Amanda Parker, the founder of Simply Insight - a high-end data analysis service that’s six months old and making $30k in MRR from just 10 clients. Amanda previously ran a successful marketing agency whose clients included Pepsi and 20th Century Fox, and she’s leveraging that experience to build her SaaS business incredibly fast. Listen in to hear how Amanda’s managing her first angel investment round, how she signed her first client before even having a software platform, and how she’s getting unbelievable return on CAC.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue
What CEO do you follow? — Jason Lemkin
Favorite online tool? — Zoom
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Relax and stop worrying: do the work, but stop stressing about it
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – “We found that data was a huge problem for our clients, and a huge opportunity”
02:54 – Amanda shut down her growing marketing company to focus on Simply Insight
03:09 – They make money from monthly subscription of $2.5-5k
03:57 – Simply Insight started 6 months ago - they got their first client before even building their platform
04:53 – Clients are on annual contracts that pay monthly
05:14 – Currently cash flow positive
05:35 – Growing over 20% month over month
06:07 – Currently at an MRR of $25-30k
06:20 – Hoping for an MRR of $50k by the end of the year
06:50 – They have around 10 clients
07:01 – CAC? Currently paying one sales rep salary and commission - ‘He’s almost paid for himself for the year and he’s been around for 6 weeks”
07:43 – Amanda’s been able to sell to her old client list from her agency to keep her CAC low
08:40 – Paying less than $5k to acquire a $30k contract
09:13 – “We currently have no churn at the higher levels”
09:43 – Revenue in 2015 was $7k from deposits
10:12 – Team of 6 people based in Toronto
10:45 – Doing an initial round of angel investment
11:01 – “You’re married to angel investors - so you need to find people that you really want to work with. It’s all about the team.”
11:52 – Finding a lead investor is the hardest part
12:12 – Raising $500k via convertible note
14:00 – “It’s never been a better time to start a company”
15:05 – The risk of convertible notes?
15:56 – Hustle, drive, and personality are everything
16:07 – Follow Amanda on Twitter or connect with her at Simply Insight
18:10 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Find a pain point. Test the market to see if other people feel it. Market your solution.
Don’t be scared to do what you really want.
If you’re going into a changing market, you’d better understand how it’s going to change.
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Pavan Boob, the founder of Fuel Panda, a weekly subscription service that means you’ll never have to hunt for a gas station with an angry fuel light again. Fuel Panda refuels commuters’ cars while they’re parked. It’s in the early stages of the 500 Startups accelerator - but Pavan has big ideas. Tune in to hear how he plans to keep up with the Tesla, how he bootstrapped from the bottom up, and why it’s crucial to give your ideas 100%.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – Crossing the Chasm
What CEO do you follow? —Mark Zuckerberg
Favorite online tool? — Trello
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go for what you want. Pick something and give it 100%
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:12 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – Fuel Panda is a weekly gas refueling service
02:15 – They’re a SaaS business that charges a subscription fee plus a margin on the gas
02:40 – Started in January 2016, working with over 100 customers and doing around 80 refuels per week
03:10 – Close to 1,000 refuels
03:24 – Made close to $15k
03:36 – Originally bootstrapped - they’re now in the 500 Startups accelerator
03:57 – Investment from 500 startups - $125k for 5% of the business
04:21 – Why go into the refueling business?
05:00 – “I had an 80 mile commute...I was stuck in traffic and I didn’t want to take 20 minutes to refuel when I saw the dashboard light”
06:44 – How do you prevent people from stealing gas when the lid is left open?
07:31 – Nathan: “I’m skeptical...I think that very soon the asset of a car is going to live on the balance sheet of a company”
08:00 – “Well, anything that moves on the road is going to need refueling...I think it will be possible to adapt”
09:11 – What does the business look like when people switch to autonomous electric vehicles?
10:00 – They’re investing in mobile charging stations that could carry anything from gasoline to batteries to hydro fuels
10:10 – Pavan’s invested around $25k in the business himself
10:20 – Less than $200k total investment - and the company is cash flow positive
10:45 – Monthly RPU is $20 per month plus fuel margin - around $50 total
11:00 – MRR is around $6k
11:34 – Churn is around 4% - though the company is so new that it’s hard to tell
12:13 – CAC is $5
12:26 – Targeting consumers, and also building managers and company managers
14:17 – Connect with Pavan via email and at the FuelPanda website
14:45 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Find a pain point. Test the market to see if other people feel it. Market your solution.
Don’t be scared to do what you really want.
If you’re going into a changing market, you’d better understand how it’s going to change.
