Ian McLoughlin was the founder, CEO, and creator of www.LiquidSky.tv which was recently acquired by Walmart. He launched his first company at age 12, managing private cloud infrastructures for local celebrities & small businesses around NYC.
In 2014, he felt strongly that GPUs were the future (GPUs power Crypto, Ai, and Gaming). At 21, he raised $14 million in seed funding from investors such as Samsung and dropped out of college at RPI to start www.LiquidSky.tv which was the world’s first Edge GPU cloud. www.LiquidSky.tv was acquired by Walmart a few years later.
After spending a few years working as a director at Walmart, he learned a lot about how larger companies operate. While working on www.LiquidSky.tv he saw his brother Collin McLoughlin sing on NBC’s “The Voice”, get hundreds of millions of song plays online, but not make enough money to pay rent. He decided helping artists like Collin would be his next passion.
FMM: You launched your first company at age 12, managing private cloud infrastructures for local celebrities & small businesses around NYC. Share your background.
- When I turned 7, I started doing everything from cleaning cars to shoveling snow for neighbors. My siblings went to camp, and I went to work! Anytime someone would ask me if I could do something, I would say “sure!”. In all honesty I was figuring it out as I went along and likely shouldn’t have been fixing such expensive equipment. Everything from home theater setups, to setting up Microsoft exchange email servers.
- By age 12, I had a Google business listing “Ian’s Electronic Repair” and started getting cold calls. People would sometimes be surprised by a 12- year-old getting dropped off alone at their home with a toolbox. By the time I left high school, I had over 100 recurring clients ranging from private equity firms to Chevy Chase.
- At 21, I raised money from some of those same clients I had in middle/high school, and dropped out of college to start www.liquidsky.tv.
- After www.LiquidSky.tv was acquired by Walmart, I wanted to help artists like my brother (Collin McLoughlin) find new ways to engage with fans and make money.
FMM: Tell us about the funniest mistake you ever made.
Just after I dropped out of college, I got introduced via email to Marc Andreessen who invited me to come pitch him www.LiquidSky.tv. This was my first ever investor pitch. He brought 9 people and asked me if he could see our “business model” and “pitch deck”. I had no idea what either was, so I slid over my laptop with some code on it. Long story short, he didn’t invest but I continue to have a lot of respect for him. www.LiquidSky.tv was acquired by Walmart soon after. To this day, my life has been one humbling experience after the next, teaching me to prepare.
FMM: “The most important value is creativity.” Explain
In my opinion if it can be taught, it can and will be automated. The most important value is creativity. 50 years from now, artists & creative thinkers will be the only humans contributing to society.
FMM: You just launched REAL. Tell us about the platform.
At the surface, REAL is a fan club where fans who purchase a creator’s coin can chat and see exclusive content shared with coin holders. The vision for REAL however is much bigger. A social network where fans are paid directly by advertisers, and artists are paid directly by fans. More money going in the pockets of artists and their fans.
FMM: How much fun is the platform for creators?
So far, the feedback has been great but it’s still early and we have a lot of work to do! REAL is a new way for artists to engage with their audience and make money in the process. More collaboration & engagement means more fun & more money in artists pockets.
FMM: How does it distinguish itself from other platforms?
On REAL, fans pay artists directly, and fans get paid directly for viewing ads. A complete disruption to traditional social media, putting more money in both fans and artists pockets. In the same way that artwork has value, on REAL, fans can also earn or purchase creator coins sold by an artist, which can go up or down in value. There is no platform which offers more ways for fans to engage with artists.
FMM: Why is REAL a win-win for everybody?
On REAL both fans and artists can get paid. Fans who accumulate enough of an artist’s “creator coin” can earn rewards, access exclusive content, and even chat with the artist.
FMM: Share your vision for REAL in 2022.
REAL makes money today by taking transaction fees. In the future we hope to take no fees for transactions and focus on our core business which is authenticating content. This is where the company name “REAL” originates.
Artists will have the option to pay and have either a human on our team or our Ai authenticate their post. Posts digitally signed as “Authentic” by REAL will trend better on platforms like REAL Social and will hold more value as NFTs. We hope to be the company which validates “the REAL Justin Bieber really did create this post or NFT”, and it is an original piece of artwork.” Authenticity will be our core business. Enforcing copyright, verifying identities, and helping artists get paid for their authentic work.
