We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dave Koss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dave thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I’ve earned a full-time living working for myself for about 6 years. The hard part was having enough money to jump off from my existing job at an ad agency. It’s a big risk, so having 3-6 months of income is important. It also takes time to save. Working long nights and weekends on the side was the only way I was able to save. Once a large enough project came in the door, I knew it was time to make the leap. Sometimes there’s not much you can do in order to speed up the process. It’s a grind. Some people make it to their jumping-off point quick, and other’s don’t. I was thinking about it for about 3 years and started really working for it in the last year. Not liking your previous jobs can be a motivator. I was certain I could do a better job if I did things the way I wanted. When you want to open your own business, it’s hard to work for someone else because your heart is somewhere else.
Dave, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the Owner of Nexus Motion. A motion graphics and animation house in Cedar Hill. We provide commercial graphics, 2D/3D animation, VFX, concert visuals, and motion capture for agencies and other businesses nationwide. We provide art direction for customers selling products, producing concerts, or even producing video games. We’re most proud of our work for artists such as Deadmau5 & Camila Cabello, and our regular work on the Madden video game. Virtual production is getting bigger every day and we’ve been having fun coming up with new ways to display animation and graphics on many different mediums.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
NFTs have flipped our industry upside down. There’s a lot of good and bad. The bad being scammers who do things like rug-pulling on collections. There are also concerns about environmental issues, but many companies are working on solutions to both those problems. The GOOD about NFTs are the decentralization and independence that it brings to talented artists. Proof of ownership is something digital art needed, as well as validation of our craft. I’ve seen it first hand with my friend, Beeple. He was a well-known artist before NFTs, but now he’s the second richest artist in the world. Those of us who were there at the beginning were fortunate to actually make a little money on that boom, but it will soon normalize. The technology has revolutionized more than just art and will continue to become an everyday piece of business just like credit cards.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of clients for us are word of mouth and repeat business. It’s important to make an impression so clients will come back to you, but what’s even better is when they recommend you to others. You can only achieve that by being efficient, delivering on promises, and communicating well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nexusmotion.com
- Instagram: nexusmotioninc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nexusmotion
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davekoss/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nexusmotioninc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ntpt-WXBODWxYPXTolwUw
- Other: Our Motion Graphics Education Website – www.mograph.com