SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

Sujan Patel, an entrepreneur and a marketer who's made a career out of learning how to keep an eye on ALL the moving pieces of his business. He's the co-founder of two successful digital marketing companies, ContentMarketer and Web Profits. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Never Eat Alone What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Buzzsumo Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "No" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "I wish I knew that I could work harder" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:43 – Nathan introduces Sujan to the show 02:03 – What is Web Profits and how does it make money? 02:09 – Marketing agency 02:20 – Average retainer is $ 10,000 a month 02:40 – Reject 90% of the people 03:00 – 20 clients at the moment 03:05 – Web Profits is founded earlier this year 03:12 – Consulting firm 03:40 – Joint venture with a big company in Australia 03:55 – 90 team members 04:09 – 8 people are in Austin 04:21 – Total revenue at the moment 04:28 – Goal in 2016 is to hit a million 04:50 – Sujan's thoughts on distractions 05:05 – Sujan likes to do a lot of things 05:12 – Additional 4 SaaS businesses 05:28 – ContentMarketer, Narrow.io, Quu.co, LinkTexting.com 06:40 – Sujan helps in strategy 07:37 – ContentMarketer has a few products 07:44 – Email and twitter outreach 08:09 – Great for bloggers and podcasters 08:30 – Just hit a million email sent 09:00 – Finding an email is an art 09:26 – Total number of customers on all the business 09:27 – Average pay per month 09:55 – MRR 10:15 – "It is definitely worth it" 11:20 – RPU 12:00 – Number of paying customers on Quu.co 12:10 – Quu.co as SaaS and an advertising content 12:53 – Number of customers per promotion 13:09 – ContentMarketer is a bootstrap 13:15 – Founding date 13:25 – First year revenue 14:00 – UX designs 14:25 – Launching a new product 14:55 – Gross customer churn for ContentMarketer 15:10 – No upselling 15:30 – "We know what product to sell" 15:48 – 4 team members for connector 15:56 – Goal for the business 16:10 – Grow as big as possible 16:31 – Sujan owns half of LinkTexting.com 16:38 – Acquired the whole company with a partner 17:16 – Connect with Sujan through his blog and Twitter 18:50 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: It is easier to promote your products if you know them well. Have a bigger goal for your business. Creating a great email is like creating great art – you need the right tools and the right artist. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. SujanPatel.com – Sujan's blog @SujanPatel – Sujan's Twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Sean Howell, the founder of Hornet - the second largest gay social network with 15 million members worldwide, known for its ongoing "Know your Status" HIV campaign. He's a speaker on mobile technology and his opinions have been featured all over the place, even the New York Times. Outside of work, Sean likes to serve on various non-profit boards and committees like the World Affairs Council, PFLAG, and UNAIDS, Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Alibaba What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — Insightly Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "I wish I started earlier" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:38 – Nathan introduces Sean to the show 02:13 – How Hornet generates revenue 02:23 – Premium subscription model 02:53 – Direct deals 03:08 – Premium subscription service 03:29 – No restrictions 03:43 – 5% of their user base 03:37 – 15 million user base 03:53 – Hornet was founded in October 2011 04:13 – MAU 04:22 – Metric 04:42 – Total revenue in 2015 04:50 – Fundraising 05:17 – Multi-million revenue last year 05:32 – Traditional advertising and mobile setting 05:55 – Gaming companies are buying display ads 06:20 – Direct deal with Uber 06:34 - CPM 07:10 – Demographic data for users 07:40 – Churn number that is being tracked 07:51 – Focus on user growth 08:20 - Monetization 08:32 – Total churn number 08:37 – Different subscription packages 09:00 – Monthly renewal 09:33 – Users buy in at a lower amount 09:49 – Average monthly churn is 20% 10:00 – Raised $ 1.5 million in the first year 10:26 – Costs in acquiring new paying customers 10:32 – 40 employees 10:44 – Getting customers through organic discovery and viral co-efficients 11:00 – Viral co-efficient technique 11:27 – Attribution links for social sharing 11:53 – Sean is based in San Francisco and his team members are in other parts of the world 12:27 – No revenue for the first year 12:33 – Started making revenue in 2013 12:48 – 2 biggest competitors 13:00 – Looking to raise several millions 13:08 – Valuation 13:47 – Connect with Sean thru AngelList, LinkedIn and his email. 16:05 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Be motivated – use your competitors as inspiration. There are tons of ways to make your brand known without spending much. Start early – if you want to do something now, do it now. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. AngelList – Sean's AngelList account LinkedIn – Sean's LinkedIn account [email protected] – Sean's email address Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Laura Behrens Wu, the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Listen as Laura talks about how a laundry list of shipping obstacles with her previous e-commerce store birthed the idea for Shippo. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Hard Things About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? – Patrick Collison Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "I wish" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Trust that things will turn out right" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:45 – Nathan introduces Laura to the show 02:13 – E-commerce business Laura had 02:27 – Started at Shopify 02:40 – Sourcing unique items from NGO 03:07 – Shipping problem 03:32 – Revenue with the e-commerce business 03:50 – Laura was 21 when she started her business 04:13 – Financing with Shippo 04:17 – Drop shipping 05:08 – Typical shipping pricing 05:30 – Shippo shipping rates 05:58 – Volume metric 06:07 – Doing millions of packages a month 06:30 – Negotiation with shipping providers 06:44 – Based on projected volumes 07:00 – Shippo is a pay-as-you-go; not SaaS 07:20 – Sample price per package shipped 07:30 – What if I'm shipping a 10 lbs. dumbbell? 07:44 – "We only provide the software" 08:06 – How Shippo works in an e-commerce website 08:10 – Will compare different shipping providers 08:30 – Not a standard shipping rate 08:47 – How the shipping providers get the package from the seller 09:07 – Why clients use Shippo's service 09:37 – Shipping providers are not tech company 09:55 – Number of unique customers 10:12 – Average shipping volume per month 10:29 – Memebox 11:10 – Nathan's proposed deal for Shippo and Memebox 11:54 – They raised $9M in 2014 12:20 – Team size 12:50 – Use of the extra money 13:23 – Minimum monthly revenue 13:33 – Upselling 13:50 – Shipping insurance 14:11 – Tracking as a product 15:28 – Bigger revenue stream 15:37 – $ 7 million in series A round, March 2016 16:00 – How to keep the balance when you have a big account 16:38 – Travel expenses last month 17:25 – Will you sell the business for $ 47 million? 17:45 – Ideal exit assuming there's a good fit 18:03 – Built an app on top of Shopify 18:11 – Connect with Laura through her Twitter, LinkedIn and email 20:00 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Keep your customers updated and excited. Spend money on the right things and appreciate what you have. Don't get upset on your first try – everything falls into place given patience and time. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @LauraBehrensWu – Laura's Twitter handle LinkedIn – Laura's LinkedIn account [email protected] – Laura's email address Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Zach Benson, an award-winning dancer who travels around the world running instructional clinics. He's been featured as a Round 4 finalists on FOX TV's "So You Think You Can Dance," and he's also the founder and CEO of Assistagram.co. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Slide Edge What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Olson Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "Usually 7 and a half" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "I wish I knew everything then that I know now" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Zach to the show 02:13 – How the dance clinic works 02:20 – Place, schedule, and class pricing 03:06 – Total revenue of the dance clinic in 2015 03:35 – Zach talks about how he partners with dance studios 04:25 – CTA 05:14 – Number of students per class 05:53 – Assistagram.co 06:07 – Team in the Philippines 06:27 – Hashtag optimization 06:58 – How to find hashtags to use 07:14 – There's no database 07:40 – Follow/unfollow process 08:38 – ROI 09:04 – Sample of Zach connecting and making a deal 10:17 – Cold marketing and prospecting 10:40 – Finding people on your niche 11:03 – Working with Four Seasons 11:14 – Regular hotel room rate 11:40 – How Zach got a free stay at the hotel 12:35 – Writing a free blog post 13:00 – Benefits of a good Instagram profile 13:26 – Current number of Assistagram clients 13:40 – Average pay a month 13:53 – Assistagram's services 14:28 – How to get people go to your Instagram account 15:38 – Reach Zack thru his email, website and Instagram. 17:58 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: It's all about timing. Find the mentor who can help you grow. Be consistent and persistent. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Assistagram.co - Zach's business website @thetravellerslist – Zach's Instagram handle [email protected] - Zach's email address Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Anand Sanwal, CEO and co-founder of CB Insights, a company that provides predictive intelligence for emerging technology trends, startups, and corporate. Their customers include Cisco, Marketo, and Red Hat, just to name a few. Prior to CB Insights, Anand managed the $50 million Chairman's Innovation Fund at American Express. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Bezos Favorite online tool? — Gmail Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "I wish" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Be patient" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:42 – Nathan introduces Anand to the show 02:45 – "If you buy something for 2 and sell it for 1, you will not make it up in volume" 03:12 – He was in-charge of spending money 03:25 – Sent to London for Cosmo Europe 03:40 – Overspent 04:00 – Rationalizing the expenses 04:45 – Worked in American Express after Cosmo 06:25 – Salary in American Express 06:55 – "Decided to take the plunge" 07:30 – CB Insights 07:46 – Every industry is under attack by technology 08:09 – Monthly customer pay 08:34 – "Use our data to create a sense of urgency" 09:20 – Tracking the competitors 10:00 – Using algorithm on the data 10:30 – Number of paying customers 10:45 – Average of pricing 11:25 – Total MRR last August 11:40 – Hoping for 8-figure revenue this year 12:12 – Team size 12:25 – Some are based in New York 13:05 – Exact MRR last month 13:30 – "Everybody pays upfront" 14:14 – Individual customer acquisition 14:40 – Gross revenue churn 15:20 – Lifetime value 15:29 – 20% churn just to be conservative 15:49 - $200,000 lifetime value 16:16 – Funds raised 16:46 – Most customers are VCs 18:18 – Jon Sherry is the other founder 19:18 – No current acquisition talks 19:32 – Connect with Anand through his website and Twitter 21:05 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Do not be afraid to take the plunge—there are risks but just do it. Things happen for a reason and believe in your life plan. There's no absolute certainties in life—only right places and right times. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. CBInsights.com – Anand's website @cbinsights – Anand's business' Twitter handle @asanwal – Anand's Twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Victor Levitin, co-founder and CEO of CrazyLister. Prior to CrazyLister, Victor ran a retail business that he drove from $0 to $4.5M in revenue in just three years. In fact, it did so well it won an eBay award for highest conversion rate. Victor channels his eBay retail experiences through a blog called "eBay Sellers Journey to $100K a month" where he helps eBay sellers avoid mistakes and grow their business the right way. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Elon Musk Biography What CEO do you follow? – Alex Turnbull Favorite online tool? — Intercom Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "About 7" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Teach myself how to code and learn the balance" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Victor to the show 02:08 – What is CrazyLister and how does it make money? 02:16 – Created for sellers 02:50 – Similar with creating websites 03:28 – Built-in to eBay's API 03:40 – You have to know how to code to use CrazyLister 03:49 – Pricing scheme 03:54 – Plans based on the number of listings 04:05 – Monthly RPU 04:20 – CrazyLister is founded in late 2013 04:33 – Victor was 29 then 04:40 – Victor has always been an entrepreneur 05:05 – He was a seller before 05:14 – Shifted to software because of the entrepreneurial bug 06:20 – Shared equity 06:40 – Number of paying customers 07:02 – Total revenue in 2015 07:15 – January 2016 – from premium to paid 07:40 – 14-day free trial 07:55 – MRR 08:50 – Pricing on the website 09:15 – Actively doing customer development 09:41 – Metrics customers have to hit 09:58 – Growth churn per month 10:08 – Typical monthly churn of SaaS companies 10:35 – First month with monthly churn 11:40 – Lifetime value 12:00 – What are you going to pay for a new customer? 12:28 – Team size and located in Tel Aviv, Israel 12:45 – Self-funded or crowd raising 13:01 – Equity round 13:22 - Valuation 13:33 – Victor feels they've exceeded the valuation 14:20 – Will never sell 14:45 – Content marketing drives traffic to Victor's company 15:47 – August expenses 16:20 – Connect with Victor thru his LinkedIn or Facebook 18:40 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Know your priorities and maintain a balanced life. Keep moving—don't stay in your comfort zone, stagnation is death. Take care of your customers—know their needs and find out how you can help them. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. LinkedIn – Victor's LinkedIn account Facebook – Victor's personal Facebook account Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Liz Pearce, CEO of LiquidPlanner–a fast-growing, Seattle based, maker of dynamic project management technology—and an active member of the Seattle startup and technology community. Listen as Liz talks about her passion in mentoring and advocating for technology and leadership. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Search Inside Yourself What CEO do you follow? – "My Top 5 Customers" Favorite online tool? — Mint Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Don't let go of your interest and you will always get something back when you give" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:38 – Nathan introduces Liz to the show 02:02 – What LiquidPlanner is and how it generates revenue 02:08 – Project management software 02:28 – How does the customer use Liquid planner 03:13 – LiquidPlanner is a SaaS business model charge per user 03:30 - Pricing 03:52 – First year revenue in 2007 04:01 – Worked as a marketing contractor of the business 04:32 – What happened to founders 05:13 – Raised total of $13 million 05:39 – Liz raised the $10 million 06:05 – Former CEO still active in the company 06:30 – 2015 revenue 07:16 – Negative revenue churn 07:35 – Inbound driven model 08:05 – Transactional business 08:37 – Document storage 08:50 – Team function 09:16 – Average revenue 09:29 – Gross monthly churn 10:01 – Negative revenue churn 10:09 – SMB market 10:30 – CLTV 10:48 - Lifetime value 11:30 – Some are remote 11:37 – Total team size 11:43 – Number of customers 12:01 – How many are enterprise? 12:18 – Talking about acquisition or raising the next round? 12:45 – Interested in raising more capital in the future 14:07 – Microsoft project 14:45 – Invest in scheduling engine 15:03 – Revenue goal in 2016 15:20 – Acquisition money expenditure 16:05 – Total monthly expenditure 17:15 – @lizprc 19:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Believe in your product and what it can do to change the industry. Remember that karma bus drives in circles. Keep priority focus tight. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @lizprc – Liz' twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Brad Costanzo, an entrepreneur, investor, and business consultant who built (and sold) two digital businesses. Today, Brad helps companies use proven marketing methods, innovative branding campaigns, and form strategic alliances to grow their revenue. He also hosts the "Bacon Wrapped Business" podcast on iTunes. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – One Simple Idea What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — MindMeister and XMind Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "Typically 7" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Don't seek comfort, seek challenge." Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:44 – Nathan introduces Brad to the show 02:06 – Brad sold two digital businesses 02:30 – Dating and relationship product, real estate product etc. 03:10 – Fun bar tricks 03:38 – Sold it for six figures 04:05 – Pigtones.com 04:23 – Sold it for less than $100,000 04:36 – Brad now focuses on consulting, crowdfunding, and coffee 04:50 – Equity crowdfunding 05:08 – What he did after selling his businesses 05:34 – Launched consulting firm in 2013 05:40 – How the firm grew over time 03:30 – Pricing 06:05 – Average retainer 06:22 – Total revenue in 2013 07:15 – Total revenue in 2015 07:34 – Revenue goal in 2016 08:11 – Total price per deal 08:38 – Equity product campaign 09:00 – Where Brad base his consulting fee 09:29 – Team size 09:35 – Full-time 09:51 – Number of unique customers in 2016 10:10 – First equity crowdfunding campaign 10:39 – Brad talks about his client who is from the real estate field 11:23 – Reww.com 11:45 – Different funnels 12:54 – Brad likes 2-3 steps funnel 13:08 – Magnified message 13:30 – MVF funnel 14:10 – Selling DVDs for real-estate market 15:14 – Cost of driving a sale and the return 15:26 – Brad's coffee business with wife 15:41 – StilettoCoffee.com 16:14 – Coffee is a commodity 16:32 – His wife's idea of selling coffee to women 17:35 – Build a brand using story-telling 18:18 – Total sales as of the moment 19:14 – Hillary Clinton coffee 20:26 – Potential for an exit 20:46 – Check StilettoCoffee.com and use the code BRADVIP on checkout to get a discount. Follow Brad on his website and podcast 22:35 – Launch of Brad's podcast 22:55 – Total downloads 23:50 - The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Listen and learn from the people that belong to your market. You only get one shot in life—make sure your aim is true. Keep things simple. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. StilettoCoffee.com – Brad and his wife's coffee business Costanzomarketing.com – Brad's website BaconWrappedBusiness.com – Brad's podcast channel Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Jim Fowler, the founder and CEO of Owler– the crowd sourced competitive intelligence platform business professionals are using to out-smart their competitive insights and uncover the latest industry news and alerts. Prior to Owler, Jim founded Jigsaw in 2003 and was the CEO until it was acquired by Salesforce in 2010 for $ 175 million. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Good to Great What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Owler Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "How to plan for the worst case scenario and hope for the best case scenario" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:43 – Nathan introduces Jim to the show 02:12 – Jim was at NathanLatka.com/thetop73 02:45 – Where is Owler now? 03:23 – New product of Owler 03:41 – Do I need to build manually or you scrape the data out of searches? 04:32 – Most data input by users 05:00 – HeYo's data on Owler 05:24 – Data sources 06:00 – Howler's challenge 06:47 – Data sources without human input 06:53 – "No data set is perfect" 07:15 – Benchmark start 08:05 – Number of active users 08:45 – Making money by selling the data on the backend 08:47 - Crowdsourcing 09:21 – Total revenue in 2015 09:41 – Jigsaw's success 10:20 – Active user definition 10:50 – Data pricing 11:13 – Licensing deals 11:50 – Competitive proximity 12:30 – Type of company who's willing to spend millions on the data 12:46 – 3 buckets of types of big partners 13:33 – Resellers 14:05 – Financial services institution 14:40 – Goal in 2016 in terms of numbers to hit 16:20 – Why are the people willing to pay regardless of the accuracy of the data? 16:35 – "Everything that is out there is an estimate" 16:56 – No SLA 17:27 – Why is it illegal to disclose the revenue? 18:42 – "Do crowdsourcing well" 19:00 – Collective intelligence of people: Better or Worse? 21:05 – Role-playing with an angry CEO with inaccurate data on Owler 21:20 – If the data is not correct, fix it. 22:37 – Connect with Jim thru his website. Follow Owler on Twitter and Facebook 24:30 – Estimated number of employees 25:20 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Sometimes, business is give and take – customer takes something that is valuable and we get data that we can sell. Change is constant and we should improve on keeping track of the changes. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Owler.com – Jim's business website @owlerinc - Owler's twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Josh Ledgard, co-founder of KickoffLabs to The Top. KickoffLabs is a viral lead generation platform with amazing landing pages, lead capture forms, and e-mail marketing rolled into one seamless package. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The 4-Hour Workweek What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — https://www.helpscout.net/Help Scout Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Working smart is way more important than working hard" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Josh to the show 02:03 – What KickoffLabs does differently and how it makes money 02:15 – Engage customer as a form of marketing 02:43 – Online advertising 03:12 – KickoffLabs is a SaaS business 03:58 – Pricing plan 04:20 – Customer churn for HeYo 04:40 – Josh's monthly churn rate 05:10 – How to mitigate churn rate 06:00 – Paid acquisition 06:08 – Types of paid acquisition 06:48 – Monthly spent on blog content promotion 07:18 – Bootstrap or fund raised? 