Big Break Software Podcast

George Carollo of Dover.com tells Geordie how he founded the platform, built the MVP, and built their MRR from 40 to 400k in 9 months amid the pandemic. Listen and learn.

George Carollo is the co-founder of Dover, the inaugural end-to-end Y Combinator-based recruiting platform that helps enterprises recruit top-tier talent. Previously, George worked in venture capital, project finance, and fintech, where he gained tremendous experience. He talks to Geordie about his journey. 

• The problem that Dover.com solves for its customers
• Who is the ideal Dover customer?
• How George and his co-founders identified the core problem
• What is George’s vision for their product?
• How George and his team started building a SaaS product
• Where can hiring managers find potential candidates? 
• How Dover collaborates with hiring managers to get the best talent
• How George and his team determined the core problem
• Importance of user feedback before developing a potential solution
• Pros and cons of Y Combinator

Many recruiting managers struggle with hiring and retaining top talent. George, whose career began in the finance industry, says he learned how to become a front-end engineer on the go.

During his learning process, he came up with the idea of developing a targeted solution that hiring managers could leverage to hire experienced talent. George has coding skills which he says helped him become conversant with the coding language. However, he believes there are more talented people than him.

According to George, Dover is exclusively designed for hiring managers regardless of their department. He says that approximately 50% of their users are founders, while the remaining 50% are hiring managers. 

Every successful business must begin with robust ideas. By the time George joined Dover, his co-founders had already identified around 20 ideas they wanted to work around. They later worked together to prolong their list of ideas and surprisingly got their first customers without tech. Listen to the podcast to understand how this idea worked. 

While George and his team had a long list of ideas, they struggled to differentiate the good from the non-effective. He explains how they finally worked on a solution for this challenge, and you can find the details from the podcast. During the initial stages of the venture, their customers paid for the services upfront.

George says his co-founders enjoyed a great reputation which explains why many of their customers trusted them. With continued automation of the Dover platform, George says their prices have become more affordable. He envisions a time when Dover will be the face of great products. He gives his definition of a great product in this podcast. Listen in to find out. 

At some point, George explains his journey building the SaaS product from scratch. He says the process was manual and taxing. Together with his co-founders, they had to peruse through more than 1,000 resumes. This is an interesting part of the podcast that every aspiring entrepreneur should not miss.

Amid major struggles, George and his team managed to develop and automate their core technology. George says recruiters can get candidates from three different sources, which he explains in detail. He also mentions how they collaborate with other channels to attract potential candidates. Listen to the podcast for more details.

Regarding building the MVP, George mentions that they acquired customers before getting any funding. Together with his co-founders, they built their inaugural MVP amongst themselves. It was not until they understood the problem that they began investing more energy in developing a follow-up solution.

He explains how they survived the initial stages seeing that all of them (co-founders) had resigned from their current positions. George says they cut a different niche than what is the norm in the industry.

Unlike many developers who focus on development before knowing the solution, they wanted to establish their target user needs. The team focused on understanding their end solution first before embarking on development. Listen to George as he explains how the idea of acquiring user feedback worked for them.

When did George and his team get their big break? He says they hit 60k in around four months. They decided to focus more on product development at some point, and it is around that time that Dover started growing exponentially. Following the Covid uncertainty across the world, Dover lost a chunk of its users.

As people started working remotely, their numbers started growing, and they managed to keep the platform afloat. Listen to this podcast to understand how Dover grew in the midst of the pandemic and what they are doing to maintain the growth. George concludes the podcast with his top tips for a successful hiring process, which you do not want to miss. 

Dover.com

George Carollo LinkedIn

Manuel Hartmann tells Geordie how and why he founded Salesplaybook. Listen to the podcast and learn different methods of initiating your 0-10k MRR sales journey.

Manuel Hartmann is the founder of the Sales Playbook. The platform provides a sales accelerator to B2B tech startup founders and salespeople unhappy with their existing market grip to enhance profitability. He talks to Geordie about his journey.

• Manuel's door to door sales experience background
• The solution that Salesplaybook offers to customers
• How do Manuel and his team generate leads?
• Challenges that Manuel and his team faces
• Common problems that Manuel and his team deal with
• Automation tools around LinkedIn that you can use
• Customization tools that Manuel uses
• How to compose a good case study

Manuel begins this podcast by mentioning that determining product market fit and validating new markets fast is a subject that Universities do not teach. This realization pushed him into founding the Salesplaybook to help B2B entrepreneurs understand how to grow by between 100 and 500%. Manuel says his company falls under the sales acceleration and enablement category. They focus on studying market development and marketing trends. Further, they strive to make their solution user-friendly and trustworthy. He talks about the importance of marketing during the initial stages of a SaaS startup. Listen to the podcast for the details. 

The journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step, and this is evident from Manuel's sales history. He talks about using various methods to navigate the sales industry and failing numerous times. Listen to the podcast to find out how he finally ended up at Tesla, the lessons he learned, and how he later built sales for a young startup company.

Along the way, Manuel and his team decided to rebrand the startup, and he was responsible for looking for a sales coach. He says he struggled to find a reliable and qualified person the startup could pay with minimal struggle. Manuel says his door-to-door sales experience is an activity he would love to engage in again. Listen to the podcast for comprehensive details on his encounter. 

Sales playbook is an all-inclusive coaching package in one-on-one sessions or groups. It comes with a self-learning platform with over 40 actionable templates that users can implement fast. With Salesplaybook, users get access to different coaches, allowing them to broaden their knowledge. Manuel says they have 25 to 250k ticket offerings in America, which he believes sets them apart from competitors. He explains how they get leads in this podcast.

Manuel mentions that they strive to solve various challenges in their day-to-day operations. For example, attracting and retaining excellent salespeople can be a difficult task. He highlights other challenges that you can figure out by listening to the podcast. Together with his team, Manuel engages their clients in a short discovery quiz to highlight their current challenges. The feedback they get helps them figure out the right solution for their clients.

According to Manuel, different customers approach him with different problems based on the stage they are in their startup. He gives more details on this issue that you cannot afford to miss. Many startup entrepreneurs are interested in understanding effective strategies they can adapt to jumpstart their sales. Manuel says that startups should try to reach as many people as possible in a non-salesy way.

Listen to the podcast to understand different automation tools in LinkedIn and how they work. Apart from jumpstarting your MRR sales journey via LinkedIn, Manuel recommends various other sales methods ideal for the USA and Europe. Listen to Manuel breakdown the different methods in this detailed part of the podcast. 

Video is a powerful and effective tool that Manuel and his team use to reach potential clients. While this method works, Manuel recommends the best way to use it and explains other customization tools he uses. Learn about them from the podcast. According to Manuel, other top-performing sales strategies include excellent customer service and delivering exceptional results.

Manuel changes his sales approach based on the startup level. He explains why this is the case in the podcast. He concludes the podcast by talking about case studies and some of the main questions you should ask during one. These include: what prevented you from buying initially based on people's perceptions? How did your perception change after you learned more about XYZ? What particular thing do you like? Who recommended XYZ to you? What else would you like to share?

Manuel Hartman LinkedIn

Salesplaybook.io

Manuel Hartman Twitter

Cory McKane of WeStrive tells Geordie how the platform was born, acquiring funds for the MVP, and navigating challenges to develop one of the most popular fitness apps.

• What was Cory’s original idea?
• How Cory hired his development team 
• What advice does Cory have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
• Why you should choose your development team carefully
• How Cory funded his MVP
• Why Cory advises against including a social wall in a program
• What big lesson did Cory learn from building his MVP?
• What did Cory and his team do to have the app reinstated on Apple Store?
• Considerations that Cory makes before adding new features to his application
• Building a relationship with your competitors
• How the WeStrive pricing works

Cory McKane, CEO, and founder of WeStrive started his journey with zero experience in startups, apps, and entrepreneurship. However, venturing into the app development industry triggered in him a passion for startups. He speaks to Geordie about his journey. 

Cory graduated with an accounting degree but had no previous experience with a fitness app. He tells Geordie that he acquired knowledge about startups, tech, and angels along his entrepreneurship journey. However, Cory has been passionate about fitness for a long time, according to his background story. Listen to the podcast for first-hand details into his fitness background. 

Previously, WeStrive was known as PerFIcT. Cory tells Geordie that the idea of PerFIcT had lingered in his mind for a long time. After graduating from college, Cory worked both part-time and full-time jobs for years while trying to understand the market. Along the way, Cory says he made numerous mistakes like working with the wrong investors, hiring unqualified development teams, and adopting the wrong platform.

It took Cory four years of mistakes before finally getting his idea right. Even then, the idea did not work, and he had to restrategize. How did he do it? Find out from the podcast. Cory gives a detailed explanation of his original idea that you need to hear from the podcast first hand. He explains the events that led him into hiring developers and how he invested colossal amounts of money on the platform.

The platform was not working from the word go, and there were numerous challenges along the way. Cory would later scrap it immediately after its release in the market. He found a different team and decided to pivot into SaaS. Cory learned many lessons from the experience which he shares with aspiring entrepreneurs. Get these lessons from the podcast. 

