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EP 482: Snip.ly $50k MRR, 1000 Customers For Lead Gen on Social Media Sharing with CEO Michael Cheng Nov 18, 2016

Show notes

Michael Cheng, co-founder of Sniply, an innovative new marketing tool that helps companies caption the value of content sharing in social media. Sniply links has generated over 150 million clicks and is used by notable brands such as IBM, Salesforce and Greenpeace.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs Biography
What CEO do you follow? – Steve Jobs

Favorite online tool? — Google Translate
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Don't rush it"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:39 – Nathan introduces Michael to the show
02:09 – Sniply is a content marketing platform
- 02:11 – It allows people to generate ROI from the links they share
- 02:30 – It is a SaaS subscription model
- - 02:32 – Premium has a customized ability on call to action and other features
02:49 – Sniply was launched in 2014
02:59 – Sniply generates money from the subscription
- 03:20 – Price range is $39 per month to $3000 per month
03:29 – Monthly RPU is $70-80
03:45 – Most of the users are the social media team of a company
- 03:51 – Dropbox, Outbrain and Autodesk use Sniply
04:42 – The "Name your Price" option on Sniply's website
- 05:03 – The "Name your Price" option allows Sniply to gauge the customers' needs and price range
- 05:20 – It also allows Sniply to make an exception for non-profit groups that can't afford the price
- 05:33 – It gives them a better idea of how to fill in the gaps when they release a new feature
- 05:48 – "People are very reasonable when naming their own price"
- 06:25 – Sniply can still reject customized requests
- 06:50 – It's difficult to measure the downside
- 07:06 – There's a dedicated page for Enterprise
08:33 – Sniply is currently hitting 12,000 to 30,000 registered users
- 08:44 – Revenue is $600,000 and about $50,000 a month
- 09:00 – One thousand paying customers
09:12 – Sniply is bootstrapped
09:50 – Team size
- 10:48 – A small team helps Michael to prioritize and be more flexible
- 11:10 – Some startups invest in wrong features and wrong people
- 11:30 – They are based in Vancouver, Canada
11:37 – Gross customer churn per month is 5%
11:45 – Customer acquisition cost on average
- 11:53 – Michael doesn't do ads
- 12:00 – Cultivate relationships with bloggers
- 12:26 – Most of the bloggers are also marketers
12:40 – Total customer growth per month is 5%
13:46 – Connect with Michael on Twitter or email
16:08 – Total 2015 revenue is $400,000 and aiming for $600,000 this year
16:23 – Michael is now investing on a new platform that automatically converts blog posts to videos
17:07 – Not currently looking at acquisition
17:20 – Michael owns 33% of the business; there are two other founders
17:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

A small team size has a lot of advantages.
Business takes time—don't rush it.
Having a "Name your Price" option gives a company a better idea of the needs and desires of customers together with their preferred price.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
@Michaelhsc – Michael's Twitter handle
Mike@Snip.ly – Michael's email address
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 481: 4400 Flashlights Sold, $79 Price, $23 COGS, 55% Net Margin with TrueGunner CEO Tanner Larsson Nov 17, 2016

Show notes

Nathan interviews Tanner Larsson, co-founder of 80/20 Media, CEO of e-commerce brand incubator BuildGrowsSale.com. He's also the founder and facilitator of an exclusive e-commerce syndicate called Black Label – composed of the best and brightest marketers, CEOs, and entrepreneurs in the e-commerce space. He recently published his first book called Ecommerce Evolved which offers readers a box view of how successful e-commerce brands build, grow, and scale.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Rocket Fuel
What CEO do you follow? – Ed O'Keefe

Favorite online tool? —FastStone Capture
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Not even close
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "You don't have to fund everything out of your own pocket, there are other options available"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:27 – Nathan introduces Tanner to the show
02:15 – Tanner's ecommerce world started in 2001
- 02:20 – Started in eBay and Tanner became a powerseller
- - 02:31 – Tanner was doing $ 50,000 - $ 100,000 a month in eBay
03:00 – "There's no reason not to sell a physical product"
03:25 – Tanner and his team have a number of e-commerce brands
- 03:36 – 2 main brands have done $6.5 million in a year
03:48 – They had a problem in production
- 04:06 – "We've had different bottlenecks that prevented us from growing at the rate we could have grown"
04:30 – The flashlight market
- 04:38 – Tanner doesn't want to sell what everybody is selling
- 04:47 – The gap they saw is between the lower price entry level flashlight and high-end flashlight
- 05:03 – Tanner and his team develop their own flashlight and a kit
- 05:17 – Truegunner.com
- 05:25 – The flashlight is in a sales funnel
- - 05:34 – The funnel path
06:02 – The bestseller flashlight is the M600 tactical utility flashlight
- 06:07 - $22 manufactured price from China
- 06:32 – They had a much higher per unit cost and much lower profit margin on the first order
- - 06:43 - First order was at a minimum which is a thousand
  - 07:03 – Total is $30,000 tied up which equals to $3 per unit price
- 07:52 – It took 7 months before the first order started production
- 07:58 – The back and forth from the manufacturing county took time
- - 08:05 – Shipping takes a week which includes the revises that needed on the product
- 08:30 – "If you're building your product from the ground, there's a whole back and forth with the manufacturer"
- 09:00 – Started selling on November 2015
- - 09:05 – Sold about 4400 units for 12 months
  - 09:21 – Total money in from this product is around $ 150,000 - $ 160, 000
- 09:50 – 99% of the funds came from Tanner
- 10:12 – The downside is some raw materials are specialized
- - 10:27 – They have to buy raw materials in advance to prevent going out of stock
11:28 – Most of their sales are funnel driven
11:43 – They were using ultracart but shifted back to infusionsoft
12:09 – They are also using Hotjar records visitor interaction. Like heat mapping
12:43 – They spend $13 per user acquisition on the front end
- 13:03 – They breakeven in the funnel
13:30 – They also have subscription plans
14:01 – They have 7000 paying user
14:36 – They also have drop-off rates
16:00 – Connect with Tanner through his website
18:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Look for alternative funding. Don't shoulder everything.
If you don't know something, that doesn't mean you can't explore.
Sourcing from manufacturers abroad takes patience and a lot of research.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
BuildGrowScale.com – Tanner's website
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 479: $45M Raised, 5000+ Project Management Customers with Mavenlink CEO Ray Grainger Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

Rey Grainger, founder and CEO of Mavenlink, where he's leading a mission to re-invent the way businesses do work. Ray brings over 25 years of experience in software and technology consulting to Mavenlink. He also invests in several technology companies through Accenture technology ventures including enterprise knowledge manager vendor InQuira.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great
What CEO do you follow? – Marc Benioff

Favorite online tool? — Evernote
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— I don't
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "That I would actually end up achieving what I have setup to do"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:24 – Nathan introduces Ray to the show
02:28 – Ray likes corporate world more
03:00 – How Accenture invested in AI Technology
03:20 – Ray left Accenture in 2005 when InQuira started to get into the market
03:48 – Ray already had an idea for Mavenlink
04:45 – Mavenlink is SaaS business management solution
05:09 – Mavenlink is a subscription based business model
05:50 – First year revenue is zero
06:08 – Product development was in February 2009
- 06:25 – Began monetizing at the beginning of 2010
06:40 – Mavenlink was bootstrapped
07:05 – Before starting Mavenlink, Ray sold some of his stocks of Accenture
07:40 – Before they were able to monetize, Ray and his team already spent almost a million dollar
08:03 – Mavenlink has a broad customer base in over a 100 countries
- 08:13 – From SMB to large public companies
08:55 – Mavenlink has an inside sales team for each deal
09:30 – Mavenlink partnered with Google
- 09:38 – Google promoted Mavenlink in their marketplace
10:45 – "The amount of money you have in your bank account influences you"
11:16 – Ray had to look for creative ways to acquire customers
11:41 – Mavenlink sponsored 2 technology conferences
12:35 – It is difficult to say how much one is willing to spend to acquire a business
- 13:30 – "You have to manage it by channel and see what you're going to get for the payback"
13:48 – Gross monthly customer churn
13:52 – "We offer a solution that directly impacts the profitability of the company"
14:18 – Clients who stay with Mavenlink continues to grow
15:41 – The upsell part of Mavenlink
16:06 – Mavenlink target seat price
16:29 – Mavenlink has taken a substantial amount of venture capital starting in 2011
16:52 – Team size
17:18 – Follow Ray on Twitter and LinkedIn
18:56 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

The amount of money you have in your bank account influences you.
Corporate life can hone great entrepreneurs.
Achieve what you have set up to do and aim for the big one.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
@mavenlink – Ray's Twitter handle
LinkedIn – Ray's business LinkedIn account
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 480: YC Backed Polymail Raises $1M, hits 20k Users with CEO Brandon Foo Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

Brandon Foo, co-founder and CEO of Polymail (YC S16) – an email platform making businesses and companies more productive. Previously, he co-founded CTRL LA Collective, a co-working space in LA. He graduated from UCLA where he co-founded Bruin Entrepreneurs which is now the biggest entrepreneurship organization at UCLA. Listens as Brandon shares how he built Polymail and why entrepreneurs prefer it over Gmail.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – N/A
What CEO do you follow? – Aaron Levie

Favorite online tool? — Asana
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7-8
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Spend more time with side projects and less on school work"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:35 – Nathan introduces Brandon to the show
02:08 – Polymail is a super-powerful email platform designed for business users
- 02:18 – With just 1 app, you can do a lot with your email
- 02:37 – It is a complete stand-alone email client
03:15 – How are you convincing people to make the switch?
- 03:20 – Polymail supports multiple accounts
- 03:52 – People are looking for a complete product experience and Polymail has that
04:31 – A lot of features of Polymail are not in the regular Gmail
04:54 – Polymail started in 2015
- 05:02 – Launched a Mac prototype in December 2015
- 05:12 – There's a tremendous traction
05:38 – Brandon built a small community of people who were invited to try the app
- 05:48 – They have a Slack group so Brandon can get feedback on a daily basis
- 06:10 – When they officially launched Polymail, these people downloaded the app and left reviews
07:12 – Polymail is a free app at the moment
- 07:20 – Polymail pro is in the works but you can sign-up for it now
- 07:41 – Polymail pro has much more advanced features
08:00 – Over 20,000 daily active users of Polymail
08:12 – 150,000 total downloads and people who signed up
08:27 – Every time Polymail will release a new feature, they will email the whole list of people who signed up to get them engaged in using Polymail
08:52 – Brandon had raised around a million dollars
- 09:12 – Brandon used a convertible equity
09:24 – Team size of 5
09:48 – The goal for Polymail is to build the platform for external communication on top of email
10:08 – "Email is a critical product for business people so we saw the opportunity there"
11:23 – Polymail is not for a short-term outcome
12:00 – They just wrapped up their seed round
- 12:30 – They wrapped it up in September 2016
12:48 – Target people
- 12:56 – A lot of the users are solo entrepreneurs
13:45 – There's no significant changes with Gmail for the past 10 years
- 14:09 – Maybe because they make money from ad revenue and let Gmail be a generic email platform
14:40 – Find Brandon on Twiter
16:44 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

An update on a product can make non-active users use the product again.
Consistent feedback from a group of customers can significantly improve the product.
Spend more time with side projects and less on school work.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
@Foolywk – Brandon's Twitter handles
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Ep 478: Fans Pay $500K To Keep Favorite Shows, Will This Kill Netflix with CEO Ben Dobyns Nov 14, 2016

Show notes

Ben Dobyns, CEO and founder of Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. He's started giving the company's films away for free ever when he started the company—a tradition he's proud to continue today.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – The Art of Game Design
What CEO do you follow? – Jamie Wilkinson

Favorite online tool? — Slack
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 the time to pursue the dream. Shortcuts will disempower you and empower other people"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:33 – Nathan introduces Ben to the show
01:57 – Ben had a terrible experience with Hollywood distribution in 2008
- 02:10 – Ben didn't get paid for the film they made
- 02:18 – The company owed Ben $ 30,000
03:23 – "Independent films will lose your money if you invest in them"
03:34 – Ben launched his new company in 2010 and paid their investors back after a year
03:47 – Zombie Orpheus Entertainment was launched in 2010
03:59 – "We're going to give people free films and share them"
04:10 – Ben had a realization that each film will be a form of advertising
04:33 – At the end of every episode, there's a message that will lead viewers to give Zombie Orpheus Entertainment money
05:08 – Journey Quest series on Youtube
- 05:45 – Ben will let the viewers choose if they want to continue watching or not
- 06:04 – Based purely on fan contribution, Ben and his team are able to continue the show
- 06:16 – They made $ 30,000 for season 1 and from Kickstarter is $ 112,000 which funded season 2
- 06:28 – Zombie Orpheus Entertainment is now out of the investment cycle
07:07 – Zombie Orpheus Entertainment built a fan base on Facebook and Youtube
07:36 – Zombie Orpheus Entertainment had 1,117 unique backers for Journey Quest
- 07:57 – On Kickstarter, average contribution is $ 97 per backer
08:33 – The fan base is big for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment
09:01 – Ben done 3 Kickstarters this year
- 09:18 – Attack in the Darkness – raised $ 25,000
- 09:28 – The Gamers – raised $ 174,000
09:49 – Raised $575,000 for the 3 seasons of Journey Quest
10:04 – Ben setup a pre-funding page with public metrics for journey Quest
- 10:14 – 4,200 people added their names in the email list
- 10:29 – They launched with 4,600 names in their list on day 1
- 10:45 – Kickstarter attracted more people
- 11:06 – RenewJourneyQuest.com is the pre-funding page
12:00 – Ben has one of the best Kickstarter planning sheet
- 12:20 – The sheet is not currently for public use
12:36 – With Journey quest, the needed budget was $ 325,000 for the production
- 12:55 – Ben didn't aim for profit for this Kickstarter
13:10 – Season 3 of Journey Quest will be moved to BackerKit for pledge management
13:55 – Ben isn't looking for an exit or an IPO
15:00 – What Ben is doing is similar to a SaaS business model
15:50 – Ben has been offered venture capital but he won't accept it
16:55 – Ben is going to release their world bible and their intellectual property to allow their commercial derivatives
17:45 – Ben uses Kickstarter to have a merchandise fusion with a reward program
17:55 – Ben is really picky with merchandise quality
18:25 – Keep Zombie Orpheus Entertainment's shows alive by dropping a dollar or $ 5 at Patreon
21:07 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Use bad experiences as education and motivation.
Venture capital is not always an option.
Take the time to pursue the dream. Shortcuts will disempower you and empower other people.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
Patreon – Ben's pledge page
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 477: 3,000 Employees, 30+ Years in Business for Medical Care And Peace of Mind with CEO Debbie Johnston Nov 13, 2016

Show notes

Debbie Johnston, recognized as Entrepreneur of Richmond and the founder of Care Advantage – a dynamic and compassionate care company that is devoted in giving back to the community. She's the author of The School of Heart Knocks. Listen as Debbie shares her inspiration in starting Care Advantage and her experience in Secret Millionaire.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Think and Grow Rich
What CEO do you follow? – Steve Jobs

Favorite online tool? — Facebook
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Never
If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Start your business earlier, you know more than you think."

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:54 – Nathan introduces Debbie to the show
03:10 – Adoption is close to Debbie's heart
03:28 – Care Advantage is a full service care company
- 03:54 – Care Advantage has a special care division
04:30 – Care Advantage is all over the country
04:50 – Payment for the services is by the hour
05:12 – Care Advantage reimbursed in the state they're in
05:44 – Care Advantage doesn't do a lot of Obamacare
06:40 – Debbie started years ago
- 06:47 – Debbie was running out-patients in a hospital
- 07:34 – Debbie first used Care Advantage to his brother-in-law and parents
09:05 – "We can't put a price on a peace of mind"
09:50 – Care Advantage has different price for each service
10:30 – Each office has 3-5 people
11:40 – Number of people Care Advantage has served is over 10,000
12:30 – The need of an RN will depend on the patient
- 12:49 – Some people want 24 hours of an RN a day
13:38 – Secret Millionaire picked Debbie
- 13:56 – Debbie likes the producer so she said yes
- 14:14 – "It was one of the hardest things I have done in my life"
- 14:40 – Debbie was proud after it was aired
- 14:51 – Debbie has worked with charities like Reach International
16:28 – "It's what we do that makes me happy, giving someone peace of mind makes me happy"
16:55 – Connect with Debbie through her Facebook and website
18:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Giving someone peace of mind can be a source of happiness.
You can't put a price tag on perfect health care.
Starting your business earlier could make more differences in the future.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
DebbieJohnston.com – Debbie's website
Facebook – Debbie's Facebook account
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 476: NomadicMatt 1.6M Monthly Views, $400k Travel Insurance Sold Monthly with Matt Kepnes Nov 12, 2016

Show notes

Matt Kepnes of NomadicMatt.com, the man who went from everyday worker to travel writer. Matt grew up in Boston and he didn't take his first trip until he was 23—a cruise to Montreal. After he started a life as a young professional, he decided to travel the world, so he headed to Costa Rica in 2004, Taiwan in 2005, and never looked back. Listen as Matt talks about the success of his blog and how he grew it from a simple online journal.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Influence
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? – "Value eating healthy"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:40 – Nathan introduces Matt to the show
02:53 – Matt was working in administration
03:16 – Number of unique website users on average per month is 1.2 million
03:27 – Matt started the blog in 2008 after 14 months of traveling
03:50 – Matt built the blog as an online resume
04:17 – Matt is getting more visitors in 2010
04:29 – Matt wanted to write guidebooks so he made his blog a guidebook
04:56 – 2/3 of Matt's income comes from affiliates
05:30 – Matt's book is The Ultimate Guide to Travel Hacking
- 05:40 – Matt self-published the book
05:46 – Matt's book with a publisher is How to Travel the World on $ 50 a Day
- 05:53 – Matt is only getting royalties from the book
- 06:18 – Matt met the publisher in 2012
- 06:40 – How Matt negotiated with the publisher
- 07:51 – Sold around 50,000 to 60,000 copies
- 08:30 – Royalty percentage per book
09:50 – Matt shifted the blog from an online journal to a website generating money
10:44 – The affiliate offer page in the website are in the home page
11:35 – Average percentage people spend on travel insurance
12:10 – Matt sells 400-500 plan policies per month
12:45 – Other affiliates of Matt
13:21 – Matt is already with the affiliate for years
14:18 – Matt spent some of his time guest blogging
- 14:38 – Matt does 2-3 guest blogs per month
15:03 – Matt is always traveling
15:11 – Matt's email list size
15:54 – Matt has a team in different places
17:00 – Connect with Matt through his website, Twitter and Instagram
19:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Travel not only de-stresses you, it opens your eyes to global opportunities.
Having affiliates is a good way to increase revenue.
Eat healthy. You are what you eat.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
@NomadicMatt – Matt's Instagram account
@NomadicMatt – Matt's Twitter handle
NomadicMatt.com – Matt's website
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 475: VayStays Helps 150,000+ Quickly Plan Vacations, $5M In TTM Transaction Volume with CEO Chris Brusznicki Nov 11, 2016

Show notes

Chris Bruznicki, CEO of Vaystays, which is a vacation rental marketplace tool used by propriety manager like Wyndam. He has been featured in Entrepreneur and was awarded the bronze star. Listen as Chris tells us how Vaystays is earning and what made him decide to raise capital.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great
What CEO do you follow? – Steve Jobs

Favorite online tool? — DocuSign
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Networking is super important and consider raising capital"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:40 – Nathan introduces Chris to the show
02:20 – Vaystays is used by professionals managing a vacation companies
- 02:27 – People who have houses in Tahoe and the like will have the vacation companies manage their properties
- 03:44 – Vaystays gives them a marketplace for distribution
- 03:55 – Vaystays provides open cable like service
04:17 – Team size and location
04:26 – Vaystays is making 5 million transactions and Chris is earning 13% of every transaction
04:51 – Vaystays was founded in 2010
06:10 – Average order value is $ 2000
07:10 – Vaystays' software automates all the check in procedure
08:15 – Vaystays takes percentage both from the traveler and seller
09:15 – Vaystays is transparent in their website about the pricing
- 09:30 – Pricing varies depending on the season
10:30 – Vaystays is connecting specific needs to specific supplies
10:40 – Total transaction volume
11:55 – Vaystays business model
12:20 – Vaystays is in the process of creating subscription fees
13:50 – The marketplace still has lifetime value
15:09 – Vaystays currently has 2000 propriety management companies
- 15:15 – Average is 10 units per company
16:10 - 25,000 stayed in their properties in September
- 16:30 – Now is a slow period for Vaystays
- 18:03 – 312 bookings in September
18:48 – Vaystays has been self-funded for a long time
19:05 – Did a price round for fundraising
19:33 – $ 650,000 revenue in the last 12 months
19:47 – Valuation
20:56 – Chris has 2 co-founders
22:30 – Chris and his co-founders thought about a high valuation
- 22:53 – They came up with something between $ 3-6 million
24:24 – Connect with Chris through his LinkedIn and his email
16:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Look for quality partners who can support you.
Networking is important – it can lead to tons of opportunities.
Consider raising capital if you see a reason to do so.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
Vaystays.com – Chris' website
Chris@Vaystays.com – Chris' email address
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 474: SharkTank No Deal, $6M Raised, $4.2M in 2015 Revenue, 10,000 Customers To Help Clean Up Your Online Image with Brandyourself CEO Patrick Ambron Nov 10, 2016

Show notes

Patrick Ambron, co-founder and CEO of BrandYourself.com, which helps people look better online. He's an instructor at General Assembly and was included INC's 30 under 30 list. Listen as Patrick talks about his experience on SharkTank and how it boosted his company's revenue.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Made to Stick
What CEO do you follow? – Reed Hastings

Favorite online tool? — X.AI
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 that when I was building my business, I knew how important it was to have people who don't have your strengths"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:40 – Nathan introduces Patrick to the show
02:00 – Patrick got a $ 2 million deal on SharkTank but didn't take it
- 02:11 – Patrick didn't take the deal because they wanted 25%
- 02:30 – Patrick's episode was aired 2 years ago and it was a good exposure
- 02:40 – Patrick did over $ 1 million in revenue while they were on SharkTank
- 03:10 – Patrick said No on-air
04:07 – BrandYourself provides software and services that helps someone look good online
04:28 – Users buy BrandYourself's subscription
04:40 – User base is from college students to high level professional
04:55 – BrandYourself is a SaaS business
05:03 – Half of the revenue comes from professional customized services
- 05:10 – BrandYourself handles issues online that is affecting the customers' livelihood
05:30 – 10,000 paying customers for software
05:35 – A few thousand paying customers for professional services
06:12 – $ 10,000 annual RPU for professional services
06:40 – MOR is $ 7,000 on the software
07:19 – $ 533,000 per month in revenue
07:35 – BrandYourself has advisors
08:30 – The professional services customers problems that BrandYourself is getting
- 09:10 – One example is an employee who was fired and ranting online
- 09:20 – One of the usual problem is what they call "You Shot Yourself in the Foot"
10:36 – BrandYourself was founded in 2009
10:40 – 2015 revenue
10:50 – Target for 2016
10:52 – BrandYourself has raised about $ 6 million recently
11:19 – Team size
11:28 – Team location
12:30 – Gross monthly customer churn
13:30 – Lifetime value
13:40 – Customer acquisition cost
- 13:45 – All of their leads are organic
- 15:30 – BrandYourself won't theoretically spend for a customer
- 15:40 – BrandYourself do retargeting
- 15:56 – Paid acquisition is not a necessary channel for BrandYourself
16:31 – What if Reputation.com buys BrandYourself for $ 40 million, will you say yes?
- 16:40 – "That's not the goal right now"
- 16:55 – "What we really want to do is help people prevent issues and be pro-active"
18:26 – Current valuation
18:58 – Connect with Patrick through his website and Twitter
21:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Find someone who can fill your gaps.
Help people prevent issues and make them pro-active.
Saying "No" on national TV can also be beneficial and increase your revenue.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
BrandYourself.com– Patrick's website
@PatrickAmbron – Patrick's Twitter handle
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 473: Raising $500k To Help Charity Event Organizers, $16M Donated with DonationMatch CEO Renee Zau Nov 09, 2016

Show notes

Renee Zau, co-founder and CEO of DonationMatch, a product donation network for school and charity events that works similarly to match.com. She's obsessed with increasing a win-win partnership between brands and non-profit that don't cost money but can generate more for everyone involved.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – E-myth Revisited
What CEO do you follow? – Craig Newmark

Favorite online tool? — Streak and Asana
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Almost
If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – "Believe in yourself and talent even if it is different from someone else's' idea on what you should do"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:40 – Nathan introduces Renee to the show
02:08 – It takes 300 hours to secure in-kind and other donations from a benefit event
02:31 – DonationMatch streamlines the product for companies and reduces the work for school and charities
02:50 – Sahara Sam's receives 100s to 1000s requests of tickets a year to raffle off at charity events
- 03:26 – Doing a research and checking legitimacy takes time for companies
03:55 – DonationMatch has matched $ 16,000,000 worth of donation goods
04:14 – DonationMatch offers premium model
- 04:22 – DonationMatch can be used for free
- 04:35 – Companies can upgrade to premium which is $ 49 a month
- 04:48 – DonationMatch is a SaaS business
- 04:54 – DonationMatch has around 100 active companies at the moment
- 05:02 – DonationMatch has a low customer churn
- 05:40 – DonationMatch still get a value from their non-paying customers
06:09 – DonationMatch started in 2010 but officially launched in 2013
06:37 – DonationMatch is bootstrapped
06:49 – DonationMatch had $ 100,000 credit card debt
07:10 – Renee and her co-founder are also doing stuff outside of the company
07:33 – 2015 revenue is $ 19,000
07:37 – Goal for 2016
- 07:49 – As of October 2016, they have around $ 40,000 revenue
08:00 – DonationMatch is usually getting an annual payment from non-profit organizations
08:25 – Holiday season is when companies usually hire DonationMatch
08:40 – September 2016 revenue
09:10 –Total number of paying customer
09:44 – DonationMatch has 100 customers
10:12 – DonationMatch is currently raising $ 500,000
10:40 – Renee feels their valuation is $ 1.5 to 2 million
- 10:47 – Based on their traction
11:05 – Customer acquisition cost is about $ 1
11:55 – DonationMatch has 13,000 non-profit users
12:30 – DonationMatch has about 10% of non-profits in San Diego
13:25 – They also have national brands in their system
14:05 – DonationMatch is open to offers and already talking to people and investors
14:30 – Connect with Renee through her email, website and Twitter
16:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

You can create a win-win partnership if you know the right ingredients.
Believe in yourself and your talent even if it is different from someone else's idea on what you should do.
Take the risk – even if it means having a $ 100k debt.

Resources Mentioned:

Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal developers.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
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.
Renee@DonationMatch.com – Renee's email address
DonationMatch.com – Renee's website
@ReneeZau – Renee's Twitter handle
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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