Latest / The Scene Projects / Andres Prilloltensky from Noovox on Media, Connection, and Creativity
Transcript
- 0:12Welcome in to another exciting episode of Real Biz.
- 0:14I am your host, Bubba Starts, and with me today is the founder of NuVolks, Andres Priotenski.
- 0:20Andres, welcome to the show.
- 0:23Good to be here.
- 0:24Thanks for having me, Bubba.
- 0:26Yeah.
- 0:27An absolute pleasure, man.
- 0:29I I love the platform that you're, working on.
- 0:32Obviously, it's built.
- 0:33It's launched now, which is a a huge, huge step, but I'm sure you're always gonna be
- 0:39refining it as we go along too.
- 0:41We're gonna talk a lot of LinkedIn today.
- 0:44We're gonna talk about how business owners, can use that to elevate themselves through the
- 0:50noise.
- 0:51But before we do that, I'd like to get a a little bit of your backstory and kinda how,
- 0:56NewVolks came to be, and then we'll pick up the conversation from there.
- 1:00Amazing.
- 1:01So so myself, I have been I have been in the start up scene for the last fifteen years.
- 1:08A little bit of masochist.
- 1:10I love early stage.
- 1:12Nuvox, actually, it's my first time founding a start up, but it's actually my sixth project.
- 1:19All the time on on go to market positions from top of the funnel to late in the funnel, from a
- 1:28growth in marketing to sales, business development, and customer success.
- 1:33A little bit before Novox, I I was in a different company that, unfortunately, we we
- 1:41were it closed.
- 1:44And thinking about how to do and looking for business opportunities, I started to talk with
- 1:49a lot of different people, a lot of different executives.
- 1:53And and one of the the suggestions that I received is for me to start writing content and
- 2:00to show my experience out there.
- 2:02And while it's a great suggestion, I found it very, very hard for me to to speak and how to
- 2:09write and how to ideate and and and also didn't have time.
- 2:13And talking with a lot of different colleagues, they all surfaced the same problems.
- 2:18And I said, oh, okay.
- 2:19Maybe that's the idea that I need to start developing.
- 2:23And it started from a very small project developing a tool for executives to start
- 2:28writing content on on on LinkedIn to build their own personal brand.
- 2:34And soon very soon after we started it, the idea blew up, and companies started to see how,
- 2:43how can this be actually a growth channel for the whole company, not just for the executive
- 2:48or the individual.
- 2:50And that got us to to the official release, two months ago with very different companies from
- 2:59very different industries and verticals and growing.
- 3:05Exciting.
- 3:06A lot of, stuff still in the road map, getting a lot of different feedback, generally good
- 3:13feedback, but also things to improve, and that's what we are doing right now.
- 3:18Yeah.
- 3:20The the media landscape, especially in the social media world, has changed so much, and
- 3:26it's no longer about just brands telling the story.
- 3:33It's the story of the people inside of the brand.
- 3:35And especially your founders or CEOs, we want to know more.
- 3:39And people want to, you know, kinda peek behind the curtain.
- 3:43And especially to grow if you're in the b two b world, you have to trust who you're working
- 3:48with.
- 3:49In an age of you know, there's a lot of BS out there on the Internet, Andres, and I think
- 3:54we're both well aware of that.
- 3:57It can become very hard for, especially people who have, you know, existed in that c suite
- 4:04level to maybe be a little bit vulnerable or to be able to even, you know, to put onto paper
- 4:11their experience and all the things that they have to share with the world and to even know
- 4:17how to build a brand, a personal brand, not just the company.
- 4:23Exactly.
- 4:24The the these kind of people, they have so much experience and so much let's say, they bled in
- 4:31the trenches so for so long that sharing that stories out there and sharing that kind of of a
- 4:43of perspective, they indeed think that that it's very vulnerable, and they don't want to
- 4:49show any weakness out there.
- 4:50But it's actually a thing that develops trust from potential buyers, from potential
- 4:56investors, from potential talent that they they can attract to work in the company.
- 5:02As you were saying, today brands people don't buy from brand.
