Just Three Years After Failed Shark Tank Appearance, Besomebody Founder Builds Multi-Million Dollar Company and Launches Second Venture, BSB Group International
Founder and CEO, Kash Shaikh, creates new Strategic Growth Agency while also supporting businesses and workers economically affected by Coronavirus
CINCINNATI, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In late 2016, Besomebody Founder, Kash Shaikh, asked a room full of "sharks" for $1 Million on the reality TV show, Shark Tank. All of them - including billionaire, Mark Cuban - declined. Now, in just forty months, Shaikh has built a multi-million-dollar company on his own.
Besomebody was originally designed as an experiential learning platform. Shortly after his worldwide television appearance, Shaikh pivoted the company to focus on skills training and job placement. He partnered with Fortune 500 companies like Kroger, Microsoft, and Mass Mutual to create more than 2,000 jobs for Americans nationwide through the Besomebody Paths program. The in-person training programs - which leveraged AI-driven candidate matching and curriculum building software - were a fragment of the length and a fraction of the cost of comparable community college programs and included a guaranteed job upon graduation. Besomebody Paths had a 98% graduation rate, and the company was profitable within one month of the pivot.
By 2018, Besomebody expanded its services from hiring and training to encompass all aspects of organizational growth, including company culture, strategy, and marketing. In 2019, Besomebody, Inc. was named one of America's top private companies by Entrepreneur Magazine with nearly $20 Million in yearly revenue.
Today, Shaikh announced his latest venture with the launch of BSB Group International – a new company formed to fully service its expanding client list of Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing startups. The new firm is wholly-focused on helping client partners drive profitable growth – i.e., increased users, margin, and/or revenue – via end-to-end management consulting, brand building, and digital communications. While training programs will still be offered, they will focus on leadership and culture as opposed to hiring and staffing.
In addition to its base operations and services, the new firm will also offer pro-bono strategy and marketing support for Cincinnati-based companies negatively affected by Coronavirus for the next 90 days. In keeping with the job creation heritage of the company, Shaikh also committed to expanding the firm's workforce to provide jobs for marketers and creatives out of work due to company layoffs.
"Today is a bittersweet day for our two companies," said Shaikh. "While we're grateful for the growth we've experienced over the years, we're disheartened by the hardships many of our fellow business leaders are enduring due to no fault of their own. The health and safety challenges of this pandemic remain paramount, however, the economic impact has been equally unprecedented. We know we can only make a small imprint, but we also believe that little things make a big difference in times of need. So, we are marking this milestone with a commitment to serve our community in the best way we know how."
Shaikh said that BSB Group International has created immediate job openings for both full-time and contract workers, including graphic designers, software developers, copywriters, videographers, and photographers. As companies go 'dark' with advertising efforts to preserve cash and cautiously navigate a new consumer environment, many marketing roles have been cut or eliminated. Solopreneurs and creative freelancers have been similarly affected. According to the Freelancers Union, full-time freelancers made up 28% of the American workforce in 2019.
In conjunction with the creation of BSB Group International, Shaikh is refocusing Besomebody on its origins as a content platform. The first piece of fresh programming will be the new Besomebody Podcast, which also launched this week. The Besomebody Podcast will focus on entrepreneurship, leadership, and culture, and include guests who are on the frontlines of building and scaling businesses and teams. In the future, the company plans to launch more digital programming, including BSB TV, which will document the inner workings of company-building.
As part of this restructuring, Shaikh assumed full control of Besomebody, Inc. by buying out all preferred shareholders, including the Cincinnati-based media company, E.W. Scripps, which invested $1M in the company in 2014.
"Besomebody had very humble beginnings as my personal blog," Shaikh said. "The early vision was just to be a small spark of inspiration that helped people get moving in the direction that was best for them. Over the years, we did some great things, and we had some epic failures. But through it all, we kept going. Our story is really about resilience. That's what the Besomebody brand is all about. And that spirit of resilience has never been more real, relevant, and necessary than today, as we all grapple with an uncertain world. Throughout our journey, through the good and the bad, we've been able to create content that helped people believe – in themselves, in their passions, and in each other. We're very grateful to get back to our roots producing content that uplifts and inspires, particularly during these tough times."
Both companies are headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. BSB Group International also has offices in New York, Houston, and Minneapolis. The firms have been named as "Top Companies for Diversity and Inclusion" by Break the Ceiling, and one of the "Best Places to Work" by the Cincinnati Business Courier. Shaikh has received many awards over the years, including Brandweek's "Marketer of the Year", Google's "Rising Star for Entrepreneurship", and several 40 under 40 recognitions. He's a 3x TEDx speaker and has spoken at over 200 schools and corporations around the world.
After spending more than a decade on the client-side of the business while working at Procter & Gamble and GoPro, Shaikh believes BSB Group is uniquely positioned to win within the very crowded agency and consultancy space.
"We believe BSB Group is a different animal," said Shaikh. "Everything about our model is intentionally built to counteract what most often frustrates clients about working with agencies. The traditional model of paying multiple, single-service agencies for every hour of their time just doesn't work anymore. It's not strategic, efficient, or fast. We believe true value is in an end-to-end model – business strategy, internal inertia, and customer execution – that is service-agnostic. That way we allow ourselves to leverage any technology or marketing touchpoint necessary to help our client partners grow."
Since their inception, Besomebody and BSB have had three simple company principles, which drive their award-winning culture: 1) Do great work; 2) Whatever it takes; and 3) We're all in this together.
The Besomebody Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major audio platforms. Subscribe here, or visit besomebody.com.
BSB Group International is hiring for full-time and contract positions, with immediate openings in Cincinnati, Ohio. Applications are available at bsbgroupintl.com. Priority is being given to candidates who have lost their jobs due to Coronavirus.
About BSB Group International
BSB Group International is a global Growth Strategy and Services firm providing end-to-end management consulting, brand building, and digital communications for Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing startups. Consulting work extends from business strategy to organizational design, leveraging a decade of experience in community-building to help client partners build great company cultures. The firm is wholly-focused on helping partner companies drive profitable growth – i.e., increased users, margin, and/or revenue – via yearly support plans. BSB Group International is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in New York, Houston, and Minneapolis.
About Besomebody, Inc.
Besomebody, Inc. is a global content platform providing digital programming on business building and personal growth. The Besomebody Podcast focuses on entrepreneurship, leadership, and culture, and includes guests who are on the frontlines of building and scaling businesses and teams. The Besomebody Podcast is available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and besomebody.com
SOURCE BSB Group International
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