Building Fires

Nathan Butorac is a true entrepreneur down to his core. He started his entrepreneurship journey at just three years old and he hasn't stopped since. After working in several startups, he decided to get one going himself. He's run Better Than a Letter (Parent company) for a few years now and underneath that is his flourishing company, Piñatagrams.

If we skip past all the struggles of a typical early-stage entrepreneur, we'll end up with Piñatagrams absolutely blowing up in sales this past March. As soon as the pandemic began, Nathan took a shot with some incredible creatives & Facebook ads...and wow did it pay off. Throughout the podcast, we'll touch on Nathan's business life, how he grew his company, and where he sees his company getting to over the next year.

https://www.pinatagrams.com/

https://www.betterthanaletter.com/

This is the 2nd time that Nathan has been interviewed on our Podcast (Episode #31). 

Nathan started off his entrepreneurship journey by selling things online. It started with re-selling college textbooks and led to selling millions of dollars on Ebay. After that, he ran one of the best Freelancer businesses on the planet, Freeeup.com. The best part? He ran his freelancer business...with freelancers. Since Episode 31 was recorded, Nathan has actually sold Freeeup and now runs Outsource school (congrats Nathan).

Nathan Hirsch also founded Ecombalance.com a monthly bookkeeping service for Ecommerce Sellers and Agencies

 Throughout the podcast, he takes us through how he got to where he is today, how he ran such a massive freelancer company, and what his life looks like now as he seeks to expand Outsource School.

Outsource School Links;

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/outsourceschool1

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

Twitter:   https://www.twitter.com/SchoolOutsource 

OutsourceSchool:  https://www.outsourceschool.com

Email:    [email protected]

Personal Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nathan.hirsch

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FreeeUpNathanHirsch

Twitter:   https://www.twitter.com/realnatehirsch

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

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/realnatehirsch/

First Episode: https://anchor.fm/buildingfires/episodes/31-CEO-FreeeUp-com--Nathan-Hirsch-e4nc2s

This week we had the privilege of interviewing Ara Ghougassian with usefluent.co. His website is beautiful and the product itself is even better. Every language platform on the planet focuses on teaching you a new language by using the same, worn-out methods. With Fluent, you're constantly learning words that you actually care about and want to use for your daily life.

They are currently available in French as a Chrome Extension and plan on expanding to other languages in the near future. Ara did an incredible job of seeing a problem and then solving it. Throughout the podcast, we discuss his experience in the startup world, what it's like growing a language platform, and so much more. Enjoy!

Brian Leonard was the first employee and Co-founder of a company you’ve definitely heard of…Task Rabbit. He and his Co-founder basically pioneered the ‘task’ or ‘local freelance’ market.

By definition, “TaskRabbit is an American online and mobile marketplace that matches freelance labor with local demand, allowing consumers to find immediate help with everyday tasks, including cleaning, moving, delivery and handyman work”.

After years of success and growth, their team had a successful exit and Brian has since moved on to build his own company, Grouparoo. Grouparoo is an open source data infrastructure to keep customer data in-sync between your data warehouse and 3rd party tools. Essentially, it’s an amazing tool that helps teams work & communicate much better together.

Dr. Eric Cole is one of the "OG's" in Cyber Security. After raising his hand in a CIA meeting 25+ years ago asking the simple question, "How do we know if these systems are defensible", his life was changed forever.

Eric was one of the first hackers at the CIA and spent his life figuring out how to make our country's online defenses more defensive. He's worked as a 'cyber bodyguard' for the likes of Bill Gates, The Obama Administration, and so many more. Listen in to hear about how the face of Cyber Security has changed over the years and to learn just what it takes to become a cyber security expert.

Be sure to Subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

Shrevan started off his career as a Sound Engineer in the UK. After going through a tough situation where his years of working as a Sound Engineer were considered 'invalid', he decided to do something about it. That's when he created Work Simplr.

"Work Simplr is a virtual co-working platform for students, businesses, and professionals to network and collaborate with each other. We aim to create a centralized and professional gig working economy that is fuelled by local communities."

Throughout the episode, we do a deep dive into the growing pains of a startup and what it's like working in the startup world while dealing with immigration.

Be sure to Subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

Yoann Bohbot is the founder of dots SPACE, a higher-end co-working space that operates in Beverly Hills and  Culver City, California (Los Angeles area). Early in his career, he was a critical piece of an IT company whose biggest clients included Honda, Adobe, Nestle, as well as several high profile real estate companies, doctors, lawyers, celebrities such as Seal, the Fugees, Lindsay Lohan, and more.

He later managed the e-commerce department for Christian Audigier, a French fashion designer known for the Ed Hardy and Von Dutch clothing lines. There, he directed 40 people including purchasing, marketing, and logistics. The company had 100M in wholesale revenues, and only had 1M in online sales. In his first 3 months after joining Christian Audigier, he tripled its online sales to $3M.

Throughout the episode we talk about what it takes to start a co-working space, what sets his apart, and so much more.

Be sure to subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

Hirbod is the CEO and founder of Surfboard, a geo-location app platform that allows you to explore your community. In this episode, we talk about his experience immigrating to America as a young adult who barely knew how to speak English, what got him into the startup scene in college, and the state of diversity in venture capital today.

Be sure to subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

Dillon Breslin is the CEO of Round2, an AI-powered sporting goods platform connecting youth athletes to affordable gear and equipment. Previously, he spent 6 years doing B2B sales at prominent startups in the NY tech scene. He was inspired to launch Round2 after being snubbed on OfferUp during a trade of Jordan 11's.

Be sure to subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

Farhaj and I want to welcome you to the brand new Building Fires Podcast (originally called WeStrive). For our first episode, we have the incredible Steve Young. 

Steve is the CEO of AppMasters.com and he is just that...an App MASTER. Steve knows everything there is to know about the app store, ASO, getting featured, and tons of hidden tips/tricks. Throughout the episode, we cover his early life in startups, what it was like dealing with the App store back in the early days of smart-phones, and Steve MAYBE gives our audience a few hidden gems for App Store Optimization (ASO).

Be sure to subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam