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SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

What if you knew data behind the fastest growing SaaS companies today? Each morning join Nathan Latka as he spends 15 minutes interviewing SaaS founders. You'll learn how SaaS CEO's launched their startup and grew it into a business. SaaS Founders range from bootstrapped to funded, MVP to 10,000 customers, pre revenue to pre IPO.
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Now displaying: Page 102
Oct 10, 2016

Nathan interviews Joel Holland, founder of VideoBlocks - a company that distributes over a million clips of royalty-free stock video and audio each month to over 150K customers in the television and video production industry, ranging from professional outlets like NBC to video hobbyists and enthusiasts. They're a 5x INC 500 out of 5000 fastest growing company, and Joel has been named one of the Top 25 under 25 by Business Week, and INC magazine’s prestigious 30 under 30 list.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Influence
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? — Mailchimp
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “I do now”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I have lived my college life”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:50 – Nathan introduces Joel to the show
  • 02:57 – What is VideoBlocks and how does it generate sales
    • 03:00 – Stock media company
    • 03:22 – Elements that creative professionals can incorporate to their projects
  • 03:45 – VideoBlocks was founded 2010
    • 04:00 – Idea of VideoBlocks
  • 04:40 – VideoBlocks’ model
    • 04:50 – Started selling by the collection
    • 05:10 – Launched subscription plan as a test in 2010
    • 05:20 – 150,000 paying members
      • 05:38 – Monthly and annual plan
  • 05:43 – Total revenue in 2015
  • 06:15 – Royalty-free
    • 06:30 – 6,000 videographers now shooting for VideoBlocks
  • 07:10 – RPU
    • 07:37 – Created more premium plans
  • 08:00 – The 80/20 rule
  • 08:30 – How much would a videographer get if National Geographic buys his clip?
    • 08:40 – Standard pricing
    • 08:50 – “If National Geographic bought it for 49 bucks, the videographer will get a check”
    • 09:00 – 2 types of libraries
  • 09:38 – VideoBlocks buy clips to put in the library
  • 10:10 – Customers only need to download 2 clips in a year to avail unlimited clips
  • 11:00 – “We want shooters to make as much money as possible”
  • 11:24 – A few million dollars to acquire creative lights
  • 11:40 – “Content is king”
  • 12:00 – MRR
  • 12:09 – Annual churn
    • 12:16 – Subscription business is like a puzzle
    • 13:05 – Churn on monthly plan
    • 13:26 – Returning cost acquisition
    • 14:10 – Customer insights operation
  • 14:25 – Direct response marketing
    • 14:33 – Million dollars spent monthly
    • 14:40 – Example of direct response marketing
  • 14:58 – Joel has a huge number of list
  • 15:15 – Launching other products
  • 15:42 – Weighted average cap
  • 15:55 – Lifetime value on average
  • 16:16 – Blended channels
  • 17:17 – 80 team members
    • 17:25 – Based in Virginia
  • 17:36 – Funding history: Raised under 20 million to date
    • 18:02 – North Atlantic Ventures
    • 18:11 – SBA gives you leverage
      • 18:40 – Interest rate
  • 19:35 – “Currently, we are not raising nor in any acquisition talks”
  • 20:15 – “Going public is a tough process”
  • 21:07 – Connect with Joel through his LinkedIn and website
  • 22:45 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Work hard but don’t forget to live your life.
  • Give life to your ideas if you want your business to grow.
  • Know your customers and the people who supports your products.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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 – Joel’s LinkedIn account
  • VideoBlocks.com – Joel’s business website
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Oct 9, 2016

Ryan Stewman, CEO and CTO of Clyxo.com – the world’s only opt-in social media search engine. Ryan has one of the top online training resources for sales people worldwide, and is a best-selling author/contributor to Forbes Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, and The Good Men Project. Listen as Ryan talks about his new book, Elevator to the Top and how he is addicted to success.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Influence
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? —Leadpages
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I was at the right place at the right time 20 years ago. Just following the path that led me to where I’m at today.”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 02:38 – Ryan’s focus
    • 02:40 – Focus on Hardcore Closer
    • 03:10 – Modern ways to close sales
  • 03:30 – Founded Hardcore Closer in January 2012
  • 03:45 – 35,000 people on his list
  • 03:57 – Content strategy
  • 04:35 – Reasons why Ryan writes for publications
  • 05:15 – Use ads for Facebook
    • 05:25 – Spent $250,000 to grow his page
  • 06:08 – 4,000 unique buyers for Hardcore Closer
    • 06:25 – Elevator to the Top
    • 06:40 – People love Ryan’s products and they keep coming back to buy more
  • 07:18 – First year revenue
  • 07:40 – Ryan had an app
  • 08:10 – Total revenue in 2015
    • 08:30 – “I want to be transparent with the numbers”
    • 08:55 – Free cash flow in 2015
  • 09:25 – Other expenses
    • 09:34 – Facebook ads costs has toned down
    • 09:48 – Most significant cost
    • 10:11 – Affiliate marketers
  • 10:23 – 57 people in 30K per year program
  • 10:36 – Estimate revenue in 2016
  • 10:50 – Ryan’s salary
    • 11:00 – Ryan talks about his cars
  • 11:30 – Team size
  • 11:40 – Revenue stuff: one-time or monthly?
    • 11:45 – 99.99% one-time
  • 12:32 – Hardcore Closer app to 42222
    • 12:39 – Backend of the app
    • 12:50 – It is a website that is mobile optimized
  • 13:40 – The Hardcore Closer podcast
    • 13:47 – Downloads per month
    • 14:16 – No guests
  • 15:05 – Ryan’s book is self-published
  • 15:20 – Connect with Ryan through his Facebook, podcast and website
  • 17:45 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Keep your customers happy and you’ll gain more.
  • It’s good to let people know about your numbers – it gives them an opportunity to learn from them.
  • Do what you love to do.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • Facebook – Ryan’s Facebook account
  • Clyxo.com – Ryan’s website
  • HardcoreCloser.com/podcast – Ryan’s podcast

