Leveling Up with Eric Siu

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CEOs Only Need To Do This To Be Successful Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

Do you need to have a big company before you start worrying about things like vision and culture? I used to think so... but the truth is, building culture and demonstrating the vision is the most important job of the CEO and can make or break whether you're successful. In this clip, we'll talk about ways you can implement culture, recruit a-players and share your vision better with your team, no matter how big or small your company is!

How Autonomous Enterprise Company Daisy Uses AI To Drive High Impact Business Decisions Worth Billions of Dollars | Ep. #381 Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

Today’s guest, Gary Saarenvirta, has been thinking deeply about AI long before the current hype. Having worked in the AI space for over 25 years, Gary was shocked at how little math and science was used in big business, and founded Daisy Intelligence to fill this glaring gap. Daisy is a SaaS AI-powered platform that helps retailers and insurers achieve higher profits by helping them make smarter operating decisions. In this episode, Gary sheds light on some of Daisy’s product offerings and the specific ways they increase profitability. As someone with an engineering background, Gary always focused on the technical side of things, but with the growth of the business, he has become increasingly aware of the value of people and culture. We talk about various ways that Daisy looks after their team, including flexible remote working options during COVID and mentoring programs. Gary himself has seen the value of having a coach, and he shares how this has helped him grow as a leader. Along with this, we discuss why Daisy’s technology is uniquely differentiated and how they use optimal control thinking to ensure their software stands out. Gary believes that by making businesses more efficient, through autonomous enterprise, it will not only reduce product costs but decrease the cost of living generally. We wrap the show up by hearing some of Gary’s must read books as well as why being a small company that has productized AI has helped them attract top talent. Don't miss out!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:45] Learn more about Gary and his background, and his company, Daisy Intelligence.
[01:48] Some of Daisy Intelligence’s current clients including, Walmart Canada and Allianz.
[02:08] How Gary walked into the idea for Daisy after a stint in the corporate world.
[03:48] Hear about how Daisy makes money as a SaaS platform and their pricing structure.
[05:19] Some numbers related to Daisy, including employees, growth rates, and more.
[06:49] What Gary has learned about the importance of culture as Daisy has grown.
[07:43] Specific tools and resources Gary has used to build company culture.
[08:56] The ways that Daisy has taken care of their employees.
[10:22] How coaches have helped Gary grow as a leader and what’s been effective for him.
[11:22] What optimal control is and how it’s helped Daisy to their $5.5 million ARR.
[13:06] Why making companies more efficient is one of Gary’s main motivators.
[13:43] The time it took for Daisy to reach product-market fit.
[16:30] How Daisy stayed afloat for 12 years before getting VC finance in 2015.
[17:59] Gary’s favorite business tools and why he enjoys looking at cashflow.
[18:42] Must read books that Gary recommends and other resources he consumes.
[20:06] Bonus question: How Daisy manages to recruit such high-talent people.

Resources From The Interview:

Gary Saarenvirta on LinkedIn

IBM

Patrick Lencioni Ideal Team Player TensorFlow

Must read books: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Advantage,Built to Last, Good to Great

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What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
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Jeff Bezos Started Amazon AWS & Kindle During Precarious Times (The Case For Splitting Your Focus) Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

When should you split your focus and start to take on multiple projects? The problem with a lot of people is that they never focus on completing one project all the way through. Or they fail to diversify at the right time. In this clip, Eric shares his thoughts around the importance of creating a launch pad business before splitting to different projects.

