The Top Entrepreneurs In Money, Marketing, Business And Life

Sam Caucci, founder of Sales Huddle, a training and development team using gaming technology to help organizations better prepare their people for the workforce. With work delivered across North America, Europe, and Asia, Sales Huddle has impacted people across organizations in a wide array of sectors and clients, that include professional sports teams, politics and government, hospitality, retail, colleges, and many more. They’re applying an innovative approach to people preparing for the workforce, and Sam is over the creation of the training game platform. It is the first game-based platform that transforms the way an organization on-boards, trains, and develops team members. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Emotional Intelligence What CEO do you follow? — Someone who’s not living right now Favorite online tool? — Rapportive and Mixmax Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20-year-old self know one thing, what would it be? — Not to think I knew everything. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:09 – Nath

Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori. Their business was started in 2015, and it is already seeing 50% growth each month. Learn about Cam and Akin’s recipe for success as we discuss their products and how their business is run. They are showing incredible numbers for their startup, so let’s take some notes on how these two single guys saw financial success in the baby industry. Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favorite online tool? – Google Hangouts Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Go for it, in terms of entrepreneurship   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:26 - Nathan introduces Cam and Akin, founders of Baby Mori 01:44 – Cam and Akin target gifters 02:20 – Cam and Akin explain the company 02:51 – Revenue came mostly from parents and gifters buying directly 03:22 - They talk about their multiple skews and how they manage them. 04:43 – Their sleep suits are their best sellers. 05:25 – M

Brendan Candon, cofounder and CEO of SidelineSwap, a community market where athletes buy and sell their sports gear. Most of their users are middle school, high school, and college athletes selling online for the first time. They’ve got revenue and traction with gross sales running close to $2 million. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – High Output Management What CEO do you follow? — Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour Favorite online tool? — Slack and Appear Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7 – 10 If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —“Be sure, with whatever you’re doing, that you can do it for five years.” Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:22 – Nathan introduces Brendan 01:40 – SidelineSwap makes it easy for athletes to buy and sell sports gear. 02:25 – SidelineSwap was launched in 2012, and really took off in 2015 03:22 – The company takes 12 percent from the seller to make money. 04:33 – They didn’t make any money for the first couple years, but in 2015 they did $400000 in sa

Khuram Hussain, founder of Inbox 2 and now Fileboard. The two companies reached multi-million-dollar worth, and Khuram provides insight into his two businesses and how they have succeeded. He gives us an idea of Fileboard’s revenue and what factors go into his company, which has grown to be worth millions in just a few short years. Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? —Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Trello Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Not to go and run for corporate   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:16 – Nathan introduces Khuram Hussain 01:44 – Khuram started Inbox 2 in his twenties. 02:31 – Khuram explains the history of how Inbox 2 started 03:15 – Inbox connects everyone from one single platform (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) 03:44 – Inbox grew to 60 million users 04:22 – Inbox was bought by MyLife 04:44 – Khuram valued the business by user base and engagement 05:05 – Inbox was a team of 12 peo

Hank Leber, founder and CEO of Vytamin. Vytamin is a marketing technology software that provides an end-to-end marketing solution. The business made $460,000 the first year and is excelling in its industry. Hank will share his insights from failing with his first business to succeeding with the next. He is a great example of an entrepreneur who has persevered to create a service that works. Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – The Lean Startup What CEO do you follow? —Jason Lemkin Favorite online tool? — Google Apps Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No way If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Cheat a little   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:28 – Nathan introduces Hank Leber, founder and CEO of Vytamin 01:55 – Hank worked with Travelocity before Vytamin 02:16 – Vytamin is marketing technology software for an end-to-end marketing solution 02:47 – The service starts at $1000/month 03:24 – Vytamin is a SAS company 03:54 – Hank’s first business was founded at the beginning of 20

Adam Lee, cofounder and CEO of Bohemian Guitars. The business sells guitars made out of recyclable materials, and the majority of its sales in through the website bohemianguitars.com. Nathan and his brother are now making over $1 million per year, and their initial marketing strategy focused on crowdfunding. Their marketing strategy has found the secret to making money through these crowdfunding sites. Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – Tribes by Seth Godin What CEO do you follow? — Nick Woodman Favorite online tool? — Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Definitely not If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — I wish I wasn’t caught up in saving for the future   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:16 – Nathan introduces Adam Lee, cofounder and CEO of Bohemian Guitars 01:40 – The company is a retail brand and manufacturer, with guitars made out of recyclable materials 2:20 – A guitar costs about $250, with $50 cost to produce 02:48 – Most sales go through the website 03:05 – They sta

Ryan Levesque, author of business methodology book Ask. Ryan wrote his book as a unique type of “business card.” It was a marketing tool for his “Ask Method” for businesses. After putting $1 million into his book, Ryan is now seeing the benefits, with tens of thousands of copies sold and a viable business in the education industry. Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don’t be so afraid, man   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:16 – Nathan introduces Ryan Levesque, author of Ask 01:55 – Ryan wrote the book as a business tool, “a business card.” 02:40 – The first half of the book tells his personal story, a polarizing element for the book. 04:08 – more than 55,000 copies have sold. 04:35 – He was introduced to a publisher with no royalty, and his second book will have an advance 05:18 – He spent $1 million

Alex Berman, cofounder of Inspire Beats, a B2B lead generation company that focuses on cold emails to help businesses succeed. The business took off quickly and is now worth about 1.3 million. With no money raised, Inspire Beats’s secret recipe is clearly working. Listen to Alex and I discuss a few ingredients in his recipe for success. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – 10X Rule What CEO do you follow? — Chris Hardwick Favorite online tool? — Streak Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Almost 4 hours of sleep at night If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Power emailing   Time Stamped Show Notes: 1:20 -Nathan introduces Alex Berman, cofounder of Inspire Beats 01:54 – Alex explains Inspire Beats, a B2B lead generation company 02:39 – Form Stack used Inspire Beats to reach people in the US 03:15 – Alex talks about their different price packages 03:55 – They have over 700 clients 04:20 – Revenue is about 1.3 million per month 05:35 – There are thousands of companies who do the

Amanda Newman, who opened her first store in high school. She became a realtor, and went on to create Park Bench - a SaaS business that creates neighborhood-focused websites for realtors who want to connect to their community. She and her partner made $880k in revenue last year and this year they’re shooting for a million.   Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue What CEO do you follow? — Grant Cardone Favorite online tool? — Unbounce Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Take some computer programming and design courses   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:23 – Nathan’s introduction 02:22 – Park Bench creates neighborhood-focused websites 02:47 – Amanda wanted to create value for the communities that she worked in - so she built a neighborhood website 03:34 – Local businesses put deals and promotions on the website 04:15 – “After the first one, it was easier to create the second one” 04:40 – Amanda sells neighborhood sites

Mike Wilner, the co-founder and CEO of Compass, a web design marketplace for small businesses. Mike’s a Venture For America fellow and has secured funding for his startup - a platform which handles marketing and project management for web designers and connects them to small business clients. Listen in to find out why you should forget the startup hype and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.   Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – The Servant What CEO do you follow? — None. I prefer following athletes. Favorite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Close If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Don’t believe all the hype in the startup world. There are just as many falls as there are success stories.   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:18 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Compass works with network of freelance web designers - they connect small businesses to designers, manage projects, and take a cut 03:23 – Compass takes a 40% cut of everything that co

Anh Vu, the founder and CEO of Avocode - a tool to connect front-end designers and back-end developers and make fantastic collaboration simple. Anh’s background is in design, but he’s building a SaaS business with negative churn and great profits by being totally on top of his numbers.   Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – The Startup Playbook What CEO do you follow? — Hiten Shah Favorite online tool? — Chart Mogul Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Measure everything, be really data driven, and focus on retention   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:13 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Avocode makes it easy for front-end designers to share information with back-end developers 02:50 – The designer uploads the design into Avocode, where all the team can access it, leave notes, and make revisions. Then the developer can access all the design assets through Avocode 03:25 – As of May 2016,  $50k MRR 03:57 – Launched in February 2015 03:54 – $25

Amanda Parker, the founder of Simply Insight - a high-end data analysis service that’s six months old and making $30k in MRR from just 10 clients. Amanda previously ran a successful marketing agency whose clients included Pepsi and 20th Century Fox, and she’s leveraging that experience to build her SaaS business incredibly fast. Listen in to hear how Amanda’s managing her first angel investment round, how she signed her first client before even having a software platform, and how she’s getting unbelievable return on CAC. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue What CEO do you follow? — Jason Lemkin Favorite online tool? — Zoom Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Relax and stop worrying: do the work, but stop stressing about it Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:13 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – “We found that data was a huge problem for our clients, and a huge opportunity” 02:54 – Amanda shut down her growing marketing company to

Pavan Boob, the founder of Fuel Panda, a weekly subscription service that means you’ll never have to hunt for a gas station with an angry fuel light again. Fuel Panda refuels commuters’ cars while they’re parked. It’s in the early stages of the 500 Startups accelerator - but Pavan has big ideas. Tune in to hear how he plans to keep up with the Tesla, how he bootstrapped from the bottom up, and why it’s crucial to give your ideas 100%. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – Crossing the Chasm What CEO do you follow? —Mark Zuckerberg Favorite online tool? — Trello Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go for what you want. Pick something and give it 100% Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:12 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Fuel Panda is a weekly gas refueling service 02:15 – They’re a SaaS business that charges a subscription fee plus a margin on the gas 02:40 – Started in January 2016, working with over 100 customers and doing around 80 refuels per we

Blake Smith, CEO of Cladwell - a SaaS business that helps you to dress exceptionally well with the smallest possible wardrobe. Blake and his team tried over 20 different revenue models before they perfected their business - and they’re hoping to hit $1 million in revenue this year. Listen in to hear how to stay friendly with ex-co-founders, why you need to test and test your ad channels, and why Blake wishes he’d bootstrapped his company. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – Anything in the HBR series What CEO do you follow? —Sheryl Sandberg Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —That it was okay to follow my curiosity Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:47 – Cladwell helps you do more with fewer items of clothing 02:11 – They sell a tool that helps you to dress each day and cut down your wardrobe 03:19 – Founded 2 ½ years ago 03:20 – Over 200k people have filled out their initial q

Alex Taub, the co-founder of Social Rank. He and his co-founder created an algorithm to identify the ‘Most Valuable Follower’ on Twitter and other social media - and it went viral. Now they’re making over $50k each month from their social media analytics software. Listen in to hear why businesses are leaping on the chance to curate their followers, how Alex built his business so fast, and why you should work for someone else before you launch your big idea. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – I like blogs more - but I guess my book, Pitching and Closing What CEO do you follow? —Marc Benioff Favorite online tool? — Rapportive Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Go to a medium sized startup and work there before you do your own thing Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction 02:06 – Social Rank is primarily for brands and agencies 01:50 – “We found out that in many cases, the most valuable followers are public figures” 02:56 – S

Brett Hagler, the founder of New Story a charity that’s transforming slums into sustainable communities worldwide. Brett and his team are determined to change the way charities work, and they’ve created their own software platform to maximize transparency, accountability, and user experience. Listen in to hear how Brett plans to build 1000 communities in the next 10 years, why he chose charity over social entrepreneurship, and why it’s crucial to follow your own path. Famous 5: Favorite Business Book? – Insanely Simple What CEO do you follow? — Brian Chesky Favorite online tool? — Audible Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Don’t do what everybody else is doing. Spend time learning about the world and have an open mind. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:15 – Nathan’s introduction 01:23 – New Story transforms slums into sustainable communities 01:50 – They created a platform to crowdfund homes and public buildings for communities in the Third Wor

Max Nussenbaum, co-founder of Castle and a Venture for America fellow based in Detroit. Max and his co-founders are revolutionizing property management in one of America’s most opportunity-rich property markets. Tune in to hear what Max is doing differently, why he defends splitting equity evenly with his co-founders, and why you should be investing in Detroit. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – Anything You Want What CEO do you follow? — Henry Ward Favorite online tool? — Instapaper Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Relax a little bit Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:27 – Nathan’s introduction 02:04 – Max is based in Detroit 02:20 – Castle manages rental properties for owners - they find tenants, collect rent, and coordinating repairs 02:29 – They make money by charging a flat fee of $79 per month per rental unit 03:00 – They want to simplify the pricing structures associated with regular property managers 05:30 – Founded in late 2014 and launched

David Fortino, who discovered NetLine aged 26 and convinced the CEO to hire him. He’s now the head of Audience Development and has developed the Rev Response customer distribution network. Tune in to hear the inside story on the net’s biggest B2B lead generation and content publishing business. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – Traction What CEO do you follow? — Gabriel Weinberg Favorite online tool? — Clearbit Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Focus on developing and refining cadence Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 02:20 – Why did David want to work for NetLine? 02:50 – Being able to monetize a base through contextually relevant inclusions really appealed to him 03:44 – Netline is the world’s largest B2B-specific content syndication and lead generation platform 03:55 – They work with large enterprise technology companies to distribute their content to specific audience segments 04:30 – Nathan: “If I gave you a finance e

Charles Gaudet, founder of Predictable Profits and author of The Predictable Profits Playbook. Charles is a business coaching and online marketing expert who’s made money in real estate, self-publishing, and private coaching. Listen in to find out how he became profitable after going $1 million into debt overnight, why you’ll do better if you write a book, and why entrepreneurs should be staying in line. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – Losing my Virginity What CEO do you follow? — Marcus Lemonis Favorite online tool? — AdEspresso Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Stick with one strategy and master it Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:55 – Nathan’s introduction 01:25 – Predictable Profits is a business coaching and marketing company 01:44 – Started his business on a pay-for-performance model, where he’s paid a percentage of the business increase he secures for his clients 03:00 – His pet health insurance company closed down in 2000 when the crash

Steve Olsher, sometimes called the world’s foremost re-invention expert. He’s known for the bestseller What Is Your WHAT? - helping businesses and individuals find the one amazing thing they were born to do. Steve writes, speaks, runs multiple businesses, and is the host of Reinvention Radio. Tune in to learn how Steve’s crushing it in e-commerce, the secrets behind his bestseller, and the one place where he’s generating 400k unique site visitors a month. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – Guerilla Marketing What CEO do you follow? — Adam Braun Favorite online tool? — GetEmail Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — These are the golden years Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction 02:30 – Steve’s working on multiple projects simultaneously 03:12 – Liquor.com is crushing things right now 03:40 – It’s a site that connects brands to bartenders and liquor-lovers 04:20 – The site has had its ups and downs - they lost the domain name at on