Rane Bowen

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi! My name is Rane.

I'm originally from New Plymouth, a small town in New Zealand. I'm currently living in Melbourne, Australia and I've been here for the last 16 years.

I've worked as a developer for nearly 20 years! My first development role was at a small startup in Wellington where I started as a tester and gradually moved into programming in both Java and Python.

After moving to Melbourne, I worked as a web developer for a company called Madman Entertainment. It was a fun role—Madman is a film distribution company specialising in anime and art house films.

At the time, DVDs were still popular, so I gained heaps of experience in e-commerce, building both B2B and B2C websites.

I also developed an internal system that managed to encode and export video and image assets for each of their licensors.

One of my key achievements at Madman was building the MVP for Animelab, a VOD platform that, for a time, was preinstalled on every Apple TV device in the Australia and New Zealand region.

After Madman, I moved on to work for the Australian Football League (AFL), which is the biggest sport in this part of Australia. It was a fun but challenging role - there are many stakeholders and turn around on projects was extremely fast!

After that I worked for a social enterprise for a company called the Separation Guide - we helped people going through arguably the worst times in their lives, so this was another interesting role. As you can see, my experience is quite varied!

What did it take/how did you get started?

OK so this might go on a roundabout journey, but stay with me, it's worth it.

I'm a trained yoga teacher. My wife is also a yoga teacher (with a book coming out next year!) Together we host a podcast called "The Flow Artists Podcast", which is all about yoga, meditation and movement.

It's an audio only podcast, so I wanted a way to create short video clips or audiograms to help promote the podcast. There are other products in this space, but I was brimming with hubris, so I decided to build my own, and SoundMadeSeen was born!

What does the future look like for you and your business?

Things have been OK so far with slow and steady growth, but there is still a way to go. I'm here for it!

As many other founders have probably mentioned, the hardest thing about being a founder is the psychological game. One moment you'll be feeling on top of the world, the next it feels like you aren't moving the needle at all.

One thing that has helped my mental state however, is the awesome feedback I get from my community! It makes me want to power on.

What drives / motivates you on a daily basis?

As I mentioned previously, just knowing that there are people out there who are passionate about SoundMadeSeen fills me with joy and helps power me on. I also love solving problems and building things.

What advice would you give someone interested in doing what you do?

Strap in, buckle up and remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint, though there are times you'll be sprinting :)

What has been the hardest part of your business journey?

As I mentioned earlier, it's the mental game.

How have you managed burnout thus far?

I've encountered burnout and in my opinion the best way through it is to step back a little and take a break if you need. If you're stuck on one thing, take a break and work on something else. Also, I prioritise going to the gym and working out 3-4 times a week. It's a non-negotiable.

What are a few resources that you'd recommend?

Anything by Rob Walling, including his podcast "Startups for the rest of us" I've also started listening to "The Saas revolution show" and "Lenny's Podcast" is a great look into the world of product and Product Management.