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CEO SECRETS
By Christopher WattersBusiness
CEO SECRETS episodes
- #69 Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2021): Going Public Through a SPAC with Jeffrey Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of springbig Inc.
Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our guest for today has over three decades of experience in marketing sales and management, specifically in the field of incentive and loyalty marketing. Achieving a 5,485% 3-year growth, his company ranked 69th in 2021’s Inc Top 500 list of fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the US. Let’s welcome to the show, the Co-Founder & CEO of springbig Inc., Jeffrey Harris.
In 1998, Jeff started a loyalty marketing agency that catered mainly to servicing retailers, financial services companies, and insurance companies. After 25 years, he handed over the active management side of his business to his team, who was doing a better job than him, and decided to focus on a new opportunity.He created a platform that would give small businesses the ability to create and manage their customer loyalty program. In 2016, two cannabis retailers joined the platform. Jeff and his team realized that the cannabis industry was still in its infancy but it has great potential to grow tremendously fast. A year later, they decided to focus entirely on the retailers, brands, and wholesalers that are servicing the cannabis industry.Today, Jeff is the Co-Founder and CEO of springbig, a provider of customer-loyalty software to cannabis retailers across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Recently, his company announced that they’re going public through a merger with Tuatara Capital Acquisition Corp., a SPAC or a blank check company.Let us hear from Jeff as he shares how he found success working in the cannabis industry and his insights on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs).Top Takeaways:04:20 How loyalty programs allow business owners to have a really good view into what's happening in the industry.04:34 Is there a blanket incentive to the consumer that will drive them back to the retail shop?04:53 A misnomer on opening up a cannabis retail shop06:59 Is there an industry-agnostic plan you can implement to increase repeat and referrals?07:26 What loyalty is all about08:21 Is it advisable to implement a loyalty program for a real estate business?09:49 What made them decide to merge with a SPAC20:31 The greatest Aha’s Jeff had hit that kind of revenue growth?21:56 Why Jeff prefers his salespeople to “report the news” than to just sell.22:39 Why providing great service is a real differentiator among tech companies in the industry.23:40 How to get technology partners to become ambassadors for your software.To get a hold of Jeff Harris, email him at [email protected] or visit www.springbig.com
Episode Transcript:https://docs.google.com/document/d/10pBvkgoGt2uGt_AkwSo6VzTP6QkZXylmkTRRPeNk7qs/edit?usp=sharing28 min - #374 Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2021): How to Invest with a Purpose with Ivan Anz, Founder of Equity and Help Inc.
Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today is a global entrepreneur, speaker, author, and the Founder of PhilanthroInvesting. His company landed a spot on the Inc Top 500 list of fastest-growing businesses in the country for 3 consecutive years. This year, his company achieved a 1,285% growth securing the 374th spot on the list. Let’s welcome to the show, the Founder of Equity & Help, Ivan Anz.
Ivan developed his entrepreneurial skills at a very young age. At 7 years old, he used to lease his Go-Kart to his friends and neighbors. At 14, he started leasing and training people on how to use 4x4’s on mountains. He sold a million dollars worth of Herbalife products annually, making him the youngest person to make it to the millionaire’s team.
He eventually ventured into real estate. He also got involved in speculative investments like stocks, forex, and cryptocurrency. However, even as he was earning a lot of money then, he felt that there was no sense of fulfillment in what he’s doing. So in 2009, he started to look for ways not just to invest but to invest with a purpose.
Then one day, he met a buyer who really wanted to purchase a property but was unable to afford it. It’s a sad reality that a lot of people still don’t have access to traditional mortgages. He realized that this was an opportunity for investing while helping a deserving family at the same time. That’s when the concept of philanthroinvesting was born.
Today, Ivan is the Founder of Equity & Help, a real estate investment company that aims to help investors achieve their financial goals while making a real difference in people’s lives.
Let us hear from Ivan as he shares his journey on how he started his business and how he helped it grow its revenue by 14,000% in just 3 years.
Top Takeaways:01:43 What drove Ivan to leave Argentina and come to the US04:44 How philanthroinvesting started07:27 What is philanthroinvesting?09:34 How Equity and Help started11:45 What vendor does their company use to provide data12:18 The strategy they use to acquire properties22:04 What their company does if people are unable to payTo get in touch with Ivan Anz and to find out more about philanthroinvesting and his book, go to:
www.pi.today
Episode Transcript:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XK2502aTDO2P-hF6EWt2cOLmvxTHxnyw6mCTzSKaKT4/edit?usp=sharing28 min - #20 in the Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2021): From Wall Street Banker to Healthwear Innovator with Chaitenya Razdan, Founder and CEO at Care + Wear
Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today was listed as part of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs in 2015, became one of the Rising stars: 90 healthcare leaders under 40 in 2018, and belonged to the Top 40 under 40 Leaders in Minority Health in 2020. His company, a leading provider of innovative healthwear, achieved 14,000% growth over the past 36 months and this has secured them the 20th spot on the top 500 fastest growing companies in the country. Let’s welcome to the show, the Founder and CEO at Care + Wear, Chaitenya (Chat) Razdan.
