James Turner, of Turner Creative. James started his business after the company he worked for picked up and moved five hours away. He didn’t want to make the move, so he took his skills and created his own conversion rates optimization company. Now he’s starting out another company, called Snap. He has caught the entrepreneurial bug and is making more money now than when he was working in the corporate world.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Influence
• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk

• Favorite online tool? — Airstory
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — “I am trying really hard, but I also have a toddler.”
• If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — “You’re not going to miss out if you stay home to work on yourself.”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
• 01:36 – What is conversion rate optimization?
• 02:05 – Turner recently worked with Conversion Sciences
• • 02:45 – Getting more signups for a free trial
• 03:45 – Good and bad conversion rates
• 04:50 – “People have a hard time putting themselves in the heads of their customers.”
• 05:25 – The value of customer research
• 06:20 – How to collect data
• • 06:30 – Talk to your customers
• 07:04 – Using testimonials and reviews
• • 08:05 – Find which problem is most common in your reviews
• 08:20 – How Turner Creative got started
• 09:00 – First-year revenue was $36000
• 09:30 – 2015 total revenue was about $45000
• 09:40 – Payment per project: $10000 for 3 months
• • 10:00 – He will revamp/renew a company’s website
• 10:45 – Currently 2 customers
• • 10:55 – “I only want to do two retainers at a time.”
• 11:05 – James is starting a new company, Snap
• • 11:25 – Focusing on quick copy
  • 11:50 – His partner is Lianna Patch, of Punchlinecopy.com
  • 12:00 – “Conversion optimized copy on demand”
• 12:20 – Contact him at turnercreative.ca or snapcopy.co.
• 14:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Take your skills and find a way to be financially successful.
• Take time to consider customer reviews and testimonials—utilizing this information will make your company better.
• Set aside time to take care of yourself and better yourself.

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.
• Airstory – A new online tool for content writing

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Sieva Kozinsky, founder and CEO of StudySoup. The online marketplace now has over 5000 buyers and 1000 sellers. These sellers provide their notes and study guides for college courses. StudySoup helps their sellers learn how to be entrepreneurs and provides a unique service to college students everywhere.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – Elon Musk’s biography
• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? — Slack

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — “I get 6.5 to 7.5 hours.”
• If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — “Pay attention to the signs. If something isn’t working, ditch it and move forward.”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:05 – Nathan’s introduction
• 02:25 – StudySoup is “an education marketplace for college students”
• 01:55 – It’s a monthly subscription
• 02:25 – Sellers take notes, and the buyers use those class notes
• 03:10 – Students get “karmas” to access notes and study guides
• 04:10 – the “karma” system
• 05:10 – The backstory
• • 05:45 – StudySoup was tested at a few schools and took off
• 06:10 – Year-one revenue was $45k
• 06:25 – Now they have over 5000 subscribers
• 06:45 – 1000 note takers
• 07:09 – Funding is over a million
• • 07:35 – They used convertible notes
• 08:15 – Team size
• 08:30 – The team is distributed and remote
• • 09:05 – Slack, Google Hangouts
• 09:25 – Trajectory
• • 09:55 – They will hit almost $4 million this year
• 10:05 – A focus on getting more note takers
• 10:40 – The revenue is seasonal according to class schedules
• 11:15 – Revenue February to May is pretty consistent
• 11:45 – About 4000 buyers used the service in March
• 12:25 – All buyers and sellers are very active
• 12:45 – Average purchase size is $42
• 13:15 – A study guide is the best-selling item
• 13:40 – What happens after a student graduates?
• • 14:15 – Expanding into grad school and high school in the future
• 14:40 – Buyers pay 15 to 20 dollars each month
• 15:25 – Churn is 8% to 12%, lower than the average for the industry
• 16:20 – Acquisition cost
• • 16:30 – Training sellers to be entrepreneurs
• 17:10 – It’s too early to see lifetime value of a customer
• 17:40 – Contact Sieva on Twitter: @SievaKozinsky
• 19:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• When you find an idea that works, go for it.
• Distributed, remote teams are very doable with today’s online tools.
• Look for the signs that tell you the direction your business is headed.

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 and Google Hangouts – The online tools that StudySoup uses to stay in touch with a distributed team.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Anant Kale, cofounder of AppZen. Anant had a job that paid him $200000 a year when he decided to go off on his own and start a business. Hear the success story of his artificial intelligence software which has “transformed the back office” for companies everywhere.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
• Favourite online tool? — Rapportive and Calendly

• 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 a business earlier than you think you should.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:25 – Nathan introduces Anant Kale
• 01:55 – AppZen uses artificial intelligence software in offices
• 02:45 – It detects information on employees and statistics automatically
• 03:30 – Founded in 2013
• 04:00 – 2015 revenue was just under $1 million
• 04:45 – They have 22 customers
• 05:00 – Average contract price is $150000
• 05:20 – Capital raised is $14 million
• 06:10 – 14 people on the team
• 06:40 – No churn so far
• 07:15 – Average customer acquisition cost is very low
• 08:15 – Too early for lifetime value
• 09:05 – Evaluation for the company
• 10:15 – Goal is to double revenue in 2016
• 13:00 – Anant is a cofounder
• 13:50 – The company was split according to responsibilities and contributions
• 14:40 – He always wanted to really build a company on his own
• 16:00 -- The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Don’t put off starting your own business.
• A large salary doesn’t mean that you will be satisfied with your job.
• If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, follow that desire.

