Top Founders

Latest Episodes:

Ep 370: $120k 2015 Revenue, Private Chefs for Elderly with Kate Toews of Chefs for Seniors Jul 29, 2016

Show notes

EP 369: 22 Customers Pay $50K/Year SaaS AppZen.com with Anant Kale Jul 28, 2016

Show notes

Anant Kale, cofounder of AppZen. Anant had a job that paid him $200000 a year when he decided to go off on his own and start a business. Hear the success story of his artificial intelligence software which has "transformed the back office" for companies everywhere.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Who Says Elephants Can't Dance
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favourite online tool? — Rapportive and Calendly

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Start a business earlier than you think you should.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:25 – Nathan introduces Anant Kale
01:55 – AppZen uses artificial intelligence software in offices
02:45 – It detects information on employees and statistics automatically
03:30 – Founded in 2013
04:00 – 2015 revenue was just under $1 million
04:45 – They have 22 customers
05:00 – Average contract price is $150000
05:20 – Capital raised is $14 million
06:10 – 14 people on the team
06:40 – No churn so far
07:15 – Average customer acquisition cost is very low
08:15 – Too early for lifetime value
09:05 – Evaluation for the company
10:15 – Goal is to double revenue in 2016
13:00 – Anant is a cofounder
13:50 – The company was split according to responsibilities and contributions
14:40 – He always wanted to really build a company on his own
16:00 -- The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Don't put off starting your own business.
A large salary doesn't mean that you will be satisfied with your job.
If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, follow that desire.

Resources Mentioned:

Freshbooks – The online tool Nathan uses to keep track of receipts
Hostgator – The program Nathan uses for his website
Rapportive and Calendly – Anant's favorite online tools

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 368: From Blog to $40M/Yr, 23k Customers At Moz With Rand Fishkin Jul 27, 2016

Show notes

Rand Fishkin, who calls himself "The Wizard of Moz." He founded Moz in 2007, and they made $39 million in revenue in 2015. Join us as Rand shares his unique journey with Moz and his own insights to what makes businesses like Moz successful. Listen as he tells hid difficult experience of deciding to handover the reigns of CEO for his own company.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – The Billionaire Who Wasn't
What CEO do you follow? — Heather Brunner
Favorite online tool? — Buzzsumo

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Not quite.
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Software engineering. Stick with the girl you're dating—she'll be a great wife.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:10 – Nathan introduces Rand Fishkin
01:35 – Moz is a software company that assists with SEO
02:05 – Founded in 2007, but first existed as a blog
- 02:35 – The blog was an advertising tool for Moz
03:20 – They had 400 people sign up in 6 months
04:00 – 2007 revenue was $850k
04:25 – Rand admits to being an amateur at the beginning of Moz
05:20 – Great marketing and retention are super important to consider
06:25 – 2015 total revenue is $39 million
06:40 – Churn was 6.3% in April 2016
- 07:30 – The logic behind good and bad churn rates
- 08:00 – Churn is not the only thing that matters
- 08:45 – It's ok to start out with a higher churn
- 09:15 – Different types of churn
09:35 – Upsell revenue
10:08 – They have not hit net negative revenue churn.
11:00 – Customer churn and revenue churn
12:10 – Average customer cost is $119/month
12:33 – Customer acquisition is more complicated because Moz has several different products
13:25 – Lifetime value
14:20 – They want to be conservative with marketing
- 15:00 – They want to lower churn
- 16:05 – The Costco example
16:48 – Rand replaced himself as CEO
- 17:05 – His own decision due to issues with his mental health
- 17:45 – It was a painful experience
- 18:00 – Now he is feeling much better
- 18:15 – He now runs a couple of their products and does promotion and content creation
19:05 – moz.com/rand or @randfish on Twitter
20:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

A churn rate is much more complicated that one month's percentage.
Find ways to have conservative marketing costs.
Let your challenges take you to new and more fulfilling places.

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

How To Build a $30k/mo Membership Site with Kim Garst of Social Boom E2 Jul 26, 2016

Show notes

Ep 2 Kim Garst

Listen to The Top if you want to hear from the worlds TOP entrepreneurs on how much they sold last month, how they are selling it, and what they are selling - 7 days a week in 20 minute interviews! Join the Top Tribe at NathanLatka.com/TheTop

The Top is FOR YOU if you are:

A STUDENT who wants to become the CEO of a $10m company in under 24 months (episode #4)

STUCK in the CORPORATE grind and looking to create a $10k/mo side business so you can quit (episode #7)

An influencer or BLOGGER who wants to make $27k/mo in monthly RECURRING revenue to have the life you want and full CONTROL (episode #1)

The Software as a Service (SaaS) entrepreneur who wants to grow to a $100m+ valuation (episode #14).

Your host, Nathan Latka is a 25 year old software entrepreneur who has driven over $4.5 million in revenue and built a 25 person team as he dropped out of school, raised $2.5million from a Forbes Billionaire, and attracted over 10,000 paying customers from 160+ different countries.

Oprah gets 60 minutes or more to make her guests comfortable to then ask tough questions. Nathan does it all in less than 15 minutes in this daily podcast that's like an audio version of Pat Flynn's monthly income report. Join the Top Tribe at NathanLatka.com/TheTop

EP 367: $94M Raised, Car Marketplace, 270 Employees with George Arison of Shift Jul 26, 2016

Show notes

George Arison, founder and CEO of Shift, an online marketplace that has transformed the experience of buying and selling a car. George saw a problem with the process of buying a car, and he wanted to make it simpler. He utilized virtual technology to create a completely unique service for buying and selling a vehicle.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – I don't really have one.
What CEO do you follow? — Tim Cook
Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — That I should learn how to code.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:25 – Nathan introduces George
01:44 – Shift is a new way to buy or sell a car
02:05 -- There is no physical lot, everything is virtual
02:35 – They will sell cars locally, to people in that car's area
03:20 – "Car enthusiasts"
03:38 – Great design and transparency
04:10 – How they make money
- 04:25 – They agree on a minimum price with the seller, and they make money on any higher price that they sell the car for. (They split the difference)
- 05:00 – The buyer pays a fee
- 05:45 – They help buyers with car insurance and warranties
06:10 – Founded in 2013
06:30 – They started selling cars in 2014
06:45 – They are selling hundreds in a month
07:25 – Capital has been successful
08:05 – Their service is unique
- 09:15 – They offer cars that are several years old, because people can test drive them
09:55 – First-year revenue involved car inspections for sellers
- 10:45 – That revenue was $2000
11:00 – $150k in 2015
11:20 – Pricing cars is complicated and takes a lot of trial and error
- 12:00 – Mispriced cars effected their revenue in the beginning
12:30 – They are growing quickly and have focused on increasing revenue
- 13:35 – 20% growth month to month in 2015
14:15 – Team of 270 people
14:50 – Why he got into this business
- 15:05 – He started with Taxi Magic
- 15:25 – He had to get a green card, so he moved to a bigger business, Google
- 15:55 – He then left Google to start Shift
- 16:30 – He had a leased car, and when he wanted to buy it he found that financing a car is very complicated
17:50 – Find George Arison on LinkedIn
19:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

If you see a problem in a particular industry, find a solution and make it your business.
Offer a service that is unique.
Use today's technology to redefine industries with an up-to-date approach.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
LinkedIn – George's favorite tool to find the best people to work for Shift
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 366: Her Cheese Shop Does $1m+ Annually, EBITDA Low, Why? Jul 25, 2016

Show notes

Kendall Antonelli, who started a cheese shop with her husband. Antonelli's Cheese Shop has taken off, and last year their revenue was $1.9 million. Kendall and her husband have found that they secret to their success is storytelling. They share the personal stories behind their cheeses and other products.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great, Uncontainable, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
Favorite online tool? — QuickBooks

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep an adventurous spirit. Do something every day that betters yourself.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:25 – Nathan introduces Kendall
01:40 – Kendall and her husband got the idea on their honeymoon
02:25 – Her husband wanted to find a better job, in cheese
03:00 – He decided to look into the business
03:40 – Kendall was working in social work
04:20 – They always wanted to work together
04:45 – She grew up in a farm town, and they "fell in love with the story of cheese."
05:10 – They looked at their strengths
05:35 – Antonelli's Cheese LLC
06:00 – Their rent
07:10 – Multiple business models
07:20 – Her and her husband have separate roles
08:25 – Open-book management
08:40 – $1.9 million in 2015
09:05 – "Passion with Purpose"
09:25 – Their retail is the most successful
10:00 – Cost is per pound
11:00 – Making cheese is a labor-intensive industry
12:15 – They decided to not be cheese makers, but be out of the kitchen and "storytelling"
13:15 – All the costs behind a wheel of cheese
13:40 – Team of six or seven people
14:05 – An artisanal journey
14:30 – Telling the story of the cheese
14:45 – Skews were as high as 2000
15:15 – Most lucrative products
- 16:15 – Wholesale in 2015 was about half of their revenue
- 16:45 – Cheese of the Month Club
- 17:15 – Parties and catering
17:45 – Their wholesale market is more flexible for clients
18:25 – Dealing with a perishable item/shelf life
19:00 – They are looking into investors
19:25 – What they pay themselves
20:20 – They travel to cheese conventions around the world
20:55 – They want to be in control of their business
21:30 – Professional and personal life can coexist
24:00 – Antonellischeese.com
26:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Make your passion your business.
Design a career that lets you accomplish your life goals.
Your professional and personal life can coexist.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
QuickBooks – The accounting tool for Antonelli's Cheese Shop
Good to Great, Uncontainable and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits – A series of great business books that Kendall recommends.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Ep 365: From Consultant to $300k SaaS with Amit Kotharie of Tallyfy Jul 25, 2016

Show notes

Amit Kothari. He spent ten years in London dealing with some of the largest companies and organizations in the world and helping them with collaboration technology. After seeing a lot of failures in that industry, he realized he needed a very structured process with unstructured, human conversations to make his business succeed. Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Innovator's Dilemma What CEO do you follow? — Jack Welch and Warren Buffett Favorite online tool? — DropBox, Xero Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — "Never confuse movement with action." –Hemingway

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan introduces Amit 01:45 – Tallyfy 02:05 – The company's program helps remove routine processes throughout the day 02:30 – They started in Chili with a grant in 2014 03:00 – Then they got a grant from the US 03:30 – First year had no revenue 03:45 – $300k in 2015, with $600k total 04:15 – Paying customers 04:50 -- $39/month is the average that customers pay 05:15 – Monthly revenue 06:00 – They have several different services and processes 06:35 – Pure MRR in April -- $4000 07:10 -- Professional services is a huge chunk of revenue 08:20 – Starting out with professional services brings in a lot of revenue 08:50 – Team size is 5, with a few freelancers 09:05 – Total capital $500000 10:10 – Amit and his wife are cofounders 10:25 – They have a rule to stop talking about work after 6 pm 11:00 – They believe in their business 11:45 -- tallyfy.com and @tallyfy on Twitter 12:00 – Consistency is the secret to a growing company's success 14:20 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Start a business that you believe in. Look for grants and funding opportunities. If you want to scale your business, you have to put effort into consistency. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. The Innovator's Dilemma – Amit's favorite business book DropBox – One of Amit's favorite online tools, that allows businesses to share files online Xero – Online accounting tool Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 365: From Consultant to $300k SaaS with Amit Kotharie of Tallyfy Jul 24, 2016

Show notes

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Innovator's Dilemma
What CEO do you follow? — Jack Welch and Warren Buffett
Favorite online tool? — DropBox, Xero

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — "Never confuse movement with action." –Hemingway

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:10 – Nathan introduces Amit
01:45 – Tallyfy
02:05 – The company's program helps remove routine processes throughout the day
02:30 – They started in Chili with a grant in 2014
03:00 – Then they got a grant from the US
03:30 – First year had no revenue
03:45 – $300k in 2015, with $600k total
04:15 – Paying customers
04:50 -- $39/month is the average that customers pay
05:15 – Monthly revenue
06:00 – They have several different services and processes
06:35 – Pure MRR in April -- $4000
07:10 -- Professional services is a huge chunk of revenue
08:20 – Starting out with professional services brings in a lot of revenue
08:50 – Team size is 5, with a few freelancers
09:05 – Total capital $500000
10:10 – Amit and his wife are cofounders
- 10:25 – They have a rule to stop talking about work after 6 pm
- 11:00 – They believe in their business
11:45 -- tallyfy.com and @tallyfy on Twitter
12:00 – Consistency is the secret to a growing company's success
14:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Start a business that you believe in.
Look for grants and funding opportunities.
If you want to scale your business, you have to put effort into consistency.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
The Innovator's Dilemma – Amit's favorite business book
DropBox – One of Amit's favorite online tools, that allows businesses to share files online
Xero – Online accounting tool
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 364: $300,000 Per Year Worth $15 Million? Jul 23, 2016

Show notes

Ep 364: $300,000 Per Year Worth $15 Million? Jul 23, 2016

Show notes

Jonathan Gillon, the founder of Roost. His unique business costs almost nothing to run, and is taking over the nation. Though he has experienced failures along with success in his business endeavors, Jon is a self-proclaimed optimist. He sees the potential growth of his business and wants to be the one to take it to its full potential.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing about Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Andy Dunn Favorite online tool? — Geckoboard 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 get kicked out of college. Stop getting in trouble.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan's introduction 01:25 – Jonathan explains Roost 01:45 – Profits come from a percentage of transaction fees 02:55 – They focus on storage and parking spaces 03:15 – Mostly garages 03:45 – His first-year revenue was zero 04:10 – He found an opportunity with a storage unit that was closing 05:45 – Numbers of buyers and sellers 06:55 – He has a team of 17 people in San Francisco 07:30 – His rent in San Francisco 08:25 – $4.9 million in capital 09:35 – Roost uses a "targeted approach" working with car-share companies 10:55 – Total revenue 2015 - $80000 11:25 – Revenue is now 25k/month 12:10 – Reasoning behind the company's evaluation 12:50 – Potential of the company 13:30 – Jonathan sees great value in Roost 14:00 – They are still in "beta mode" 15:00 – They have virtually no competitors 16:10 – Jonathan prefers to "build something big and fail" than build something small 17:05 – His experience with Droperty Tax 17:40 – He lost everything he earned from that company 18:30 – He wants to grow revenue and get Roost to its potential 19:25 –Jon's blog about his experiences as an entrepreneur 21:20 – Average revenue per buyer – about $41 22:20 – "We've got almost no churn." 23:10 – Cost to find a new space is almost nothing 23:30 – Money is spent on marketing 24:35 – He pays himself $64k 25:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Look for a business opportunity that requires low upfront costs. Don't be afraid to stand behind your business and be optimistic about its potential. If your company gets bought, don't go on a spending spree. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Geckoboard – Jonathan's favorite online tool

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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