Ben Williamson. Ben went from teaching himself to code, to working with Steve Jobs. After 10 years at Apple, Ben’s building Yoshirt - a custom apparel tool that’s priced at $5 million after just two years. Listen as Ben and Nathan talk through fundraising, insecurities, and building an incredibly successful startup.
Famous 5
Favorite Book? – The Way of the SEAL
What CEO do you follow? — Nathan Latka
What is your favorite online tool? — Periscope
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Recently, no
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — You don’t need anyone else’s permission.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:30 – Nathan’s introduction
02:17 – Welcoming Ben to the show
02:25 – Ben’s second time on the show - he was here in episode 23
02:53 – Yoshirt was founded in 2014
03:00 – “Custom, on-demand apparel from your iOS device”
03:08 – Last year ran an over-subscribed fundraising round that closed at $1.1 million
03:30 – Priced round at a post-money valuation of $5 million
04:10 – 13 full-time employees
04:25 – They make money from the physical product - $36 per shirt
05:30 – Cost of goods is $15-18; gross margin of 50%
06:12 – Unique point: Yoshirt prints image on a single piece of fabric before they cut and sew
07:02 – Running Facebook ads and retargeting current customers
07:30 – Over 3 million people have downloaded the app
07:43 – Over 100k paying customers
08:30 – Focus on delivering fantastic customer experience
08:50 – “We make garments so unique that no one can walk by without saying something”
09:20 – Topline revenue was $3 million in 2015
09:25 – Shooting for $10 million in 2016
09:55 – Working with bands to generate growth - partnered with Fall Out Boy
11:00 – Sold over 1,000 units from the Fall Out Boy activation
11:30 – The goal is to see how far they can push the idea
12:00 – “We really look at ourselves as a technology company”
12:50 – Wouldn’t sell Yoshirt for $10 million in cash today
13:30 – People are looking for attention: we’re building a company around that
14:00 – Connect with Ben through email, Linkedin and Twitter
17:55 – Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Satisfied customers are your best growth tool. Deliver a fantastic product and people will return and refer.
Deal with your own insecurities. You don’t need to seek permission or validation from the people around you.
Get the best data you possibly can. Successful entrepreneurs need facts, not stories.
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.
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