SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

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

Michael Hollauf, cofounder and CEO of MeisterLabs. The company works to provide resources to collaborate across digital platforms. Now they are introducing a new service, MeisterTask, which focuses on better task management and a fun user experience. Hear about how MeisterLabs has hit the ground running and is continuing to introduce new tools to help businesses and entrepreneurs succeed. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Rich Dad Poor Dad What CEO do you follow? — Stewart Butterfield 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? — Buy a flat in London. Be bold. Do it earlier. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Michael 01:35 – Managing director of MeisterLabs 02:20 – MeisterTask 03:10 – Trello was their inspiration 03:40 – Better task management 04:00 – Something more fun to use and focused on tasks 04:15 – 550000 users 05:10 – 60% of the downloads are through the app store 05:30 – Some features only available in the premium model 06:00 – 5000 paying customers 06:50 – Why people upgrade 07:00 – Better integration 07:20 – Funding 08:00 – MeisterTask revenue for 2015 was $20k 08:20 – MindMeister was $2.5 M 08:35 – Monthly recurring was $220k 09:00 – 5 million users 09:15 – 30000 paying customers Collaboration for mind maps 10:10 – Cost to acquire a new customer is about $30 10:30 – 27% annual churn 11:50 – Average customer stays for about 20 months 12:05 – Monthly plan was changed to a longer plan, which increased retention 12:30 – How MindMeister is growing 12:40 – about $25k/month on Google Ads 13:00 – best keyword is "mind mapping" 13:30 – Competitors 14:00 – Goal for the business is to create a suite of products 14:50 – MeisterTask valuation 16:00 – Michael Hollauf on LinkedIn 16:22 – [email protected] 28:35 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Don't be afraid to draw from ideas of existing companies. Establish your end goal for your business. Be bold. Start your business early. 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. Trello – A similar service to MeisterTask that inspired Michael Slack -- Another online tool that inspires Michael and his team Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Jon Lee, CEO of ProsperWorks. Jon has jumped to many different industries, from gaming to tech to banking. As an entrepreneur with success in multiple companies, he believes in going after your business goals as soon as possible. Listen to his journey through his businesses and how he ended up with ProsperWorks. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Crossing the Chasm What CEO do you follow? — Marc Benioff Favorite online tool? — Google 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? — Start your companies earlier. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Jon Lee 02:10 – "Banking to tech to Yahoo to gaming" 02:40 – He saw a need for advertisers when he worked for Yahoo 03:10 – Bizarre Advertising 03:25 – They automated the business 04:10 – How they got revenue 04:35 – Started in their apartment in Palo Alto 04:50 -- $47-million business in two years 05:10 – Applied algorithms to find success 05:35 – Bound to confidentiality on the exit value 06:00 – Balance between cost and revenue 06:40 – How he got into the gaming industry 06:45 – Background in mathematics 07:00 – DNA games 07:15 – They could provide different gaming experiences according to the customer 08:00 – Stickiness is measured according to a customer's engagement 08:20 – Lifetime value helped companies build better games and make more money 09:10 – They sold when Facebook changed their gaming policies 09:50 – They partnered with a larger company 10:10 – ChefVille 10:40 – A good exit for the investors and the company 11:00 – ProsperWorks 12:00 – CRM 12:10 – Partnering with Google Apps 12:30 – Problems with bad data 13:00 – Automating the data entry 13:30 – They have raised of $10 million 14:20 – Founded in 2011 14:30 – A SaaS platform 14:40 – 40000 customers 14:55 -- The Famous Five 15:00 – Profitable sales and marketing 15:15 – Free two-week trial 15:45 – You want a profitable acquisition 16:00 – Focus on building great partnerships and relationships 16:35 – For every $1 spent, they get a $6 return 17:10 – A less mature product needs funding to get customer feedback 17:35 – Team of 67 17:50 – Diminishing marginal returns 18:15 – Invest and get the right type of customer 18:30 – Building up the sales team 19:15 – Average customer pays $49 19:50 – Majority of their contracts are annual 20:30 – Focus to build a useful product 21:00 – Attracting small and medium-sized businesses 21:30 – Revenue churn is negative 23:00 – Jon Lee on LinkedIn or Twitter @prosperworks 3 Key Points: If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, pursue your ideas immediately. Be realistic about what is best for your company. Partner with big companies to gain credibility. 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. Google Apps – The online tool that has partnered with ProsperWorks Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Kevin Davis, who came up with a creative solution for tech support. After waiting weeks to get his computer back from the Geek Squad, he thought there had to be a quicker, better solution. He created Geekatoo as a platform for people to find tech experts in their own neighborhoods. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Jason Calacanis's Podcast What CEO do you follow? — Not really, I look at other marketplaces. Favorite online tool? — Base Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Make sure that you get your startup out as soon as possible. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan introduces Kevin 01:50 – Musician, tech guy, and geek 02:10 – Geekatoo, "like an Uber for tech support" 03:00 – They started out aiming for a nationwide company 04:10 – A platform 04:50 – Founded in 2010 04:55 – First-year revenue was literally nothing 05:30 – It took over a year to get the product out 06:20 – He supported himself by living back home 07:00 – Now it is much quicker to bootstrap a launch 07:45 – They take a percentage for every job that comes through 08:00 – Switched to solving larger-level problems 08:50 – Three different plans and other services 09:30 – Customers are covered for the long term 10:00 – Onboarding takes people from one service to a monthly plan 10:30 – Total customers is 40000 10:50 -- $2.7 M in capital 11:10 – 2015 revenue was almost $4 M 11:25 – Biggest costs 11:50 – Provider payout and overseas center 12:25 – Ad words 13:20 – A focus on positive economics 14:15 – Average project value is about $130 14:40 – Acquisition cost is $20 to $30 15:15 – A large volume of customers had $0 acquisition cost 16:00 – Reasoning behind the merger with HelloTech 17:35 – "A bigger pie" 18:00 – New partners coming forward 18:35 – [email protected] or @geekatoo on Twitter 21:15 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Don't worry about perfecting your business—get it out there as quickly as possible Do what is best to help your business grow. Find a simple way to communicate with your 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. Base – Kevin's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Byron Walker, owner of Survival Frog. Byron is passionate about scaling businesses that will change the world. Hear the breakdown of Survival Frog and what launched this company into huge success. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Ready Aim Fire! What CEO do you follow? — No Favorite online tool? — Evernote Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Welcome adversity. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan introduces Byron 01:40 – Survival Frog 02:00 -- $4.7 million last year 02:20 – Started in 2009 02:30 – Info publishing company 03:00 – One product exploded in 2012 03:30 – 500000 purchases 03:50 – How they got the first sales 04:00 – Paid traffic 04:10 – Banner ads and paid email 04:20 – What is paid email 05:15 – Conversations are around 3 to 5 percent 05:20 – Split testing to find the right price 05:55 – Upsells make money for them 06:15 – Average profit is $5 06:30 – Over a million spent on paid marketing 07:00 – How to buy email lists 07:15 – List brokers 07:40 – Dedicated Emails, Bryan Litman 07:50 -- James R. Whalen 08:30 – Short emails get people to the landing page 08:55 – Now they are 100% physical products 09:50 – Gross margin is up to 35% this year 10:15 – 15 team members 10:40 – Products are sourced and bought in bulk 11:50 – Buying power with companies 12:10 – Forecasting the right amount of inventory 12:45 – LinkedIn or survivalfrog.com 14:40 – Discovery Channel on Blue Collar Backers 16:30 – Hundreds of thousands of units moved 17:00 – Profit in 2015 was $500k 17:35 – Valuation for the business 18:10 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Adjust your business model to improve your margins. Challenges in your life will put you on a better, more rewarding path. Continue doing what you are passionate about. 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. James R. Whalen and Dedicated Emails – Email list brokers Evernote – Byron's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Hamza Amir, who is the CEO of Blurbiz. As a marketing guru working for household names like Disney and Coca-Cola, Hamza saw a problem in the industry with mobile videos. He kept hearing the same complaints, but no one was doing anything about it. Hamza came up with the solution when he created Blurbiz. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? — Mark Suster: msuster on Snapchat Favorite online tool? — Scoutapp Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Move to Silicon Valley faster. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Hamza 01:40 – He is not the guy behind the Chewbacca mask 02:00 – Blurbiz assists with mobile ad videos 03:00 – Up to $5000/month per account 03:20 – 20 customers right now 03:40 – He used to do influencer marketing work 04:05 – He saw a gap in mobile content 04:35 – Blurbiz was the solution to that gap 04:40 – Expected to raise $2 M by the end of the month 05:05 – They are working out terms with a new investor 05:20 – Angel funding 07:00 – His advice for entrepreneurs about investing 07:20 – Competitors 08:00 – "Fundraising is more of an art than a science." 09:05 – How to use the service 09:20 – Create and publish a video from your mobile device 09:50 – Creating a Snapchat through Blurbiz 10:50 – Allowing companies to use different platforms 12:20 – Funds go to the business first. Anything left over goes to salaries. 13:00 – Salary was $2500 last month 13:20 – Twitter: @hamza3amir and Snapchat: hamza3amir 16:00 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: If there is a persistent problem in an industry, come up with a solution. Understand the best types of fundraising for your new business. Make a business that stems from your expertise. 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. Scoutapp – Hamza's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Danavir Sarria. After working as a freelance copywriter, Danavir wanted to stop working with clients and start working for himself. He created CopyMonk, a service that teaches people how to increase sales by producing effective copy. At only 22 years old, Danavir is making a place for himself as an expert copywriter. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Rework What CEO do you follow? — Gary Vaynerchuck Favorite online tool? — MindMeister Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Focus on your efforts, and not on your passion. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan introduces Danavir 01:40 – CopyMonk 02:15 – Total revenue is $6k in two months 02:30 – How he became a copywriting expert 03:00 – 1700 people on his email list 03:40 – 40 sales over four days 04:20 – How to manage his email list 04:45 – Teach people and build a relationship 06:00 – How you know if someone is a good copywriter 06:30 – Sales and good engagement 07:00 – Knows copy and marketing 08:00 – Connecting with people who read your content 08:15 – Freelance copywriting 09:30 – Working with clients makes it hard to see results 10:20 – How he improved one business 11:30 – Client work vs. working for himself 12:25 – Copymonk.com or their Facebook page 14:25 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Focus on your efforts and your expertise. If you don't like working under someone else, start your own business. When you write copy, find ways to connect to your audience. 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. MindMeister – Danavir's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Joe Hyrkin, CEO of Issuu. Joe enjoys working in the publishing industry because it is driven by passion. It is a collective space for people who are moved about something to experience that thing together. Listen as Joe talks about Issuu, which has brought the publishing industry into a modern, digital context. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing about Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Mark Zuckerberg Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Not now. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Put in effort to make an impact. Have a broader learning perspective. Care and effort matter over anything else. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Joe 01:40 – Issuu is a modern media company 02:20 – Tools for publishers 02:45 – Access to premium tools brings in revenue 03:05 – Revenue from Issuu itself 03:40 – Started in Copenhagen 03:55 – A more current platform of digital media 04:15 – He was not part of the original founding team 04:50 – A focus on giving great content to people who are passionate about it 05:20 – It grew through word of mouth and digital marketing 05:30 – Over 3 million publishers have used Issuu 06:20 – Almost 100,000 publishers had paid for the service 06:40 – Primarily recurring revenue payment 07:30 – 90% of revenue is recurring revenue 08:15 – The new subscription plan 08:45 – Most pay $35/month 09:30 – Publishers come and go 10:00 – Customer churn is 2%/month 10:30 – Focus is to help the customers 10:50 – The new plan helps with collaborative efforts 12:00 – Center of the business is in the west coast 12:40 – Raised $21 million 13:30 – His focus is to create products that have an impact 14:40 – Team of 60 people 15:20 – Acquisition costs 15:30 – Not much is spent on marketing 15:50 – They are found through search engines and word of mouth 16:10 – "We're clearly the leader in the space." 16:40 – About $40/customer 17:30 – Customers see the value 18:00 – Why publishing? 18:20 – "It's about what moves people in their lives." 18:50 – Example of Malala's birthday celebration 19:35 – Getting publishers into podcasting 20:00 -- @yankeejoe or [email protected] 22:00 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Get into an industry that you are passionate about. Take an ancient product or service and update it for today's world. Focus on doing what's best for your 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. Slack – The online tool Joe uses Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Julie Fredrickson from Stowaway Cosmetics. Have you ever felt like your purse was so heavy it could take someone out with one swing? Every lip gloss, concealer, and eyeliner really adds up! Julie has a found a solution to this problem with Stowaway Cosmetics, which focuses on creating a more mobile product for women on the go. Listen as she tells us how she has transformed the beauty industry with products that actually get used. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Five Dysfunctions of a Team What CEO do you follow? — Gary Vaynerchuck Favorite online tool? — Google Apps Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Religiously. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don't be a jerk. Being kind costs you nothing. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Julie 01:30 – Stowaway Cosmetics is about mobile products that women can use anywhere 02:10 – Launched 18 months ago 02:25 – Learning to run an effective ecommerce business 02:35 -- $1.5 M in capital 02:45 – Equity 03:15 – Valuation is private at an early stage 03:45 – A good valuation is a balance 05:15 – Gary Vaynerchuck 05:40 – The beauty industry has been giving out products that people don't finish 06:50 – Brands need to see more repeat purchasing 07:25 – Margins for a palette of eyeshadow 08:10 – Effective and a better value than their competitors 08:30 – Direct consumers 08:45 – A normal margin is about 50% through retailers 09:20 – Their margin is about 85% 09:45 – Monopolies in the makeup industry 10:15 – "You should have a choice as a consumer to carry a product that fits your lifestyle." 11:00 – Weighing down your purse with cosmetics 11:35 – Launched in Feb 2015 12:00 – Fundraising started in early 2014 12:15 – Valuation was based on pre-sales 13:25 – Influence in the marketplace 14:05 – Passed $100k in lipsticks sold 14:20 – Their focus changed to repeat purchasing and having a comfortable growing rate 15:20 – Now they spend nothing on marketing 16:25 – They care more about repeat customers than getting more customers 17:30 – On average, women come back to purchase again in 90 days 18:20 – 40% have made at least 3 purchases 19:00 – minimalists vs. maximalists 19:30 – Follow at Julie at @stowaway on Twitter and on Anchor 21:55 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Find a problem and do the research to come up with a good solution. Look at a particular industry and evaluate where its setbacks are. Develop a relationship with your 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. Google Apps – Julie's favorite online tool for her business Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Phil Alexander, founder and CEO of ConceptDrop. His company has a mission to get your projects done while you're sleeping. You can send your project to ConceptDrop and expect to see the end result within mere hours. Listen as Phil tells us about the incredible growth of his business and what he sees for ConceptDrop in the future. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Wall Street Journal What CEO do you follow? — Sundar Pichai 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? — You're not going to learn everything in business school. Start selling as soon as you can. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:05 – Nathan introduces Phil 01:40 – ConceptDrop 02:05 – Servicing over 300 brands 02:25 – A global network of sellers 02:58 – About 30% taken from the sellers 03:25 – They set the prices 03:48 – Upselling to the buyers 04:10 – The average buyer 04:25 – Started in 2012 04:50 – First-year revenue was a couple thousand 05:10 – Funds raised 06:00 – Valuation was between $5 to $7 million 06:20 – Reasons for the valuation come down mostly to growth rate 07:15 – Investors 07:30 – 300 buyers, and under 100 sellers 08:00 – Average seller makes $500 per project, with 4 to 5 projects each month 08:55 – Seeing great growth 09:40 -- $10,000/month to much higher 10:35 – Repurchase rates 11:24 – Total revenue for 2015 was just under $300k 11:55 – Last month, 50 companies used the platform 12:45 – Small, high-quality pool of freelancers 13:10 – A lot of potential in the near future 14:20 – [email protected], @philalexander1 on Twitter 16:30 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: There is no perfect formula for starting a business. High-quality service is a great way to make your business stand out. Assess your business for its potential. 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 – Phil's favorite online tool for marketing and sales Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Yahya Mokhtarzada, co-founder of Truebill. Truebill is a free online tool designed to keep track of all of your monthly subscriptions and find ways to save you money. With so many products requiring a subscription fee, Truebill keeps your bills more organized and paid on time. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Onward What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Bezos Favorite online tool? — Ahrefs Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No chance. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Take bigger risks. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan introduces Yahya 1:30 – Truebill keeps track of recurring bills and subscriptions 2:00 – Free for users 2:20 – Looking at transactions and making recommendations 2:50 – Business development deals 3:20 – Launched in January 2016 03:40 – Healthy growth each month 04:00 – Up to $50k/month at the end of the year 04:20 – Saving other people money 04:45 –$1.75 million in capital 05:15 – Agreement for future equity 06:20 – User data 06:40 – Deals with businesses for advertising 07:50 – Introducing users to the products of those businesses 09:00 – Total users signed up are 50000 09:25 – Activation metrics 09:50 – Different options to explore for the future 10:30 – "the low-hanging fruit" 11:10 – blog.truebill.com 13:10 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Consider taking bigger risks when you can afford to do so. Focus your business model on helping other people. Start with "the low-hanging fruit" to get your business going. 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. Ahrefs – Yahya's favorite online tool for assistance with SEO. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Raj Bhaskar, CEO and cofounder of Hurdlr. Hurdlr is an online tool that helps freelancers and entrepreneurs track their income and taxes. It helps people save money by calculating deductions within seconds. Nathan and Raj will discuss the beginning of Hurdlr and where they are headed in the future. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The One Thing What CEO do you follow? — Gary Keller Favorite online tool? — Google Drive, Freshbooks 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 be so serious. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:03 – Nathan introduces Raj 02:15 – VisualHOMES acquisition price 02:35 – Revenue model 03:10 – Using proceeds from that as an investor and for Hurdlr 03:25 – Hurdlr launched a couple years ago 03:40 – It tracks finances and taxes for freelancers 04:25 – Competitors 04:40 – "Like Mint but for business." 05:15 – Quick process compared to competitors 05:55 – They integrate with Freshbooks 06:20 – The business model 06:30 – They are currently pre-revenue 06:45 – Monthly or annual fee 07:10 – Other mobile solutions are different 07:40 – They have no desktop product 08:00 – Mobile is fast 08:30 – Founded 2.5 years ago 08:50 – Costs started in 2014 09:10 – Capital has been over $1.5 million 09:50 – 16 fulltime employees 10:25 – Usage metrics 10:45 – Mileage tracking 11:15 – Syncing with credit card 11:30 – Tens of thousands users, with 70% active once a month 12:00 – Pricing plan 12:20 – Simple and "part of the customer experience" 12:40 – "Pricing should bring a smile to your face." 13:00 – Referrals 13:15 – Tracking savings through deductions 13:40 – The option to continue paying a monthly fee 14:10 – hurdlr.com with real-time chat 16:15 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Come up with a pricing model that you would feel comfortable paying. Find a niche that sets you apart. Use new technology to come up with helpful solutions. 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. Google Drive and Freshbooks -- Raj's favorite tools, besides Hurdlr Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Cory Gregory, a fourth-generation coalminer who has made it to the top in the fitness industry. Cory has now developed his personal brand on his website where people can pay $8.99 per month to get his top workout plans and his daily articles and videos on how to get into incredible shape. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Rich Dad Poor Dad What CEO do you follow? — Bill Phillips Favorite online tool? — Quickbooks Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Have a strong strategy early. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:03 – Nathan introduces Cory 01:30 – Most money is in selling memberships and books on his internet business 02:00 -- $8.99/month membership 02:15 – Products in 100 countries 02:30 – Cofounder of MusclePharm 02:55 – Now a public company 03:15 – "A lot of Wall Street and a lot of boardrooms just really wasn't for me." 03:40 – Now owns 3% 04:00 – Went public in 2010 04:30 -- $40 million raised in capital 05:35 – "I learned a ton…. It changed my life forever." 05:50 – He left the business about 9 months ago. 06:20 – "That thing's bleeding cash." 06:35 – Cory was in the programming and products side 06:50 – Proper management was a downfall 07:20 – "It was a rise to the top." 07:40 -- $160 million in revenue 08:00 – Marketing was huge 08:40 -- Creating a personal brand 09:00 – "I feel blessed." 09:20 – First gym started for $5000 09:30 -- The Old School Gym 09:40 -- $100k in memberships 10:00 – Biggest expenses 10:40 – six-figures in profit 11:20 – Revenue is more than $100k 11:40 – MusclePharm started at 30 years old 11:55 – corygfitness.com 12:05 – five 4-week plans every month 12:30 – Articles and videos every day 13:00 – Thousands of people use his monthly plan 13:20 – The reason for his vagueness 14:10 – Total revenue was $34k in his first month for his personal brand 15:20 – "There is nobody on the planet who can say they have done what I've done." 16:20 – corygfitness.com, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram 16:40 – Business and Biceps podcast 19:00 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Don't be confined to the environment you were raised in. Develop your personal brand. Find ways to make your service stand out. 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. Quickbooks -- Cory's favorite invoicing tool Business and Biceps – Cory's podcast Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Vincenzo Ruggiero, founder of Prospect.io. Vincenzo has a wife and two children, with one born just days ago. With the chaos of a new baby, Vincenzo has still found a way to support himself and his family and manage a new and growing business. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Getting Real, Rework What CEO do you follow? — Joel Gascoigne Favorite online tool? — Freshbooks, Slack, Trello, Appear Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Be humble. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:15 – Nathan introduces Vincenzo 01:40 – Prospect.io is a sales software 02:00 – Recurring revenue from monthly plans 02:20 – Launched in January 2016 02:40 – June revenue was $17k 03:15 – Customer pays more the more they use it 04:10 – Average is $45/month 04:30 – How they have driven customers 04:50 – word of mouth 05:50 – Different types of customers 06:20 – Self-funded 06:45 – Team of 3 07:30 – The system in Belgium makes Vincenzo the sole founder 08:00 – Vincenzo started with other web businesses before he started Prospect.io 09:10 – His family (two kids) 09:35 – How he supports himself 09:45 – He lives off of savings and a very low salary 11:10 – The company breaks even 11:30 – Growth each month 11:50 – How they got such fast growth 13:15 – Customer churn is 6% monthly 14:25 – Customer acquisition cost is $50 15:00 – Lifetime value is $570 15:30 -- @VincenzoR on Twitter 17:35 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Plan out financially how you be able to afford to start a new business. Don't let your arrogance get in the way of your success. A success work life does not have to take away from a success home life. 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. Slack, Trello, and Appear – Online tools that Vincenzo uses for his business Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Andrew Kemendo, founder of Pair. Andrew was in Guam as an Airforce Intelligence Officer when he came up with an augmented reality idea to try out furniture and materials without having to buy or ship anything. The Airforce needed to build new facilities, and Andrew thought his idea would save a lot of money and headache. Now his company Pair is used by several large manufacturers to help people find the right furniture for their homes. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Crossing the Chasm What CEO do you follow? — Justin Kan Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Never. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep learning about paradigm shifting technologies. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:13 – Nathan introduces Andrew 01:40 – Pair is a tool to try out home furnishings before you buy them 02:30 – Free for consumers 02:45 – Andrew's experience in Guam and how he came up with Pair 03:45 – They started working with architects 04:10 – Launched fulltime in 2015 05:00 – Funding over $900k 05:20 – First-year revenue was $10000/month 06:20 – Pilots in big cities 06:30 – Monthy and up-front fees 07:15 – Revenue in 2016 07:50 – 15 manufacturers and over 2000 products 08:30 – Transition for the company 09:10 – Architects to home furnishers 10:20 – Larger adjustable market 10:40 – Projection for $1.5M 11:20 -- 20000 products placed each month by app users 12:15 – CPC and CPM 12:55 – Ability to scale 13:25 – Pair on Twitter and Facebook 13:45 -- @andrewkemendo on Twitter and andrewkdot on Snapchat 15:45 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Embrace new technology to create a solution to a problem. Don't be afraid to change your business model to help your business grow. Adjust your product to benefit a larger group of consumers. 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. Slack – The online tool Andrew uses to stay organized at Pair Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Timur Daudpota, cofounder of Blurbiz. His business allows companies to create and edit videos and post them directly to Snapchat. Listen to Timur share his journey as an entrepreneur. He started out with skateboards, and now he's jumped to Snapchat. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Sketch Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Read more books. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan introduces Timur 02:00 – Blurbiz is a SaaS platform 03:00 – They found a gap in Snapchat 03:35 – Customers can link their Snapchat account and post videos through Blurbiz 04:20 – Working with publishers 04:40 – They charge $2k to $5k per month 05:00 -- $60k in revenue last month 05:15 – Too early for churn 05:45 – Customer acquisition 06:20 – They pay themselves a $60k salary 06:35 – Fundraising is $425k total 07:15 – Valuation 08:20 – Team size is 8 08:30 – Commission based 09:45 – Based out of Mountain View 10:00 – Started with a skateboarding company 10:40 – Bringing back a classic skateboard design 11:00 – LED skateboard wheels 11:30 – Received prize money for their company 12:00 – Finding a better way to sell 12:20 – They connected their product with social media and sales jumped 13:00 – Equity for Blurbiz 13:45 – Follow Blurbiz on Snapchat 14:00 – 20000 views for every post on Snapchat 16:40 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Constantly find ways to improve your business. If you find a gap in a certain company or industry, fill it. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. 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. Sketch – Timur's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Cody Bradstreet. Cody has a background in accounting and was working for Dell when she realized she needed a backup plan for work. She opened up her own franchise of The Lice Place, where people can have lice manually moved without harsh chemicals. Find out how an accountant got her hands into the lice industry. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Her own future book What CEO do you follow? — No Favorite online tool? — Quickbooks Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Love yourself. Forward fixes everything. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:00 – Nathan introduces Cody 01:20 – Started in accounting 01:40 – Worked at Dell 02:10 – She left Dell to "chase my dreams in the lice industry." 02:30 – Started as a backup plan for possible layoffs 03:20 – She approached a small business, The Lice Place 03:50 – The transition 04:25 – Franchising 04:40 – Total revenue for the year before she bought it was under $50k 05:10 – Service to manually remove lice 05:50 – She did her own valuation 06:50 – Royalties 07:10 – A standard franchise model 08:00 – A goal to buy the whole business 08:50 – Why to buy instead of build 09:10 – Revenue for the last year was $250k 09:50 – Employees are the biggest expenses 10:10 – Advice for future franchisers 10:40 – "Get a good lawyer." 10:55 – Connect with Cody on LinkedIn 12:45 -- The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Put yourself out there to get into a certain industry or business. Consider buying a business instead of building a new one. Make sure you read the fine print before you start your own franchise. 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. Quickbooks – Cody's accounting tool Evernote – Nathan's favorite online tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives