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

Famous 5:

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

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

3 Key Points:
Be sure to look ahead for the next five years with your business.
Up your Instagram followers by finding great content for your audience.
Start a business that fills a niche, like SidelineSwap, which is an online marketplace specifically for athletes.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don’t be so afraid, man

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

• 18:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

• 15:38 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

• 18:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Amanda Parker, the founder of Simply Insight - a high-end data analysis service that’s six months old and making $30k in MRR from just 10 clients. Amanda previously ran a successful marketing agency whose clients included Pepsi and 20th Century Fox, and she’s leveraging that experience to build her SaaS business incredibly fast. Listen in to hear how Amanda’s managing her first angel investment round, how she signed her first client before even having a software platform, and how she’s getting unbelievable return on CAC.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue
What CEO do you follow? — Jason Lemkin
Favorite online tool? — Zoom
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Relax and stop worrying: do the work, but stop stressing about it

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – “We found that data was a huge problem for our clients, and a huge opportunity”
02:54 – Amanda shut down her growing marketing company to focus on Simply Insight
03:09 – They make money from monthly subscription of $2.5-5k
03:57 – Simply Insight started 6 months ago - they got their first client before even building their platform
04:53 – Clients are on annual contracts that pay monthly
05:14 – Currently cash flow positive
05:35 – Growing over 20% month over month
06:07 – Currently at an MRR of $25-30k
06:20 – Hoping for an MRR of $50k by the end of the year
06:50 – They have around 10 clients
07:01 – CAC? Currently paying one sales rep salary and commission - ‘He’s almost paid for himself for the year and he’s been around for 6 weeks”
07:43 – Amanda’s been able to sell to her old client list from her agency to keep her CAC low
08:40 – Paying less than $5k to acquire a $30k contract
09:13 – “We currently have no churn at the higher levels”
09:43 – Revenue in 2015 was $7k from deposits
10:12 – Team of 6 people based in Toronto
10:45 – Doing an initial round of angel investment
11:01 – “You’re married to angel investors - so you need to find people that you really want to work with. It’s all about the team.”
11:52 – Finding a lead investor is the hardest part
12:12 – Raising $500k via convertible note
14:00 – “It’s never been a better time to start a company”
15:05 – The risk of convertible notes?
15:56 – Hustle, drive, and personality are everything
16:07 – Follow Amanda on Twitter or connect with her at Simply Insight
18:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Find a pain point. Test the market to see if other people feel it. Market your solution.
Don’t be scared to do what you really want.
If you’re going into a changing market, you’d better understand how it’s going to change.
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

Pavan Boob, the founder of Fuel Panda, a weekly subscription service that means you’ll never have to hunt for a gas station with an angry fuel light again. Fuel Panda refuels commuters’ cars while they’re parked. It’s in the early stages of the 500 Startups accelerator - but Pavan has big ideas. Tune in to hear how he plans to keep up with the Tesla, how he bootstrapped from the bottom up, and why it’s crucial to give your ideas 100%.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – Crossing the Chasm
What CEO do you follow? —Mark Zuckerberg
Favorite online tool? — Trello
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go for what you want. Pick something and give it 100%

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:12 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – Fuel Panda is a weekly gas refueling service
02:15 – They’re a SaaS business that charges a subscription fee plus a margin on the gas
02:40 – Started in January 2016, working with over 100 customers and doing around 80 refuels per week
03:10 – Close to 1,000 refuels
03:24 – Made close to $15k
03:36 – Originally bootstrapped - they’re now in the 500 Startups accelerator
03:57 – Investment from 500 startups - $125k for 5% of the business
04:21 – Why go into the refueling business?
05:00 – “I had an 80 mile commute...I was stuck in traffic and I didn’t want to take 20 minutes to refuel when I saw the dashboard light”
06:44 – How do you prevent people from stealing gas when the lid is left open?
07:31 – Nathan: “I’m skeptical...I think that very soon the asset of a car is going to live on the balance sheet of a company”
08:00 – “Well, anything that moves on the road is going to need refueling...I think it will be possible to adapt”
09:11 – What does the business look like when people switch to autonomous electric vehicles?
10:00 – They’re investing in mobile charging stations that could carry anything from gasoline to batteries to hydro fuels
10:10 – Pavan’s invested around $25k in the business himself
10:20 – Less than $200k total investment - and the company is cash flow positive
10:45 – Monthly RPU is $20 per month plus fuel margin - around $50 total
11:00 – MRR is around $6k
11:34 – Churn is around 4% - though the company is so new that it’s hard to tell
12:13 – CAC is $5
12:26 – Targeting consumers, and also building managers and company managers
14:17 – Connect with Pavan via email and at the FuelPanda website
14:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Find a pain point. Test the market to see if other people feel it. Market your solution.
Don’t be scared to do what you really want.
If you’re going into a changing market, you’d better understand how it’s going to change.
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

Blake Smith, CEO of Cladwell - a SaaS business that helps you to dress exceptionally well with the smallest possible wardrobe. Blake and his team tried over 20 different revenue models before they perfected their business - and they’re hoping to hit $1 million in revenue this year. Listen in to hear how to stay friendly with ex-co-founders, why you need to test and test your ad channels, and why Blake wishes he’d bootstrapped his company.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – Anything in the HBR series
What CEO do you follow? —Sheryl Sandberg
Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —That it was okay to follow my curiosity

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:30 – Nathan’s introduction
01:47 – Cladwell helps you do more with fewer items of clothing
02:11 – They sell a tool that helps you to dress each day and cut down your wardrobe
03:19 – Founded 2 ½ years ago
03:20 – Over 200k people have filled out their initial questionnaire
03:42 – A B2C SaaS business - women’s side pays $15 per quarter and men’s side pays $21 per quarter
03:55 – Launched as a men’s business but women now make up 60% of business
04:15 – 11,500 customers in March 2016
04:46 – Customer Acquisition Cost is about $17
05:05 – Almost profitable - currently spending $30k per month on marketing
05:30 – Monthly Revenue Per User is about $6
05:40 – MRR is about $70k per month
05:57 – Have raised $1.8 million in funding
06:22 – Started with 3 other founders, and ended up with 1 other
07:00 – “My closest co-founder...we both realized that we were made to lead companies. We’re still really good friends”
07:55 – “If I could do it over again, I would have started bootstrapping”
08:54 – First year revenue was $1000
09:12 – Started out trying affiliate marketing and drop-shipping
10:00 – “We tested 22 different permutations of a business model until we came up with one that worked”
11:04 – First year revenue was really about $10k; second year $100k; “We’re planning to hit a million this year”
11:24 – They advertise in places where people are looking for advice
12:00 – Monthly churn is 5% - ‘It’s our worst number at the moment’
12:43 – Based in Cincinnati, Ohio
13:10 – 6 employees
14:16 – What valuation would Blake want for his first priced round? “Around $10 million”
15:37 – Blake doesn’t want to scale ad spend until he’s seriously tested each channel
16:13 – “We killed it on YouTube last summer by doing revenue shares with all the influencers in men’s fashion”
14:17 – Connect with Blake via email
18:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Spend smart. Don’t put more money into ad spend until you really understand every channel you’re using.
Test and test and test and pivot.
It’s okay to follow your curiosity and see where you end up
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Alex Taub, the co-founder of Social Rank. He and his co-founder created an algorithm to identify the ‘Most Valuable Follower’ on Twitter and other social media - and it went viral. Now they’re making over $50k each month from their social media analytics software. Listen in to hear why businesses are leaping on the chance to curate their followers, how Alex built his business so fast, and why you should work for someone else before you launch your big idea.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – I like blogs more - but I guess my book, Pitching and Closing
What CEO do you follow? —Marc Benioff
Favorite online tool? — Rapportive
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go to a medium sized startup and work there before you do your own thing

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
02:06 – Social Rank is primarily for brands and agencies
01:50 – “We found out that in many cases, the most valuable followers are public figures”
02:56 – Social rank allows brands to analyze their followers
03:00 – They generate revenue through a premium subscription model
03:50 – Social Rank Premium is $50 per month, while the Market Intelligence model allows organizations to view the whole ecosystem and costs from $100 to several $1000 dollars
04:20 – Over 250,000 users, and over 50,000 paying customers on the Market Intelligence model
04:40 – Social Rank doesn’t focus on user growth - they look at MRR and customer growth
05:34 – Revenue has grown by 30% each month in 2016
05:40 – In early 2015, MRR was under $7k per month, while it’s now $50k per month
06:55 – How many basic subscribers upgrade to the premium model?
07:20 – “We’re more interested in using it as a potential leads generator”
07:56 – “It’s a non-traditional SaaS model...we’re using the premium model as a loss leader to find leads”
08:50 – Premium model has only been out for 2 weeks
10:00 – “Most Valuable Follower”, “Most Engaged Follower”, and “Best Follower” metrics
10:33 – “Those metrics are a very small piece of what we do”
11:00 – It’s a way to rank more valuable, in-demand, and interactive followers
12:25 – How is it valuable to curate followers?
12:45 – People use it to find the right people for events in specific areas
13:20 – The primary use case is finding the right people for the right things
13:54 – Raised a little over $2 million in seed rounds
14:17 – Connect with Alex on Twitter or via email
15:47 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Work for someone who knows what they’re doing before you strike out on your own
Curate your social media followers and find the right people to promote your events
If an idea works - run with it
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

Brett Hagler, the founder of New Story a charity that’s transforming slums into sustainable communities worldwide. Brett and his team are determined to change the way charities work, and they’ve created their own software platform to maximize transparency, accountability, and user experience. Listen in to hear how Brett plans to build 1000 communities in the next 10 years, why he chose charity over social entrepreneurship, and why it’s crucial to follow your own path.

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – Insanely Simple
What CEO do you follow? — Brian Chesky
Favorite online tool? — Audible
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 do what everybody else is doing. Spend time learning about the world and have an open mind.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:15 – Nathan’s introduction
01:23 – New Story transforms slums into sustainable communities
01:50 – They created a platform to crowdfund homes and public buildings for communities in the Third World
02:29 – 100% of crowdfunded donations go to the people on the website - there’s a separate group of ‘Angel Donors’ who have invested philanthropically in their operations
04:30 – “Venture capitalists
05:00 – New Story is 17 months old and has already generated $3 million in donations
05:50 – “We don’t measure success by what’s in our bank account, but by the impact we’re having on the world”
06:26 – Brett went to Haiti after the earthquake...and couldn’t find a charity to work for that he was excited about
07:36 – “We took our frustrations and made a better product and a better experience”
08:09 – “I never knew where my money was going or where it was helping”
08:50 – Built a database software to be extremely transparent
09:50 – Why go into charity rather than social entrepreneurship?
10:17 – “We’re passionate about building a better type of non-profit”
10:50 – Their key metric of success is 4 communities
11:20 – Have so far built 4 communities - over 300 homes at $6000 per home. Aiming to have built over 1000 communities in 10 years’ time
11:56 – Connect with Brett on Twitter or at New Story
13:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Don’t do what everybody else is doing. Open your mind.
Follow your own journey - make a difference in the way that makes you fired up.
Give to the world. Spend time with people who have less than you and work out how to serve 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.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Max Nussenbaum, co-founder of Castle and a Venture for America fellow based in Detroit. Max and his co-founders are revolutionizing property management in one of America’s most opportunity-rich property markets. Tune in to hear what Max is doing differently, why he defends splitting equity evenly with his co-founders, and why you should be investing in Detroit.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Anything You Want
What CEO do you follow? — Henry Ward
Favorite online tool? — Instapaper
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Relax a little bit

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:27 – Nathan’s introduction
02:04 – Max is based in Detroit
02:20 – Castle manages rental properties for owners - they find tenants, collect rent, and coordinating repairs
02:29 – They make money by charging a flat fee of $79 per month per rental unit
03:00 – They want to simplify the pricing structures associated with regular property managers
05:30 – Founded in late 2014 and launched in 2015
05:47 – Currently managing 530 units, all in the Detroit area
06:10 – “Our target market is the regular-person property investor”
06:43 – First year revenue was around $100k last year
07:14 – The metric Max focuses on is MRR - the subscription model is similar to SaaS
08:12 – Raised around $3 million, most recently $2 million in a seed round
09:17 – Team of 10 people
09:35 – “Structurally we’re a lot like a SaaS business”
10:00 – Monthly RPU is $174, as the average customer has 2.2 units
10:35 – Switching costs are very high in terms of time and energy, so monthly churn is only around 1%
11:51 – “The bottom line is that we just don’t know lifetime value yet...we haven’t even been around for 2 years”
12:18 – They consider acquisition costs on a per-unit basis - and they’re willing to spend around $200 to acquire a unit
12:55 – Most customers are investing less than $1 million in property in Detroit in their lifetime
14:30 – There are a lot of cheap properties in Detroit - but generally you can’t get a mortgage for them
15:50 – The percentage of properties that have been vacant for more than 30 days is around 5%
17:17 – “There are still 700k people in Detroit and they’re regular people who just need places to live”
21:45 – Connect with Max on Twitter
20:04 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Don’t stress too much when you’re young. There’s plenty of time in life.
If you can simplify a complicated process, there’s a good chance you’ll make money
You don’t have to be bullied away from splitting equity evenly with co-founders - what each of you brings to the table is less than what you achieve working as a team
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

