The Shopify Growth Show

Imagine launching a brand and making a million in sales in just a week. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Brian Lockard, who launched a brand that aims to bring nurses shoes that make them feel like the respected professionals they are. Listen to the episode to hear what Brian has to say about founding BALA shoes: why he decided to market to nurses specifically, what it was like to go in on the brand 100%, and what Brian is doing to reach the next level of growth.Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:How Brian came up with the idea for BALA nursing shoesWhy Brian selected nurses as a market instead of going more broadlyHow Brian approached his finances when he was starting upThe influence that working at Nike had on the BALA When Brian started to see that they had a product that people wantedHow BALA’s launch aligns with the narrative about fundraisingHow Brian came up with the name BALAThe most unexpected challenge Brian has hadBrian’s favorite toolsAdvice Brian would give to a D2C founder starting todayThe nicest thing anyone has done for Brian in his careerResources:Brian LockardBALAJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Referral programs sound good, but how do you make them work? That’s something that today’s guest can talk about with authority. Louis Nicholls is the CEO and co-founder of SparkLoops, a referral tool for newsletter growth. Listen to today’s interview as Louis discusses some advice for launching a referral program, creative things to try with a referral program, and what prompted the idea for SparkLoop in the first place. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:What SparkLoop doesAdvice for launching a referral programCreative things to try with a referral programJames Clear’s referral programWhere the idea for SparkLoop fromThe baby steps to get tractionWhen to go all inThe key drivers of growth for SparkLoopHalf-baked ideas that Louis likesAdvice Louis would give on starting a courseWhat helped SparkLoop get to its level of scaleThe nicest thing someone has done for LouisResources:Louis NichollsSparkLoopLouis on TwitterJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Imagine wanting to solve a problem that you are having, then having your efforts turn into a brand that's featured on Shark Tank. That’s what happened to today’s guest, Yve-Car Momperousse. Listen to today’s interview to hear what Yve-Car has to say about how Kreyol Essence was born and started gaining traction, how to build communities and market within them, and deciding where your brand goes next. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:What gave Yve-Car the idea for Kreyol EssenceHow Kreyol Essence started getting tractionFinding an audienceWhat getting traction does for your mindsetAdvice for people who want to build a community and market that wayHow the brand got onto Shark TankWhat Shark Tank did for the brandNavigating where to take your brand nextHow it’s been to run a business with a significant otherExpanding and introducing new products in a brand that was launched on a flagship productThe nicest thing that someone’s done for Yve-Car in her professional careerResources:Yve-Car MomperousseYve-Car on InstagramKreyol EssenceJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

In this episode, I talk about how you can build a culture you're proud of with small tweaks to how you communicate to your team and how you run your meetings. Hope you enjoy today's episode. RESOURCES:What You Do is Who You AreJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

There are so many startups out there. How can you know which ones you should keep an eye on? In today’s episode, we’ll talk about some of the ones that are high up on our radar. Listen in to hear about some of the top startups that have caught our attention and why we’re keeping an eye on them. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Psychiatric help and prescriptions onlineWhat kind of pain point is solved by online D2C psychiatric helpPersonalized allergy relief startup by PicnicGetting money for your startup with MainStreetBillo helps e-commerce companies make ad videosReady-made StoryBrand websites at One Week WebsiteBrex started as a startup targeting startupsBitClout is a cryptocurrency created for the general publicPrivacy allows for the creation of single-use cardsThe use cases for PrivacyTelegram is used for messaging, document and image sharing, and moreThe way people order cars these daysResources:LinaPicnicMainStreetBilloOne Week WebsiteBrexBitCloutPrivacyTelegramJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

A by-product is a secondary product made in the manufacture of something else. The lumber yard has sawdust as their by-product. It’s obvious because it literally piles up. A by-product is much harder to spot when you work in the digital space.In this episode, I talk about how to find your by-product and give examples of by-products for other companies.RESOURCES:What's Your By-ProductJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

What does a startup accelerator do and why does a founder or founding team need one? Today, you’ll find out as you listen to an interview with Isaac Kato, managing director at Techstars Seattle. Listen in to learn what a startup accelerator actually does, why founders want it, and what founders can do to pique the interest of a startup accelerator like Techstars.Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Isaac’s role and backgroundWhat a startup accelerator isThe main selling point of a startup accelerator for foundersWhat someone can do to stand out with their ideaThe questions answered by traction and what kind of traction Techstars is looking forFounder/market fitIndustries that Isaac is interested inApplications of virtual worldsIsaac’s experience with Stanford and HarvardWhat Isaac is thinking about as he takes on new thingsIsaac’s work in IcelandHelping founders with critical thinkingResources:Isaac KatoIsaac on TwitterTechstars Seattle AcceleratorJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

How do you find the right employee or co-founder that could take your business to the next level? By working in public and showing my work, I have been able to use to find my top hires. Here are some tips on how I show our culture to get the right people to come to us. Hopefully, it can help you. Resources:Show Your WorkWhat You Do Is Who You AreJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Listen in to hear what Billy has to say about getting started on his path, the mindset of a startup, and his company’s current size and growth.Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:How Billy started his company and got on the path he’s on nowThe rise and fall of Billy's side project that got killed by the government What success does for your mindsetThe use case for a chatbotHow the company’s customer intelligence inform building new productsWhen it made sense to go all in and investAdvice for B2B SAAS companies for virtual events and setting big goalsHow to leverage your networkEvolving from demos to free trialsBilly’s half-baked startup ideasThe nicest thing anyone has done for Billy in his professional careerResources:Billy BatemanChatFunnelsJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

What's your number? Do you know what you're working towards and how much money you want in the bank? Here is the framework I use to answer that question:First, here are three simple options for how to think about income:Option 1: Break-EvenOption 2: I’m Feeling ComfortableOption 3: F-You MoneySecond, What are your options for hitting your number? Obviously, there are lots more than the three but I am laying out three scenarios for income. Scenario 1: The Employee with Golden OptionsScenario 2: The VC-Backed Founder with an Exit PlanScenario 3: The Bootstrapped Founders with Cash Flow DreamsFinally, how do you decide? The truth is that it's not about money but the life you want.RESOURCES:What's Your NumberJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Rob Sobers is a developer turned growth marketer. Today, he gives advice to first-time founders about the idea playing on easy mode. He breaks it down into the following 5 categories: B2B not B2CRecurring revenueSaaS not self-hostedEstablished tech stackMake your version of an existing productAt the end, he also talks about ideas he has if he was starting today. Playing on Easy ModeJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Are you starting an agency? Don't miss these tips from an agency owner that's built a 7 figure business. Jim talks about the following:What your agency should focus onWhy you should niche down right awayHow to price your servicesHow to manage your client communicationWhy you should focus on recurring work vs. project based workThe key to great work is in the onboarding RESOURCES:Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Do you have a company that runs itself? Learn how Chris was able to bootstrap his business to 8 figures. Then hear the steps he took to build a board of directors and to hire a professional CEO. Finally, Chris provides insights on how he invests his time and money in e-commerce and real estate. RESOURCES:Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Jim breaks down how he had zero innovative ideas while building a 7 figure business. He talks about how he stole every single idea along the way and he gives credit to where those ideas came from. From jumping on the trend of "Growth Hacking" that was invented by Sean Ellis to stealing his long term vision of micro acquisition from Andrew Wilkerson at Meta Labs, Jim gives credit to all the companies and founders that innovated before him.Finally, hear about the 1 thing that actually matters to make all of this happen. RESOURCES:The Non-Visionary CEO on How to Steal Ideas (Blog post)Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Listen in to today’s episode to hear Andrew Gazdeki discuss the startup opportunities that get the most demand, how he has grown MicroAcquire, and the impact journaling has had on his career.Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Andrew’s backgroundA summary of what MicroAcquire isWhat Andrew is seeing as far as the type of opportunities that get the most demandHow to think about founder/company fitHow to measure traction in a product marketMicroAcquire’s buyer poolThe growth of MicroAcquireAnnual subscriptionsCommunity as a channelMicroAcquire’s community group on FacebookHow Andrew grew a company and sold itWhy Andrew was interested in micro acquisitionsWhat Andrew is excited about right nowThe impact journaling has had on AndrewThe nicest thing anyone has done for Andrew professionallyResources:Andrew GazdeckiAndrew on TwitterMicroAcquireTED TalkJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