Choosing the right development team is ideal for the success of your application. Cory explains the struggles he went through while working with the wrong development team. At some point, he had to work more than 16 hours writing and rewriting his program manually. Listen to this podcast to learn from his experience. Cory cannot recall memories of his breaking point after the strain of disappointments. However, he moved to LA to try and re-strategize.

Amid numerous challenges, Cory transitioned from doing things manually. He also moved to Santa Monica to attend an accelerator program that never happened. While that was disappointing, Cory is happy with the relationships he formed from the experience. What relationship does Cory have with his current development team? He gives all the details in the podcast. Listen in to find out.

Cory did everything from waiting tables to operating uber only to fund his MVP. He mentions how frustrating it was to make so much money waiting tables and still be broke trying to finance the company. Cory would later find his development team in 2017. They both worked hard and launched the advanced version of the marketplace before finally pivoting in mid-2018. Cory speaks about the updated product and the various features they included. Listen to the podcast to find these out.

Just when Cory was ready to launch his product, Apple pulled it from the App Store. What happened next? Listen to the podcast to find out. Many investors advise against engaging in a feature battle. However, Cory says in an industry full of competitors, entrepreneurs should define their minimum features.

When it comes to adding features in the app, Cory says he pre-designs his updates two to three years prior. Working closely with the end-users is crucial for the success of any product. Cory mentions that they engage their community and listen to, and even initiate their update requests. Cory concludes by reiterating the importance of research before launching your MVP.

WeStrive.com

Cory McKane LinkedIn

Cory McKane Twitter 

Cory McKane Instagram 

Dmitry Dragilev of JustReachOut talks to Geordie about leaving the corporate world and how he helps different businesses during their 30,000 MRR journey.

Dmitry Dragilev is the founder of justreachout.io. The platform helps entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses pitch and acquire press coverage from influencers and journalists drawn to their niche. Listen to Dmitry as he shares his journey with Geordie.

• Interests Dmitry had when he moved to Silicon Valley
• Why did Dmitry leave his corporate job?
• How Dmitry ventured into the startup world
• How Dmitry connected with Luke Wroblewski
• Why did Dmitry reject a call to work at Google?
• How Dmitry came up with the JustReachOut idea
• Dmitry's big break

Dmitry started experimenting with software when he was a teenager. He later got his degree in computer science before working in the Department of Defense, where he engaged in lots of coding. His decision to quit his job was abrupt, as he tells Geordie. He woke up one day and decided he did not want to continue working. He then sold all his belongings and moved to Silicon Valley in pursuit of startup development knowledge.

Dmitry says he met brilliant people at Silicon Valley who helped him during his stay. Listen to the podcast to understand how Dmitry built, and sold three startups. He also gives some extensive details about the businesses that you should hear about. 

When he quit his job, Dmitry admits that he did not have enough money to start a new company. At some point, he discovered that neither did he know how to do CSS and JavaScript, but his marketing skills were wanting. Dmitry's idea of enrolling for an MBA was both fulfilling and beneficial. He met a popular designer who held his hand and gave him numerous essential lessons. Listen to this interesting podcast for more interesting details. 

Dmitry tells Geordie how he met Luke Wroblewski at some point in his career. The two worked on some big projects, and you can find all about it in this podcast. Together with Luke, a designer, and a developer, they developed a polling app that would later grow to 40 million page views. He explains this project in detail in the podcast.

Google later bought the project and even allowed Dmitry to work at the multinational organization, which he rejected. He explains why he declined such a golden opportunity. While Dmitry founded JustReachOut, he says he is only a minority stakeholder in the company today.

Currently, Dmitry focuses his energy on SmallBizTools, which helps entrepreneurs find any small business tools they need. Whether you need to host your blog or want tracking software, you will find these tools from SmallBizTools. Dmitry says they are committed to ensuring that entrepreneurs get the right tools for their needs. He explains the process they take clients through before finally recommending the right tools.

Keywords are crucial for the success of any digital business in today's overly competitive marketplace. In the quest to ensure that businesses rank highest, Dmitry has an entire playbook explaining how to rank for keywords. Currently, his blog has a total of 30 tools that you can leverage to scale your business. He also mentions his course and the plans he has for the future. Get all the details from the podcast. 

According to Dmitry, SmallBiz Tools has been growing rapidly. He mentions how they moved from 10 clicks to 400 clicks a day within six months. Dmitry is committed to triple the growth in another three months' time. Listen to the podcast to figure out the specific keywords they use and how they rank on search engines.

At some point, Dmitry talks about PR that Converts, a course that he build from scratch. Please find out how he came up with the course and how he made money from the same. In his quest to see people implement his teachings, he developed an app to. Dmitry explains how he built it, and you can get the details from the podcast.

What content marketing strategy does Dmitry use? He mentions that ranking on Google is crucial and highlights the importance of targeted long-tail keywords based on what you do. Listen to the podcast and take away some crucial lessons. Dmitry is happy that SmallBizTools is fast transforming into a SaaS business. He concludes the podcast by mentioning that he only collaborates with businesses that he uses. Dmitry says he chooses tools that he is not only passionate about but those that he uses daily. 

JustReachOut.io

Dmitry Dragilev Twitter

Dmitry Dragilev LinkedIn

SmallBizTools

Lindy Ledohowski of Essay Jack talks to Geordie about coming up with her company’s idea, building the MVP, and navigating challenges during her MRR journey. 

Lindy Ledohowski is the CEO and founder of Essay Jack, a fast-growing SaaS company that teaches learners how to improve their writing skills. She talks to Geordie about the events that led her into becoming a founder. 

• The problem that Lindy and her co-founder wanted to solve when they launched Essay Jack
• Who does Lindy and her team approach?
• What is courseware?
• Has Covid had a positive or negative impact on Lindy’s company?
• How did Lindy and her team keep the business afloat without revenue at the heat of Covid?
• How Lindy and her team build the Essay Jack MVP
• Importance of having a business behind a product
• Why did Lindy choose to raise money for the MVP?
• How Lindy and her team got their first partnership 

After being an educator for a long time, Lindy joined forces with her co-founder to develop technology. This technology would help them solve one of the challenges they experienced in their classes. Listen to the podcast to understand the challenge in detail. Essay Jack has evolved since its inception to accommodate different writing genres and can be used by students in various education levels. Unlike other tools in the market that help writers correct what they have already written, Essay Jack allows users to get writing ideas from scratch. Lindy discusses this idea in depth in this podcast. 

Determining the effect a potential solution will have on your target customers is critical before embarking on its development. According to Lindy, they first sought to understand whether Essay Jack would be appropriate to both students and teachers. From their research, they established that professors and teachers were among the first adopters of the solution. Many of the teachers were happy that Essay Jack could digitize and enhance their operations. Lindy and her team would later modify the program to ensure users could customize it with ease based on their needs.

When it comes to approaching potential users, Lindy says there is no universal way of doing it. Sometimes you may have to start from the top administration, while in other times, approaching individuals works better. Listen to the podcast to understand Lindy’s concept better. Lindy mentions a particular approach that she says works best. Listen to the podcast to know this approach and how it works. Lindy also gives a sales breakdown between the B2B and B2C concepts. 

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has impacted businesses in different ways. Lindy admits that their business has not been spared. She says they are currently experiencing more growth in teachers, individual student subscribers, and classes. Lindy attributes this to uncertainty in large institutions, especially with the current lockdowns in some countries.

Many learning institutions are currently struggling with budgetary challenges and this is reflecting on the company’s growth. Lindy explains the effects the pandemic has had on her business. Listen in to find out and learn from her experience. Lindy gives Geordie a detailed explanation of how they build the MVP. At some point, they had to communicate their idea through pen and paper. Convinced that they had an excellent product, they needed to present it before interested people. Listen to Lindy as she reminisces about their visits to local schools in Kuala Lumpur and testing their product.

According to Lindy, the experience enhanced their confidence in the product. They would later promote their product in Canada at the University of Toronto before developing an advanced product. Seeing that Lindy had zero experience in the technology field, there are many things she was not conversant with. As a result, she needed to outsource her services to a qualified technical team.

Lindy says the product started growing, and they made money. She talks about their pricing then, in this podcast which you need to listen to find out. Lindy says they even had free services for B2C users. She talks about the MVP and how she managed to keep the cost down. Lindy also explains the process of building the MVP and converting it into a beta product extensively.

Lindy also talks about re-building the product. Find out the details from the podcast. She is happy that while numerous products are now available, their product is unique. Lindy concludes the podcast with tips about what they are doing to create real value and stand out among their competitors. Get all this information from the podcast. 

Essayjack.com

Lindy Ledohowski LinkedIn

Lindy Ledohowski Twitter 

Nicolas Vandenberghe of KosmoTime and Chili Piper tells Geordie about co-founding and running the companies, determining customer problems and offering solutions.

Nicolas Vandenberghe is the CEO and co-founder of KosmoTime and Chili Piper. Chili Piper is a collection of programming tools. These tools allow prospects to book an appointment and launch a phone call right away after submitting their form on a site. Listen to Nicolas as he narrates his journey to Geordie. 

• What goal did Nicolas and his team have for Chili Piper?
• What problem does Chili Piper solve for their clients?
• Why Nicolas started KosmoTime, the idea company
• What problem does KosmoTime solve?’
• How does KosmoTime operate?
• How did Nicolas start Chili Piper? 
• What did Nicolas do after the telecom company he did sales for collapsed?
• How and why Nicolas and his team developed an automated solution that integrates with web forms

Did you know that you can have either an idea company or a thesis company? Nicolas tells Geordie that Chili Piper is a thesis company, or a company whose launch depends on a trend that he wants to seize. In this case, the craze was digitization of sales. KosmoTime, his other establishment, is an idea company. 

Nicolas says he started KosmoTime to help clients execute their tasks and also solve a problem he experienced. Together with his partner, Nicolas saw potential in the company and wanted to grow it to fruition. Listen to the podcast for more details about KosmoTime. 

Nicolas mentions that their software is smart and made to evaluate the amount of time you take to complete your tasks. He gives more details about the software in this podcast. Listen to it, especially if you are struggling with time management. According to Nicolas, many people are searching for time tracking solutions, forcing them to integrate their software with Asana. Listen to the podcast to understand how the system works on Asana. Nicolas says they are searching for people who have already identified a problem and are seeking solutions. While Nicolas has a robust product, they are yet to come up with pricing options. He also admits that getting people to change their habits can be a difficult task. 

On Chili Piper, Nicolas says they interviewed actual users to determine possible problems. According to Nicolas, using an excel spreadsheet can be a good sign of a problem. He explains that many companies struggled with pointing their potential clients to the right executive. They needed to devise a way to make locating the right professional easy. Nicolas says that their system is ideal for different companies regardless of their size. 

Seeing that no one had the same solution as theirs, their first customer placed an order and prepaid 21,000 for it. Nicolas and his team developed the solution and customized it accordingly before delivering it. At this point, Nicolas knew that other companies were also struggling with the same problem, and they set out to offer their solution. He mentions that the problem is not as hard as companies perceived it. 

According to Nicolas, they interviewed sales teams to determine the problem even though they had other ideas, such as assisting people to check their metrics. He tells Geordie why customers were willing to pay upfront. Listen to the podcast to find out. How did Nicolas fund the 21,000 MVP? He says they bootstrapped and gives more details on the process. You can find these details from the podcast. 

Nicolas tells Geordie the story of how he stumbled in sales, in the telecom industry by chance. While the company was successful, its license was cancelled when the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) realized that their spectrum was nearly the same as the GPS spectrum. Listen to the podcast for comprehensive details on this story. 

After the telecom company collapsed, Nicolas went back to starting companies, something he says he enjoys doing. It is out of this passion that he leads a sales team on Salesforce. Nicolas says he would call tech companies and sought to find out the problems they were facing. Together with his team, Nicolas would later get a second client who also prepaid for their services. 

Chili Piper services come with an annual subscription, after which clients can choose whether to renew or not. According to Nicolas, they are now edging closer to 1,000 customers. He says he knew from the first time that Chili Piper was going to be a big company. Nicolas explains how they found a bigger problem. Listen to the podcast to know. Nicolas concludes by saying he prefers working with in-house developers. 

Nicolas Vandenberghe LinkedIn

Nicolas Vandenberghe Twitter

Chili Piper

Mike Michalowicz, author of business books tells Geordie about his entrepreneurship journey, losing money, battling depression, and finally discovering his purpose.

Mike Michalowicz is an author of business-based books for small business owners and entrepreneurs. His books help entrepreneurs fix sales, accounting, and operations. He talks to Geordie about Fix this Next and his latest book. 

• What is the one thing about Mike that he has never written about?
• Why you should appoint an excellent team to run and manage your businesses
• What significant challenge do nearly all entrepreneurs face?
• What analogy does Mike use? 
• Mike’s hierarchy of business needs and how it works
• Who does Mike approach while doing his research?
• Problems entrepreneurs are facing that Mike comes across during his research.
• Why businesses should understand each employee’s dreams and desires
• How does Mike define legacy? 

Mike says he has been an entrepreneur since his college days, during which he has built various tech businesses and sold them. His third business, as an angel investor, was the most relevant even though it resulted in a challenging phase. Listen to the podcast to find out how that disastrous experience turned out to become a restart for him.  

