Top Founders

Latest Episodes:

EP 363: Google AdSense for Physical BillBoards Does $250k with Douglas Lusted Jul 22, 2016

Show notes

Douglas Lusted, the CEO and co-founder of Linkett. Douglas is an incredible individual who earned his way onto the Forbes' "30 Under 30" list at the age of 19! He's taken his company, which specializes in out-of-home advertising, from an idea on paper to an unstoppable force that's taking on big-time enterprise clients.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Lean Analytics What CEO do you follow? — Kurtis McBride Favorite online tool? — Calendly or Prospect.io Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Absolutely not. If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep on doing what you're doing.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan's introduction 01:45 –Linkett is an analytics platform 02:20 – It is sold as an annual subscription 02:35 – Company was founded in 2013, and it was his first business venture 03:05 – First-year revenue was $100000 03:50 – Money and capital raised 05:00 – Their team now 05:20 – Growth for the company over the past year and a half 06:10 – Monthly recurring revenue (about $25k) 06:50 – The company's churn 07:40 – Advertisers' pricing systems 09:35 – The future of billboards 10:18 – What Douglas would do as a billboard owner 10:45 – Customer worth 11:40 – The company is focused on growth 12:00 – Connect with Douglas Lusted on LinkedIn 14:010 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Don't be afraid to redefine an industry and how it operates When you have a great idea, go for it. Create a product that improves an industry's integrity. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Prospect.io – Douglas's favorite online sales tool based out of Canada Lean Analytics – Douglas's favorite business book. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 362: 10,000 Nurses Pay Him $110k/mo To Get Certified with Tony Leonard of NurseVersity.com Jul 21, 2016

Show notes

Tony Leonard, founder and president of nurseVersity—a company that uses next-generation tools, cutting-edge research, and adaptive, personalized learning structures to help nurses and physical therapists prepare for the respective industry exams with maximum efficiency.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Who Moved the Cheese What CEO do you follow? — Bill Gates Favorite online tool? — There are several Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Sleep more; eat less.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:09 – Nathan's introduction 01:25 – Tony's company operates under a monthly subscription format 01:45 – He helps people pass their qualifying exams the first time 02:15 – 10,000 customers, with $152,000 in revenue last month 03:00 -- $35.50/month per customer 03:30 – Scholarship program 05:00 – One-time payments 05:40 – How they manage churn 07:30 – Cost to get a customer 08:40 – Company is based in Louisville, Kentucky 09:00 – Churn for their company 10:15 – Lifetime value is about $300 per customer 10:30 – They are looking to raise capital 11:00 – Capital to date is $4 million 11:15 – Connect with Tony Leonard on LinkedIn, or at Nurseversity on Facebook, or tony.leonard@nurseversity.com 13:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Show your customers you care. Think of ways you can increase capital and scale your business. Sleep more, and eat less. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Who Moved the Cheese – Tony's favorite business book Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 361: 61 Customers $700k In Revenue, The Ultimate Sales Training Tool with Sam Caucci Jul 20, 2016

Show notes

Sam Caucci, founder of Sales Huddle, a training and development team using gaming technology to help organizations better prepare their people for the workforce. With work delivered across North America, Europe, and Asia, Sales Huddle has impacted people across organizations in a wide array of sectors and clients, that include professional sports teams, politics and government, hospitality, retail, colleges, and many more. They're applying an innovative approach to people preparing for the workforce, and Sam is over the creation of the training game platform. It is the first game-based platform that transforms the way an organization on-boards, trains, and develops team members.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Emotional Intelligence What CEO do you follow? — Someone who's not living right now Favorite online tool? — Rapportive and Mixmax Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Not to think I knew everything.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:09 – Nathan's introduction 01:55 – Training that isn't boring 02:50 – Money is made from a license fee 03:22 – Company was founded in 2010 3:55 – It went from consulting to a product 4:15 – First year's revenue was $250000 4:45 – They are self-funded 5:15 – Total customers is 61 5:45 – Learning-based vs. game-based competition 6:35 – The product requests annual pay 7:05 – Pay is upfront 07:30 – Average pay per year is $15000 per customer 07:55 – 100% retention and why 10:05 – Customer acquisition costs 11:00 – They have just started raising capital 11:50 – How to get more people and scale the business 13:20 – How much money they want to raise 13:40 – Team is six people 14:00 – Saleshuddlegroup.com, Twitter - @saleshuddle or @samcaucci 16:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Businesses and progress run off of incentives. Consider the most efficient and cost-effective way to provide your service. Learning and training systems shouldn't be boring. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Rapportive and Mixmax – Sam's favorite online tools for organization and productivity Sales Huddle – A training program that uses gaming technology

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 360: Two 33 yo Men Selling Baby Products with HUGE Re-Order Rate at BabyMori.com Jul 19, 2016

Show notes

Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori. Their business was started in 2015, and it is already seeing 50% growth each month. Learn about Cam and Akin's recipe for success as we discuss their products and how their business is run. They are showing incredible numbers for their startup, so let's take some notes on how these two single guys saw financial success in the baby industry.

Famous 5:

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

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, in terms of entrepreneurship

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:26 - Nathan introduces Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori
01:44 – Cam and Akin target gifters
02:20 – Cam and Akin explain the company
02:51 – Revenue came mostly from parents and gifters buying directly
03:22 - They talk about their multiple skews and how they manage them.
04:43 – Their sleep suits are their best sellers.
05:25 – Margins are 1:4 or 1:5
06:35 – They talk about their other expenses and their net margin, which is very low.
07:32 – Sales and marketing are limited costs.
08:21 – Their shipping is free to the UK only, but they are finding other ways to get to the US and other countries with low shipping costs.
09:15 – The business was launched in 2015, and is a very new startup.
10:21 – Their goal for this year is about $600000
10:51 – The business has strong numbers and statistics
11:23 – They discuss their number of buyers.
12:00 – The business owners talk about their subscription system.
13:20 – Their latest success is to have raised $1 million in priced equity.
14:50 – Their growth is 50% each month. That and other characteristics make them appealing to investors.
15:29 – Nathan discusses data in the baby business.
16:44 – People can connect at babymori.com
19:04 – Nathan goes over the Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Cam and Akin have low costs to produce their products.
Baby Mori focuses on getting the product to the client in an affordable manner.
A company with significant monthly growth, like Baby Mori, is appealing to investors.

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 359: Hit $2m Revenue Buy/Sell Other Athelets Gear On Cheap with Brendan Candon of SidelineSwap.com Jul 18, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

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

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

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 358: This SaaS Did $10MM In 2015, Helps Sales People Win, Raising Capital Jul 17, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 357: He Quit His Job, Lost His Life Savings, Then Hit it Big With SaaS Business Jul 16, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 356: $1M In Guitar Sales From CrowdFunding, Whats Next? With Adam Lee Jul 15, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Ep 355: Why He Spent $1M to Sell 55k Copies of His Book, "Ask" with Ryan Levesque Jul 14, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

Favorite Business Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 354: $1.3M in Monthly Revenue to Get You Leads with Alex Berman of Inspired Beats Jul 13, 2016

Show notes

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

Famous 5:

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

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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