting themselves funded. They're out there reaching, they're telling people about who they are and what they're up to. Yeah, they're not necessarily, they're stealth for a little while, but then they, eventually, they put out their technology and tell people about the journey and people join in based on that. So actually a lot of the development today is letting. The world know about it and letting the world decide upon it as you
Sandeep Parikh:go. Yeah. People who, who really care or will be moved by your product or service that really need it. Like if those are the ones that are contributing to it. Oh my God. I mean, you see all this stuff on Kickstarter, people funding their, their products and stuff like that. Oh, well, by the way, just to close the loop on the, the legend and Neil story took me 10 years to get that back. You know who, you know, who was the person that ended up. Signing the deal from the, the Business Affairs on Comedy Central. It was a guy that, because it was 10 years later, who was a kid watching the Legend. And Neil, he loved it so much, he then, he then was like, oh, I'm, I'm talking of the legend deal guy. And he goes, I'll get, I'll cut you a deal. That's the only reason why we got a deal. Oh my God. It was a fan that got us a deal in the end. Oh,
Rajiv Parikh:what a great guy. That's awesome. That's, that's a great way to close the
Sandeep Parikh:loop. Love your fans.
Rajiv Parikh:Love
Sandeep Parikh:your fans.
Rajiv Parikh:Joe loved your fans, and you still keep emailing them. So that's still out there and they're still with you and they're still showing up at events. So, uh, that, that's a testament to, to building great content, great material, and a passionate community. So, uh, thanks Sandeep for joining us. So Sandeep usually says the show is. I don't have it memorized, but yeah. The show is
Everyone:produced by AAN Shah, uh, and, and Me.
Rajiv Parikh:Yeah, there you go. Production assistance by Tarn Talley and edited by who's editing it these days is Sean Maher and Aiden to Sean Mar. And
Sandeep Parikh:Aiden. And Aiden. Great, great.
Rajiv Parikh:I'm your host, Rajiv Farik from Position Squared a a, an awesome AI growth marketing company based in Silicon Valley. With all this agentic AI stuff combined with people, come visit us@positiontwo.com. This has been an effing funny production and we'll catch you next time. And remember, folks. Be
Everyone:ever curious. Be ever curious. I must said, be the change you want, be change. Wanna be the change you wanna be.