Resources Mentioned:

• Freshbooks – The online tool Nathan uses to keep track of receipts
• Hostgator – The program Nathan uses for his website
• Rapportive and Calendly – Anant’s favorite online tools

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Rand Fishkin, who calls himself “The Wizard of Moz.” He founded Moz in 2007, and they made $39 million in revenue in 2015. Join us as Rand shares his unique journey with Moz and his own insights to what makes businesses like Moz successful. Listen as he tells hid difficult experience of deciding to handover the reigns of CEO for his own company.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – The Billionaire Who Wasn’t
• What CEO do you follow? — Heather Brunner
• Favorite online tool? — Buzzsumo

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Not quite.
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Software engineering. Stick with the girl you’re dating—she’ll be a great wife.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:10 – Nathan introduces Rand Fishkin
• 01:35 – Moz is a software company that assists with SEO
• 02:05 – Founded in 2007, but first existed as a blog
• • 02:35 – The blog was an advertising tool for Moz
• 03:20 – They had 400 people sign up in 6 months
• 04:00 – 2007 revenue was $850k
• 04:25 – Rand admits to being an amateur at the beginning of Moz
• 05:20 – Great marketing and retention are super important to consider
• 06:25 – 2015 total revenue is $39 million
• 06:40 – Churn was 6.3% in April 2016
• • 07:30 – The logic behind good and bad churn rates
  • 08:00 – Churn is not the only thing that matters
  • 08:45 – It’s ok to start out with a higher churn
  • 09:15 – Different types of churn
• 09:35 – Upsell revenue
• 10:08 – They have not hit net negative revenue churn.
• 11:00 – Customer churn and revenue churn
• 12:10 – Average customer cost is $119/month
• 12:33 – Customer acquisition is more complicated because Moz has several different products
• 13:25 – Lifetime value
• 14:20 – They want to be conservative with marketing
• • 15:00 – They want to lower churn
  • 16:05 – The Costco example
• 16:48 – Rand replaced himself as CEO
• • 17:05 – His own decision due to issues with his mental health
  • 17:45 – It was a painful experience
  • 18:00 – Now he is feeling much better
  • 18:15 – He now runs a couple of their products and does promotion and content creation
• 19:05 – moz.com/rand or @randfish on Twitter
• 20:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• A churn rate is much more complicated that one month’s percentage.
• Find ways to have conservative marketing costs.
• Let your challenges take you to new and more fulfilling places.

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.
• Buzzsumo – Rand’s favorite online tool

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Ep 2 Kim Garst

Listen to The Top if you want to hear from the worlds TOP entrepreneurs on how much they sold last month, how they are selling it, and what they are selling - 7 days a week in 20 minute interviews! Join the Top Tribe at NathanLatka.com/TheTop

The Top is FOR YOU if you are:

A STUDENT who wants to become the CEO of a $10m company in under 24 months (episode #4)

STUCK in the CORPORATE grind and looking to create a $10k/mo side business so you can quit (episode #7)

An influencer or BLOGGER who wants to make $27k/mo in monthly RECURRING revenue to have the life you want and full CONTROL (episode #1)

The Software as a Service (SaaS) entrepreneur who wants to grow to a $100m+ valuation (episode #14).

Your host, Nathan Latka is a 25 year old software entrepreneur who has driven over $4.5 million in revenue and built a 25 person team as he dropped out of school, raised $2.5million from a Forbes Billionaire, and attracted over 10,000 paying customers from 160+ different countries.

Oprah gets 60 minutes or more to make her guests comfortable to then ask tough questions. Nathan does it all in less than 15 minutes in this daily podcast that's like an audio version of Pat Flynn's monthly income report. Join the Top Tribe at NathanLatka.com/TheTop

George Arison, founder and CEO of Shift, an online marketplace that has transformed the experience of buying and selling a car. George saw a problem with the process of buying a car, and he wanted to make it simpler. He utilized virtual technology to create a completely unique service for buying and selling a vehicle.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – I don’t really have one.
• What CEO do you follow? — Tim Cook
• Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn

• 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 I should learn how to code.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:25 – Nathan introduces George
• 01:44 – Shift is a new way to buy or sell a car
• 02:05 -- There is no physical lot, everything is virtual
• 02:35 – They will sell cars locally, to people in that car’s area
• 03:20 – “Car enthusiasts”
• 03:38 – Great design and transparency
• 04:10 – How they make money
• • 04:25 – They agree on a minimum price with the seller, and they make money on any higher price that they sell the car for. (They split the difference)
  • 05:00 – The buyer pays a fee
  • 05:45 – They help buyers with car insurance and warranties
• 06:10 – Founded in 2013
• 06:30 – They started selling cars in 2014
• 06:45 – They are selling hundreds in a month
• 07:25 – Capital has been successful
• 08:05 – Their service is unique
• • 09:15 – They offer cars that are several years old, because people can test drive them
• 09:55 – First-year revenue involved car inspections for sellers
• • 10:45 – That revenue was $2000
• 11:00 – $150k in 2015
• 11:20 – Pricing cars is complicated and takes a lot of trial and error
• • 12:00 – Mispriced cars effected their revenue in the beginning
• 12:30 – They are growing quickly and have focused on increasing revenue
• • 13:35 – 20% growth month to month in 2015
• 14:15 – Team of 270 people
• 14:50 – Why he got into this business
• • 15:05 – He started with Taxi Magic
  • 15:25 – He had to get a green card, so he moved to a bigger business, Google
  • 15:55 – He then left Google to start Shift
  • 16:30 – He had a leased car, and when he wanted to buy it he found that financing a car is very complicated
• 17:50 – Find George Arison on LinkedIn
• 19:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• If you see a problem in a particular industry, find a solution and make it your business.
• Offer a service that is unique.
• Use today’s technology to redefine industries with an up-to-date approach.

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.
• LinkedIn – George’s favorite tool to find the best people to work for Shift
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Kendall Antonelli, who started a cheese shop with her husband. Antonelli’s Cheese Shop has taken off, and last year their revenue was $1.9 million. Kendall and her husband have found that they secret to their success is storytelling. They share the personal stories behind their cheeses and other products.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – Good to Great, Uncontainable, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
• 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? — Keep an adventurous spirit. Do something every day that betters yourself.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:25 – Nathan introduces Kendall
• 01:40 – Kendall and her husband got the idea on their honeymoon
• 02:25 – Her husband wanted to find a better job, in cheese
• 03:00 – He decided to look into the business
• 03:40 – Kendall was working in social work
• 04:20 – They always wanted to work together
• 04:45 – She grew up in a farm town, and they “fell in love with the story of cheese.”
• 05:10 – They looked at their strengths
• 05:35 – Antonelli’s Cheese LLC
• 06:00 – Their rent
• 07:10 – Multiple business models
• 07:20 – Her and her husband have separate roles
• 08:25 – Open-book management
• 08:40 – $1.9 million in 2015
• 09:05 – “Passion with Purpose”
• 09:25 – Their retail is the most successful
• 10:00 – Cost is per pound
• 11:00 – Making cheese is a labor-intensive industry
• 12:15 – They decided to not be cheese makers, but be out of the kitchen and “storytelling”
• 13:15 – All the costs behind a wheel of cheese
• 13:40 – Team of six or seven people
• 14:05 – An artisanal journey
• 14:30 – Telling the story of the cheese
• 14:45 – Skews were as high as 2000
• 15:15 – Most lucrative products
• • 16:15 – Wholesale in 2015 was about half of their revenue
  • 16:45 – Cheese of the Month Club
  • 17:15 – Parties and catering
• 17:45 – Their wholesale market is more flexible for clients
• 18:25 – Dealing with a perishable item/shelf life
• 19:00 – They are looking into investors
• 19:25 – What they pay themselves
• 20:20 – They travel to cheese conventions around the world
• 20:55 – They want to be in control of their business
• 21:30 – Professional and personal life can coexist
• 24:00 – Antonellischeese.com
• 26:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Make your passion your business.
• Design a career that lets you accomplish your life goals.
• Your professional and personal life can coexist.

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 – The accounting tool for Antonelli’s Cheese Shop
• Good to Great, Uncontainable and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits – A series of great business books that Kendall recommends.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Amit Kothari. He spent ten years in London dealing with some of the largest companies and organizations in the world and helping them with collaboration technology. After seeing a lot of failures in that industry, he realized he needed a very structured process with unstructured, human conversations to make his business succeed.
Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Innovator’s Dilemma
What CEO do you follow? — Jack Welch and Warren Buffett
Favorite online tool? — DropBox, Xero
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — “Never confuse movement with action.” –Hemingway

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan introduces Amit
01:45 – Tallyfy
02:05 – The company’s program helps remove routine processes throughout the day
02:30 – They started in Chili with a grant in 2014
03:00 – Then they got a grant from the US
03:30 – First year had no revenue
03:45 – $300k in 2015, with $600k total
04:15 – Paying customers
04:50 -- $39/month is the average that customers pay
05:15 – Monthly revenue
06:00 – They have several different services and processes
06:35 – Pure MRR in April -- $4000
07:10 -- Professional services is a huge chunk of revenue
08:20 – Starting out with professional services brings in a lot of revenue
08:50 – Team size is 5, with a few freelancers
09:05 – Total capital $500000
10:10 – Amit and his wife are cofounders
10:25 – They have a rule to stop talking about work after 6 pm
11:00 – They believe in their business
11:45 -- tallyfy.com and @tallyfy on Twitter
12:00 – Consistency is the secret to a growing company’s success
14:20 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Start a business that you believe in.
Look for grants and funding opportunities.
If you want to scale your business, you have to put effort into consistency.
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.
The Innovator’s Dilemma – Amit’s favorite business book
DropBox – One of Amit’s favorite online tools, that allows businesses to share files online
Xero – Online accounting tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Amit Kothari. He spent ten years in London dealing with some of the largest companies and organizations in the world and helping them with collaboration technology. After seeing a lot of failures in that industry, he realized he needed a very structured process with unstructured, human conversations to make his business succeed.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – The Innovator’s Dilemma
• What CEO do you follow? — Jack Welch and Warren Buffett
• Favorite online tool? — DropBox, Xero

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — “Never confuse movement with action.” –Hemingway