As Mike went through difficult times, he thought about how little he understood entrepreneurship. He made up his mind to spend the rest of his life exploring entrepreneurship to determine what works for him and what does not. Mike wrote everything he learned and ended up becoming an author. He tells Geordie that he is focused on finding simple and effective solutions for the various entrepreneur challenges. 

According to Mike, many entrepreneurs struggle to make profits. Clockwork, his book was inspired by the fact that while many entrepreneurs seek personal freedom, they are always working endlessly. Mike says he also struggles with these challenges. Often, he makes a hypothesis of the challenge and indicates potential solutions. 

Writing books is not an easy task, and this is evident from Mike’s sentiments that some books can take him up to 10 years to complete. However, he says some are easier and fast to write. Mike considers himself a curator instead of an authority. Find out why from the podcast.  While he owns various businesses, Mike says he does not run or manage them actively. He appreciates that he has a great team who assist him in daily operations.

Writing a book makes you accountable, and the content becomes your accountability component. You have to live by what you preach, and Mike says every system he created was suitable to his businesses. Many entrepreneurs have the urge to grow but are unable to do it. Listen to the podcast to hear what Mike has to say about this phenomenon. He explains an analogy that he uses, which you can learn from the podcast. 

Mike talks about why many entrepreneurs attempt to fix links in their businesses with no notable results. Many times, entrepreneurs fix links randomly within their business chain and end up breaking the weakest areas. Fix this next, Mike says, is an excellent tool that helps entrepreneurs identify weak links in their businesses. He gives more details about this approach that all entrepreneurs need to listen to from the podcast. 

Research is crucial when it comes to writing books. Mike talks about how he conducts his research and the people he targets. Do not miss this comprehensive part of the podcast. Mike perceives his business to be the platform of expression. He says the critical job of an entrepreneur is to create jobs. Their job is to envision where they want the business to be, and aligning the vision with how it helps them get colleagues to move in the same direction. He discusses more details in the podcast. 

In the quest to penetrate the market, some entrepreneurs give out free things until their businesses start making losses. Mike mentions that this is a mistake that entrepreneurs should avoid making. He narrates the story of how an entrepreneur ventured into entrepreneurship in the city of Guatemala. While a high percentage of the population is poverty-stricken, the entrepreneur managed to sell his wares for a profit. 

Mike does not discourage giving, but he believes there are various ways of giving. He mentions that the problem happens when entrepreneurs give until they compromise their businesses. He narrates another story about a small town in New Jersey. Listen in and learn from the story. He concludes by telling us the title of his next book. Listen to the podcast to figure out the book title and its contents. 

Mikemichalowicz.com

Mike Michalowicz LinkedIn 

Mike Michalowicz Twitter

Adam Stone of Speedlancer talks to Geordie about; starting a company at 12 years, growing another company at 14 years to 7 figures, and founding Speedlancer.

Adam Stone is the CEO and founder of Speedlancer, an online freelance platform for skilled data-entry experts, designers, and experienced writers. Adam is a young entrepreneur who ventured into entrepreneurship at 12 years. He has won numerous accolades during his journey. He tells Geordie what it took to build Speedlancer.  

• How the company that Adam started at 14 years grew to more than seven figures in revenue and profit while studying
• How Adam came up with the idea of Speedlancer
• What makes the Speedlancer system unique?
• What goals does Speedlancer seek to achieve?
• Why does a freelancer entrepreneur need money?
• How Speedlancer is developing its arbitrage
• What was Adam’s experience at 500 Startups?
• Importance of networking
• Challenges that Adam and his team faced at $2500 MRR
• What problem did Adam solve not long ago that doubled the company’s growth?
• What plans do Adam and his team have for the future?

The world is evolving fast, and doing business is becoming easier than ever before. Today, you can start and grow your business from the comfort of your home, as was the case with Adam. He was passionate about entrepreneurship ever since he was a kid. He tells Geordie how he started selling toys on eBay, thanks to his supportive parents. 

Adam talks about the business he launched at 14 years. He says they grew the company to become one of the leading in the industry. It would later earn more than seven figures in both revenue and profit. Listen to the podcast for more details. Adam says while running a business amid studying was a difficult task but he managed by working with freelancers. It is from his encounters with freelancing platforms that the idea of Speedlancer was born. 

Speedlancer specializes in selling predefined workflows to companies and operating them with the help of freelancers. He explains the concept further, and you can find more details by listening to the podcast. Often, entrepreneurs dispose of their businesses even when they are thriving, which happened to Adam’s previous company. Adam says he was sure the business was not going to prosper for long. He also discusses more details that you do not want to miss.  

Adam joined 500 Startups by coincidence. He says that a startup meeting in Australia opened an opportunity for him to join 500 Startups at a young age while studying. Then, he neither had revenue nor product then. Listen to his story and learn. Adam also explains why a freelance entrepreneur would want money. He says, building their technology and continued growth requires outside capital. Speedlancer is committed to becoming a mainstream platform that individuals and companies can depend on to get various things done uniquely. 

Adam says being at 500 Startups was life-changing. Apart from creating a network of lifetime friends, he explains other things he gained from the event. Listen to the podcast to find them out. Adam tells Geordie that he relied on an international firm to build his MVP, even though growing became challenging along the way. Still, the platform grew fast from $200 to between $3,000 and $3,500 a month in two months. How was this possible? 

Adam says that changing their operations model and exposure made a big difference. He explains how he managed to get a journalist to write an article about their platform. This idea helped his company reach many people. He also mentions other robust strategies that he used. Listen to the podcast for more details. 

Adam also talks about growing the company from $2500 a month and the challenges they faced. He gives comprehensive information in the podcast that you should hear. Adam also talks about converting his product into recurring revenue. He says some people thought the recurring idea was irrelevant. However, it ended up being easy to manage. Find out more details from the podcast. 

What challenges did Adam face with managing the team now that they were working in different time zones? He sights time zones as one of the reasons he is moving from Australia to the USA. He also mentions other challenges in this podcast. Adam says while they have solved many challenges, they are yet to devise a methodology for referrals. 

Apart from getting their customers to talk about how Speedlancer is helping them, Adam hopes to get more capital to grow the company. He concludes by saying that they have finally found a strategy to retain their customers. Listen to the podcast to find out what this strategy is.   

speedlancer.com

Adam Stone LinkedIn

Adam Stone Twitter

Didi Horn is the CEO and founder of SkyX, a leading provider of innovative aerial technologies in AI (artificial intelligence). The company specializes in the delivery of actionable data required to increase revenues and results for their clients. He talks to Geordie about his journey in the technology industry. 

• What does SkyX seek to achieve?
• Where does SkyX get actionable data?
• Why many corporate companies are not interested in hardware
• Why service providers should be specific on the services they offer
• Importance of attending events as a potential investor
• To what heights should you go to determine potential customer’s pain points?
• What problem does SkyX solve for its customers?
• How did Didi get funding to execute their first project?

Born and raised in Israel, Didi served in the Israeli Air Force for nearly a decade. He worked with a Flight Academy before spending his final two positions in drone Squadrons. 

In his last position with the Air Force, Didi worked as a link to the defense industry. From working with the Israeli Air Force in different areas, Didi gained tremendous experience, which has been instrumental to what he has become today. He tells Geordie that he interacted with talented professionals in the autonomous aerial system solution. 

From his experience with drones, Didi says he figured that they come in various types. He also realized that only Modern Warfare benefitted from the drones while the commercial sector gained nothing.

Didi wanted to avail the drone technology to anybody who needed them in their preferred frequency. He gives an example of his then anticipated target audience, and you can get the details from the podcast. According to Didi, SKyX sells the service and not the hardware. Doing so allows their customers to receive data that the company gathered after processing it into actionable elements. This approach would be different from hardware, where potential customers would have to learn how to use it until they achieve tangible results.

Didi explains where they source the drone technology data and how it. Listen to the podcast to find out. Didi mentions that after leaving the Israeli Air Force, he invested in attending conferences and seminars. It is there that he studied what his target audience wanted. He says that SkyX was born out of the need to provide potential customers with an actionable item.

According to Didi, they started SkyX by asking potential customers numerous questions on what they wanted. Many of the people they approached did not know what they wanted, and they had to come up with targeted questions for every customer. Listen to the podcast to find these out. Why did Didi opt to attend events and seminars instead of traveling across the world? He explains his reasons in detail. Listen to the podcast to find out.

How did Didi know that he needed to venture into data? He gives Geordie detailed information that you can only figure out from listening to the podcast. Didi says that while they had some failures, the successes were more. He focused on conducting demonstrations to convince potential customers who doubted the services.

So determined was Didi that his first contract after commercializing the product was a seven-figure number with a giant company in Texas. Didi explains how he got funding for his business, and every aspiring investor cannot afford to miss this story. He says that his initial investment was 5 million US dollars, with the investors promising to continue funding him only if he met some objectives.

Listen to the podcast to figure these out. Didi’s project was so viable that the investors pumped in 8.5 million US dollars before other investors came on board. Geordie seeks to find out from Didi what he said during the meeting that impressed the investors and convinced them to work with him.

Didi says he was knowledgeable and understood how to execute his solution based on the customer's needs. Listen to the podcast for more details. He also talks about his business plan and how he broke down his model. While SkyX suffered at the onset of the pandemic, they managed to sign some contracts along the way. Didi says that many of their customers opted to use drones instead of flying. Listen to the podcast to figure out how they have been coping with the situation to date. Didi concluded by talking about the plans he has for the company. 

Didi Horn LinkedIn

SkyX.com

Geordie Wardman of 1Stop.io talks to Jeremy Weiss about the leading SaaS conferences in Europe. Learn why every development entrepreneur should attend at least one.

Apart from 1Stop.io, Geordie Wardman has founded five companies and sold three. He is a software expert who has been in the industry for two decades now. He talks to Jeremy Weiss about top SaaS conferences in Europe. 

• Some of the leading SaaS conferences
• Why you should consider attending conferences
• Why does Geordie like small conferences?

Conferences are crucial for both established and novice entrepreneurs in the SaaS industry. Apart from meeting people from different parts of the world, entrepreneurs get an opportunity to network and share new ideas. Many entrepreneurs even develop bonds that lead to business conferences.

Geordie says as much as he adores conferences, he never gets to attend enough of them. However, he plans to start attending leading SaaS conferences in Europe. Top on his list is the SaaStock conference that Alex Duma runs. You will need to part with 750 Euros to participate in this conference. Geordie mentions that the price is reasonable based on the value you will get. Attending this SaaS conference allows you to meet excellent and resourceful keynote speakers. 

The SaaStock conference takes place in Dublin, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. According to Geordie, some of the top software experts who speak at the conference include Aaron Krall, a conversion expert, SaaS development hacker, and email marketer. Dan Martell, the founder of clarity, a leading investor, and a SaaS business coach who coaches top-achieving SaaS founders, also speaks at the conference. Geordie reiterates that SaaStocks is one of the top conferences you should not miss. 

Geordie is quick to mention that there are other key SaaS conferences you should know. He talks about SaaStr Europe. SaaStr is a unique non-vendor region where SaaS institutions converge to learn and develop their businesses through events, content, and teamwork. Jason Lemkin, who also founded SaaStr, runs the massive SaaS show in the USA.

According to Geordie, SaaStr is currently giving out some special offers with tickets going for $400. He says this amount is cost-friendly for a SaaS conference. Attending SaaS conferences exposes you to the world of technology, and as Geordie says in this podcast, you could even meet your development team there. Listen to Geordie as he gives more reasons why you should attend SaaS conferences. 

Growth marketing stage is another top SaaS conference that Geordie recommends, even though he is yet to attend it. It takes place in Kyiv, Ukraine. Geordie says that while it is small, he still considers it cost-effective and among the best in Europe. To attend this conference, you will need $200, which Geordie calls excellent value.

Kyiv, Geordie says, is a hotspot for development. Are you looking forward to changing your development team or venturing into SaaS? The growth marketing stage should be a must-attend conference. Listen to the podcast to find out what you stand to gain from attending the SaaS conference. Some big companies attend the growth marketing stage conference, such as Adobe, Dropbox, and Nike. 

SaaS monster is another top conference. It happens to be among the leading SaaS conferences worldwide, linking over 5,000 CTOs and CIOs, established companies and startups, sellers and buyers, and investors and experts. Geordie says the SaaS monster is an offshoot of Web summit, a conference that brings together companies and people changing the local technology industry.

Web Summit will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, sometime this year. The SaaS part of this conference attracts numerous attendees each year. The comprehensive web summit attracts big corporate companies. Find out which companies these are from the podcast. 

Geordie mentions Microconf, a leading and trusted community for non-venture SaaS founders. Rob Wallings collaborated with other co-founders to organize this conference that takes place in Croatia. He and his team put together excellent speakers like Mike Taber and a group from Hubspot.

B2B Rocks, in Paris, Europe, is a top SaaS and B2B conference. Geordie says B2B Rocks charges are friendly at $500. This conference focuses on all SaaS features. Listen to the podcast to understand some of these features. Geordie mentions the Pipeline Summit, a meeting he attended in Poland. He says he met the founders of some of the biggest techno-firms. Listen to what Geordie has to say about his experience in Poland. He also mentions some of the companies he interacted with then.

Geordie concludes by saying that attending conferences is critical for networking and marketing. Consider attending any of these shows, especially if you want to work with different experts from various parts of the world.

1Stop.io