We’re looking forward to introducing you to Sam Reti. Check out our conversation below.
Sam, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Every day, the very first thing I do is head straight to the gym. I honestly can’t function without some kind of exercise in the morning. Most days I start with lifting or training, and then I always finish with a cycle of recovery: fifteen minutes in the sauna, ten minutes in the pool, and I’ll repeat that two or three times.
There’s something about being in the water that puts me in the right headspace. It makes me feel calm, focused, and ready for the day. Since I’ve been training for long-distance swimming events next summer, more and more of my time is now spent in the pool, and I’ve realized that it has become my favorite place.
This routine is crucial to my success. Without it, I feel scattered and unfocused. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I really do all of the typical things people talk about: I work out, I spend time in the sauna, and when I get home, I get into the ice bath. It may sound overdone, but honestly, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It works for me.
I usually skip breakfast and dive right into work. By that point, I feel clear-headed, energized, and ready to focus. Those first ninety minutes set the tone for everything that follows in my day.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Sam Reti, and I’ve been building music and education technology for nearly a decade. My journey started while I was a student at Berklee College of Music, where I launched my first practice app for musicians. That early project sparked what has now become a family-run technology company, something pretty rare in today’s startup world.
In 2020, my father and I launched Muzie.Live, an online lesson platform designed specifically for music teachers and students. Unlike other platforms, Muzie wasn’t just a generic video tool; it was built from the ground up for musicians. Since then, it has grown to tens of thousands of users and more than 200,000 completed lessons, and it continues to serve music educators around the world.
But I’ve always been looking ahead to what’s next. That’s where our new venture, Hiyve.io, comes in. Hiyve is an AI-powered video platform designed to go beyond meetings. It grew out of the same real-time audio and video technology we built for Muzie, but we realized its potential is much broader. With Hiyve, we’re creating a smarter, more collaborative experience where teams can hold meetings, conduct sales calls, collaborate, and engage more naturally.
What makes our story unique is not just the technology, but how it’s built. We are a father-and-son team, a family business in the truest sense, combining decades of tech experience with a lifelong passion for music. That mix has shaped everything we do, from how we design products to how we think about the future of communication.
Right now, I’m focused on expanding Hiyve into education, sales, and enterprise collaboration while continuing to support the music teachers who inspired this whole journey.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
The person who taught me the most about work is my dad. When I was twelve, I got my first guitar. My dad had been a professional drummer back in the 80s before moving into the world of technology, so I grew up in a house filled with both music and gadgets. But I was never pushed into either world. It was my choice to pick up the guitar.
Once I did, my dad became my first true colleague. We would spend hours in the basement jamming together, writing our own music, and learning what it meant to create something from scratch. When I decided I wanted to pursue music in college, he was there to show me what it actually takes to succeed: the discipline, the consistency, and the willingness to put in the work.
By the time I got into Berklee, we were still playing music together, but our partnership started to evolve. What began as a simple college project, building an app for musicians with a little help from my dad, grew into Muzie & Hiyve.io, a company we have been running side by side for more than a decade. Looking back, I realize we have really been working together since that very first jam session when I was twelve.
In many ways, building companies together has felt surprisingly similar to playing music. It is about collaboration, listening to each other, and finding a rhythm that works. That foundation, starting as bandmates and growing into co-founders, has been one of the most unique and rewarding parts of my journey.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There were absolutely times when I almost gave up. In the early days of Muzie it was just me and my dad building the platform and trying to keep it alive. I ran support on my own for years and it was relentless. I remember doing demos for teachers at two in the morning because they were in Australia, then waking up throughout the night to make sure every support ticket was answered within minutes.
At one point I was sitting at a picnic table outside a gas station in Tennessee, doing demos while it snowed, because I did not have another option. On the way back from that same trip, I did another demo at a dog park picnic table. Those were the moments when it would have been so easy to say this is too much.
What kept me from giving up were the teachers themselves. Every time someone told me that Muzie had changed the way they teach or made their life easier, it reminded me why I was doing it. That persistence, showing up even when no one is watching, is what carried us through. And those hard moments became the foundation of everything we are doing now with Hiyve.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
I think the difference between a fad and a foundational shift comes down to depth.
AI is the perfect example. A fad is when AI is added on the surface to create something flashy that looks impressive in the moment but does not really change how people work. A foundational shift is when AI is built into the core of an experience in a way that transforms behavior and creates lasting value.
That is the philosophy behind Hiyve, the new AI-powered video platform we just released. Most meeting tools today treat AI as an afterthought. They might generate a recap or a list of action items after a call, which is helpful, but it does not change the meeting itself. Those are fads.
Foundational AI goes deeper. It shapes the experience as it happens. At Hiyve, our focus is embedding AI directly into live communication. That means real-time transcripts that keep everyone aligned, an AI coach that can recognize the tone of a conversation and suggest how to respond before a deal slips away, and sentiment analysis that lets you adapt in the moment instead of waiting until it is too late. It also means creating persistent spaces where all of those insights live on after the call so the context is never lost.
For me, the test is simple. Does the AI just look cool for a moment, or does it fundamentally improve the way people connect and collaborate? If it does the latter, then it is not a fad. It is the future.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I believe I am doing what I was born to do. As I mentioned, growing up, I was surrounded by both music and technology. But I was never told that I had to follow either path. It was my choice to pick up the guitar, and once I did, it unlocked something in me.
At first that passion showed up through music. I spent years practicing, writing, and performing, and it gave me a deep appreciation for what it means to create. Later, as I began working with my dad to build tools for musicians, I realized that the medium might change, but the drive is the same. Whether it is writing a song or building a company, I was born to create.
For me, the throughline has always been the same: taking an idea that starts in your head and turning it into something real that impacts people’s lives. With music, that was a song. With technology, it is platforms like Muzie and now Hiyve. The tools are different, but the passion and the desire to build remain constant.
I was never told to do this work. I chose it. And I cannot imagine doing anything else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hiyve.io
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiyve.io/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hiyve-io
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