Startup Savvy: Young Entrepreneur Ryan T Williams Of KOMI Shares Their Secrets For Rapid Growth and Success
An Interview With Eden Gold
Don’t be afraid to be disruptive. If you do well in your field, you will find other established businesses or individuals may start to try and be funny with you. I remember Unilad once stole a video idea off us and it got like 20 million views for them. I was absolutely gutted however someone at the time pointed out to me it meant “they are noticing you, you’re doing something right”.
The entrepreneurial landscape is more vibrant and challenging than ever, with young entrepreneurs at the forefront, driving innovation and redefining the boundaries of success in the business world. These dynamic individuals are not only creating new products and services but also building sustainable business models that thrive in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven environment. Their journeys are filled with lessons of resilience, strategic innovation, and the relentless pursuit of growth. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan T Williams.
Ryan Williams is a leading innovator and entrepreneur in the digital media space, recognised for co-founding some of the largest social media publishing brands in the UK, which includes KOMI Group and It’s Gone Viral.
Over the years, Ryan has played a crucial role in creating platforms that bring people together while redefining content creation and distribution, and his expertise in growth hacking have led to the development of some of the most popular football-centric Twitter accounts that have become staples in Europe’s online sports community. During his time at KOMI Group the stats total over 30 million followers on their in-house brands and gaining over 18 BILLION views from 2016 to 2022.
In 2022, following a successful exit from KOMI Group, Ryan shifted his focus towards nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs. His passion for mentorship and education is demonstrated in his active participation in panels, webinars, and discussions aimed at sharing his insights with those poised to become future leaders in business.
Currently, Ryan is campaigning for a radical revamp of A-level business studies in the national curriculum, with the goal of providing a practical, real-world framework that better prepares students for the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship. As a speaker, mentor, and advocate for educational reform, Ryan is continuously pushing the boundaries and inspiring a new wave of entrepreneurs.
Ryan is also providing 1 to 1 social media coaching for small to medium business owners and start up founders to enabling them to get the best out of their social media to gain more clients and sales. With his vast experience of social media clients are treated to a depth of knowledge and tips. As par Go! London Ryan is also mentoring a young entrepreneur remotely in helping them grow their social enterprise start up. In his free time Ryan also volunteers on the Community Trust board of his local football team Oldham Athletic.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about cultural sensitivity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
One of the most interesting ones was when I attended an awards ceremony for one of my Twitter accounts that I owned. It was a sports parody account and was nominated for Best in Social at the Football Content Awards. It was an account I ran anonymously and behind the guise of a parody. When I got there however this all changed, having over 300,000 followers it was a very popular account and after it was announced who I was, loads of people including former footballers and celebrities were coming up to me at the event speaking to me and having pictures! This was back in 2015 and it was my first real look into the size my accounts were getting.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Unrelenting: This sometimes spilled over into obsession to the point I couldn’t switch off on family days out and holidays. I have 2 children and so many times I would be tweeting, emailing, messaging was crazy. However, it was also one of the major reasons for success. Me and one of my business partners had a saying that was “Never stop” and that is something we always followed! If you want success it doesn’t just come to you. You’ve got to make it happen.
Passion: This is a key one people forget, you’ve got to be passionate about what you do either in business or as a job. If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing you won’t perform to the full extent you can. My business was launched in the football social media space, that’s two things I loved, and it went a long way to why I was so successful. Passionate people work harder.
Agile: You have to be agile to stay ahead in business, this is key in any industry but particularly key in the digital space. If you stand still you get left behind. The pandemic in 2020 was a huge example of this, because we were so quick to act and be agile, we managed to keep all 40 members of staff working from home and keeping business as usual as possible. If we’d have been slow to react it could’ve been disastrous.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about young entrepreneurs’ secrets to rapid growth and success. To start, how would you define success?
Success isn’t always necessarily money driven. Obviously, we all want to make money but for me in the bigger picture it’s defining yourself a lifestyle you enjoy. If you are your own boss and defining your own lifestyle and day to day the happiness this brings is incredible. There is nothing wrong with the 9–5 grind but sometimes you feel so much more empowered when you are doing it yourself. Obviously, it comes with lots of its own headaches and stresses but if you get it right it’s worth it.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly contributed to your start-up’s growth, and why do you think it was so effective?
