580: (Solo) How I Landed Richard Branson in My First 4 Months of Business (You Can Too)

Summary

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The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Episode 580: (Solo) How I Landed Richard Branson in My First 4 Months of Business (You Can Too)
Release Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Nathan Chan (CEO of Foundr Media)

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Episode Overview

In this solo “Founder to Founder” episode, Nathan Chan shares the untold story behind landing one of his first and most influential interviews—Sir Richard Branson—within just four months of launching Foundr magazine. Speaking candidly about starting with zero media, entrepreneurship, or publishing experience, Nathan details the exact steps, mindset, and techniques he used to break through and establish credibility for both himself and the Foundr brand. Nathan distills actionable advice for any entrepreneur looking to connect with hard-to-reach individuals, emphasizing persistence, serving first, and leveraging personal strengths and value.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of a “Game-Changing” Interview

• Nathan reflects on the psychological milestone of interviewing Branson—someone he regarded as a "game-changer" for both legitimacy and proof of concept for Foundr.
  • “If I could get an interview with Richard Branson, that would legitimize what I was building… maybe this wasn’t just a pipe dream.” (03:34)

2. Overcoming Inexperience with Strategy

• Nathan candidly admits having no experience in media, publishing, or entrepreneurship, underscoring that anyone—even total beginners—can reach high-profile people by following the right steps.

3. The Framework for Landing Hard-to-Reach People

Nathan outlines a repeatable multi-step process:

A. Build or Leverage a Platform

• “You have to have a platform where you can give back to people… even if it’s small. I played on the fact that Branson’s first business venture was a student magazine.” (04:15)
• Emphasize whatever value or angle you authentically possess.

B. Lead With Value—Don’t Just Ask for a Favor

• Nathan warns against the “pick your brain” approach; mutual value is key.
  • “The worst thing you can do is ask someone for their time and not give anything back. You want to lead with value.” (05:04)
• Examples of value: building a website, offering content, highlighting unique skills.

C. Find the Gatekeeper

• “Every successful person has a personal assistant, a PR team—people protecting their time. Find the gatekeeper.” (05:40)
• For Branson, Nathan targeted the publishing house (Penguin Random House) promoting his books, then tracked down the Head of PR at Virgin.

D. Be Relentless and Stand Out

• Nathan highlights the importance of persistence and not relying solely on emails.
  • “Emails is the lazy way... you want to stand out. Get on the phone, constantly reach out.” (06:04)
• It took him at least five phone calls to secure the right connection.

E. Make It About Them, Not You

• Leverage your platform in a way that serves their interests, not just your own.

F. The “Serve First, Ask Later” Philosophy

• “A mentor taught me this powerful concept—serve first and ask later. If you can follow that game plan, I promise you, you can get in touch with hard to reach people.” (08:20)
• Nathan shares that this mindset has helped him win other big-name guests.

4. The Branson Interview Story: A Memorable Moment

• Nathan describes the nerve-wracking, late-night phone call with Branson’s PR head, being told:
  • “Nathan, please understand, we get like 10 of these pitches every single day. I’ve got like two minutes, give me your pitch.” (09:12)
• As a total newcomer, he leveraged relevance—Branson’s first business being a magazine—to make a compelling case.
• Ultimately, Branson accepted the interview. Nathan made the issue featuring Branson free to maximize reach, which became “a pivotal part of really, really growing the Founder brand.” (10:35)

5. Modern Tools: The Power of AI

• Nathan underscores that today’s entrepreneurs have even more resources for research, outreach, and crafting pitches through AI.
  • “You can use AI to write pitches, find contacts, remind you to follow up, summarize, do research… make this process even faster.” (11:12)
• The principle remains: “Serve first... find the gatekeeper... have a mutually beneficial exchange in value.” (11:41)

6. Universal Encouragement

• Nathan closes with direct encouragement:
  • “You don’t need permission to go out and get in touch with hard to reach people.” (12:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If I could get an interview with Richard Branson… that would change the game for Founder.” (03:36) – Nathan Chan
• “You have to have a platform… even if it’s a small platform… look for an angle, for leverage.” (04:16) – Nathan Chan
• “The worst thing you can do is… ask to pick their brain and not give anything back… lead with value.” (05:03) – Nathan Chan
• “Find the gatekeeper. Every successful person, they have a personal assistant, a PR team…” (05:41) – Nathan Chan
• “Emails is the lazy way … get on the phone … constantly reaching out.” (06:05) – Nathan Chan
• “Serve first and ask later.” (08:23) – Nathan Chan
• “Nathan, please understand, we get like ten of these pitches every single day. I’ve got two minutes, give me your pitch.” (09:13) – Richard Branson’s PR Head (as recounted by Nathan)
• “Because of the power of AI now, there’s so many more things that you can do, and you can make this process even faster.” (11:11) – Nathan Chan
• “You don’t need permission to go out and get in touch with hard to reach people.” (12:13) – Nathan Chan

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:49] Start of the episode & introduction of Branson story
• [03:34] Why Branson was the dream interview and why it mattered
• [04:15] The value and necessity of a platform
• [05:04] The importance of value exchange, not just an “ask”
• [05:40] Finding the right gatekeeper
• [06:04] Email vs. phone—and standing out
• [08:20] Serve first and ask later principle
• [09:12] Pivotal phone call with Branson’s PR Head
• [10:35] Making the Branson issue free and its impact
• [11:12] How AI can turbocharge the process for modern founders
• [12:13] Final encouragement: no permission needed

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Summary Takeaways

• Start with what you have—any authentic angle or platform.
• Persistence, leveraging relationships, and crafting a unique value exchange are essential.
• Don’t rely solely on digital communication—be memorable and relentless.
• Modern technology (AI) offers powerful tools for outreach and follow-up, speeding up the process.
• Above all: “Serve first and ask later”—true value wins attention.
• Anyone can reach their dream guests or clients—the secret is in the approach and attitude.

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Contact Nathan:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Instagram: @Nathan Chan

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

E to get started.

[A]

All right, now let's jump back into the show.

[B]

Hey guys, Nathan here. Welcome back to another episode of the Founder to Founder solo podcast episode where I share lessons experiences. These are 10 minute episodes where I really go deep on one lesson or story. Something that changed my entrepreneurial journey. So if this episode sparks anything for you, really enjoyed it, just email me@nathan founder.com or send me a note on Instagram at Nathan Chan, I'd love to hear from you. So today I want to talk about how I got an interview with Richard Branson in the first four months of starting Founder.

[C]

Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the Founder podcast with Nathan Chan.

[B]

So, a bit of a backstory. When I started Founder, it was my first business. I had no experience in media, no experience in publishing, no experience in interviewing, no experience even in entrepreneurship. But I was somehow able to convince one of the most well known founders and entrepreneurs in the world to be on the front cover of Founder and interview him. Now here's the thing I never forget thinking to myself, wow, if I could get an interview with Richard Branson, that would change the game for founder. If I could get an interview with Richard Branson, that would legitimize what I was building. If I get interview with Richard Branson, maybe I'd be onto something. Maybe this wasn't just a pipe dream of a business. So the question I'm going to answer for you is how do you interview a billionaire? How do you get in touch with somebody that's super famous or super successful when nobody knows who you are and you're just starting? So there was a couple of things that I did. The first thing was I found somebody that had actually interviewed Sir Richard Branson. So it was really, really cool. When I first Started founder. There was a community of other magazine publishers and owners, and I met somebody that was able to get an interview and she taught me this really cool framework that I'm going to share with you. So first and foremost, I had a publication, so you have to have a platform where you can give back to people. So I had a platform, even though it was a small platform and it was a starting magazine. I played on the fact that that Richard Branson's first business venture was a student magazine. So I was able to tackle that. So you've got to look for an angle, you've got to look for leverage. But once you have something where it's actually worth that person's time, you can give something. There's some form of an exchange in value, even if it's unweighted, there's something. You can't just go to someone. The worst thing you can do is ask someone for their time and ask to pick their brain and not give anything back. You want to lead with value in some way, shape or form. And once you know what that value is, the first thing you want to do to get in touch with hard to reach people is find their gatekeeper. Every single successful person, they have a personal assistant, they have a PR team, they have people protecting their time. So for me with Richard Branson, I knew that he has many different books and publishers always want to get pressed for their books. So at first what I tackled was how do I contact Penguin Random House because they want to get interviews, they want to get press for their books. The second thing I did was start to really get on the phone, really track down that person. Don't just send emails. Emails is the lazy way with things like AI introduced now, you want to stand out. This way you stand out is getting on the phone, constantly reaching out to somebody. It took me at least five separate phone calls to get onto Richard Branson's head of pr, a virgin at the time, and I never forget, I sent him many emails, many phone calls. Don't give up. That's very, very important. Be persistent. The third thing you want to do is make it about them and not you leverage your platform, leverage how you can exchange that value. And that's what I was able to do with founder. And you know, you might be thinking, well, oh, hey, actually, well, I don't have a magazine, Nathan, or I don't have a podcast. That's okay. Maybe you can build somebody's website using the power of AI. Maybe you can find some problems with their website. Maybe you can Create some incredible content. What are your skills? What can you lead with? What can you do to reach out to that person and go above and beyond. I'll tell you this right now. If somebody said to me, if someone wanted to get in touch with me and they created a crazy AI tool for our members of Founder plus, our E commerce founders, and they say, nathan, you got to use this, I'd speak to them. So what can you do? What can you do with your skills to find a way to help that person? I never forget a mentor taught me this really powerful concept, serve first and ask later. So that's the game plan. If you can follow that game plan, I promise you, you can find and get in touch with hard to reach people. And as long as you're persistent, you don't give up. And it could take you years. It's taken me years to get certain interviews for the founder podcast. It's crazy. So I never forget I followed the game plan that I shared with you. I called up Richard Branson's head of PR and she said to me, nathan, please understand, we get like 10 of these pitches every single day. I've got like two minutes, like, give me a pitch. And then I was all over the place. It was like 11pm at night. I was telling my housemates to just be quiet because I was pitching Richard Branson's head of PR and they were laughing at me. You know, I was just starting the magazine. It was a crazy time. And then she said, you know what, Nathan, shoot me an email. I promise I will get back to you, but it might take me a while. And I sent an email and played on the fact that his first business venture was a student magazine. And he agreed to it. And I, the best thing that I ever did was take that interview and make it free and run with it in the magazine. I didn't charge for that magazine edition. I made it free and I put it out everywhere. And that was a very, very pivotal part of really, really growing the Founder brand. So this was like 10 years ago, guys, which is crazy. And because of the power of AI now there's so many more things that you can do, and you can make this process even faster. You can use AI to write pictures for you use AI to go out and find the contacts and the gatekeepers. You can use AI to consistently follow up. You can use AI to consistently remind you to follow up. You can use AI to summarize, do research for you to find out. You can use AI to help you come up with what that mutually beneficial exchange in value would be. So if you're trying to build authority right now with your brand, you want to get in touch with somebody that's hard to reach. This is my playbook. Serve first and ask later. Find the gatekeeper and make sure you have a mutually beneficial exchange in value. It's what's in it for them. I hope you found this podcast episode really, really helpful as I shared. Shoot me a note on Instagram. Nathan Chan, I'd love to hear from you. Just want to remind you you don't need permission to go out and get in touch with hard to reach people. All right, I'll speak to you soon.