Nathan Barry path to $30M Saas

Author

Lucas Fux
July 12, 2023

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Interview with Alexander Graves

Alexander Graves is an ambitious entrepreneur dedicated to helping gamers monetize their passion.

]With a burning desire to escape from the 9-5 job, Alexander is embarking on a massive project that guides aspiring streamers on building a profitable gaming business from scratch.

With a story of resilience and self-discovery, Alexander emphasizes the importance of finding purpose, overcoming obstacles, and embracing mistakes as valuable lessons.

As he progresses on his solopreneurial path, Alexander shares the lessons learned.

Let’s see:

Hi Alex! Who are you and what are you currently working on?

I am Alexander Graves, 35 years old, married, 1 kid, working a 9-5 still, but working on getting rid of it. How?

Helping gamers monetize their passion.

I am currently setting up a HUGE project. I want to start a Twitch stream, explaining FROM the ground up how to do it and build a profitable business out of it.

Literally starting from zero.

Multi-year project.

What's your backstory and how did you start this business?

A rock bottom moment 5 years ago. I came home from my well-paying but soul-crushing 9-5.

After an hour's commute. Playing video games, not for fun, but to escape reality.

Masturbating to porn, eating shitty food.

Initiating sex badly, getting rejected and then, while on the couch, watching an exchangeable Netflix show, my wife asks:

“Are you even watching the show or are you just scrolling Facebook?”

At the time, I was just scrolling Facebook.

Mind you, she asked this while scrolling Facebook on her phone.

Basically, I hated my existence. It was meaningless and pointless.

On the way to buying a house and having kids. The predefined life path.

Yet, it just didn’t feel right.

There was more. There HAD to be more.

Queue a 5-year process of failing forward. Starting 12 businesses or “ideas” and failing all of them. Learning my lessons, joining the War Room, and making ALL the mistakes.

Until a powerful tool called Subliminal Messaging by ONE company set up my mind right:

“I always liked gaming. I know gamer's language. I know their pain points. I know what they want and need because I WAS that for 20 years.”

This is when I started my recent project. Abandoned Self-conquering and started my personal brand Alexander Graves and am now in the process of FINALLY living a fulfilled life, even before it is all super successful.

Self-conquering didn’t fail. It made me about $60,000 over 2 years, but it just isn’t what I want to talk about anymore.

What are your marketing strategies to grow your business?

Being where the audience is.

Gamers are prominently on Twitch and YouTube, but they completely neglect Twitter. They all have a Twitter account, but they don’t utilize it for growing their audience on other platforms.

Hence why I keep building my Twitter and will now start Twitch and YouTube (I have a history of YT, so it’s not new)

The strategy is simple:

  • Be where the audience is

  • Add immense VALUE to their life by helping them become wealthy gamers. Generally also known as a whale ;)

You have a “Subconscious Purpose Finder course”, Why do you think is it important to find your purpose? Which is yours?

See my story above. That subliminal program I used, and the one I mention in the Subconscious Purpose Finder Course is specifically designed to help you find your purpose in life.

I fully disagree that you built your purpose as it is propagated online.

Because I did it.

I made good money from it, built an audience, and had fame (not huge, but still), but it still didn’t satisfy me.

The gaming niche is ALREADY fun and I have only just started.

It’s not the novelty, because I’ve been there for 20 years.

It’s because that is what I am supposed to do.

Help gamers live a free life.

Why?

This is exactly what I needed 15 years ago, but didn’t have.

What were the biggest obstacles you overcame? What were your worst mistakes?

Knowing that an obstacle isn’t one, but my specific skill.

Meaning, for the longest time I thought me constantly rebranding and switching themes is a bad thing. In reality, it is a good thing.

It is my strength.

Adaptability.

I can move quickly. I am ready to throw it all overboard for a new idea.

I can put myself in anyone’s shoes, I am ready to think through their ideas. The strength there is, I am able to help anyone with their business, because I can think like they do.

Of course, one can move TOO fast.

Any strength you have can also be a negative, if not used right and contained.

Acceptance of myself and my strength was a 5-year obstacle I finally overcame.

Worst mistakes?

There are no mistakes. Only lessons.

I don’t regret anything.

All of it was a necessary “failure” to teach me something, to give me a new perspective.

Even the time when I was literally sitting on $200 in my bank account, with a family to feed, a mortgage to pay, and a $5,000 bill to be paid.

I thought it was all over initially.

But now I know, it helped me to view money differently. It reshaped my relationship to it ENTIRELY. How I spend it. What I spend it on. Etc.

Again, there are no mistakes.

Mistakes are your guiding light toward greatness.

Make more mistakes.

Fail more.

It is where you grow.

Since starting your journey as a solopreneur, what have been your main lessons?

Nobody knows shit. Everyone is just winging life.
If you see someone claiming they figured it all out, rest assured they have some shit somewhere in their home. Those lessons worked for them, they might not work for you. Hence:

  • There is no substitute for experience. You can read 500 books on building a business, unless you actually do it yourself, you know nothing (Greetings, Jon Snow)

  • We live in the best age. You can be anything you want these days. Gamers making millions of Dollars. People building a multi-million dollar empire knitting. It doesn’t matter. Be entertaining and add value, and you won.

  • Don’t focus on money. When we all start out, we want to make money. But money is a tool. Nothing more. And if you focus on it, you become sales. Instead, ask yourself “How can I make my audience’s life better? How can I help them?”
    It gives your actions a different energy.
    Focus on Impact over Money.

  • Stay lean. You don’t need 500 tools and SaaS products. They just cost money. The main driver is always content. And that can be done for free. I even have a blog post on how to start a business with $0. That was a big lesson. Shiny-Object Syndrome got me good in the past.

If you had the chance of doing only one thing differently, what would it be?

Nothing. As I said, it’s all part of a necessary progress. I cherish any one of my lessons, no matter how painful.

How are you doing today and what are your goals for the future?

I am not rich by any means. But I know it’s just a matter of time. Once you make your first Dollar online, you become unemployable. It doesn’t even register in my mind to ever work for a company, ever again.

I still work a 9-5, a question of time.

My goals are not put in numbers. I don’t like number goals.

My goals are thus, quitting the 9-5 because AG Inc makes enough money. Mornings streaming business lessons and games on Twitch, afternoon playing with my family, and traveling the world. Oh, and I want a Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE. Big goal there ;) But this comes away after paying off the mortgage.

What tools and resources for solopreneurs do you recommend?

  • Notion. I literally run my entire business on Notion. You can get lost in it, so contain yourself. You don't need to write down EVERYTHING. But even my courses are on Notion. It just does everything.

  • Twitter. The easiest platform to get into DIRECT contact with winners and millionaires. And you don't need to spend hours editing videos.

  • SubliminalClub.com. Check out their website, they have THE ONLY subliminal programs that TRULY work. I tested a lot of them and I have been running theirs for years now. I own their entire catalog, almost. If you do nothing else, at least get a subliminal like Emperor and see your mindset be set up to manifest the desired reality.

Where can we go to learn more about you and your work?

On my website you find everything. I am A LOT on Twitter: @IamAlexGraves and I will post my entire building-a-streaming-empire progress on Twitch and Youtube.

I hope this has been useful for you. You can have more information and resources on fintiux.com

I appreciate the feedback about this email, feel free to answer me.