Adult Industry Star And Entrepreneur Talks About The Business – with Nina Hartley
on Mar 3, 2010 - 4:37 PM PSTYou and I both know that the goal of Mixergy is to learn from a mix of online entrepreneurs. If we just focus on the usual Web 2.blah crowed we’ll get stuck with the same conventional thinking that every wannabe startup founder ends up in.
Having said that, I’ll be honest and tell you that after we did this interview live, the Mixergy community was divided on whether I should have done an interview with a porn star. I want to be very clear, my answer is ABSOLUTELY.
Nina Hartley is one of the biggest names in the adult business. She’s been in it since the 80′s as an actress, entrepreneur and sex educator. I invited her to share her experiences.
The FULL program
About Nina Hartley
Nina Hartley will soon launch the adult SexWise.me, where adults can talk about sex. She’s the founder of nina.com (NSFW). She’s a sex educator who created a line of educational videos for Adam & Eve. She’s an actress who appeared in both the mainstream movie Boogie Nights and in adult movies.
You can connect with her on Twitter and on her Facebook page.
[This interview was suggested by my friend Kyra Reed.]
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March 3rd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
An entrepreneur is an entrepreneur…
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Andrew, great intervew, thanks for coming on Nina. I think this is a great example of following one's passion. Thanks for the motivation y'all
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Andrew, you are freaking awesome. A ballsy move that paid off brilliantly. A fascinating interview with an extraordinary subject. I can't believe that there were people questioning whether you should have done the interview. I for one would like to see fewer twentysomething developers of Facebook apps on Mixergy and more interviewees like Nina – people with experience of life that isn't just going straight from college to a tech firm in the Bay Area.
Once again, great interview. You're just about to gain a premium subscriber.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Entrepreneurship is often difficult and tricky, resulting in many new ventures failing. The word entrepreneur is often synonymous with founder.
Business entrepreneurs
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
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March 4th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Although I disagree with almost every opinion she has, I downloaded and listened to the interview hoping to hear something I could learn from.
I have to say that I am sitting here wondering what the point was. Andrew, you rock, but this interview was pretty much pointless in my mind. Unless I wanted to know what the porn industry was really like (which I don't), or what she is personally passionate about (which I don't), then there wasn't much to learn from.
There were far too many questions about the details of her porn life than how she, as an entrepreneur, learned something and was successful.
About the only thing I can think to have learned from this interview is that its important to be passionate about your work, but there are dozens of other examples from past interviews about that.
I'm sorry to say that I was left disappointed for the first time. With all due respect, this wreaked of publicity stunt.
Keep up the awesome work – I can't wait for the next interview. I hope you can appreciate my candor here, because I am a huge fan!
March 4th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Exactly.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
It's really not a publicity stunt. In the early days of the next, I used to read porn industry message boards (no pictures or even adult language, just biz talk) because they always came up with cutting-edge approaches online.
I've always wanted to find out more about the business side of this business.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
And I can appreciate that. That's exactly why I took a chance and listened to the interview about an industry that I personally dislike. My problem was that the interview seemed to be so much more about the juicy details of that industry, rather than the business side of things and how she, as an entrepreneur, took advantage of opportunities and learned from her mistakes. There was a little of that sprinkled here and there, but I just didn't feel like it was the most substantive interview with regard to what [my interpretation of] the goal of Mixergy is.
Again, I'm a huge fan… I might just be a bit more hesitant to take that chance next time.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Andrew is a great interviewer, no doubt, but there was no way he could have gotten more out of her businesswise. Nina brought so much passion and enthusiasm that she completely blew Andrew away. I think, its one of the longest interviews with the least questions. So maybe we were expecting more. But maybe we should take it as a huge lesson on passion and how powerful and contagious it is.
I run a web studio and I'm actually a pretty bad sales person, never had any training or plan to. But also never left a clients' office without a deal for a web site project I got enthusiastic about.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
“because they always came up with cutting-edge approaches online” –> I agree!
“I've always wanted to find out more about the business side of this business.” –> I still do!
Does anyone have a good contact in the industry so we can have another try?
March 4th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Meh, sounds like an excuse to me. I think Andrew is awesome at getting more out of people. He's great at stopping people when they start going off in different directions. I'm not saying that it was done on purpose. My critique is just that it felt much more like a curiosity interview than one to learn from.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I thought it was really interesting too. What I got out of it is the most is find your passion because that will make you your happiest. I was interested in the numbers too of how much porn stars make per day.
March 4th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
your messing up your brand dude…
March 4th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
It seems to me that people are allowing their views on the adult industry to cloud their judgement on the individual as an entrepreneur, and the motivs of the interview. Of course an interview with a porn star will discuss “juicy” aspects of the porn industry. It would be false if it didn't. Keep it up Andrew :D
March 4th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Nonsense. Read the comments again and you'll notice that they were made despite their personal objections to the industry. The comments are essentially saying that they didn't get very much out of the interview that they could actually use as an entrepreneur, other than passion for what you're doing.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
So the interview didn't suit you or what you were interested in learning about, but I found the passion talk just as important as setting up a business and the ins-and-outs of that.
I got quite a bit out of this interview. Some interviews on here you will gel with others you wont, that's life :)
I actually think there's an even mix on here, on liking and disliking the interview.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:55 am
I saw your post and i liked it very much this is so interesting and amazing. How much i liked i can't explain. Thanks for providing this.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:56 am
I saw your post and i liked it very much this is so interesting and amazing. How much i liked i can't explain. Thanks for providing this.
