Kenny Hawk, the CEO of Mojio. Kenny made millions from iGo, a company he started in his dorm room in the 1990s. He’s now turning his expertise in wireless technology to good use at Mojio - a company backed by Amazon and Deutsche Telecom that uses cloud-based tech to link your car to the internet. Listen in to hear lessons from the dotcom boom, how Mojio can slash your garage fees, and why Kenny’s expecting to sell almost 2 million units in the next 2 years.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – Built to Last
What CEO do you follow? — Larry Ellison
Favourite 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? — The most important choice in life is the people you choose to be around you
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:09 – Nathan’s introduction
01:37 – Welcoming Kenny to the show
01:45 – iGo was Kenny’s first CEO gig - he started the business in his dorm room before graduation
02:30 – iGo created universal charging adaptors for mobile devices
02:50 – Started in 1993 and bootstrapped, followed by angel investment and VC rounds
03:30 – Raised $10 million and went public in 1999
03:50 – Acquired 3 companies and were then acquired themselves
04:40 – Moved from Silicon Valley to northern Nevada
05:20 – Top market cap was almost $1 billion
05:40 – Market cap was below $100 million - but they came out on the right side of the bubble
06:25 – Revenue was around $80 million when they sold
07:15 – Gross margin was around 30-40%
07:20 – iGo was profitable when it started, but VC investors were focused on growth rather than profit
08:30 – People who came in late in the dotcom boom tended to suffer
09:30 – Kenny did well out of his company sale
10:00 – People went bankrupt by paying tax on optioned gain - then losing everything
11:00 – The people who lost the most were the public market
11:26 – Mojio was launched in 2012 in Vancouver, backed by Amazon and Deutsche Telecom
11:50 – Kenny started in late 2015
12:05 – Mojio provides a cloud service to connect cars to the internet - track drivers and know where a shared car is at any time
12:53 – “When you’re not in your car, your cellphone’s not in your car”
13:23 – The device connects through the onboard diagnostic port - meaning that you know exactly what’s gone wrong
14:10 – Work on a revenue-share basis. Sell units and store data.
15:08 – Hoping to join the autonomous car ecosystem once it takes off
15:30 – Under 30 full-time employees
16:10 – Sales will be within the millions of units in the next 2-3 years
16:35 – Why did Kenny come on board instead of starting a new business?
17:12 – Kenny grew up in Detroit and loves cars - he also knew and respected the VC investors
17:55 – Deutsche Telecom has been a fantastic strategic partner
11:13 – Connect with Kenny through the Mojio website
20:22 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Surround yourself with the right people. The most important choice in building a successful life and business is who you join forces with.
Find a strategic investor who brings more than just money to your business.
Growth is not everything. The dotcom boom happened when growth outstripped profit - it’s important to know that your business can work.
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