We wrote a couple of scathing articles about The Apprentice contestant and POPstick CEO Danny Kastner commenting on his performance during the show. Kastner, like many creative people in any industry portrayed on television, was “produced” as a bit “out of the Trump mold” in the show where success is usually attained through suit-wearing, cut throat, ass-kissing behavior. In fairness, we thought we’d better check out the un-produced version of Danny Kastner so we called him up to discuss his experience on The Apprentice.
The first thing we can say about Danny is he’s a nice guy. He’s assuredly a creative sole soul (we always get that one wrong) and while that might not be a fit for a stuffy Trump job, it seems to work just fine for his Boston-based company POPstick. When we asked about that “sidewalk show” during the first episode where contestants had to introduce a new Burger King product, Danny admitted it was “a bit gimmicky but it did work.” He’s right. While his team didn’t win, his team’s Burger King was packed with customers. They failed because they didn’t have enough trained order takers.
Kastner also admitted his strategy of bringing the “immune” Michael into the boardroom with him was a bit of a counter-strategy – which led to a very heated exchange – but reports he has since had beers with Michael and things are cool. While Kastner may have been shown to be out there on The Apprentice, we can assure you, in real life, Danny Kastner is just cool, successful, creative guy.