- 5:08They buy from the people that is leading that brand.
- 5:11If I want to purchase something on a b to b, the first thing that I'm doing is I'm going to
- 5:16look who works there, what's their opinion.
- 5:20And and if there is no people talking talking within the company about it or sharing their
- 5:28own personal thoughts, For me, it's a it's a deal breaker.
- 5:32I will probably continue searching for a different solution that I maybe developed.
- 5:38And if we go a little bit further, most of the people of the b to b buyers, they already
- 5:44decided about which solution they want to purchase or acquire or subscribe to way before
- 5:52they even engage with sales.
- 5:54And a very big part of it, they don't even engage with sales.
- 5:57They just jump over that obstacle.
- 6:01They go directly to their platform.
- 6:03They register by themselves.
- 6:05And and so you need to start building trust way, way, way on top of the funnel for the
- 6:12pipeline to be rich enough for you to bring revenues and for the business not to miss any
- 6:17opportunity.
- 6:18It's a win win situation.
- 6:19Giving the people a microphone or a way for them to express themselves, the companies are
- 6:27only going to gain from that.
- 6:30And we can talk about as well about paid campaigns that are super expensive, customer
- 6:36acquisition costs skyrocketing, the ROI is is super low.
- 6:41It takes a lot of months even if it's possible to to to bring back the money spended.
- 6:49Companies need to search for new organic growth channels.
- 6:54Yeah.
- 6:54Well and then those the the or the ones that have organic success, you can then put money
- 7:00behind because you've you've found what works and what's connecting.
- 7:04And that's really what people want.
- 7:05They they want to deal with other humans.
- 7:07In this age of AI now and so much content being out there, a changing world in the ads world on
- 7:15social media as well with more and more people competing in that space and competing for that
- 7:21attention, that the more real you can be and the more you can share those personal very
- 7:27human stories, the the quicker you're going to connect with people.
- 7:31And I I think the brands and the the people who are doing that, the founders or CEOs or or
- 7:38whatever that are doing that well are having massive success, and a a lot of people are
- 7:44trying to play catch up.
- 7:46And I feel like that's where your company with NewVolks is really helping those people that
- 7:51are are just I don't wanna say clueless.
- 7:54They know that they need to be on social media.
- 7:56They know what they need to do, but they really struggle when they sit down, behind the
- 8:01computer or on their phone to start typing or or speaking and are just completely lost in
- 8:07that.
- 8:09Exactly.
- 8:09And and this is a strategy that is for the long term.
- 8:12So perhaps part of those plans that they make, they start very, very strong.
- 8:19They have a lot of content for them to speak on the first ten weeks, but this is not a quick
- 8:27game.
- 8:28This is a long term play that you need to be consistent, be authentic, and it's very hard to
- 8:33have a lot of different content or to ideate or how to write it about in an ongoing phase.
- 8:41Because if you stop, then you need to start again very late, and you need to start building
- 8:47that trust once again.
- 8:48You need to be consistent.
- 8:50And it's not a matter of every day, not at all, but you need to be out there all the time step
- 8:57by step.
- 8:57And it's very hard to bring the people to write content, within their own responsibilities
- 9:03within the company.
- 9:06Yes.
- 9:07And you can't just, like, flood the market one month and then disappear for an entire season
- 9:13and expect to come back and to have anything there.
- 9:16To reference, I I love the garden.
- 9:19I I I love growing things.
- 9:21My flowers are finally starting to grow here in my garden in South Dakota as the season, starts
- 9:28to change.
- 9:29And you can't just ignore the garden for a month and come back and expect it to be
- 9:34flourishing.
- 9:35It it just doesn't work like that.
- 9:37You have to be watering it, and you have to be tending it, and you have to, you know, throw
- 9:41some fertilizer in there occasionally and to offer value.
- 9:45And in a world where it seems like every course out there in the business world especially is
- 9:50$10,000 and, you know, conferences to go to and networking events can be extremely expensive as
- 9:57it gets more and more expensive to travel.
