Making Something From Nothing: Amanda Patterson Riso Of The Call List On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

It always takes longer. It just does. Being the right team with the right solution and the right distribution channel takes a lot of work and some luck with timing. In our case, it was four years and a pandemic that forced brands to connect with their community in a virtual space.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Patterson Riso, Co-Founder & CEO of The Call List.

Amanda started her career in PR for Neiman Marcus, which is where her passion for retail was sparked, though she spent the majority of her career prior to The Call List as a management and strategy consultant within Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies.

During her time in consulting, she could live anywhere with an airport nearby and chose New Orleans, which is where the idea for The Call List was hatched. Inspired by a NOLA-based drag artist who performed via FaceTime to friends and fans all over the world, Amanda wanted to create that same engaging experience for brands to interact with their communities. Today, The Call List powers brandable, shoppable, interactive videos on a brand’s eCommerce site.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

Sure! I’m a midwestern girl. I grew up in St. Louis playing a lot of sports. During the summer breaks, I embarked on money-making ventures. At 9 or 10 I went door-to-door offering landscaping services (using this term loosely) to a couple of neighbors who gave me and a friend a few bucks to pull weeds and plant annuals they picked up at the grocery store. In high school, I was a lifeguard at a public pool. I identified a more lucrative opportunity to up my hourly wage (and get out of cleaning bathrooms) by offering my services as a private lifeguard for pool parties and swim lessons at peoples’ homes. In school I was constantly creating clubs that would create positive interactions with the community and justify field trips during school hours. I also made the case for efficiency and impact to my teachers in middle school, who negotiated credit for my class participation in place of homework assignments. That one wasn’t too well-received by my otherwise enthusiastically supportive parents.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up” — one of Babe Ruth’s hard-hitting one-liners. I read that and Carol Dweck’s Mindset around the time I was preparing for CNBC’s Power Pitch segment (think Shark Tank lite). I remember one of the judges wished me luck in the green room and I optimistically responded that I didn’t intend on bombing, but would learn something either way.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Mindset is one I recommend to entrepreneurs and young people. ​​Turns out seemingly remarkable children don’t make iconic adults, but those psyched to get smarter tend to win in the end. Becoming aware of the difference between fixed and growth mindset, and separating your ego from your effort will help you stay alive after unavoidable failure.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

Play to your strengths, cultivate community and listen. As a consultant at the intersection of business and technology, I had the wherewithal to source the skills needed to build the beta (my co-founder will attest to it being the engineering version of chicken wire and scotch tape). I also just kept talking about it to people who I thought might use it. Eventually, I was introduced to our customer running in-store and digital experience at MAC Cosmetics. In 2018, MAC told us they believed interactive virtual events are the future of digital engagement, but they didn’t want to send their community to yet another platform. We quickly pivoted to powering their ability to host these experiences in their digital space. Ultimately it became obvious that tech resources within brands are pretty strapped. In order to better support our customers, we started creating registration and landing pages for events that live on designated URLs or the brand’s eComm site. Early this year [2022] we are launching DIY site generator tools for people to create these branded interactive spaces themselves in minutes.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

It probably does exist in some form and that is OK. That can be a sign the problem you’re hitting on is big. Define the potential customer group and identify what they are currently doing to scratch the itch. Is it one product or a combination of products? Are they paying for the solution? How much? Can you make a new solution and get it to the person for less than what they are willing to pay? Do you like making it? You’re going to spend most of your time making the thing.

My co-founder, Doug Mackay, and I heard a lot of “this is so obvious, someone else has to be doing it”. We just smiled and moved on. It’s frustrating and discouraging, but the solution-oriented creatives that you wind up collaborating with will just light up your world. Live for those moments and stay open to your idea evolving to something more valuable to customers you aim to support. People have a lot of ideas but rarely act on them.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

It certainly depends on what type of product you’re building. Design programs are sophisticated enough now, that you can create an interactive representation for potential customers to click around and provide feedback. If you’re bootstrapping, hire a capable designer to create a mockup to help you get buy-in and paying customers before building. Our early customers helped us prioritize our roadmap and funded the development of our foundational product.

Highly skilled engineers are hard to come by, especially if you are trying to create something without a template. Develop relationships with folks at startups that have great products and get their recommendations for contract engineering teams. Your product is likely to change as you get it in the hands of customers; if money’s tight, consider hiring contractors on a project basis before building your internal team. Be very specific about the scope of work and deliverables. Without close project management and clearly outlined SOWs, hourly agreements can drain your bank account.

