Vincenzo Ruggiero, founder of Prospect.io. Vincenzo has a wife and two children, with one born just days ago. With the chaos of a new baby, Vincenzo has still found a way to support himself and his family and manage a new and growing business.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – Getting Real, Rework
What CEO do you follow? — Joel Gascoigne
Favorite online tool? — Freshbooks, Slack, Trello, Appear
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Be humble.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:15 – Nathan introduces Vincenzo
01:40 – Prospect.io is a sales software
02:00 – Recurring revenue from monthly plans
02:20 – Launched in January 2016
02:40 – June revenue was $17k
03:15 – Customer pays more the more they use it
04:10 – Average is $45/month
04:30 – How they have driven customers
04:50 – word of mouth
05:50 – Different types of customers
06:20 – Self-funded
06:45 – Team of 3
07:30 – The system in Belgium makes Vincenzo the sole founder
08:00 – Vincenzo started with other web businesses before he started Prospect.io
09:10 – His family (two kids)
09:35 – How he supports himself
09:45 – He lives off of savings and a very low salary
11:10 – The company breaks even
11:30 – Growth each month
11:50 – How they got such fast growth
13:15 – Customer churn is 6% monthly
14:25 – Customer acquisition cost is $50
15:00 – Lifetime value is $570
15:30 -- @VincenzoR on Twitter
17:35 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Plan out financially how you be able to afford to start a new business.
Don’t let your arrogance get in the way of your success.
A success work life does not have to take away from a success home life.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Slack, Trello, and Appear – Online tools that Vincenzo uses for his business
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Andrew Kemendo, founder of Pair. Andrew was in Guam as an Airforce Intelligence Officer when he came up with an augmented reality idea to try out furniture and materials without having to buy or ship anything. The Airforce needed to build new facilities, and Andrew thought his idea would save a lot of money and headache. Now his company Pair is used by several large manufacturers to help people find the right furniture for their homes.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – Crossing the Chasm
What CEO do you follow? — Justin Kan
Favorite online tool? — Slack
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Never.
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep learning about paradigm shifting technologies.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan introduces Andrew
01:40 – Pair is a tool to try out home furnishings before you buy them
02:30 – Free for consumers
02:45 – Andrew’s experience in Guam and how he came up with Pair
03:45 – They started working with architects
04:10 – Launched fulltime in 2015
05:00 – Funding over $900k
05:20 – First-year revenue was $10000/month
06:20 – Pilots in big cities
06:30 – Monthy and up-front fees
07:15 – Revenue in 2016
07:50 – 15 manufacturers and over 2000 products
08:30 – Transition for the company
09:10 – Architects to home furnishers
10:20 – Larger adjustable market
10:40 – Projection for $1.5M
11:20 -- 20000 products placed each month by app users
12:15 – CPC and CPM
12:55 – Ability to scale
13:25 – Pair on Twitter and Facebook
13:45 -- @andrewkemendo on Twitter and andrewkdot on Snapchat
15:45 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Embrace new technology to create a solution to a problem.
Don’t be afraid to change your business model to help your business grow.
Adjust your product to benefit a larger group of consumers.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Slack – The online tool Andrew uses to stay organized at Pair
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Timur Daudpota, cofounder of Blurbiz. His business allows companies to create and edit videos and post them directly to Snapchat. Listen to Timur share his journey as an entrepreneur. He started out with skateboards, and now he’s jumped to Snapchat.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – Zero to One
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Sketch
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Read more books.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan introduces Timur
02:00 – Blurbiz is a SaaS platform
03:00 – They found a gap in Snapchat
03:35 – Customers can link their Snapchat account and post videos through Blurbiz
04:20 – Working with publishers
04:40 – They charge $2k to $5k per month
05:00 -- $60k in revenue last month
05:15 – Too early for churn
05:45 – Customer acquisition
06:20 – They pay themselves a $60k salary
06:35 – Fundraising is $425k total
07:15 – Valuation
08:20 – Team size is 8
08:30 – Commission based
09:45 – Based out of Mountain View
10:00 – Started with a skateboarding company
10:40 – Bringing back a classic skateboard design
11:00 – LED skateboard wheels
11:30 – Received prize money for their company
12:00 – Finding a better way to sell
12:20 – They connected their product with social media and sales jumped
13:00 – Equity for Blurbiz
13:45 – Follow Blurbiz on Snapchat
14:00 – 20000 views for every post on Snapchat
16:40 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Constantly find ways to improve your business.
If you find a gap in a certain company or industry, fill it.
Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Sketch – Timur’s favorite online tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Cody Bradstreet. Cody has a background in accounting and was working for Dell when she realized she needed a backup plan for work. She opened up her own franchise of The Lice Place, where people can have lice manually moved without harsh chemicals. Find out how an accountant got her hands into the lice industry.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – Her own future book
What CEO do you follow? — No
Favorite online tool? — Quickbooks
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Love yourself. Forward fixes everything.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:00 – Nathan introduces Cody
01:20 – Started in accounting
01:40 – Worked at Dell
02:10 – She left Dell to “chase my dreams in the lice industry.”
02:30 – Started as a backup plan for possible layoffs
03:20 – She approached a small business, The Lice Place
03:50 – The transition
04:25 – Franchising
04:40 – Total revenue for the year before she bought it was under $50k
05:10 – Service to manually remove lice
05:50 – She did her own valuation
06:50 – Royalties
07:10 – A standard franchise model
08:00 – A goal to buy the whole business
08:50 – Why to buy instead of build
09:10 – Revenue for the last year was $250k
09:50 – Employees are the biggest expenses
10:10 – Advice for future franchisers
10:40 – “Get a good lawyer.”
10:55 – Connect with Cody on LinkedIn
12:45 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Put yourself out there to get into a certain industry or business.
Consider buying a business instead of building a new one.
Make sure you read the fine print before you start your own franchise.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Quickbooks – Cody’s accounting tool
Evernote – Nathan’s favorite online tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Kenneth Lee, founder of TravelFlan. Kenneth has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and has developed a business that makes travelling easier. TravelFlan has partnered with major airlines as well as thousands of individual customers to give them a personal digital travelling assistant.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Zero to One
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Evernote
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Quit school faster.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan introduces Kenneth
01:30 – TravelFlan
01:55 – Customers pay on average $15
02:30 – Three sources of revenue
03:05 – History of the business
03:30 – He and his partner loved to travel
04:14 – First-year revenue in 2015 $120k
04:50 – They have a free service and a premium service
05:15 – 2000 customers
05:25 – May 2016 revenue from commissions from airlines was $25k
06:00 – Two large airlines use their data
06:30 – May total revenue was $50k
06:55 – Fundraising
07:30 -- $5 Million valuation
07:40 – Most of the team is in Asia
08:25 – Churn is not as applicable in this type of business
09:30 – Customer acquisition
09:57 – Team of 11 people
10:10 – travelflan.com or Kenneth.lee@travelflan.com
23:40 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Start with a very focused business and then expand as you see success.
If you have a good idea, pursue it immediately.
Find different ways to make revenue.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Evernote – Kenneth’s favorite online tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Peter Voogd. Peter helped several millennials make six figures and realized he could make a business out of it. His Gamechanger’s Academy helps promising entrepreneurs become successful within months. Under 30 himself, Peter is a best-selling author and a recognized leader for entrepreneurs and millennials.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – The Millionaire Fastlane
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Infusionsoft, ScheduleOnce, Kajabi
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Stay strategic and intentional.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan introduces Peter
02:05 – Gamechanger’s Academy
02:30 – Launched in 2013
02:45 – Connections for young entrepreneurs
03:10 – His past experience
03:30 – “Built a culture of excellence”
04:20 – He helped several young professionals become successful
05:00 – “I wanted to shift the culture for millennials.”
05:15 – gamechangersmovement.com
05:25 – Payment system
06:05 -- $297/month for the Platinum plan
06:50 – About 70% are on a yearly plan
07:10 – The Rookie plan
07:30 – Churn
08:00 – People typically stay for 7 to 8 months if they’re not on the yearly plan
08:50 – A focus beyond just the numbers
10:10 – Good retention for the industry
10:30 – How to get new people to find the site
10:50 – Podcast, book, content
11:05 – Referral program
11:20 – Biggest expenses
11:30 – Affiliate costs
11:45 – Organic traffic
12:30 – 6 Months to 6 Figures
13:00 –Self-published
13:15 – 135000 books sold, plus audio books
13:30 – Marketing
14:45 – Bulk purchases
15:25 – Peterjvoogd on Instagram and peterjvoogd.com
17:45 – Peter’s email list
18:00 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
It starts with your own effort and drive.
Consider how you can improve your own culture.
Make a business out of what you are good at.
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.
Infusionsoft -- Peter’s favorite online tool
ScheduleOnce -- Peter’s scheduling tool
Kajabi – Peter’s membership site portal
Gamechanger’s Academy – A top source for millennials and entrepreneurs
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Jodie Fox, a woman who has solved the problem of constantly hunting for the right pair of shoes. Her company Shoes of Prey has raised over $24 million for its system that allows every pair of shoes to be completely customized.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Getting Things Done
What CEO do you follow? — Tom Ford
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? — Do everything before you’re ready.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan introduces Jodie
01:50 – Shoes of Prey—Women can design their own shoes
02:20 – Peer play
02:55 – Women wanted a physical interaction with their shoes
03:15 – First offline store
03:40 – Costs for stores
04:14 – Launched in 2009
04:20 – Funding to date is $24M
04:35 – Every pair is custom made
04:58 – Their website has a gallery for inspiration
05:10 – It’s a social interaction about shoes
06:05 – Customization can start with an inspiration shoe or from scratch
06:40 – Customers have complete freedom
07:25 – How much time people spend making a shoe
08:15 – Acquisition costs
09:45 – Mass-produced shoes are cheaper to produce
10:30 – Pairs of shoes sold
10:55 – Some people design and never buy
11:15 – Their investors
12:00 – Competitors
12:25 – Average sale is $225
13:03 – Team of over 220
13:30 – Production in China
13:40 – They built their own factory there
14:15 – A video of the process at their factory
14:40 – First-year revenue was less than $50k
15:00 – Jodie was not in the fashion industry when she started her company
16:40 – She was brainstorming with friends on the beach
17:15 – Her cofounders are her ex-husband and their groomsman
18:10 – Shoes of Prey wants to eventually grow to other clothing
19:20 – Pay per customer
19:40 – 75% is word of mouth
20:05 – Campaigns
20:50 – Testing offline methods
21:25 – youtube.com/jodiefox
21:35 – jodieannfox on Instagram or @jodiefox on Twitter
23:40 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Find a niche and you’ll have a business with no real competitors.
Don’t let complicated relationships get in the way of your business’s success.
Make your business a unique experience for the customer.
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 – Jodie’s favorite online tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Frank Ricotta, CEO of BurstIQ, which helps professionals and businesses in the healthcare industry connect. Frank has been through the grinder as an entrepreneur. Huge crash-and-burn businesses have gotten him to this point.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – The Executive in Action
What CEO do you follow? — PayPal
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? — Trust your instincts, and don’t lose your balance.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan introduces Frank
01:44 – BurstIQ is a platform service
02:00 – They help their customers create a network
02:53 – Founded in April 2015
03:05 – Frank had been working in health and saw an issue
03:24 – There are three founders
03:52 – First-year revenue was $150k
04:05 – Involvement in several other startups
04:25 – His “crash and burn” story
05:29 – The cofounders
05:55 – May 2016 customers: 10
06:20 – Average pay per customer is $250k to $1M
06:35 – A focus on the base plan
07:00 – $75k/month
07:35 – No patterns yet for churn
08:45 – Customer acquisition cost
09:00 – Inside sales and partners
09:15 -- $150k to $200k
09:40 – 12 team members
10:00 – What ratio Frank likes to see
10:40 – “Work to keep your head above water”
11:09 – The company’s capital
11:37 – Valuation for BurstIQ
12:40 – They want to raise $5M
13:10 – Based in Denver
13:55 – Techstars
14:25 -- @fricotta or Frank Ricotta on LinkedIn
16:26 -- The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Come up with a business that makes something simpler.
Being an entrepreneur means experiencing failure along with success.
If you don’t stretch yourself to reach high goals, no one will believe that you can ever achieve 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.
Slack – Frank’s favorite online tool to connect with coworkers and customers
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Ari Meisel, host of the Less Doing Podcast. Ari’s book Less Doing, More Living has sold over 30,000 copies and has been translated into six other languages. Even with four children, Ari stays on top of his consulting business that continues to bring in more revenue every month.
Famous 5:
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Resources Mentioned:
Nick Kullin of Second Flight Consultancy. Nick started his first business at just thirteen years old. As he continued with tons of other jobs after high school, he realized he wanted to go back to how he felt as a thirteen-year-old. He wanted to be an entrepreneur again.
Famous 5:
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Resources Mentioned:
Lillie Cameron, a brand new mom who also runs her own business. She started EcoSafe Spaces with her now husband. The company provides design and building services for green, eco-friendly construction. She also works with Rackspace, which has recently revamped its policies for maternity and paternity leave.
Famous 5:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
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Resources Mentioned:
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:
Time Stamped Show Notes:
3 Key Points:
Resources Mentioned:
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