07:23 – Bootstraped since 5 years ago 07:45 – How did Josh get into the business 08:00 – Josh and his co-founder's ideas 09:02 – Promoting 6 ideas 09:49 – Total number of paying customers 10:25 – Monthly revenue 10:49 – First year revenue 11:50 – 2015 revenue 12:07 – Goal for 2016 12:21 – Adding 30% to annual revenue 12:43 – Lifetime value 13:14 – What are you willing to spend as a CEO for an acquisition? 14:10 – Total value per new customer 15:01 – Total team size 15:10 – 100% remote 15:32 – Long-term goal for the business' 16:20 – "Will you take a million dollar deal?" 16:47 – Ownership percentage 17:42 – Connect with Josh thru his Twitter and you can send him an email at [email protected] 19:58 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Evaluate your progress and study your growth. If you want to start with a business – explore on different ideas. Be a goal-oriented person. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @joshaledgard – Josh's twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Nathan Putnam, an entrepreneur who's currently working on a company called Monumetric. Their focus?—help people unlock the earning potential behind online content through data analysis and optimization strategies. As Nathan says, "What we do is not magic. It's science." Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Start with Why, Reality Check, Leaders Eat Last What CEO do you follow? – Brian O'Kelley Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "No. Not close" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Look stop listening to music as entertainment. Remember, whatever you put in your brain, that's what's going to come out" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Nathan Putnam to the show 02:27 – Monumetric functions 03:44 – Current number of publisher partnerships 04:05 – Why people use Monumetric and not Google Analytics or AdSense 04:29 – Second price auction 04:58 – "Google is our best partner but also our greatest competition" 06:55 – Business was founded in 2014 07:07 – Started entrepreneurship in 2012 08:23 – Total revenue in 2014 08:40 – Got a few good publishers 09:18 – Sixsistersstuff.com 09:44 – Driving customers acquisition 10:20 – Monetize traffic 11:10 – Biggest costs 11:38 – Number of buyers and advertisers 11:43 – Six top-tier providers 12: 36 – The publisher on the six sisters' site 13:04 – Integrated with 5 largest agencies 13:30 – Percentage that goes back to the seller 14:20 – In 2015, total amount of ads spend that went through the platform 14:35 – Cost structure of revenue 14:50 – Social or website traffic 15:19 – Disenchanted with agency's space 15:45 – Use it in a way that reinforces the platform's model 16:46 – "What you can monetize is what you own" 17:05 – Self-funded or boot strap 17:08 – Bootstrap 17:04 – Current team size 17:35 – Connect with Nathan thru his LinkedIn 19:20 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Utilize your platform to maximize its full potential. Build honest and genuine relationships. Always seek the opportunity. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. LinkedIn – Nathan linkedin Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Sue Zimmerman, the creator of the online Instagram course Ready, Set, Gram! In addition to her popular instruction, Sue is also a powerful speaker on prominent stages like Social Media Marketing World, and a highly sought after business coach. She's passionate about teaching business owners and marketing professionals how to leverage the power of Instagram to get tangible business results. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Book Yourself Solid What CEO do you follow? – Sophia Amoruso Favorite online tool? — Dropbox Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "Absolutely. I have to" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "I wish I knew how to collaborate with people who I knew, like and trust." Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Sue to the show 02:40 – Sue's focus at the moment 02:45 – How to leverage power of Instagram stories 03:04 – How Sue makes money in teaching 03:17 – Successful online courses 03:56 – Paid webinar 04:18 - Sent email to list of a little over 21,000 05:24 – Registration from the list 05:50 – Thousand seats for webinar 05:58 – UTM links 06:20 – Maximum revenue for successful campaign 06:26 – Between $5,000 and $10,000 on a week preparation 07:10 – How to manage priorities with the team 07:23 – Nurture sales funnel 07:48 – Ready, Set, Gram 08:43 – Partnered with trusted affiliate 09:27 – Business model 09:35 – Online marketing educators 09: 58 – Payment per student 10:09 – $700/month on a 6-month plan 10:33 – Create a micro community 11:25 – Total revenue for 2015 11:35 – Goal for 2016 12:03 – Closed her store last year 12:27 – Started her store in 2007 12:52 – Sue's payment per speech 13:05 – First paid speaking gig 14:04 – Different ways to get compensation when you speak 14:40 – Connect with Sue thru her Instagram and use the hashtag #suebmademedoit and tag her and Nathan 17:35 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Take the risk—removing something valuable from your live is worth it if that valuable thing keeps you from growing. It always feels good to be able to help and empower people. Focus on your priorities – teamwork always come in handy. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @suebzimmerman – Sue's Instagram SueBZimmerman.com – Sue's website Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Gavin Zuchlinski, the founder of Acuity Scheduling—the slickest way for businesses to automate and manage their appointments online, allowing clients to schedule themselves. He's a self-professed tech geek and an espresso-maniac who wholeheartedly believes that business should be totally fun. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Anything You Want What CEO do you follow? – Andy Grove Favorite online tool? — Canary Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "8 and a half hour is my ideal number" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Spend more time doing the things you enjoy doing." Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Gavin to the show 02:09 – Gavin is on his 4th espresso for the day 02:25 – How Acuity Scheduling generate sales 02:30 – SaaS to manage scheduling appointments online 02:48 – Developed for Gavin's mother 03:00 – 2006 started 03:21 – Start of Gavin's business 03:48 – 2007 first year in business 04:05 – Only a side project 04:54 – First year revenue 05:21 – Transition from working as a government employee 05:50 – Organic search results and SEO 06:24 – Had friends' sign up on private link 06:45 – 2013 decided to shift 07:15 – Hired the first employee 07:50 – "Keep things small" 08:20 – Number of users on free trial 08:50 – Number of users at the moment 09:25 – 10% month over month increase 09:50 – Number of users in the past week 10:54 – 85% active users on paid accounts 11:46 – Most SaaS count their total base 12:57 – Growth from organic results and referrals 13:54 – "When the rate of growth gets too high, that's when I need to hire" 14:07 – Total team size 14:18 – Everyone is remote 14:40 – Support works for only 6 hours a day 15:18 – Team size question is Gavin's pet peeve 16:06 – Growth customer churn is about 8% per month 16:18 – Dashboard churn 16:40 – Current customer acquisition cost on average 16:55 – 10 dollars to acquire for paid acquisition 17:12 – Total marketing spender 18:07 – Total expected earnings from a new unique customer 18:58 – Monthly RPO 19:37 – Gavin's bootstrap 19:50 – Goal for the company 20:08 – "Create a company where I enjoy working" 20:47 – Connect with Gavin thru his website and LinkedIn 22:40 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Sometimes, you just have to choose – and choose what makes you happy. Small team has advantages too – it's easier to manage. Just be patient and let things grow slowly. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. AcuityScheduling.com – Gavin's website LinkedIn – Gavin's linkedin account Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Egbert Ootsburg, onto The Top. Egbert runs a company that designs apps for the scalding-hot consumer drone market. Listen as Egbert talks about his strong ambition to make a difference in the world and how he takes advantage of the drone market. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? – Andy Stanley Favorite online tool? — Evernote Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— "Are you kidding?" If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "To get started faster and not to wait for something to occur before giving yourself permission to succeed" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Egbert to the show 02:06 – How Egbert generate money 02:18 – Open Skkye App 02:45 – Helps Drone pilots find places where to fly versus not fly 03:25 – 2015 total revenue 03:44 – Drone Aviator 05:00 – Leaving the corporate world 05:10 – Worked with Pfizer in 2009 05:38 – Biggest recommendation 05:55 – "There's always a way to bootstrap something" 06:20 – Egbert did a consulting job 06:31 – Consulting revenue 07:07 – The gap between the pre-revenue and 2009 07:35 – Drone industry 08:25 – Creative ways to decrease expenses 08:36 – "Live on the basics that you need" 08:52 – Cut the monthly expenses to 45% of previous total 09:09 – 4 kids 09:46 – How much money you keep is NOT how much money you make 10:05 – Reason why Egbert's business attracted investors 10:24 – Experience in aviation from Navy 11:05 – Anticipated revenue in the next quarter 11:55 – About half a million registered users 12:17 – New items every week 12:37 – Connect with Egbert thru his LinkedIn and Twitter 14:55 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Believe in the vision of what you're doing and create value. It is about how much money you keep, not how much money you save. Get started faster. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. LinkedIn – Egbert's linkedin account @EgbertOostburg - Egbert's twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Keith Perhac onto The Top. Keith is a marketing expert, developer, and designer. His goal is to take complex things and make them simple, understandable, and actionable for business owners. Today he is the CEO of SegMetrics and DelfiNet, technical marketing agencies that help companies create highly optimized sales funnels. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Work the System What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — HarvestApp Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "It's not as scary as jumping off and leaving the company that you've been working on for 6 years to start on your own." Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:13 – Focus: DelfiNet or SegMetrics 03:02 – Founding day of SegMetrics and first revenue 04:20 – How SegMetrics is built 04:50 – Focused on building the greatest product 05:48 – Margins are better in SaaS 06:19 – Average sales per customer per month 07:10 – August Revenue 09:40 – 50% gross margins 10:15 – Biggest lever to increase profitability 11:02 – Traffic increased drastically 11:55 – Acquisition cost 12:16 – Biggest affiliate 12:33 – Second biggest affiliate 13:54 – Bootstrap 14:26 – Similar with Angel Investing 15:10 – The business' worth 16:13 – Keith was based in Japan 16:38 – Developyourmarketing.com 18:57 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Take advantage of your on-peak time. Turn your previous challenges into positive experiences. Don't just focus on sales, focus on creating a great product. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Developyourmarketing.com – Keith's website Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Pablo Fuentes, founder and CEO of Proven—a company that specializes in small business HR solutions. In addition to his passion for helping both minorities and women start businesses, Pablo also owns a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Stanford. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Art of Learning What CEO do you follow? – Richard Branson Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Absolutely If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Start Jiu-jitsu earlier" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:35 – Nathan introduces Pablo to the show 02:04 – How Pablo's business generates sales and collaborates with talent managers 03:21 – First year revenue in 2009 versus revenue in 2015 03:45 – How do you make money? 03:55 – When small businesses post a job 04:30 – Average pay per company location 04:51 – Average revenue per user 05:00 – Lifetime value 06:10 – Average churn = of 2 years 07:10 – August Revenue 08:10 – Subscription vs. pay as you go pricing 09:40 – 50% gross margins 10:15 – The biggest lever to increase profitability 11:55 – Company is fully remote 13:55 – Revenue goal for 2016 16:56 - @provenpablo 19:44 – What were you trying to raise before you stoped last year? 22:10 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Don't give up just yet – give your company a time to grow. Balance is everything. Have a goal and focus on pursuing it. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @provenpablo – Pablo's Twitter handle. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Yuri Elkaim, a nutrition fitness and fat loss expert, onto the podcast. Yuri is a New York Times best-selling author of "The All-Day Energy Diet" and "The All-Day Fat Burning Diet". He's a former soccer player turned health crusader, and is most famous for helping people who've tried everything to lose weight but enjoyed very little success. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? – Peter Teal Favorite online tool? — Google Docs Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— About 7-8 If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Focus on one thing" Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:34 – 25 million Youtube views 03:06 – Yuri's focus on building now 03:59 – Webinars 04:11 – Conversion from the webinar 04:30 – Shut down the sales page 04:39 – Facebook Ad expenditure 05:21 – Totalwellnesscleanse.com 05:40 – Facebook ad look and landing page 06:17 – Eyelid test guide 07:00 – Number of webinars per month 08:00 – No domain for webinar 08:30 – Webinar sell price 09:05 – Webinar is a great tool for teaching 09:26 – Ways to normalize the funnel 09:30 – Cost per lead 10:38 – Number of viewers needed to get one new sale 11:00 – One webinar, they get 5 sales 15:14 – Call to action in Youtube videos 16:03 – Sample video titles from Youtube 16:50 – Get people to click on the ad before 30 seconds 17:10 – Youtube ad overlay 17:40 – Webinar Jam 18:02 – Total sales of cleansing product 18:35 – Yuri's first episode with Nathan 19:05 – Check Yuri's website and his group 21:25 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Gaining the trust of the customer is a like having a relationship—let them know you better. Utilize your online resources. Don't be scared of changes—they can lead to a better opportunities. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. YuriElkaim.com – Yuri's website Healthpreneurgroup.com – Yuri's group Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Matt Tumbleson is the founder and CEO of Teckst – a New York based startup that's transforming customer service by directly connecting consumers with businesses via 2-way text messaging. His own frustrations with lengthy hold times and incompetent customer service representatives are why he decided to launch Teckst. Prior to jumping into entrepreneurship, Matt worked as the Creative and Marketing director of Seamless (now Grubhub), and worked as a graphics journalist at The Miami Herald. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Delivering Happiness What CEO do you follow? – Marc Benioff Favorite online tool? — WorkFlowy Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Stick to one thing long enough to see it through" Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Matt to the show 02:31 – What Matt does and how they make money 03:09 – Selling ROI 03:15 – Created software in a house in NY 03:33 – They have monthly subscription plan 03:50 – Currently have 5 clients 04:10 – How a client used Matt's product 05:37 – Created encrypted SMS 06:40 – Works with Memebox 05:22 – How does Betterment use you? 06:40 – 65% gross margins on labor 06:55 – Matt put his own equity for the company 07:30 – How old were you when you launched this and did you feel comfortable leaving your job? 07:40 – Started in his late 20s 08:20 – 6 months deal 08:51 – Reason Matt left his job 09:13 – Launched Teckst in 2012 but officially launched in 2013 10:06 – First year revenue 10:45 – Total funding raised 11:40 – Enterprise client pay per month 11:50 – Thousands or tens of thousands monthly 12:05 – Number of team members 13:12 – Acquisition costs and churning 13:35 – Lost a client once 14:15 – Did Google Adwords 14:50 – Matt's lifestyle 15:50 – Average the customer have to pay to get them on board 18:39 – Upside on quarterly business review 19:13 – MRR last month 21:17 – Connect with Matt on his LinkedIn and twitter @teckstco 23:53 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Think 10x. That's how you should think regarding business. Even if you're the CEO, you still need to learn and grow. If we can do everything right, we can hit all the numbers. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. LinkedIn – Matt's LinkedIn account @teckstco – Matt's Twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Johnson Emmanuel the founder and CEO of Clients Attraction, a company that specializes in online marketing strategies engineered to attract big-ticket clients. Listen as Johnson shares his story of starting a business in Nigeria, and how he used his passion for marketing to start chipping his path to the top. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Ultimate Sales Machine What CEO do you follow? – Richard Branson Favorite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Focus on your marketing and charge more sooner. Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:20 – $230K in revenue in 2015 03:00 – How Johnson's company makes money 04:00 – Johnson uses a lot of Infusionsoft with his clients 04:30 – When you're selling a high value product, you don't list your prices you have a conversation 05:15 – Johnson charges his clients between $5k and $20k per month 05:55 – Johnson's top client paid $25K last year 07:30 – It's important to learn, but don't overstimulate yourself 08:15 – It's normal to be afraid of raising your prices, but it's a part of good business 08:45 – During Johnson's first year in 2013, the company's revenue was about $32K 11:08 – The catalyst to Johnson's success was helping his clients understand the flaws within their marketing systems 12:39 – Johnson is based in Lagos, Nigeria and he employs 17 people 13:08 – The company's goal is to hit $1M in 2016 14:00 -- $5k per day on PAID media 15:40 – Average cost per employee per month in Nigeria? $500 16:12 – To date, the business has worked with 30 unique customers 18:54 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: If you want to sell to high-value clients, you need to engage them in a conversation. If you engage in too many educational inputs, you'll inhibit your own success. Charge more sooner. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Pejman Ghadimi, a self-made entrepreneur and best-selling author born in Iran, raised in France, and crushing it in the United States since 1997. Listen as Nathan and Pejman talk bottom-line numbers, exotic cars, and what it takes to build a multimillion dollar business from scratch. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Start With Why What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — N/A Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Take life more seriously. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Pejman to the show 02:15 – VIP Motoring 02:45 – At its core, VIP is an automotive investing service 05:00 – Legal bribery 06:30 – Pejman sharing his payout 06:56 -- $2.6M net cash flow 07:12 – What Pejman does with the money he takes from VIP Motoring 07:45 – Buying luxury assets 09:05 – The exotic car market allows people to get in and out of it quickly 09:34 – These cars aren't meant to be driven, no one ever drives the cars, they never see public roads 11:10 – The industry and room for growth is limited by demand…the people buying these high-value cars are limited in supply 12:38 – Secret Entourage— A mindset, attitude, and a way of life. The relationships you form that revolve around yourself. The network that helps you be successful. The movement that. 13:30 – The entrance fee is $200 14:20 – Secret Entourage was not established as a revenue generating business 14:50 – As many as 36,000 sign ups in 2015 15:36 – How Pejman drives signups and facilitates exposure for his brands and drives new customers 17:50 – Pejman's email list has 100K people, but he doesn't use the list very often 19:40 – Nathan drill Pejman on the definition of "his movement" 20:59 – @ICreateMillionaires 23:16 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Obscure industries can be extremely profitable. Just because you have a massive email list, doesn't mean you should exploit it. You will always be limited by demand so be aware of what that demand is. Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @ICreateMillionaires – Pejman's Instagram Handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Matt Schwartz, the president of MJS Executive Search –a 13-year old, New York based retained executive search firm that specializes in placing transformational talent to global Fortune 500 companies. His clients are included but not limited to Pepsi Co, American Express, Fidelity, New York Life, Equinox, and Pitney. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Profit First and Rework What CEO do you follow? – Gary Vaynerchuck Favorite online tool? — Send Later and Trello Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— I do If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Don't follow the herd. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:44 – Nathan introduces Matt 02:44 – Why MJS Executive Search is different 02:51 – The trends have changed 03:45 – The roles placed for Pepsi Co 04:30 – Engineers for reinventing equipment 05:30 – We are there to tell the story 05:40 – The pitch MJS delivers 06:42 – How MJS make money through placing people on roles 07:41 – Our competition bills the entire fees in 90 days 08:15 – Founded MJS Executive Search in 2002 08:32 – First year revenue was $85,000 08:45 – Matt left Heidrick & Struggles with an $280K salary including bonuses 09:24 – They changed the complain significantly 10:35 – "I had nothing to lose." 11:01 – MJS' revenue in 2015 was $1.1M 11:14 – Revenue goal for 2016 is $1.4M 11:39 – Working with a team from Less Doing's Virtual Assistance Services 12:19 – Nathan hates humans 12:40 – Matt spends $700 to $1000 monthly for a virtual assistant 13:17 – Bottom line profit in 2015 was $600K 13:31 – What the entrepreneur does to create wealth for himself 14:00 – Meeting with Michael Michalowicz 14:25 – I struggled with not knowing where my cash wash 14:34 – Bank balance accounting 15:57 – Matt wants to make sure he has security, funding, and business health 16:23 – Nathan's struggle with his investments 17:04 – Matt can save up to $53,000/year from his bank balance accounting 17:24 – All on the profit first 17:43 – The average contract value from $80K to $100K 18:05 – Working with an average of 5 to 6 customers per year 18:21 – MJS is competing with the largest firms in the world 19:06 – Connect with Matt thru his email address and website 21:25 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: We are there to tell the story. Struggling without knowing where your cash is at. All on profit first. Resources Mentioned: Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks– The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Profit First and Rework – Matt's favorite business books Send Later and Trello – Matt's favorite online tools Connect with Matt thru his email address and website Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Sweeney Daniel, a partner at Hustle and Grow and Click Bank University. He launched his first company in high school which lead him to working full time in digital marketing. He decided to leave the corporate grind and is now focused on helping others create their digital business while maintaining a fun lifestyle. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday What CEO do you follow? – James Schramko Favorite online tool? — Clickfunnels and Drip Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Most of the time 7 and a half If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Spend money and invest in assets Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:34 – Nathan introduces Sweeney 02:04 – What Hustle and Grow is and how it generates revenue 02:11 – Marketing list, promoting digital products, and an agency 02:20 – Selling marketing and affiliate products and working closely with ecommerce partners 02:28 – Founded in 2016 02:38 – Hustle and Grow's website 02:53 – 2016's revenue will be close to $1M 03:17 – The most successful thing sold 03:39 – Partnership with Click Bank 04:01 – Providing digital products to Click Bank customers 04:48 – How Hustle and Grow landed the deal 05:05 – The pay and the partnership 05:50 – Commission based income 06:36 – Online Course Academy 07:25 – Sold about 100 07:03 – Sweeney worked with 4 7-figure businesses 08:06 –Why not another line of business? 08:21 – Sweeney was an employee earning $60K+commisions 08:55 – Sweeney's tragedies in college 09:09 – "You need to have your ducks in a row in order for your business to grow." 09:28 – If Sweeney's dad didn't pass away 09:53 – The before and after 10:51 – The trend from tragedy to realization 11:46 – Tragedy –one if the things that makes or breaks people 12:01 – Sweeney had 2 podcasts in the past 12:36 – Nathan's experience with podcasts 13:08 – The big thing is that people puts out a course but doesn't build a brand. 14:07 – Brand first, product second 14:17 – Connect with Sweeney on Facebook 15:53 – The Famous Five 18:32 - Grab FREE Facebook Ads and Ecommerce Guide for The Top Tribe 3 Key Points: You need to have your ducks in a row in order for your business to grow. Tragedy –one if the things that makes or breaks people. The big thing is that people puts out a course but doesn't build a brand. Resources Mentioned: Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks– The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday – Sweeney's favorite business book Clickfunnels and Drip – Sweeney's favorite online tools Connect with Sweeney on Facebook Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Michael Litt started his first video company, Redwoods Media, as his undergraduate thesis project. He then evolved with his partner to create another successful video software company, Vidyard. He has learned the value of supportive family and friends throughout his life as an entrepreneur. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Behind the Cloud What CEO do you follow? — Mark Benioff Favorite online tool? — Gmail Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — I try to. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – If you want to be an entrepreneur, surround yourself with people who love and support you. Focus on those relationships. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Michael 02:15 – He started at the University of Waterloo and Research in Motion 03:00 – He graduated at 25, and the Redwoods Media was built as his undergraduate thesis project 03:50 – He contracted businesses to sponsor their company 04:50 – They were passionate about the video company, and turned down jobs at places like Google 05:30 – Vidyard is a video platform for business 05:50 – They sell that technology to businesses on a monthly basis 06:10 – Average revenue per customer is about $30k 06:35 – They have an inside sales team 07:25 – Four categories of businesses and sales teams 07:50 – 132 people on their team, and they have almost doubled in the last year 08:15 – Growth pains are opportunities to learn 08:55 – Looking at retention instead of churn 09:25 – Gross retention is 95% 09:45 – Net retention is 135% 10:47 – They have raised $70 million in funding 11:00 – Customer acquisition cost is paid back in 1.5 years 11:15 – Average customer acquisition is $40000 11:45 – Customers stay for quite a long time, according to the numbers 13:27 – Why lifetime value is tricky 13:45 – They focus on payback period for their customers 14:25 – Being honest about their business and their numbers for customer acquisition costs 15:10 – They include hard costs, like any work supplies 15:40 – Total customers is private 16:05 – They are looking to triple the business for two years, and then double the business for the next three years 16:40 – It would show their potential to go public 17:00 – Building a fast growing, high-value business 17:25 – Tom Tunguz's Blog 17:45 – Revenue is private. 18:15 – They broke through $1 million for their first full year of sales 18:45 – Michael has a holiday party every year at his office. 19:00 – Project Christmas has carried throughout their business 19:28 – The Fall is a great time to raise money 19:55 – Connect with Michael at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn 22:20 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Your first business ideas will develop into bigger, better projects. Be honest about your company and spending. Surround yourself with people who love and support you as you pursue your entrepreneurial dreams. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Behind the Cloud - Michael's favorite business book Gmail – His favorite tool, besides his own Tom Tunguz's Blog – Learn about the best models that public companies use Connect with Michael at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Mathilde Collin, CEO and co-founder of Front. Her app has developed email and inbox features meant specifically for teams. Growing up in France, Mathilde realized that being an adult wasn't fun—that getting a job usually meant a life of misery. She would not settle for that. She knew from the beginning that she had to create a job that she loved, and so Front was born. Famous Five: Favorite Book? - The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Patrick Collison Favorite online tool? — Front! and Slack. Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — Yes. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – We can be happy at work. Get a job you love. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Mathilde Collin 02:00 – Front App is an inbox for teams. 02:25 – A SaaS company founded in 2014 02:50 – She started the business when she was 22. 03:05 – She realized a lot of people didn't like their job, and she wanted to solve that issue for herself. 03:35 – 2015 revenue was $1 million 04:00 – 1210 companies use Front 04:20 – A large variety of company sizes 04:50 – Why they raised millions in capital. 05:25 – Email is complicated, so you need to invest in resources and good engineering. 05:45 – She already had a loan from studying in France. 06:15 – They raised with key people who could help. 06:37 – They wanted to invest in hiring super qualified people. 07:05 – Team of 21 in San Francisco 07:15 – Monthly expenses are about $200k 07:50 – How did you get over the psychological barrier of that red line? 08:20 – Spending money when you have money. 08:35 – A more rational spending plan. 09:05 – She will keep that money in the bank. 09:45 – That extra money has allowed for growth. 10:20 – She has people under her responsibility. 10:55 – She has one cofounder. 11:05 – How they determined equity. 11:15 – An even split for people who will be there for the whole life of the company. 12:05 – They have no marketing team. 12:25 – She publishes content at blog.frontapp.com and @CollinMathilde on Medium and Twitter. 13:10 – Customer lifetime value: Customer churn is 3% 13:35 – Revenue churn is negative. 13:45 – They sell three plans. 14:10 – Selling the upsell versions to new teams in the same companies 15:00 – An inbound sales team 15:15 – Monthly and annual plans 15:35 – Lifetime value is about 33 months, or $6300 16:15 – Valuation was not disclosed 16:45 – Her goal is to make as many people possible happy at this company. 17:20 – They will try to go public eventually. 17:40 – They want to keep their product as it is, which would be difficult if it were acquired. 18:15 – Why customers churn 18:25 – They dislike how often changes happen. 19:05 – They grow 10% each month 19:30 – They would like to hit $300k this year. 19:45 – Connect with Mathilde on Twitter at @CollinMathilde 21:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Get a job that you love. Starting a business is hard—all entrepreneurs go through challenges. In the early stages of your company, keep perfecting your product. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app blog.frontapp.com and @CollinMathilde on Medium and Twitter – Follow Mathilde and her company! The Hard Thing About Hard Things – The business book that completely changed Mathilde's outlook on her business. Slack – The tool that Mathilde and her team use a ton at Front Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Joe Apfelbaum of Ajax Union. Joe has had several successful six-figure businesses, and Ajax Union is no exception. The company did $4 million last year, and they have plans to hit $6 million for revenue this year. Take a few notes from Joe's playbook and take your own business to six-figure success. Famous Five: Favorite Book? - Think and Grow Rich, Traction, and The Miracle Morning. Getting Things Done What CEO do you follow? — Tony Robbins Favorite online tool? — Google Docs, Trello and MailChimp Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — I sleep when I'm comfortable. Last night I got 9 hours of sleep If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – The importance of reading and studying books. Relationships matter. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Joe 02:35 – Joe just had his fifth kid 02:55 – Ajax Union was not his first six-figure business 03:30 – It started as a side gig 04:05 – They did $500000 in revenue in 2009 04:25 – 2015 revenue was $4 million 04:45 – They shifted to focusing on their bottom line 05:00 – Revenue per client is $10000 05:15 – A focus on giving better service, not bringing in more clients 05:25 – 20 employees 05:55 – Their goal for 2016 is 6 million 06:10 – Bottom-line margins were small in 2015 06:35 – He wanted to run a smaller business and lose less money 07:15 – The underlying cause of a lifestyle business 07:35 – Paying himself well and living a good life 08:00 – Take-home income was over $200k 08:50 – First year revenue was $500000 09:15 – Paid on a retainer basis 10:25 – Unparalleled marketing support 10:45 – Churn is irrelevant for this stage of the company 11:20 – They turn down clients. 11:35 – A focus on bottom-line growth this year 11:55 – Working with Jacobtime 12:30 – Joe is a killer marketer! 13:00 – Taking stable businesses and helping them take off 13:30 – An investor put in $1 million 14:05 – They wanted the partnership 14:45 – Valuation for his company was very good 15:30 – An angel investment 15:45 – Profit sharing 16:15 – His podcast, CEO Mojo 16:30 – Doing weekly interviews and figuring out the obstacles of getting to having six-figure businesses 17:10 – A goal to grow a database of content 17:25 – In the process of writing a book based on that content and creating courses 18:30 – The true value of documenting the stories of entrepreneurs 19:00 – He wants people to see that success in your business, life, and family is possible. 20:00 – People can follow Joe at Facebook.com/joeapfelbaum and on LinkedIn 20:20 – Snapchat and Instagram 22:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Start your business as a side gig, and make the transition to owning your own business easier. Create a lifestyle business that gives you more freedom to live a happy life. Focus on the quality of the service you are providing before you start drawing in more customers. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Think and Grow Rich, Traction, The Miracle Morning and Getting Things Done – Wherever you're at with your life or your business, one of these books will be right for you! Google Docs, Trello, and MailChimp – Joe's favorite online tools CEO Mojo – Follow Joe's podcast to hear the stories of successful six-figure entrepreneurs Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Stacy Tuschl, who has maneuvered her way to the top with a brick-and-mortar business and has now entered the online world. She just launched her Level Up group coaching program, another step in the right direction as a true entrepreneur. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Virtual Freedom What CEO do you follow? — Amy Porterfield Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar's gTasks Pro Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — Always. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Find a coach to work with immediately. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Stacy 02:15 – She has been in business since she was 18 02:40 – Her performing arts center and her online world are both sources of revenue 03:05 – She started teaching dance in her parents' backyard when she was 18 03:25 – The business snowballed, and people started to pay her 03:45 – The company is now 11 years old 04:05 – Total revenue was 1.4 million 04:15 – Tons of expenses with a brick and mortar business. 04:35 – Profit margins were not great 05:15 – She pays herself a salary and does distributions 05:50 – She strategizes with her CPA 06:15 – A team of 14 06:25 – Payroll was $350000 last year 06:40 – Unique sales were 2000 in a week 07:20 – Her coaching started the last couple years 07:25 – She wanted to challenge herself and help other people 07:55 – Selling one-on-one calls evolved into group coaching 09:00 – One-on-one coaching helps you get to know your customers and their needs 09:35 – Group coaching was launched last week 10:15 – Using Facebook 10:35 – She has about 2000 people on her list 11:05 – People could trust her and get behind her 11:24 – Spending on Facebook ads is $1200 for the first two weeks 11:50 – How her consulting business is doing. 12:50 – It was launched in November 2015 14:00 – A win-win and a partnership with her affiliates 14:35 – Writing a book was not to make money. She wanted to establish her expertise 15:05 – She wanted to help people get their businesses on track. 15:20 – Her last speaking gig 15:35 – About 50 people attended 16:00 – She made that event perfect, to attract attention for the future 16:20 – Her last paid speaking was for $1000 17:05 – How to know if a speaking opportunity is right for you 17:20 – Look at the audience and the connections 17:40 – Epic Launch is going to help her relaunch the book 18:20 – Connect with Stacy and follow her podcast, Business Rescue Roadmap. 18:35 – Text "Levelup" to 24587 to join her free Facebook community. 20:00 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Find ways to strategize and save with your brick-and-mortar business. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself and take on new business ideas. Get to know your customers' needs. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Virtual Freedom – Stacy's favorite business book gTasks Pro – A new Google Calendars application that syncs your tasks to your calendar Business Rescue Roadmap – A podcast to help you save your startup from going under Epic Launch – Help to launch your book to the top of Amazon Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Josh Herron, one of Bryan's best franchisers at 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Josh and his partner Tyler have been through the grinder as entrepreneurs, but they have now created a franchise worth millions. Learn about franchising and if it's the right path for you to become a business owner and start seeing dollar signs. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Start with Why What CEO do you follow? — Jack Welch Favorite online tool? — iPhone Notes Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – All of your hard work will create something magical. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Josh 02:15 – Franchisers must be entrepreneurial by nature 02:35 – Josh got an opportunity to get into two franchises, and that was his first leap into entrepreneurship 03:10 – Wanting to be your own boss and becoming successful 03:40 – Josh was managing a 1-800-GOT-JUNK location when it got bought out by another owner, his friend Tyler 04:45 – It was an opportunity for Josh to work with someone that he got along with 04:58 – The business did $750000 the year before it sold to his friend 05:30 – It was very immature when Tyler was looking to buy it 06:15 – The deal was more about what was needed for the business to grow 06:30 – The previous owners were very motivated to get rid of it 07:15 – As the business progressed, they bought an OxiClean franchise as well 07:45 – They bought the company to add more money to their bottom line 08:35 – Starting from the ground up 09:23 – What should people look for when buying a franchise? 09:40 – You can learn from people who have done it before 09:57 – You have a lot of support from others 10:10 – You have more freedom than you might think 10:25 – Some franchises have more upfront expenses 11:20 – OxiClean did $200000 the first year, top line 12:00 – They sold the business for $100000 and broke even 12:35 – Last year he did $5.5 million top line 13:00 – How to expand it 13:10 – Buying out other partners 13:20 – Advertising and good employees 13:40 – A huge opportunity even in a small town 14:14 – What do you do with the bottom line? 14:30 – A lot is reinvested 14:40 – They want to expand their footprint 15:05 – How to become a millionaire as a franchiser 15:20 – You have great support and you can maximize your business 15:50 – He's doing better than some of the other people he knows 16:10 – Connect with Josh on LinkedIn 16:30 – Follow their Facebook Page, 1-800-Got-Junk? Kansas City 18:45 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Franchisers must think like entrepreneurs to be successful. Owning a franchise will give you more freedom than you'd expect. If you run your franchise right, it can become a million-dollar business. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Start with Why – Josh's favorite book Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Brian Scudamore, who launched 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Brian's unique perspective on his business drives him to take opportunities for growth, but he never wants to sell his company. He believes he must foster his vision to help others grow and evolve. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The E-Myth What CEO do you follow? — Robert Herjavec Favorite online tool? — All his iPhone apps Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – All the failures needed to happen so that he could learn. Never compromise on the people you bring into your organization. Take hiring seriously. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Brian 02:00 – How did you get into 1-800-GOT-JUNK? 02:20 – He needed to make money for college, and that was the beginning of his business 03:10 – First year revenue was super low 03:30 – He dropped out of university four years later and made $100k 04:00 – 1997 was his first million-dollar year 04:15 – He makes money by hauling away junk 04:30 – 2015 revenue was 215 million 05:05 – 250 franchise partners 05:50 – Charges to franchisers are population based 06:40 – Helping franchise owners to be successful by keeping fees low 07:10 – The average owner varies from $200000 to $1 million 08:10 – Why go into the franchise model? 08:20 – Building together instead of going it alone 08:40 – Collaboration between entrepreneurs 08:55 – A crowdsource model 09:30 – It is a private company, focused on growth 09:45 – He did not raise capital. 10:15 – He generates personal wealth by collecting dividends 10:45 – He doesn't care so much about pulling money out for himself 11:05 – Wealth is watching people grow and evolve 11:20 – He has no board of advisors 11:30 – He likes one-on-one advice from mentors 11:45 – He is going to have a month-long stay-cation with his family 12:15 – A legacy plan is in place, but there is no formal board 13:00 – They get emails on a daily basis from people who want to pay him for the company 13:30 – His business is like his child—he wants to watch it grow 13:55 – He is open to partnerships, but he does not want to sell and risk losing his vision 15:00 – Go to o2ebrands.com 16:35 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Help your employees be successful Collaborate with a team instead of going it alone. Take hiring very seriously. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app The E-Myth – Brian's favorite business book. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Nick Gray, founder and CEO of Museum Hack. Nick thought museums were SO BORING!! Before he launched Museum Hack, he used word of mouth to advertise his idea and give free museum tours to his friends. Now his business is making over 1 million dollars per year. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Power of Full Engagement What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Bezos Favorite online tool? — Revue Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. Use SleepTracker. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Do less drugs. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Nick Gray 02:15 – How did you get into museums? 02:25 – "Renegade museum tours." 02:40 – Revenue comes from charges for live tours 03:00 – Launched in 2013 03:10 – Over 10000 tours sold last year 03:20 – Total revenue was 1.3 million 03:30 – Average cost is $75 per tour 03:45 – Labor cost is $88 per person 04:15 – Net margin relies on high-end tours 04:40 – In the beginning, they got new customers from word of mouth 05:25 – First year revenue was $60k 05:45 – They want to attract people to keep coming back 06:00 – They need to up their repeat rate 06:15 – There are plenty of people to target 06:40 – He just started paying himself a salary 07:20 – His mom is his accountant 07:40 – He is learning to be a better CEO 07:50 – He supported himself with a full-time job at the beginning of the business 08:15 – He built up savings and committed to his museum business 08:40 – His last job gave him a very healthy salary 09:15 – He has always been a big saver 09:45 – His advice: Treating your passion like your job, and creating a demand by providing that product for free 10:30 – Some passions are worthless 10:45 – His team size is 12 full time and 25 part time, along with remote staff 11:15 – Expenses are up to $80k per month 11:40 – The pressure to break even does not worry him 12:10 – Moms and their lectures on receipts 13:10 – A connection with Trip Advisor 13:50 – "It was just a fluke." 14:05 – His goal for this year is 2.2 million 14:15 – Museumhack.com and NickGray.net 15:45 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Create a demand for your product by offering it for free. Treat your passion like your job until you can transition to that passion full time. Build up your savings, and be willing to take risks. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app The Power of Full Engagement - Nick's favorite business book Revue – Nick's favorite online tool NickGray.net – Read Nick's weekly newsletters Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Chris Evans, cofounder of Traffic and Funnels. Surrounded by incredible entrepreneurs, Chris decided that it was his time to build a success empire. His business Traffic and Funnels has taken a smart approach to business: They have focused on their strengths to get revenue, and now they are ready to expand. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – King Icahn What CEO do you follow? — Trump and Zuckerberg Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Find and invest in a mentor Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:35 – Nathan introduces Chris 01:55 – Chris worked with a lot of amazing entrepreneurs and decided to build his own empire 02:40 – He helps experts built client acquisition systems 03:00 – 1 $5500 product, and an upsell 03:25 – Traffic and Funnels is a slick website 03:40 – The numbers 03:50 -- $660000 in revenue for 2016 so far 04:30 – The problem with paid marketing 04:50 – Understanding the market and validating the product 05:15 – The biggest mistake is not understanding that market. 05:40 – The higher value products had a larger margin for error 06:00 – Cost to acquire a client is $400 to $700 06:15 – Solid revenue goals 06:40 – Advice for the info-product space 07:00 – Have clarity 07:30 – You need a target and a specialization 07:50 – Track your numbers and know what you need to break even 08:00 – How do you think about stages for scaling? 08:25 – The revenue must keep up with the spending. 08:50 – Know your business model and your plan. 09:10 – Work your way backwards. 09:25 – Take out any emotion. 09:45 – An evergreen business 10:00 – A launch-style business is more stressful up front 10:20 – You have to be smart and build credibility. 10:50 – Why this model? 11:10 – To build up a kiddy and launch their own evergreen info product 11:35 – Starting with their biggest strength 11:45 – Building stability and growing 12:10 – Taking on more employees does not scare him. 12:30 – They can get through adversity. 12:44 – Go to trafficandfunnels.com and Facebook.com/chrisaevans 14:55 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Start with your biggest strength until your business has stability. Create a plan and work your way backwards. Understand the market and validate your product. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. King Ichahn - Chris' favorite business book Slack – Chris' favorite online tool Toptal – Great for people to get access to software developers Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Jonathan Gass of Nomad Financial. Jonathan founded his company because he decided to focus his career on entrepreneurship and startups. His business works with startups to help them make smart financial plans and fundraising decisions. Today we'll learn from him about what pitfalls to avoid in our own startups. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Give and Take What CEO do you follow? — Johnny Rockefeller, of the book Titan Favorite online tool? — Audible Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — I try for 7 to 8. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Listen to your gut when you are making decisions. Focus on culture. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:35 – Nathan introduces Jonathan 02:10 – His main focus is entrepreneurship 02:25 – He saw the same problems with most startup founders 02:50 – They weren't setting up their accounting systems to support decision making 03:10 – He worked for Vimeo a few years ago 03:25 – They had to pitch what set them apart from YouTube and other companies 03:55 – Building tools to support video makers 04:10 – Nomad Financial generates revenue for a number of services, paid for by the hour. 04:30 – Their employees specialize in helping startups 05:25 – A role as an advocate 05:45 – Pushback from auditors 06:00 – Staying on top of trends 06:20 – What is a 409a valuation? 06:58 – Startups mix that up with a valuation for selling stock. 07:30 – Mistakes early entrepreneurs make with cap tables 07:40 – No consistent terms 08:15 – Even the software can't always solve those problems 09:00 – Understanding the implications of sale 09:15 – One man who had an option to sell his company, but wasn't really going to make any money 10:10 – Nathan's interview with Teachable (Episode 117) 11:00 – Explaining preferred shareholders 11:35 – Investors that ask for really aggressive terms 12:00 – Be careful with the terms in your agreement 12:35 – Smart money vs. "plain dollars" 12:55 – People who are there to actually help the business 13:25 – Understanding the goals of your investors 14:50 – The importance of a fit culture and a fit vision 14:40 – The friendliest investor for the entrepreneur 15:00 -- Great term sheets, and providing great value 15:15 – Interplay investors 16:10 – Jonathan is making about 4 or 5 investments each year. 16:35 – Seed-stage and a-round investments 17:00 – Why put a portion of your portfolio into startups? 17:20 – You keep that portion for that, and you use the other portion for other things. 17:45 – Living for entrepreneurship and believing in these startups. 19:00 – Connect with Jonathan at [email protected] and nomadfinancial.com 20:45 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Set up your accounting to support decision making in your startup. Be aware of your investor's goals and what value they will contribute to your company. You need a cohesive culture and vision, among founders and investors. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Give and Take – A business book that teaches philosophies Jonathan lives by Interplay – A reliable team of investors and partners Toptal – Great for people to get access to software developers Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Roy Man, CEO of Dapulse. Dapulse is a tool designed to solve "inherently problematic" management strategies in businesses. The company has a philosophy of being transparent with their revenue and numbers, all of which you can find on their Instagram page. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Avishai Abrahami Favorite online tool? — FullStory Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — No regrets. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan introduces Roy Man 01:50 – What is Dapulse? 01:55 – A management tool for your company 02:20 – Solving something that was "inherently problematic" 02:30 – A SaaS business launched in February 2014 03:00 – Currently over 5000 customers 03:20 – Each company, or customer, pays a certain amount, depending on their team size 03:50 – Total MRR in June was $360k 04:15 – See screenshots of their numbers on Instagram 04:50 – They have raised $9 million 05:00 – They started with raising $1.5 million 05:40 – The startup mentality 06:20 – Their valuation was 3.53 million 07:00 – A solid product with a good market 07:15 – A year of product marketing and finding what people were using for management 07:50 – "People think in tables." 08:25 – The product market fit 08:45 – They started to launch and scale and did a convertible note 09:10 – Their last round of funding was $5 million, with a post valuation of $28.5 million 09:45 – First year revenue was less than a million 10:20 – Customer acquisition cost varies 11:10 – Average is about $600 11:55 – Monthly customer churn is 2% 12:20 – Negative revenue churn 13:30 – Lifetime value is great 14:20 – Churn is not relative in terms of money 14:40 – As you scale, some customers will leave 15:10 – Expand your customer circle as much as you can 15:25 – Team size is about 35 15:40 – Total 2015 revenue was about 3 million 16:35 – Connect with Roy at [email protected] 17:05 – Roy's Blog on Medium 19:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Create a product that has strong market potential. Spend time getting to know what your customers will want out of your product or service. Expand your customer circle as much as you can. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. FullStory – Roy's favorite online tool The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Roy's business book recommendation Toptal – Great for people to get access to software developers Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Max Pechersky, co-founder of PromoRepublic. His company focuses on helping marketing freelancers get new ideas and strategies for content marketing. As PromoRepublic continues to grow, the company is stretching its boundaries to provide more products for freelancers. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Intercom on Product Management What CEO do you follow? — Favorite online tool? — Wunderlist Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — Almost never. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — It's ok if someone doesn't like me. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan introduces Max 02:05 – The co-founder of PromoRepublic 03:00 – He owns thirty percent of the company 03:20 – It's a software service that helps with content marketing. 