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Oct 8, 2016

Sujan Patel, an entrepreneur and a marketer who’s made a career out of learning how to keep an eye on ALL the moving pieces of his business. He's the co-founder of two successful digital marketing companies, ContentMarketer and Web Profits.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Never Eat Alone
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? — Buzzsumo
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “No”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I knew that I could work harder”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:43 – Nathan introduces Sujan to the show
  • 02:03 – What is Web Profits and how does it make money?
    • 02:09 – Marketing agency
  • 02:20 – Average retainer is $ 10,000 a month
    • 02:40 – Reject 90% of the people
  • 03:00 – 20 clients at the moment
  • 03:05 – Web Profits is founded earlier this year
  • 03:12 – Consulting firm
  • 03:40 – Joint venture with a big company in Australia
  • 03:55 – 90 team members
    • 04:09 – 8 people are in Austin
  • 04:21 – Total revenue at the moment
  • 04:28 – Goal in 2016 is to hit a million
  • 04:50 – Sujan’s thoughts on distractions
    • 05:05 – Sujan likes to do a lot of things
    • 05:12 – Additional 4 SaaS businesses
      • 05:28 – ContentMarketer, Narrow.io, Quu.co, LinkTexting.com
  • 06:40 – Sujan helps in strategy
  • 07:37 – ContentMarketer has a few products
    • 07:44 – Email and twitter outreach
    • 08:09 – Great for bloggers and podcasters
    • 08:30 – Just hit a million email sent
    • 09:00 – Finding an email is an art
  • 09:26 – Total number of customers on all the business
  • 09:27 – Average pay per month
  • 09:55 – MRR
  • 10:15 – “It is definitely worth it”
  • 11:20 – RPU
  • 12:00 – Number of paying customers on Quu.co
    • 12:10 – Quu.co as SaaS and an advertising content
    • 12:53 – Number of customers per promotion
  • 13:09 – ContentMarketer is a bootstrap
    • 13:15 – Founding date
    • 13:25 – First year revenue
    • 14:00 – UX designs
  • 14:25 – Launching a new product
    • 14:55 – Gross customer churn for ContentMarketer
    • 15:10 – No upselling
    • 15:30 – “We know what product to sell”
  • 15:48 – 4 team members for connector
  • 15:56 – Goal for the business
    • 16:10 – Grow as big as possible
  • 16:31 – Sujan owns half of LinkTexting.com
    • 16:38 – Acquired the whole company with a partner
  • 17:16 – Connect with Sujan through his blog and Twitter
  • 18:50 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • It is easier to promote your products if you know them well.
  • Have a bigger goal for your business.
  • Creating a great email is like creating great art – you need the right tools and the right artist.

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • SujanPatel.com – Sujan’s blog
  • @SujanPatel – Sujan’s Twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 7, 2016

Sean Howell, the founder of Hornet - the second largest gay social network with 15 million members worldwide, known for its ongoing “Know your Status” HIV campaign. He's a speaker on mobile technology and his opinions have been featured all over the place, even the New York Times. Outside of work, Sean likes to serve on various non-profit boards and committees like the World Affairs Council, PFLAG, and UNAIDS,

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Alibaba
  • What CEO do you follow? – N/A
  • Favorite online tool? — Insightly
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I started earlier”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:38 – Nathan introduces Sean to the show
  • 02:13 – How Hornet generates revenue
    • 02:23 – Premium subscription model
    • 02:53 – Direct deals
  • 03:08 – Premium subscription service
    • 03:29 – No restrictions
    • 03:43 – 5% of their user base
    • 03:37 – 15 million user base
  • 03:53 – Hornet was founded in October 2011
  • 04:13 – MAU
    • 04:22 – Metric
  • 04:42 – Total revenue in 2015
    • 04:50 – Fundraising
    • 05:17 – Multi-million revenue last year
  • 05:32 – Traditional advertising and mobile setting
    • 05:55 – Gaming companies are buying display ads
    • 06:20 – Direct deal with Uber
    • 06:34 - CPM
  • 07:10 – Demographic data for users
  • 07:40 – Churn number that is being tracked
    • 07:51 – Focus on user growth
    • 08:20 - Monetization
  • 08:32 – Total churn number
    • 08:37 – Different subscription packages
    • 09:00 – Monthly renewal
    • 09:33 – Users buy in at a lower amount
    • 09:49 – Average monthly churn is 20%
  • 10:00 – Raised $ 1.5 million in the first year
  • 10:26 – Costs in acquiring new paying customers
  • 10:32 – 40 employees
  • 10:44 – Getting customers through organic discovery and viral co-efficients
    • 11:00 – Viral co-efficient technique
  • 11:27 – Attribution links for social sharing
  • 11:53 – Sean is based in San Francisco and his team members are in other parts of the world
  • 12:27 – No revenue for the first year
    • 12:33 – Started making revenue in 2013
  • 12:48 – 2 biggest competitors
  • 13:00 – Looking to raise several millions
    • 13:08 – Valuation
  • 13:47 – Connect with Sean thru AngelList, LinkedIn and his email.
  • 16:05 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Be motivated – use your competitors as inspiration.
  • There are tons of ways to make your brand known without spending much.
  • Start early – if you want to do something now, do it now.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • AngelList – Sean’s AngelList account
  • LinkedIn – Sean’s LinkedIn account
  • sean@hornetapp.com – Sean’s email address
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 6, 2016

