Meet Nick Abouzeid

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
- (Mainstreet helps startups get money that they’re owed ~ On average they get each startup $51,000 in 20 minutes)
Just recently stepped in as Head of Marketing at MainStreet

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

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

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

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

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