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:10 – Nathan introduces Amit
• 01:45 – Tallyfy
• 02:05 – The company’s program helps remove routine processes throughout the day
• 02:30 – They started in Chili with a grant in 2014
• 03:00 – Then they got a grant from the US
• 03:30 – First year had no revenue
• 03:45 – $300k in 2015, with $600k total
• 04:15 – Paying customers
• 04:50 -- $39/month is the average that customers pay
• 05:15 – Monthly revenue
• 06:00 – They have several different services and processes
• 06:35 – Pure MRR in April -- $4000
• 07:10 -- Professional services is a huge chunk of revenue
• 08:20 – Starting out with professional services brings in a lot of revenue
• 08:50 – Team size is 5, with a few freelancers
• 09:05 – Total capital $500000
• 10:10 – Amit and his wife are cofounders
• • 10:25 – They have a rule to stop talking about work after 6 pm
  • 11:00 – They believe in their business
• 11:45 -- tallyfy.com and @tallyfy on Twitter
• 12:00 – Consistency is the secret to a growing company’s success
• 14:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Start a business that you believe in.
• Look for grants and funding opportunities.
• If you want to scale your business, you have to put effort into consistency.

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.
• The Innovator’s Dilemma – Amit’s favorite business book
• DropBox – One of Amit’s favorite online tools, that allows businesses to share files online
• Xero – Online accounting tool
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Jonathan Gillon, the founder of Roost. His unique business costs almost nothing to run, and is taking over the nation. Though he has experienced failures along with success in his business endeavors, Jon is a self-proclaimed optimist. He sees the potential growth of his business and wants to be the one to take it to its full potential.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing about Hard Things
What CEO do you follow? — Andy Dunn
Favorite online tool? — Geckoboard
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don’t get kicked out of college. Stop getting in trouble.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Jonathan explains Roost
01:45 – Profits come from a percentage of transaction fees
02:55 – They focus on storage and parking spaces
03:15 – Mostly garages
03:45 – His first-year revenue was zero
04:10 – He found an opportunity with a storage unit that was closing
05:45 – Numbers of buyers and sellers
06:55 – He has a team of 17 people in San Francisco
07:30 – His rent in San Francisco
08:25 – $4.9 million in capital
09:35 – Roost uses a “targeted approach” working with car-share companies
10:55 – Total revenue 2015 - $80000
11:25 – Revenue is now 25k/month
12:10 – Reasoning behind the company’s evaluation
12:50 – Potential of the company
13:30 – Jonathan sees great value in Roost
14:00 – They are still in “beta mode”
15:00 – They have virtually no competitors
16:10 – Jonathan prefers to “build something big and fail” than build something small
17:05 – His experience with Droperty Tax
17:40 – He lost everything he earned from that company
18:30 – He wants to grow revenue and get Roost to its potential
19:25 –Jon’s blog about his experiences as an entrepreneur
21:20 – Average revenue per buyer – about $41
22:20 – “We’ve got almost no churn.”
23:10 – Cost to find a new space is almost nothing
23:30 – Money is spent on marketing
24:35 – He pays himself $64k
25:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Look for a business opportunity that requires low upfront costs.
Don’t be afraid to stand behind your business and be optimistic about its potential.
If your company gets bought, don’t go on a spending spree.
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.
Geckoboard – Jonathan’s favorite online tool

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Douglas Lusted, the CEO and co-founder of Linkett. Douglas is an incredible individual who earned his way onto the Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list at the age of 19! He’s taken his company, which specializes in out-of-home advertising, from an idea on paper to an unstoppable force that’s taking on big-time enterprise clients.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Lean Analytics
What CEO do you follow? — Kurtis McBride
Favorite online tool? — Calendly or Prospect.io
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Absolutely not.
If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep on doing what you’re doing.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:25 – Nathan’s introduction
01:45 –Linkett is an analytics platform
02:20 – It is sold as an annual subscription
02:35 – Company was founded in 2013, and it was his first business venture
03:05 – First-year revenue was $100000
03:50 – Money and capital raised
05:00 – Their team now
05:20 – Growth for the company over the past year and a half
06:10 – Monthly recurring revenue (about $25k)
06:50 – The company’s churn
07:40 – Advertisers’ pricing systems
09:35 – The future of billboards
10:18 – What Douglas would do as a billboard owner
10:45 – Customer worth
11:40 – The company is focused on growth
12:00 – Connect with Douglas Lusted on LinkedIn
14:010 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Don’t be afraid to redefine an industry and how it operates
When you have a great idea, go for it.
Create a product that improves an industry’s integrity.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Prospect.io – Douglas’s favorite online sales tool based out of Canada
Lean Analytics – Douglas’s favorite business book.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Tony Leonard, founder and president of nurseVersity—a company that uses next-generation tools, cutting-edge research, and adaptive, personalized learning structures to help nurses and physical therapists prepare for the respective industry exams with maximum efficiency.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Who Moved the Cheese
What CEO do you follow? — Bill Gates
Favorite online tool? — There are several
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Sleep more; eat less.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:09 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Tony’s company operates under a monthly subscription format
01:45 – He helps people pass their qualifying exams the first time
02:15 – 10,000 customers, with $152,000 in revenue last month
03:00 -- $35.50/month per customer
03:30 – Scholarship program
05:00 – One-time payments
05:40 – How they manage churn
07:30 – Cost to get a customer
08:40 – Company is based in Louisville, Kentucky
09:00 – Churn for their company
10:15 – Lifetime value is about $300 per customer
10:30 – They are looking to raise capital
11:00 – Capital to date is $4 million
11:15 – Connect with Tony Leonard on LinkedIn, or at Nurseversity on Facebook, or tony.leonard@nurseversity.com
13:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Show your customers you care.
Think of ways you can increase capital and scale your business.
Sleep more, and eat less.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Who Moved the Cheese – Tony’s favorite business book
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Sam Caucci, founder of Sales Huddle, a training and development team using gaming technology to help organizations better prepare their people for the workforce. With work delivered across North America, Europe, and Asia, Sales Huddle has impacted people across organizations in a wide array of sectors and clients, that include professional sports teams, politics and government, hospitality, retail, colleges, and many more. They’re applying an innovative approach to people preparing for the workforce, and Sam is over the creation of the training game platform. It is the first game-based platform that transforms the way an organization on-boards, trains, and develops team members.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Emotional Intelligence
What CEO do you follow? — Someone who’s not living right now
Favorite online tool? — Rapportive and Mixmax
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Not to think I knew everything.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:09 – Nathan’s introduction
01:55 – Training that isn’t boring
02:50 – Money is made from a license fee
03:22 – Company was founded in 2010
3:55 – It went from consulting to a product
4:15 – First year’s revenue was $250000
4:45 – They are self-funded
5:15 – Total customers is 61
5:45 – Learning-based vs. game-based competition
6:35 – The product requests annual pay
7:05 – Pay is upfront
07:30 – Average pay per year is $15000 per customer
07:55 – 100% retention and why
10:05 – Customer acquisition costs
11:00 – They have just started raising capital
11:50 – How to get more people and scale the business
13:20 – How much money they want to raise
13:40 – Team is six people
14:00 – Saleshuddlegroup.com, Twitter - @saleshuddle or @samcaucci
16:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Businesses and progress run off of incentives.
Consider the most efficient and cost-effective way to provide your service.
Learning and training systems shouldn’t be boring.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Rapportive and Mixmax – Sam’s favorite online tools for organization and productivity
Sales Huddle – A training program that uses gaming technology

