The Effective Founder: Recent Episodes
Andy Baldacci
To be an effective founder, you need to prioritize and relentlessly focus on getting the right things done...while juggling everything else life throws at you.
I interview successful founders to uncover how they navigated these challenges and how you can learn from their successes and mistakes.
We cut through the noise to help you build a successful business on your own terms.
The Effective Founder isn't going anywhere, but I am making some changes to the show next year. Tune in and discover what's next for the pod...
Today, I’m talking with , a Vice President of SBA lending at , where he specializes in goodwill transactions, which are especially relevant to internet businesses. Jordan has been in banking for 18 years and is well-known in the SBA industry for his public speaking, and that’s actually where I first came across him. Jordan co-hosted a great webinar with FE International (a business broker that specializes in mid-market SaaS, e-commerce, and content businesses) on how to use the SBA lending program to buy a business. That presentation was a crash course on the ins and outs of SBA loans, so if you’re at all interested in this subject, go check that out. I’ll link to it in the show notes. In our chat today, Jordan and I are going to build on that presentation and walk through more of the details on what the loan application and approval process looks like.
Today, I’m talking with , the author of , and the Executive Partner at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), the company of ethical hackers famous for hacking cars, medical devices, and password managers. Ted has helped hundreds of companies fix tens of thousands of security vulnerabilities, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, and more. In our chat, we’re going to talk about the security risks SaaS founders need to be aware of and how to protect their applications.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-founder and CEO , an online marketplace that connects homeowners with Local lawn care professionals. Before starting GreenPal, Bryan founded Peachtree Inc. one of the largest landscaping companies in the state of Tennessee growing it to over $10 million a year in annual revenue before it was acquired in 2013. In our chat, we dive into how he’s grown GreenPal to more than 100,000 active users as a self-funded company over the last 6 years, everything from their successes to their failures and how these lessons can make you a better founder.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at , an online community and content provider for daily fantasy sports. I always enjoy talking with other founders in the industry, especially people like Brandon who take unconventional approaches to building their businesses. Gup’s Corner has thrived in a crowded market by truly putting members first and building a strong community of subscribers. This is no easy task which is why I’m excited to have Brandon on today to share how he and his team have pulled it off.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO of , where he and his team are modernizing the barbershop experience. Before we jump into the episode, I’ve just got a quick plug for a great project I wanted to mention. Last year, Rob Walling and the MicroConf team launched the 1st annual State of Independent SaaS to give our community of more data so we can make better decisions as we grow our company. The first report was eye opening, to say the least. As of yesterday, October 6th, the survey for the 2nd annual State of Independent SaaS is live at and I just finished filling it out myself. It takes less than 10 minutes, it’s all anonymized, and your responses will help make this year’s report even more valuable. So take a few minutes to head over to and fill out the survey. Now let’s jump back into today’s episode. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, barbershops across the country were closed practically overnight. But rather than sit on the sidelines, Obi and his team adapted and actually grew their business during this challenging time. In our chat, Obi shares how theCut managed to grow in an industry struggling to stay afloat and how he’s navigated the new challenges of managing an ever-expanding team.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of where he helps startups by matching them with tried & trusted tech teams from Eastern Europe. Offshoring is something a lot of founders in our world turn to because you can get great talent at affordable rates, but it’s also caused a ton of horror stories. At SaberSim, our team has all been based in US and Canada, but it’s getting more and more expensive to do that so we’re looking at all of our options, including offshoring. Being right in the middle of this made it seem like a great time to have Victor on the show. In our chat today, Victor walks through his unique approach to offshoring, how he helps companies avoid the all too common mistakes, and how you can apply the same lessons in your business.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , where he and his team help founders, investors, and executives install the habits, systems, and processes necessary to reach the next level in their business. Chris is also one of the world’s top online poker players and uses the same frameworks that propelled him to the top of the game to help others achieve world-class performance in their own fields. In our chat, we dig into what those frameworks are and how you can apply them in your business. Chris is one of the most thoughtful and deliberate people I’ve met and the lessons he shares today are ones you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the President and CEO of , a cloud-based bookkeeping, management accounting, and controller service. Having successfully navigated six recessions as an entrepreneur, Stephen knows a company’s in trouble before the owner and has developed a framework for managing cash flow through times of chaos. For my company, SaberSim, revenue went to $0 for 4 months and while we’ve come out of it stronger than before, I cannot tell you how much I wish I had Stephen’s framework at the start of this. As founders and CEOs, it’s our job to make sure there is enough cash in the bank for the business to stay alive and that’s been an incredible challenge with everything going on in the world. In our chat, Stephen breaks down the 5 steps to take during a crisis—but COVID aside, managing cash flow is never easy and Stephen’s advice today applies in times good and bad.
Today, I’m talking with Adam Springer, the founder of StartupSales.io where he helps founders develop the sales processes and strategies to scale beyond $1mm ARR. Before founding Startup Sales, Adam was the first sales person for 3 companies, taking them each from $0 to more than $5mm ARR. With thousands of books, blog posts, and podcasts out there on sales, it’s tough to even know where to begin. Adam breaks it all down for you today and shares what makes a sales process successful and how to build an effective sales team for your business.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO at , a curated online retailer that provides a platform for consumers looking to discover the coolest and most innovative fashion, accessories, art, and gadgets from emerging brands and artists across the globe. By building a strong brand and audience, Fancy raised well over $100 million but wasn’t able to find enough traction to sustain the sky-high valuation. Greg was brought in to turnaround the company and in the 18+ months since he’s been there, they’re back on the right track. In , Ben Horowitz talks about the difference between a “peacetime” CEO and a “wartime” CEO. Being a CEO is never easy, but being a CEO when your back is against the wall and you need to turn things around is a special kind of hard. In our chat today, Greg shares how he was able to right the ship, get buyin from the rest of the team, and what the future looks like for Fancy. The way Greg thinks about business and values the people inside is something every founder can learn from.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of where he helps B2B SaaS companies book more demos & trials. I’ve shied away from covering tactics on the show because I know there is so much of that out there, but after seeing Marc’s approach, I knew I had to have him on because he “gets it.” While we cover the key elements of building a SaaS website optimized for conversions, our conversation goes way beyond that and we discuss how those principles can be applied throughout a business. Whether you want actionable tips on CRO or cold email or you’re looking for a deep dive on what makes a sales process work, we’ve got you covered.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-founder and CEO at where they empower customer-centric businesses to serve people in the most human, helpful way. After spending two years at Groove, a competitor of Help Scout, I was obviously aware of them and their brand but we were so focused on our own mission that I never dug too deep into their story. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to change that as I prepared for this interview. Help Scout is a fully remote company with more than 100 employees and while they’ve raised some money, they’re profitable and operate as a certified B Corp. B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. As every founder knows, it’s never easy to grow a business and Nick’s story is no different. The part of the journey we focus the most on is hiring—what went wrong in the early days and how they got it right. There is a ton of practical advice in here that any team can act on right away, I know it’s changed my thinking about hiring, but the bigger message Nick shares is that when it comes to diversity and inclusion the right thing to do is also the best thing for the business. Especially now, so many companies talk a big game when it comes to diversity and inclusion but few actually back it up. Help Scout is one of those rare exceptions that put their money where their mouth is.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO at where he and his team help SaaS businesses increase revenue through Revenue Operations, or RevOps. I’ll be honest, before preparing for this interview, I wasn’t so sure what RevOps actually was. Even as I dug into it, it seemed like something only megacorps needed to care about. After talking with Jason, I’ve completely changed my mind on this. While you probably don’t need a dedicated RevOps team in the early days of your startup, you do need to be thinking about and acting on the principles driving this movement. In our chat today, Jason gets rid of the jargon to explain what RevOps actually means and how to implement these concepts in an early-stage startup.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO at , the retail operations platform for retailers, wholesalers, and brands. Brightpearl was in bad shape when Derek took the helm, but since then he’s led the retail operations platform from stagnant growth to more than $12 million in revenue, nearly 1,400 customers worldwide, and managing more than $3 billion in orders. In our chat today, we dig into this 2-year transformation and cover everything from how he diagnosed the problems to how he got the buyin to solve them. Successful turnarounds are so hard to pull off and whether you’re struggling or thriving Derek’s insights will help you build a better, more durable business.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO and Co-Founder of , a simple yet powerful CRM for small businesses selling B2B. I love talking with CRM founders to dig into how they’re standing out in one of the most competitive spaces in SaaS—especially when they haven’t gone super niche with their positioning. Jeroen’s insights today did not disappoint. In our chat, Jeroen shares how he and his team built a “Customer Value Machine” that fuels Salesflare’s rapid growth and how he’s navigated the challenges of scaling a company.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO of which makes modern task and project management software for teams. Before Flow, he was the Head of Design at Square and has worked for brands like Apple, Nike, Disney, and Target. The project management space is one of the most competitive out there and Flow has stood out by taking an opinionated stance on what they will and won't build and avoiding bloat. You want to continue improving your product but you also don’t want to fall into the trap of adding feature after feature because it’s what customers are asking for. Finding the right balance is crucial to growing your company, but it’s also incredibly hard. In our chat today, Daniel shares his approach to product and design and how that helps Flow strike the right balance. As every corner of SaaS gets more and more competitive, your product development process becomes increasingly important not just to thrive but to survive. Regardless of what your process looks like today, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO at , a SaaS startup that helps marketing agencies scale. I first heard Ryan on where he shared that his company was at $25k MRR and growing at more than 30% month-over-month. That was a bit more than 6 months before the time of our chat here today and I wanted to have Ryan on to see what’s happened since. In our chat, Ryan shares where this growth came from, how they’re maintaining it, and how his own role has evolved along the way. While Cloud Campaign’s recent growth has been amazing, this wasn’t an overnight success as it took a year of iteration before finding that initial traction. Wherever you are in your journey, I’m sure you’ll take something valuable out of this interview.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at , where he and his team help their customers send targeted emails, push notifications, and SMS to lower churn, create stronger relationships, and drive subscriptions. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building Customer.io to more than $10M in ARR and a team of more than 50 people over the last 8 years, everything from their successes to their failures and how these lessons can help make you a better founder. What most stood out to me from this interview was not just how thoughtfully and deliberately Colin and his team have built this business, but how realistic they’ve been along the way. This wasn’t a journey of overnight success, nor did he expect it to be and the way Colin has been able to stay the course and build a successful business is something every founder can learn from.
Today, I’m talking with John Kutcher, the Founder of and most recently where he and his team partner with and acquire small and mid-sized software businesses, providing resources and expertise to accelerate growth and enhance operating performance. John launched DICORP in 1985 and in the years since grew the business organically and through acquisition, eventually leading to an acquisition of his own in 2019. After the sale, John started DICORP Equity Partners and they recently launched a program they’re calling which offers immediate funding opportunities for the companies who apply and are accepted. This is a program I think many of you will be interested in and applications for the first round of Win Now end on May 31st, so I wanted to get this episode out ASAP so you have a chance to apply. Beyond the new program, we dive into what was like building DICORP over the last 35 years and how those lessons have shaped the vision for DICORP Equity Partners. I love talking acquisitions, everything from the deal itself to what happens after the close, and John’s incredible depth of experience made for a great conversation.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , where they make ideo marketing software that makes it easy to find, engage, and grow your audience. I missed last year and was kicking myself after hearing rave reviews about the talks, especially the one Chris gave about taking on $17mm in debt to buy back the shares of Wistia and build the company on his own terms. Luckily, the talk is now on , I’ll link to it in the show notes, and after watching it I knew I had to get him on the show. We don’t rehash all of those details, because he covers it much better in that talk than we could here, but these are the Cliff’s Notes: They were on the venture track that valued revenue growth above profitability. While their company was scaling quickly, going from 25 people to 50 in one year and then to 80 the next, they didn’t like what they saw... They were losing money (at the peak they were losing $300k/mo) They weren’t confident they were growing faster than they would with a smaller team They weren’t taking the creative risks they enjoyed They were stressed beyond belief. After getting serious offers to sell the company, they rethought everything and decided to instead fix what was broken and get profitable. Since executing the stock buyback in 2017, they’ve been able to do just that. I strongly recommend checking out that talk, because that journey is something every founder can learn a lot from. In our chat today, we’re going to continue that story by digging into what it means to build a business on your own terms and what that looks like for Wistia in practice.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , which offers everything you need to sell online courses, downloads, webinars, and memberships without worrying about the tech. We mention Len Markidan in the show, a mutual friend of ours who was my boss at Groove and is now the CMO of Podia. When he joined the team a couple years ago, I started digging into their story more and after seeing they’re incredible trajectory, I knew I had to get Spencer on the show. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like scaling Podia to a team of 20, when to add more process to the business, and how the role as CEO evolves as your team grows. Spencer is a 4-time founder and has been an entrepreneur his entire life. He’d tell you that he hasn’t seen it all, but I can say he’s seen enough to share some valuable lessons you won’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO and Co-Founder of , a simple CRM built just for small businesses. Tyler also co-hosts , where two founders talk about what it takes to build sustainable software companies. One of the things I’ve struggled with as I’ve grown SaberSim was this guilt about not having more balance in my life and running the business like it’s a sprint instead of a marathon. I ultimately want a business that gives me that balance in the long run but right now, it really feels like I need to sprint to get there. Some of that urgency is self-imposed, but I don’t think all of it is. This conversation with Tyler helped me come to terms with the fact that a startup needs different things at different points in the business, and that’s ok. If you don’t want to sprint forever, make sure you’re working towards your ultimate goal, but don’t feel bad about sprinting if that’s what you have to do to get to the next stage. Tyler has built Less Annoying CRM into a multi-million dollar a year business and has learned a ton along the way. He has strong opinions but knows that they don’t apply across the board and doesn’t preach as though they do. This was incredibly refreshing because everybody else, from DHH on one side to Tech Crunch on the other, makes it seem like it’s all or nothing. We cover everything from how Tyler is building his dream job at Less Annoying CRM, to how he intentionally works around his weaknesses, to what the future of the company looks like.