This sounds crazy but looking at the competitors’ homework, but by doing this we ensured we then made something bigger and better. People are always shocked when I talk about this element of growth, but it works so well. Nobody is expecting you to reinvent the wheel with every product or service you sell but you have to look at what you can do but make sure you do it better. Look at something good and think “That’s great but hey, I can do it even better!”
Can you share a critical pivot point in your start-up’s journey and how you navigated the decision-making process?
In around 2018 we were heavily using Facebook pages to push website clicks etc however Facebook (now Meta) then released something called In-stream ads and that was a game changer. Reading their guidelines and best practices we suddenly realised by making videos longer and having a narrative there was a huge monetisation opportunity to be had. This really changed our focus and the decision-making processes changed to start hiring video editors with storytelling skills. By doing this our income shot through the roof by about 5 times.
How do you balance the need for rapid growth with maintaining a sustainable and healthy company culture?
This was always a tricky one, we had a massive promotion culture early doors in the business and young people with 6 months experience were suddenly asked to become managers. It was tricky to manage expectations but by providing them robust training and support it was something that we navigated through. When a business goes from 0 to 80 members of staff in 6 years there’s lots of things to consider. A tricky part was then putting structures and processes in place to existing staff to ensure new staff had a plan and a direction. Again, by using the correct training services for various levels of the business I felt we did this well. Not everyone was always for this but that’s business. Not everyone is going to be happy all the time.
In what ways has your personal definition of success evolved since the inception of your start-up?
Initially, I was loving just being able to do effectively what was a hobby in making social media pages to getting paid to do it. Then somewhere in the middle you go chasing the big earnings, the big turnover but after the pandemic in 2022 the company had grown so large it actually had turned into something I didn’t recognise or enjoy. Success to me at that point was something I felt I’d achieved and happily took the exit money. I enjoy helping start-ups as I feel that’s where the most freedom and fun lies.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Things You Need to Succeed as a Young Person in Business?”
1 . Be tenacious. People will try to take advantage of you especially if you are trying to be a flexible boss but if you do it the right way you will get what you give. I learnt over the years that whilst it’s great to give as a boss sometimes you have to make sure you receive that back too. At times with my business, I had clashes with staff who I’d be really patient and flexible with and when it came to wanting back, they were reluctant. I quickly learnt that whilst it’s your business it’s not theirs so sometimes you need to accept that.
2 . Be smart by this I mean work smart, always be on the lookout for what’s next, as I mentioned before looking at your market and look for the gaps or look at what you can improve. A big example of this was in our industry you had companies like LADbible, Unilad, Social Chain. We used to study what they were doing and try to capture that success but also do things they weren’t. It allowed to find the gaps.
3 . Work hard. Nothing is handed to you in this life. You get what you give, you receive what you put in. When I quit my 9–5 job, I ended up working longer hours on the start-up so in theory was working for less but in the longer-term picture the rewards came back tenfold.
4 . Be resilient. Linked in with the work hard point there will be times where you feel things aren’t going your way but I’m a firm believer in you get your results in the end. For me the pandemic was a lesson in this. At one point because of market conditions at Facebook we lost over 70% of our income from ads. We didn’t sit and wallow though we worked hard and made sure we got that income back.
5 . Don’t be afraid to be disruptive. If you do well in your field, you will find other established businesses or individuals may start to try and be funny with you. I remember Unilad once stole a video idea off us and it got like 20 million views for them. I was absolutely gutted however someone at the time pointed out to me it meant “they are noticing you, you’re doing something right”.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring entrepreneur that you wish someone had given you at the start of your journey?
Don’t be afraid to fail. Sounds crazy but there are ways to fail in the right way, if a project goes wrong don’t beat yourself, just look what happened and why and try and do it better next time. You can take risks but make them calculated, don’t put all your eggs in one basket and leave yourself with nothing or at worse bankrupt!
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I have a long-term vision to really helped students at schools who fall through the cracks. I got a D at A-Level business studies and thought it was the most boring subject on the planet, I thought it was all spreadsheets and cash flow diagrams. Entrepreneurship couldn’t be more different and that’s what needs teaching. I’d love to have some kind of academy helping you people who are business savvy but not quite academically successful like myself!
How can our readers further follow you online?
My Instagram is www.instagram.com/ryantwilliamsofficial
My Linked is www.linkedin.com/ryantwilliamsofficial
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold
Startup Savvy: Young Entrepreneur Ryan T Williams Of KOMI Shares Their Secrets For Rapid Growth and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.