Becoming A Magician With Daniel Chan

Last Updated on December 10, 2020

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About Daniel Chan

Before I was a magician, I worked full time at PalPal pre-IPO in finance. I started performing magic on the side at family events, libraries, and corporate events. At about the same time, I discovered Misdirections magic shop, and the owner Joe Pon.
As time went by, I honed my close up skills while performing at children’s events, eventually getting hired to perform at nightclubs, corporate events, and tradeshows. It wasn’t until I decided to completely let go of the security of doing kids’ events that led to more corporate events.

About Dan Chan Presents

Throughout my life, I’ve always had an interest in magic. That’s why I started my company. Growing up, I saw a few magicians at theme parks. I also remember watching David Copperfield on television. I would record these specials on VHS tapes and watch them over and over again, often in slow motion, to see if I could catch anything. During college, I was a ski instructor in Big Bear at Snow Summit. At one event, there was a magician and seven or eight gorgeous Playboy Bunnies. I ended up following the magician watching each of his sets again and again. My wife jokes with me, “Good thing you didn’t follow the bunnies. I don’t think you would have made a good Playboy Bunny!” With each viewing, I would learn more. That’s why magicians often show a trick only once. With each repeated viewing, the viewer may come closer to figuring out how the illusion works.

During my remaining years of college, I met my friends Robert and Micheal Chang, who taught me how to juggle. Robert also lent me some magic videos. I had fun teaching lifeguarding, teaching windsurfing, and sailing during the summer vacations while completing my 4-year business degree.

Contents

How Did You Get Your First Several Customers Or Users? How Many Users Or Customers Do You Have Now?

I used Craigslist, SEO, and also advertised in the YellowPages and Parenting magazines. I’ve performed over 5000 shows live, and close to 200 shows virtually.

How Does Your Company Grow And Acquire New Customers?

Currently, we pitch major media outlets and recently been featured in the Hustle reaching over 2 million inboxes, CNBC, Buzzfeed Business Insider and several other prominent publications.

What Actionable Tips And Tricks Do You Have For New Founders Who Are Looking To Get Their First Thousand Users Or Dollars?

Perform a SWOT analysis on your company and industry. A SWOT analysis is going over the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then offer a solution that’s better than anything else in your market.

What Is Something You’ve Learned That Would Not Be Obvious To Somebody Who Hasn’t Worked In Your Space Before?

Most people think you’re paying for an hour of a magicians time but it’s more about a delivered product. When I’m performing for 1-5K for an event it’s not just for the one hour of time you see it’s so much more than that. Also a stage magician rarely makes a good close-up magician. They’ll do a decent job but there’s a very big difference when you hire a specialist.

What’s The Craziest Thing That’s Happened To You (Good Or Bad) On Your Founder Journey?

There are so many stories… I’ve many countless celebrities and billionaires. I’ve performed at over the top parties and have had to sign quite a few NDA’s and the craziest things probably would be at one of those parties.