From Stay-at-Home Mom to 8-Figure Entrepreneur with Amy Lacey | Ep. #380 Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

Today we are excited to bring you a conversation with Amy Lacey, the bestselling author of Cali’flour Kitchen and the founder of Cali’flour Foods, a company that sells cauliflower-based foods and currently the fastest growing food company in e-commerce. When Amy began looking into resolving her autoimmune issues, she stumbled on a recipe for a cauliflower pizza base, which she perfected, started selling at farmers’ markets, and eventually built out into an 8-figure business. In this episode, she gets candid about the percentage of her business that is based on e-commerce versus retail, her thought process behind deciding to bring venture capitalists on board, and why it was more about choosing strategic partners than getting the financial backup. Since the earliest days, customer service and experience have been a top priority for her and the team, a value she believes sets them apart from many other food companies and opens doors to the most unexpected opportunities, including the chance to talk to people like Martina McBride and Whoopi Goldberg. And the secret to outstanding customer service, she says, lies in your ability to truly listen to the needs of people and then to deliver the perfect solutions. Amy also discusses how the COVID-19 crisis affected their sales, the importance of surrounding yourself with people who know the industry, the equity you should be prepared to give to key stakeholders, why you have to secure your trademark as early as possible, and more!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:56] Hear about the circumstances that led to Amy starting Cali’flour Foods.
[01:39] The journey of discovering all the foods that were causing inflammation in her body.
[02:30] Wanting to find a way to still eat pizza and experimenting with a cauliflower pizza base.
[03:01] Taking her pizza bases to the farmers’ market and selling out before even getting there!
[04:18] What Cali’flour Foods’ bestselling products are and those coming to market soon.
[05:24] The percentage of her business that comes from e-commerce versus retail.
[06:18] Putting the customer at the center of the brand and sharing their success stories.
[06:51] Deciding to bring in the venture capitalists to help her get into the grocery market.
[08:50] How the capital piece was more about strategy than money per se.
[09:58] Growing from 18 to 100 employees since bringing in the VCs and other great stats.
[11:00] Find out how COVID-19 has affected their business and sales.
[12:06] How she went from stay-at-home mom to 8-figure entrepreneur.
[13:31] Prioritizing customer service by employing people who had significant experience in it.
[14:28] Amy’s pizza party with Erin Oprea and Martina McBride and other amazing meetings.
[15:36] The importance of being a good listener and offering impeccable service.
[16:15] Growing fast based on the integrity of the product and being transparent.
[17:07] Why you need to surround yourself with people who have experience in the industry.
[17:31] How Amy went about recruiting the right people and getting an advisory board together.
[19:11] Get an idea of the equity you should be willing to give up to an advisory board.
[21:20] Securing your trademark and being careful who you share your business with.
[22:18] The value of the StoryBrand book, framework, workshop, and podcast.
[23:46] Amy makes a case for why email is her favorite business tool.

Resources From The Interview:

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here
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Are Business Coaches Worth It? (I Spent Over $60K A Year On This) Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

How much should you spend on a business coach? How do you know if you'll get a valuable ROI from the experience?

In this episode Eric shares his thoughts around why business coaches are worth it, and how to find a coach who will push you to greater heights.

How Andrew Wilkinson of Tiny Capital Created a Portfolio of Companies Doing >$100M A Year On His Own Terms | Ep. #379 Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

On today’s show, we are happy to welcome someone we’ve wanted to have on for some time now, Andrew Wilkinson. He is currently a Managing Partner at Tiny Capital, as well as the Founder of MetaLab, which helped design Slack. Along with this, Andrew is also invested in a range of other companies. In this episode, we learn more about his incredible journey and how he grew a passion for tech and design into a range of flourishing businesses. Andrew also sheds light on his investing education and overcoming his initial reluctance to see the power of investments. For Andrew, being an entrepreneur is about freedom to create the life you want, and having time to pursue your interests, which is how he saw the value of delegating. This is not easy when you are starting out your entrepreneurial journey, as Andrew knows, but as a company scales, so too should the owner’s levels of delegation. We take a look at the types of businesses Tiny Capital is interested in and why they are only pursuing simple business models. Our conversation then takes a turn into a different interest of Andrew’s — subscription podcasts. We discuss why these are such effective, yet untapped income-generating models and Andrew shares some of the work they are doing in this space. We then circle back to Tiny and leadership more generally where Andrew unpacks the importance of incentives along with his characteristic lazy leadership style. Andrew’s self-reflexivity and ability to talk openly about his weaknesses is truly refreshing. This conversation was a great look into what it really means to be an entrepreneur. Be sure to tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[01:16] Hear more about Andrew’s background and his varied business journey so far.
[06:58] What led Andrew to learn about investing and what stood out to him in his education.
[09:39] Why Andrew is not a good CEO and what he has done to compensate for this.
[10:41] Learn about a launchpad business and the opportunities it provides owners.
[11:04] A common mistake entrepreneurs make: Building the first business to be venture-backed.
[12:50] What Andrew’s day-to-day looks like and the different activities he’s involved in.
[14:09] The kinds of businesses that Tiny Capital is currently interested in.
[16:05] How Tiny buys businesses and some of the terms they stipulate.
[17:01] Insights on how Tiny brings companies down from unrealistic venture valuations.
[18:05] Tiny’s organizational structure and tips for anyone looking to start something similar.
[20:58] Some of the characteristics that Andrew looks for when hiring a CEO.
[21:48] Why hiring great executives when starting out is so difficult.
[22:26] The different comp structures that are appropriate for these high-level executives.
[23:13] How Tiny interprets profitability and different ways to manage cashflow.
[24:18] The difficulties Tiny’s staff faced working on the range of entities and splitting attention.
[26:10] Find out about subscription podcasts and why Andrew is so passionate about them.
[31:09] Andrew’s interest in the No Code movement and why it’s valuable for business owners.
[35:02] The motivation behind Tiny’s Twitter ads and their efficacy in relation to deal flow.
[36:55] Andrew’s take on incentivization, common mistakes, and examples of good ones. [40:53] Incentive-related resources that have helped Andrew.
[41:47] How Tiny thinks about company culture after founders have departed.
[44:29] What it means to be a ‘lazy leader,’ and the role a CEO should play.
[46:28] Books that have shaped Andrew as an investor.
[48:11] Andrew’s favorite tool that’s not part of his portfolio.

Resources From The Interview:

Tiny Capital
MetaLab
Andrew Wilkinson on Twitter
Andrew Wilkinson on LinkedIn
Dribbble
Designer News
Slack
WeWork
Steve Jobs
TechCrunch
Coinbase
Shopify
Warren Buffet
SpaceX
Berkshire Hathaway
Zack Onisko
Creative Market
Supercast
Tim Ferriss
Joe Rogan
DoubleUp
Squarespace
Flytographer
Lambda School
Bubble
Coda
Zapier
Anthony Casalena on LinkedIn
Charles Munger
The Psychology of Human Misjudgment
My First Million
Superhuman
SaneBox
Jason Fried
Basecamp
HEY
Must read books: The Dhandho Investor, Tao of Charlie Munger, Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here
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Podcasting Lessons After 2,000+ Episodes Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

When I first started podcasting, I was only getting 9 downloads a day. This sad trend continued through the next 12 months... and even after 2 years I was only getting 30 downloads a day. Flash forward to today and I'm generating over 1.3 million downloads a month. What happened? In this clip we'll discuss the lessons I learned along the way of recording over 2,000 episodes!

How Sales Enablement Has Evolved with Elay Cohen, CEO of SalesHood. | Ep. #378 Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

