The Top Entrepreneurs In Money, Marketing, Business And Life

Vincent Dignan is a growth hacking expert who was voted the best speaker at South by Southwest this year. He’s just launched The Growth Hacking Playbook and he’s turning marketing upside down by ditching the platitudes and giving people practical advice and tools on how to actually generate traffic. Listen in to hear about how to get to 1 million unique website views per month, how to find anyone’s email online, and why networking events are a waste of time. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The 48 Laws of Power What CEO do you follow? — James Altucher Favourite online tool? —Audiense Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Don’t go to networking events. And start public speaking earlier. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:34 – Welcoming Vincent to the show 01:50 – Vincent provides consultancy, coaching, and speaking services that help them to grow their business 03:00 – Use Charlie app - it will find all of the publically a

Growth Hacker Marketing and The Obstacle Is The Way. Ryan’s an expert on media manipulation, resilience and growth - and his new book Ego Is The Enemy is due out soon. Tune in to hear why ‘fake it til you make it’ is terrible advice, why Donald Trump won’t last long, and what you can learn about business from Angela Merkel, Marina Abramovich, and Kanye West.     Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:12 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – “I’m fascinated with the accumulation of wisdom over the last thousand years” 02:25 – Ryan dropped out of college, and assisted Tucker Max and Robert Green 02:40 – Ryan was the director of marketing at American Apparel and has since authored 4 books 03:50 – He had a $250k advance on his first book, Trust Me, I'm Lying 05:35 – The economics of books - the advance might not be high, but sales can build 07:42 – The Obstacle is the Way has been used by the NFL, the military, and other competitive areas 09:06 – “If you can build multiple income streams, you can take more creative risks” 10:10

Beth Milligan, a virtual assistant and online strategist who’s building her business from scratch. Tune in to learn from Beth about claiming back your time, tools to simplify accounting, and starting a business while looking after a toddler. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Big Magic What CEO do you follow? — Kim Garst Favourite online tool? —Tailwind Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—To be more confident, and that she could do anything she put her mind to Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 02:04 – Welcoming Beth to the show 02:50 – Beth helps entrepreneurs gain time back by carrying out the tasks they don’t want to do 03:40 – Beth charges a monthly retainer up-front 04:40 – Beth uses Freshbooks to manage her accounts 05:35 – She uses the time tracking feature to log hours and generate invoices 07:00 – Beth’s expenses are under $50 per month 08:55 – Beth has one young kid 09:20 – Beth’s still looking to build her product

Nathan Chan, founder of Foundr magazine. Nathan’s a master of Instagram who generates around 400 leads a day from the channel. He’s rocketed the Foundr app to the top of the app store, beating out Entrepreneur magazine and other competitors. Listen in as the two Nathans discuss building an unbeatable list, tips to win at Instagram, and whether Nathan would sell his business for $30 million today. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Ready, Fire, Aim What CEO do you follow? — Vishan Lakhiani Favourite online tool? —SamCart Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Party more Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:45 – Welcoming Nathan to the show 02:30 – Nathan’s already been featured on the show 03:10 – Instagram is probably the most valuable revenue driver that Foundr have 03:20 - Their account has around 700k followers 03:40 – Instagram account has generated around 150k email subscribers 05:25 – A VA generates the graphics: they rec

Alex Skatell jumped into the incredible competitive online media space and founded the Independent Journal Review. Today it’s one of the top 50 websites in the country, with over 20 million unique views a day. Listen in to hear Alex and Nathan break down the future of online publishing, making money through news, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to go up against giants. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – David and Goliath What CEO do you follow? — Fred Smith Favourite online tool? — Asana 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 with your gut Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:32 – Nathan’s introduction 02:11 – Welcoming Alex to the show 02:25 – Why go into online publishing? 02:50 – Alex wanted to create a platform for self-published news in college 03:30 – “People aren’t looking at the front page of the paper to find what’s news” 03:50 – News is becoming more feed-driven: Alex’s company puts out content every 4 minutes 04:20 – 700k people on the email l

Heather Havenwood, CEO of Havenwood Worldwide, and an authority on marketing and online business strategies. Heather’s the author of several books including Sexy Boss, and she’s making $900 a day from affiliate marketing emails alone. Tune in to hear how Heather’s crushing affiliate marketing, why you don’t need to build great funnels to be an online marketer, and how to build fantastic marketing relationships.   Famous 5:   Favorite Book? – The Game of Life and How to Play It What CEO do you follow? — Jim Rohn Favourite online tool? — Mobit Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Get into online marketing before others do. Start now!   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:28 – Nathan’s introduction 02:20 – Welcoming Heather to the show 02:30 – In 2015, Heather made the most money from Dating Triggers.com, a product that claims to teach men “how to communicate with women” 03:27 – Heather focuses on email marketing 03:50 – Video is a key part of

Adam Valkin, managing director at General Catalyst partners. General Catalyst have invested in tech startups such as Air BnB, Stripe, Kayak, and ClassPass. Adam’s worked with top venture capital firms in Europe and the States, was the CEO of LoveFilm, and has many years of experience investing in startups. Listen in for a fascinating conversation on the future of online gaming, the process of investing in tech start-ups, and why it’s better to disrupt than be disrupted. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – Good To Great What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Bezos What is your favorite online tool? — GIPHY 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’s a young person’s world. In your 20s, everything is possible for you. Don’t wait. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:33 – Nathan’s introduction 02:43 – Welcoming Adam to the show 03:10 – How did Adam get started in venture capital? 03:40 – Got involved with European internet companies, looking for a new frontier 04:17

Anshey Bhatia, founder of Verbal+Visual - a platform for optimising e-commerce that’s become one of Shopify’s top partners. Listen as Nathan and Anshey talk about what growth means, where e-commerce is going, and the importance of focus. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – Traction What CEO do you follow? — Myself - I look at everything I’m spending time on during a day What is your favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Very close If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —To focus Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:23 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – Welcoming Anshey to the show 01:44 – Verbal+Visual is an agency that works with e-commerce brands to develop their user experience 02:09 – Recently worked with Uproot 02:20 – Anshey likes working with Shopify because it’s simple for both IT and management 03:30 – Worked with Shopify to create the first wine integration on their site 04:30 – Average e-commerce platforms go from an average of $50k to high-end $300k 04:54 – Initia

Shawn Freeman, a man who’s trying to make IT easy instead of infuriating. Sean’s the founder of TWT Group in Canada - a managed IT solutions company that’s making a 30% profit margin on its $2 million in revenue. Listen in as Shawn and Nathan talk creating great relationships, where to invest profits, and how Shawn plans to grow to $10 million in revenue in the next five years. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – A Leader Who Had No Title What CEO do you follow? — Dan Price What is your 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? —I wish I had the ambition to quit my job earlier and get started Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan’s introduction 01:49 – Welcoming Shawn to the show 01:57 – TWT sells managed IT solutions to businesses with between 10 and 100 employees 02:45 – “You’ve got to solve problems every day...most of those are to do with people” 03:18 – Started in 2011 03:20 – Revenue in 2011 was $75k 03:40 – Shawn gav

Bryan Bedera, an artist, business leader and founding partner at Amplify Relations. Bryan’s an expert in government advertising and PR strategy who’s received multiple awards for his work. Listen in to hear how Bryan started his business using his student loan, what startups can learn from Ted Cruz’s campaign, and why you’re better off being in the local paper than courting Buzzfeed. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – I don’t have one What CEO do you follow? — Steve Jobs Favourite online tool? — QuickBooks Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and let things work themselves out Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:12 – Nathan’s introduction 02:23 – Welcoming Bryan to the show 02:36 – Bryan started out working for a political ad agency - was laid off when the recession hit but managed to keep a client for himself 03:25 – Has worked for McCain and Glenn Beck 04:17 – “Our speciality is mass-market relations” 04:40

Rob Riggs, founder of Your Design Online: a business that helps non-profits and small businesses use big-brand tools to optimize their websites. Rob took his business from $5000 in revenue to over $1.2 million last year. Listen in as Rob and Nathan talk web optimization, driving growth through referrals, and how to get the most from your investments. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – anything by Marcus Buckingham What CEO do you follow? — Guy Kawasaki What is your favorite online tool? — SEOReview Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —To stick with it. The harder you work, the luckier you get. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction 01:45 – Welcoming Rob to the show 01:53 – Works on web development and optimisation 02:25 – “We work on the front end to maximise revenue, or the back end to streamline functionality” 03:25 – Typically work on a project-by-project basis, but have some retainer clients 03:44 – Starts in $6-8k range for a sm

Aman Advani, a man who’s bringing technological innovation to the fashion industry. Aman’s the founder of Ministry of Supply, a company that’s employing engineers alongside fashion designers to bring performance technology into the wear-to-work clothing space. Listen in as Nathan and Aman talk minimum wage, which numbers to focus on, and just how Ministry Of Supply made 14x their Kickstarter goal. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – Good To Great What CEO do you follow? — John Carlson What is your favorite online tool? — Boomerang Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —In building a business, all the easy things are hard and all the hard things are easy Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:58 – Welcoming Aman to the show 02:08 – Ministry Of Supply generates revenue through selling products 02:40 – Company launched on Kickstarter in 2012, raising $429k - 14x their goal 03:34 – Sampler package sold for $150 03:53 – “We didn’t factor

Eddie Vaca. Eddie’s the founder of Amp Live, a company that can generate thousands of online viewers for your live event. Eddie worked for Youstream before deciding to take over the online live video space on his own. Listen in as Nathan and Eddie talk selling your first company, generating 300,000 viewers for a 20-minute show, and why live video is taking over the internet. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Jack Dorsey and Gary Vaynerchuk What is your favorite online tool? — Grope bots Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —You can’t do it by yourself. Surround yourself with great people. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:48 – Welcoming Eddie to the show 02:08 – Eddie created his first digital publication aged 24: it was an action-sports lifestyle publication that was published via DVD 02:45 – AOL bought it for $25k 03:20 – Eddie’s embarrassed about the price now - b

Erica Douglass, a techie-turned-marketer who’s started Austin’s top-rated chain of phone repair stores. Erica’s business is entirely bootstrapped and profitable - they’re currently in 7-figure revenue and planning to double their store count in the next year. Listen in to hear how Erica tripled revenue in just one year, why small businesses need to leverage Yelp, and how to tell if your phone repair shop is lying to you. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – The Seth Books What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favourite online tool? — Light Speed Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — That she had even more self-confidence than she did Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:15 – Nathan’s introduction 01:38 – Welcoming Erica to the show 02:02 – Austin’s top independent repair shop 03:05 – 7 employees at 2 locations - currently making 7 figures in revenue 03:55 – Erika’s computer crashed during a conference - her friend repaired it 05:25 – Erica bought into his repa

Nathan Klarer, CEO at Bridgecrest Medical. Nathan’s building a B2B SaaS company that uses wearable technology to minimise accidents in mines and oil rigs. He’s 25 years old and has already raised $1.3 million. Tune in to hear about what’s next for wearable technology, how Nathan’s driving sales, and why he wishes he’d started sooner. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – Influence What CEO do you follow? — Larry Ellison Favourite online tool? — Nova Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — To have more confidence in myself and start earlier Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Welcoming Nathan to the show 02:17 – Before Bridgecrest, Nathan worked in equity finance 02:51 – Bridgecrest is a B2B SaaS company that incorporates wearable technology into a platform that helps heavy industries prevent accidents 03:38 – Currently using wearable technology to minimise the fatigue risk of oil rig operators 04:20 – Sell directly to the oper

Brian Ley, CEO of Alpharank: a start-up that uses heavy-duty mathematics to analyse brands’ word-of-mouth networks. Brian started out studying the spread of diseases - he’s fascinated by how everything from ideas to emotions is spread through human networks. Listen in to hear Brian and Nathan discuss how Donald Trump is memetically hacking your brain. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – High Output Management What CEO do you follow? — Richard Branson What is your favorite online tool? — Audible Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Most nights If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Not to drink alcohol, and to take as good care of your body as you can Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:56 – Welcoming Brian to the show 02:10 – Brian started out studying computational epidemiology - the study of how diseases spread. He’s fascinated by how anything - disease, joy, decisions - spreads through human networks 03:10 – Alpharank generates revenue by charging a data provider fe

Carlo Cisco, the founder and CEO of Select, a private membership community that offers discount deals with thousands of premier brands. Carlo was an early builder of Groupon. He’s also a canny investor who made $75k in stocks by investing during college. Listen in to hear Nathan and Carlo break down the numbers behind Select, discuss Groupon’s meteoric growth, and explain Select’s unbelievable CAC:LTV ratio. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – The Intelligent Investor What CEO do you follow? — Mark Zuckerberg What is your favorite online tool? — Intercom Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —To get ready for some crazy stuff Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:43 – Welcoming Carlo to the show 02:00 – Carlo started an events planning business while he was in college 02:20 – Actively invested in tech companies while he was in college 03:16 – Carlo put about $9k into stocks and turned it into $85k 04:11 – Joined Groupon and helped b

Michael Eisenberg. Michael’s a canny investor who’s on the cutting edge of the VC scene in Israel. He invested in Wix and Conduit while working with Benchmark - now he’s set up his own firm, Aleph. Listen in to hear about Aleph’s investments in an AI dashcam, Michael’s journey from unemployment to top VC, and why scale-up is the new start-up. Famous 5 Favorite Book? – Good to Great What CEO do you follow? — Jeff Bezos What is your favorite online tool? — Gmail Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —There’s so much to do in this world. Keep working. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan’s introduction 02:00 – Welcoming Michael to the show 02:06 – Started Aleph 3 years ago with a partner - wanted to invest in Israeli startups 02:40 – Michael’s been a venture capitalist in Israel for over 20 years 03:20 – Started a merchant bank for technology startups in Israel 04:00 – Invested in the first online photo-sharing site in 1994 and sold for over

Jill Stanton, co-founder of Screw The Nine To Five - a community that teaches people to take their online business to the next level. Jill’s built an incredibly engaged community around her website and online course. Listen in as Nathan and Jill talk engagement, creating multiple revenue streams, and why you need to be all-in or all-out. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Profit First What CEO do you follow? — Denise Duffield Thomas Favourite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—That community is everything Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan’s introduction 01:48 – Welcoming Jill to the show 02:10 – Screw The Nine To Five teaches people to take their online business to the next level 02:34 – Had the idea in 2012 when she and husband Josh started their own businesses 03:05 – Launched in April 2013 03:22 – Generate revenue from a membership site called Screw U 04:10 – Subscription is $69 per month 04:40 – Members access s

Guillermo Ortiz, the founder of Geek Powered Studios. Guillermo’s an ex-competitive gamer and the force behind a marketing and consulting company that focuses on data to take its clients from good to great. Listen as Nathan and Guillermo talk holistic marketing, investing in data, and why it’s good to be young and dumb. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Scaling Up What CEO do you follow? — Will Reynolds Favourite online tool? — SEMrush Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—I don’t know if I’d change anything. I was young and dumb and full of heart. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 01:49 – Welcoming Guillermo to the show 02:30 – Used to be 6th in the world at Counterstrike 03:05 – Set up strategic partnerships with small businesses 03:30 – “We try to do everything correctly rather than one thing really well” 03:40 – Monthly retainer package from $2k - $5k per month 03:55 – Handle landing pages, graphic design, facebook ads,