As a founder, what do you do on the days when the sky is falling? When times get tough I change my mindset to be proactive rather than reactive. While bad things happen to you, you still control your actions and your perspective. I start playing offense.I list out all the momentum we have at the company. Then I identify the positive things I can control. Hear about the framework I use to get my mind on the right track.RESOURCES:Playing Offense: A Mental Model for FoundersJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

This episode features Ryan Hamilton, a standup comedian that's toured with Jerry Seinfeld, starred in his own Netflix's special and been on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallow and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Learn about his writing process and how we went from PR to comedian. Here are some highlights:What he learned touring with Jerry SeinfeldHow he went from PR to being a full time standup comedian in NYCRyan's process for writing a jokeAdvice he would give to any young comedian starting outRyan's half-baked startup ideas he would start todayRESOURCES:Ryan Hamilton WebsiteRyan Hamilton Instagram Happy Face on NetflixComedy CellarJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Here are the 20 tools I use to run my seven figure business. You can have the same tech stack for under $500. ONE MAN SALES MACHINETypeform - Free / $20Calendly - Free / $20Pipedrive - $19Zapier - FreeSuperHuman - $30Bonsai - $19QuickBooks / PayPalMARKETINGMailShake -$59 / monthCampaign Monitor - $80 monthJustUnoUpWork - design for content upgrades, building outreach database for partnership or potential leadsPROJECT MGMT TECH STACKSlack [Free]Zoom [Free] - $19 Asana [Paid] - $11 per userG Suite [Paid]Report Garden / Google Data Studio - $89CLIENT TOOLSGoogle OptimizeAds ManagerResearch Tools (SEMRush, SimilarWeb, SpyFu)MailCharts Resources:Jim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

What does an executive coach do for their clients? You’ll learn more about that from today’s interview with Rick Maguire. Rick has a fascinating backstory, as he was a former Naval Officer who then became a Microsoft executive before becoming an executive coach. Listen in to learn how his Navy background translated in the rest of his career, what benefits his clients receive from coaching, and what kind of mistakes Rick sees in the course of his work. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Rick’s ideal clientThe main benefits that Rick’s clients walk away withWhat Rick’s Navy experience was like and how it translated to the rest of his careerThe time period when Rick was at Microsoft and what the transition was likeWhat people get excited about when scaling upHow to figure out where to startCommon mistakes Rick seesWhere the leader’s time should be spentHalf-baked ideasHow to get in touch with RickResources:Rick MaguireFuturity ResourcesFuturity on TwitterJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit

After working with startups for 10 years, I’m getting into the check writing game. Here is why I'm doing angel investing:What is Angel investing? My investment advantage: Not the market, not real estate, startups?Why I like Bala Nursing Shoes:Riches in NichesProduct is a Painkiller (and not a vitamin)Not marketing to everyone (Know their persona)Proactive buyer (not passive)Community with high referral potentialHigh AOVHigh Repeat purchase (surprisingly, this one is better than I thought)Validated a ProductGrowth w/ no AdsA+ teamMy Concerns:Product Quality: The first 10,000 pairs of shoes arrive from China during a pandemic. They have been unable to have their own people on the ground to inspect the shoes. New Brand: Bala is doing everything for the first time and they have no trust from customers. Plus, they’re going head to head against big brands with big budgets.P&L Concerns: On average, the shoe industry has a high return rate of 20%. How will these guys fair? This business is very heavy on working capital and mismanagement of cash flows can kill growth and a business.Consumer Growth: Can they diversify their audience from the NurseLifeRN partnership and find scalable channels that are ROI positive? Repeatable and scalable growth only gets more and more expensive as companies get bigger.Team: This team has no startup experience. Can they handle “the unknown unknowns” while working in a remote world? We shall see.Resources:Why I'm Investing $25k in this StartupBala ShoesJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit

What startup would you start today? Yonathan Ayenew, COO of GrowthHit, brainstorms some half-baked startup ideas he would launch if he was starting today. In this episode we cover the following startup ideas:Our framework for vetting starting ideasThe "Roll Up" Business ModelWhen to buy vs. when to build a startupStartup ideas around exclusive inventory Humans replaced by AIWhy were hesitant on Ecommerce Productized services and moreRESOURCES:PeletonCopy.ai99DesignsJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Learn about 6 hacks for engineering a mentorship experience without needing an actual mentor. Welcome to mentor hacking. Here is what we'll cover in the episode. (1) Content Stalking a Person You AdmireSubscribe to their blog newsletterBuy their book on Audible and Blinkist (if they have one)Search for any recent podcast interviews they didFollow them on Twitter to get a feel for where their head is at(2) Three Levels of Reading Blinkist skim: I get the book summary (via Blinkist) in 15 minutes to learn the core principles and decide if I want to read the entire book. AudioBook: This is great for getting the details of the book when I don’t have the time to actually sit down and read. (This Dad / Founder thing can zap your schedule.)Paperback: If I really like a book then I get the paperback version to toss on my shelf. It’s nice to thumb through it and to have as a reminder to read it again. (3) Mentor Call Girls: Hey can I pay you $150 for 45 minutes of your time(4) A Phantom BoardExecutive CoachCMO of a publicly traded companyAnother Founder that's being doing it 4 years longer than me(5) Cold Outreach(6) Professional CommunitiesResources:Mentor HackingJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's PlaybookBlinkistAudible

In this episode with Ben Yoskovitz, Founding Partner at Highline BETA, we talk about the following:His best selling book Lean Analytics and the opportunities that come with being an authorHis startup accelerator that lead to an acquisition with AirbnbHow startups and big companies can work togetherWhat traits he looks for in startup foundersAnd, most importantly, his advice for anyone that wants to do angel investing RESOURCES:Lean AnalyticsHighline BETAABOUT THE PODCASTJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Do you want to launch a startup? Here are my thoughts on why you should not start a tech startup and why you should start an agency first. What are your options?Consulting ServiceProductize Service Sell Physical Product SaaS (Software as a Service)Why an agency is a bad idea? Not Scalable, People Heavy, & Low Exit Multiples Why it's a good idea?SPEED: You can start one today INVESTMENT: Requires no investment CASH FLOW MACHINE: If you run lean you can have great marginsYOUR LAUNCH PAD: Sets you up for future business acquisition or launches. INVESTMENT FUNDS: Build up Cash to invest in other peopleLEARNING: Exposure to multiple industries NETWORKING: Clients, Partnerships, HiringAbout the Podcast:Jim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit

How do you go from a side-hustle to running a company full time, with only one day of work a week? Today’s guest is Tommy Griffith, the co-founder of ClickMinded. Listen to his story about how he went from being an Airbnb employee to making a 6-figure salary working only one day a week – mostly from places like Thailand and Hawaii. During the episode, Tommy talks about how he went all-in on ClickMinded, how the interpretation of risk matters to entrepreneurs and founders, and what Tommy would want to know and do if he had to start over today. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:How Tommy runs a 6 figure business working 1 day per weekThe difficulty of finding help for your company’s problemsHow Tommy went all-in on ClickMindedHis Interpretation of riskThe power of saying NOHow to decide if you should work for a VC-backed startup or start your own businessWhat Tommy would want to know if he were starting todayTommy's half-baked startup ideasThe best advice Tommy ever gotResources:Tommy GriffithClickMindedBurning the boatsTropical MBADerek SiversAbout the Podcast:Jim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit

This podcast is centered around one question: What would you do if you were starting today? Here are some episodes that I'll be launching in the weeks to come.Learn How one EX-Airbnb employee Makes $1M working 1 Day Per WeekHow comedian Ryan Hamilton went from a PR firm to landing a Netflix Special and Touring with Jerry SeinfeldI get advice from a VC on how to get started in angel investingI do a live recoding of a “Startup Idea” Brainstorm with the Partner of a Growth AgencyI chat with one CMO about growing a company to $8B CompanyI talk about What I Would do if I Was Starting TodayLast, learn how the Founder of a $10M Company Fired Himself as CEOAnd much more.I hope you enjoy the podcast! For feedback, I'm on twitter at @jimwhuffman so hit me up.Resources:Jim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit