Billion Dollar Tech

"Think about it like you have two train tracks," explains Hersh Tapadia, co-founder and CEO of Allstacks, "with the engineering train and the business train. Occasionally they stop at the same station, and everyone gets excited, but for the most part they're running on these parallel tracks." In other words, within many companies, engineers and high-level managers aren't communicating properly. The business side doesn't know what engineering does and therefore engineering doesn't know what value it's contributing to the company or the client they're meant to serve. Allstacks, which calls itself "a platform for the voice of engineering," provides software organizations a clear view into project status, team performance and trends, making it obvious to all in a company just what value engineers deliver to their company's end goal.

Understanding their value has far-reaching implications beyond job satisfaction, sense of meaning and purpose. It allows engineers to better name their price points and salaries, and have a say in the boardroom. Overall, clear communication in any employment ecosystem is vital, where even wanting to be too helpful has its drawbacks.

It's more difficult than one might think to hire engineers now, and Hersh discusses the non-negotiables that potential hires are looking for. They extend beyond salary and the individual to benefits for the spouse and family, like parental leave and work culture. Join the discussion to hear more, including what happens when everyone in a company is willing to fall on their sword.

Quotes:

"You can build things all day long, but if it's not creating value, are you really efficient?" (2:14-2:21 | Hersh)

"What we're doing wrong as engineering contributors, engineering leaders, engineering teams is we're allowing ourselves to be disconnected from the value. We're not fighting for the value we're creating." (9:31-9:49 | Hersh)

"From the business side there's often ignorance and from the engineering side there's often malaise. So how do we reconcile the two? We have to find ways to connect the activities that engineering is doing to the outcomes that it's influencing, so you can draw a line to the value that's being created." (10:22-10:41 | Hersh)

"Humans are generally not as good at communicating as they think they are." (18:03-18:06 | Hersh)

"People are so much less productive than they think they are." (28:59-29:02 | Brendan)

"On the outcome side, and we've talked about this a lot, it's fairly simple. Make it so that people find meaning in what they do, so they understand the impact, they understand the intent. And if they can draw that line between the work that they're doing and the goals of the organization that they're a part of, then they're going to make more holistic, product minded decisions every day they work, and you're going to get better outcomes as a result of it." (39:26-39:56 | Hersh)

"Where the extra comp becomes really important is, if I can't find real meaning in the work that I do, I might as well make as much money as I can. And if I can't solve for as much money as I can, I'm damn well going to solve for making a really impactful, really positive, really strong culture, together, that everyone has a voice in, so that they can find purpose day to day." (43:51-44:17 | Hersh)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Hersh Tapadia and Allstacks:LinkedIn: @hershtapadiaTwitter: @hershtapadiaFacebook: @hershtapadiaInstagram: @hershtapadiaTikTok: @:hershtpadiaWebsite: www.allstacks.com Check out Hersh Tapadia's recommended read:

Predictably Irrational by Dr. Dan Ariely

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Predictably+Irrational+

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"He's going to do a lot better not only in this business but in future businesses because he knows what it is to build a business and not just a product," says Brendan on this latest Billion Dollar Breakdown. He's speaking of Pedro Goes, founder and CEO of InEvent which creates software for in-person events and video productions, and a recent guest on Brendan's podcast. Starting his company from scratch may have taken a little longer at the outset, but will put him farther ahead in the long run.

Pedro was accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator program, an invaluable experience for its networking opportunities alone. Every successful entrepreneur, Brendan reiterates, is surrounded by an ever-expanding and reliable network. Value, ultimately, can't be measured in money, but in the value that you provide your buyers.

Pedro's exceptionally calm demeanor is an exemplary asset in the often chaotic world of growing a business, and from his example we can learn how to follow our own unique paths to lasting success.

Quotes:

"Don't let a lack of capital stand in your way." (1:42-1:45 | Brendan)

"I look at most of the people I chat with who are successful, the people around them are an absolute common denominator. They have people that they can call, tap in (2:44-2:53 | Brendan)

"The money is just there to deploy your vision." (3:55-3:59 | Brendan)

"Charge what allows you to develop the value that your buyer actually needs, and help them to realize that value and help them to realize that value, and position it effectively." (5:12-5:22 | Brendan)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39

Master Class: brendandell.com/masterclassBuy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926 Connect with Pedro Goes and InEvent:LinkedIn: Pedro Goeshttps://inevent.com/en/home.php

Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

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"We need to manage a 35,000 person meeting in real time where decisions will be made that will end up on the 7:00 PM news," says Pedro Goes, founder and CEO of InEvent. This software platform provides streamlined features such as video transitions, Q&A, polling, live music and the ability to engage with multiple sites at once to create a more multifaceted, interactive and engaging experience for attendees of remote meetings, events and conferences. It's been used by drawn government organizations, the United Nations, and large private organizations to conduct mass virtual events where they conduct crucial business like brokering deals, launching new products and driving sales.

Pedro talks about raising money for the company, which he started from scratch while also receiving backing from the prestigious Y Combinator program. Of course, money, both receiving and making, is just there to deploy your vision. What gets him out of bed in the morning is seeing the myriad ways people are using his InEvent software—like broadcasting from the International Space Station.

He's committed to diversity not out of some sense of timely obligation but because he recognizes that everyone brings a different perspective and fills in each others' blindspots. Embracing new ideas and new ways not only produces revenue, but creates new possibilities. Tune in to hear what can be learned from both Elvis and Kanye about committing to your passion and giving it your all.

Quotes:

"Nobody can take Zoom or Microsoft Teams anymore because it's all the same thing– that black background and someone speaking for 2.5 hours. It's challenging." (4:50-5:01 | Pedro)

"When we started as a company, we wanted to do everything. We were what customers wanted us to be. That's good in the beginning but that's challenging for you to grow. If you're just following what the customer wants and not being a product, just being a service, and every time you launch a new event, everything's built from scratch, anyone can do that." (11:02-11:25 | Pedro)

"That's how you win the market: by mapping the requirements and deploying a product that's out of the box that you can use today, and you're going to be successful with it." (13:18-13:26 | Pedro)

"At a certain point you have to make a decision about what's going to be good for you because there are so many good ideas out there that you can actually commit to." (14:23-14:31 | Pedro)

"America is one of the very few countries where you can actually build a huge business by doing one thing really well. In other countries, it's hard for you to do that because there is no ecosystem. So, if you work too long on one piece, then the other nine pieces for the whole solution are not there. In America, you actually have the opportunity to build one piece really well, because there is an ecosystem that supports you because it's all integrated. So, that's really good." (14:57-15:26 | Pedro)

"Once you are with a company of a 150 people or more, you have to have a process, your power as one single person doesn't scale without processes (26:45-26:58 | Pedro)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Pedro Goes and InEvent:LinkedIn: Pedro Goeshttps://inevent.com/en/home.php Check out Pedro's recommended reads:

How to Be Rich by J. Paul Getty

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=J+Paul+Getty

An Incredible Dream: Ralph Roberts and the Story of Comcast by William Novak

https://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Dream-Ralph-Roberts-Comcast

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"A lot of people, when they think of entrepreneurship, picture a CEO commanding an army, or a developer doing something very innovative, or a product genius," says Brendan on this latest Billion Dollar Breakdown. Actually, as he explains, the most important aspect of starting—and maintaining a successful business—is gathering a group of people who are all doing what they're best at, adding resources and combining both around an ability to make a new thing in the world. He considers this a fourth piece of advice to the three recently provided by Daniel Liebeskind, founder and CEO of metaverse project Topia.

Being mindful of the problem you intend to solve should always be at the forefront of a company's mind, mission, and messaging. Still, even the brightest people in the most successful companies can lose sight of this. Entrepreneurs should be going out and talking to their target audiences as often as possible, even if they don't know who they're talking to initially. Knowing the uniqueness of your promise will differentiate your company from others.

Brendan also addresses a few pitfalls to look out for, most importantly going too broad too quickly when first starting out. Tune in to hear his advice about gaining traction, reaching your target audience and the downside of thinking big.

Quotes:

"This fourth skill is what you might call entrepreneurship or leadership, but really it's the fundamental skill of building businesses, this is the critical skill, and your ability to do this supersedes everything." (2:16-2:30 | Brendan)

"You need to build in public and be speaking constantly to people about what kind of pain you're solving. And this flows back into how you message. You need to message to pain." (4:43-4:55 | Brendan)

"Almost every business problem can be solved by going out and talking to people in your target audience."(5:15-5:20 | Brendan)

"We're in an environment right now where people aren't going to buy vitamins they're going to buy pain relievers." (8:42-8:47 | Brendan)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926 Connect with Daniel Liebeskind:LinkedIn: dliebeskindTwitter: @dliebeskindInstagram: @exploremagichttps://topia.io/

Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

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"For us, the Metaverse is a way to increase accessibility to communities," says Daniel Liebeskind, CEO of the platform Topia, part of the Metaverse that's taking the internet from asynchronous, static forms like email and forums, to synchronous, real-time interactions, sharing content with other people versus by oneself. This creator and user focused content means that people will form communities and gain access to worlds based on shared context, much like we do in the real world. Users will be able to customize their experience, own their own data, and by disimmediating any one centralized ecosystem, be able to take that data from one platform to another. There is no replacement for in-person events, but the metaverse provides a viable alternative that narrows the socio-economic divide that might otherwise prohibit some participants.

This decentralization of power is one of the most promising and enduring aspects about the future of cryptocurrency. Other current popular speculations about the value of cryptocurrency, like NFTs make Daniel roll his eyes, and he goes into more depth about those here.

What is worthy of concern is the dystopian future ushered in by AI, which several major corporations seem determined to make inevitable. The key to avoiding this is providing alternative outlets for the experience, for entrepreneurs to work together to be mindful and he discusses companies who are doing just that.

Quotes:

"I realized that I don't need to figure a whole bunch of things out. Entrepreneurs are just people who are super deeply passionate about something, and are going to do whatever it takes to manifest that in the world." (5:17-5:30 | Daniel)

"If you're in a 1,000 person Zoom experience, one person is talking to everyone else and all those other people aren't really able to interact with each other. That's not how it works in real life. That's not how communities form. (12:25-12:37 | Daniel)

"The thing that I find really fascinating is the idea of shared backends, public databases, being able to be more creator and user-oriented, own your own data, be able to bring it with you from platform to platform and disimmediate any one centralized ecosystem." (26:30-26:49 | Daniel)

"The speculative valuation frenzy around any one of these bubbles doesn't really matter. What matters is the underlying technology and the ideas they represent. (27:18-27:27 | Daniel)

"In the case of NFTs, owning a token represents is a ticket to a community." (32:38-32:47 | Daniel)

"One use case that exists now that I think will exist in the future, kind of like how sharks existed during the dinosaur age and they still exist, is decentralized finance. The ability to disimmediate banks. (35:02-35:19 | Daniel)

"The term 'metaverse' was actually coined by Neil Stevenson in a book called Snowcrash about 30 years ago and that was a very dystopian concept. The end of humanity as we knew it. Even Ready Player One, which is more modern is very dystopian. Everybody works and lives in a digital space and they don't know each other in real life, they never interact. It's incredibly dystopian. That's not what we should be hoping for, but it is what may happen if we're not careful." (41:06-41:40 | Daniel)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Daniel Liebeskind:LinkedIn: dliebeskindTwitter: @dliebeskindInstagram: @exploremagicCheck out Daniel Liebeskind's recommended reads:

Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Zero+to+One

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Traction

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Shantaram

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"There is no more complex strategy game in the world that I know of than building companies," says Michael Zuerchner, CEO and Co-Founder of Prismatic. He would know. At age 19, he started a software company whose product integrated 600 tasks to be used in all aspects of law enforcement, such as jail door systems to alarm systems for putting dots on maps when 911 calls were made. It started as a summer job getting his hometown's law office records software up to date, and then he and a friend bootstrapped that software into a fully-fledged business. It became unsustainable once they scaled. After leaving the company, the two started Prismatic to solve the problems they encountered in the first place.

Michael explains that integration platforms have been historically focused on integrating the things the company uses together, taking all the things that are in their ecosystem and making the data flow well among them. Prismatic offers a complete iPaaS, or integration Platform as a Service, solution for your whole organization to make everything run more smoothly and at optimum potential.

In this episode, Michael discusses the unique challenges of running a sophomore company and the problem with overestimating your experience and underestimating the variables of starting a company.

Quotes:

"At the end of the day you're going to have to do what is going to serve your target market the best. (4:32-4:37 | Michael)

"We're all obviously end users of B2B software in some form or fashion, and wouldn't we all like it if there was just one end-all answer that was the magic solution and we didn't have to deal with all of this? If that could exist that would be amazing. I think the hard thing, of course, is building that one true thing that meets the demand of enough of the market." (9:21-9:40 | Michael)

"I don't know very many people who were successful who didn't love the game so much that they wanted to go right back into it." (16:30-16:39 | Michael)

"For all the people that are out there grinding right now, the beach is not all it's cracked up to be, just sitting around doing nothing. It's nice to have freedom, one hundred percent. However, go do nothing for a month; it gets tiring really quickly." (17:14-17:34 | Brendan)

"There is a fundamentally different problem if you are a sophomore company. I don't need to integrate together the things that I use—or maybe I do, but that's a separate thing. I need to connect the product I sell to the other products my costumers use." (19:52-20:07 | Michael)

One of the challenges in our market, and something that I think we do well, is doing a good job for both of those personals. I think we have a solution that speaks very well to product folks and the problems they have, and a product that's very friendly to developers without turning off the rest of the organization. And I think that's a fine line to walk." (32:28-32:50 | Michael)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Michael Zuercher:Website: http://prismatic.io/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-zuercher/ Check out Michael Zuercher's recommended books:• No Man's Land: Where Growing Companies Fail by Doug Tatum: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781591842491

• Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business by Matt Blumbert: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781119723660 • The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably

by Thomas Nagle and Reed Holden: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-strategy-and-tactics-of-pricing-a-guide-to-growing-more-profitably_thomas-t-nagle/272437/?resultid=b8ecc8a1-c660-4d32-8904-d6ccb162d545#edition=19123891&idiq=53411030

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"Gig work is upscaling and becoming more professional," says Michelle Tinsley, COO of Yellowbird. Yellowbird matches qualified professional Risk and Environmental Health and Safety workers with companies in demand of their skill sets. Environmental Health and Safety is a 5 billion-dollar industry worldwide, and after the Great Resignation during the Covid 19 pandemic, countless workers found themselves in need of work. So Yellowbird quickly went from serving the Arizona area to gaining interest across the nation through word of mouth. This collaborative spirit presents itself throughout the company's mission with employee referral incentives, and a focus on setting up a referral system for their best potential scaling partners.

Gig work is rapidly evolving from dog walking and driving for ride shares. People are becoming more and more selective about the jobs they want and how the jobs will fit into their lifestyle. Another aspect of community building Michelle participates in is angel investing, serving on boards and consulting, and here she discusses the rewards and drawbacks of each.

Join the discussion as Michelle explains that the first few rounds of investing come from friends and family, and why she's found herself drawn to SaaS (software as a service) and IoT (internet of things) investments.

Quotes:

"A lot of people in the workforce want a higher degree of freedom. They want to pick and choose what type of jobs they do, when they do them, where they do them, and we're a mechanism to expose their skillset when they do that." (5:46-5:57 | Michelle)

"One of our first growth hacks was to walk around with a dozen donuts and drop it off with a flier at local construction sites and warehouses. And that was working wonderfully until March of 2020, when everyone thought we were dropping off poisoned donuts on their doorstep." (19:11-19:26 | Michelle)

"A lot of this enables workers to become independent. You can live wherever you want as long as you've built up that domain experience. You can hang your shingle on these platforms just by being where you want to be and taking the jobs you feel like taking." (20:26-20:41 | Michelle)

"Someday become an investing angel because you're both going to learn from these companies as they grow, and see how they develop, it's like a mini-MBA. Beyond that, yes, you'll probably make money on your portfolio, but beyond that you'll get a chance to mentor others and be involved." (24:31-24:45 | Michelle)

"I think what I found is that consulting isn't terribly rewarding. I love to build something permanent." (26:39-26:45 | Michelle)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Michelle Tinsley:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-tinsley/ Website: https://www.goyellowbird.com/about Check out Michelle's recommended books:

• The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company by Ram Charan https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=The+Leadership+Pipeline
• Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want From Your Business by Gino Wickman and Marc C. Winters https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Rocket+Fuel

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Sam Strasser founded Treasure Financial, a cash management platform that helps businesses transform idle cash into revenue. Many companies, even famous, large companies, make up to 80% of their revenue not from selling products or services but from taking money out of their treasury and investing it. Still other companies, though, don't have enough money for a month's worth of runway. Sam explains how small companies can use what cash they have the way big businesses do.

