Russell Tuchman says he learned everything he knows about business from his father. It’s the kind of bold statement you might expect from a 27-year-old entrepreneur who’s already hard at work on his second startup. The first came not long after he graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara and went to work for the talent agency CAA. The idea for Buddytruk was simple: “Think of it as a buddy with a truck.” Or as Uber for moving furniture and other large items. Launching the company in late 2013, the young innovator provided most of the initial funding and worked on everything from operations to legal to sales. But a little over a year later he had hit a wall. “My best friend and I had different ways of running things, and I decide I wanted to start my own thing,” says the WeWork Santa Monica member. “But I wasn’t sure what.”
Plan your work, and work your plan. Having an idea of what you want to do or where you want to be and then working backwards, dramatically improves your chances of succeeding in any endeavor you wish to pursue.
It was around that time when he noticed that friends working in bars, owned restaurants, or did catering—all had the same complaint: locating the right staff for events. “Friends were looking for bartenders and DJs on Facebook,” he says. “I realized there wasn’t a good way to find these professionals.” Tuchman’s solution was BashPros—one-stop shopping for planning and booking an event. It means that you no longer need to get individual quotes to book, say, a caterer, bartender, and band. BashPros launched in Los Angeles, but by next year Tuchman plans to expand to Washington, New York City, and San Francisco. “Pay attention to the bad, and the good will take care of itself,” he advises. “Focus on the areas that could derail your success and adapt accordingly. Success will follow!”