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Blake Smith, CEO of Cladwell - a SaaS business that helps you to dress exceptionally well with the smallest possible wardrobe. Blake and his team tried over 20 different revenue models before they perfected their business - and they’re hoping to hit $1 million in revenue this year. Listen in to hear how to stay friendly with ex-co-founders, why you need to test and test your ad channels, and why Blake wishes he’d bootstrapped his company.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – Anything in the HBR series
What CEO do you follow? —Sheryl Sandberg
Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —That it was okay to follow my curiosity
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:30 – Nathan’s introduction
01:47 – Cladwell helps you do more with fewer items of clothing
02:11 – They sell a tool that helps you to dress each day and cut down your wardrobe
03:19 – Founded 2 ½ years ago
03:20 – Over 200k people have filled out their initial questionnaire
03:42 – A B2C SaaS business - women’s side pays $15 per quarter and men’s side pays $21 per quarter
03:55 – Launched as a men’s business but women now make up 60% of business
04:15 – 11,500 customers in March 2016
04:46 – Customer Acquisition Cost is about $17
05:05 – Almost profitable - currently spending $30k per month on marketing
05:30 – Monthly Revenue Per User is about $6
05:40 – MRR is about $70k per month
05:57 – Have raised $1.8 million in funding
06:22 – Started with 3 other founders, and ended up with 1 other
07:00 – “My closest co-founder...we both realized that we were made to lead companies. We’re still really good friends”
07:55 – “If I could do it over again, I would have started bootstrapping”
08:54 – First year revenue was $1000
09:12 – Started out trying affiliate marketing and drop-shipping
10:00 – “We tested 22 different permutations of a business model until we came up with one that worked”
11:04 – First year revenue was really about $10k; second year $100k; “We’re planning to hit a million this year”
11:24 – They advertise in places where people are looking for advice
12:00 – Monthly churn is 5% - ‘It’s our worst number at the moment’
12:43 – Based in Cincinnati, Ohio
13:10 – 6 employees
14:16 – What valuation would Blake want for his first priced round? “Around $10 million”
15:37 – Blake doesn’t want to scale ad spend until he’s seriously tested each channel
16:13 – “We killed it on YouTube last summer by doing revenue shares with all the influencers in men’s fashion”
14:17 – Connect with Blake via email
18:55 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Spend smart. Don’t put more money into ad spend until you really understand every channel you’re using.
Test and test and test and pivot.
It’s okay to follow your curiosity and see where you end up
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Alex Taub, the co-founder of Social Rank. He and his co-founder created an algorithm to identify the ‘Most Valuable Follower’ on Twitter and other social media - and it went viral. Now they’re making over $50k each month from their social media analytics software. Listen in to hear why businesses are leaping on the chance to curate their followers, how Alex built his business so fast, and why you should work for someone else before you launch your big idea.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – I like blogs more - but I guess my book, Pitching and Closing
What CEO do you follow? —Marc Benioff
Favorite online tool? — Rapportive
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go to a medium sized startup and work there before you do your own thing
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
02:06 – Social Rank is primarily for brands and agencies
01:50 – “We found out that in many cases, the most valuable followers are public figures”
02:56 – Social rank allows brands to analyze their followers
03:00 – They generate revenue through a premium subscription model
03:50 – Social Rank Premium is $50 per month, while the Market Intelligence model allows organizations to view the whole ecosystem and costs from $100 to several $1000 dollars
04:20 – Over 250,000 users, and over 50,000 paying customers on the Market Intelligence model
04:40 – Social Rank doesn’t focus on user growth - they look at MRR and customer growth
05:34 – Revenue has grown by 30% each month in 2016
05:40 – In early 2015, MRR was under $7k per month, while it’s now $50k per month
06:55 – How many basic subscribers upgrade to the premium model?
07:20 – “We’re more interested in using it as a potential leads generator”
07:56 – “It’s a non-traditional SaaS model...we’re using the premium model as a loss leader to find leads”
08:50 – Premium model has only been out for 2 weeks
10:00 – “Most Valuable Follower”, “Most Engaged Follower”, and “Best Follower” metrics
10:33 – “Those metrics are a very small piece of what we do”
11:00 – It’s a way to rank more valuable, in-demand, and interactive followers
12:25 – How is it valuable to curate followers?