David Fortino, who discovered NetLine aged 26 and convinced the CEO to hire him. He’s now the head of Audience Development and has developed the Rev Response customer distribution network. Tune in to hear the inside story on the net’s biggest B2B lead generation and content publishing business.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Traction
What CEO do you follow? — Gabriel Weinberg
Favorite online tool? — Clearbit
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 developing and refining cadence

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 – Nathan’s introduction
02:20 – Why did David want to work for NetLine?
02:50 – Being able to monetize a base through contextually relevant inclusions really appealed to him
03:44 – Netline is the world’s largest B2B-specific content syndication and lead generation platform
03:55 – They work with large enterprise technology companies to distribute their content to specific audience segments
04:30 – Nathan: “If I gave you a finance eBook, how would you generate leads for me?”
05:55 – They have relationships with over 15k web publishers
07:36 – “We’re driving the sales funnel for thousands of businesses”
08:00 – A CPL-based model, with an average value of $40-50 per lead
09:01 – There are 100 employees
09:10 – David heads up Audience Development
09:37 – There are around 300-400 active client campaigns at any time
10:00 – Current annual run rate is upwards of $20 million
10:25 – How predictable is revenue?
11:03 – Biggest cost is payout to individual publishers - around 20-30%
11:36 – Netline has various products to handle leads, from simple top-of-funnel generation to lead development
21:45 – Connect with David on Twitter or LinkedIn
14:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Refine your cadence. Find a rhythm and drive that helps you keep going.
Lead generation isn’t just about volume, but quality. Really refine your ideal customer - and hunt out exactly the people you want to connect to.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you want to work with
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

Charles Gaudet, founder of Predictable Profits and author of The Predictable Profits Playbook. Charles is a business coaching and online marketing expert who’s made money in real estate, self-publishing, and private coaching. Listen in to find out how he became profitable after going $1 million into debt overnight, why you’ll do better if you write a book, and why entrepreneurs should be staying in line.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Losing my Virginity
What CEO do you follow? — Marcus Lemonis
Favorite online tool? — AdEspresso
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 with one strategy and master it

Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:55 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Predictable Profits is a business coaching and marketing company
01:44 – Started his business on a pay-for-performance model, where he’s paid a percentage of the business increase he secures for his clients
03:00 – His pet health insurance company closed down in 2000 when the crash happened
04:10 – Ended up investing in real estate
05:30 –Bought his first property off his father on a financed loan
06:22 – “I found myself over $1 million in debt almost overnight”
07:36 – Attracted buyers with incentives for construction loans
08:38 – Developed affiliate relationships with tradespeople and related businesses
10:40 – “If you’re looking to get into real estate, align yourself with a private lender”
11:30 – How do you convince a private lender to invest in your deal?
15:00 – The Predictable Profits Playbook: why?
15:10 – “If you look at the most influential people in the world, they’ve got things in common, They’ve written a book, and they’re public speakers”
15:45 – If you want to be perceived as someone of influence...well, success leaves clues
16:15 – The book is published as a hybrid - it’s a combination of self-published and done through a traditional publisher
17:20 – The book sells for $17 on Amazon
17:44 – Around 1500 books have sold so far
18:24 – Charles sends copies of his book to potential clients as an advertising strategy
19:01 – Charles used a ghostwriter
20:10 – “Give the book away as much as you can. Give it away for free if you have to”
20:20 – Hard costs per book are under $3 per copy
20:43 – Most of Charles’s income last month came from private clients
21:45 – Connect with Charles at Predictable Profits
22:25 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Master one strategy at a time. Focus.
Writing a book positions you as an expert - use that influence!
Establish multiple income streams - you’ll be more financially stable
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