Laura Behrens Wu, the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Listen as Laura talks about how a laundry list of shipping obstacles with her previous e-commerce store birthed the idea for Shippo.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – The Hard Things About Hard Things
  • What CEO do you follow? – Patrick Collison
  • Favorite online tool? — Slack
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “I wish”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Trust that things will turn out right”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:45 – Nathan introduces Laura to the show
  • 02:13 – E-commerce business Laura had
    • 02:27 – Started at Shopify
    • 02:40 – Sourcing unique items from NGO
    • 03:07 – Shipping problem
  • 03:32 – Revenue with the e-commerce business
  • 03:50 – Laura was 21 when she started her business
  • 04:13 – Financing with Shippo
    • 04:17 – Drop shipping
  • 05:08 – Typical shipping pricing
  • 05:30 – Shippo shipping rates
    • 05:58 – Volume metric
    • 06:07 – Doing millions of packages a month
  • 06:30 – Negotiation with shipping providers 
    • 06:44 – Based on projected volumes
  • 07:00 – Shippo is a pay-as-you-go; not SaaS
  • 07:20 – Sample price per package shipped
    • 07:30 – What if I’m shipping a 10 lbs. dumbbell?
    • 07:44 – “We only provide the software”
  • 08:06 – How Shippo works in an e-commerce website
    • 08:10 – Will compare different shipping providers
    • 08:30 – Not a standard shipping rate
    • 08:47 – How the shipping providers get the package from the seller
  • 09:07 – Why clients use Shippo’s service
  • 09:37 – Shipping providers are not tech company
  • 09:55 – Number of unique customers
  • 10:12 – Average shipping volume per month
  • 10:29 – Memebox
    • 11:10 – Nathan’s proposed deal for Shippo and Memebox
  • 11:54 – They raised $9M in 2014
  • 12:20 – Team size
  • 12:50 – Use of the extra money
  • 13:23 – Minimum monthly revenue
  • 13:33 – Upselling
    • 13:50 – Shipping insurance
    • 14:11 – Tracking as a product
  • 15:28 – Bigger revenue stream
  • 15:37 – $ 7 million in series A round, March 2016
  • 16:00 – How to keep the balance when you have a big account
  • 16:38 – Travel expenses last month
  • 17:25 – Will you sell the business for $ 47 million?
    • 17:45 – Ideal exit assuming there’s a good fit
  • 18:03 – Built an app on top of Shopify
  • 18:11 – Connect with Laura through her Twitter, LinkedIn and email
  • 20:00 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Keep your customers updated and excited.
  • Spend money on the right things and appreciate what you have.
  • Don’t get upset on your first try – everything falls into place given patience and time.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @LauraBehrensWu – Laura’s Twitter handle
  • LinkedIn – Laura’s LinkedIn account
  • laura@goshippo.com – Laura’s email address
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 5, 2016

Zach Benson, an award-winning dancer who travels around the world running instructional clinics. He's been featured as a Round 4 finalists on FOX TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” and he’s also the founder and CEO of Assistagram.co.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – The Slide Edge
  • What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Olson
  • Favorite online tool? — Slack
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “Usually 7 and a half”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I knew everything then that I know now”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:40 – Nathan introduces Zach to the show
  • 02:13 – How the dance clinic works
    • 02:20 – Place, schedule, and class pricing
  • 03:06 – Total revenue of the dance clinic in 2015
  • 03:35 – Zach talks about how he partners with dance studios
    • 04:25 – CTA
  • 05:14 – Number of students per class
  • 05:53 – Assistagram.co
    • 06:07 – Team in the Philippines
    • 06:27 – Hashtag optimization
    • 06:58 – How to find hashtags to use
      • 07:14 – There’s no database
      • 07:40 – Follow/unfollow process
  • 08:38 – ROI
    • 09:04 – Sample of Zach connecting and making a deal
  • 10:17 – Cold marketing and prospecting
    • 10:40 – Finding people on your niche
  • 11:03 – Working with Four Seasons
    • 11:14 – Regular hotel room rate
    • 11:40 – How Zach got a free stay at the hotel
      • 12:35 – Writing a free blog post
  • 13:00 – Benefits of a good Instagram profile
  • 13:26 – Current number of Assistagram clients
    • 13:40 – Average pay a month
    • 13:53 – Assistagram’s services
  • 14:28 – How to get people go to your Instagram account
  • 15:38 – Reach Zack thru his email, website and Instagram.
  • 17:58 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • It’s all about timing.
  • Find the mentor who can help you grow.
  • Be consistent and persistent.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • Assistagram.co -  Zach’s business website
  • @thetravellerslist – Zach’s Instagram handle
  • Benson.zach@gmail.com  - Zach’s email address
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 4, 2016

Anand Sanwal, CEO and co-founder of CB Insights, a company that provides predictive intelligence for emerging technology trends, startups, and corporate. Their customers include Cisco, Marketo, and Red Hat, just to name a few. Prior to CB Insights, Anand managed the $50 million Chairman’s Innovation Fund at American Express.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
  • What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Bezos
  • Favorite online tool? — Gmail
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “I wish”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Be patient”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:42 – Nathan introduces Anand to the show
  • 02:45 – “If you buy something for 2 and sell it for 1, you will not make it up in volume”
  • 03:12 – He was in-charge of spending money
    • 03:25 – Sent to London for Cosmo Europe
    • 03:40 – Overspent
  • 04:00 – Rationalizing the expenses
  • 04:45 – Worked in American Express after Cosmo
  • 06:25 – Salary in American Express
    • 06:55 – “Decided to take the plunge”
  • 07:30 – CB Insights
    • 07:46 – Every industry is under attack by technology
    • 08:09 – Monthly customer pay
    • 08:34 – “Use our data to create a sense of urgency”
    • 09:20 – Tracking the competitors
    • 10:00 – Using algorithm on the data
  • 10:30 – Number of paying customers
    • 10:45 – Average of pricing
  • 11:25 – Total MRR last August
  • 11:40 – Hoping for 8-figure revenue this year
  • 12:12 – Team size
    • 12:25 – Some are based in New York
  • 13:05 – Exact MRR last month
  • 13:30 – “Everybody pays upfront”
  • 14:14 – Individual customer acquisition
    • 14:40 – Gross revenue churn
  • 15:20 – Lifetime value
    • 15:29 – 20% churn just to be conservative
    • 15:49 - $200,000 lifetime value
  • 16:16 – Funds raised
  • 16:46 – Most customers are VCs
  • 18:18 – Jon Sherry is the other founder
  • 19:18 – No current acquisition talks
  • 19:32 – Connect with Anand through his website and Twitter
  • 21:05 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Do not be afraid to take the plunge—there are risks but just do it.
  • Things happen for a reason and believe in your life plan.
  • There’s no absolute certainties in life—only right places and right times.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • CBInsights.com – Anand’s website
  • @cbinsights – Anand’s business’ Twitter handle
  • @asanwal – Anand’s Twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 2, 2016

Victor Levitin, co-founder and CEO of CrazyLister. Prior to CrazyLister, Victor ran a retail business that he drove from $0 to $4.5M in revenue in just three years. In fact, it did so well it won an eBay award for highest conversion rate. Victor channels his eBay retail experiences through a blog called “eBay Sellers Journey to $100K a month” where he helps eBay sellers avoid mistakes and grow their business the right way.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Elon Musk Biography
  • What CEO do you follow? – Alex Turnbull
  • Favorite online tool? — Intercom
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “About 7”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Teach myself how to code and learn the balance”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:37 – Nathan introduces Victor to the show
  • 02:08 – What is CrazyLister and how does it make money?
    • 02:16 – Created for sellers
    • 02:50 – Similar with creating websites
    • 03:28 – Built-in to eBay’s API
    • 03:40 – You have to know how to code to use CrazyLister
  • 03:49 – Pricing scheme
    • 03:54 – Plans based on the number of listings
    • 04:05 – Monthly RPU
  • 04:20 – CrazyLister is founded in late 2013
    • 04:33 – Victor was 29 then
  • 04:40 – Victor has always been an entrepreneur
    • 05:05 – He was a seller before
  • 05:14 – Shifted to software because of the entrepreneurial bug
  • 06:20 – Shared equity
  • 06:40 – Number of paying customers
  • 07:02 – Total revenue in 2015
  • 07:15 – January 2016 – from premium to paid
    • 07:40 – 14-day free trial
  • 07:55 – MRR
  • 08:50 – Pricing on the website
  • 09:15 – Actively doing customer development
  • 09:41 – Metrics customers have to hit
  • 09:58 – Growth churn per month
    • 10:08 – Typical monthly churn of SaaS companies
    • 10:35 – First month with monthly churn
  • 11:40 – Lifetime value
  • 12:00 – What are you going to pay for a new customer?
  • 12:28 – Team size and located in Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 12:45 – Self-funded or crowd raising
    • 13:01 – Equity round
      • 13:22 - Valuation
  • 13:33 – Victor feels they’ve exceeded the valuation
    • 14:20 – Will never sell
  • 14:45 – Content marketing drives traffic to Victor’s company
  • 15:47 – August expenses
  • 16:20 – Connect with Victor thru his LinkedIn or Facebook
  • 18:40 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Know your priorities and maintain a balanced life.
  • Keep moving—don’t stay in your comfort zone, stagnation is death.
  • Take care of your customers—know their needs and find out how you can help them.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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 – Victor’s LinkedIn account
  • Facebook – Victor’s personal Facebook account
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Oct 1, 2016

Liz Pearce, CEO of LiquidPlanner–a fast-growing, Seattle based, maker of dynamic project management technology—and an active member of the Seattle startup and technology community. Listen as Liz talks about her passion in mentoring and advocating for technology and leadership.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Search Inside Yourself
  • What CEO do you follow? – “My Top 5 Customers”
  • Favorite online tool? — Mint
  • 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 let go of  your interest and you will always get something back when you give”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:38 – Nathan introduces Liz to the show
  • 02:02 – What LiquidPlanner is and how it generates revenue
    • 02:08 – Project management software
  • 02:28 – How does the customer use Liquid planner
  • 03:13 – LiquidPlanner is a SaaS business model charge per user
    • 03:30 - Pricing
  • 03:52 – First year revenue in 2007
  • 04:01 – Worked as a marketing contractor of the business
    • 04:32 – What happened to founders
  • 05:13 – Raised total of $13 million
    • 05:39 – Liz raised the $10 million
  • 06:05 – Former CEO still active in the company
  • 06:30 – 2015 revenue
  • 07:16 – Negative revenue churn
    • 07:35 – Inbound driven model
    • 08:05 – Transactional business
  • 08:37 – Document storage
    • 08:50 – Team function
  • 09:16 – Average revenue
  • 09:29 – Gross monthly churn
    • 10:01 – Negative revenue churn
    • 10:09 – SMB market
  • 10:30 – CLTV
  • 10:48 -  Lifetime value
  • 11:30 – Some are remote
    • 11:37 – Total team size
  • 11:43 – Number of customers
    • 12:01 – How many are enterprise?
  • 12:18 – Talking about acquisition or raising the next round?
  • 12:45 – Interested in raising more capital in the future
  • 14:07 – Microsoft project
    • 14:45 – Invest in scheduling engine
  • 15:03 – Revenue goal in 2016
  • 15:20 – Acquisition money expenditure
    • 16:05 – Total monthly expenditure
  • 17:15 – @lizprc
  • 19:30 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Believe in your product and what it can do to change the industry.
  • Remember that karma bus drives in circles.
  • Keep priority focus tight.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @lizprc – Liz’ twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Oct 1, 2016

Brad Costanzo, an entrepreneur, investor, and business consultant who built (and sold) two digital businesses. Today, Brad helps companies use proven marketing methods, innovative branding campaigns, and form strategic alliances to grow their revenue. He also hosts the “Bacon Wrapped Business” podcast on iTunes.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – One Simple Idea
  • What CEO do you follow? – N/A
  • Favorite online tool? — MindMeister and XMind
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “Typically 7”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Don’t seek comfort, seek challenge.”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:44 – Nathan introduces Brad to the show
  • 02:06 – Brad sold two digital businesses
    • 02:30 – Dating and relationship product, real estate product etc.
      • 03:10 – Fun bar tricks
      • 03:38 – Sold it for six figures
    • 04:05 – Pigtones.com
      • 04:23 – Sold it for less than $100,000
  • 04:36 – Brad now focuses on consulting, crowdfunding, and coffee
    • 04:50 – Equity crowdfunding
    • 05:08 – What he did after selling his businesses
  • 05:34 – Launched consulting firm in 2013
    • 05:40 – How the firm grew over time
    • 03:30 – Pricing
    • 06:05 – Average retainer
    • 06:22 – Total revenue in 2013
    • 07:15 – Total revenue in 2015
  • 07:34 – Revenue goal in 2016
  • 08:11 – Total price per deal
    • 08:38 – Equity product campaign
    • 09:00 – Where Brad base his consulting fee
  • 09:29 – Team size
    • 09:35 – Full-time
  • 09:51 – Number of unique customers in 2016
  • 10:10 – First equity crowdfunding campaign
  • 10:39 – Brad talks about his client who is from the real estate field
    • 11:23 – Reww.com
    • 11:45 – Different funnels
  • 12:54 – Brad likes 2-3 steps funnel
  • 13:08 – Magnified message
    • 13:30 – MVF funnel
  • 14:10 – Selling DVDs for real-estate market
  • 15:14 – Cost of driving a sale and the return
  • 15:26 – Brad’s coffee business with wife
    • 15:41 – StilettoCoffee.com
    • 16:14 – Coffee is a commodity
    • 16:32 – His wife’s idea of selling coffee to women
    • 17:35 – Build a brand using story-telling
    • 18:18 – Total sales as of the moment
    • 19:14 – Hillary Clinton coffee
  • 20:26 – Potential for an exit
  • 20:46 – Check StilettoCoffee.com and use the code BRADVIP on checkout to get a discount. Follow Brad on his website and podcast
  • 22:35 – Launch of Brad’s podcast
    • 22:55 – Total downloads
  • 23:50 - The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Listen and learn from the people that belong to your market.
  • You only get one shot in life—make sure your aim is true.
  • Keep things simple.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • StilettoCoffee.com – Brad and his wife’s coffee business
  • Costanzomarketing.com – Brad’s website
  • BaconWrappedBusiness.com – Brad’s podcast channel
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Sep 30, 2016

Jim Fowler, the founder and CEO of Owler– the crowd sourced competitive intelligence platform business professionals are using to out-smart their competitive insights and uncover the latest industry news and alerts. Prior to Owler, Jim founded Jigsaw in 2003 and was the CEO until it was acquired by Salesforce in 2010 for $ 175 million.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Good to Great
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? — Owler
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “How to plan for the worst case scenario and hope for the best case scenario”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:43 – Nathan introduces Jim to the show
  • 02:12 – Jim was at NathanLatka.com/thetop73
  • 02:45 – Where is Owler now?
    • 03:23 – New product of Owler
  • 03:41 – Do I need to build manually or you scrape the data out of searches?
    • 04:32 – Most data input by users
    • 05:00 – HeYo’s data on Owler
    • 05:24 – Data sources
    • 06:00 – Howler’s challenge
  • 06:47 – Data sources without human input
    • 06:53 – “No data set is perfect”
    • 07:15 – Benchmark start
  • 08:05 – Number of active users
  • 08:45 – Making money by selling the data on the backend
    • 08:47 - Crowdsourcing
  • 09:21 – Total revenue in 2015
    • 09:41 – Jigsaw’s success
  • 10:20 – Active user definition
  • 10:50 – Data pricing
    • 11:13 – Licensing deals
    • 11:50 – Competitive proximity
  • 12:30 – Type of company who’s willing to spend millions on the data
    • 12:46 – 3 buckets of types of big partners
    • 13:33 – Resellers
    • 14:05 – Financial services institution
  • 14:40 – Goal in 2016 in terms of numbers to hit
  • 16:20 – Why are the people willing to pay regardless of the accuracy of the data?
    • 16:35 – “Everything that is out there is an estimate”
    • 16:56 – No SLA
    • 17:27 – Why is it illegal to disclose the revenue?
    • 18:42 – “Do crowdsourcing well”
  • 19:00 – Collective intelligence of people: Better or Worse?
  • 21:05 – Role-playing with an angry CEO with inaccurate data on Owler
    • 21:20 – If the data is not correct, fix it.
  • 22:37 – Connect with Jim thru his website. Follow Owler on Twitter and Facebook
  • 24:30 – Estimated number of  employees
  • 25:20 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
  • Sometimes, business is give and take – customer takes something that is valuable and we get data that we can sell.
  • Change is constant and we should improve on keeping track of the changes.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • Owler.com – Jim’s business website
  • @owlerinc  - Owler’s twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 29, 2016

Josh Ledgard, co-founder of KickoffLabs to The Top. KickoffLabs is a viral lead generation platform with amazing landing pages, lead capture forms, and e-mail marketing rolled into one seamless package.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – The 4-Hour Workweek
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? — https://www.helpscout.net/Help Scout
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Working smart is way more important than working hard”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:40 – Nathan introduces Josh to the show
  • 02:03 – What KickoffLabs does differently and how it makes money
    • 02:15 – Engage customer as a form of marketing
    • 02:43 – Online advertising
  • 03:12 – KickoffLabs is a SaaS business
    • 03:58 – Pricing plan
  • 04:20 – Customer churn for HeYo
  • 04:40 – Josh’s monthly churn rate
    • 05:10 – How to mitigate churn rate
  • 06:00 – Paid acquisition
    • 06:08 – Types of paid acquisition
  • 06:48 – Monthly spent on blog content promotion
  • 07:18 – Bootstrap or fund raised?
    • 07:23 – Bootstraped since 5 years ago
  • 07:45 – How did Josh get into the business
    • 08:00 – Josh and his co-founder’s ideas
    • 09:02 – Promoting 6 ideas
  • 09:49 – Total number of paying customers
    • 10:25 – Monthly revenue
  • 10:49 – First year revenue
  • 11:50 – 2015 revenue
  • 12:07 – Goal for 2016
    • 12:21 – Adding 30% to annual revenue
  • 12:43 – Lifetime value
  • 13:14 – What are you willing to spend as a CEO for an acquisition?
  • 14:10 – Total value per new customer
  • 15:01 – Total team size
    • 15:10 – 100% remote
  • 15:32 – Long-term goal for the business’
  • 16:20 – “Will you take a million dollar deal?”
  • 16:47 – Ownership percentage
  • 17:42 – Connect with Josh thru his Twitter and you can send him an email at josh@kickofflabs.com
  • 19:58 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Evaluate your progress and study your growth.
  • If you want to start with a business – explore on different ideas.
  • Be a goal-oriented person.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @joshaledgard – Josh’s twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 28, 2016

Nathan Putnam, an entrepreneur who’s currently working on a company called Monumetric. Their focus?—help people unlock the earning potential behind online content through data analysis and optimization strategies. As Nathan says, “What we do is not magic. It’s science.”

