In this episode titled "Cultivating Success: The GrowFlow Journey with Travis Steffen," we delve into the remarkable journey of Travis Steffen, CEO of GrowFlow, a company providing compliance, inventory management, and other essential tools for the cannabis industry. Founded in 2018, GrowFlow achieved impressive milestones, including nearly $10m in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and a customer base of over 1,700 B2B clients before its sale to Dama Financial for almost $70m. Steffen shares his entrepreneurial roots, the critical lessons learned, and the importance of company culture and talent. He also discusses the personal and professional transformation following the exit, emphasizing the realities of venture-backed businesses and the shift in his approach towards a more streamlined, high cash flow business model. This episode offers a blend of candid insights and practical advice for entrepreneurs navigating similar paths.

In this episode, we sit down with Benjamin Gosse, the founder of Synsor, to explore the critical aspect of testing traction in a sales-based business. Benjamin shares insights on how to set up cascading automated mechanisms to evaluate traction at various stages, from email campaigns to pricing strategies. Discover the importance of continuous testing, the value of experience in shaping future ventures, and the journey from being a first-time founder to a seasoned entrepreneur. Join us for a conversation filled with valuable wisdom and growth opportunities in the world of business.

In this episode, we engage in a profound conversation with Lex Kiefhaber, founder of United by Zero, to uncover the journey behind his climate-conscious business. Faced with a career transformation in 2020, Lex took a leap into the world of sustainability, initiating his impact with the podcast "Who's Saving the Planet?" before establishing United by Zero. He offers an honest perspective on the challenges and victories of starting, growing, and eventually selling a sustainable enterprise. This discussion not only explores the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurial endeavors in the sustainability sector but also highlights the personal and familial sacrifices often hidden behind business success. Lex's narrative weaves through the complexities of identifying market needs, raising capital, executing strategic pivots, and navigating the intricacies of a business sale. His story is a compelling testament to the power of aligning business acumen with environmental stewardship and personal values, providing invaluable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs and climate advocates alike. Join us as Lex Kiefhaber shares his experiences and insights, shedding light on the delicate balance of driving business growth while championing sustainability.

In this episode of "After the Exit," host Blake Smith sits down with Tim Schmoyer, founder of Video Creators, to explore the early days of YouTube and Tim's transformative journey in the creator economy. From posting a 30-second "test video" in 2006 to the successful acquisition of his agency by vidIQ, Tim offers a deep dive into the evolution of YouTube, the shifts in the creator landscape, and the challenges and lessons from his personal entrepreneurial journey. Learn about the evolution of YouTube, the significance of the creator economy in today's digital age, and the profound life and business insights gained from Tim's experiences. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned veteran, this episode promises valuable wisdom for all.

Join us as Doug unveils his decade-long entrepreneurial expedition from a university pitch deck to leading AdStash, a digital signage monetization platform, eventually culminating in a lucrative sale. His reflections post-sale offer a blend of business insights and life lessons, shedding light on the seldom discussed post-exit phase every founder faces. This episode is a riveting narrative filled with grit, grind, and the gratification of seeing a vision through to its rewarding conclusion.

In today's episode Blake and Alex share their experience with achieving product-market fit and discuss whether or not PMF is the key to your company's success. They also share how Allsmith uses Superhuman to determine whether they have the beginnings of product-market fit.

In this episode Blake and Alex welcome Allsmith Marketing Manager Tracy Sampanis to discuss the ad channels that Allsmith's customers spend their marketing dollars and the ROAS they've seen.

In this episode Blake and Alex discuss ChatGPT and the future of AI in performance marketing. Find out if Blake can stump Alex in a game of Human vs. Robot - which one created the ad?

This post is part of a Youtube/Podcast/Click-able Blog Series called “After The Exit” — the show where I interview CEO’s after they’ve sold their startup and have them share the lessons they learned in blood about business, relationships, and life. Look — you can learn a couple tips from how they built it, but the real wisdom — the moral of the story — comes at the end — after the exit.

Today I’m really excited to introduce you to Austin Allison, former founder and CEO of dotloop. Austin started selling real estate at the age of 18, and worked in residential and commercial real estate for a decade. In 2008, in his hometown of Cincinnati, he founded dotloop- a company that created software to seamlessly manage real estate transactions. Zillow acquired dotloop in 2015, and Austin continued to run dotloop as a Zillow executive until 2018. He is now cofounder and CEO of Picaso, which enables people to buy a second home through shared ownership. He lives in Napa, California with his wife Angela and dog Paris and enjoys spending time in his second home in Lake Tahoe, California.  

This post is part of a Youtube/Click-able Blog Series called “After The Exit” — the show where I interview CEO’s after they’ve sold their startup and have them share the lessons they learned in blood about business, relationships, and life. Look — you can learn a couple tips from how they built it, but the real wisdom — the moral of the story — comes at the end — after the exit.

Today I'm really excited to introduce you to my new friend - Ade Olonoh. He started his first company as a senior in college. He studied computer science and mathematics at a small school in the Indianapolis area. Prior to starting that company, he'd spent the previous four years paying his way through college as a freelance web developer. He's since started four companies so far that have exited (to varying degrees of success and failure), and a handful of other companies that he quietly shut down before any real traction. The two most prominent companies are Formstack ( a B2B SaaS company which he bootstrapped for 3 years, then raised $700k from angels, and sold a major stake to Private equity 10 yrs later) and Formspring which had insane initial growth then raised $17M from VCs and later sold for pennies on the dollar after 4 yrs.

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