We had the opportunity to interview Josh Simons, Co-Founder of Vampr. The world's largest professional networks for creatives.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and Vampr? How did you get the idea for Vampr?
A: My name is Josh Simons - I’m one of the co-founders of Vampr. Vampr started in 2015 when I called my old record label boss - from my days in a band called Buchanan and as a songwriter - and pitched him on an idea which could solve a problem that I was facing at the time: how do I build a professional network quickly and cost effectively in a new country? Ask around and it won’t take you long to understand this problem is one which has plagued all creatives at some point in their career, especially those who go on to find success.

So that’s where we came up with the idea to build a fun, mobile-first and vibrant social-professional network for creatives. It only took about a week from that original conversation with my now co-founder Baz Palmer to getting the company registered and up & running!

Q: How did you build a network in a new country?
A: Sheer perseverance. When I first moved to the US, there wasn't an app to help make connections and build networks. My personal situation helped me realize the need to come up with Vampr. To help other people in my situation have a better chance at succeeding.

Q: What makes your company different from others in your space?
A: Our approach to professional networking is unique. For starters, we use a swipe discovery algorithm, which is a smarty-pants way of saying a Tinder-style connection process. The use of swipe discovery in a professional context was untested when we launched in 2016 however it was a decision which paid off in the long run and has proven to be wildly popular and successful as seen by our market leading position since December 2017.

We generally attribute the popularity of this model to the gamification of networking, which is normally a laborious, if not intimidating task. We’re also a mobile-first company which has really resonated with our younger users, who make up the vast majority of our community.

Q: What is the main benefit that your company provides to the music world?
A: Being able to pull together all your musical assets and brand elements under one roof. Link your Instragram? Check! Link your Soundcloud? Check! Distribute and publish your music? Check! And then of course there’s the networking piece, arguably the most important part of the model, which allows you to grow your network by sharing these various assets with potential fans and collaborators.

What this means for a young artist without an established or well-defined team in place is the ability to more easily share their music with the world while keeping control of their creative output in the process.

Q: Did you hit any roadblocks that almost caused you to throw in the towel?
A: The first couple of years were particularly challenging. We had a decent beta rollout but we had no idea how to grow the app from 200 users to 20,000 users, let alone 2,000,000 users. We tried everything from hitting up people on Craigslist one-by-one (the internet’s equivalent of going door to door), to printing off  hundreds of tear-off fliers and pinning them up on lampposts around Los Angeles. We tried everything and the kitchen sink! Fortunately we no longer have such problems and now worry more about things like 'conversion rates' and 'funnel drop-offs’ … you know, the sexy stuff!

Q: How has creating Vampr changed your life?
A: It defined a large part of my 20’s. Pursuing a dream and choosing to live your life as a tech entrepreneur carries with it some not-insignificant lifestyle sacrifices, which with the benefit of hindsight I could probably have done a better job of balancing. Things like incorporating in a new country and moving away from friends and family, or sacrificing nights with your partner for 17 hour work days where you navigate keeping various team members who are spread across several continents happy and focused on the mission.

Having said that, I probably wouldn’t change a thing. Vampr has given me my most richest of life experiences and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anything other than grateful. I more frequently reflect on how Vampr has changed the lives of other people from our community - that’s the most rewarding part of my job.

Q: Do you need to be a musician or producer in order to join and benefit from Vampr?
A: Not at all. One of the larger segments of our audience are music lovers, who simply join the platform to discover new music in their immediate vicinity. We have also been increasingly turning our attention to servicing creatives in complimentary roles to musicians: people such as graphic designers, choreographers, cinematographers, talent agents etc.

Q: What kind of traction have you had since you first launched?
A: We have over 700,000 users on our app in 190+ countries, and approximately 100,000 new users joining every month. We have raised to date $1,850,000+ from music industry executives, VC, angels and the crowd.

Q: What companies is Vampr compared to?
A: Vampr has been compared to Linkedin (MSFT) when it comes to networking with professionals. Vampr has actually been called the Linkedin of professional networking for creatives. In addition, we have the same connection swipe style as Tinder (MTCH).

Q: Are you looking for additional funding or have a crowdfunding campaign?  If so, what are you looking for in a potential investor, and how can interested readers get in touch/learn more?
A: We're in the middle of our second ever crowdfunding campaign in parallel with a private financing round. It’s off to a phenomenal start with $400,000 in the bank and only $170,000 to go. We launched this campaign on the back of a vision to bring live streaming tools to our hyper-focused community of creators - it’s a no brainer! You can check out the campaign page at wefunder.com/vampr.

Q:  Is there any advice you'd give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
A: Do as much market research as you can to validate that there is a real need for your idea before you start to accept any checks or expend the most valuable commodity that you will ever have: your time. You can’t get either of those things back and you never want to wake up three years later and realize that maybe the idea was no good to begin with.

Q:  Is there anything else you want to share with our audience?
A: Check out the crowdfunding campaign and download the app from www.vampr.me. There’s something in there for everyone, and with 2021 we will be bringing video experiences into the news feed which we are betting will be a game changer for our users and the wider Vampr community. Stay tuned!