Nick Abouzeid is the head of marketing at MainStreet, a company that helps startups get an average of $50k of IRS credits in as little as 20 minutes. In this interview, Nate and Nick talk about how he went from selling paintball guns in middle school to running a NY bakery in college and how he’s now landed at MainStreet. Also, if you’re a startup founder, you should really check out MainStreet! $50k in 20 minutes is no joke.
On what he’s been up to for the last year:
- Was a partner at Shrug Capital with Niv Dror, who was his boss before at both ProductHunt and AngelList
- Invested in lots of cool companies while also working on really cool marketing projects
- They invested in MainStreet in February and he hasn’t found a more addicting company to tell people about
- Just recently stepped in as Head of Marketing at MainStreet
On co-founding a bakery:
- Started his first business as a 7th grader, buying and selling paintball guns in the internet
- His mom let him run his business out of the garage
- His mom moved to New York to retire, but it only lasted about a month – she got bored
- She was living in Harlem, watching her neighborhood change and there were no coffee shops
- She decided to start Hamilton’s Bakery, named after Alexander Hamilton
- Shortly thereafter she signed a 10 year lease on a restaurant space
- Nick’s first internship was helping launch the business, which they ran profitably for years, before they sold it a few years ago
On his Mom’s impact on him:
- His mom did lots of different things: ran a flower shop, was a therapist, started a greeting card company, got published as an author, flipped homes successfully, and started a bakery
- Without her example, he wouldn’t be where he is today
On working in tech:
- Feels that many jobs in VC/startups boil down to somebody buying an option on your ability to make an impact on their business and trusting you to do good things
- When you’re trying to get a job, you’re asking the business to make a bet that you’re going to be helpful, without really understanding what you’re going to do
- You can do your best to show them that you can be helpful, but at the end of the day it has to be: I like you and I think you’re really bright and creative and I trust you with the brand
- Thinks that by the time it’s your first day, you’ve already done 90% of the things that are going to make you a success or a failure in that role
- Important to find the right role for you, and only you know in your heart what that role is
- Find a role that will give you an opportunity to have an exponential impact on the business
- Especially when you’re young, go for the role with asymmetric upside – “if you’re really good at this you can have a huge impact” vs. “if you’re really good at this you’re a little better than the rest”
- If there’s a internship application for it, it’s probably not the job you want
- Instead convince someone to let you save them time and add value with your own hustle and grit
On obsessiveness:
- Makes life fun
- First thing he got obsessed with as a kid was Pokemón cards
- Then he fell in love with Dogecoin his junior year of high school
- His senior year of high school he got really into bitcoin and by his freshman year of college he was writing for Bitcoin Magazine
- His writing at Bitcoin Magazine helped him get his first job at ProductHunt, which led to the the rest of his career
- When he moved to San Francisco he fell in love with charging dockless scooters, which lead him to getting to know the mobility teams at Bird and Uber
- When he started doing these things, he didn’t know that they would benefit his career
On MainStreet:
- MainStreet finds founders and startups tax credits that they’ve never heard of – no you’re accountant hasn’t heard of them
- Takes about 20 minutes to qualify and get the cash
- The average company gets $51,040
- They get a percentage of whatever they save you – You only pay if they save you money
- It’s a no-brainer
- They will have 200 credits on the platform by the end of the year
- Check it out: USE NATE’S REFERRAL LINK
Following and supporting Nick & MainStreet: