Ryan Bitzer and Damion Greiman are the founders of 800 Pound Gorilla, a comedy media company that produces, distributes, and markets stand-up specials for some of the biggest names in the game, from Bill Burr to Matt Rife to Anjelah Johnson-Reyes. Along with their director of marketing, Amanda Zuckerman, they have built an audience of millions by obsessing over what actually makes people laugh and how to deliver it in smarter ways.
We’ve broken down their recent appearance on the How Success Happens podcast to help you launch your own passion project in three, two, one!
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Three Key Insights
1. Curiosity Over Cash
When I asked what kept them going in the first six very uncertain months of running the company, Ryan half-joked that it was “stupidity,” but what really carried them through was and remains to be relentless curiosity. “If you’re not asking why and how, and you’re being curious about your space, you’re probably not in the right space,” he told me, explaining that they were obsessed with solving a problem for comedians struggling to find a home for their work, not just chasing a payday. They kept asking, “Why does it work this way? Does it need to work this way?” and committed to “do whatever it takes to make this happen.” Their break-the-mold philosophy continues today; they continue to experiment and fine-tune their approach to reach the largest possible audiences.
Takeaway: Anchor your business in a problem you’re genuinely curious about solving, and let that curiosity pull you through the early months when the money and validation are not pouring in.
2. Build with People You Actually Like
Damion told me that one of the biggest reasons they didn’t quit early on was simply that they were doing it with friends. “Starting a company with your friends… where it’s fun coming in every day” made all the difference, he said, because even when “we don’t really know what we’re doing yet, we’ll figure it out together.” He admitted that if any one of them had tried to do this alone, they probably would have bailed. That sense of shared adventure—and shared confusion—kept them fired up until the business clicked.
Takeaway: Choose cofounders and early teammates you genuinely enjoy and trust, because the camaraderie is what will keep you going when the business still feels like a total mess.
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