Today, I’m talking with , one of the founders of , a SaaS startup that tracks feedback to help you build better products. What Sarah and her team have built at Canny is incredibly impressive. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself, but while I have culture (and a dozen other things) in the back of my mind, right now I’m focused on growth even if it means sacrificing in those other areas.. At Canny, they’ve grown rapidly while maintaining the culture and balance they want as a fully remote and bootstrapped company. To top it all off, Sarah has been able to do this not only as a first time founder, but as a first time manager. In our chat, we dig into how Sarah and her team have done this and how you can apply those lessons in your business.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , a SaaS startup helping customers send cold emails that get replies. Guillaume and his team have grown lemlist to more than $1m ARR in less than 2 years and they’ve done it while remaining bootstrapped and profitable. In our chat, we dive into how he’s handled this rapid growth—everything from hiring to building processes to prioritization. What stands out to me about Guillaume’s story isn’t just the incredible growth, it’s how he and his team have managed to scale without everything falling apart. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of tough lessons learned along the way, but Guillaume’s foresight got them through all of that and today you’ll learn how.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at , a self-funded startup that solves the hardest parts of subscription growth. Patrick has been on the show a couple of times before and I’m super excited to have him back on, but the circumstances this time are a bit different. We recorded this interview in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and Patrick shares how he and his team are handling it internally as they go fully remote for the first time, as well as what they’re doing to help others with the . I personally can only handle so much COVID content, so don’t worry, this conversation is much more than that as we dive into a wide range of topics from Patrick’s decision to relocate to Salt Lake City and open an office to building out a media network. If you’ve heard Patrick before, you know this is an interview you don’t want to miss. If you haven’t, then don’t go anywhere because you’re in for a treat.
Today, I’m talking with , a co-founder of , the best remote pair-programming app on macOS, and co-host of . Ben was a developer at thoughtbot but left to start Tuple to fill the gap in the remote pair-programming market after Slack shut down Screenhero. They launched just two years ago and in that time have grown to a place where the 3 co-founders have all replaced their developer salaries and are able to build out their team. They’ve done all of this while remaining bootstrapped and profitable and their growth is accelerating from here. In our chat, we dig into Ben’s evolving role as CEO and focus on two crucial topics: how he developed his enterprise sales skills, landing huge clients like Shopify, and how he’s navigating the challenges of hiring. I was introduced to Ben by a previous guest of the show, , and I’m glad he connected us because we had a great conversation that you won’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of where they offer simple, secure domain management. Not only is Anthony and his team doing well into 7-figures a year of revenue, but they’re completely bootstrapped, fully remote, and only have 12 employees. Staying lean as a growing remote company is incredibly challenging and in our chat today Anthony walks through what makes DNSimple such an effective company. We cover how they handle management and meetings, where they’ve used automation to become more efficient, and how they use OKRs to keep everything on track. I can’t speak for you, but Anthony and his team have built the sort of company I aspire to build because they strike an amazing balance between growth, profitability, and having a life along the journey. It was great having the opportunity to pick Anthony’s brain and I know you’ll get a lot out of it, too.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of —a financial planning SaaS startup. Prior to Summit, Matt founded , a predictive intelligence tool for the whole supply chain. Matt was on the podcast about a year ago when he was first launching Summit, then called SimSaaS, and we talked about alternative financing options for startups. Since then, Matt sold RiskPulse to DHL, joined the first batch, and launched the podcast with Peter Suhm. In our chat today, we talk about the value of forecasting and how to do it right (regardless of the stage of your business) and we also dig into navigating product decisions and how to know if what a customer is asking for is really what they want. Even though Matt and I serve completely different markets, our core products have a lot of similarities so this was a fun chat for me and I think you’ll get a lot out of it as well.
Today, I’m talking with Einar Vollset, a General Partner at TinySeed, the first startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers, and the Managing Partner at Discretion Capital, a technology enabled Investment Bank focused on M&A, due diligence and strategic partnership development. We’ve had this call scheduled for today, Wednesday, March 18th, for a while and planned to talk about TinySeed Fund 2, but obviously a lot has changed recently. We still get into what’s to come with the next, larger TinySeed Fund, but Einar is one of the most thoughtful investors I know so I wanted to get his perspective on the Coronavirus pandemic and what founders should be thinking about. My company, SaberSim, has been hit pretty hard by all of this. We serve the daily fantasy sports market and with all major sports leagues suspending operations, we decided to pause all billing for our customers, putting a stop to revenue until play resumes. It sucks, to be honest, but we’re fortunate enough to be able to strengthen our cash reserves so we can weather this out without any layoffs and keep building in the meantime. Many companies won’t be as fortunate as we are while others will actually benefit, but every company will feel this in some way. Our chat is realistic and I can’t say we painted a rosy picture, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Einar draws on his experience to offer a unique perspective on what the Coronavirus pandemic means for your business. You won’t want to miss this…
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of , an agency that helps SaaS companies scale with pay-per-click ads. It is so hard to find advice for Facebook ads that actually applies to SaaS companies. It seems like everybody out there is selling a course on “How to Get Rich with Facebook Ads” with scammy tactics that I don’t want my brand associated with and aren’t going to fly in B2B. Aaron’s advice stands out from the crowd not just in terms of strategy but also because of his hands on experience applying it with SaaS companies. In our chat today, Aaron lays out how to evaluate the different PPC channels, what goes into effective ads, and how to put all of it together for your first successful campaign. I even got him to share the exact image his clients have been having huge success with in their ads. This is one you won’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with David Abrams, the co-founder and CEO of Demio, a webinar platform built for marketers to engage and convert their audiences through live conversations. We get into numbers on the show, but Demio has seen some serious growth recently and their team has dramatically expanded. I’m in the early stages of growing our team at SaberSim and jumped at the opportunity to have David on the show to pick his brain on hiring and handling growth in general. I got a ton out of David’s “behind-the-scenes” look at a growing bootstrapped SaaS company and the lessons he shares will help any founder level up.
Today, I’m talking with Chris Ronzio, the Founder and CEO at Trainual, a B2B SaaS startup that makes it easier than ever to onboard, train, and scale knowledge for growth. I first heard about Chris on The SaaS Podcast with Omer Khan and was blown away after hearing that Chris and his team scaled Trainual from zero to $2 million ARR in just 18 months using Facebook ads. The allure of paid advertising is obvious—put a dollar in and get two or more back. If only it was that simple. We know how hard it is because of how many horror stories there are out there about failed attempts. Most of us have moved past the old “Facebook ads are dead” cliche, but what’s replaced it isn’t much better—”Facebook ads don’t work for B2B” or “Facebook ads don’t work for my business.” I wanted Chris to come on the show so we could dig into what he did differently to make ads work and how other founders, especially B2B SaaS founders, can do the same. The success Chris and his team had was no mistake and in this episode you’ll learn exactly what he did.
In a recent interview on Startups for the Rest of Us (), Rob Walling and I talked about my thoughts on SaaS growth. I shared a lot of specific examples in that episode but I wanted to expand on my growth framework and how those tactics fit in. In this episode, I break down the framework I use to think about growth and share the steps you can take to start implementing it. If you have any questions along the way, I'm happy to help so please don't hesitate to reach out.
Andy shares an end-of-the-year on what's happening with his SaaS startup, SaberSim, which makes .
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO of , an all-in one app for parents to easily capture and privately share photos of their children, keep track of milestones in an organized and safe space, and print baby albums straight from their phone. There were two important areas I wanted to really dig into in this chat with Eddie: the role values play in Tinybeans and the system that Eddie and his team uses to run their business. We hear the word values thrown around all the time, but it’s rare to see a company truly prioritize living up to those values each and every day. Tinybeans is one of those rare companies so it was great to hear how they’ve done this and why it was so important to them. On the operations side, we talk about how Tinybeans uses as an operating system to keep their business running, and growing, smoothly. Too many entrepreneurs ignore the value of systems to begin with, but even those that “get it” often try to reinvent the wheel. Eddie shares why you don’t need to do that with The Great Game of Business. This was a wide-ranging conversation that I know you’ll get a lot out of.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at , the fully remote company behind and . Todoist is the top-ranked productivity app that helps millions of people organize life and Twist is a communication app for teams who want a calmer, more organized, more productive workplace. Doist is a multi-million dollar a year bootstrapped and profitable company with more than 60 full-time employees and despite being able to command huge valuations, Amir has no plans to sell the company. In our chat, we go behind the scenes of launching, growing, and maintaining Twist when they already had a successful product in Todoist, but where we really dive in is how Amir has balanced profitability and growth along this more than a decade-long journey. I’m not even close to the heights Doist has reached, but this balance is still something I think a lot about. While we all have different goals with our businesses, even with deep savings and a supportive partner, almost all of us need to have the business financially sustain us at some point and that means taking money out of the business—but every dollar we take out is one less dollar we can use to grow. There’s no right answer to this question, but hearing Amir’s philosophy had a real impact on my approach and I think you’ll get a lot out of it to.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO of , a leadership development company built on principles of psychology and management best practices. Leaders aren’t born, they’re bred. Sure, some people may naturally be more inclined to exhibit leadership skills, but nobody becomes a great leader without real work. A certain amount of that needs to come from hands-on experience, but anybody learning exclusively through their own experience is make the journey harder than it needs to be. This is where coaching can be invaluable--it’s never an easy journey, but with the right coach you’ll be able to make faster progress and go further than you could on your own. Unfortunately, finding the right coach is anything but easy. Cameron and his team at Torch hope to change that by not only using technology to find you a coach, but also to bring accountability to the process and make sure you’re heading in the right direction. In our chat, we dive into what it takes to get the most out of coaching and we go behind the scenes to talk about the challenges of rapidly scaling the company to more than $12 million in funding and dozens of employees over the last 2 years.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , a podcast PR and production agency that helps brands like Freshbooks, HubSpot, and Four Sigmatic grow through podcasting. Erik and I first crossed paths a couple years ago when he was starting Be My Guest and had somebody he thought would be a good fit for my show. His email stood out to me because it was truly personalized; not just putting in my name and the name of my show, but making it clear he had done his research on me. There are tons of podcast booking agencies and I’d be surprised if any of the others out there spent more than a minute or two personalizing their emails, let alone actually seeing if their client is a good fit. It’s so frustrating getting these emails when it’s clear the sender has no idea what the show is about or when I get dozens of cold emails a week from some SDR who has no idea what my business is about. Erik’s preparation and attention to detail made him stand out to me and is why I’ve continued having clients of Be My Guest on the show over the years. What has been most impressive to me though is how Erik has been able to build a team that places the same amount of value on doing the job right. I’ve personally tried to hire people to do similar roles and know just how hard this is to get right so I’m excited to have Erik on the show to learn how he did it. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building Be My Guest while maintaining the quality of the service, everything from his successes to his failures and how these lessons can help make you a better founder. This episode is about much more than podcasting and cold email--it’s about how to build a high quality team, so you don’t want to miss this.
