From Navy to Self-Taught Entrepreneur

This week hosts Tim Ryan and Zack Miller sit down with Ricky Eckhardt, Co-Founder and CEO of Cliqket, a creator-led social marketplace that empowers communities to interact with the people, brands, and retailers that matter to them most. Each Clique is an invite-only, fully social experience first with a complete P2P marketplace one swipe away. Watch this week's episode to hear about Ricky's journey, how Cliqket is defragmenting the hobbyist and collector space by building inclusive Cliques, monetizing social marketplaces for creators and brands, and much more!    Show notes:   (0:00) Introducing Ricky Eckhardt   (5:34) Building a community    (8:28) Coming up with the idea of Cliqket   (15:10) Creating a Clique   (28:41) Importance of having a Technical Founder + Background   (37:58) Learning new skills + staying educated   (42:51) Leveraging competition + learning from Apple   (50:35) What is Cliqket?   (52:51) Background + Military experience   (56:42) Conclusion    About Ricky Eckhardt & Cliqket:   Cliqket is creator led social marketplace that empowers communities to interact with the people, brands, and retailers that matter to them most. Creators start communities called Cliques. Each Clique is an invite-only, fully social experience first (like Discord) with a complete P2P marketplace one swipe away. Users of each Clique can buy, sell, and trade with other members in addition to the brands and retailers that matter to them the most. Cliqket empowers creators to build fantastic Cliques with revenue sharing from subscriptions, swag, and more!   Ricky Eckhardt is the CEO and Co-Founder of Cliqket. Ricky has been a lifelong collector of just about everything. Before starting his company, Ricky served in the Navy for 15 years. After leaving the Navy without a degree, Ricky launched is next professional chapter and has built three startups from pre-seed to series A/B, with BookOutdoors being his latest. He's also launched 4 full MVPs to serve NATO as the lead or sole developer.   Learn more: https://cliqket.com/about-us   About the hosts:   Tim Ryan is an angel investor and the Executive Director of StartWheel, an organization dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs with resources in Hampton Roads, Virginia.    Zack Miller is a serial entrepreneur and author of Anomaly, a guide on differentiating yourself and your business from the crowd.   Enjoy the show? Watch the Fervent Four Show LIVE every Thursday at 11 AM.   Live: https://www.startwheel.org/live/ Watch past episodes: https://www.startwheel.org/fervent-four-show/ Listen to past episodes: https://fathom.fm/podcast/fervent-four      The Fervent Four Show:   Did you know that only 4% of businesses hit $1M in revenue? Tim Ryan and Zack Miller are the creators of The Fervent Four Show, designed to help you get there. Check them out Live every Thursday at 11 AM.   Social Media:   Ricky Eckhardt https://cliqket.com/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cliqket   Instagram: @cliqket (https://www.instagram.com/overachieving_tea/)   Twitter: @cliqket (https://twitter.com/cliqket)   Facebook:  (https://www.facebook.com/cliqket)     Tim Ryan https://www.startwheel.org   Twitter (personal): @ryantnt (https://twitter.com/ryantnt)   Twitter: @StartWheel (https://twitter.com/StartWheel)   LinkedIn (personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantnt/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startwheel-org/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StartWheel   Zack Miller https://www.zackmillersays.com   Twitter: @zackmillersays (https://twitter.com/zackmillersays)   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zackmillersays   Thanks to our Sponsors:   StartWheel – https://www.startwheel.org   Companies Mentioned: Cliqket: https://cliqket.com/ eBay: https://www.ebay.com/ Mercari: https://www.mercari.com/ WWE: https://www.wwe.com/ Facebook Marketplace: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace SoleSavy: https://solesavy.com/ Slack: https://slack.com/ Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/ Navy: https://www.navy.com/ Book Outdoors: https://bookoutdoors.com/ Discord: https://discord.com/ Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ Apple: https://www.apple.com/ Steve Jobs: https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-jobs/ Elon Musk: https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=19c328c87999 Liquid Death: https://liquiddeath.com/ Vince McMahon: https://www.forbes.com/profile/vincent-mcmahon/?sh=7b74041c1b89 757 Startup Studios: https://757startupstudios.org/ Everything Marketplaces: https://www.everythingmarketplaces.com/ Grow: https://thisisgrow.com/