Unleashing Success: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Amman Ahmed
Can embracing failure turn it into a catalyst for extraordinary achievement? Amman Ahmed, a self-made millionaire and entrepreneur, understands the importance of failure. With MusicforPets, affectionately referred to as 'Petflix', Amman has achieved a goal many industry leaders can only aspire to – he’s reached a global audience.
With an initial investment of only £1K, Amman’s company has since amassed some staggering figures. MusicForPets boasts 2 million subscribers, 50 million customers, and over 1 billion streams, with 14 million hours of music consumed each month - equivalent to 1700 years of content every 28 days. Acquired for eight figures by LA-based record company Create Music in 2023, Amman now leads the distribution and production working from the UK and LA.
Among the more than 1 billion streams to his name, Amman counts icons like Eminem, Drake, and Rihanna. His journey is one of a resilient embrace of failure, learning from mistakes, and a relentless pursuit of success. But how did he do it?
Humble beginnings and the First Side Hustle
Speaking about his childhood, Amman admits that he “failed exams, scraped through education, and had no idea what my career would look like.” He added that, “not many people make it out of my neighbourhood and here I am in Hollywood.” Amman simply refused to accept his humble beginnings as a ceiling to his potential.
Later, as a student at Manchester University, Amman studied information systems engineering. His first entrepreneurial venture came shortly after when he established Rormix, a music video app, that managed unsigned Indie bands and built a base of 150,000 monthly users. This first venture provided a platform for vital lessons in business ownership.
Even after securing £500,000 in venture capital funding and earning recognition as a ‘Rising Star’ at the 2015 Northern Tech Awards, he ultimately opted to wind down the venture. “My failure with Rormix taught me to move slowly and not grow really quickly with the additional pressure from VCs,” Amman said. He also learnt that, “when you have investment, you forget about business – you’re too busy raising rounds and pitching in front of people.”
Amman admits that Rormix was a ‘side hustle’. However, the lessons he learnt from his first business venture led him to formulate a new idea, a new ‘side hustle’.
The Other Side Hustle…
Drawing from his experiences, Amman embarked on a new project called ‘Roundwave’, a collection of YouTube music channels created to alleviate stress, assist in studying, and promote better sleep. Roundwave was the idea that proved to be the inspiration for MusicForPets. Amman saw an opportunity to cater to a new crowd, a market with global potential that had a universal aim: to improve our pets’ well-being.
Along with co-creator Ricardo Henriquez, MusicForPets was founded in 2017. Owed to his experience of living in a violent neighbourhood, Henriquez embarked on creating music tailored to alleviate pet stress. The unique MusicForPets compositions have since become beloved companions for both pets and their owners across platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and various other digital service providers.
Continuing to learn and adapt his business, Amman eventually made a subscription service for customers via YouTube. People paid $5 P/M for the subscription, granting access to ad free content. Non-subscribers would see intermittent paid advertisements – of which Amman would also receive a percentage. MusicForPets received the coveted YouTube Gold Creator Award after racking up over a million subscribers; an award also won by MrBeast – a YouTube sensation with 250 million subscribers.
Further revenue for his company came via Spotify. Distribution companies offered MusicForPets to 120 different platforms, with the Swedish audio streaming and media service provider being one. Amman received a small fee for each stream.
Sustained Success: A Testament to Audience-Centric Approach
In a recent podcast with Built to Sell, Amman said “reaching the top was hard, but staying there was harder”. With his audience in place, and wary of competitors, Amman created his own competition with other channels he owned. He insisted on new music every week, new visuals for the videos, and experimented with different frequencies to enhance the pet experience.
Despite his success, Amman never forgot his audience, stressing how important it was for them to feel valued. His team would constantly collect feedback points, with their research showing 87 per cent of owners felt their dogs benefited from the channel. They also interacted with the audience via YouTube comments and took an interest in the lives of the consumers.
A long-time rap fan, Amman sold the business to a major hip-hop record company – one whose artists he listened to regularly. He made the sale as a solo entrepreneur, with no investors to appease, and remained in charge of distribution.
Ultimately, the ascendancy of MusicForPets was forged in the failures of Amman’s past endeavours. His story is one of triumph in the face of adversity, of viewing failure as being little more than a step closer to success. In a hyper-competitive space, Amman is an inspiration.