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Start with Why, Reality Check, Leaders Eat Last
  • What CEO do you follow? – Brian O’Kelley
  • Favorite online tool? — Slack
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “No. Not close”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Look stop listening to music as entertainment. Remember, whatever you put in your brain, that's what's going to come out”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:40 – Nathan introduces Nathan Putnam to the show
  • 02:27 – Monumetric functions
  • 03:44 – Current number of publisher partnerships
  • 04:05 – Why people use Monumetric and not Google Analytics or AdSense
    • 04:29 – Second price auction
    • 04:58 – “Google is our best partner but also our greatest competition”
  • 06:55 – Business was founded in 2014
    • 07:07 – Started entrepreneurship in 2012
  • 08:23 – Total revenue in 2014
    • 08:40 – Got a few good publishers
    • 09:18 – Sixsistersstuff.com
    • 09:44 – Driving customers acquisition
    • 10:20 – Monetize traffic
  • 11:10 – Biggest costs
  • 11:38 – Number of buyers and advertisers
    • 11:43 – Six top-tier providers
  • 12: 36 – The publisher on the six sisters’ site
    • 13:04 – Integrated with 5 largest agencies
    • 13:30 – Percentage that goes back to the seller
  • 14:20 – In 2015, total amount of ads spend that went through the platform
    • 14:35 – Cost structure of revenue
  • 14:50 – Social or website traffic
    • 15:19 – Disenchanted with agency’s space
    • 15:45 – Use it in a way that reinforces the platform’s model
    • 16:46 – “What you can monetize is what you own”
  • 17:05 – Self-funded or boot strap
    • 17:08 – Bootstrap
    • 17:04 – Current team size
  • 17:35 – Connect with Nathan thru his LinkedIn
  • 19:20 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Utilize your platform to maximize its full potential.
  • Build honest and genuine relationships.
  • Always seek the opportunity.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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 – Nathan linkedin
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 27, 2016

Sue Zimmerman, the creator of the online Instagram course Ready, Set, Gram! In addition to her popular instruction, Sue is also a powerful speaker on prominent stages like Social Media Marketing World, and a highly sought after business coach. She's passionate about teaching business owners and marketing professionals how to leverage the power of Instagram to get tangible business results.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Book Yourself Solid
  • What CEO do you follow? – Sophia Amoruso
  • Favorite online tool? — Dropbox
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “Absolutely. I have to”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I knew how to collaborate with people who I knew, like and trust.”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:37 – Nathan introduces Sue to the show
  • 02:40 – Sue’s focus at the moment
    • 02:45 – How to leverage power of Instagram stories
  • 03:04 – How Sue makes money in teaching
    • 03:17 – Successful online courses
    • 03:56 – Paid webinar
    • 04:18  - Sent email to list of a little over 21,000
  • 05:24 – Registration from the list
    • 05:50 – Thousand seats for webinar
    • 05:58 – UTM links
  • 06:20 – Maximum revenue for successful campaign
    • 06:26 – Between $5,000 and $10,000 on a week  preparation
  • 07:10 – How to manage priorities with the team
    • 07:23 – Nurture sales funnel
    • 07:48 – Ready, Set, Gram
  • 08:43 – Partnered with trusted affiliate
  • 09:27 – Business model
    • 09:35 – Online marketing educators
  • 09: 58 – Payment per student
    • 10:09 – $700/month on a 6-month plan
  • 10:33 – Create a micro community
  • 11:25 – Total revenue for 2015
  • 11:35 – Goal for 2016
  • 12:03 – Closed her store last year
    • 12:27 – Started her store in 2007
  • 12:52 – Sue’s payment per speech
    • 13:05 – First paid speaking gig
    • 14:04 – Different ways to get compensation when you speak
  • 14:40 – Connect with Sue thru her Instagram and use the hashtag #suebmademedoit and tag her and Nathan
  • 17:35 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Take the risk—removing something valuable from your live is worth it if that valuable thing keeps you from growing.
  • It always feels good to be able to help and empower people.
  • Focus on your priorities – teamwork always come in handy.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @suebzimmerman – Sue’s Instagram
  • SueBZimmerman.com – Sue’s website
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 26, 2016

Gavin Zuchlinski, the founder of Acuity Scheduling—the slickest way for businesses to automate and manage their appointments online, allowing clients to schedule themselves. He’s a self-professed tech geek and an espresso-maniac who wholeheartedly believes that business should be totally fun.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Anything You Want
  • What CEO do you follow? – Andy Grove
  • Favorite online tool? — Canary
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “8 and a half hour is my ideal number”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Spend more time doing the things you enjoy doing.”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:37 – Nathan introduces Gavin to the show
  • 02:09 – Gavin is on his 4th espresso for the day
  • 02:25 – How Acuity Scheduling generate sales
    • 02:30 – SaaS to manage scheduling appointments online
    • 02:48 – Developed for Gavin’s mother
    • 03:00 – 2006 started
  • 03:21 – Start of Gavin’s business
    • 03:48 – 2007 first year in business
    • 04:05 – Only a side project
    • 04:54 – First year revenue
  • 05:21 – Transition from working as a government employee
    • 05:50 – Organic search results and SEO
    • 06:24 – Had friends’ sign up on private link
    • 06:45 – 2013 decided to shift
    • 07:15 – Hired the first employee
    • 07:50 – “Keep things small”
  • 08:20 – Number of users on free trial
    • 08:50 – Number of users at the moment
    • 09:25 – 10% month over month increase
    • 09:50 – Number of users in the past week
  • 10:54 – 85% active users on paid accounts
  • 11:46 – Most SaaS count their total base
  • 12:57 – Growth from organic results and referrals
  • 13:54 – “When the rate of growth gets too high, that’s when I need to hire”
  • 14:07 – Total team size
    • 14:18 – Everyone is remote
    • 14:40 – Support works for only 6 hours a day
    • 15:18 – Team size question is Gavin’s pet peeve
  • 16:06 – Growth customer churn is about 8% per month
    • 16:18 – Dashboard churn
  • 16:40 – Current customer acquisition cost on average
    • 16:55 – 10 dollars to acquire for paid acquisition
  • 17:12 – Total marketing spender
  • 18:07 – Total expected earnings from a new unique customer
    • 18:58 – Monthly RPO
  • 19:37 – Gavin’s bootstrap
  • 19:50 – Goal for the company
    • 20:08 – “Create a company where I enjoy working”
  • 20:47 – Connect with Gavin thru his website and LinkedIn
  • 22:40 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Sometimes, you just have to choose – and choose what makes you happy.
  • Small team has advantages too – it’s easier to manage.
  • Just be patient and let things grow slowly.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • AcuityScheduling.com – Gavin’s website
  • LinkedIn – Gavin’s linkedin account
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 25, 2016

Egbert Ootsburg, onto The Top. Egbert runs a company that designs apps for the scalding-hot consumer drone market. Listen as Egbert talks about his strong ambition to make a difference in the world and how he takes advantage of the drone market.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Zero to One
  • What CEO do you follow? – Andy Stanley
  • Favorite online tool? — Evernote
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “Are you kidding?”
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “To get started faster and not to wait for something to occur before giving yourself permission to succeed”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:37 – Nathan introduces Egbert to the show
  • 02:06 – How Egbert generate money
    • 02:18 – Open Skkye App
    • 02:45 – Helps Drone pilots find places where to fly versus not fly
    • 03:25 – 2015 total revenue
    • 03:44 – Drone Aviator
  • 05:00 – Leaving the corporate world
    • 05:10 – Worked with Pfizer in 2009
    • 05:38 – Biggest recommendation
    • 05:55 – “There’s always a way to bootstrap something”
  • 06:20 – Egbert did a consulting job
    • 06:31 – Consulting revenue
  • 07:07 – The gap between the pre-revenue and 2009
    • 07:35 – Drone industry
  • 08:25 – Creative ways to decrease expenses
    • 08:36 – “Live on the basics that you need”
    • 08:52 – Cut the monthly expenses to 45% of previous total
    • 09:09 – 4 kids
  • 09:46 – How much money you keep is NOT how much money you make
  • 10:05 – Reason why Egbert’s business attracted investors
    • 10:24 – Experience in aviation from Navy
      • 11:05 – Anticipated revenue in the next quarter
    • 11:55 – About half a million registered users
    • 12:17 – New items every week
  • 12:37 – Connect with Egbert thru his LinkedIn and Twitter
  • 14:55 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Believe in the vision of what you’re doing and create value.
  • It is about how much money you keep, not how much money you save.
  • Get started faster.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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 – Egbert’s linkedin account
  • @EgbertOostburg  - Egbert’s twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 24, 2016

Keith Perhac onto The Top. Keith is a marketing expert, developer, and designer. His goal is to take complex things and make them simple, understandable, and actionable for business owners. Today he is the CEO of SegMetrics and DelfiNet, technical marketing agencies that help companies create highly optimized sales funnels.

Famous Five:

 

  • Favorite Book? – Work the System
  • What CEO do you follow? – N/A
  • Favorite online tool? — HarvestApp
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “It’s not as scary as jumping off and leaving the company that you’ve been working on for 6 years to start on your own.”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 02:13 – Focus: DelfiNet or SegMetrics
  • 03:02 – Founding day of SegMetrics and first revenue
    • 04:20 – How SegMetrics is built
    • 04:50 – Focused on building the greatest product
  • 05:48 – Margins are better in SaaS
  • 06:19 – Average sales per customer per month
  • 07:10 – August Revenue
  • 09:40 – 50% gross margins
  • 10:15 – Biggest lever to increase profitability
    • 11:02 – Traffic increased drastically
      • 11:55 – Acquisition cost
      • 12:16 – Biggest affiliate
      • 12:33 – Second biggest affiliate
      • 13:54 – Bootstrap
      • 14:26 – Similar with Angel Investing
      • 15:10 – The business’ worth
      • 16:13 – Keith was based in Japan
      • 16:38 – Developyourmarketing.com
  • 18:57 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Take advantage of your on-peak time.
  • Turn your previous challenges into positive experiences.
  • Don’t just focus on sales, focus on creating a great product.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • Developyourmarketing.com – Keith’s website
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 23, 2016

Pablo Fuentes, founder and CEO of Proven—a company that specializes in small business HR solutions. In addition to his passion for helping both minorities and women start businesses, Pablo also owns a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Stanford.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – The Art of Learning
  • What CEO do you follow? – Richard Branson
  • Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Absolutely
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Start Jiu-jitsu earlier”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:35 – Nathan introduces Pablo to the show
  • 02:04 – How Pablo’s business generates sales and collaborates with talent managers
    • 03:21 – First year revenue in 2009 versus revenue in 2015
  • 03:45 – How do you make money?
    • 03:55 – When small businesses post a job
    • 04:30 – Average pay per company location
    • 04:51 – Average revenue per user
    • 05:00 – Lifetime value
  • 06:10 – Average churn = of 2 years
  • 07:10 – August Revenue
  • 08:10 – Subscription vs. pay as you go pricing
    • 09:40 – 50% gross margins
  • 10:15 – The biggest lever to increase profitability
    • 11:55 – Company is fully remote
  • 13:55 – Revenue goal for 2016
  • 16:56 - @provenpablo
  • 19:44 – What were you trying to raise before you stoped last year?
  • 22:10 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Don’t give up just yet – give your company a time to grow.
  • Balance is everything.
  • Have a goal and focus on pursuing it.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @provenpablo – Pablo’s Twitter handle.
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 22, 2016

Yuri Elkaim, a nutrition fitness and fat loss expert, onto the podcast. Yuri is a New York Times best-selling author of “The All-Day Energy Diet” and “The All-Day Fat Burning Diet”. He's a former soccer player turned health crusader, and is most famous for helping people who've tried everything to lose weight but enjoyed very little success. 

Famous Five:

 

  • Favorite Book? – Zero to One
  • What CEO do you follow? – Peter Teal
  • Favorite online tool? — Google Docs
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— About 7-8
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Focus on one thing”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 02:34 – 25 million Youtube views
  • 03:06 – Yuri’s focus on building now
    • 03:59 – Webinars
    • 04:11 – Conversion from the webinar
    • 04:30 – Shut down the sales page
  • 04:39 – Facebook Ad expenditure
    • 05:21 – Totalwellnesscleanse.com
    • 05:40 – Facebook ad look and landing page
    • 06:17 – Eyelid test guide
  • 07:00 – Number of webinars per month
    • 08:00 – No domain for webinar
    • 08:30 – Webinar sell price
  • 09:05 – Webinar is a great tool for teaching
  • 09:26 – Ways to normalize the funnel
    • 09:30 – Cost per lead
  • 10:38 – Number of viewers needed to get one new sale
    • 11:00 – One webinar, they get 5 sales
  • 15:14 – Call to action in Youtube videos
    • 16:03 – Sample video titles from Youtube
    • 16:50 – Get people to click on the ad before 30 seconds
    • 17:10 – Youtube ad overlay
  • 17:40 – Webinar Jam
  • 18:02 – Total sales of cleansing product
  • 18:35 – Yuri’s first episode with Nathan
  • 19:05 – Check Yuri’s website and his group
  • 21:25 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Gaining the trust of the customer is a like having a relationship—let them know you better.
  • Utilize your online resources.
  • Don’t be scared of changes—they can lead to a better opportunities.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • YuriElkaim.com – Yuri’s website
  • Healthpreneurgroup.com – Yuri’s group
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 21, 2016

Matt Tumbleson is the founder and CEO of Teckst – a New York based startup that's transforming customer service by directly connecting consumers with businesses via 2-way text messaging. His own frustrations with lengthy hold times and incompetent customer service representatives are why he decided to launch Teckst. Prior to jumping into entrepreneurship, Matt worked as the Creative and Marketing director of Seamless (now Grubhub), and worked as a graphics journalist at The Miami Herald.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Delivering Happiness
  • What CEO do you follow? – Marc Benioff
  • Favorite online tool? — WorkFlowy
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Stick to one thing long enough to see it through”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:37 – Nathan introduces Matt to the show
  • 02:31 – What Matt does and how they make money
    • 03:09 – Selling ROI
    • 03:15 – Created software in a house in NY
    • 03:33 – They have monthly subscription plan
  • 03:50 – Currently have 5 clients
  • 04:10 – How a client used Matt’s product
    • 05:37 – Created encrypted SMS
    • 06:40 – Works with Memebox
  • 05:22 – How does Betterment use you?
    • 06:40 – 65% gross margins on labor
  • 06:55 – Matt put his own equity for the company
  • 07:30 – How old were you when you launched this and did you feel comfortable leaving your job?
    • 07:40 – Started in his late 20s
    • 08:20 – 6 months deal
    • 08:51 – Reason Matt left his job
    • 09:13 – Launched Teckst in 2012 but officially launched in 2013
  • 10:06 – First year revenue
  • 10:45 – Total funding raised
  • 11:40 – Enterprise client pay per month
    • 11:50 – Thousands or tens of thousands monthly
  • 12:05 – Number of team members
  • 13:12 – Acquisition costs and churning
    • 13:35 – Lost a client once
    • 14:15 – Did Google Adwords
  • 14:50 – Matt’s lifestyle
  • 15:50 – Average the customer have to pay to get them on board
  • 18:39 – Upside on quarterly business review
  • 19:13 – MRR last month
  • 21:17 – Connect with Matt on his LinkedIn and twitter @teckstco
  • 23:53 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • Think 10x. That’s how you should think regarding business.
  • Even if you’re the CEO, you still need to learn and grow.
  • If we can do everything right, we can hit all the numbers.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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 – Matt’s LinkedIn account
  • @teckstco – Matt’s Twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

 

Sep 20, 2016

Johnson Emmanuel the founder and CEO of Clients Attraction, a company that specializes in online marketing strategies engineered to attract big-ticket clients. Listen as Johnson shares his story of starting a business in Nigeria, and how he used his passion for marketing to start chipping his path to the top.

Famous Five:

 

  • Favorite Book? – The Ultimate Sales Machine
  • What CEO do you follow? – Richard Branson
  • Favorite online tool? — Asana
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Focus on your marketing and charge more sooner.

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 02:20 – $230K in revenue in 2015
  • 03:00 – How Johnson’s company makes money
  • 04:00 – Johnson uses a lot of Infusionsoft with his clients
  • 04:30 – When you’re selling a high value product, you don’t list your prices you have a conversation
  • 05:15 – Johnson charges his clients between $5k and $20k per month
  • 05:55 – Johnson’s top client paid $25K last year
  • 07:30 – It’s important to learn, but don’t overstimulate yourself
  • 08:15 – It’s normal to be afraid of raising your prices, but it’s a part of good business
  • 08:45 – During Johnson’s first year in 2013, the company’s revenue was about $32K
  • 11:08 – The catalyst to Johnson’s success was helping his clients understand the flaws within their marketing systems
  • 12:39 – Johnson is based in Lagos, Nigeria and he employs 17 people
  • 13:08 – The company’s goal is to hit $1M in 2016
  • 14:00 -- $5k per day on PAID media
  • 15:40 – Average cost per employee per month in Nigeria? $500
  • 16:12 – To date, the business has worked with 30 unique customers
  • 18:54 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

  • If you want to sell to high-value clients, you need to engage them in a conversation.
  • If you engage in too many educational inputs, you’ll inhibit your own success.
  • Charge more sooner.

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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
Sep 19, 2016

Pejman Ghadimi, a self-made entrepreneur and best-selling author born in Iran, raised in France, and crushing it in the United States since 1997. Listen as Nathan and Pejman talk bottom-line numbers, exotic cars, and what it takes to build a multimillion dollar business from scratch.

Famous Five:

 

  • Favorite Book? – Start With Why
  • What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? — N/A
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Take life more seriously.

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:40 – Nathan introduces Pejman to the show
  • 02:15 – VIP Motoring
  • 02:45 – At its core, VIP is an automotive investing service
  • 05:00 – Legal bribery
  • 06:30 – Pejman sharing his payout
  • 06:56 -- $2.6M net cash flow
  • 07:12 – What Pejman does with the money he takes from VIP Motoring
    • 07:45 – Buying luxury assets
  • 09:05 – The exotic car market allows people to get in and out of it quickly
    • 09:34 – These cars aren’t meant to be driven, no one ever drives the cars, they never see public roads
  • 11:10 – The industry and room for growth is limited by demand…the people buying these high-value cars are limited in supply
  • 12:38 – Secret Entourage— A mindset, attitude, and a way of life. The relationships you form that revolve around yourself. The network that helps you be successful. The movement that.
  • 13:30 – The entrance fee is $200
  • 14:20 – Secret Entourage was not established as a revenue generating business
  • 14:50 – As many as 36,000 sign ups in 2015
  • 15:36 – How Pejman drives signups and facilitates exposure for his brands and drives new customers
  • 17:50 – Pejman’s email list has 100K people, but he doesn’t use the list very often
  • 19:40 – Nathan drill Pejman on the definition of “his movement”
  • 20:59 – @ICreateMillionaires
  • 23:16 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

  • Obscure industries can be extremely profitable.
  • Just because you have a massive email list, doesn’t mean you should exploit it.
  • You will always be limited by demand so be aware of what that demand is.

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • 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.
  • @ICreateMillionaires – Pejman’s Instagram Handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
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