Podcast Summary: "We're Out of Time"

Episode: What a Harvard Neuroscientist Taught Me About Achieving Success: Andrew Bachman
Host: Richard Taite
Guest: Andrew Bachman, CEO of Creators Inc
Date: September 30, 2025

Brief Overview

This episode features Andrew Bachman, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Creators Inc, as he joins host Richard Taite for an unfiltered discussion on resilience, business comebacks, the realities of the creator economy, success strategies, and personal transformation. Bachman candidly shares the highs and lows of his career, including overcoming rock bottom with the guidance of an influential Harvard neuroscientist, and offers a behind-the-scenes look at building a billion-dollar talent management company during the pandemic era.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Andrew Bachman's Origin Story & Early Entrepreneurship

• Founding Creators Inc: Bachman started Creators Inc. at 35, from his parents' kitchen table during the pandemic (Jan 2020)—with nothing but a laptop. The company generated $60 million in year one, and surpassed $1B in sales over 5.5 years.
  • "I started Creators Inc. from my parents’ kitchen table in Cape Cod when I was 35 years old because I was completely busted out..." [02:06]
• Background: Raised by conservative Jewish physician parents, often felt isolated and alone as a kid; channeled his competitive drive into wrestling and later business.
• Entrepreneurial Spark: Inspired by a classmate accepted to Babson College, realized entrepreneurship could change lives after learning about Arthur Blank (Home Depot founder).
• First Big Win (and Lesson): Built a major behavioral ad network as a student, but also faced early setbacks due to business naivety and market shifts.

Crashing & The PIVOT: Lessons from a Harvard Neuroscientist

• Hitting Rock Bottom: After major setbacks, Bachman finds himself without financial or personal direction.
• Meeting the Mentor: A Harvard neuroscientist introduces him to the "PIESSO" model for holistic well-being: Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, Sexual, Occupational.
  • "He taught me something called P-I-E-S-S-O... your seven dimensions. He sat down with me and said, where are you on a scale from 1 to 10 for each of these?" [07:18]
• Meditation & Mindset: Meditation becomes central to recovery, helping him rewire his mind for success.
  • "The point is, he made me realize I was already hardwired to win. I just got fucked up by everything out here because I didn’t have control of my mind. ...So meditation was the key for me." [12:33]

Building Creators Inc.: The Creator Economy & Managing Adult Content Creators

• Opportunity Realized: First client, a friend with $100 to her name, asks for help with OnlyFans. She earns $250K in her first month after Bachman optimizes her approach—sparking the company's client boom.
  • "She makes a quarter of a million dollars in her first month... I start getting inundated with phone calls." [23:32]
• Defining "Creators": Bachman claims he "might have created the term creator," shifting language from "models" or "influencers" to "content creators." [23:33]
• Industry Misconceptions: The business is not just about looks—true success comes from strategy, creativity, and deep understanding of algorithms and marketing.
  • "This isn’t just like, ‘I’m hot and I’m gonna do OnlyFans.’ These are people who are really understanding the algorithms of Instagram and TikTok and Twitch..." [13:50]
• Challenge of Service Work: Managing creators means acting as both marketer and janitor; often, the work is underappreciated.

Creator Burnout & Sustainable Success

• Avoiding Burnout: Emphasizes mental and physical health, structure, team support, and delegating tasks to help creators stay focused and creative.
  • "Creator burnout's real. ...I help them be prepared. We give them teams that are very structured in communication..." [16:40]
• Adapting to Algorithmic Shifts: Remaining agile and responsive is key for sustained growth.
• On Authenticity & Surrender: True success comes from being authentic and “riding the waves” rather than trying to control everything.
  • "You can't stand on the edge of the beach and say stop crashing waves. ...What you can do is grab a surfboard and you can just surf and you gotta ride the waves." [19:39]

Mental Health & High-Pressure Entrepreneurship

• Personal Struggles: Bachman candidly discusses periods of depression, using medications, and coping mechanisms while running companies.
  • "I would wake up and I would take 50mg of Zoloft...Adderall...an Ativan or a Xanax...half a bottle of liquor...and then an Ambien to go to bed. That for six, seven years." [20:46]
• Addiction in the Industry: Shares a story of a friend's alcoholism leading to prison, highlighting substance use's destructive impact.
  • "I watched that guy throw away his wife, his kids, his grandkids ...All avoidable." [21:43]

The New Age of Celebrity & The Reality of Influence

• Social Media Shift: Fame is now driven by “the market” (audience), rather than traditional networks.
  • "Networks used to decide who was going to be famous... Now, if you've got one of these [smartphones], the market decides who’s going to be famous." [15:39]
• Talent vs. Virality: Host laments that talent is no longer a prerequisite for fame—Bachman argues top creators are elite at playing today’s attention game.

Principles for Starting a Successful Company

• Profit First: Good ideas are not enough—they must be profitable and cash-flow positive ("I would rather invest in someone's cleaning business... I understand that.").
• Cash Flow Awareness: Understand inflation, keep money working for you in markets, not banks [26:15].
• Belief Over Everything: Passion and belief sustain you through hardships—illustrated by the “drowning rat” experiment.
  • "On the second go-around...the rat swam 60 hours...Because it believed it was going to be saved. That taught me that what you believe is the most powerful thing on the planet." [28:22]
• Do What You Love: Ultimately, fulfillment—not money or stuff—matters the most.
  • "The right answer is doing what you like to do and being happy more than anything. ...Once you get [money], it just becomes your norm...It doesn’t make you happy." [27:07]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I never had a financial mentor in my life. But I met a very important kind of health and wellness mentor... this guy was a Harvard neuroscientist..." [07:18] — Andrew
• "We love making money, but running a restaurant is a sht business, right? Service business is tough."* [13:56] — Andrew
• "There’s two yous… The people who are most successful are able to act as naturally as they are when the camera’s off." [18:49] — Andrew
• "You're the jockey. The decisions you make in life are the horses. And your only job is to figure out which horses to ride." [26:58] — Andrew
• "When you start a business, you better believe in it and like it and love it. Because it gets hard. ...But if you believe, you never stop." [28:22] — Andrew
• "You can just show my feet?" [30:59] — Richard
  "You can show whatever you want." [31:02] — Andrew

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:05 – Andrew’s early rock bottom & meeting the Harvard neuroscientist
• 02:06 – Founding Creators Inc. from scratch during the pandemic
• 07:18 – Introduction to PIESSO: Seven Dimensions of Self
• 13:50 – The reality of managing creators/adult content & misconceptions
• 16:40 – Creator burnout, company support strategies
• 19:39 – Authenticity, letting go, and advice for working with influencers
• 20:46 – Bachman’s personal mental health struggles as a leader
• 23:05 – The story of Creators Inc.’s first OnlyFans client
• 26:15 – Principles and crucial financial advice for entrepreneurs
• 27:07 – The real meaning of success; the experiment with the rats
• 28:22 – The power of belief and resilience in business
• 30:59 – Lighthearted close: can you make money on OnlyFans with just your feet?

Conclusion

This episode delivers raw, actionable insight from one of the creator economy’s leading entrepreneurs. Bachman’s story balances unvarnished business lessons—cash flow, resilience, and adaptation—with a rare vulnerability about mental health, personal change, and fulfillment. Listeners receive a holistic playbook for both surviving low points and seizing opportunity, with powerful anecdotes and pragmatic wisdom.