Steve Olsher, sometimes called the world’s foremost re-invention expert. He’s known for the bestseller What Is Your WHAT? - helping businesses and individuals find the one amazing thing they were born to do. Steve writes, speaks, runs multiple businesses, and is the host of Reinvention Radio. Tune in to learn how Steve’s crushing it in e-commerce, the secrets behind his bestseller, and the one place where he’s generating 400k unique site visitors a month.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Guerilla Marketing
What CEO do you follow? — Adam Braun
Favorite online tool? — GetEmail
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — These are the golden years

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
02:30 – Steve’s working on multiple projects simultaneously
03:12 – Liquor.com is crushing things right now
03:40 – It’s a site that connects brands to bartenders and liquor-lovers
04:20 – The site has had its ups and downs - they lost the domain name at one point
05:30 – In 1999, when the site was still an e-commerce business, they were making $3.5 million in annual sales
05:51 – Since then, they’ve moved to a newsletter and content marketing model, monetised through paid advertising
06:15 – Annual revenue in 2015 was $3 million; this year they’re hoping to reach $7.5 million
07:30 – Works with big brands from Bacardi to Jack Daniels
09:12 – One of their biggest sources of traffic is ZergNet, which brings around 400k unique visits per month to the site
12:22 – Steve’s books: why’s he writing them?
12:57 – “I know people who are getting 6 or 7 figure advances on their books”
13:10 – “It’s about platform”
13:45 – Steve knows someone who had a 7-figure advance on their book: their platform is one of the top 250 podcasts, with 850k downloads per month
15:40 – What Is Your WHAT? Was published by Wiley with a $15k advance
17:05 – Sold 25k hard copies between 20/09/13 - 15/05/16, not counting the free eBook
17:24 – Get the free eBook at What is Your WHAT?
17:50 – Steve’s email list was 40k when he started marketing
18:10 – He’s the sole author
18:55 – Royalty income is $50k
19:40 – Given the income he’s made - was it worth spending six figures in book marketing?
20:43 – Most of Steve’s income last month came from real estate
21:45 – Connect with Steve at Reinvention Radio
28:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Build your platform. Success comes from having a tribe.
Invest your time and money widely. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Want to write a book? Understand why you want to write it before you start.
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

Cody McLain, the founder of Support Ninja. Cody launched his first business at 15, and sold it 18 months later, having made $150k in revenue. He’s an entrepreneur with incredible drive who’s been featured in Forbes, Mashable, Entrepreneur and more. Tune in to hear how Cody sold two businesses before he was 24, why he’s set up and outsourcing company, and why this relentless entrepreneur thinks that everyone just needs to slow down.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster
What CEO do you follow? — Ben Casnocha
Favorite online tool? — Droplr
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 always about making money. Slow down and explore the connections you can make with other humans.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:56 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Welcoming Cody to the show
01:30 – Starting your first business at FIFTEEN?
02:01 – His friend proposed starting a hosting company to pay for the new XBox
02:40 – It took several years to move from on-selling HostGator’s services to starting their own hosting company
03:17 – At 16 or 17 he merged with another partner, having made $150k in revenue
04:41 – He was in foster care when he started his first business
05:11 – Aged 19, was screwed over by a potential business partner who ended up in a litigation battle
06:00 – Lost customers because the buyer damaged the company’s reputation
07:09 – Servers were shut down and customers quit
07:55 – Cody walked away and moved to Seattle
08:29 – He started a new business, PacificHost
09:40 – Put around $30k of his $70k savings into the business before it was profitable
10:11 – PacificHost was making around $650k in annual revenue when he sold it
10:51 – Margins tend to be low in the hosting industry.
12:06 – Sold PacificHost for a little under $1 million aged 24
12:35 – Started an outsourcing business with a partner in India
13:11 – “I always wanted to be a startup...but I’m very risk-averse. So I took the opportunity to work with startups”
13:53 – Support Ninja was founded to provide outsourcing services for small startups
14:09 – 14 months in, they have over $1 million in contracts
15:23 – First-year revenue in 2015 was less than $500k
15:44 – “We didn’t even know what we were selling the first few months”
16:01 – “I would say we provide Outsourcing As A Service”
16:37 – Support Ninja uses similar metrics to SaaS and they expect a 40% net margin
18:38 – Cody’s eager to use the skills and platform of Support Ninja to launch new projects
19:05 – They currently have 10 clients
19:30 – Average annual contract size is $100k - $400k
19:40 – Team size is 5 in the USA, 100 in the Philippines
20:20 – Follow Cody on Twitter or check out his website
22:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
It’s not all about making money. Slow down. Connect with the people around you.
Know your own skills.
Always be looking ahead. Know where your current project can take you.
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

Max Coursey, a real estate broker and the founder of Tiger Prop - a real estate brokerage company that’s giving its buyers their money back. Tune in to hear about Max’s innovative brokerage model, how to create an insanely successful co-working space, and why you should be having more fun.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The E-Myth Revisited
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Paperless Pipeline
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 bite my tongue

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:04 – Nathan’s introduction
01:25 – Welcoming Max to the show
01:34 – Tiger Prop is a residential real estate brokerage in Boise
01:55 – They credit 20% of brokerage fees back to the buyer
03:22 – Why do people choose Tiger Prop over other brokerages?
03:25 – They standardize professional photography, signs, flyers, and videos
04:20 – They don’t take any money unless they move the property
05:30 – Tiger Prop was launched in 2013
06:04 – First-year revenue was around $200k
06:39 – Now have 39 agents
07:22 – 2015 total revenue was around $800k
08:20 – “We’re starting a new co-working space in downtown Boise”
08:45 – Sharing space with a designer furniture gallery
09:16 – All agents are on the same split - Tiger Prop takes 30% of the brokerage fee and agents take 70%
10:31 – The total revenue figures only include commission charged
12:09 – There are multiple revenue streams in the building: furniture, coffee, and - soon - printing
13:50 – Connect with Max on Twitter or at Tiger Prop
15:29 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
If you’re in the business of selling, then find and pay the best agents you possibly can. The better your people, the better your business.
Find ways to make the space you work in, pay.
Have as much frickin’ fun as humanly possible
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

Justin Cooke, the co-founder and CMO of Empire Flippers - a brokerage platform that makes buying and selling websites incredible easy. After experimenting with website creation, Justin and his partner pivoted into brokerage in 2013 - and they’re handling millions in sales every year. Listen in to learn how the professionals value a website, how much the average site sells for, and why it’s best to be bold.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Built to Sell
What CEO do you follow? — Clay Collins
Favorite online tool? — HubSpot
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 should have been bolder. I could have made bigger business moves.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:29 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – Empire Flippers helps people buy and sell online businesses and apps
02:05 – Their biggest sale was $550k last month
02:26 – A recent sale was Rave Aid - an Ecstasy hangover cure site
02:56 – Individual sellers are the most common listers
03:25 – $297 listing fee for the first listing and $97 for repeat listings
03:45 – Some users have portfolios of up to 60 websites that they buy and sell on a regular basis
04:15 – The listing fee acts as a filter to keep out scammers and time-wasters
04:40 – The site pivoted to brokerage in 2013
05:00 – First-year revenue was around $275k in total sites sold
05:24 – The charge a 15% fee on sales
05:38 – Use a basic algorithm to help with valuation, then look at subjective factors
06:24 – 95% of revenue comes from the 15% brokerage fee
06:50 – Made $4.56 million in sales on 176 deals in 2015
07:30 – In April 2016, made $1 million in sales - meaning $150k in revenue to Empire Flipper
09:04 – How did Justin start Empire Flippers?
09:56 – “We realised there was a huge market of people looking for mini-businesses”
10:09 – In April 2016, between 20 and 30 sellers listed their businesses for sale
11:05 – About 15-20 of those sites were sold
11:28 – About half of the buyers are repeat buyers and half are unique
11:45 – The average deal size is $76k
12:24 – They’ve sold well over 1000 sites since their inception
13:35 – How do Empire Flippers value a site?
14:30 – The business is entirely bootstrapped
15:00 – At the beginning of creating an investor program to bring people with lots of money and no time into the site
13:30 – Connect with Justin on Twitter or at the Empire Flippers blog
18:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Be bold. Forge your own path - don’t be afraid to ignore what other people are doing.
Be willing to pivot as better markets reveals themselves
Listing fees and barriers to entry can add value to your business by keeping out tire-kickers and time-wasters
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

Michael Gilroy, a tech investor and partner with Canaan investment. Canaan’s an early-stage venture firm with $4.2 billion of capital under management. Michael moved there when he realised he wanted to engage with the companies he was investing in. Listen in to hear the ins and outs of technology investment, just how Michael secured an investment deal with Bellhops, and why we should be working less.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Fooling Some of the People All of the Time
What CEO do you follow? — Dan Ruch
Favorite online tool? — TD Ameritrade
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Try to work less and be in the moment more

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:02 – Nathan’s introduction
02:00 – Welcoming Michael to the show
02:24 – Michael started his career working with M&A and private capital investment in Silicon Valley
02:50 – He was involved in the 2012 Oracle deal
03:58 – How did Michael get into technology investment?
04:28 – “I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up”
04:50 – “You genuinely have to be passionate about investment banking...you see a lot of people churn out”
05:25 – Michael worked at GCA for 5 years in New York
06:39 – “The great thing about venture capital is that when you invest, that’s just the start of the deal”
07:35 – Canaan is an early-stage investor - meaning that they support the companies they invest in
09:30 – What are the roles in a venture firm? And what’s Michael’s next step?
10:29 – How can Michael move up the ranks at Canaan?
11:28 – How do you bring in companies like Bellhops for investment?
11:40 – “It’s all about your network...And it’s important to go deep on a couple of different verticals. You can’t do everything”
13:08 – Michael’s looking to start making fintech deals
13:30 – Connect with Michael on Twitter
15:15 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Work less. Enjoy life.
Making good deals and bringing value to a company is all about your network. Nurture solid relationships with the people around you.
If you’re looking for early-stage investors, find a partner investor who’ll bring more than just money to the table. You’re building a long-term relationship!
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

Dr Henry Cloud, a psychologist, business consultant, and bestselling author of over 45 books. His most recent book is The Power of the Other - offering powerful insights into how relationships shape our success. Listen in to hear about Dr Henry’s enormous experience in writing and publishing, why you need an agent, and exactly what the “power of the other” means for your business.

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs
• What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? — OneNote

• 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’d known what’s in this book: that I need other people to get me through life and turn me into my best self

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
• 02:07 – Welcoming Dr Henry to the show
• 03:10 – Why does Dr Henry write so much?
• 03:35 – “The books come from the work...when I see an issue that multiple people are having, I write a book”
• 04:50 – Dr Henry’s latest book is The Power of The Other
• 05:05 – “People only get past the current limit of their performance when they build relationships that take them to that higher level of performance”
• 06:50 – The last book that Dr Henry published was Boundaries For Leaders
• 07:30 – Even the highest performers tend to lose control of their lives
• 08:09 – “If everything’s important, then nothing is”
• 08:40 – Published by Harper Collins
• 09:25 – “The publisher doesn’t sell the book - the author and their platform sell the book”
• 10:55 – What was the path that Dr Henry took with his publisher?
• 12:40 – Why it’s important to have an agent
• 13:15 – Agents have specialist knowledge about the business side of books
• 15:15 – “Ask yourself one question: why am I writing this book?”
• 16:09 – A book is a way of getting your message out
• 16:45 – It’s a product line, a way of spreading your message, and a calling card
• 17:00 – When you’re just starting out, royalties are probably the wrong reason to write a book
• 18:50 – Beginning authors will be offered lower royalty percentages than established authors - around 10% would be normal
• 20:17 – An advance is roughly the royalty percentage for a first year of sales
• 21:12 – How did Dr Henry sell copies of his first book?
• 21:50 – Dr Henry sold copies of Changes That Heal at speaking events
• 23:25 – He got a $10k advance on that first book
• 24:35 – He took around 12% of the $20 sale price in royalties
• 25:55 – Publishers are more likely to pay for ideas where they see a market
• 26:44 – Dr Henry sold around 40-50k copies of his first book before he was offered another deal
• 27:20 – Self-publishing works well for some people - but if you don’t want publishing to be your day job, then it’s worth looking at other options
• 29:02 – Connect with Dr Henry at Power of The Other

• 32:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• The publisher doesn’t sell the book: the author and their platform sell the book
• Other people, and the relationships you form, are absolutely vital to bringing out your best performance
• Want to write a book? Understand why you want to write it.

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

Steven Mazur, co-founder and CEO of Ash & Anvil, a clothing company for short guys. Steven co-founded the company last year and he’s excited about how many dedicated customers their store already has. Tune in to hear how Steven’s getting inventory orders right; the importance of connecting with the entrepreneurs around you; and why everything always takes longer than you think. 