12:45 – People use it to find the right people for events in specific areas
13:20 – The primary use case is finding the right people for the right things
13:54 – Raised a little over $2 million in seed rounds
14:17 – Connect with Alex on Twitter or via email
15:47 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Work for someone who knows what they’re doing before you strike out on your own
Curate your social media followers and find the right people to promote your events
If an idea works - run with 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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Brett Hagler, the founder of New Story a charity that’s transforming slums into sustainable communities worldwide. Brett and his team are determined to change the way charities work, and they’ve created their own software platform to maximize transparency, accountability, and user experience. Listen in to hear how Brett plans to build 1000 communities in the next 10 years, why he chose charity over social entrepreneurship, and why it’s crucial to follow your own path.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – Insanely Simple
What CEO do you follow? — Brian Chesky
Favorite online tool? — Audible
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 do what everybody else is doing. Spend time learning about the world and have an open mind.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:15 – Nathan’s introduction
01:23 – New Story transforms slums into sustainable communities
01:50 – They created a platform to crowdfund homes and public buildings for communities in the Third World
02:29 – 100% of crowdfunded donations go to the people on the website - there’s a separate group of ‘Angel Donors’ who have invested philanthropically in their operations
04:30 – “Venture capitalists
05:00 – New Story is 17 months old and has already generated $3 million in donations
05:50 – “We don’t measure success by what’s in our bank account, but by the impact we’re having on the world”
06:26 – Brett went to Haiti after the earthquake...and couldn’t find a charity to work for that he was excited about
07:36 – “We took our frustrations and made a better product and a better experience”
08:09 – “I never knew where my money was going or where it was helping”
08:50 – Built a database software to be extremely transparent
09:50 – Why go into charity rather than social entrepreneurship?
10:17 – “We’re passionate about building a better type of non-profit”
10:50 – Their key metric of success is 4 communities
11:20 – Have so far built 4 communities - over 300 homes at $6000 per home. Aiming to have built over 1000 communities in 10 years’ time
11:56 – Connect with Brett on Twitter or at New Story
13:45 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Don’t do what everybody else is doing. Open your mind.
Follow your own journey - make a difference in the way that makes you fired up.
Give to the world. Spend time with people who have less than you and work out how to serve them.
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Max Nussenbaum, co-founder of Castle and a Venture for America fellow based in Detroit. Max and his co-founders are revolutionizing property management in one of America’s most opportunity-rich property markets. Tune in to hear what Max is doing differently, why he defends splitting equity evenly with his co-founders, and why you should be investing in Detroit.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Anything You Want
What CEO do you follow? — Henry Ward
Favorite online tool? — Instapaper
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Relax a little bit
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:27 – Nathan’s introduction
02:04 – Max is based in Detroit
02:20 – Castle manages rental properties for owners - they find tenants, collect rent, and coordinating repairs
02:29 – They make money by charging a flat fee of $79 per month per rental unit
03:00 – They want to simplify the pricing structures associated with regular property managers
05:30 – Founded in late 2014 and launched in 2015
05:47 – Currently managing 530 units, all in the Detroit area
06:10 – “Our target market is the regular-person property investor”
06:43 – First year revenue was around $100k last year
07:14 – The metric Max focuses on is MRR - the subscription model is similar to SaaS
08:12 – Raised around $3 million, most recently $2 million in a seed round
09:17 – Team of 10 people
09:35 – “Structurally we’re a lot like a SaaS business”
10:00 – Monthly RPU is $174, as the average customer has 2.2 units
10:35 – Switching costs are very high in terms of time and energy, so monthly churn is only around 1%
11:51 – “The bottom line is that we just don’t know lifetime value yet...we haven’t even been around for 2 years”
12:18 – They consider acquisition costs on a per-unit basis - and they’re willing to spend around $200 to acquire a unit
12:55 – Most customers are investing less than $1 million in property in Detroit in their lifetime
14:30 – There are a lot of cheap properties in Detroit - but generally you can’t get a mortgage for them
15:50 – The percentage of properties that have been vacant for more than 30 days is around 5%
17:17 – “There are still 700k people in Detroit and they’re regular people who just need places to live”
21:45 – Connect with Max on Twitter
20:04 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Don’t stress too much when you’re young. There’s plenty of time in life.
If you can simplify a complicated process, there’s a good chance you’ll make money
You don’t have to be bullied away from splitting equity evenly with co-founders - what each of you brings to the table is less than what you achieve working as a team
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
David Fortino, who discovered NetLine aged 26 and convinced the CEO to hire him. He’s now the head of Audience Development and has developed the Rev Response customer distribution network. Tune in to hear the inside story on the net’s biggest B2B lead generation and content publishing business.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Traction
What CEO do you follow? — Gabriel Weinberg
Favorite online tool? — Clearbit
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 developing and refining cadence
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan’s introduction
02:20 – Why did David want to work for NetLine?
02:50 – Being able to monetize a base through contextually relevant inclusions really appealed to him
03:44 – Netline is the world’s largest B2B-specific content syndication and lead generation platform
03:55 – They work with large enterprise technology companies to distribute their content to specific audience segments
04:30 – Nathan: “If I gave you a finance eBook, how would you generate leads for me?”
05:55 – They have relationships with over 15k web publishers
07:36 – “We’re driving the sales funnel for thousands of businesses”
08:00 – A CPL-based model, with an average value of $40-50 per lead
09:01 – There are 100 employees
09:10 – David heads up Audience Development
09:37 – There are around 300-400 active client campaigns at any time
10:00 – Current annual run rate is upwards of $20 million
10:25 – How predictable is revenue?
11:03 – Biggest cost is payout to individual publishers - around 20-30%
11:36 – Netline has various products to handle leads, from simple top-of-funnel generation to lead development
21:45 – Connect with David on Twitter or LinkedIn
14:20 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Refine your cadence. Find a rhythm and drive that helps you keep going.
Lead generation isn’t just about volume, but quality. Really refine your ideal customer - and hunt out exactly the people you want to connect to.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you want to work with
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Charles Gaudet, founder of Predictable Profits and author of The Predictable Profits Playbook. Charles is a business coaching and online marketing expert who’s made money in real estate, self-publishing, and private coaching. Listen in to find out how he became profitable after going $1 million into debt overnight, why you’ll do better if you write a book, and why entrepreneurs should be staying in line.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Losing my Virginity
What CEO do you follow? — Marcus Lemonis
Favorite online tool? — AdEspresso
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Stick with one strategy and master it
Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:55 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Predictable Profits is a business coaching and marketing company
01:44 – Started his business on a pay-for-performance model, where he’s paid a percentage of the business increase he secures for his clients
03:00 – His pet health insurance company closed down in 2000 when the crash happened
04:10 – Ended up investing in real estate
05:30 –Bought his first property off his father on a financed loan
06:22 – “I found myself over $1 million in debt almost overnight”
07:36 – Attracted buyers with incentives for construction loans
08:38 – Developed affiliate relationships with tradespeople and related businesses
10:40 – “If you’re looking to get into real estate, align yourself with a private lender”
11:30 – How do you convince a private lender to invest in your deal?
15:00 – The Predictable Profits Playbook: why?
15:10 – “If you look at the most influential people in the world, they’ve got things in common, They’ve written a book, and they’re public speakers”
15:45 – If you want to be perceived as someone of influence...well, success leaves clues
16:15 – The book is published as a hybrid - it’s a combination of self-published and done through a traditional publisher
17:20 – The book sells for $17 on Amazon
17:44 – Around 1500 books have sold so far
18:24 – Charles sends copies of his book to potential clients as an advertising strategy
19:01 – Charles used a ghostwriter
20:10 – “Give the book away as much as you can. Give it away for free if you have to”
20:20 – Hard costs per book are under $3 per copy
20:43 – Most of Charles’s income last month came from private clients
21:45 – Connect with Charles at Predictable Profits
22:25 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Master one strategy at a time. Focus.
Writing a book positions you as an expert - use that influence!
Establish multiple income streams - you’ll be more financially stable
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Steve Olsher, sometimes called the world’s foremost re-invention expert. He’s known for the bestseller What Is Your WHAT? - helping businesses and individuals find the one amazing thing they were born to do. Steve writes, speaks, runs multiple businesses, and is the host of Reinvention Radio. Tune in to learn how Steve’s crushing it in e-commerce, the secrets behind his bestseller, and the one place where he’s generating 400k unique site visitors a month.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Guerilla Marketing
What CEO do you follow? — Adam Braun
Favorite online tool? — GetEmail
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — These are the golden years
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
02:30 – Steve’s working on multiple projects simultaneously
03:12 – Liquor.com is crushing things right now
03:40 – It’s a site that connects brands to bartenders and liquor-lovers
04:20 – The site has had its ups and downs - they lost the domain name at one point
05:30 – In 1999, when the site was still an e-commerce business, they were making $3.5 million in annual sales
05:51 – Since then, they’ve moved to a newsletter and content marketing model, monetised through paid advertising
06:15 – Annual revenue in 2015 was $3 million; this year they’re hoping to reach $7.5 million
07:30 – Works with big brands from Bacardi to Jack Daniels
09:12 – One of their biggest sources of traffic is ZergNet, which brings around 400k unique visits per month to the site
12:22 – Steve’s books: why’s he writing them?
12:57 – “I know people who are getting 6 or 7 figure advances on their books”
13:10 – “It’s about platform”
13:45 – Steve knows someone who had a 7-figure advance on their book: their platform is one of the top 250 podcasts, with 850k downloads per month
15:40 – What Is Your WHAT? Was published by Wiley with a $15k advance
17:05 – Sold 25k hard copies between 20/09/13 - 15/05/16, not counting the free eBook
17:24 – Get the free eBook at What is Your WHAT?
17:50 – Steve’s email list was 40k when he started marketing
18:10 – He’s the sole author
18:55 – Royalty income is $50k
19:40 – Given the income he’s made - was it worth spending six figures in book marketing?
20:43 – Most of Steve’s income last month came from real estate
21:45 – Connect with Steve at Reinvention Radio
28:35 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Build your platform. Success comes from having a tribe.
Invest your time and money widely. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Want to write a book? Understand why you want to write it before you start.
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.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives