Finding the Harmony Between It All: Interview with the Founder and CEO of East Goes Global, Andrew Spalter

This week’s interview is with Andrew Spalter, the founder and CEO of East Goes Global, a company whose exclusive focus is helping western brands, talent, and sports teams access Chinese consumers globally.

Andrew was 25 when he started the company. He’d spent his first few years out of college in the music management business, working for Scooter Braun’s company and then Joel and Benji Madden’s management business, MDDN. It was during his time with MDDN that he was sent to China for 4.5 months while the client, British singer Jessie J, appeared as the first Western guest on the popular singing competition show, Singer. It was there that a lightbulb went off for him - there was a huge opportunity to help western talent and brands access a massive population of Chinese consumers. He couldn’t believe that no other businesses seemed to be taking advantage of the opportunity! After many sleepless nights at home, unable to shake the idea, Andrew decided to launch the business with one client. Eight years later, that one client has turned into a thriving business with a client list ranging from NBA teams to Grammy winning recording artists.

Over the course of the conversation we spoke about:

• The mindset that gave him the courage to start a business focused on a business dealing in an entirely different culture, economy, politics, and language

• How he’s learned to enjoy the rough roads that come with entrepreneurship

• Why it’s important to avoid comparing yourself to people that are misaligned with your unique life experience and goals

• Embracing the reality that there is no controlling uncertainty

• How finding harmony between life and work has set him up to do his best work

Note: The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. While every effort has been made to preserve the integrity of the conversation, please be aware that the quotes may not be verbatim but reflect the essence of the dialogue.

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How would you describe your occupation?

The shortest explanation is we help western businesses reach and build an audience in China. To get more granular, there are three pillars of our business: talent, brands, and sports. The commonality between those three things is encouraging west to east consumption. Chinese consumers do not have access to Western social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Youtube, and Spotify. The list goes on and on. Because of that silo and the firewall that surrounds China, there are 30-40 other platforms that exist in China used by over a billion and a half people. We help western businesses not only launch on those channels, but manage, verify, and grow them on a local level. We take that a step further by asking: How are we going to align those channels with your business model and bring you revenue from that market? It could be touring opportunities, merchandising partnerships, brand sponsorships, or creating opportunities for Chinese shoppers on local e-commerce platforms.

I can imagine most people might have been totally daunted by starting a business dealing with a different language, culture, economy, politics, etc. What mindset enabled you to go for it?

I recently listened to a podcast interview with Michael Dell. He and I don't have a lot of things in common, but the one similarity that we, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have, is the passion to do something and not much to lose. If Michael Dell had failed, he would have just gone back to college. For me, I was working in music management making next to nothing and living in Los Angeles. I remember thinking: Where am I going? Am I waiting for an artist that I manage to be the next big thing? I was waking up everyday not loving what I was doing. When I went to China with Jessie J, I was literally living somewhere else for four months working 24/7 and not really being compensated for it. I felt like if I was going to do something it had to be now because I had nothing to lose. If it didn’t work out, I’d just go get another job in the music industry. The thing that everyone kept saying to me while I was in China was, “We hope that you're just not another white guy that flies out to China, sees the opportunity here, leaves, and never comes back.” Plus, I loved the culture there. It was really unique and different. So for me it was really the combination of the bottomless pit with no light at the end of the tunnel and then feeling like the light was China. From there, things started to compound really quickly.

Given how you started, I would love to get your take on what I call the “myth of the grand plan.” A lot of people think that when you start a business you have an idea and come up with a “grand plan” that details exactly what the product will be and how you’re going to build the business, and then you get started building. What’s your take on that?

I think that there can be a grand plan when you reach later stages in life. I do know a few serial entrepreneurs who are in their fifties and sixties and have had a few successful exits. The grand plan works with experience. The number of mistakes I made in business between ages 21 and 31 will probably be much greater in number than the number of mistakes I make over the next 10 years. As a 25 year old entrepreneur, I’d never run a business before. There couldn't have been a grand plan because I would have failed.

I loved this quote of yours from an interview with Voyage Austin: “Rough roads are fun; rough roads teach you what to do when you hit a speed bump. Rough roads force you to go off-road to return to the right path. There have been countless rough roads I’ve been on, but all made me who I am today with the knowledge of how to get through and across those very struggles/rough roads I’ve journeyed down. Too high of overhead, upset clients, down tech, late payments, bad hires, you name it, I’ve seen it all. Today, I couldn’t be happier to have journeyed down those rough roads.” What are the most impactful lessons you’ve learned about how to manage through a “rough road” today? What are the biggest differences in how you react to those moments now vs the early stages of building your business?

When I was working for someone else every hiccup felt like a rough road. There was nothing else other than continuing to show up for work the next day. That's the only road in front of you. As an entrepreneur for the past 8 years, I’ve learned that you have to keep going and be an optimist. If I do get through this client’s email or beratement from a team member or whatever it is, there’s probably something exciting on the other side. I’ll have learned something that will make the road a bit smoother going forward.

Is there anything in particular that helps you in the moments where you just think, “This really sucks” and you need to get out of that headspace?

Before I met my wife, I was never a walker. She really instilled in me the importance of just going for a walk everyday. These days, I’m constantly taking calls on walks and moving around. I’ll also share a piece of wisdom that I got from Tyler, The Creator about cyberbullying. He said something to the effect of, “I don't understand this lol. Why would you not just shut your computer?” So when I get really frustrated at work, I know that it’s better to not react emotionally, close my computer, go for a walk, call a friend or family, and just get my mind fully out of it so that when I get back, I can be much more clearheaded.

We live in a time where there is no shortage of opinions, advice, articles, books, and podcasts on how you should be running things as a business owner. Where have you learned to buck conventional wisdom and do things in a way that works for you and the unique business you’re building?

Early on I heard something from Jay Z that resonated with me about people always asking him for advice. Things like, “How do I follow in your footsteps? Why is it not happening for me?” His point is that what works for him wouldn’t necessarily work for someone else. He’s him, you’re Madeline, I’m Andrew. You really have to take into account who someone is. For example, the other day I was listening to a podcast interview with the CEO of Accenture who used to be general counsel for the company. I have nothing in common with him. I'm not a lawyer, and I don’t ever want to run a company with 700,000 employees. That seems like a nightmare to me. Or in the Michael Dell example from earlier. He went public, bought his company back, and did all of that before he was 40 years old. I’m not doing that either. My point is that you have to see the misalignments between you and the people you’re comparing yourself to. When you do see alignment, that might be an area to double down.

I imagine with a business like yours there are constant demands on your time, and it’s easy to get pulled in a million different directions. How do you approach staying focused on the most important work? What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned and mental shifts you’ve made in regards to time management?

I’ve started to slowly phase out the things I don’t want to be working on out of my business. What's natural to me is what I'm pouring more of my time and heart into. Up until a few months ago, it was me and 20 project managers. I realized that I need more delegation and a real executive team. I recently hired directors for our NBA division and digital team. Now when we bring on a new hire or someone has a question, there are people for them to go to other than me. That’s freed up a lot of time for me to get back to what I love which is marketing and sales.

Delegation is easier said than done. What’s helped you get comfortable enough to do that?

I’m still not very comfortable with it. It's my business, right? Every decision that I've made up until this point has come from my gut and instincts. However, what’s given me some comfort is realizing that I’ve already gotten our business to this point. It’s very stable and secure and not likely to go down from here. Adding in more opinions and people and delegation will only help it scale. We can't be more stagnant than we are right now. I really thrive in my role when I’m doing what I love which is marketing, sales, and building those relationships. I can only get better at it if I have the time to do so and that’s what delegation has given me.

I would love to get your take on dealing with uncertainty. There is no shortage of political controversy, headlines, etc relating to China. How has your relationship to uncertainty changed, if at all, the longer you’ve run your business?

Six months ago I was telling myself, “We're gonna have to figure out an exit at some point soon,” but then I realized that it’s always been uncertain. People always ask me about what I think is going to happen with China. I just say, “How am I supposed to know? I have no idea. I am never going to be in those political rooms.” I’ve gotten to this point by operating in the world that I’m in and letting things flow as they are.

I don't want to put words in your mouth so tell me if this resonates with you, but it's almost like if you'd been super focused on trying to predict the uncertainty, you might have gotten distracted or maybe given up. Instead, you channeled that energy into just running your business.

At the end of the day I’m just a cog in the system, and we're running social media accounts for celebrities, not selling microchips or data. We are literally running the Instagram equivalents in China, and then selling T-shirts, supplements, and lifestyle brands through them. Our goal has always been to connect the East to the West, and that’s what we’ve stayed focused on doing.

You’ve already been at this for 8 years. What practices, habits, and/or general philosophies help you stay energized to keep building this company for the long haul?

I think it really just boils down to passion. There are still nights where I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what I should be doing and could be doing to grow the business. That’s exciting to me. The day when I start consistently losing sleep because I'm annoyed or frustrated will be when I know the business has run its course. The biggest thing for me is passion and enjoying what I’m doing. It's much less about if something's going well or not.

My number one priority in my life is my wife and family. Full stop. It's not a morning routine. It's not my family, my wife, my dogs, or my home individually, it's the harmony between it all. I need to work out every day. I need to eat healthy. I need to sleep really well. My house needs to be clean. The combination of all of those things is what allows me to have a clear headspace and do my best work. I’ve never believed in being someone from 9 to 5, and then being someone else when you get home. Other people might be able to thrive that way, but I’m at my best when there’s harmony between all the things.

Many people I interview for the No Directions blog have created lives that are uniquely theirs in terms of how they live, work, and build their lives. What does the life that is uniquely yours look like today?

My wife and I are creating a life where we can lift each other up together. We love living in Austin. We love our friends and entrepreneurial community here. It might look run of the mill. We have our house, two dogs, our businesses, good friends, and outdoor hobbies, but it’s what works for us.

What’s next for you?

Every year, my wife and I set goals to frame the next year and set some guardrails for us. This year we want to have kids and keep growing our businesses, each of which are doing really well. I’ve been compounding my business for 8 years, and my wife has been compounding hers for the past three. It never starts out very linearly, but at this point you can really see the compounding taking place. We kindly passed on an opportunity to exit last year, but it definitely got me thinking about: What do I want things to look like? Who would I want to acquire us in a perfect world? Given that we want to have kids, I’m starting to get more intentional about how I’ll spend my time in the future.