03:45 – Solving the frustrations of marketing freelancers 04:10 – The business was founded at the end of 2013 04:45 – First year total revenue – 30000 euro 05:00 – Now he has 10k in recurring revenue 05:50 – Total customers: 600 06:10 – Customer pricing is about $12 per month 07:00 -- $650000 raised 07:30 – It was a grant and a soft loan. 08:00 – Churn monthly is 8% 08:50 – They had to decide which customers to focus on 09:30 – They moved to freelance marketers 09:50 – It's about $100 in acquisition cost 10:30 – The average person stays for about a year. 11:14 – Additional revenue streams 11:25 – Social media templates 11:40 – Like stock photos for social media posts 12:00 – [email protected] 13:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Channel your product toward a specific market. When you start to see success, look for additional revenue streams. Come up with an idea that solves a fundamental problem. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Wunderlist – Max's favorite online tool Intercom on Product Management – Max's favorite business book Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Brian Wong, who started his company Kiip after getting laid off. As his company has grown and matured, his cofounders have moved on. But Brian is incredible grateful for his company and believes in sticking to your decisions and putting your whole heart and soul into your business. Now Kiip is on track to make $20 million this year, so he must be doing something right. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Predictably Irrational What CEO do you follow? — Evan Spiegel Favorite online tool? — Evernote Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Stop taking everything so seriously. Everything is going to work out. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan introduces Brian 01:50 – Kiip is embedded into apps, and it rewards you for achievements in those apps 02:45 – 50/50 revenue share with brands who provide the rewards 03:20 – The economics of partnering with a brand like Gatorade 04:00 – Customers must claim the award for either company to get money 05:00 – Why they use email to deliver the awards 05:38 – Brian's journey to where he is now, at age 25 06:00 – He found himself in business development 06:55 – Laid off in 2010 07:00 – He met with a few venture capitalists, and a startup seemed like the right direction 08:00 – He and his two cofounders got started 08:30 – They started with $300k 09:30 – Total capital now is $32 million 09:45 – Last year's revenue was $11 million 10:00 – Margins are increasing as they are becoming more efficient 10:40 – Reducing server costs, marketing costs, and creating different revenue streams 11:25 – They have a unique revenue model that brings in "new money" 12:35 – Engagement rate is 10% 13:10 – Both of Brian's cofounders have left to do other things 13:45 – How Brian feels about his company's growth 14:15 – "At the end of the day, it's what your exit is." 14:50 – He feels thankful for what he has with his company 15:15 – "Make your decision and don't look back." You can always dream about what could be better or different, but follow through and stay committed to what you have. 16:50 – Goal for 2016 is $20 million 17:00 – Hopes to grow the margin more 17:15 – Twitter @brian_wong and Snapchat at bwong91 19:20 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: When you make a decision, completely commit to that decision. It does no good to daydream about what could be better or different. Channel that energy into improving what you have. Take advantage of an opportunity when it is put in front of you. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Evernote – Brian's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Deepak Goel, the mastermind behind his new company KarmaCircles. Deepak says the company is the next-generation LinkedIn. He believes he has found his calling in life as an entrepreneur in the social networking niche. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Give and Take What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn Favorite online tool? — Mint, Appear.in Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — Absolutely. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don't stay in a company for more than two years. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Deepak 01:50 – KarmaCircles is an app that connects entrepreneurs with successful business people 02:55 – Pilots with business schools and corporate companies 03:15 – No money the first year 03:30 – What companies are similar to KarmaCircles 04:20 – A LinkedIn of the future 05:00 – All free pilots right now 05:45 – Why they are not charging for the app now 06:40 – Will the customers pay when they make that shift? 07:10 – If customers like the product, they will stay 07:40 – Target annual contract value size 07:55 – 500 users per month for business schools 08:45 – It can be used by any company that does networking 09:00 – Much larger contracts for corporate companies 10:10 – Capital from six angel investors 10:40 – 6 people on their team 10:50 – They pay $3000/month for six engineers 11:40 – Differences between them and the company Clarity 12:00 – Social networking is Deepak's "life calling" 13:00 – Karmacircles.com/Deepak 15:00 – Giving of yourself for free will circle back to you 15:45 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Find the industry that you were made for. If you give to others freely, you will see karma come back around to you. Believe in your business and set high expectations. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Mint – Deepak's favorite online tool Appear.in – A video conversation tool that requires no download Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Massimo Chieruzzi, CEO of AdEspresso. His company, founded in 2013, is now so profitable that he says they don't need fundraising! Massimo sees only growth for AdEspresso in the future as Facebook ads continue to evolve and improve. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Predictably Irrational What CEO do you follow? — Rand Fishkin Favorite online tool? — HubSpot Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don't start a startup. Get some experience for a corporate business first. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Massimo 01:30 – AdEspresso was first on The Top on Episode 70 01:50 – Focus on growing and reducing churn 02:25 – Revenue is about $400k/month 02:38 – 2015 total revenue was $3M 02:50 – Fundraising has reached $1.8 Million 03:30 – "We have been profitable this last year, so we don't need the money." 04:00 – More than 4000 customers 04:45 – Learn about AdEspresso at Adespresso.com 05:00 – Churn is 7% and is decreasing 06:00 – How long their customers stay 07:10 – 35 people on their team 07:20 – Monthly expenses are around $280k 07:45 – They are growing by at least 15% every month 08:00 – How the company is sustainable 08:30 – Customer acquisition is less than $10 08:45 – Paid acquisition is only content promotion 09:20 – They were founded in 2013 09:30 – What would Massimo sell his company for? 10:20 – @MassimoCw on Twitter or [email protected] 12:10 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Allow yourself to gain knowledge from different experiences. Find ways to lower your acquisition costs. Get into an industry that has a long life ahead of it. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. HubSpot – Massimo's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Massimo Chieruzzi, CEO of AdEspresso. His company, founded in 2013, is now so profitable that he says they don't need fundraising! Massimo sees only growth for AdEspresso in the future as Facebook ads continue to evolve and improve. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Predictably Irrational What CEO do you follow? — Rand Fishkin Favorite online tool? — HubSpot Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don't start a startup. Get some experience for a corporate business first. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Massimo 01:30 – AdEspresso was first on The Top on Episode 70 01:50 – Focus on growing and reducing churn 02:25 – Revenue is about $400k/month 02:38 – 2015 total revenue was $3M 02:50 – Fundraising has reached $1.8 Million 03:30 – "We have been profitable this last year, so we don't need the money." 04:00 – More than 4000 customers 04:45 – Learn about AdEspresso at Adespresso.com 05:00 – Churn is 7% and is decreasing 06:00 – How long their customers stay 07:10 – 35 people on their team 07:20 – Monthly expenses are around $280k 07:45 – They are growing by at least 15% every month 08:00 – How the company is sustainable 08:30 – Customer acquisition is less than $10 08:45 – Paid acquisition is only content promotion 09:20 – They were founded in 2013 09:30 – What would Massimo sell his company for? 10:20 – @MassimoCw on Twitter or [email protected] 12:10 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Allow yourself to gain knowledge from different experiences. Find ways to lower your acquisition costs. Get into an industry that has a long life ahead of it. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. HubSpot – Massimo's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Adam Tishman, cofounder of Helix Sleep. His company gives every customer a custom-made mattress that is even more affordable then retail brands. With several options, customers can come up with hundreds of different combinations to build their perfect, individualized mattress. Learn about Helix Sleep's goals to continue expanding and to provide the best customer experience. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Made to Stick What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Gross Favorite online tool? — Moat.com Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—About 7. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Learn about customer lifetime value and customer acquisition. Take risks earlier. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan introduces Adam 01:45 – Helix Sleep 01:55 – Custom-made mattresses 02:20 – The price is always the same for the consumer 02:50 – Costs to produce are up to $500 in the mattress industry 03:50 – Net margin 04:20 – Growth of the business 04:35 – Founded a year ago 04:45 – Thousands of mattresses already sold 05:10 – Acquisition 05:40 – Podcasts and radio 06:30 – Really successful in the mattress industry 07:05 – A business model that they can scale 08:10 – A simple game, with one product 08:30 – They use their revenue to fuel growth 09:50 – Capital 10:10 – Seed round just under $1M 10:45 – Team of 16 11:00 – First year revenue was lower than their monthly revenue now 11:55 – The technology 12:10 – An algorithm to make the customized mattresses 12:25 – Coding is outsourced 13:10 – The process for finding a developer on Toptal 14:25 – Everyone is pre-screened 14:50 – Legally, you still own the code 15:20 – More affordable 16:10 – Why they chose Toptal 17:00 – Churn is not a focus for this type of business 17:40 – Focus on building the brand 17:55 – The customer experience 18:14 – Hundreds of skews 19:35 – Goals for 2016 20:35 – helixsleep.com, blog.helixsleep.com, and Adam Tishman on LinkedIn or [email protected] 23:00 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Find a way to provide high-quality products at a more affordable price. Take risks earlier, and jump up the business ladder. Come up with a business model that can be scaled. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Moat.com – Adam's favorite online tool to see how he compares to his competitors Toptal – A platform for finding freelancers Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives