Today we’d like to introduce you to 10,000 Takes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Jack Leverentz, Jake Bringgold, and Zane Wagner started 10,000 Takes because we wanted to deliver local media in an authentic, unfiltered, and relatable way. As three guys in our early 20’s, we wanted people to consume content that they can relate to without any regulation or guardrails that keep people from being their true selves. So the three of us built a website and started writing comedic blogs around Minnesota sports, events, and activities. Specifically, the first blog published on the site was “Twins Pitcher Randy Dobnak Looks Like a Guy Who Owns Three Motorcycles MINIMUM”. On top of our day jobs, we put every waking minute into the website and the social media channels, putting out as much content as the three of us could possibly make. Over time, people started following us for our local sports memes and our funny personalities.
Fast forward two years to the current day…. We have over 30 people who work for us from content creators to editors to event planning personnel. We have acquired over 115,000 followers across all social media platforms, reached 52 million people from July 2020 – July 2021, hosted 4 events including a 160 person charity golf tournament, broke the record for the longest beer cup snake in North America (pictured later), and our flagship podcast “It’s a Bit” is now on 100.3 FM KFAN in a radio-friendly format.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all. In media, there are many challenges that force most people to give up after the first week. Unless you were popular growing up or have large connections starting out (we had neither), you have to face the fact that no one is going to watch or care about you for a long, undetermined amount of time. We would put hours into planning, executing, and editing content that maybe 5 people would watch/listen to. The only thing that keeps you going is the belief that what you are doing is high quality and different enough. Being in media is no different than any other job profession. Whether you’re a podcaster, journalist, broadcaster, or just a content creator in general, when you start out you’re going to suck. We have put thousands of hours into producing content that nobody would listen to or care about, however, those hours were not wasted. We used them to develop ourselves as personalities and figure out what is and what isn’t working, and that’s what got us to where we are today.
The other challenge we face on a daily basis is time. Growing a startup while working a full-time job, fulfilling commitments to family and friends, and trying to have some time to sleep in between takes a toll on you mentally and physically. As fun as the job looks, there is a lot of work behind the scenes that everyone doesn’t get to see. And executing that work on top of everything else in life can feel like organized chaos 7 days a week, but that’s what you sign up for when you chase a dream.
The other and most recent challenge was losing our Twitter account in late July of 2021. Our social media content consists of memes (funny edits made by us about a topic) and organic brand content (Content that features us)…. Our memes sometimes use outside music and visuals, and we learned a hard lesson about copyright when our original Twitter account that took us two years to build and had over 8,000 followers was suspended for multiple copyright violations. Instead of focusing on the negatives of losing all of that work, we got right back up on the horse and created a new account that has acquired 2,500 followers in just 2 months. Sometimes comedy comes at a price, and when bad things happen you have two choices… You can cry about it and blame the world, or you can get back to work and play the hand you’re dealt, but that’s never easy.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
10,000 Takes (also known as 10K Takes or 10K) is a digital media company that focuses on authentic entertainment around Minnesota sports, outdoors, events, and beyond. We create blogs, podcasts, videos, parody music, host regular events, and have a weekly show on 100.3 FM KFAN. What we specialize in is our ability to be ourselves and make people laugh. We don’t change a single thing about ourselves and there is something so unique about that that people can relate and latch onto. We don’t pander on camera and stay authentic to our own boneheaded personalities that have gotten us to this point.
What makes us different from others in the area who are trying the same thing is how hard we work. We put in the time, the long days, the weekends, and we don’t take breaks. Because we spend more time developing our brand, we have more data and more talent than other local competitors. The other thing that makes us different is our unique events. From watch parties, to golf tournaments, to cup snakes at sporting events… we are able to connect with our audience offline just as well as online. Being able to hit the market from both sides like that can help develop brand loyalty more substantially than our competition.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Bringing people joy and laughter. This brand really took off during a horrible time in American History. During a global pandemic, social unrest, and a controversial election, we were able to create a break in the bad news to bring people laughter and joy. That’s what we want to do, distract you from the monotony of everyday life. Knowing that the content we create can be viewed by millions of people and inject a little bit of happiness into their day is what keeps us going during the hardest of times.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: 10ktakesmn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/10ktakes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/10000Takes
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/10kTakes_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8A5TO2v9K-pCwhrtd5Ui5w
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Itsabit
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