Top Founders

Latest Episodes:

EP 580: Self Funded Vainu SaaS Hits $400K MRR, 1000 Customers To Serve Up Business Data with CEO Pietari Suvanto Feb 24, 2017

Show notes

Pietari Suvanto, cofounder of the company, Vainu. Vainu was founded recently and is a tool that defines piles of data from the web and turns into fact check and actionable company information. His vision is to understand more organizations around the world more than anybody else and his company currently has about a thousand customers in Europe, including FedEx and Santander Innoventures.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – How to Win Friends and Influence People
What CEO do you follow? – Mike Bloomberg
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? – "Be a bit more braver"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:12 – Nathan introduces Pietari to the show
01:50 – Vainu is a SaaS business model
02:40 – Pietari shares a company that is searchable in Vainu
- 03:06 – Salesforce has a lot of organizations around the globe
03:50 – The uses of companies' data in Vainu
- 04:12 – Vainu gives the company's in-depth data
- 04:30 – Salespeople are the ones who uses Vainu
04:49 – Vainu's revenue stream is from the subscription per seat
05:05 – Average customer pay per month is €400
05:21 – Vainu was launched in 2014
05:33 – Vainu hasn't raised capital
05:37 – Vainu is based in Hilsinki, Finland, Amsterdam, and New York
06:00 – Number of paying customers is 1000
06:30 – ARR in 2016 €4.5M
06:55 – MRR goal in 2017
07:20 – Vainu is finding their customers through their software
08:07 – Pietari shares how they find the companies
08:50 – Vainu can check the company's' data in preview
09:30 – The number of salespeople in Vainu's team
09:55 – Gross customer churn is 1%
10:05 – CAC
10:24 – Assumed LTV per customer
- 10:40 – €20K-30K
11:04 – Pietari is hoping to raise capital
- 11:36 – Pietari would likely to raise €5-10M
12:30 – Pietari shares how they are different from their competitors
13:20 – Vainu hasn't bought any API access to any data providers
- 13:30 – Everything in their system is owned by them
- 13:50 – The best asset of Vainu
14:50 – Pietari shares how they access the revenue data
15:50 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Be the BEST in your market, having an asset that will set you apart from your competitors.
Raising capital is always an option, but not always a necessity.
Be brave—step out and believe you can do it.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 579: Organifi Hits $25M 2016 Sales, 150k Customers, Indian Sourced Ashwagandha is Million Dollar Ingredient with CEO Drew Canole Feb 23, 2017

Show notes

Drew Canole. He's a nutrition specialist, transformation specialist, and national spokesperson for the benefits of juicing vegetables for health and vitality. He is the founder of Fitlife.TV where he shares educational, inspirational, and entertaining videos and articles about health, fitness, healing, and longevity. More recently, his company, Organifi, is getting directly into the green juicing space with a physical product.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Think and Grow Rich
What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "To stay fricking focused on one thing"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:30 – Nathan introduces Drew to the show
02:25 – Organifi is sourced from the best farms for their organic ingredients
- 02:34 – The ingredients are high quality, organic, non-GMO, soy free, and vegan
- 02:43 – Drew did clinical studies on their product and has sold over a quarter million bottles
03:20 – Drew started getting his audience from Youtube and Facebook, 6 years ago
- 03:33 – "Influence marketing has been our focus for the past 3 years"
- 03:48 – Drew has one of the largest, green juice followings online
- 03:56 – Drew started working on a their own concoction by looking at the gap in the green juice market
- 04:35 – The green juice that is available in the market is not good for the brain and body
- 04:56 – Drew recreated the world's most great tasting juice that helps mental cognition, weight loss, and boosts moods
05:14 – Organifi was launched in early 2015
05:44 – Organifi sold around 350K bottles
- 05:55 – Around 150K people bought the product
06:00 – Average reorder rate is 2.8
06:17 – Organifi's main product is a 30-day canister
06:55 – Organifi costs $79.95 on Amazon
- 07:08 – 20% of the sales is from Amazon and 80% is from other traffic
- 07:15 – 65% is from Organifi's website
08:00 – The cost of making Organifi
09:07 – "We're all about congruency"
09:25 – The most important ingredient of Organifi is the Ashwagandha
- 09:40 – Drew is importing Ashwagandha from an organic farm in India
- 10:18 – KSM Ashwagandha is the farm Drew chose
- 10:35 – Organifi's formulator is the one who visits India to check the farm and the farmers
11:25 – Gross margin is around 75%
11:45 – Marketing cost
12:25 – Software that Organifi is using
- 12:37 – Unbounce, Infusionsoft, Exit Intel, and Shopify
13:02 – Organifi has a subscription model
- 13:20 – The subscription has a 15-75% discount
- 13:40 – The subscription cost
14:43 – Organifi's 2015 revenue
15:15 – Net margin is around 15-20%
- 15:40 – Drew's influence benefits their net margin
17:04 – What Drew is doing with his wealth
17:07 – Organifi has no investors
17:34 – Total list size is around 1.4M
- 17:45 – Actively opening is 500K
18:15 – Team size is 70
18:45 – 2017 revenue goal
20:04 – Cost of affiliates
22:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Influence marketing is one way not just to increase your online presence, but also sales.
A thorough study and being well researched is crucial in order to fill a gap in a field that is quite saturated.
Stay congruent with your plans and actions.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 578: Ripple Recruiting Passes 8,000 Ivy League Resumes With 15 Employers Paying $300/mo For Access with Ripple CEO Andrew Myers Feb 22, 2017

Show notes

Andrew Myers. He grew up in Denver, Colorado and recently left Yale before the start of his senior year to pursue Ripple Recruiting, full-time. He now serves as a CEO in a fast growing, 12-person startup.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Anna Karenina
What CEO do you follow? – Kevin Ryan and Reid Hoffman
Favorite online tool? —PersistIQ and 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? – "Go for it"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:34 – Nathan introduces Andrew to the show
01:56 – Ripple Recruiting allows employers to create their dream applicant
02:32 – The whole revenue model is based on the employers and Ripple Recruiting is subscription based
02:43 – Ripple Recruiting is both a marketplace and a SaaS business model
03:04 – Ripple Recruiting has three subscription packages
- 03:15 – Average contract size is about $300 a month
03:25 – Andrew shares the differences between the packages
04:25 – Andrew won't sell Ripple Recruiting at this time
04:50 – Andrew and his partner are first time founders
05:05 – Andrew and his partner both have strong opinions regarding their business
05:40 – Ripple Recruiting was launched in 2015
05:54 – First year revenue
06:03 – Andrew's focus is on user engagement, rather than revenue
06:36 – Total debt Andrew has for Ripple Recruiting
07:00 – Ripple Recruiting has raised in a seed round
- 07:12 – Ripple Recruiting will be in a series A, soon
07:24 – Ripple Recruiting has a syndicate
08:11 – No revenue in 2015
08:20 – Ripple Recruiting has 15 paying clients at the moment
08:30 – Average MRR
09:00 – Andrew shares the pitch to investors
- 09:10 – Ripple Recruiting currently has over 10K Ivy League students signed up, on the platform
- 10:36 – Ripple Recruiting's valuation
11:18 – Andrew wants to raise $2-3M is series A
11:30 – Andrew wants the highest valuation possible
12:11 – Andrew already has the strategies to build the syndicate
13:05 – Andrew wouldn't take a $13M deal
13:58 – Andrew has just started focusing on revenue in terms of sales stream
14:42 – The customers are paying for their access in Ripple Recruiting's database
15:52 – Andrew believes that they're doing it better than other competitors in the space
17:07 – Ripple Recruiting doesn't have an official hire number yet
- 17:23 – Andrew is seeing 20K students being hired on Ripple Recruiting
17:30 – No churn yet
18:58 – The whole Ripple Recruiting team ages between 22-25
20:50 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Being new to business allows you to be more optimistic, but listening to those who have done it can definitely help.
A good pitch can drive good investors.
Start early – if you truly feel that you should do it, then NOW is the right time.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 577: Vinod Khosla, Others Invest $600k+ In Ex-Intuit Founder Providing Financing Against Invoices with Numberz CEO Aditya Tulsian Feb 21, 2017

Show notes

Aditya Tulsian. He launched and led multiple small business focused software service and mobile offerings at Intuit India. He's also a management consultant at Diamond Consultant which is now PWC. He's a product manager. He's got an MBA and he's doing very big things especially in the SMB SaaS space.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great
What CEO do you follow? – Brad Smith
Favorite online tool? — Slack
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Adi just wished that he could have taken the chance earlier

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:07 – Nathan introduces Adi to the show
01:45 – Adi's company is Numberz
02:14 – Half of Numberz' revenue comes from their SaaS model and half is from commission
02:35 – One of Numberz' customers is NH1 Design
- 03:05 – How NH1 Design uses Numberz
03:50 – Numberz has receivable financing
04:15 – Numberz has 2 pricing plans
05:00 – Average customer pay annually is $185-195
- 05:26 – Transaction fee is 2% of every transaction that is done in Numberz' platform
07:00 – Adi was a business head in Intuit India
07:18 – Adi shares why he made the jump
- 07:35 – Adi has a design agency and they're stable financially
08:13 – First year revenue
09:20 – 2016 total revenue
09:33 – Numberz has more than 5,500 customers
10:02 – Average MRR
10:45 – Numberz' paying customers is 1,200
12:15 – Adi shares Numberz' growth
12:50 – MRR starting 2017
13:27 – Numberz has 3 channels of acquisition to get customers
14:20 – Numberz is spending $150 CAC
16:32 – Team size
16:38 – Numberz' location is in India
16:51 – Numberz has raised capital
- 17:23 – Total is $750K
17:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Taking the leap from corporate is more possible with financial stability.
Having 2 streams of revenue for your business can increase your growth faster.
Take the chance earlier – opportunities pass you by way too easily.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 576: Will This Mobile Payments Startup Survive with CEO Rode Luhaaar? Feb 20, 2017

Show notes

Rode Luhaäär. He's an enthusiast and entrepreneur who has years of experience as an e-marketer and digital strategist. During his career in the digital field, he's been overseeing execution and delivery of activities such as digital concept, e-business concepts, creative solutions design, software development, SEO, social media marketing, and global solutions. Over the last few years, he's been an active member of a startup community and currently manages a large software company called, Paytailor.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? — Lean Startup
What CEO do you follow? — n/a
Favorite online tool? — n/a
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Think faster"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

02:30 – Nathan introduces Rode to the show
03:10 – Paytailor is a smart payment solution allowing merchants to get paid the way they want
- 03:26 – Paytailor gives merchants an app and the users a card wallet
- 03:45 – Paytailor is a SaaS company
03:50 – Paytailor charges €10 monthly
04:05 – Paytailor's revenue comes from the monthly fee
04:10 – Average number of customers is 40
04:20 – MRR
04:28 – Paytailor has raised €70K in a convertible note
04:45 – Paytailor was launched in 2015
- 04:55 – Paytailor started as a side project
05:15 – Team size
05:24 – Paytailor's development is based in Estonia
05:38 – Why did you give up good pay in the digital field to start Paytailor?
- 05:52 – "We see a problem"
- 06:31 – Paytailor also has a 1.8% per transaction fee
- 06:58 – Paytailor's payment gateway
07:14 – Rode is 32
07:32 – What Rode is being paid as a founder
08:09 – Rode's plan for 2017 is to expand in Europe
- 08:30 – "We don't want to be a financial institution"
08:50 – Rode sees that they have to expand as they make adjustments
09:31 – Last month sales is €450
- 10:50 – Paytailor has 20 taxis as merchants
- 11:22 – Some of the merchants' usage is once a month
13:14 – Paytailor's focus is to test out different kinds of users
13:24 – Paytailor currently has 4 bars as merchants
14:44 – Paytailor's merchants are not using their service exclusively
16:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

If you can see a problem then try to create a solution.
Expanding helps your company to improve and grow.
You have to start somewhere – regardless of how small it is.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 575: Fruitstreet Raises $6m From 180 Customers for HealthTech, New Kind of VC with CEO Laurence Girard Feb 19, 2017

Show notes

Laurence Girard. He's the CEO and founder of Fruit Street. He was a pre-med student at Harvard University Extension School for three years before he decided to pursue Fruit Street full-time and move to San Francisco. In high school, he played soccer for the New York Red Bulls Academy as a goalkeeper, which sparked his initial interest in health. Later, he decided to pursue a career focused on social impact and spent a year volunteering in an emergency room unit in Huntington Hospital, Long Island. He's now exclusively focused in Fruit Street.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – The Science of Growth
What CEO do you follow? – Milton Chen
Favorite online tool? — eShares
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 5 out of 7 days
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Laurence would tell himself to put significant emphasis on the team when you are starting a company

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:25 – Nathan introduces Laurence to the show
02:10 – Fruit Street is a telemedicine software product that is licensed to healthcare professionals
- 02:19 – Fruit Street allows professionals to do HIPAA compliant video consultations with their client
- 02:32 – Each patient has their personal info integrated with gadgets like Fitbit
- 02:48 – Fruit Street uses a SaaS model and the professionals will pay a monthly licensing fee
03:09 – MRR is $15K
03:15 – Fruit Street was launched in May 2014
03:33 – Average customer pay per month is $200 for the software
03:43 – Fruit Street is starting to expand to get enterprise customers
03:57 – Current customer number is around a hundred
04:10 – 2016 total revenue
04:37 – Gross customer churn
05:30 – Current LTV
06:00 – Team size is 9 full time and Fruit Street has a joint venture agreement with Vsee
06:33 – Fruit Street is located in New York, and San Francisco
06:51 – Laurence wanted Fruit Street to be funded by physicians and not VC firms
- 07:00 – Getting the feedback from the physicians would help Fruit Street to improve
- 07:17 – Physicians can get Fruit Street more customers
- 07:29 – "Fruit Street is actually a public-benefit corporation"
08:08 – There is no tax benefit in being a public-benefit corporation
08:26 – Laurence wanted to attract investors that are primarily motivated by social impact and not by the financial outcome
08:54 – Fruit Street reached out to physicians through LinkedIn advertising
- 09:00 – Fruit Street gave the physicians a one-on-one call using Fruit Street's telemedicine software
09:18 – Fruit Street's lawyer is using eShares to manage their cap table
09:47 – Fruit Street has a structure that allows them to make quick decisions
10:00 – Fruit Street has 180 shareholders that are not in a syndicate
11:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

With new technology comes the advancement in telehealth, making it easier for patients to reach out to their physicians.
Choose an investor that shares the same vision as you.
Put a significant emphasis on the team you build when you are starting your business.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 574: Buying $2m 600 Acre Pecan Farm, $450/acre/mo, Literally Shaking Money From Trees with Investor Luke Stronach Feb 18, 2017

Show notes

Luke Stronach. He's spent the last few years raising money for his farmland fund. He's got one single family office as an investor. He's currently 44, he's taught finance, and most of his background is in low-income housing. He's really looking forward to coming to the show and he's a listener.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – The Fish That Ate the Whale
What CEO do you follow? – Stewart and Lynda Resnick
Favorite online tool? — Duolingo
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – If you want to have a meaningful life, you should be doing meaningful things

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:20 – Nathan introduces Luke to the show
01:46 – Luke shares what he likes about The Top
02:04 – Luke has raised less than $10M for his farmland fund
02:15 – Luke is currently in the process of moving to Atlanta
02:20 – Luke is about to close his first farm
02:28 – Luke's second orchard is under contract
02:34 – Luke wants to develop a 100 acre orchard in Georgia
03:06 – Luke mentions what farmland investors are looking for in a farmland
03:24 – Luke's first orchard had good irrigation
- 03:43 – It has 600 acres and was almost $2M
04:41 – 40% of North America's farmland is leased to farmers
- 04:50 – Investors buy the farmland, lease to farmers who rent per acre or have a revenue share agreement
- 05:35 – Many farmers are cash flow farmers
06:00 – There are differences across different crops
06:45 – Luke shares the farmer's perspective on crops
07:01 – Average rent per acre
- 07:40 – The farmers growing rice and corn are renting at $250 per acre
08:00 – Luke's return on his $2M investment
- 08:50 – The return will always depend on the yield which varies
09:06 – People look at farmland investing as a way to lock value into the land
09:12 – There are people who are after the yield and there are those who are not
10:05 – Luke shares what happened in 2007-2009
- 10:10 – S&P 500 lost 50% of its value
- 10:46 – Historically, farmland has done well with inflation
11:00 – Luke's opinion regarding inflation
- 11:14 – The returns in farmland can be attractive
11:57 – Farmland is not as big as commercial property
- 12:03 – Farmland investment is a hard space
- 13:10 – It is a persistence game
13:40 – Luke is currently in Alabama
14:00 – Nathan wants to study Luke's field and work with Luke
17:17 – There are so many things to do in Georgia and Luke will keep Nathan busy
18:08 – Luke makes software for farmers
18:59 – In Episode 450 of The Top, Nathan had Robert Leclerc, the founder of AgFunder
19:23 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

The farmland investment industry is a hard space and requires persistency.
People look at farmland investing as a way to lock value into the land.
If you want to have a meaningful life, you should be doing meaningful things.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 573: I Sell My Financial Data On This Podcast with BitMark CEO Sean Moss-Pultz Feb 17, 2017

Show notes

Sean Moss-Pultz. He's the CEO and founder of BitMark, the property system for the digital environment. It enables an individual to claim ownership of personal data and digital assets akin to how land registrars track land titles or patent offices track patents.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – High Output Management
What CEO do you follow? – Andy Grove and Yvon Chouinard
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? – "Luck plays a big role and you just can't quit"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:28 – Nathan introduces Sean to the show
01:53 – Anybody that has data coming out of Fitbit can establish ownership over that data and can list it for sale or protect it
02:11 – BitMark's business model is that they earn a small commission
02:31 – Fitbit's data is in your phone
03:08 – We don't have property rights on our data
03:40 – Download BitMark's software to sell your data or protect it
- 03:58 – BitMark is currently on beta mode and only desktop software
- 04:09 – BitMark works with IFTTT
- 04:56 – BitMark's software can generate a link for your data that you can share
05:40 – You can make around $50 a year for selling your data
- 05:59 – This is for location data alone
06:15 – "Data is the next big asset class"
06:30 – Can I use BitMark's data to sue someone for using my data?
- 06:50 – Sean has talked to lawyers and his father is a lawyer
- 07:42 – Sean thinks the court system will understand digital property titles
08:51 – BitMark was launched in 2014
- 09:00 – Sean's co-founders are from his previous company
09:42 – BitMark just closed a seed round for $1.7M
- 10:18 – BitMark is based in Taiwan, with 12 people
10:41 – BitMark has raised from WI Harper Group, which is Taiwan-based
11:08 – BitMark is currently on pre-revenue
11:17 – Sean is hoping for revenue this year
11:53 – Sean mentions how part of their expenses go towards his travelling expenses—going to and from New York and Taiwan
12:33 – BitMark will launch both in Asia and USA
13:10 – BitMark is actively recruiting buyers who are interested in health data
14:30 – Sean looks into location data, health data, fitness data, and financial data
14:50 – Nathan proposes a deal with Sean
16:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Our data is as unique as our thumbmark—protecting it isn't a bad idea.
Data is the NEXT, big asset class.
Luck plays a big role in your success and you just can't quit.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 572: 400,000 Books Sold Teach How to Take $1000 to $1.5m with Author Phil Town Feb 16, 2017

Show notes

Phil Town. He's a two-time New York Times' best-selling author, hedge fund manager, and founder of Rule One Investing. He's teaching individuals how to take control of their financial futures so they don't have to find a fund manager or financial advisors.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Intelligent Investor
What CEO do you follow? – Warren Buffett
Favorite online tool? — Evernote
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – That USA will put us in a war and it will suck

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:30 – Nathan introduces Phil to the show
02:00 – What makes you qualified to talk about this?
- 02:08 – "By New York Wall Street standards, I'm completely unqualified"
02:23 – Most people invest using the concept of modern portfolio theory
02:50 – There are people who Phil follows for 30 years now
- 02:58 – Ben Graham developed the ideas and values of investing in the 30s and 40s
- 03:12 – Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
03:41 – Phil has a principle of picking good companies while they're on sale
03:55 – Phil learned to use other people's money to build up their funds
04:22 – How much outside capital have you raised in your hedge fund to date?
- 04:32 – Under a hundred million
- 04:40 – Phil started to manage money through separate, managed accounts
- 04:58 – Phil can manage other people's money that don't have the investing capital for hedge fund
05:53 – The people who needed their accounts to be managed the most are getting the least attention
06:10 – How do you beat a company like Wealth Front
- 06:24 – Wealth Front is run by modern portfolio theory math
- - 06:58 – "It's such nonsense and yet, it's the only math there is"
- 06:57 – A robo-advisor pretends that they can use volatility as a reference point for risk
- 08:10 – People need to know how to invest on their own
08:23 – Phil mentions the three things that he believes someone should do if they don't want to be an active investor
- 09:19 – Find a financial advisor who knows what they're doing
09:30 – The gap Phil wants to fill
09:56 – "An active fund cannot be the index"
11:05 – If you're not going to learn how to invest, you'll have fewer choices
11:43 – It is simple to invest correctly
12:00 – It's not true that there are losers and winners in investing
12:46 – "Investing is simply buying something that you understand for less than its worth"
13:20 – Phil started with real estate
14:02 – Warren Buffet is one of the best real estate investors
15:02 – Phil shares the essence of a good investment
16:05 – The essence of speculation or trading
16:40 – Nathan asks Phil for his opinion regarding Bill Ackman's Chipotle Mexican Grill
- 17:21 – Chipotle Mexican Grill has no leverage
18:40 – The one rule Phil applies to all different investment strategies is don't lose money
- 18:55 – Rule 2 is to remember rule 1
19:15 – Phil's 4-rule process
- 19:18 – First, am I capable of understanding this business?
- 19:22 – Second, does this business have protective characteristics that keeps competition a leg?
- 19:33 – Third, is this owned by people with integrity?
- 19:36 – Fourth, am I buying this at a big discount to its value?
20:35 – How do you handle imperfect planning?
- 21:13 – You have to have a big discount on the value that you're purchasing
22:48 – Phil's first book came out in 2005, second in 2010, and another one in 2018
24:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

People need to know how to invest on their own—if you're not going to learn how to invest, you'll have fewer choices.
There is a difference between a good investment and speculation.
Investing is simply buying something that you understand for less than its worth.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 571: SenaHill Transacted $200M In FinTech 2016, 7 Predictions for 2017 with Founding Partner Neil DeSena Feb 15, 2017

Show notes

Neil DeSena. He's one of the founders of SenaHill Partners. He was previously at Goldman Sachs, where he really led the creation of a pioneering and institutional training technologies system which has been used worldwide for over 20 years. He was the Managing Director, Global Head of REDI Products at Goldman Sachs from 2000 - 2006. Neil's leadership helped build a leading, global, multi-asset training system that has expanded data centers and global networking through Europe and Asia.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – n/a
What CEO do you follow? – Duncan Niederauer
Favorite online tool? — Salesforce
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Pay a little more attention to the details"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:20 – Nathan introduces Neil to the show
02:20 – Neil shares how their company is finding businesses to invest in
02:40 – Neil and his partners are all entrepreneurs and have experience running businesses
02:54 – Neil shares why they focus on FinTech
04:25 – Average total transaction volume that they've had in 2016
04:54 – Fintech in 2017
05:40 – Distributive ledger of concept is ready for primetime
06:00 – Symbiont is well positioned in the distributive ledger of concept space
- 06:24 – Symbiont will be at the point of formation for all other companies
- 06:34 – Companies can now be registered digitally
06:46 – Symbiont's founder, Mark Smith, was Neil's first advisor
- 06:50 – Mark also founded Lava Effects
- 07:00 – Mark teamed up with the most successful open source company
07:45 – Neil's prediction of how people will respond to Wall Street and their new administration
- 08:08 – "I'm not quite sure how things are going to work out"
- 08:14 – Banks have to adjust to it
08:55 – Neil discusses the economy of the distributive ledger
09:45 – The company that Neil thinks is well positioned to take advantage of the no churn economy in the FinTech sector
10:10 – Neil is also interested in the retirement sector
- 10:30 – There is still no new technology to work around retirement money
- 10:50 – Neil has seen possible companies, but not one from their portfolio
11:00 – Fundamentals being displaced by quantimentals
12:10 – Neil's opinion regarding Wealth Front winning over on the money the people currently have on Vanguard
13:20 – There are companies who are trying to bridge the gap between the Baby Boomers and Generation Y
13:50 – SenaHill hasn't made an investment yet, on an insurance company
14:40 – SenaHill's focus in 2017
- 14:50 – "We try to find companies that we can invest in and help and be with them for the life"
15:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Pay attention to the details.
Wall Street can be unpredictable because of the new administration – regardless, banks will have to adjust.
There are companies who are trying to bridge the gap between the Baby Boomers and Generation Y.

Resources Mentioned:

Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
Toptal– Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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