Today, I’m talking with Dan Martell, a 5x founder with 3 exits and currently a coach to high-performing SaaS founders, through The SaaS Academy. Dan knows what it’s like growing a SaaS company and how hard it can be to answer all the questions that I’m trying to address with this podcast. Questions like… Who should I be hiring next quarter? How do I build a productive sales process? What types of things should I be looking for from a CTO? How should I be leading my team? Over time, he found the right mentors, books, and advice to build up a bank of knowledge that he’s refined through years of experience in the trenches. Now he shares that knowledge with his students in the SaaS Academy. In our chat, we talk about Dan’s framework for building a SaaS business, what the biggest levers are for fast growth, and where founders often get tripped up. This is a wide-ranging, high-energy chat that you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , Co-Founder and General Partner at , a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders. Rob is also the Co-Host of , Co-Founder of , and Co-Founder of , which he successfully exited, along with a long list of other businesses and projects over the years. Rob has been on the show a few times before and this time around I wanted to dig into a new project he’s working on to give non-venture track founders more data to help them make better decisions as they grow their company. The project is called and to put it together, hundreds of revenue generating SaaS companies were surveyed and the result will be an epic report filled with benchmarks, growth rates, demographics, validation approaches, and more. When Rob was last on the show back in episode 6, he had just opened the doors for TinySeed’s first batch of founders and I also wanted to follow-up and see how things went. After receiving hundreds of high quality applications, the TinySeed team narrowed it down to 10 lucky founders and today we’ll hear what Rob and his team have learned and what is in store for the second batch, which will be accepting applications on November 1st. Most of my listeners are very familiar with Rob and have probably already skipped over this intro to get right to the good stuff, but if you’re still listening, stop and dive in. This is an interview you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with Tim Campos, the founder and CEO of Woven, a startup making powerful scheduling tools built into a smart, collaborative calendar. Prior to Woven, Tim was the Chief Information Officer at Facebook for more than 6 years where he was responsible for the productivity of the entire workforce. That workforce was over 17,000 in his last year on the job and in his tenure he doubled the revenue per employee from $900,000 to $1.8 million. Those are insane numbers and it was great digging into them on the show. In our chat, we talk about how he approached productivity in such a large organization, where the biggest gains came from, and how to apply those lessons to smaller teams. Tim is an insightful entrepreneur with a ton of experience in teams of all sizes, and this is an interview you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with Nigel Eccles, the Co-Founder and CEO of FanDuel and now Flick, an app that helps podcasters build a community of loyal, invested listeners. Two weeks ago, I had Albert Chen, author of , on the show to walk us through the crazy story of the daily fantasy sports market. That interview lays out the backstory in much more detail, but here are some key points: Hubdub launched in 2007 as a news prediction game In 2009, the team pivoted to the daily fantasy sports space and rebranded as FanDuel DraftKings entered the market in 2012 In total, DraftKings raised $776 million while FanDuel raised $363 million In 2015, the two companies spent a combined $750 million on marketing DraftKings was the largest advertiser in the country one month, beating Johnson and Johnson as well as Geico The next month, FanDuel was the largest advertiser FanDuel eventually sold to Paddy Power Betfair in a deal worth $465 million The founders and early employees got nothing in the deal Last week, I had Lesley Eccles, another co-founder of FanDuel, on the show to go behind the scenes on this journey. She was in charge of marketing and scaled their spend from $0 to over $300 million dollars a year. This week, Nigel rounds out the story with his perspective as the CEO and the impact his journey is having on his new company, Flick. In our chat, we talk about Nigel’s customer-focused approach to business, how he navigated pivots at both FanDuel and Flick, how he’s approaching fundraising the second time around, and much, much more. As I said in the other interviews, even if you have no interest in sports, gambling, or venture backed startups, there are a ton of lessons in these talks that will apply to any founder. And it’s just a great story :)
Today, we’re continuing the dive into the world of daily fantasy sports by interviewing Lesley Eccles, co-founder of FanDuel and currently the Co-Founder and CEO of Relish. Last week I had Albert Chen, author of , on the show to walk us through the crazy story of the daily fantasy sports market but today we’re going to go behind the scenes. Lesley Eccles was a co-founder of FanDuel and in charge of marketing, including scaling their spend from $0 to over $300 million annually. She built FanDuel from a concept to a household brand name with 80%+ brand awareness in the target demographic in 6 years, growing the user base to 3 million active paying players. She also hand built a high-performing marketing team of approximately 50 people in offices around the world. Albert’s interview lays out the backstory in much more detail, but here are some key points: Hubdub launched in 2007 as a news prediction game In 2009, the team pivoted to the daily fantasy sports space and rebranded as FanDuel DraftKings entered the market in 2012 In total, DraftKings raised $776 million while FanDuel raised $363 million In 2015, the two companies spent a combined $750 million on marketing and advertising DraftKings was the largest advertiser in the country, beating Johnson and Johnson as well as Geico The next month, FanDuel was the largest advertiser FanDuel eventually sold to Paddy Power Betfair in a deal worth $465 million The founders and early employees got nothing in the deal Since leaving FanDuel, Lesley has started Relish, which is now the #1 relationship training app. In our chat, we cover how Lesley navigated seemingly insurmountable challenges, from FBI investigations to insane ad wars, what she learned from the experience, and how she’s using those lessons in her new venture.
Today, I’m talking with Albert Chen, a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and the author of . Albert isn’t a founder and frankly, the story of two companies that raised a combined $1.1 billion dollars probably isn’t that applicable to your business, at least not directly. That being said, it’s an incredible story and as a former professional poker player who now operates a SaaS company in the daily fantasy sports space, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share a bit more of that world with you. In our chat, we walk through the major events leading up to an advertising war where both companies spent a combined $750 million dollars in a single year, dig into the cautionary tale of FanDuel’s acquisition where the founders got nothing, and talk about what’s to come as the US opens the way for legal sports betting. Whether you have an ounce of interest in sports or not, you’re going to enjoy this conversation. So without further adieu, here’s Albert Chen, the author of Billion Dollar Fantasy!
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of , a Chrome extension that gives your Gmail account email marketing capabilities. Ajay grew his first business, JangoMail, for 10 years before selling it to a private equity firm. This time around, he is still looking for an exit, but also wants to leave an impact on the software and digital marketing when all is said and done. And 3 years in he is well on his way with a 7-figure ARR and 10s of 1000s of users. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building GMass to this point without hiring any W2 employees, why he has taken this approach, and how his strategy will evolve going forward.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , a SaaS that helps their 3,000+ customers develop relationships by building beautiful, personalized, and interactive developer hubs. They also recently announced that they raised a Series A round of financing, lead by Accel. In our chat, we focus on two key areas of any business: productivity and culture. When it comes to productivity, there is an obsession to getting more and more done and it’s why you can find thousands of “ultimate productivity hacks” out there. Greg values productivity, but has taken a unique “No Guilt” policy towards it which has had unexpected results. On the culture front, we break down what “culture” actually means, why it’s so important to the success of a startup, and how to maintain it as your company grows. This was a wide ranging conversation and I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of it. So without further adieu, here’s Greg Koberger of ReadMe!
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , email marketing software designed to help creators connect with their audience. I first came across Nathan years ago when I stumbled upon his book, Authority, and I’ve been following his story since. He launched ConvertKit in early 2013 as a challenge to build a web app from 0 to $5k MRR in 6 months and diversify away from his less stable income from his self-published books. 6 months later and ConvertKit was at $2k MRR so Nathan shifted his focus back to his other products. A year later, Nathan had a conversation with who told him he should either shut down the app or double down on it, but not to continue in the middle like he had been. While it wasn’t an easy decision, Nathan doubled down on ConvertKit, putting $50,000 of his own savings into it and giving it a full-time effort. Since then, ConvertKit has grown significantly. At the time this was published, in early September 2019, ConvertKit had $1.5 million in monthly recurring revenue, giving it an ARR of over $18 million. And the company is bootstrapped and profitable. Very profitable. While the business is insanely valuable, Nathan doesn’t have plans to sell and is truly enjoying the ride along the way. This is an easier decision to make when you remove a few couple zeros from the ARR, but when your business is worth over $100 million dollars, I don’t think many of us would have the same conviction. For Nathan, that conviction comes from building a business where he truly loves what he’s doing, the people he is doing it with, and the people he is doing it for. Building a business like that is no easy task, which is a massive understatement, but in our chat we peel back the layers and really get into how he made this work. This is not a tale of overnight success. It’s a story of building the business of your dreams and overcoming the obstacles along the way that are constantly trying to pull you off course. Whatever your goals are as an entrepreneur, Nathan is somebody we can all learn from, and I know you’ll get a lot out of this interview.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , where he and his team are working to create social, professional and economic infrastructure for individuals and teams who work remotely. The last job I had that wasn’t remote was when I worked at Best Buy in high school (and that was a long time ago) so I’ve had a lot of experience working remotely but that doesn’t mean I’ve figured it all out by any means. I’m still trying to figure out the best way for me to maintain productivity and sanity, and it’s tough. Now that I manage a remote team, I not only have to figure out what works for me, but I also have to help support the rest of the team and I still have a ton to learn there. Darren has thought about remote work more than just about anybody, and he has lived it himself as an employee and boss, so I was excited to have him on to pick his brain and see how we all can improve. In our chat, we dive into being an effective leader of a remote team, everything from how to support your team to the ins and outs of management. The future is remote, but we have to make sure we approach it the right way and Darren’s talk today will help us all do that.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of , a strategy, culture, and leadership consulting firm. Building a strong company culture and getting high levels of commitment from your team is a struggle in any business, but it’s made even harder when your staff is spread around the world, especially when you have a mix of full-time employees and contractors. That’s a situation I can relate to and I know a lot of listeners can as well which is why I’m excited to have Richard on the show today. In our chat, we dive into how to build commitment in your team regardless of if they are contractors or full-time, remote or co-located, or both. Richard breaks down how to know if you have a problem here and walks us through how you as a founder can work to fix it. So without further adieu, here’s Richard Medcalf of xquadrant!
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-founder and CEO at , the only CRM to offer lead management, email sequences, predictive dialers, and more. Steli has been somebody I’ve looked up to for a long time. I first heard him talk at and his authenticity and passion, let alone expertise, blew me away. The next year he was hosting a small workshop on sales and even though I had absolutely nothing to do with sales I took his workshop because I knew there would be more than enough value there, even if I didn’t know how to apply it. And I was right. Steli has built a remarkable SaaS company that profitably does many millions in ARR while fully remote and only raising a small amount of capital. That’s pretty much the dream for a lot of us. He co-hosts and has been on dozens of podcasts himself, so rather than re-hashing things he has covered all over the internet, I tried to dig into some areas I haven’t heard him talk much about, namely how he has personally navigated the evolving role of CEO as his company grows. If you’ve heard Steli before then you don’t really care what I say right now, because you know you’re going to listen and learn a ton while being entertained along the way. If you haven’t, then you need to. But if you haven’t heard him before, then I should warn you that there will be a good bit more cursing than in other episodes. Honestly though, this was one of the most fun interviews I’ve done and also one of the most insightful and I know you’re going to get a lot out of this.
Today, I’m talking with Kristen Gallagher, the founder and CEO of Edify, a learning strategy firm that removes the employee development challenges from scaling a startup. As you know, hiring is one of the hardest jobs a founder has. Sure, posting to a job board and finding somebody that checks the boxes isn’t complicated, but finding and attracting the right person for your team is anything but easy. Not only that, but once you’ve found that person, it’s then on you to get them up to speed effectively. And frankly, this is a place where most early-stage startups are completely dropping the ball. Even at later-stage companies, this crucial part of the process isn’t paid enough attention to. In our chat, Kristen dives into the pains of onboarding and how companies of any size can build an effective onboarding program. If you’re hiring 10 employees a month, you need something dramatically different than somebody making 1 or 2 hires a year, but you both need a plan and Kristen lays out how to build one that’s right for you. This episode is filled with actionable onboarding advice, but as she prepares for a sabbatical she’s done a lot of reflecting and we get into some of her own challenges as a founder, so this episode really covers all the bases.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of UserScape. UserScape are the creators of HelpSpot, web based and most recently Thermostat, to help you retain your best customers and win back critics. Ian was also the co-host of the which is how I first came across his work years ago as I was getting into the software world. He recently published an article titled, , that details his approach to getting Thermostat off the ground and that’s what he came on the show to talk about today. The bootstrapped world has already pushed back against the idea of “VC” levels of speed, but Ian talks about pushing it back even further. He first started working on Thermostat in early 2017 but didn’t want to pull team members off HelpSpot for too long or put in crazy hours himself, so he knew it would be a long process and he was OK with that. In our chat today, we dig into Ian’s “Windup” strategy, why it was the right fit for him and his team, who it wouldn’t be right for, and how he’s approaching the path going forward. We also get a little off track at the end when I find out about Ian’s passion for poker. With the stage I’m at now, still building my first company, I’m much closer to the “growth at all costs” stage than to Ian’s strategy and came into the conversation skeptical, to be honest. But talking with Ian really made me think about balance and that at the end of the day, it all comes down to what’s right for you. Ian has a ton of experience as an entrepreneur and hearing his sustainable approach to the journey is something all founders can learn from.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder and CEO of , a SaaS company that helps people design, launch, and manage a customer referral program. Josh started the business a little more than 4 years ago and with no funding has built a profitable business approaching the $1mm ARR mark with a team of 12 people. Everybody talks about how challenging it is to hire and while it hasn’t necessarily been easy for Josh, his approach to the problem has allowed him to expand his team in all areas with relatively few mistakes. In our chat we walk through what needs to happen before Josh thinks about hiring, how he onboards and manages new employees, and how he and his team approach goals and planning to keep Referral Rock growing. Josh has an amazing grasp on how to build effective systems that keep things on track while staying out of the way and these are lessons every founder can benefit from.
Today, I’m talking with David Heller the Co-Founder of Reimbi, a SaaS startup that helps hiring organizations impress job candidates with a modern approach to interview expense reimbursements. David launched the company in 2017 with his co-founder Paul and when we recorded this it had just been announced that Reimbi was part of TinySeed’s inaugural accelerator batch. In our chat we talk about the decision to join TinySeed, how David and his team are using the funding to grow his early-stage startup, and what they hope to get out of the year-long program beyond the capital. David is a driven and deliberate entrepreneur and no matter the stage of your business, the lessons David shares will help make you a better founder.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at , a SaaS startup that helps ecommerce businesses maximize conversion rate and grow average order value. I’ve been following Jordan’s story for years through , the podcast he co-hosts with Brian Casel. It’s been amazing watching him build CartHook from the sidelines and today I’m excited to have a more active role in things. In our chat, we learn what it’s been like building his business to a team of 24 (and counting), everything from his successes to his failures and how these lessons can help make you a better founder. Jordan is trying to build something big with CartHook and has approached it all very deliberately, so it was super interesting hearing how he approaches that, like how he balances growth and profitability and how he keeps leveling up the skills of his team and of himself. There were a lot of lessons from this chat that I’ve immediately applied to my own business, so I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of it as well.
Today, I’m talking with , Co-Founder and CEO of , a fund that creates optimal business exits for dynamic, transaction-based SaaS companies. I first heard of SureSwift through as they have been a long-time sponsor there. I knew they had bought from and done a few other deals, but I didn’t quite realize the scale of the business until I dug into it more. Kevin and his team have purchased more than 30 business in just 3 years, which is a wild number, especially when you consider they typically take a buy-and-hold approach. In our chat, we dive into how Kevin and his team have scaled up so quickly, what systems they have in place that allow them to manage this many companies, and what the future looks like for SureSwift Capital. One of the biggest things holding back companies from growing, or at least growing without making the founder go insane, is a lack of systems. You probably won’t need the same systems as somebody managing dozens of companies, but seeing his approach is sure to help improve how you approach your own business.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder of , a SaaS startup that helps customers grow their list and sales faster by treating people like people. Brennan and I go back a ways to when I was getting into consulting and stumbled across his site, , which had a tremendous impact on me and my business. Not only did I learn how to build up a consulting business from him, but seeing how he marketed his products was truly eye opening. He set his site up to be like a virtual salesperson and not like a chatbot that asks a few standard questions before giving some canned reply. Based on what he learned about you from surveys and your actions, he would show you a different version of his site, everything from different headline copy to different testimonials. It was amazing and he did a lot of high-end consulting helping other companies implement this personalization themselves. Today, Brennan and his team have built a product that put this powerful strategy into the hands of any marketer, even if they have no technical chops at all. While RightMessage quickly gained some traction, it hit a plateau around $20k MRR and it took a ton of work to figure out what was holding them back and finally breakthrough that plateau. By making significant changes to their product, including releasing entirely new products, and their positioning, they were able to restart their growth and they’ve seen tremendous results since. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building RightMessage to where it is today, what it took to turn things around when growth stalled out, and how these lessons can help make you a better founder.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder of both , a company that provides beautifully simple podcast hosting, and where they provide turnkey, end-to-end podcast editing and production services, and also the co-host of the . almost 3 years ago and in the time since not only has his passion for podcasting grown, but so has his business. It was that Castos will be part of inaugural batch and when I saw that, I knew I needed to get him back on the show. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building Castos to a team of 5 while remaining profitable and fully-remote, why he ultimately decided to seek funding, and how his goals have evolved since making that decision. When I think of startup accelerators, I typically think of very early-stage companies that haven’t yet found any traction, but that’s not the case w
Today, I’m talking with Sujan Patel, the Co-founder of Ramp Ventures, the team behind Mailshake, RightInbox, LinkTexting.com, VoilaNorbert, Quuu, Narrow.io, and Pick.co. I’ve been fortunate to get to know Sujan since my first interview with him a couple of years ago, and he has made a huge impact on how I approach business. Whether it’s help with introductions, getting into the nitty gritty details of an acquisition, or just leading by example, Sujan has been a great teacher to me. Now he is back on the podcast to share some of these teachings with you. In our chat, we dive into what it’s like managing and growing a portfolio of SaaS companies, everything from management to prioritization to metrics, and how these lessons can help make you a better founder. Sujan has a way to focus on what matters most and execute on that relentless, which has been a big part of his success. Even if you never plan on running multiple businesses, seeing how he does it, and does it very, very well, will be sure to help improve how you run your own operation.
Today, I’m talking with Henry Poydar, the founder and CEO of Status Hero, a SaaS startup designed to sync up your team, unearth obstacles, inform stakeholders, and cut through all of the noise. It’s a tool used today in small startups as well as bigger companies like Adobe, Comcast, and Nike. Henry was one of the very first guests I had on the podcast more than two years back and when I started rethinking the direction I wanted to take the show in, I knew I wanted him to be one of the very first guests this time around as well. I’ve always seen Henry as somebody who is deliberate about how he uses his time and whenever we’ve talked I’ve always been impressed by the way he has built and structured Status Hero. In our chat, we dive into how Henry has capitalized on his unique advantages, how he has built Status Hero on his own terms, and how you can apply these same lessons in your business. Henry admits that he still has a lot he needs to figure out but he is a few steps ahead, at least of me, on building the sort of business a lot of us ultimately want. Whenever I’m able to pick the brain of somebody like that, I always walk away with a new perspective on things and this conversation was no different.
Today, I’m talking with Kyle Racki, the Founder and CEO of Proposify and author of the new book, Free Trials and Tribulations: How to Build a Business While Getting Punched in the Mouth. Continuing the trend of recurring guests, Kyle first came on the podcast 2 years ago after Proposify went through a phase of hockey stick growth. In 2015, they went from $5k MRR to $75k and then they doubled in 2016. In the years since then, their growth has continued and they are now in the ballpark of $10 million ARR and recently closed an 8-figure round of funding. His business story is incredible, but when you learn his personal story it takes on a whole new meaning. In Trials and Tribulations, Kyle gives readers a transparent look into his personal life, from being shunned for leaving a religion he realized was a cult to dealing with divorce all while navigating the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. Rather than just rehash the book though, in our chat we dig into an area I think is particularly relevant to listeners: how Kyle went from turning down a $1.5mm termsheet one year to closing an 8-figure Series A a few years later. We also dig deeper into how those “behind the scenes” challenges have shaped Kyle and how other founders can better cope with their own struggles. This is an interview I’d been looking forward to for a while, and I don’t think it disappoints.
Today, I’m talking with Christopher Gimmer, the Co-Founder and CEO of Snappa, a SaaS startup that lets you create online graphics in a snap. Chris first came on the show almost exactly a year ago and shared how he grew Snappa to $20k MRR in just one year. As a MicroConf regular, it’s been great to catch up with him out in Vegas and hear how business is going but it’s not usually polite to grill somebody for 30 minutes in person, so I was excited to have the opportunity to do that today. Since our last interview, Snappa has nearly tripled and we talk about the lessons Chris has learned along the way; everything from hiring to how they’ve sustained this growth with a lean, profitable team. If you’ve always heard you need to pick growth or profitability, then Chris is here to tell you why that doesn’t need to be the case.
Today, I’m talking with Wyatt Jozwowski, the Co-Founder of Demio, a webinar platform that makes it easy for marketers to run successful webinar campaigns without the technical headache. Wyatt was first on the show about 18 months ago when Demio had just passed $40k MRR but a lot has changed since then and I wanted to have him back on to talk about the journey since that interview. Demio has continued to grow both its revenue and its headcount and in our chat we dive into what Wyatt has learned building out a high-performing team and how his own role has evolved in the process. Wyatt is somebody who is always able to take a critical look at how he and his team can improve and he shares his most valuable lessons on that with us today.
Today, I’m talking with Dodd Caldwell, the Co-Founder and CEO of MoonClerk, a SaaS startup that lets you accept recurring and one-time online payments in just 5 minutes. Dodd is somebody I first bumped into at Patrick Campbell’s conference, SaaS Fest (now Recur), a few years back and I’ve been following his story since. He and his small team have built a multi-million dollar a year SaaS business completely bootstrapped and they’ve done so while avoiding the spotlight and remaining humble. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building MoonClerk to millions in ARR and more than 6,000 customers all while running a lean operation, maintaining his sanity, and still finding time for the causes that matter most to him. Dodd has a refreshingly grounded take on entrepreneurship that everybody can get a lot out of.
Today, I’m talking with Alex McClafferty, co-founder of WP Curve. Alex joined WP Curve at the very beginning in 2013 when they were doing $5000 ARR. By 2015, that number had grown to $1mm ARR and in 2016 GoDaddy acquired the business. Drawing on his experience building, selling, and integrating a company, Alex is now helping other CEOs scale their business and get it ready for an acquisition through his work at Productize.co. WP Curve was one of the OGs in the content marketing game and I followed their story, and Alex’s as well, over the years. When I had a friend on the show, Jake Jorgovan, he raved about working with Alex and I knew I had to get him on the show to learn more about his life post-acquisition. In our chat, we’re going to dive into how Alex put together the deal to sell WP Curve, what the experience was like spending two years inside GoDaddy integrating and growing the business after the acquisition, and how he uses these lessons to help other startup CEOs. Just as a quick heads up, we ran into a few technical issues and had to do the interview over the phone so the sound quality isn’t perfect but I think the content more than makes up for it. It’s a bit of a cliche to say somebody held nothing back, but Alex lived up to that standard in this personal and insightful chat.
Today, I’m talking with Matt Wensing, the Founder and Chief Strategist at Riskpulse, a supply chain risk analytics company that helps its clients and their partners increase the predictability and stability of their financial and physical operations globally. His most recent project is SimSaaS, a growth forecasting tool for startups and investors. Throughout all my research on alternative funding models, I kept running into these incredibly thorough Medium posts and every single one was written by Matt. When I decided to dive into the topic more on this show, I knew that I had to get him on. In our chat, we dive into his 12-year journey building Riskpulse, how the idea for SimSaaS came about, and how it helps bring an objective lens to the discussion of startup financing. Matt’s passion for not just the topic but also for teaching and helping startups in general clearly shows in this interview and if you’re looking for an unbiased take on how to evaluate the different options out there, then this is it.
Today, I’m talking with Tyler Tringas, General Partner at Earnest Capital, a new fund designed to provide early-stage funding for bootstrappers. I’ve been following Tyler’s writing for a while now when he was documenting his journey of starting and eventually selling his SaaS, Storemapper, but when I heard what he was up to at Earnest Capital, I knew I had to reach out. I’m trying to focus this show less about day-to-day hacks and more about what it actually takes to be an effective leader and build a sustainable business. I think the sustainable part is one of the most important pieces of the equation to listeners, it definitely is to me, but it’s typically seen as a negative when it comes to traditional venture capital. Like Rob Walling from TinySeed, who I talked to last week, Tyler is trying his hand at finding a way to invest capital in a way that allows founders and investors to benefit from profitability. In our chat, we dive into what that looks like and how Tyler sees Earnest fitting into the startup ecosystem.
Today, I’m talking with Rob Walling. As an entrepreneur, he has started and sold multiple companies, most recently Drip. Rob has written three books, co-hosts the Startups for the Rest of Us podcast, and co-founded the largest conference for bootstrapped entrepreneurs, MicroConf. Most recently though, Rob founded Tiny Seed, the first startup accelerator for bootstrappers. In our chat today, we’re going to talk about why Rob decided to devote his time to this new venture and dive into the details of what the program will look like, everything from how investments will be structured to the types of companies he is looking for. The startup world doesn’t need to have a sharp divide between bootstrapping and venture capital and Rob is helping to bridge that gap with Tiny Seed. If your startup could use a one-time capital injection to accelerate growth or you just want to hear great lessons from somebody who has seen it all, then this is the episode for you.
The first time I'm able to talk about a deal I've been working on the last few months to purchase a and my plans going forward.
Today, I’m talking with Wade Foster, Co-Founder and CEO of Zapier, the easiest place to sync data between web apps. I’ve been a big fan of Zapier for years. Not just their product and how much time it can save by automating what used to be tedious, manual tasks, but their story. I won’t spoil too much in the intro, but Wade and his team have built a Zapier into a business with 200 employees that is doing $10s of millions in annual recurring revenue and they did this on just one round of seed funding. In our chat, we dive into what it’s been like building Zapier into the company it is today, everything from Wade’s successes to his failures and how these lessons can help make you a better founder. It’s not common that a founder stays on with a company all the way up to over 200 employees, let alone as the CEO, and Wade has some unique insights into what has made his story different.
Today, I’m talking with Jake Jorgovan, the Founder of the B2B lead generation service, Lead Cookie. Lead Cookie launched less than a year and a half ago and in that time, Jake and his team have built it into a business doing more than $50k in MRR. From the outside, the results are impressive, but this was no overnight success. In our chat, Jake shares the early struggles he faced getting the business off the ground, how he overcame them, and what he is planning for in the future. I’ve known Jake for a few years now and he has always been somebody I’ve looked to for advice not just around lead generation and sales, but on building a successful business. Jake doesn’t hold anything back in this interview and I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
Today, I’m talking with Benjamin Dell, the Founder of MissingLettr, a social marketing automation company that automatically creates 12 months worth of social content for each blog post you publish. I first came across Ben when he was putting together an online conference with over 100 speakers. What blew me away wasn’t just the scale of the conference, but the fact that he put it together and built a platform to host it in just months. Ben is a great example of a founder who is not just productive but also effective. He has used tight deadlines to force him and his team to focus on what matters most and today he shares what that looks like behind the scenes.
On this first episode of The Effective Founder, I’m talking with Chris Krimitsos, a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of expertise, to say the least. One of the hardest, but most important, things to do as a founder is identify where you add the most value and then structure so you can focus as much energy as possible on those things. In our chat, Chris shares how he has done that in multiple ventures and how you can do the same in your business. Chris has a wealth of experience and doesn’t hold back the lessons he’s learned on hiring, training, and scaling, among many other topics.
After nearly 100 episodes, it’s time for a change. Going forward, we’re focusing on the challenges founders face as their team scales. From topics like hiring and training to building systems, we’ll cover what it takes to become an Effective Founder.
Today, I’m talking with Andrew Warner, the Founder of Mixergy, where the ambitious learn from a mix of experienced mentors through interviews and courses, and most recently the Founder of BotAcademy.com, a site built to teach marketers how to generate more leads and close sales with chat bots. Andrew was one of the pioneers of the internet startup scene, building and eventually selling a $30 million a year business with his younger brother. Not only does he have hands-on experience, but through Mixergy he has interviewed thousands of other founders and his startup insights are practically unmatched. This was a fun but intimidating interview for me because if you’ve ever listened to any of Andrew’s interviews, and if you haven’t you should immediately, then you know he doesn’t hold back. Today’s interview on chat bots was no different. In our talk, Andrew shares what it is about chat bots that has him so excited, how they fit into the traditional sales funnel, and how you can quickly test the waters with your own chat bot. If you’re like me and think chat bots are more hype than substance, then this is an interview you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the founder of and , two profitable SaaS businesses that he sold within the last few years and has since been working on content and communications at . In addition to all that, Patrick is also a prolific blogger and commenter who has shared mountains of valuable advice for startup founders. This interview was really exciting for me, because Patrick is one of the people who originally drew me into the startup marketing space and somebody I’ve always looked up to. He genuinely wants to help as many startup founders as possible build a better business and it was an honor to get him on the show. If there is one thing he is most famous for, it’s his rallying cry of “charge more” and today we’re going to big into everything pricing. We’ll cover where startups go wrong when it comes to pricing, why charging more is almost always a good decision, and how you can improving your pricing and make more money.
Today, I’m talking with , the author of , a busy entrepreneur’s guide to content strategy and brand storytelling without spending all day writing. I first came across Kyle years ago when he was building and managing WPCurve’s blog and the content he and his team of writers were putting out there made a huge impact on me. Since then, he has continued to impress me with his work and his writing, so I was pumped to have him on the show today. In our chat, Kyle breaks down what he calls the Harvest Method which is his unique strategy to combine influencer marketing with content marketing for faster results in both. This strategy is something I cannot recommend enough to B2B SaaS startups who are looking for ways to break through that next level of growth, and Kyle shares everything you need to get started.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder of , a SaaS startup that makes it easy to capture more sales without driving more traffic by speaking directly to the person reading your website. If your sales person made the exact same pitch to every single prospect, you’d probably fire them, right? So why do you let your website do it? If somebody is already on your email list, why are you asking again for their email address on an opt-in? If you know what industry a prospect is in, why are you showing them testimonials from unrelated companies? The simple answer is because personalization is hard and requires enterprise-grade (and cost) tools or significant development. With RightMessage, Brennan aims to change that. In our chat, Brennan shares why personalization is so valuable, how valuable it has been to some of his early customers, and how you can get similar results without rethinking your entire marketing strategy. This is a masterclass on personalization that you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , the Head of Growth at , a company that changes the way consumers lease electric cars by removing the headaches and simplifying the process down to 5-minutes. Max and his team built MisterGreen Direct from $0 to $150k MRR in 150 days. Yes, $150k MRR in 150 days. Pretty impressive, huh? In our chat today, Max shares how he approaches growth in general, how he built a team to help him achieve these impressive numbers, and what their growth strategy looks like in practice. Max has an amazing mind for growth and shares some great insights in this interview. You don’t want to miss it
Today, I’m talking with , serial entrepreneur with multiple acquistions under his belt, partner in the investor network , and current founder of , and that helps companies accelerate product development cycles and rapidly validate mobile, web, and IoT product concepts. Steve was on the show last year for where he put on his investor’s hat to share unconventional strategies to fund your startup, but today we are getting a little more technical by talking about the developments in bots, like Alexa, and what they mean for your startup. As somebody who is always a little skeptical of the “latest and greatest” thing and doesn’t even use Siri on my phone, this chat was pretty eye opening. Steve shares how founders can use these bots in their business today, gets into where he sees them going in the future, and how your company needs to adapt to stay competitive.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO of , a SaaS startup that provides businesses with all of their subscription and financial metrics in one place, totally free. Another piece of the ProfitWell empire is Price Intelligently, which is a software and service hybrid that helps SaaS businesses optimize their pricing and make more money. Patrick was on the show for and in that episode he dove into the details of how SaaS startups are leaving real money on the table with ineffective pricing and shares how they can fix it. In today’s chat, we are going to go in a different direction by taking a behind the scenes look at how Patrick and his team have built this company into a $10 million dollar rocket ship, all while being completely customer-funded. Patrick is somebody in this space that when they talk, you need to listen, and I don’t think this interview is any exception. If you’re looking for practical, actionable advice for building a fast-growing startup without millions of VC dollars in the bank, then you’re in the right place.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and CEO of , a self-funded SaaS startup that aims to be the operating system for your business and is currently doing well into the eight-figures in ARR with more than 200 employees. A few years back, Peter gave a talk called, “From Happy Consultant Developer to Unhappy Product CEO” where he detailed how he built a SaaS startup out of his agency and scaled it up to a team of 70 people. The talk was incredibly transparent and one you shouldn’t miss, but in today’s chat, I catch up with Peter on what has happened since then and how things have changed on his journey to 200 employees and beyond. From the highs to the lows, Pete once again shares it all and no matter where you’re at in your own startup journey, this is an interview you don’t want to miss.
Today, I’m talking with , Partner at , the world’s leading research-based branding and marketing firm for the professional services. In our chat, we’re going to dive into the idea of the “visible expert” and how startup founders can build their reputation and become well-known leaders in their field. Liz walks us through what a Visible Expert actually is, why developing this expertise is so valuable, and the steps you can take to get there. If you’re finding it hard to stand out in a crowded market, this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , a serial SaaS CEO and Marketing Scientist. While he runs many businesses, his primary focus is currently , a tool that helps franchise businesses automate marketing, selling, operations, and pretty much anything that takes a lot of time. G. has built several successful SaaS businesses and he attributes much of their success to the way he created their marketing plans. In today’s interview, G. walks through exactly what goes into these marketing plans, why they are so effective, and how you can build your own. G. really knows his stuff and provides the sort of unique perspective the startup world needs more of.
Today, I’m talking with Ash Maurya, the Founder & CEO of which offers the tools, content, and coaching resources to help entrepreneurs succeed. He’s also the author of the books and , invaluable blueprints for building a successful startup and getting it off the ground. In our chat, we’re going to dive into the pieces of each book that I think are most relevant to listeners of the show which are what Ash calls the metrics of growth and how you can use those to find traction and grow your startup. If you feel like you’re moving forward without a clear plan, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO of , a media company that produces conferences, events, and training that aim to spark innovation and community engagement in the ever-evolving world of B2B sales. As a startup, having a great product is just part of the battle. In order to stand out from the crowd and scale your operations, it’s crucial to have a clear and efficient sales process. In our chat, we’re going to dive into everything sales, from what a sales process looks like to how you can get started building the one for your business. If you’ve been avoiding sales and aren’t sure how to get started, this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Pierre Lechelle, an Online Marketing & Growth Hacking expert who has helped over 150 SaaS companies grow their businesses. In our chat, we’re going to dive into what it takes to bring a startup from the seed stage to their Series A, including what investors are looking for and how to give it to them. If you’re looking to get to that next level of growth, even if you have no plans to raise money, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , the co-founder of , a SaaS startup that offers smart employee time tracking and screenshots, and also the co-founder of Staff.com, an enterprise-focused startup that uses AI to provide actionable employee insights. For a lot of new startups, and probably a lot of you listening, a remote team is almost the default way to structure a company. The list of benefits is almost never ending, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own unique set of challenges. In our chat, Liam will share the difference between building a remote team and outsourcing, how to build processes to keep the team on track, how to get your team to actually follow these processes, and how to avoid some of the common pitfalls along the way. If you’re looking to maximize the productivity of your workforce or even just minimize your headaches, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Laura Roeder, the Founder and CEO of MeetEdgar, a social media automation solution that helps over 7,000 customers catalog and schedule their social posts and updates. Since their launch in June 2014, their team has grown from 2 to nearly 30 people today, and are doing more than $300,000 in monthly recurring revenue -- bootstrapped the entire way. In our chat, we’re going to dive into how Laura has achieved this amazing growth with a completely remote workforce, everything from how she structures her team to her management philosophy. Regardless of the size of your business today, if you’re committed to growing with a remote team, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Omer Khan, the Founder of both Prestopod, a SaaS startup in the podcasting space, and SaaS Club which helps entrepreneurs build, launch and grow successful SaaS startups. In addition to all of that, Omer is also the host of The SaaS Podcast, which features in-depth interviews with proven SaaS entrepreneurs. There is a ton of content out there on getting a startup off the ground, and Omer has delivered a lot of that himself, but in this interview we’re going to focus on the stage many of you are at: growth. You have a product and you have customers, and now it’s time to accelerate your growth and really find traction. After helping hundreds of companies and talking to dozens of founders, Omer is an expert in what startups need to do to take their company to the next level. If you’re looking to grow your SaaS business the right way, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , the Director of Marketing at the SaaS startup . Voysis uses AI to instantly adds natural language voice search to ecommerce apps. In layman’s terms, this means shoppers can search and shop by simply saying things like, “Show me running sneakers” or “Add these in size 11 to my cart.” Ryan has taken the marketing lessons he’s learned working for companies like Twitter and applied them to smaller startups, managing to double traffic and triple leads with a budget of only $1,000. In our chat, Ryan shares how he did that and how you can take those lessons to build your own marketing machine without a large budget. If you’re struggling to generate predictable growth without breaking the bank, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , the Head of Growth at , an applicant tracking and recruitment startup that helps teams of all sizes optimize their hiring process. Managing growth is one of the most crucial concerns for scaling startups, and Ferdinand and his team have some data-driven insights that can turn any startup founder into a growth hacker. In our chat, we’re going to dive into how to build and run a growth team, everything from when to start to the process that will drive your own data-driven experimentation. If you’re looking to think more proactively about your company’s growth, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Jay Gibb, the Founder and CEO of CloudSponge, a SaaS startup, or as Jay refers to it, a feature as a service startup. CloudSponge helps companies like Airbnb, Yelp, and GoFundMe tap into the power of address books to generate more leads and referrals. Jay has built CloudSponge as a developer-run, engineering-led company that is fully distributed and in our chat we’re going to hear how he’s done it. We cover everything from hiring to managing, so if you’re looking to build your engineering force using remote workers, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Jeremiah Smith, the Founder and CEO of simpletiger, an agency that provides SEO services for SaaS companies. SEO can seem like the holy grail: a nearly unlimited flow of organic leads without having to pay a cent? What could be better? But if you’ve spent any time actually studying SEO, let alone implementing it, you know that the reality is much, much different. SEO can drive amazing results for your business, but it isn’t easy and it isn’t free. In our chat, Jeremiah shares his proven 3-step framework to help you get results for your SaaS startup. We cover what is working in 2018 and what isn’t so you can better prioritize your limited resources and grow your business. If you want to improve the impact of organic search on your business, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder of , the conference for global SaaS leaders. I’ve had other startup founders talk about how they put on conferences to cement their status as an authority in their space and build a community around their brand, but Alex is different because the conference is his business. The reason I thought this would be interesting is because since Alex is so involved in the SaaS space, he has applied the lessons from other startups to how he runs and grows his conference. And the results show he has been right on the mark. In our chat, we talk about how Alex went from blogger and podcaster to conference host, what it took to get that first conference off the ground, how he doubled attendees in the second year, and how he plans to double again next year. These are lessons in pricing, hiring, and scaling that apply to any SaaS startup.
Today, I’m talking with , the CEO and Founder of , and author of . Prior to reading Adele’s book, I always saw buyer personas as dated marketing gimmicks that were little more than a stock photo, some demographics, and a name like Mid-Market Mary or Small Business Steve. I just didn’t see how they could be acted on. Adele changed all of that for me and made me see just how valuable buyer personas can be to any business, when they’re done right and today she tells us how to do that. Adele shares everything you need to know to learn who your buyers really are, what they care about, and how to use those insights to win more business. If you’re relying on your assumptions, no matter how good you think they are, of why buyers choose your software over the competitors or what reservations they have before making the switch, then this is an interview you need to hear.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the CEO and Founder of the B2B market research firm and host of the . Sean has more than 20 years experience working in the B2B tech sector and after exiting a previous business, he launched Cascade Insights in 2006 and it has been growing ever since. For many of my listeners, one of their biggest challenges is growing their business beyond themselves and their founding team. Not only is it hard to know when and how to hire, but you also need to have the right pieces in place to manage and direct those hires. This is an extremely difficult task, especially for a first-time founder, and it is absolutely crucial to get this right if you ever want to grow. Luckily, Sean is here to draw on his decades of personal experience as well as the experience of working with hundreds of businesses to talk about how to go from 1 employee to 10. If you’re looking for practical advice about hiring, managing, and leading, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Guy Pearson, the Founder and CEO of Practice Ignition, a SaaS startup making smarter proposal software to help service businesses win more clients, do less admin, boost cash flow, and scale their business. Guy shares how he and his team have built their business on the back of trade shows and other live events. He walks us through the exact process they follow before, during, and after events to ensure that they get a measurable ROI, warns us of the common pitfalls, and shares how they plan to scale. The first half is super tactical, which has been the focus of this podcast, but we wrap up by diving more into how Guy’s role as founder evolved as his company grew and the important changes he had to make to keep up. I’m hoping this provides a valuable angle for listeners, but if I’m off base and you just want tactics and nothing else, let me know.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Brian Dean, the Founder of Backlinko.com, a site designed to help your business get higher search rankings and more traffic. If you’ve done even just some basic SEO research, then you’re sure to have come across Brian and his work as he truly is the leading authority when it comes to SEO. In our chat, we walk through Brian’s seminal “Skyscraper Methodology” and how it can help you rank for even the most competitive keywords, talk about the right and wrong way to do link-building, and discuss the future of SEO. If you know your business could use more search traffic but you’re struggling to separate the signal from the noise, this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Founder and CEO at where she and her team are on a mission to evolve the dating industry. Amy is one of the sharpest CEOs that I’ve spoken with and she has used those talents to grow 400% in the last 12-months, hitting nearly 1 million users. In our chat, we talk about how MeetMindful has used a team of more than 30 writers to produce 2,000 original articles as both a value-add to their members and a top-of-funnel acquisition channel. We also cover the importance of being authentic with your users, how to effectively survey them, and how to focus on the right priorities as you scale. Amy may not be a B2B SaaS founder, but with her experience and depth of knowledge, this is an interview that everybody can learn from.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder and VP of Sales at , a startup that makes it easy to launch your own advocate, affiliate or reseller program and start growing your signups, leads, reviews and sales. Getting a steady stream of qualified leads without hiring a sales team sounds amazing and that’s the idea behind partnership programs, but we know it isn’t as simple as setting up a tool and opening the floodgates. In our chat, Luke shares the proven strategies you can steal to build your own profitable partnership program. If you haven’t seen results from your referral program or don’t know where to begin with one, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Dr. Sherry Walling, a psychologist, podcaster, and the founder whisperer behind . I first came across Dr. Walling’s work at a conference where she spoke about what she calls the Owner’s Dilemma. The dilemma is that with all the freedom you get as an entrepreneur you also have a lot of responsibility, and with how hard it can be to relate those feelings to others, it can be an isolating pursuit. In our chat today, Dr. Walling shares how to identify some of the common challenges founders will face, how to better prepare yourself for them, and strategies for what to do when it seems like it’s too much to handle. These are all lessons that she covers in much more detail in her upcoming book, , but today’s chat is a great primer on the subject. If sometimes you feel like your business runs you rather than the other way around, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Nathan Gotch, the founder of GotchSEO.com where he helps businesses earn more search traffic through SEO. If you read up on SEO, it seems like everybody is obsessed with links, and for good reason: backlinks have been the biggest factor in getting a page to rank. Nathan is here to say that while links matter, going into 2018 you need to broaden your focus. In our chat, Nathan lays out why the search landscape is changing, what that means for your SEO strategy and your business, and shares the specific tactics he is using to continue to rank for competitive keywords without 100s of links. When you’re building a real business, you can’t take the risk of using grey- and black-hat tactics and if you follow Nathan’s advice, you won’t have to.
Today, I’m talking with Kai Davis, a business coach who helps entrepreneurs uncover hidden profits in their business without spending more on marketing. In addition to being a highly regarded coach and author, Kai is also the founder of the public relations agency Double Your Audience, and host of the podcasts “Make Money Online” and "Get More Clients." Kai was on this podcast back in episode 17 where we talked about using podcast appearances to grow your business. In that interview, we covered the specifics of how to maximize your opportunity as a podcast guest, but we didn’t discuss as much about how to get those interviews in the first place. Today we’re going to fix that by taking an in-depth look at how to use digital outreach strategies to land podcast appearances, guest posts, webinars, and all sorts of partnerships. If you’re interested in hearing a unique take on how to make traditional PR work and drive results in the digital world, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Justin McGill, the Founder and CEO of LeadFuze, automated lead generation software built to help you have more conversations with interested prospects. In our chat, we’re going to dive into Justin’s decision to bring in a co-founder to help with sales after the company was already off the ground. We discuss when it was clear his startup could benefit from outside help, how he found his new partner, what they’ve done since he joined, and how they overcame a nearly catastrophic mistake in their sales process. Justin doesn’t hold anything back and we really dig into how he and his team used trial and error to identify any problems and iterate to success. Whether you don’t yet have a sales team or you already have a profitable and growing team, Justin’s mindset when it comes to approaching these questions is something every founder can learn from.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Johnathan Dane, the Founder, and CEO of KlientBoost, an agency that helps businesses make more money through intelligent PPC marketing and creative landing page design and testing. Johnathan has built this into a multi-million dollar a year business in just a few years because he understands marketing and he gets results for his clients. He shares more of the KlientBoost story along with some in-depth PPC tips in episode 4 of this podcast which I’ll link to the show notes. Our chat today is all about scaling. We start out by talking about PPC, including how his team identifies the low-hanging fruit for their clients and how they scale those campaigns. As the chat goes on, we shift our focus to how Johnathan and his team have built out training programs to get new hires up to speed and ensure consistency across the team. Everybody loves talking growth tactics, but without being able to put the right people in place and train them to get results, you won’t be able to scale. Today’s episode covers both sides of the coin.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Co-Founder at CEO at , an all-in-one sales engagement platform that is built for the modern sales team. (Note: It has no relation to the I work for which makes simple help desk software for growing teams). Now that we have that out of the way, I’m excited to get into today’s topic of how sales reps are saying goodbye to the used car salesman cliche and starting to incorporating lessons and strategies from the marketing world into how they sell. In our chat, we cover what exactly it means to take a marketing approach to sales and how you can apply these lessons in your own startup. If you think the sales process has to be sleazy, then this is an episode you need to hear.
Today, I’m talking with , a Growth Marketing Manager at , and formerly the Growth Marketing Manager at . I first came across Alex when I stumbled upon a few of his articles on SaaS conversion optimization. These articles were great and you should check them out, but after digging into thing a bit more, what really stood out to me was the incredible results that Alex was getting from his content marketing efforts that made me find these articles to begin with. In our chat today, we’re going to dive into how Alex doubled ConversionXL’s blog from 125,000 visits a month to 250,000 in his first year, his tips to scale beyond that, and even what startups shouldn’t consider content marketing for their primary growth channel. Whether you’re already getting results from your content or just starting out, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Josh Haynam, the Co-Founder of Interact, a company that makes it easy for businesses to generate leads and drive sales using quizzes. Interact’s main competitors have raised a combined $24 million dollars while they’ve remained bootstrapped the entire way. This hasn’t slowed them down as Josh and his team consistently win customers away from the big players and have grown over 300% this year. They did all of this with content marketing and in our chat today, Josh will walk us through the exact process they use to get these results and how he plans to scale the strategy over 100x from where it is today.
Today, I’m talking with Jim Brown, the host of the SalesTuners Podcast where Jim talks with world-class sales performers to help listeners close more deals and make more money. For many founders, sales skills don’t come naturally, but Jim argues despite any objection a founder can make, they need the be the first VP of Sales for their company. And no, you can’t just bring in a sales person to handle this for you. Luckily, Jim also lays out a process you can follow to develop sales skills and demystifies what it actually means to sell. If getting on the phone and trying to convince somebody to buy your software is your idea of a personal hell, then this is the episode for you because you’ll find out why when you sell the right way, selling doesn’t have to be so bad.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Wyatt Jozwowski, the Co-Founder at Demio, a SaaS webinar platform designed to help you attract more customers and build better relationships. Wyatt and his team have a rapidly growing business today, but their startup’s outlook hasn’t always been so bright. In fact, just a few years ago, they almost had to shut the company down. In our chat, we’re going to dive into what went wrong in the early days and how they turned things around to get where they are today. If you’re thinking about throwing in the towel or just want to learn from the mistakes of another founder, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Lars Lofgren, the Senior Director of Growth at I Will Teach You To Be Rich and an all around expert on B2B growth. Lars helps companies build out new channels and optimize existing ones to give them predictable ways to find and accelerate their growth. The plan was to cover how Lars approaches growth on a strategic level and then dig into the A/B testing program he has used to help companies triple their conversion. But things changed once we got started. While Lars shared his approach to growth, as we started talking, it was clear that A/B testing simply isn’t the right tool for early-stage startups. Even Groove, the company I work for with over $5 million ARR, is too early for this advice. So we changed things up. Today, Lars covers what an early testing approach could look like, but this episode is about much more than testing. Instead, we shifted the conversation and Lars laid out the principles for early-stage startup growth and the best way to get started. If you’ve never heard Lars talk about growth before, then you are in for a treat. And if you have, then you’ve probably already fast-forwarded through this to get to the good stuff.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Adam Robinson, the Co-Founder and CEO at Hireology, a platform that helps businesses manage their full employee lifecycle, from hire to retire. Adam is also the author of The Best Team Wins, a book that shows you how to build your business through predictive hiring. As your business grows, you’re faced with a new set of challenges and one of the hardest you’ll have to tackle is hiring. Adam is right, the best team truly does win, and if you want your startup to succeed, you’re going to have to get the right people in place to help you get there. In our chat, we’re going to dive into Adam’s step-by-step playbook that you can follow to hire the right person for the job and build your best team.
Today, I’m talking with Kristin Zhivago, the author of Roadmap to Revenue: How to Sell the Way Your Customers Want to Buy and President of Zhivago Partners a digital marketing management company that helps clients with customer and digital presence research. We hear it time and time again, “You need to get out of the office and talk to your customers.” But we rarely hear about what that actually looks like in practice and how that helps us grow our business. In our interview today, Kristin changes that by laying out how to interview your customers to get the information you need and then what to do with that information once you have it. If you aren’t regularly having calls with your customers, and I mean multiple times a month, then you need to listen to this episode. Even if you are having those conversations, tune in so you can be sure you’re getting the most out of them.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Barrett Brooks, the Director of Marketing at ConvertKit, a SaaS startup that makes email marketing software for creators. At the time of this interview, ConvertKit has an Annual Run Rate of just over $9 million dollars and they got here completely bootstrapped. Barrett and his team have had a lot of marketing wins we could talk about, but today we are going to dive into his experience launching a new conference called Craft and Commerce back in June. They went from idea to execution in only 5 months and we’re going to find out not just how they did that, but why it was such a big priority.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the owner and Lead Planner at , an event management company that partners with startups to plan and host incredible events so they don’t have to. I had on the podcast a couple episodes ago and she gave us a great high-level look at what goes into planning an event and how to avoid some of the common mistakes. Today’s chat with Xander is a perfect compliment to that as we really get into the nitty gritty details of event planning as he shares the game plan for hosting a successful live event. This episode is super actionable, so get your pen and paper ready to take some notes. If you’re interested in hosting a conference or any live event really and want a game plan for how to get started, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Rob Rawson, the CEO and Co-Founder at Time Doctor and Staff.com. In our chat, Rob shares the strategies he and his team used to build a multi-million dollar SaaS business, but where we really focus is on the future. So many companies forget the problem their software is ultimately trying to solve for it’s users. Rob’s customers don’t just want time tracking tools, they want to be able to measure and improve their team’s productivity. To truly provide that solution for them, Rob and his team need to solve some hard problems, and today he shares how they are doing that. If you’re worried about increasing competition in your space, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Conference Director at where she is in charge of pulling together their incredibly popular every year. Back in , I talked with Jordan Muela about why hosting a conference appealed to him as a founder and today Julie builds on that by offering the perspective of somebody more behind the scenes. If you’re curious what exactly goes into running a conference, how to make your event stand out, or just want some advice for how to get started with live events, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the co-founder of , a SaaS tool that looks at browser, email, and other data to make it easy for you to personalize your marketing to give every user the right message. In our chat, we dive into why personalization is so important, how to get started, and Shai shares some advanced tactics he has experimented with that are sure to improve your conversion rates. If your website is serving all of your visitors the same, generic content, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the co-founder and partner at , a venture capital fund that rolls up their sleeves and partners with their portfolio companies for success. Zelkova has an impressive portfolio including companies like , , as well as 17 exits from companies like and . In our chat, Jay covers why Zelkova was drawn to the B2B SaaS arena, the framework they use for evaluating potential investments, and unravels some of the common BS you hear so often in the startup and VC world. Where we really dive in, though, is the power of building relationships when it comes to raising money. Whether or not you are considering pursuing investment or maybe already have taken on investors, this episode is packed with actionable advice you can use to build a better business.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , co-founder and COO of , a SaaS startup that helps their users nurture leads, generate referrals, and unleash passionate advocates in minutes a day. As Contactually grew, Tony realized that the skills he and his co-founders used to grow the company in the beginning were much different than those needed as the headcount started to grow. Instead of just worrying about getting shit done, he and his co-founders needed to become true leaders. In our chat today, Tony explains why leadership is such an important quality for scaling a startup, what this looks like in practice, and how you can develop this skillset even if you don’t see yourself as a natural leader. If your headcount is growing and you find yourself a bit too stuck in the weeds, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Mark Faggiano, the founder and CEO at TaxJar, a SaaS startup that automates your sales tax calculations, reporting, and filings in minutes so you can spend time on your business. As a startup founder you need to be versatile and prepared to wear dozens of different hats in order to get things done, but if you let the company itself get pulled in too many directions, it’s going to be hard to make progress. In our chat, Mark dives into the importance of focus in early-stage startups, how their own focus has given them a competitive advantage, and how you can figure out what really matters in your startup. If you feel like there are dozens of paths you could take but are unsure what one is best, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m doing something a little bit different. Instead of bringing a guest on, this episode will be just me and I’m going to talk about how I used podcasting with a previous client, Hubstaff, to help them expand their audience and accelerate their growth. A lot of people have been asking me about how podcasting works and I gave a short talk on this at MicroConf, but I wanted to go a bit deeper than I was able to before and share it with the listeners of this show. In this episode, I’ll cover why podcasting was such a good fit for Hubstaff, how we actually launched it, the challenges we faced along the way, and I’ll even share something that almost every podcaster out there could implement to dramatically accelerate their content marketing efforts. While a lot of this content is obviously going to be specific to podcasting, if you spend time interviewing anybody at your startup, whether it’s for case studies or customer development then you’ll learn a few tips to make the most out of those interviews.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with who runs , a design consultancy that uses research-driven A/B tests to generate revenue for online businesses. In 2017, there are very few founders out there who aren’t familiar with the concept of A/B testing, but even with that awareness, very few have actually established a consistent testing process in their own startup. A big reason for that is it can be hard to know where to start and what to actually test. In our chat, Nick lays out the exact process he follows to use A/B testing to make more money for his clients and he also shares lessons you can apply even if you don’t have a lot of traffic. If you’re growing but you feel like you could be growing faster, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the Senior Marketing Manager at where he is responsible for driving new acquisition growth via podcast partnerships, digital sponsorships and affiliates. Robb and his team have used these channels to drive impressive growth for Freshbooks and in this interview, he shares how you can do the same in your startup. It seems like I’m constantly hearing how great sponsorships and affiliate programs can be for a startup, but if you ask anybody that actually has had success with those channels, you know it isn’t as easy as people make it seem. Luckily for us, Robb breaks everything down for us from how they find potential partners, to the specific ads they run, to how he and his team manage all of these relationships. If you’re interested in pursuing partnerships for your startup but aren’t sure how to get started, this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with and , co-authors of , a book that lays out how today’s fastest-growing companies drive breakout success. It also happens to be available in stores today. Morgan and Sean both have extensive, hands-on experience helping startups accelerate their growth and are the co-founders of , the top online community for growth hackers. I’ll be honest, before this interview the term “growth hacker” rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed a bit to me like marketing’s equivalent of “rockstar developer” and was little more than silicon valley hype without much substance. After reading their book and talking with them, however, I can unequivocally state that my initial impression of growth hacking was off the mark. If you want to hear what growth hacking really is all about and how you can use it to dramatically accelerate the growth of your startup, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , founder of , a collection of articles, tools, and services you can use to take control of your customer data and use it to improve profitability. Jim spent 10 years as VP of Marketing and Programming at the Home Shopping Network and over that time he carefully developed this methodology and since leaving HSN, he has refined these methods while helping other companies improve their bottom line. Startups obsess over data today and this often leads them to have more data than they know what to do with. This is a better starting point than having no data at all, but without knowing what data to focus on and how to act on it, it still doesn’t get you anywhere. This chat is a deep dive into everything segmentation. Jim covers why it matters, how to approach the segmentation problem, and lays out the step-by-step process any startup can follow to use segmentation to improve their bottom line. If you feel like you have too much data and not enough insight, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on The Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with John O’Nolan, the co-founder of Ghost, a fully open source, hackable platform for building and running modern online publications. Ghost was founded in 2013 after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, and today it has been installed over 1 million times and the company has an annual run rate of over $760,000 at the time of this recording. Ghost is also structured as a non-profit foundation because from the beginning John and his team have wanted to remain true to its users, no shareholders. This means that the company can never be bought or sold, and all revenue is reinvested into the product and community. In our chat, we cover everything from how John managed to get 100,000 signups within the first 24 hours of his campaign to the whirlwind that came after the campaign ended. Where we really dive in, though, is how Ghost has established and maintained a strong culture as the team grows and why that is so important to their success. If you want to grow without losing sight of your values, even if those values are motivated by profit, then this is the episode for you.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for the world’s biggest conference for self-funded software companies. These episodes have been focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder and today we are wrapping up with the final episode of the series, and it’s a big one. Today, I’m talking with who has over 13 years of experience leading digital marketing strategy for companies like SalesForce, Mint, Zillow, and LinkedIn. Last year he helped drive over 8 million unique visitors to his client’s sites, and to top it all off he currently owns and runs 5 successful SaaS companies with his partner at . Oh, and he has done all of this while remaining bootstrapped. Sujan has given dozens of interviews before on all kinds of topics, so for our chat I wanted to dive into something he hasn’t spoken much about, the inner workings of Ramp Ventures. Sujan’s goal is to build a $100 million dollar business and in our chat we cover the high level strategy and specific tactics he is using to get there. Sujan is a SaaS all-star and he doesn’t hold anything back today. Regardless of where you and your team is at, or even if you don’t have a team, there is a ton of value in this interview.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for MicroConf the world’s biggest conference for self-funded software companies. These episodes have been focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder and these week we are wrapping up with the final 2 episodes of the series. Today, I’m talking with Josh Nielsen, the founder of Zencastr, a SaaS startup that makes it easy to record remote interviews in studio quality and it’s what I personally use to record most of these interviews. In our chat, Josh shares why it took 2 years before he started charging for the product and what the transition from free to freemium looked like, but where we really dive in is how Josh is preparing to make his first few hires. The first employees of any startup are absolutely crucial to success and Josh shares a smart approach to making these hires that any founder can learn from. If your startup is going to be hiring in the near future, then this is the episode for you.
For the next 2 weeks, I’ll be releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for on April 9th. These episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the founder of a SaaS startup to help coffee roasters run better and more profitable businesses. In our chat, we cover everything from how Jon used his experience running a roastery to launch a SaaS app to the struggles he had getting the product developed as a non-technical founder. What I think is most valuable for you, though, is hearing about Jon’s struggles as a solo founder and his plans to grow his team beyond himself. If you’re thinking it may be time to expand your team but aren’t sure where to get started, this is the episode for you.
For the next 2 weeks, I’ll be releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for on April 9th. These episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. Today, I’m talking with , a co-founder of , a SaaS startup designed to make it easy to find influencers and automate your outreach. In our chat, we cover everything from how Dave and his team managed to turn things around after a failed beta to why they aren’t setting out to build the next unicorn, but where we really dive in is the exact content marketing and influencer outreach process Dave and his team used to fuel their 10x growth from $3k MRR to $30k MRR in 18 months. Dave will be the first to tell you that this process isn’t revolutionary, but if you apply it consistently, you will get results, and today Dave shares everything you need to do just that.
For the next 3 weeks, I’ll be releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for on April 9th. These episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the CEO and Co-Founder of , a bootstrapped SaaS startup that is building a better sales experience for property managers. In my chat with Jordan, we cover everything from getting stuck in refactoring hell to the biggest contributor to LeadSimple’s growth, but the focus of this episode is on the conference Jordan and his team just put on. Hosting a conference gives any startup immediate authority, but it’s a ton of work to pull it off, not to mention the financial risk involved of booking a venue before selling any tickets. Luckily for us, Jordan covers everything you need to know to decide if hosting your own conference is right for your startup and lays out the steps to take to get started.
For the next 3 weeks, I’ll be releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for on April 9th. These episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. If you already have a team or have raised money, don’t skip these weeks. To succeed as a self-funded startup, you need to be hyper focused and these guests share the tactics that have allowed them to build a business with limited resources. And if you are just starting out, then these guests will help give you a plan of action so you can avoid some of the same mistakes they made. Regardless of where you’re at with your startup, I know you’ll get actionable lessons out of this series. Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Brian Casel, the founder of Audience Ops, a startup that makes content marketing easier for busy founders, by offering done-for-you services as well as software tools. Most people assume that running a service business means you’re selling your time for money and that it is impossible to scale with healthy margins, but Brian has proven that doesn’t have to be the case. While we get into the ins and outs of how he has productized his services to allow him to grow, where we really dive in during this chat is the process he followed to validate and launch the software component of his business, the Ops Calendar. I’m sure you’ve heard countless experts preach about the importance of validating your software idea by pre-selling it before building it, but rarely do they get into the details. Luckily for us, Brian gives us the step-by-step process he followed to do just that.
For the next 4 weeks, I’ll be releasing an episode on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to gear up for on April 9th. These episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs over 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. If you already have a team or have raised money, don’t skip these weeks. To succeed as a self-funded startup, you need to be hyper focused and these guests share the tactics that have allowed them to build a business with limited resources. And if you are just starting out, then these guests will help give you a plan of action so you can avoid some of the same mistakes they made. Regardless of where you’re at with your startup, I know you’ll get actionable lessons out of this series. Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Mike Taber, co-host of MicroConf and the , founder of , and the author behind . In our chat, we talk about Mike’s new startup, , and cover everything from how he validated the idea to why having a pre-existing audience isn’t necessarily a big advantage, but where we really dive in is how he handles the balancing act of improving the product while also marketing it. If you struggle to know where to focus your limited efforts, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m doing something a little bit different as I gear up for MicroConf in April. was started by and and is an amazing conference for self-funded software companies that I look forward to every year because the community is great and the talks are invaluable. So what I’m going to do is release 2 episodes a week for the 4 weeks leading up to MicroConf and these episodes will be focused on self-funded, often solo-founders. Some are on the smaller side, while others have ARRs approaching 7-figures, but they all have valuable lessons to share for any founder. If you already have a team or have raised money, don’t skip these weeks. To succeed as a self-funded startup, you need to be hyper focused and these guests share the tactics that have allowed them to build a business with limited resources. If you are just starting out, then these guests will help give you a plan of action so you can avoid some of the same mistakes they made. Regardless of where you’re at with your startup, I know you’ll get actionable lessons out of these next 8 episodes. For the first interview in the self-funded series, I’m talking with Christoph Engelhardt, the founder of and Author of the . Today he shares why email marketing is such a powerful channel for SaaS startups and lays out simple but effective strategies you can implement in your startup today.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the CTO of the automotive video tech company, , where he launched , a startup within a startup as he calls it. In our chat, we cover everything from how he got early validation for the product to how he and his team are preparing for rapid growth, but where we really dive in is how they achieved that growth using trade shows and partnerships. These are strategies I don’t hear enough startups talking about, so when I had the chance to pick Collin’s brain about how he has applied them at Dealer Video Showroom, I jumped at the chance. If you’re tired of hearing about the latest and greatest growth hack and want tried and true strategies for growing your startup, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , whose resume is hard to cover in this short intro, but I’ll do my best. He was most recently the founder of , a lightweight marketing automation tool that was acquired by in 2016. Before that, he bought, grew, and sold the keyword tool , is a co-founder of , an online community of entrepreneurs helping each other succeed, author of , co-host of the , and co-founder of , the world’s biggest conference for the world’s smallest self-funded software companies. He also has bought and sold many, many other smaller apps and websites along the way. If you couldn’t tell, Rob embodies the term prolific when it comes to building companies and sharing his knowledge, and is one of the driving forces behind the self-funded startup movement. If you aren’t familiar with him, stop listening to this and head over to andybaldacci.com/podcast/rob to find the show notes for this episode and check out the links to everything, including several interviews covering what it was like selling a sizeable SaaS company. You won’t regret it. Since Rob is so prolific, I wanted to focus on something he hasn’t talked about as much: what happens after you sell your company. In most cases, you don’t ride off into the sunset with bags of money. In fact, you almost always are required to stay onboard, sometimes for up to 3 years. In this interview today, Rob shares what the post-acquisition transition was like, what could have made everything easier in hindsight, and his advice for founders who see an exit in their future. I’ve looked up to Rob ever since I read Start Small, Stay Small years ago, so having him on the show was a real treat for me, but I think this is an episode you’ll get a lot out of as well.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the co-founder and CEO of , a SaaS tool that lets marketers and entrepreneurs create graphics in seconds. Chris has only been in the startup world since 2014, but in that time he built a Bootstrap Theme store up to $10k/mo in sales before selling it, and bootstrapped his current startup to $20k MRR in the first year while only charging customers $10 to $15 a month. In our chat, we cover everything from how Christopher made the decision to go all-in with entrepreneurship to how he validated the idea for Snappa, but where we really dive in is discussing the exact steps he followed to achieve such fast growth in the first year of the business, and the unexpected challenge he and his team faced along the way. You don’t want to miss this one because Christopher holds nothing back.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Randy Rayess, the Co-Founder of Outgrow, a growth marketing platform that enables marketers to build interactive content/tools to increase customer engagement and boost demand generation. Outgrow is Randy’s second startup, and in our chat today we cover how the idea for Outgrow came from running his first startup, VenturePact, how they dogfooded their software to help grow the startup, practical tips other startups can use to accelerate their own growth, and how Randy and his partner prioritized their hiring decisions as they grew. Randy has a ton of experience growing startups as he works with them every day to help get results from his software, and in this interview he doesn’t hold anything back.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with , the CEO and Co-Founder at , a company that provides the software, processes, and training to grow your inbound agency. I spoke with Andrew’s co-founder, on , and absolutely loved what they were doing to help agencies grow, but as I dug deeper it became clear just how good these guys are at growing and building their own business. I’m also a bit podcast obsessed and was blown away that they’ve been able to put out 4 different podcast series to cover all of the information their target market could need. Today we dive into why Andrew found it worth the investment to produce 4 podcasts, how they use those podcasts to drive their content marketing, and how they make sure all of that interest actually helps increase their bottom line. If you’re struggling to reach your target market or feel like your content isn’t standing out from the crowd, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show I’m talking with Kai Davis, the founder of Double Your Audience, a consultancy that helps business owners manage their most valuable relationships, build new ones, and promote their business. In our chat, Kai shares how to grow your startup by going on a podcast tour. A lot of founders are wising up to the value of building their audience and authority by appearing on podcasts, but few are taking full advantage of this opportunity. Kai is here to fix that by telling you why podcast tours are so valuable, how to get started, and how to be sure you get an ROI. If you know you need a bigger audience, but aren’t sure where to begin or aren’t getting results, then this is the episode for you.
Today, on the Early-Stage Founder Show, I’m talking with Drew Sanocki, the CMO of Teamwork, a SaaS company that creates business management apps to help streamline processes, connect with customers, and collaborate with your team. Soon after getting his MBA from Stanford, Drew founded an online design retailer and quickly grew it to a leader in the space. After eight profitable years of operation, he sold the company and started consulting with other businesses, including a 10-month stint where he took an 8-figure business from bankruptcy to profitability. And today Drew helps build growth systems for 8 and 9 figure retailers. While his background is in e-commerce, the framework he operates within applies just as well to SaaS startups and he is getting his chance to prove that by coming in as Teamwork’s CMO. It’s easy for marketers to get caught up in tactics while losing sight of the big picture and today, Drew is going to help simplify things by laying out the 3 ways you can grow your SaaS startup and how he is implementing that plan at Teamwork. If you ever feel like you’re churning through marketing tactic after marketing tactic without getting real results, then this is the episode for you.
Today, I’m talking with Pat Bhava, the Founder and CEO at PikMyKid, a technology company established with the goal of streamlining the student dismissal process in a safe, secure, and expeditious manner. Since launching in 2013, Pat’s team has grown and so has the product which now serves as a platform to make it easy for schools to connect with parents. Pat and his team raised a $1 million seed round back in September and they are currently working on another round to fund their rapid growth. Most of my guests so far have avoided going the VC route, so this chat today is a great change of pace. Today, Pat talks about what it’s like running a VC funded company, but where we really dive in is the challenges of selling into schools, how he had to get creative at the start, and how their sales model is changing as they grow. Not only is Pat a former fighter pilot and deep sea diver, but he is a successful entrepreneur who has built and sold three companies, and he shares a ton of knowledge with us today.
Today, I’m talking with Len Markidan, the Head of Marketing at Groove, a SaaS startup that makes hassle-free customer support and engagement software for small businesses. Len has been with Groove since the very beginning and he attributes much of their success today to their execution of an effective content marketing strategy. Content marketing has been all the rage for startups the past few years, but so many startups have invested time and money without seeing results. However, this isn’t because content marketing is dead, it’s because most people don’t approach it with the right mindset and today, Len is here to set the record straight. In our chat we cover how Groove struggled to get traction early on, what it was like to spend 6 months rebuilding the product from the ground up only to launch to crickets, and how they turned things around and built a $5 million dollar ARR business on the back of content marketing. If you’ve struggled to get content to perform for your startup, then this is the podcast for you.
Today, I’m talking with Pawel Grabowski, the founder of UserMagnet.io, a done-for-you content marketing service for B2B SaaS companies. Pawel is an experienced SaaS copywriter with over 5 years of professional experience who has written hundreds of blog posts, guides, ebooks, and other lead generation assets. In our chat, we cover everything from common content marketing mistakes to using the 80/20 rule to prioritize your promotion strategy, but where we really dive in is how to get measurable results from content marketing. Pawel shares the process he follows to help B2B SaaS startups grow their user base and generate leads through a targeted content strategy. If you’re tired of not getting results from your content, then this episode is for you.
Today, I’m talking with Kyle Racki, Co-Founder and CEO of Proposify, a SaaS startup based in Halifax, Nova Scotia that helps digital agencies and freelancers create beautiful proposals in the browser, streamline their sales and get faster client sign-off When Kyle and his partner started with proposify, growth was slow which is something I’m sure most founders can relate to. However, in 2015 the hit the proverbial hockey stick growth and their MRR shot from $5k to $75k, a 15 times improvement. And last year, they doubled. In this interview, Kyle shares the long grind that lead to their so-called overnight success, how they have sustained such a massive rate of growth, and actionable advice to help you apply some of those same strategies in your startup
Today I’m talking with Dave Gerhardt, the Director of Marketing at Drift, a messaging app designed to help you grow your business. Dave has spent the last 6 years work at SaaS marketing companies like HubSpot and Constant Contact, and after joining Drift he and his team have produced tremendous results by bucking the mainstream. In our chat, we cover everything from the tools and approach Dave uses to measure ROI to how to actually get your content in front of your target audience, but where we really dive in is the drastically simplified approach to marketing that Dave and his team have taken at Drift. When you visit their site, you aren’t swarmed by dozens of CTAs, popups, push notification requests, and all of the other gimmicks that plague the rest of the web. Instead, throughout the entire site you just see a friendly chat box offering to help along with two opt-ins: one to start a trial, and the other to join their mailing list. If a site like that sounds like a breath of fresh air but you’re curious about whether or not it drives results, then you don’t want to miss this interview.
Today I’m talking with Steve Tingiris, a serial entrepreneur with a very impressive resume that doesn’t easily fit into this short intro. Today Steve is the founder of the startup studio Dabble Lab, where they develop software and help entrepreneurs and business leaders turn ideas into market-ready products. Steve is also a partner and investor in Florida Funders, an investor network that helps accredited investors find and invest in early-stage Florida-based companies. But Steve isn’t here to say you need to go down the path of fundraising. Instead he talks about what the different funding options are for founders and draws on his experience of selling 3 startups himself as well as investing in many others to share honest advice about how to make the best decision for you. This advice is important for any early-stage founder, especially if you are thinking about starting the fundraising journey soon. It may be the right path for you, and for many it is, but it’s important to ask the right questions upfront, and today Steve shares what those questions are.
Today’s guest is Chris Lema who is one of the best storytellers I’ve run into and after hearing him speak at a conference, I knew I needed to get him on the show. While Chris has decades of experience doing just about everything with software companies (and doing it well) for this interview we dive into how startups can build, and keep, high-performing teams. Spoiler alert: it takes more than a foosball table. Chris covers how to hire high-performing employees, how to create a culture where employees thrive, and how to compensate them so they actually stay. With how competitive the market is for developers, knowing how to hire and keep the best talent is crucial to your success.
Today I’m talking with Craig Hewitt of Podcast Motor, a full-service podcast editing and production service that helps entrepreneurs take the heavy lifting out of podcasting so they can focus on creating content and growing their audience. I think podcasts are one of the most powerful tools a startup can use to compliment their content marketing and accelerate their growth, but they aren’t for everybody and frankly, they are a lot of work. Craig shares his thoughts on who should consider starting a podcast, why it is such a powerful medium, and how to cut through all of the noise and quickly get started. If you’ve been looking at ways to improve your content marketing, this is the podcast for you.
Today I’m talking with Casey Cobb of Project Ricochet, and many, many other projects. He actively works with and advises 6 different businesses, from tech startups to a brewery, and does all of this while working 40 hours a week, allowing him plenty of time to be an active father and husband. Casey’s success flies in the face of the common startup wisdom that you need to work long, grueling hours and make huge personal sacrifices if you want success, and today he is here to share with you the tool that makes it all possible. I actually had Casey on my other podcast, Agency Advantage, and his advice there had a huge impact on me in a short amount of time and I knew I needed to get him on this show to get his message out to more founders, especially those who wear 80 and 100 hour work weeks as a badge of courage.
Today I’m talking with my friend Henry Poydar, who sold his first company, Bantam Networks, to Constant Contact and shares how he is doing things differently the second time around in his new startup. Technology is supposed to help makes our lives, and businesses, easier, but in reality it seems to be doing the opposite. Today we have slack, we have email, we have meetings requests, reports, the list of distractions is endless. Henry attributes much of his success to being able to maintain focus amidst all of these distractions, and in our chat he shares the specific tactics and strategies he uses to do so. If you spend more time responding to all of the things that come up during the day than you do actually working, or need to work long hours to make up for those distractions, then this is the episode for you
Today I’m talking with my friend Dave Chung, who bought a SaaS app that he has more than tripled in two and a half years, all while only working on it part time. In our chat, Dave covers the criteria he used to identify a good buy, what changes lead to the fastest growth, and what he struggled with along the way. If you’re considering buying a company, this is a must listen. But even if you are starting it yourself, Dave covers the mistakes many founders make when building a startup that make it harder to sell when that time eventually comes. So regardless of your goals or where you are currently at with your startup, you’re sure to get a lot out of this episode.
Today I’m talking with Johnathan Dane of Klient Boost, a PPC agency that works with SaaS startups to get them more trials and demos. Unlike other PPC agencies, Klient Boost understands that the conversion doesn’t happen when somebody clicks an ad, the conversion happens on the landing page, so they go the next step by creating highly optimized landing pages to get their clients the results the need. In this episode, Johnathan shares the common mistakes he sees SaaS startups making with PPC, how they can fix it, and the fundamental trait startups need to resist in order to succeed. If you think Facebook ads are dead, or don’t work for B2B, then you need to listen to this episode so Johnathan can set you straight. He’s also just hilarious to listen to.
Today I’m talking with Patrick Campbell, founder of Price Intelligently where he and his team help SaaS leaders align the right product to the right customer for the right price in order to boost revenue and learn more about their customer. I first came across Patrick at MicroConf where he gave an amazing talk on pricing, and as soon as I launched this podcast I knew I needed to get him on the show. This was my first time doing an interview in person and my standard mic didn’t do the best job, so the audio isn’t the best, but I promise, the content is more than worth it. Patrick has seen inside hundreds of SaaS companies, I’d actually be surprised if there is anybody out there that has seen inside more, and today he shares the lessons he’s learned from that access and how you can apply those lessons to your own company. We obviously talk a lot about pricing, but Patrick’s insights don’t stop there and he drops some real knowledge bombs that fly in the face of the common startup advice. You don’t want to miss this. Oh, and if you use per seat pricing, Patrick also shares why you should probably reconsider
Today I'm talking with Ryan Battles, author of SaaS Marketing Essentials and co-founder of Harpoon, a financial goal‑setting, time‑tracking, and invoicing app for freelancers and consultants. Ryan shares what lead to him writing SaaS Marketing Essentials, how he has applied those lessons to Harpoon, what has worked well, what hasn’t, and shares the surprising ad channel they used to cheaply build a launch list. Ryan has a great mind for thinking holistically about how to build and market your SaaS, he literally wrote the book on it, so you guys are in for a treat with this one.
Today, I'm really excited to be talking with Josh Pigford of Baremetrics which provides zero-setup subscription analytics and insights for Braintree, Stripe, and Recurly. Josh launched Baremetrics in 2013 and hit 5k MRR within the first five months completely bootstrapped, doing everything himself. Since then, Baremetrics has raised 800,000, built a team of 7, and grown to 55k MRR. In this interview, Josh talks about what it's like to get off to such a fast start, the decision to raise money, their plans for growth in the future, but above all else he talks about his decision to embrace transparency and how he is able to drive forward in the face of all the armchair quarterbacks it brought out.