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori. Their business was started in 2015, and it is already seeing 50% growth each month. Learn about Cam and Akin’s recipe for success as we discuss their products and how their business is run. They are showing incredible numbers for their startup, so let’s take some notes on how these two single guys saw financial success in the baby industry.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – Zero to One
• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? – Google Hangouts

• 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 for it, in terms of entrepreneurship

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:26 - Nathan introduces Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori
• 01:44 – Cam and Akin target gifters
• 02:20 – Cam and Akin explain the company
• 02:51 – Revenue came mostly from parents and gifters buying directly
• 03:22 - They talk about their multiple skews and how they manage them.
• 04:43 – Their sleep suits are their best sellers.
• 05:25 – Margins are 1:4 or 1:5
• 06:35 – They talk about their other expenses and their net margin, which is very low.
• 07:32 – Sales and marketing are limited costs.
• 08:21 – Their shipping is free to the UK only, but they are finding other ways to get to the US and other countries with low shipping costs.
• 09:15 – The business was launched in 2015, and is a very new startup.
• 10:21 – Their goal for this year is about $600000
• 10:51 – The business has strong numbers and statistics
• 11:23 – They discuss their number of buyers.
• 12:00 – The business owners talk about their subscription system.
• 13:20 – Their latest success is to have raised $1 million in priced equity.
• 14:50 – Their growth is 50% each month. That and other characteristics make them appealing to investors.
• 15:29 – Nathan discusses data in the baby business.
• 16:44 – People can connect at babymori.com
• 19:04 – Nathan goes over the Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Cam and Akin have low costs to produce their products.
• Baby Mori focuses on getting the product to the client in an affordable manner.
• A company with significant monthly growth, like Baby Mori, is appealing to 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.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Brendan Candon, cofounder and CEO of SidelineSwap, a community market where athletes buy and sell their sports gear. Most of their users are middle school, high school, and college athletes selling online for the first time. They’ve got revenue and traction with gross sales running close to $2 million.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – High Output Management
What CEO do you follow? — Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour
Favorite online tool? — Slack and Appear
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7 – 10
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —“Be sure, with whatever you’re doing, that you can do it for five years.”

Time Stamped Show Notes:
02:22 – Nathan introduces Brendan
01:40 – SidelineSwap makes it easy for athletes to buy and sell sports gear.
02:25 – SidelineSwap was launched in 2012, and really took off in 2015
03:22 – The company takes 12 percent from the seller to make money.
04:33 – They didn’t make any money for the first couple years, but in 2015 they did $400000 in sales.
05:04 – They are now on track to do $2 million in sales
05:25 – The site is transactional and social.
06:15 – Average order value is $75 before shipping
06:30 – They have been growing about 15 percent each month, but they started growing by 50 percent
07:15 – Users are accustomed to the conditions of used sports gear, and it’s a smart route for parents.
08:30 – The site is for usable gear, but we also get gear sold for charity or signed gear.
09:47 – Instagram is their main account, and they have separate accounts for different sports.
10:34 – They get new followers by finding great content that kids enjoy.
11:39 – Their goal is to be the marketplace for athletes.
12:50 – Follow Brendan personally on Twitter @brendancanden or contact him through email at sidelineswap.com
15:18 – Nathan does the famous five

3 Key Points:
Be sure to look ahead for the next five years with your business.
Up your Instagram followers by finding great content for your audience.
Start a business that fills a niche, like SidelineSwap, which is an online marketplace specifically for athletes.
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

Khuram Hussain, founder of Inbox 2 and now Fileboard. The two companies reached multi-million-dollar worth, and Khuram provides insight into his two businesses and how they have succeeded. He gives us an idea of Fileboard’s revenue and what factors go into his company, which has grown to be worth millions in just a few short years.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – Zero to One
• What CEO do you follow? —Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? — Trello

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Not to go and run for corporate

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:16 – Nathan introduces Khuram Hussain
• 01:44 – Khuram started Inbox 2 in his twenties.
• 02:31 – Khuram explains the history of how Inbox 2 started
• 03:15 – Inbox connects everyone from one single platform (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• 03:44 – Inbox grew to 60 million users
• 04:22 – Inbox was bought by MyLife
• 04:44 – Khuram valued the business by user base and engagement
• 05:05 – Inbox was a team of 12 people and self-funded when it sold.
• 05:46 – Inbox was a 6-figure sell
• 06:20 – Then Khuram moved to starting a new business, Fileboard
• 08:44 – Fileboard is a sales tool to improve the sales process of a company.
• 09:40 – It was launched in 2012.
• 10:03 – First year’s revenue was $0, and they grew over the years to about $10 million
• 11:06 – Khuram shares about a typical process with a company that purchases File Board
• 11:54 – Khuram explains their customer base.
• 12:35 – Average business pays $20k to $30k per year
• 13:14 – Khuram explains Fileboard’s investors
• 13:52 – Customer worth is two to three years
• 14:56 – Customer acquisition cost.
• 15:50 – Nathan talks with Khuram about MRR
• 17:30 – The company is based in Europe. Khuram discusses his team.
• 18:00 – You can connect with Khuram on LinkedIn
• 19:22 – Nathan goes over the Famous Five with Khuram

3 Key Points:

• Khuram had decided that the money from his first business would not mark the end of his business endeavors.
• Fileboard’s profits increased from nothing to millions within just a few years.
• The company’s customer acquisition cost is extremely low compared to what each business will pay to use Fileboard.

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

Hank Leber, founder and CEO of Vytamin. Vytamin is a marketing technology software that provides an end-to-end marketing solution. The business made $460,000 the first year and is excelling in its industry. Hank will share his insights from failing with his first business to succeeding with the next. He is a great example of an entrepreneur who has persevered to create a service that works.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – The Lean Startup
• What CEO do you follow? —Jason Lemkin
• Favorite online tool? — Google Apps

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No way
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Cheat a little

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:28 – Nathan introduces Hank Leber, founder and CEO of Vytamin
• 01:55 – Hank worked with Travelocity before Vytamin
• 02:16 – Vytamin is marketing technology software for an end-to-end marketing solution
• 02:47 – The service starts at $1000/month
• 03:24 – Vytamin is a SAS company
• 03:54 – Hank’s first business was founded at the beginning of 2015, because Hank wanted to move to greater things beyond his original goals
• 05:14 – You can get out of the corporate world, but it is a leap of faith
• 06:45 – Hank quickly exhausted his life savings with his first startup, Gonnabe, and the company failed
• 09:14 – His cofounders found outlets at other successful companies.
• 09:52 – Hank then took a year in the agency world to make back the money he lost and get on his feet again.
• 11:05 – First year revenue for Vytamin was $460,000
• 11:30 – They now have 85 paying customers, with $102,000/month coming in.
• 12:41 – Gross churn is about 4% per month, but at first it was over 20%.
• 13:48 – Their goal is 4% annual churn
• 14:49 – They don’t have to spend on marketing because they use their own software. There is no real inside sales team.
• 16:08 – There are nine on the team now, with $650,000 revenue last year.
• 18:26 – Monthly headcount is about $10k
• 18:53 – Revenue is 18%
• 19:30 – Hank does the Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Even if a business idea fails, use your new knowledge to continue seeking a concept that works.
• Starting a business will require savings or funding as well as a big leap into the unknown.
• Give appropriate value to your employees and they will work harder and stick around.

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

Adam Lee, cofounder and CEO of Bohemian Guitars. The business sells guitars made out of recyclable materials, and the majority of its sales in through the website bohemianguitars.com. Nathan and his brother are now making over $1 million per year, and their initial marketing strategy focused on crowdfunding. Their marketing strategy has found the secret to making money through these crowdfunding sites.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – Tribes by Seth Godin
• What CEO do you follow? — Nick Woodman
• Favorite online tool? —

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Definitely not
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — I wish I wasn’t caught up in saving for the future

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:16 – Nathan introduces Adam Lee, cofounder and CEO of Bohemian Guitars
• 01:40 – The company is a retail brand and manufacturer, with guitars made out of recyclable materials
• 2:20 – A guitar costs about $250, with $50 cost to produce
• 02:48 – Most sales go through the website
• 03:05 – They started in 2012 and have over 100 skews, for all custom guitars
• 03:22 -  They have partners in China and a facility in Atlanta
• 04:07 – The first year, their revenue was $16000
• 04:55 – Their 2015 revenue was just under $1 million, due in part to success with a ukulele
• 05:58 – There are a lot of players, and they are new to the space, so they try to draw people in with accessories.
• 06:55 – They do a lot of crowdfunding to raise funds and test the crowd
• 07:31 – Kickstarter and Indiegogo were both used, and are fairly comparable
• 08:24 – They did a soft launch on Indiegogo with a party and low price initiative as well as an official launch online the next day
• 10:39 – Their campaign was run for 30 days, with a goal to manufacture 1000 guitars.
• 12:04 – An online campaign requires a lot of work and preparation—you need a story to tell.
• 13:03 – You can pressure people to still buy after reaching the Kickstart goal by adding incentives.
• 14:00 – When you agree to purchase, Indiegogo and the company will email you, and you will be invited to an exclusive online community.
• 14:44 – They will now try to run a campaign on their own website.
• 15:21 – Follow Adam on Twitter
• 17:19 – Adam does the Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Nathan and his brother came up with a unique idea and are now making over $1 million per year.
• Bohemian Guitars focused a lot on crowdfunding, and is continuing to try out new online marketing methods.
• The company gets buys with incentives that have short deadlines.

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

Ryan Levesque, author of business methodology book Ask. Ryan wrote his book as a unique type of “business card.” It was a marketing tool for his “Ask Method” for businesses. After putting $1 million into his book, Ryan is now seeing the benefits, with tens of thousands of copies sold and a viable business in the education industry.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things

• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? — Slack

• 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 afraid, man

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:16 – Nathan introduces Ryan Levesque, author of Ask
• 01:55 – Ryan wrote the book as a business tool, “a business card.”
• 02:40 – The first half of the book tells his personal story, a polarizing element for the book.
• 04:08 – more than 55,000 copies have sold.
• 04:35 – He was introduced to a publisher with no royalty, and his second book will have an advance
• 05:18 – He spent $1 million of his own money
• 05:42 – The biggest expense was advertising
• 06:28 – “If you’re writing a book to make money on the book, you’re going to be disappointed.”
• 07:16 – His advance for his next book is a six-figure advance--around $250,000 to $500,000 would be ideal.
• 08:15 – One mistake was to use partners to sell the book.
• 09:00 – Podcasters were the one group that understood giving out free books.
• 09:30 – He met with several podcasts each week.
• 10:20 – Ryan originally wanted to drive traffic to the “Ask Method”
• 11:30 – They are now exclusively an education company.
• 12:05 – He made over $1 million a year on his different platforms, and eventually a business hired him for $50,000 up front and 5 % royalty.
• 13:00 – He shifted to focusing on larger businesses.
• 14:00 – He works with different markets and learns about how to refine his business.
• 14:50 – Today they help students apply the methodology to their business.
• 15:28 – The book and the program work hand-in-hand.
• 16:28 – Go to askmethod.com for articles and downloads.
• 18:36 – Ryan does the Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Make your story personal.
• Don’t write a book to make money—if you do, you’ll be disappointed.
• Considering using a book as a promotional or marketing tool.

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 Berman, cofounder of Inspire Beats, a B2B lead generation company that focuses on cold emails to help businesses succeed. The business took off quickly and is now worth about 1.3 million. With no money raised, Inspire Beats’s secret recipe is clearly working. Listen to Alex and I discuss a few ingredients in his recipe for success.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – 10X Rule
• What CEO do you follow? — Chris Hardwick
• Favorite online tool? — Streak

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Almost 4 hours of sleep at night
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Power emailing

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 1:20 -Nathan introduces Alex Berman, cofounder of Inspire Beats
• 01:54 – Alex explains Inspire Beats, a B2B lead generation company
• 02:39 – Form Stack used Inspire Beats to reach people in the US
• 03:15 – Alex talks about their different price packages
• 03:55 – They have over 700 clients
• 04:20 – Revenue is about 1.3 million per month
• 05:35 – There are thousands of companies who do the same thing.
• 06:34 - They have an advantage with higher quality and an American base.
• 07:26 – They are growing about 20% to 25% per month
• 08:33 – Gross customer churn is sporadic. They will stay for a long time or leave quickly.
• 09:42 – Numbers are different in every industry.
• 10:10 – Customers mostly come from cold emailing.
• 10:44 – The cost is about $40 per customer.
• 11:25 – Most customers stay indefinitely. They move to different models in Inspire Beats.
• 13:20 – They are bootstrapped, with nothing raised.
• 13:57 – Emailers are paid on salary.
• 14:30 – 150 emails are sent per day.
• 14:57 – Their first year the company took off quickly
• 15:50 – They don’t need to raise money--they want to increase cold emails and marketing.
• 17:10 – People can connect at inspirebeats.com or youtube.com/alxberman
• 19:28 – Nathan does the Famous Five with Alex

3 Key Points:

• Inspire Beats is a leading business in its industry.
• It is bootstrapped, with no money raised.
• The company hires cold emailers, and they pay very little for each new client that they take on.

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

Amanda Newman, who opened her first store in high school. She became a realtor, and went on to create Park Bench - a SaaS business that creates neighborhood-focused websites for realtors who want to connect to their community. She and her partner made $880k in revenue last year and this year they’re shooting for a million.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue
• What CEO do you follow? — Grant Cardone
• Favorite online tool? — Unbounce

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Take some computer programming and design courses

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:23 – Nathan’s introduction
• 02:22 – Park Bench creates neighborhood-focused websites
• 02:47 – Amanda wanted to create value for the communities that she worked in - so she built a neighborhood website
• 03:34 – Local businesses put deals and promotions on the website
• 04:15 – “After the first one, it was easier to create the second one”
• 04:40 – Amanda sells neighborhood sites to realtors so that they have the opportunity to build relationships
• 05:20 – Realtors pay between $3000 and $6000 per year
• 06:15 – “Realtors want to be known as the neighborhood realtor”
• 06:57 –  Started in 2014 - first-year revenue was $450k
• 07:11  – Revenue in 2015 was $880k - they’re on track for over $1 million this year
• 07:30 – 215 unique customers
• 07:53 – Customer Acquisition Cost?
• 08:44 – Facebook marketing is paying fantastic dividends
• 09:20 – 80% of realtors who buy their product buy it on the first call
• 09:35 – MRR in May is around $70k per month
• 10:00 – Revenue per user per month is $350
• 10:25 – Customer Acquisition Cost is around $400
• 10:50 – Customers sign on for a year - many sign on for a 2nd year as well
• 11:15 – Around half of realtors dropped out last year - but they’re immediately replaced
• 12:22 – The average realtor stays around 1.5 years
• 13:04 – Team of 8 people based in Toronto
• 13:50 – Park Bench sells directly to real-estate agents
• 15:20 – “Being bootstrapped, we have to move fast”
• 15:40 – $70k monthly run rate
• 15:45 – Connect with Amanda on Linkedin

• 18:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Find the customers that fit with you
• Understand your market and what they want
• Everything starts with creating value for the people around 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.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Mike Wilner, the co-founder and CEO of Compass, a web design marketplace for small businesses. Mike’s a Venture For America fellow and has secured funding for his startup - a platform which handles marketing and project management for web designers and connects them to small business clients. Listen in to find out why you should forget the startup hype and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – The Servant
• What CEO do you follow? — None. I prefer following athletes.
• Favorite online tool? — Asana

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Close
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Don’t believe all the hype in the startup world. There are just as many falls as there are success stories.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:18 – Nathan’s introduction
• 01:50 – Compass works with network of freelance web designers - they connect small businesses to designers, manage projects, and take a cut
• 03:23 – Compass takes a 40% cut of everything that comes through
• 04:07 – People who need a project completed come to Compass - they take the details and then invite designers to the project
• 05:15 – Designers make around $40-60 per hour, after the 40% cut
• 06:24 – Started in late 2014 and have been launched full-time for just over 1 year
• 06:46 – First-year revenue in 2014 was $4k
• 07:40 – Total 2015 revenue was $40k
• 08:00 –  4 people in the core team, plus 40 designers on contract
• 08:30  – Around $250k worth of projects processed
• 09:15 – Designers have a lot of flexibility on how many projects they take on
• 09:43 – Growing 40% month over month
• 10:30 – Compass manages standardized rounds of revision to prevent scope creep
• 11:10 – “The technology is the easy part - the harder part is managing humans and expectations”
• 12:08 – Raised a $300k angel round via convertible note last year
• 13:20 – “There’s still a huge need in the marketplace for people who need a professional web designer”
• 13:40 – Connect with Mike on Twitter or at Compass

• 15:38 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Don’t believe the startup hype
• The hard part of startups is managing humans and expectations: work on having great soft skills
• Leadership is about service

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

Anh Vu, the founder and CEO of Avocode - a tool to connect front-end designers and back-end developers and make fantastic collaboration simple. Anh’s background is in design, but he’s building a SaaS business with negative churn and great profits by being totally on top of his numbers.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Business Book? – The Startup Playbook
• What CEO do you follow? — Hiten Shah
• Favorite online tool? — Chart Mogul

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Measure everything, be really data driven, and focus on retention

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:13 – Nathan’s introduction
• 01:50 – Avocode makes it easy for front-end designers to share information with back-end developers
• 02:50 – The designer uploads the design into Avocode, where all the team can access it, leave notes, and make revisions. Then the developer can access all the design assets through Avocode
• 03:25 – As of May 2016,  $50k MRR
• 03:57 – Launched in February 2015
• 03:54 – $250k annual revenue in 2015
• 04:20 – Currently working with the 500 Startups accelerator
• 04:53 – 2800 customers on one of two plans
• 06:00 –  Average revenue per customer is $27
• 06:40  – Some users were on boarded in a pre-order process and pay less than average
• 07:17 – User churn is 7% monthly
• 07:28 – Net revenue churn is -1%
• 07:50 – Some users stay and purchase more and more seats - so revenue churn is negative
• 08:40 – Upselling more seats to your current customer base is a KEY SaaS strategy
• 09:23 – There are 14 people in An’s team, based in the Czech Republic
• 09:43 – Monthly expenses are $35k
• 10:10 – They’re profitable
• 11:20 – Currently spending nothing on customer acquisition
• 12:01 – The average business-plan customer stays for 18 months
• 13:12 – Most of the customer base is startups and enterprise businesses
• 14:00 – Growing at 15% month over month
• 14:18 – Planning to start their first capital raise in August 2016
• 15:20 – Discussing partnerships with companies like Adobe and Sketch
• 16:07 – Follow Anh on Twitter

• 18:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Upsell your current customer base
• Plan partnerships and exit strategies - early
• Measure everything

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