- 10:00We have the ability with platforms like LinkedIn to connect with each other from the
- 10:05comfort of our home or our office or, you know, really anywhere.
- 10:10Right?
- 10:10While you're waiting in the airport for that next flight to be able to connect and to share
- 10:15a little bit of wisdom and to give out into that wider world.
- 10:19And I think people really react to that more than someone trying to consistently sell to
- 10:26them.
- 10:26It's not about the sell anymore, and now it's more about, well, what can you give me?
- 10:31What what piece can you offer to me that's going to change my life?
- 10:36Because now I want to buy from you.
- 10:38You don't have to sell me at all.
- 10:41Exactly.
- 10:42It's a it's a as you said, it's a it's a matter of caring about it, writing about it.
- 10:54They not you don't need to create academic articles all the time.
- 10:59One thought, it can be a very good post.
- 11:02Can even go viral.
- 11:04K?
- 11:05Just with one thing, but it needs to be steady.
- 11:08Don't expect for every for every plant to give you a lot of flowers.
- 11:12Maybe you will get flowers from only one plant, but you need to get to that plant, and you need
- 11:19to create that kind of things.
- 11:21And and and people are a very, very versatile versatile machine.
- 11:28Okay?
- 11:29We don't we are not only on one direction.
- 11:32We own we don't think only about one thing.
- 11:34We have a lot of different perspectives.
- 11:38On one call, maybe I will say something about one specific topic.
- 11:42On a different call with a different person, I will say something different from a very
- 11:46different perspective.
- 11:48So so you need to show that out there.
- 11:51And and that looseness maybe, that scrappiness, that's what's going to bring you a trust.
- 11:58I don't want something perfect.
- 12:01I want something that I can trust.
- 12:05Exactly.
- 12:06And sometimes it has nothing to do with your business or that experience in your life.
- 12:12Sometimes it may be a piece of maybe parenting advice or relationship and your experience in
- 12:18that that attracts people to you.
- 12:21And it really only takes that one post sometimes or that one article for someone to be
- 12:27all in and to go, I I understand this person.
- 12:30I I can relate to this person.
- 12:32And in this digital age that we're living in, that small connection is massive right now.
- 12:40Exactly.
- 12:41And and and one of the examples that I have is that you can write a post about whatever, even
- 12:48about barbecue or about your kids.
- 12:50If somebody there is a lot of different silent listeners.
- 12:54They only read.
- 12:55They will not give you a like.
- 12:57They will not give you a comment, but they will click on the post, and they will start reading
- 13:01all of your content.
- 13:02So your content out there lives forever.
- 13:07For me to go and buy an article now in a in a in a PR, a wire, or something like that, which
- 13:14is super, super expensive, it dies after forty eight hours, if I'm lucky, because it dies
- 13:20earlier.
- 13:21But the shit the thoughts that I'm sharing, the the the ideas that I'm sharing or the opinions
- 13:26that I'm sharing on LinkedIn, or it can be x.
- 13:30It can be it can be other social networks.
- 13:34It lives there forever.
- 13:36And especially now with the algorithm of LinkedIn, that it doesn't it doesn't serve for
- 13:41for what's hot right now.
- 13:42It doesn't show me what what somebody wrote about it five minutes ago.
- 13:46It can show me content that somebody wrote three weeks ago, two months ago.
- 13:53So if you are not there sharing your thoughts, you are just not going to be branded.
- 13:57You are not going to appear on on on people's radar, missing a lot of different opportunities
- 14:04and money, probably, because we are talking about a professional social network.
- 14:09So you're leaving a lot of money on the table.
- 14:14Maybe this is a great point in the conversation to talk about, the nuts and bolts of Nuvox and
- 14:21to have you explain how your platform works and and how it integrates with LinkedIn and what
- 14:28it's all about.
- 14:29So I'll kinda just open the floor to you, and and you can start wherever you want to.
- 14:34Sounds good.
- 14:34So so as I was saying at the beginning, we started from the executive, but then the the
- 14:40companies develop their own appetite for for Nuvox.
- 14:44So what we created is basically a a two phase platform.
- 14:49One of one of the sites is a copilot, very smart product to give the to the executives or
- 14:58to the subject matter experts for them to use, to share their ideas.
- 15:05We help them with with three main topics.
- 15:07Okay?
- 15:08One of them is the the time.
- 15:10Within less than five minutes, you have a ready to go post with a very, very authentic
- 15:16perspective reading in the way that you would have written it.
- 15:22The second part is the part of ideation.
- 15:24We bring very, very deep psychology analysis also on your background, but also on what you
- 15:31like, giving and building topics that are trending or re are related to your business
- 15:39goals, giving you all the time fit for you to write about.
- 15:47K?
- 15:48There is no problem of ideation.
- 15:50And the third leg, on on that aspect is that we analyze a lot of different content from very
- 15:57different types of people all the time to be ahead of what's working right now on LinkedIn.
- 16:03What's the right structure for, for for that person to write for his own unique audience?
- 16:12And and on that aspect as well, so so we have some kind of a small partnership with LinkedIn,
- 16:17still small but growing, in which we are capable of attracting all of the data of each
- 16:23post that is being posted by the by the individual, analyzing that, and the system is a
- 16:30learning system.
- 16:30So it becomes better and better and better all the time related to business goals.
- 16:36And the other side of the system is a system that works with big companies in which the
- 16:41marketing team, the social media team, the brand and team can see that strategy align all
- 16:49of the individuals that have access to Nuvox within one umbrella, justifying the this
- 16:58thought leadership strategy is a grow channel for the whole company.
- 17:03Because, eventually, if you have a lot of different people talking about very different
- 17:07aspects and and and you said, So we basically give them a tool with a lot of different
- 17:12business processes that are not being break, with very smart AI, but still keeping
- 17:20authenticity for the users and for the content.
- 17:23We are not AI slob generating content.
- 17:26That's not what we are, talking about here.
- 17:29We are attracting the thought or the that specific opinion from the individual for him to
- 17:35post in the best practice.
- 17:38And I think the business kind of enterprise level at that is really a game changer because,
- 17:45like you said, you're going to go in and with the way the LinkedIn platform is where you can
- 17:49go to the company and see everyone in that.
- 17:52If you have a very coordinated, you know, message across the board from everyone, it's
- 17:59going to elevate the trust for the company, not just for, you know, a director or or in that.
- 18:06If you have everyone going different directions, it starts to get a little cloudy of
- 18:10what the message of the company is.
- 18:13And because LinkedIn isn't necessarily a, yes.
- 18:17It is a social network, but it's very focused on the business side.
- 18:21Most people aren't using it to share pictures of their cat.
- 18:23Right?
- 18:24So some are, and no offense to those that are.
- 18:27You would be surprised.
- 18:30Yeah.
- 18:30But yeah.
- 18:30I mean, for someone whose cat makes an appearance regularly on this podcast, she was
- 18:36just trying to make a guest appearance now, and I had to shoo her away.
- 18:40I I understand.
- 18:41But, if you're using the platform to grow your business, to connect with other businesses and
- 18:49to make money, right, to to you know, at least attract new deals and new clients, then you
- 18:55want to have a a plan.
- 18:58And I think that the business side and that level of your company is really incredible and
- 19:06very forward thinking.
- 19:07I I I don't see that a lot in the wider, world.
- 19:11And and, honestly, I've I've never seen a company like yours and a platform like yours
- 19:17that you've built.
- 19:18You're truly one of a kind.
- 19:20I'm sure there will be many copycats, coming along as you become more and more successful.
- 19:26But I I feel like you're smart enough and your team is forward thinking enough to be always
- 19:32ahead of that curve.
- 19:35Exactly.
- 19:35We are trying to give the company a way in in way they can deliver their own strategic
- 19:41messaging plan without breaking the authenticity of the employees or the
- 19:46executives.
- 19:46And if you if you want to look at it from from from a very unique perspective is that there is
- 19:53this strategy that is called employee advocacy today.
- 19:56The problem there is that it's a very generic message, being spread by one social media
- 20:02manager in the company, and it lacks the the the personal, perspective and the authentic
- 20:08from each individual as they that they want to share.
- 20:11So in some kind of a sense, we bring that business process to that part, creating what we
- 20:17call leadership advocacy in which one specific message or one specific brief of the social
- 20:25media manager can help the individuals or the executives within the company just bring their
- 20:30own perspective to to that specific brief without breaking the company guidelines.
- 20:36And and in very big companies, public companies, having those safe guardrails or
- 20:44brand guidelines, it's very important.
- 20:46So we bring that business process as well for the company in which the individuals that are
- 20:52within the company using Nuvox are we are going to block in some kind of a sense post that can
- 21:00do ham that they can damage to the company itself, and you want to avoid that.
- 21:06You don't want companies to to be with bad perspective or with bad sentiment out from a
- 21:13one post that wasn't really noticed or wasn't through the business approvals.
- 21:18And we reduce the amount of hands that need to touch that business approval.
- 21:22It's basically a ping pong within two persons.
- 21:26One one, one flick of the of the of the bat, and that's it.
- 21:32The system writes it.
- 21:33The user has approved it.
- 21:35The social media manager can see it, and it's okay.
- 21:39Hit publish.
- 21:40That's it.
- 21:41No heavy lifting.
- 21:42No nothing to be break.
- 21:43Everybody can focus on their own perspective and work.
- 21:48And and we try to facilitate, things through the system, not to bring workloads.
- 21:54The system is super easy to to work with.
- 21:58Making simple.
- 21:59I like simplicity, eventually.
- 22:02No.
- 22:03And speaking from experience, it is very simple to use.
- 22:06I actually just created a post, using the platform right before we jumped on today.
- 22:11It took me less than two minutes.
- 22:13Now I had already done a lot of the, you know, the the prequalifications.
- 22:19Right?
- 22:19It knows who I am, and I've used the platform before to do that.
- 22:23So, yes, there is a little bit of time that it takes, but that's what creates the unique
- 22:27experience and the unique voice, of of the individual and of the post.
- 22:33But once that's done, the use is extremely simple, and they're ready to go.
- 22:39I have a new post to put on my LinkedIn as soon as we're done recording this episode today.
- 22:44And for me, that is massive.
- 22:47Right?
- 22:47I have a ton of I have a ton of, video content.
- 22:51Right?
- 22:52Andres, and you know this from from having talked to me before.
- 22:55I'm in front of this camera forty, fifty hours a week.
- 22:59Right?
- 22:59I have no lack of that video content.
- 23:02But when it comes to the written word, I don't wanna always have the time or know what I want
- 23:09to say to put that out there.
- 23:11And because you have different users, like you said, some people aren't going to watch a
- 23:17video.
- 23:18They only want to read a post than to have something that's going to do them.
- 23:22So you really have to be putting out different types of content out there.
- 23:27You know, I would suggest that you have, you know, different content for that.
- 23:31You need to have video content, but you should
- 23:33have Definitely.
- 23:33Some in-depth posts and articles that you're writing as well to put out there for people to
- 23:39to elevate that trust.
- 23:42Totally.
- 23:42I I completely agree with that statement.
- 23:45It goes hand in hand.
- 23:47Video content is super important.
- 23:49You need to amplify it with reading content in and and vice versa.
- 23:54You need to have reading content and to amplify it through video and through image because you
- 24:00have very different type of people today consuming very different types of of media or
- 24:05and content.
- 24:08You have very different generations today in LinkedIn.
- 24:10Each one of them interacts very different, and and and that's what we try to to bring.
- 24:16You with podcast where where with the business show and meet through new box to people.
- 24:24And in this way, we are helping companies and people grow with, with authentic content, not
- 24:34being BS content generated by a lot of different agencies just to keep one one one
- 24:42different mess one specific message, and and it only helps.
- 24:48It only shows value.
- 24:49I can tell you that I wasn't somebody that used to write a lot on on LinkedIn.
- 24:54Nothing at all, basically.
- 24:56And from the moment I started, I have only seen good stuff out of it.
- 25:01It's a leap of faith.
- 25:02It's a really leap of faith that you that once you do it, things starts to click very, very
- 25:09fast.
- 25:11I I can attest to that myself.
- 25:13When we turned the calendar over into 2026, I think I had a 100 connections maybe on
- 25:19LinkedIn.
- 25:20I was very new to the platform.
- 25:22I didn't know how to use it.
- 25:24I didn't know how its algorithm worked and how the network worked with its, you know, you
- 25:29know, first, secondary, and tertiary connections and and how to grow my network in
- 25:35there.
- 25:36And when I figured that out, I I 10 x'd my my connections in a few short months.
- 25:43Now reaching out into that business world, growing this platform.
- 25:48But, I'm getting a master class in business and small business and big business and and
- 25:54everything from these connections.
- 25:56And it's only making me a better business man, but it's also making me a better person because
- 26:02I'm gaining through those experiences.
- 26:04And it's really, you called it a blue ocean earlier, and right now, it's shimmering for me.
- 26:11And I think people that get in and start to use and to use NewVolks to do that and to build
- 26:17that community and to attract those new people, I think it's gonna be a massive game changer
- 26:23for a lot of people.
- 26:24Andres, I would love to know your vision for the next, you know, let's say, twelve to twenty
- 26:30four months of new Vogue and where you guys are going.
- 26:36So we are going into the area of influence and reputation management, which is helping
- 26:41companies and and individuals create their own influence out there, but also how to keep it
- 26:46live with their own monitoring on the sentiment being spoke about them, trying to find more
- 26:52unique and individual opportunities that are there waiting.
- 26:57Maybe they are not going to reach out to the the individual itself, but helping make make
- 27:02that connections, build, a massive pool of business opportunities through the companies
- 27:09and and people using Nuvox, itself and and and helping get out there into LinkedIn itself, the
- 27:18community aspect of it, how can we help each other?
- 27:22There is is for me, I want to see much more people writing their own perspective, their own
- 27:28thoughts, and and I want to help as many people as possible.
- 27:33That's what I want.
- 27:34I don't want to for anybody to miss an opportunity if if the problem was for net for
- 27:42not being out there.
- 27:43I want them to be out there on the radar of everybody.
- 27:49Because I myself lost opportunities because I wasn't out there.
- 27:53They took somebody or they they they approached to somebody with a business opportunity that
- 27:59maybe I am a better individual or better filter or a better match for it, but I wasn't out
- 28:07there.
- 28:08So how can they going to reach me if I am not trying to to to make those connections?
- 28:16Talk about being vulnerable, Andres, and sharing, you know, some of the mistakes that
- 28:21we've made, but being able to solve those problems.
- 28:26And now to solve them not just for yourself, but others, I I think is an awesome mission.
- 28:32I love the alignment that you have, to help others.
- 28:37I think that perfectly aligns with what I've I've always had a vision for this show.
- 28:42You know?
- 28:42Coming from the music world, we were always about, you know, building a platform for our
- 28:47artists with the scene projects and and growing, but also helping them outside of just,
- 28:54simple, you know, visibility.
- 28:56Right?
- 28:56How can we help you in all facets?
- 28:59And and I love that that's what you're doing, in the business world and especially on
- 29:04LinkedIn with new folks.
- 29:06Andres, beautiful conversation, man.
- 29:08Loved spending some time with you.
- 29:09I am.
- 29:09Why don't you tell everybody how they can find you online and how they can become part of the
- 29:14NuVolks family?
- 29:16So that's a very easy stop.
- 29:17They can search my name on on LinkedIn itself.
- 29:20And if they want to register and try this the Nuvox by by themselves, very easy link URL,
- 29:28nuvox, noovox.com.
- 29:32Start writing.
- 29:33Start being out there.
- 29:34Start showing yourself out there.
- 29:37Andres, thank you so much for your time today, and thank you for being part of the scene.
- 29:42Thank you, Baba.
- 29:43I'm I'm happy to have this opportunity, and speak soon.