We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Abraham Lieberman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Abraham below.
Alright, Abraham thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
In the uneventful year of 2016, I was spending my time in the army, a space I found myself with an abundance of free time. To fill these empty hours, I began working as a freelance web developer, navigating the complex world of HTML and CSS. I played my part on platforms like freelance.com, upwork.com, and fiverr, and even tried my hand at translating, converting English to Hebrew and vice versa.
A day came when I stumbled across a job posting for a social media manager. Considering my love for social media, I thought, “Why not?” I went for the interview, left a good impression on the CEO, and voila! I got the job. My job was simple; recruit cool college kids in the US interested in joining a new social media app to create content. For every group of 30 people I found, I got $250. The larger the group, the larger my paycheck. I worked tirelessly and managed to find 120 people, which added around $1,000 to my monthly income.
Interestingly enough, the app couldn’t keep its promise to pay most of the college kids, always offering excuses. But, I was paid without fail. It was then that it dawned on me that there are numerous people creating online content, yet many aren’t being paid.
Sadly, the app was forced to shut down in the US, and I was let go. But the silver lining was that I was managing 120 people, compared to others who barely managed 45. This demonstrated that I had a knack for this work.
After this, I found myself translating and building websites again, but one day I read this book, “Zero to 1” by Peter Thiel. It presented the concept of “secrets” – a need in the world that only you know exists. This got me thinking about how apps desperately need content creators, and how these creators need someone to ensure they are paid. This revelation got my mind buzzing.
A few months later, I received a call from an old friend who was now working alongside a CEO of a small startup. The CEO needed me to replicate the work I had done for the previous app. Initially, he tried to buy my list of creators, but I wasn’t willing to sell. After three months of persuasion, he finally agreed to hire me and pay for my services, giving me another solid validation of my “secret”. (The CEO of the small startup, the one who hired me despite initial hesitations, is now worth a whopping $12 billion, sucks I didnt get involved in his next venture!)
I then hired a friend from the army to help me manage all the creators. One day, he found himself in a Tel Aviv nightclub bathroom, discussing what he did for a living. His conversation was overheard by a famous Israeli DJ, Skazi, who asked to meet the next day. This meeting led to Skazi introducing me to a new music video app’s CEO that needed music content creators. I went to their office, made my pitch, and landed the gig!
In a matter of months, I had rounded up hundreds of content creators (mainly from musical.ly which soon became TikTok), managed them, and ensured they got paid. Remarkably, this was the third time in less than a year that I had successfully executed this.
Two months later, I bid farewell to the army and, a month after that, launched my own company. Since then, we’ve worked with over 45 social media apps, recruited over 10,000 content creators, and amassed a roster of more than 4,500 influencers with up to 50M followers on TikTok. We’ve also collaborated with over 500 brands and music artists. We now utilize this influence to promote new apps and run brand and music sponsorships on social media.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Born amidst the bustling energy of Brooklyn, New York, AB Lieberman embarked on a remarkable journey that took him across the world. At the tender age of 10, he relocated to Israel, where he blossomed into a determined and ambitious individual, eventually completing high school.
With an unshakable drive for success, AB boldly dropped out of college after just two weeks to pursue his visionary company. As a senior Munitions specialist in the Israeli military, his creative genius sparked the inception of Clicks Talent, an innovative influencer marketing agency. With a keen eye for emerging trends, he honed in on the untapped potential of Musica.ly (now TikTok) and its rivals, crafting a company that revolutionized the launch of new social media apps through the power of short-form video and livestream content creators.
Defying the odds, the self-funded Clicks Talent soared to astounding heights, boasting an ARR of $10 million after just five years. Representing over 100 influential creators and maintaining an extended network of more than 4,500 influencers with a staggering combined following of over 1 billion, AB’s entrepreneurial prowess is undeniable.
His exceptional work with over 500 prestigious brands, including giants like Sony, Walmart, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Amazon, and Google, has solidified his position as a trailblazer in the industry. Today, AB resides in Israel with plans to relocate to the vibrant city of Amsterdam. He cherishes the precious moments spent living a few months each year in LA and revels in the love of his stunning wife, Sapir, their child, and the delightful presence of their adorable Maltipoo.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I managed to fully fund my business myself. The official formation of my company didn’t occur until I had already secured clients. These clients not only validated the need for my services but also supplied the capital I required for the fundamentals like a website, a logo, a domain name, and so forth.
Moreover, I designed my company’s financial structure to be contingent on income. This means that I only incurred expenses when I was earning. If there happened to be a month where I didn’t make any income, I had zero expenses to worry about. Quite a safe and efficient system, don’t you think?
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Back in 2019 I was living in China, particularly two years after I had kick-started my company. It wasn’t the Great Wall, the pandas or the Peking duck that was giving me trouble, but rather, a significant client drought. Due to China’s tight grip on the internet, I was unable to access Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Google, and WhatsApp – basically the lifeblood of my business. This tech blockade made working nearly impossible, and I watched helplessly as my client base dwindled to the point where I was scraping by on just $700 a month.
The situation was bleak, and it drove me into a pit of despair. One evening, wallowing in self-pity, I picked up a book that I hoped would lift my spirits. It was Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k”. A few chapters in, and I had an epiphany – it was time to quit the pity party, lace up my boots and hunt for solutions.
So, over the next seven days, I transformed into a relentless business machine. My days and nights blurred into a relentless pursuit of clients and a revitalized business strategy. Lo and behold, the hard work paid off, and I managed to bag over ten new clients, all of them music artists.
A song named “Old Town Road” had recently taken the TikTok platform by storm, and music artists were beginning to understand the marketing goldmine that TikTok could be. This trend gave birth to a new business idea in my mind – TikTok marketing for music artists. Given the evolving dynamics, it made perfect sense to pivot and start offering TikTok promotions. And that’s how I managed to pull my company from the brink of disaster to a promising new path.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clickstalent.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thetiktokagent
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClicksTalent/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ab-lieberman/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetiktokagent
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYE_VGaHWQM1rf83em2QeBQ
- Other: tiktok.com/@thetiktokagent