Date Unknown

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You Should Be A Star made Brandon a “bunch of money,” which he parlayed into another business where he worked in advertising, namely in Search Engine Optimization. Once again he seems rather blasé about the whole experience. I, on the other hand, am struck by the business acumen this kid seems to have been born with. He didn’t blow the money he earned on crap like I would have at 23. Instead he reinvested the money in his business, or as the case may be, into launching new businesses. He had no interest in assistance from venture capitalists.

By 18, Brandon was by all accounts successful. He cannot tell me where his drive comes from. Neither does he know the source of his doggedness, but he believes “that if you don’t take advantage of yourself, someone else will.” His next move, therefore, was to take advantage of himself.

Brandon conceptualized, funded, and produced two episodes of Date Unknown on his own. He admits now that the quality of the first episodes weren’t up to his standards, but he didn’t care. He was going to get the shows on YouTube. Period. He just needed to get the attention of the powers that be in the Palo Alto corporate office.

“CanYouTubeHearMe.com” was launched by Brandon at the ripe old age of 19. The site was his public plea to YouTube to air his episodes of Date Unknown on their homepage. While he gained a bit of notoriety through his public plea, it wasn’t until he decided to take drastic measures to gain the attention he felt his show deserved that people really started to stand up and take notice.

Hiring a videographer to chronicle the trip, Fletcher decided to “storm the YouTube office.” Flying from New York to California, clips of Brandon driving to, arriving at, and waiting tirelessly in the office lobby are broadcast and archived online. “They knew I was coming,” he says. But that didn’t mean he walked in and all was smooth sailing. However it didn’t take long for his resolution to pay off.

By 20, Brandon had inked a revenue-sharing deal with YouTube and his program was seen on the homepage of the site. In fact, Episode 10, “Hot, Sweaty and Funky,” received more than one million views.

But then, nothing. Well, not nothing, but Fletcher hasn’t posted another episode in two years, which surprises me. Even though he can’t describe where the idea came from in the first place, (or what on earth gave him the huevos to storm into YouTube), he has a very clear explanation for why he’s taken a nearly two-year sabbatical, and why he’s now re-launching the show from Los Angeles.

“I was disappointed with the show. I’ve been filming, learning more about editing, and have hired a videographer,” says Brandon. “Before it was just me doing it myself.”

That doesn’t mean that he’s been idle. “I have this thing for myself. It’s called standards.” To that end he maintains a rigorous routine Monday through Friday of things that need to be accomplished. “I have to meet certain criteria.” These criteria involve continuing to make music (he plays piano, guitar, and drums), and mandated ad sales that he demands of himself. Partnerships in the works for the re-launch of Date Unknown include agreements with plentyoffish.com and zoosk.com.

The re-launch of Date Unknown also now takes place in Downtown LA, whereas previous episodes were filmed in New York and San Francisco. This isn’t just because Fletcher has called Downtown home for the past year and a half. We touch on the renaissance Downtown has been experiencing and he admits that businesses here are more than just a little interested in the exposure he provides them. Shots of restaurants, with logos prominently displayed, are a must for each episode.

But why did he move here in the first place? “Downtown reminds me of New York,” he says simply. However, I can’t help but point out the obvious, which is that if history is any indication, he doesn’t tend to stay in one place for too long. “How long will you stay?”

“Until I meet every influential person out here,” he replies offhandedly. I must have been giving him my fine-tuned look of skepticism because here he actually does elaborate. “I want to retire my mom.”

“And what about Date Unknown? How long will you do the show?”

“Until I make enough money for the next business.” I ask if he minds telling me what the next business will be. “Novelty toilet paper,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious business idea in the world. I tell him I won’t give away his brainchild, but he says he doesn’t mind. “Nobody will execute it like I will.”

If I didn’t experience the confidence this kid has in spades in person, I’d be reluctant to believe that someone so young could have so much faith in their own abilities. But he does. And while I don’t interpret it as arrogance, I concede some people would probably find him a bit cocky. But he knows it. I again try to get him to put a finger on the pulse of his inspiration, and he still can’t quite find the right words.

“I guess I kind of feel like people owe me,” he says with a laugh. I can’t help but be reminded that although he seems to be kidding, there is truth in every jest. But he’s dead serious when he concludes, “I have a great mind. Why not exploit it?”

Why not, indeed?

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