March 5th, 2010 at 9:03 am
So Kulpreet doesn't feel too alone…
As Mixergy interviews tend to give useful business skills…and the porn industry is its own bubble where lots of normal business rules don't apply (effects of person's age / appearance, production, personal branding, “customer service”, patents, IPOs, acquisitions)…I didn't get much or anything useful from this (unless I were someone wanting to build a porn site and pay women to have sex with me in making such videos…I learned how I can do that… :/ …and that the women tend to “rented” more like an employee in that aspect than an entrepreneur…I learned that as well ), and I doubt more porn interviews are going to be very helpful for the current Mixergy audience…
The education part of her business might have been particularly insightful particularly to Andrew, but it seems like the biographical questioning largely missed getting to her thoughts on abstract, timeless business principles and instead let her wander around to all the “dramatic” implications of the business and porn-specific advice…kind of like a sex novel with how-to for porn business / paying young women to perform sex acts along the way…
I don't think these porn interviews are generally useful…and it also feels like the subject matter can like easily veer into something like teaching kids to make chemical bombs for educations' sake…it might get dangerously close to not being socially responsible as Olivia might say. Hehe. :)
Ah well. Mr. Chalal's book was a very good read for business ideas…eager to view that interview, but I plan on not viewing the porn interviews in the future, and each one does seem to tarnish the cause of Mixergy in my mind, so I really hope there isn't a full series / full coverage on porn, especially as unlike Nina, I would guess most of them wouldn't be of people who have transitioned to largely non-porn business activities.
Thanks for at least hearing us prudes out,
Ben
March 5th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
it sounds like bryanhales is just a closed minded individual and will not get far in the entrepreneur world, I think you have to be a little weird and crazy in order to make it.
March 5th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
There is no rule or concept that says that you have to agree with everyone else's way of life or opinions in order to be a successful entrepreneur.
bryanhales was respectful in voicing his opinion. Perhaps you should consider doing the same.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
true you don't have to agree with everyone opinions but to say the interview was pointless, and to say I would not want to know the inner working of the porn industry one of the biggest business industry's in the world is just being close minded.
March 6th, 2010 at 12:36 am
I think the video was great and it's nice for Andrew to interview someone who is so open about what she believes in. You don't find interviews or people like this every day so I think it was an amazing interview especially for those who were socially awkward or different in school.
The porn industry is just another industry no different than any other. Well one difference and thats expressing sexuality….and if there wasn't any expression or a business for it…well a lot of things would be really boring.
Whats interesting is that the US is one of the only few countries that ban “prostitution or brothels. If you go to Australia, parts of Europe, Japan and parts of Asia, it's all over. I'm not saying it's ethical, but there not hurting or robbing anyone. I've never seen the porn industry the cause of any economic downturn or civil unrest.
Andrew is right. Porn has really evolved advertising and the way a lot of marketing is done and although she doesn't outright give business information it's between the lines.
Nice work Andrew
I like how you test boundaries.
March 6th, 2010 at 4:27 am
This interview presents some very fundamental principles which are very rarely observable among any other industries. Wish I had seen this years ago!
March 6th, 2010 at 4:27 am
This interview presents some very fundamental principles which are very rarely observable among any other industries. Wish I had seen this years ago!
March 6th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Hi Andrew. I would love to download the video files to my PC as I do not have a very fast internet connection to stream the video. Cant you provide ability to download files as you used to do earlier. Thanks
March 7th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Wow, that was some interview. Although I must agree that it did not teach me much about business or entrepreneurship it was really useful to me. Her energy is absolutely amazing, you can't help but gel all excited and energetic as you listen to her. I can understand why quite a few men don't really get it, but being a woman entrepreneur, seeing a woman so powerful, intelligent and in control is a lesson within itself. It's very different than the image of the shy blushing girl or a flirty little thing, which is so popular in the media.
I actually never heard of her before this interview, so the fact she is a porn actress does not concern me at all. All I see here is a woman who doesn't play by the mainstream rules and can stand tall.
If you want an indirect business lesson from this video, strong women like Nina, Oprah, Ellen Degeners, Joan Rivers (my ultimate idol, I wish I could meet her one day) are the kind of women other women are inspired by. So if you have a product targeted for women, you might want to get some like that to promote it.
I do wish Andrew and Nina would have talked more about her businesses and websites and how they make profit, beyond just the ideas of freedom in sexuality.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Whereas you have obviously been entirely open-minded in your consideration of his opinions.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
If you ever want really kill it as an internet marketer, follow a the adult industry marketing leaders. The industry is so competitive you really need to have skills if you want to survive. I love the fact you took the risk and posted something a little out of the box. Only so many interviews with beaker headed geeks can one take.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I completely agree… some people are against porn for various reasons and try to find any excuse to discount her knowledge as a result… I actually did learn from this interview (more of what not to do than to do) but I thought it was a very well done interview. She decided to follow another unconventional path than the vast majority of us but that doesn't make her any less of a person.
What surprised me was how little she was actually getting paid for her job and how her money actually came from royalties rather than straight work.
We all have sex… get over it!
Jon @ WoodMarvels.com
March 25th, 2010 at 7:03 am
she is right about many things..
March 25th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
she is right about many things..