Elay Cohen, CEO, and co-founder of SalesHood joins us on the show today to talk sales enablement platforms, dominating a category, and boosting sales through collaboration! SalesHood is a sales enablement platform that has been at the forefront of its niche as it evolved from its early adoption phase to a broad base market offering! We hear about the platform’s genesis where Elay realized the benefit of doing sales enablement to help companies grow while he was Senior VP of Productivity at SalesForce. From there, we learn what sales enablement actually means before Elay talks about the many companies who have experienced hyper-growth since adopting their platform. Elay weighs in on how SalesHood makes their money as well as shares metrics about their growth rates, ARR, and more! We also get into the effects of COVID on the success of SalesHood and their clients, and how the platform is perfectly suited to thrive at this time of increased migration to virtual. Elay does a great job of explaining the story behind how they arrived at a product to market fit, which leads into the topic of creating and dominating a category, and the role Elay’s book, Enablement Mastery, as well as his initiatives to create communities around sales enablement have played in this. Wrapping up, we hear Elay’s thoughts on his favorite book, tools, and CEOs so make sure to listen in and hear it all!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:15] Introducing Elay Cohen and SalesHood, a sales enablement platform.
[00:38] What led up to SalesHood; the need to build a system that helped with scaling.
[01:40] What sales enablement is and how it helps teams boost sales through collaboration.
[02:35] Examples of companies using SalesHood that have experienced hyper-growth.
[04:12] How SalesHood makes money using a price per seat model.
[05:09] Metrics for revenue, growth, employee count, ARR, users, customers, and more.
[07:49] How COVID has helped SalesHood by enabling their clients to go virtual.
[08:36] The two-plus year journey taking SalesHood to product to market fit.
[13:17] Creating/dominating a category and why Elay wrote Enablement Mastery.
[17:18] The value of creating a community around a category to dominate it.
[19:43] Elay’s book recommendation and what he’s learning from That Will Never Work.
[20:47] Essential software tools Elay uses.
[21:43] Why Elay is such a fan of Gordon Ritter, Jason Lemkin, and Carmel Jud.
[23:39] The best way for people to find Elay online and connect with him.

Resources From The Interview:

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here
Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes
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Connect with Eric Siu:

Why Most Internet Marketers Get Stuck With Their Income Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

Does marketing mean making money? It can be very easy as a marketer to focus on all the ways to generate a profit and make a lot of extra cash through sometimes shady ways. But is that best for the long term? In this clip, Eric Siu shares his thoughts around long term strategies to develop a marketing breakthrough and avoid short term thinking. This will help you from getting stuck at a ceiling.

How Taylor Welch Grew Traffic and Funnels To A $24M/Year Company By Utilizing His Flywheel Approach And Reframing His Mindset | Ep. #377 Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

Making money is easy, according to our guest today, Taylor Welch, co-founder of Traffic and Funnels, but knowing how to invest and multiply wealth is the hard part. This is why he has made it his mission to arm people with the skills they need to grow their money and minds beyond self-imposed limits. We kick off this episode by learning more about Traffic and Funnels and how they help clients build online digital marketing systems and show high-level consultants, coaches and experts how to develop lead generation machines to scale businesses to seven figures a year. From there, we dive into the importance of mindset. For a long time, Taylor was a skeptic about how important it is, but through seeing the power of positive, intentional thinking firsthand, he now knows that it’s a foundational pillar of success. We then turn our attention to leadership where Taylor shares his approach. For him, it’s about fostering his team to be able to not only make decisions but understand the motivation behind their choices. It's not about not making mistakes; it’s about what you learn from them. We round the show off by delving into the flywheel approach to business, SalesMentor, and why all businesses don’t need to make money. Be sure to tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[01:04] Learn more about Taylor’s background and the work that he currently does.
[02:23] Find out about Traffic and Funnels, what they do, and how they make money.
[04:26] The importance of mindset and why people stay stuck where they are.
[05:48] Why Taylor believes it’s important to have lower ticket, affordable products.
[08:35] Passion is an equally important driver in creating a product as money is.
[09:33] Where Taylor puts his time and energy in the business.
[10:05] Taylor’s tips for entrepreneurs who want to scale their businesses effectively.
[11:39] Learn more about how Taylor coaches his leadership team and the approach he takes.
[14:46] How Taylor thinks about risk when delegating decision-making.
[16:32] Some of the $10,000/hr. tasks Taylor dedicates his time to.
[18:04] Why Taylor believes that leadership is the hardest part of running a company.
[19:11] The marketing strategies that are helping Traffic and Funnels’ growth currently.
[21:37] Find out how to strategically repurpose old content and frame it as new.
[23:03] Traffic and Funnels’s approach to new ads and new offers.
[26:01] The flywheel approach: How entrepreneurs create new businesses from existing ones.
[27:03] Why it’s not necessary to build every business for money.
[28:04] Learn about SalesMentor and the work that it does.
[30:16] The book that’s shaped Taylor’s thinking and the tool he’s using in his business.

Resources From The Interview:

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here
Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes
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Connect with Eric Siu:

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