Famous 5:

• Favorite Book? – How To Win Friends And Influence People
• What CEO do you follow? — Andy Dunn
• Favorite online tool? — Wunderlist

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Everything takes longer than you think it will

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction
• 01:51 – Welcoming Steven to the show
• 02:06 – “I’m 5’ 6”, my business partner’s 5’ 8” - we decided to be the ones to make clothes for shorter guys”
• 02:56 – Started with an IndieGoGo campaign with a $10k goal, and ended up generating $26k in pre-orders
• 03:40 – The bestseller is their blue gingham shirt
• 04:55 – The price of the shirt is $69 - what are the margins on that?
• 05:20 – Base unit cost at a low volume is around $25
• 05:35 – Around a 55% gross margin at this point
• 06:00 – First run of shirts was 1000 units
• 06:35 – Steven doesn’t have a figure for net margin at this point
• 07:30 – How do you handle the challenge of ordering the right amount of inventory?
• 07:50 – The company is self-funded
• 08:31 – “It always takes longer than you think to order”
• 08:53 – Founded in 2015
• 09:11 – The team is currently just Steven and his co-founder Eric
• 09:37 – The most important metrics for them are revenue, number of customers, and re-order rate
• 10:50 – Close to having 1000 unique customers at the moment
• 11:24 – The next order is 1,250 shirts
• 12:10 – Average customer buys 1.5 shirts
• 12:32 – Total revenue in 2015 was $50k
• 13:30 – What’s Venture For America?
• 14:00 – It’s a startup program that places entrepreneurs in struggling American cities, like Detroit, and helps them connect with investors and other start-ups
• 16:03 – “It’s been a big part of our story”
• 10:45 – Connect with Steven at Ash & Anvil

• 18:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• It takes 10 years to build an overnight success: focus on the long-term and be patient
• Engage with the smart people around you. Be part of your community and your ecosystem
• Start the company that you want to exist - but check that other people want it too

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

Jess Butcher, the co-founder of Blippar. It’s a mobile visual browser that lets you search the internet without words, simply by scanning the objects around you. As Chief Marketing Officer, she’s led Blippar to over 60 million app downloads. Listen in to hear about the crazy future of augmented reality and why Jess thinks that “blipping”, like “googling”, will become a verb before too long.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Anything by Seth Godin
What CEO do you follow? — Aaron Levie
Favourite online tool? —Twitter and Linkedin
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?— Fake it til you make it. Stop being so cautious.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:08 – Nathan’s introduction
01:40 – Welcoming Jess to the show
01:53 – Blippar is a mobile visual browser that can recognise anything in the physical world and search for information on it - “Search without words”
03:15 – “We could play an audio file on the artwork you see - or open a link to buy the handbag that you see someone holding on the train”
03:40 – Currently working with Coca Cola and Lucky Charms to create interactive experiences with their physical products
03:35 – Founded in 2013; went to market in 2014
05:20 – Raised just over $100 million in funding
06:00 – “We’ve been in the market long enough that we have entrenched relationships with many of our clients. It’s a combination of consultancy and technology fixed fees”
07:30 – Mostly 7-figure retained relationships
08:15 – “Increasingly we’re moving the creative side onto agencies and focusing on tech”
08:30 – Average annual contract is in the mid 6 figures
08:45 – Currently working with well over 500 brands and asset owners
09:40 – Founded in 2011
09:50 – Around 300 team members in 14 offices around the world
11:40 – In addition to the brands they work closely with, Blippar has self-service tools that let smaller companies access their technology
12:20 – Blipp Builder is an affordable and accessible way into Blippar
13:30 – How do you incentivise users to come on board Blippar?
13:50 – “We’ve never sold this as people having access to everyone that uses Blippar...the idea is that the partners themselves are getting people to download the app”
16:00 – What’s the long term goal?
16:15 – “We want to become a verb in common parlance”
18:02 – Within the year, Blippar will be able to recognise its surroundings with the same level of complexity as an adult brain
18:20 – Connect with Jess on Twitter
21:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Visual search recognition is the next level of engagement with the internet - visual recognition and augmented reality are going to take off rapidly in the next few years
Fake it til you make it. Pretend you know what you’re doing and you’re where you want to be.
Have ambitious goals. Know when you’re onto a big idea - and chase it.
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