Risk, Sam explains, is part of any monetary transaction, and the key is embracing it, or at least mitigating the risks. Here Sam discusses what those myriad risks are.

Join Brendan and Sam to hear the greatest lesson Sam says he learned thus far, the most fun thing about building any company, and why he wishes he'd opened his business in the UK.

Quotes:

"The treasury department itself is really responsible for managing risk, and managing the broad scale for the financial resources for the company." (2:37-2:44 | Sam)

"GE was notorious for a lot of the things they've done." (6:23-6:26 | Sam)

"Every company should be able to maintain at least three months of their runway in a cash reserve of some kind. During the pandemic close to 600,000 companies went out of business and the majority of those had one month of runway."(9:36-9:56 | Sam)

"You really want to understand how much risk you can accrue before it starts affecting certain possibilities." (15:35-15:42 | Sam)

"You're never really spending money when you're swiping cards. You're swiping for debt. It's just a series of obligations and risks in a giant chain." (17:43-17:53 | Sam)

"I have no idea why anybody glorifies becoming a founder, it's one of the most difficult and painstaking things you can do." (39:48-39:56 | Sam)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Sam Strasser:Treasure Website: https://treasure.tech/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/treasure-ai/ Check out Sam Strasser's recommended books:

• Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government by Paul A. Volcker https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Keeping+at+it

• No Rules Rule: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=The+No+Rules+Rule

• Nudge by Richard A. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Nudge

Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

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"We make it so that TV commercials are as effective as a Facebook ad," is how Noah Palanksy describes the mission of his AI company Taiv. Having a drink at a bar one night, he watched as the TV played an ad for another bar down the street, and realized the potential for an establishment to promote itself on its own screen. Later, this idea evolved so that companies can now place their ads on the screens in bars, or anywhere where people congregate, to promote their business. From there, Taiv tracks where attending patrons then click, visit, or make purchases, after they leave the establishment.

About a year and a half into bootstrapping their company, Noah and his co-founders were accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator program, which helps startups companies to successfully launch. All of the priceless information they learned there would soon be put to the test as they worked through the challenge of selling a socially driven concept, right as the world went into lockdown.

On this episode, learn why it's so important to have hobbies, the difference between being cheap and treating every dollar like it's your last.

Quotes:

"To get enough funding to hire a few developers without giving up too much of the company is very challenging."(8:50-8:59 | Noah)

"Build something that people want, and actually figure out if you're providing value to people and don't just build a thing because it's cool." (14:16-14:21 | Noah)

"There's a million things you could spend money on and most of them are stupid." (16:27-16:30 | Noah)

"The hardest part of my job right now is balancing between trying to build new products and iterate, trying to make the thing we have better, and how to get users using the thing we already have." (41:32-41:45 | Noah)

"I think we're going through a transitionary period with advertising…so it's a good time to be doing something in this space."(21:42-22:28 | Noah)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

Connect with Noah Palansky :Website: taiv.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taivbox/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahpalansky/

Check out Noah's top 3 recommended books:The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062273208 Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: ​​https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062407801 Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524761417

Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Use code Brendan30 for 30% off your annual membership with RiverSide.fm

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"What is the first thing I should prioritize when I'm trying to grow my business?" This is one of the most common questions Brendan gets from business founders. Here, in this mini-episode, he attempts to answer this and other frequently asked questions about growing a business.

The very first step, he says, is having a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and figuring out who benefits from your technology. Clarity of focus, he says, is the number one determiner of success, and going too broad is a sure way to lose growth trajectory.

Tune in to this episode of Billion Dollar Tech to find out the variety of purposes that organic content serves, and what an initial growth strategy should look like.

Quotes:

"There is no shortcut to this. You have to hustle. The most successful founders I see are hustlers." (2:23-2:29 | Brendan)

"You need to be out there talking to customers. It's one of the single biggest things I see out there separating success from failure." (2:40-2:45 | Brendan)

"You should be building thought leadership that is unique to you and harnesses your unique point of view and tells your story." (2:51-2:59 Brendan)

Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandellTikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan's Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926

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