If you’re a tech startup, I highly recommend applying for accelerator and incubator programs. Springboard Capital’s New York Fashion Tech Lab was instrumental in establishing our network of mentors who’ve made warm introductions and greatly influenced our growth.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. It always takes longer. It just does. Being the right team with the right solution and the right distribution channel takes a lot of work and some luck with timing. In our case, it was four years and a pandemic that forced brands to connect with their community in a virtual space.
2. Accountability is key. When you are attempting things that have never been done before, things will go wrong. Sometimes, like in our case, a global brand will be depending on you to power a virtual conference for thousands of people and someone will forget to load balance the website. It’s a painful lesson, but it is a learning experience, and you must do right by the people you work for and with. Be transparent about what is possible in the moment, create a plan for rectification, and evaluate failure points in your processes. Be honest with the client so they can make time-sensitive decisions with as much information as possible. They may or may not hire you again, but your partner and your team will know that you are trustworthy. I have a lot of admiration for my Co-Founder, Doug Mackay’s ability to communicate with grace and treat all parties with dignity in high-stress situations. He’s solution-oriented and collaborative, which means no time is wasted on pointing fingers.
3. Be flexible and build a solution-oriented team. If you’re obsessive about a singular idea or vision, you’ll likely fall short of greatness. Your team, your customers and collaborators will take it places you never could on your own. I had a tennis coach who said something that really stuck with me. I was always rushing the net and going for the aggressive kill shot. And mostly beating myself by sending the ball out of play or into the net. Very calmly and playfully, my coach told me to “tickle my partner”. He meant I should enjoy the back and forth of the game, to appreciate my partner’s skill, and identify opportunities to stretch my own ability. Rather than the frustration of forcing opportunity, I started to relax, have fun challenging and being challenged by my opponent. At The Call List, I have the pleasure of working with super-nerds, who are psyched to solve challenges. I believe some of this is innate, but much of it is the culture of recognizing everyone’s value. Team members frequently offer challenges, counterpoints, and suggest new features. Without hesitation, we acknowledge them with a “good thought” or probing questions to better understand and collaborate. Doug and I reward intelligent risks, enjoy teasing out new ideas, and weed out defensiveness.
4. Selective, but active listening will set you apart. A partner recently said that “The Call List is a swiss army knife” [for virtual events]. We listen to our customers and partner in solving their most pressing digital engagement needs. If the best solution doesn’t fit our company’s mission or falls outside of our focus area, we turn people on to other cool companies. We only listen, however, if the person is willing to pay for the new feature or adjustments — it qualifies the need.
5. Stay current and inspired. Consider what’s coming next and encourage your team to educate themselves on industry or your customer’s industry-related innovation and challenges. Make time to have experiences outside of your focus. Whatever gives your brain time to relax and make subconscious connections. I’m always finding inspiration from seemingly unlikely sources. My family splits time between Brooklyn and New Orleans, where our friends are of varied persuasions and life is teaming with creativity.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Creativity is boundless. If you’ve got a killer idea for a product, it likely won’t be you’re only one. So before you buy the domain, create your logo, ask your founder friend to strategize with you, reach out to potential investors… take some time to clarify what you’re making, who it’s for, and why you’re the best person or team to provide it. Read pretotype it, get organized by creating a business model canvas, and research every possible competitor. Someone will likely be doing something in the same realm as your idea. Can you do it better or cheaper?

Still pursuing it after those steps, then define your customer and identify your market size. Can this be big? What’s your competitive advantage? Are you the team for the job?

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Is an invention consultant someone who helps you get together your requirements for a patent? If so, I think a good patent or IP attorney would be a better use of funds. If they are there to help think through how to manifest your idea and you have a ton of cash, I guess so? I’m a big fan of building community and believe you can find some great mentors and peers to help guide your path. Make sure you give back to mentors by making introductions to peers, customers or deals they may not otherwise know.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

First, clearly define your goals. If you are interested in a business that funds your lifestyle, I recommend bootstrapping with personal funds or financing with debt. If you hope to raise from investment partners and institutions some considerations: runway with bootstrapping, founder’s gender, network, and (often based on founder’s gender) early traction. Stats and my experience as a female founder show the necessity to bootstrap until you hit certain revenue or traction milestones. If you are targeting a sizable business that needs funds to build and acquire customers, ensure your plan ensures a big return on investment for your financing partners. Investors will need compelling answers to “can this be big?”, “are you the team to do it?”, and “what is your competitive advantage?”. Develop a network of mentors who invest in deals like yours and get direct feedback on the milestones you need to hit for the terms you’d like to secure.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I believe there is enough for everyone. I make time for lending my professional experience to folks looking for a different perspective in problem-solving, extending my network to make connections, and integrate volunteering into my lifestyle. Founder connections have been made in networks like Startup Leadership Program, New York Fashion Tech Lab, Retail X, Graham & Walker’s Project Entrepreneur, among others. My favorite organization to volunteer with in NYC is Sant’Egidio. They cultivate relationships and distribute food, as well as try to meet urgent and long term needs of socially disadvantaged and elderly.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I was just having a conversation with a friend at an agency about the future of experiences in the metaverse. Admittedly, I don’t fully understand how the metaverse is taking shape, but I imagine corners like Snoopverse will be high traffic. If sophisticated producers collaborated with conservationists to create experiences with animals and sealife now extinct within spaces like Snoopverse, it could inspire emotional connection to incredible beauty and life we’ve lost. Couple that with metaverse-based experiences of currently disappearing nature and wildlife. The goal would be to educate, entertain and fund support for conservation and slowing climate change. Think buying a ticket for Snoop’s metapool party and diving into a scene from Blue Planet. Really just a seed of an idea. I’m excited to see how virtual experiences continue to unfold and give people access beyond what’s possible in their physical world.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Snoop Dogg

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.