Prior to starting Care + Wear, Chat Razdan was an investment banker at Goldman and Sachs and a strategy consultant at Kearney. While his professional background is not directly related to healthcare, it was his experience with having loved ones who were diagnosed with cancer and were told to wear socks over their PICC lines that led him to recognize the growing need to bring innovation and design to the healthcare industry.
In 2014, Chat decided to build a company that will provide healthwear that is focused on creating positive and effective healing experiences for patients everywhere. Today, Chat has worked in partnership with leading hospitals, patients, and clinicians to create Care+Wear’s clothing and accessories. The company has also collaborated with sports leagues, brands, schools, and foundations such as MLB, the NBA, Oscar de la Renta, Parsons School of Design, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, and Stand Up 2 Cancer.
Chat wanted to make sure to get the right people in the room with him to design and develop all of their products.
Let us hear from Chat as he shares his journey on how he started his business and how he helped it grow its revenue by 14,000% in just 3 years.
Top Takeaways:01:08 How Care + Wear came about03:59 The 3 P’s to success09:11 What Care + Wear does on the marketing side to increase sales exponentially12:33 Chat’s absolute marketing tactic must-have14:55 A good marketing strategy to spend money on16:30 What does the value checklist look like for Care + Wear21:56 Chat’s insight on influencer marketing23:11 Tactical things Chat would’ve changed in their early year to grow even faster30:08 Chat’s biggest failure and what he learned from itTo get in touch with Chat Razdan, go to:https://www.careandwear.com/
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: ChaitenyaRazdan
38 min - #11 Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2021): Focus on Your Core Strategy and Grow Your Revenue to 22,000% with Mike Sardo, President and CEO at Texas Solar
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today’s guest is a successful serial entrepreneur. He has helped his company grow its revenue by 22,381% between 2017 and 2020 which landed them the 11th spot out of 5000 of the fastest-growing companies in America. Let’s welcome to the show, the President and CEO at Texas Solar, Mike Sardo.
Mike Sardo pursued a degree in coaching because wanted to be a public school coach. Yet, his path took on a different course and it was his passion for cheerleading that led him to put up his first business - a cheerleading gym. It served 900 students at that time and expanded to three other locations that served close to 1400 kids per week.
One of the things he learned about himself during this time is that he didn’t like jobs. And once the challenge of starting from scratch or turning a business around wears off, it turns into a job. He felt like the business was not for him and he ended up selling it after a couple of years.
This set him into a pattern of buying struggling businesses and turning them around. Two years ago, Mike came across Texas Solar, a company that had been going up and down for the last 13 years and needed some management help. He and his partner eventually bought most of the company and decided to focus on the product which caused substantial growth for the business.
Let us hear from Mike as he shares his journey and how he helped a struggling company turn around and achieve exponential growth in a short span of time.
Top Takeaways:06:30 How Mike got involved with Texas Solar09:07 How to get a competitive advantage over multi-billion dollar companies15:05 The impact of the massive power outage in Texas had on their business16:14 The “silver bullet” to achieve massive growth for your business18:04 What is Texas Solar’s #1 channel for sales?19:19 Does Texas Solar use brand awareness to make affiliates find them21:44 Texa Solar’s core strategy29:15 How to get salespeople to go door knocking31:12 Mike’s advice to anyone wanting to successfully grow their business33:42 What does the future look like for Texas Solar?To get in touch with Mike Sardo, go to:https://www.txsolar.com/37 min - #49 Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2021): How to Compete With a Multi-Billion Dollar Business Like Zillow with John Berkowitz, CEO and Founder of OJO Labs
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Central Texas Award winner. He is the CEO and Founder of OJO Labs, which ranked 49th out of 5000 of the fastest-growing companies in America. I’m super excited to welcome on the show, John Berkowitz.
John came from a family of entrepreneurs. This fueled his desire to seek out problems that have never been solved before, find solutions, and build a business around them. In 2005, he co-founded Yodle, an all-in-one digital marketing platform for more than 50,000 SMB customers. It was later acquired by Web.com for $342 million.However, John felt unfulfilled after the exit from Yodle. He felt that he didn’t meet their company’s goal, making a significant difference in favor of small business owners. This is why in 2015, he started OJO Labs to empower real estate consumers to make better decisions with the help of deeply personalized technology.Today, OJO Labs has expanded to five regions with over 500 employees. They’ve also acquired several technology companies over the years and are expected to grow by 250% by the end of the year.Let us hear from John as he shares how his biggest failure led him to build a business that is a powerhouse in the industry and provides real-world value.Top Takeaways:9:07 How the Prime Minister of St.Lucia jumpstarted their company’s startup.12:49 What do OJO Labs’ growth and growing bamboo have in common?15:10 Does John consider Zillow as a competitor?16:34 What is OJO Labs’ strategy to overcome a behemoth like Zillow?17:42 Why not being number one on Google doesn't mean you can't be a more prominent company17:55 The importance of identifying the right partners20:36 The one feature you could focus on that would just suck off so much traffic from portals like Realtor.com and Zillow22:43 The most significant innovation in real estate24:24 Why John thinks that iBuyers and cash offers are just iterations on an old business25:37 What makes OJO Labs significantly different or better than Zillow?27:17 The thing that John has been obsessing about for the last five years29:44 What was John’s most significant failure?33:26 Why John feels super-uncomfortable when it comes to awards34:51 When to raise money, and when to bootstrap?To get a hold of John Berkowitz, send an email to:Episode Transcript
47 min - Predicting the Future of Real Estate: Which Brokerages are Going to Make it, and Which Ones will Fall Behind?
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today we have a very special guest. He is the founder of one of the leading CRM platforms in the real estate space. Let’s welcome, the Co-Founder and CEO of BoomTown, Grier Allen.
Grier grew up in a family of real estate agents and this fuelled his passion for the industry early on. This is why even as he started a digital advertising company after college, he felt drawn to go back and focus on real estate. He wanted to build a product that would impact more lives within the real estate space.In 2006, he and the members of his founding team pooled their knowledge, experience, and skill sets together and spent an entire year trying to understand where they could make a real impact on the industry. This is how they came up with software products that will help real estate professionals provide a better experience for their prospects and customers - thus, BoomTown was born.Today, Boomtown has grown to be one of the leading CRM providers in the entire industry. They are considered to be the behemoth in the real estate CRM space and have been able to maintain their top-notch status despite having numerous competitors come up over the years.Let us hear from Grier as he shares his insights on hiring leaders, the importance of culture, and his journey to making BoomTown a success.Top Takeaways:03:46 The distinct competitive advantage for Boomtown04:58 How important team-building has been to the success of Boomtown08:21 What is BoomTown doing on the product side to help customers stay relevant10:29 BoomTown’s mission from the get-go11:39 Grier’s views on the future of the real estate industry12:50 The greatest secret to identifying, selecting, and getting the right leader in place18:06 Which leadership roles could be performed remotely and which ones should be performed next to the team?19:18 Is it ideal to offshore key leadership roles to other countries?21:10 Where were the roadblocks BoomTown had to deal with from a revenue perspective?21:50 When did BoomTown decide to define their core values26:26 Why you shouldn’t let search fatigue dictate your hiring decisions.25:51 The value of finding someone who fits your culture28:10 The “silver bullet” in the interview process to make sure that people gel together33:39 What's the next big grandiose plan for Boomtown to stay on top?36:02 Grier’s advice for the small players to find opportunities to grow and have success44:06 Which teams/companies does Grier think will have incredible growth in the future and which ones does he think will fall behind?Episode Transcript
51 min - #219 Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2020) - How to Rank on Google’s First Page with Christopher Day, CEO and Co-Founder of DemandJump
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. I’m super excited to introduce our guest for today. He is an entrepreneur, a marketing genius, and the Co-Founder and CEO of DemandJump. Let's welcome, Christopher Day.
Over the last 30 years, Christopher Day has become part of the founding team of nine different businesses. One of the major things he learned from his experience is that throughout all those businesses, the marketing aspect has remained a black hole. Companies would invest in marketing but the results are difficult to measure that’s why marketers never really know if it’s working or not.Christopher made it his mission to solve this pain point in a unique, elegant, new way. This led him to start DemandJump in 2015. DemandJump’s Customer Behavior and Marketing Attribution Platform has revolutionized how businesses see if their marketing strategies are actually driving pipeline and creating revenue. The platform then uses the data to help these companies align their content, become more relevant, and create the next plan of action across all marketing channels.Let us hear from Christopher as he shares his marketing insights and how DemandJump was able to achieve 1,200% growth year over year and land a spot on the most prestigious ranking of the country’s fastest-growing private companies.Top Takeaways:03:37 What is the marketing secret to drive brand awareness04:48 How the DemandJump platform works14:51 Christopher’s advice to anyone who’s looking into venture capital funding16:45 How to get a Fortune 250 company to work with a startup19:34 How their company deals with offers of acquisition22:10 How does a small local company compete with well-funded large enterprises23:15 Why content is 100x more important than it used to be.23:23 How to structure your content so you can win every time23:55 The 2 hyper-competitive keywords that DemandJump ranks well for28:32 What should a marketing department look like from a role’s perspective?34:04 The percentage of all web pages and blogs that actually get seen36:44 The healthy budget to allocate to content creation44:33 The value of having a creative person in your marketing team50:38 What are the top tools from a technology perspective that marketing leaders should be using?54:20 Why businesses should focus on aligning their content and becoming relevant to our marketTo know more about DemandJump, visit their website www.demandjump.comChristopher Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherday2/Episode Transcript57 min - #18 INC500 Fastest Growing Companies in America - Getting Influencers to Grow Your Business!
