founded streamshark

i first launched streamshark in mid 2016 after i returned from a trip to new york. i bought the domain, registered some social media accounts and began to look for a client that i could do some free work for so that i could build a portfolio.

hired first employee

after a few months, things were getting busier. i realised that this could be more than a part time project. i posted a job advert online and a day later i hired a motion designer who still works with us today. he is a super important member of the team and a good friend.

hired three more employees

i knew building the right team would be integral to the success of the business. our staff are the heartbeat of streamshark and i wanted to get this right. we turned down several projects over the new year period because we didn’t have enough staff to keep up with the demand. eventually i found the right three people to bring on board. this would help us scale.

invested in bitcoin

this was the first time i actually purchased some crypto. after months of research, i decided to pull the trigger. unfortunately in a place that was not convenient. bali. my bank kept flagging it as fraud since the combination of the location + bitcoin seemed suspicious. many customer support calls later, i managed to make a successful purchase. 0.0679 btc.

left bali

after living in bali for 3-4 months and having a great time, i decided the digital nomad life was getting a little monotonous. i made the short trip to malaysia to visit a friend for a week before returning to england to ponder what i should do next.

started an amazon fba business

streamshark was doing well but i had an urge to try something else on the side. i researched a product that i thought would sell well based on data i was analysing. next, i contacted a factory in china to produce the item with our twist on it. i made the listing page on amazon, set up PPC ads and waited for the shipment to arrive. sales started to flow from the first day things were live.

reached 1,000 customers

reaching round numbers always has a nice psychological effect and getting to four figures felt really good. what got us to this point was quality work, smart marketing and creating designs that were unique compared to competitors. i wanted to keep this in mind going forward.

moved to edinburgh

i got the itch to move again so went to edinburgh for a year. it was okay.

invested in more crypto

i was fascinated with the potential of crypto and that stretched beyond bitcoin by this point. there was a crazy ico boom at the end of the previous year and that made me wary of a lot of coins. i done plenty of research and opened positions in various other cryptos. most of my spare cash went into my portfolio at this stage.

ceased operations with amazon

i had sold over 5,000 units of my product by now. however there was a few things i disliked about working with amazon. i was not protected by hijackers who would take over my listing and sell a similar product. there was no support line for sellers like myself. the fees were increasing every month it seemed. for these reasons, even after a lot of success i decided it was not for me any more. i learned a lot from this.

moved to colombia

i moved to medellin for a while as i had heard great things about the city. even without any spanish, i had a fantastic time. the weather was perfect, the coffee was great and the coworking spaces were some of the best in the world. i met a guy from a facebook group who turned out to be someone i value as a great friend now. overall it is definitely one of my favourite places.

three year mark

around three years had passed since i launched streamshark. this felt like a big milestone. we had come such a long way since that first project and shoddy looking website i made with wix.

developed a new website

whilst in colombia, i met with a guy who was an seo specialist. after a chat we decided that it was best to start from scratch with the website that i had made myself years before. i collaborated with him and a developer in ecuador to make the new site. a lot of thought and effort went into this whole process and i am super happy with how it turned out.

moved to new york city

from colombia, i decided to jump on a plane to new york. i didn’t intend on spending too much time there, maybe just a month. i remembered the last time i was there and the motivation the city gave me just from its atmosphere was incredible. it’s what initially triggered me to get my life together. i stayed in an apartment in midtown and worked at cafes and coworking spaces. after, i switched coasts and went to see a friend in seattle for a couple of weeks.

got a puppy

i came home for christmas to see some family and i was a little bit exhausted from the constant travelling too. i was at dinner with my parents and we were talking about dogs. the next day i travelled to leicester and picked up a brand new puppy. super spontaneous and out of the blue. he’s called dexter.

moved to manchester

covid made this year a bit less exciting than previous ones. the business saw just as much success as usual though. with people spending more time at home, it makes sense to why a business like streamshark would flourish. we did have our difficulties too though. i literally moved to manchester out of boredom. i did not expect to be back in southampton this long so i just found a nice apartment in a new city and packed my stuff. a change of scenery was needed to keep my mind fresh.