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our guest for today is the CEO and Co-Founder at Kitu Life Inc., makers of Super Coffee. He and his brother’s company ranked #18 on Inc. 5000 and they also made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2019. Let's welcome, Jim DeCicco.
Jim DeCicco came from a humble, blue-collar family. Growing up, he and his brothers became student-athletes. When they were in college, Jim's younger brother Jordan, had to attend basketball practices early in the morning and stay up late at night to study. He wanted a drink that is delicious, healthy, and could sustain his energy for the day. Yet, the only ones available then were loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients. That's when he decided to brew his own healthy coffee and pitched the idea to his brothers to start Super Coffee.Hoping to expand their brand on a national scale, Jim and his brothers joined ABC’s Shark Tank, in 2018. One of the judges on the show commented that although their coffee is still very healthy compared to other energy drinks out there, the sweetener they used in their coffee left an unpleasant aftertaste. This prompted them to use a different sweetener and came up with a 100% sugar-free coffee with just 70 calories. This new formula has become a key differentiator for their brand.Let us hear from Jim as he shares how he and his brothers grew their brand to become the number 3 bottled coffee drink in the US, achieved 55M in annual revenue, and 400M in valuation in 6 years.Top Takeaways:01:46 How to find meaningful partnerships04:00 Why Jim felt they had to win New York06:41 How to get big players and influencers involved in your business09:07 The mentor who’s had the biggest impact on their business13:59 Marketing hacks to help accelerate growth15:42 Why you shouldn’t rely on influencers to drive sales18:30 How influencers affect consumer confidence20:18 The Biggest breakthroughs their company had in the past 7 years26:46 What’s the Big Hairy Audacious Goal for Super Coffee29:02 What they plan to do next after Super Coffee38 min - A Military Strategy Used to Make Your Business Thrive with Scott J. Lewis, CEO of Spartan Investment Group LLC
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today’s guest is the CEO of Spartan Investment Group LLC, a company that was included in the INC 500 list for 2 years in a row. They ranked 308th last year and jumped to 166th this year. Let's welcome, Scott J. Lewis.
Scott gained his leadership and management skills while he worked as a regional sales manager for a biotech company. Years later, he had the opportunity to join the army. He knew that he’d get really good leadership training and experience there so he enlisted himself. After four years, he came off of active duty then went into the federal government. This is where he learned a lot about strategic planning, project management, and risk management.All the skills and knowledge that Scott gained from his past experiences positioned him to start his company and be able to set the foundation to build a real estate investment firm.Let us hear from Scott as he shares how he built his company and ended up on the top 500 fastest-growing private companies in the country.Top Takeaways:1. The big catalysts for growth that put Spartan on the Inc 500 list for the past 2 years (1:58)2. How does Spartan raise funds? (3:25)3. What caused Scott to decide to go into the self-storage asset class. (6:06)4. How Scott took the thinking process he learned from the military and applied it to his business (6:24)5. Scott’s reason for starting the business (11:54)6. How to achieve growth by adhering to systems and processes (13:17)7. How they came up with the 740-item due diligence checklist (15:30)8. Scott’s advice on how to drive growth for your business (21:33)To learn more about Scott and the Spartan Investment Group LLC, go to https://spartan-investors.com/27 min - Preparing for the Armageddon of Real Estate with Brendan Bartic, CEO and Founder of The Bartic Group
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today’s guest is a powerhouse in the real estate industry. He’s a top producer, an elite real estate coach and trainer, and the owner of the #1 real estate team in Denver. Let's welcome, Brendan Bartic.
Before making it big in real estate, Brendan had been in the Army and worked as a property manager for a private contractor. However, when he went to real estate school, he discovered that his skills were more suited for an agent. Brendan then trained under a top producer and learned everything he could from her until he could venture independently. Eventually, he built his team and transitioned into starting his own brokerage.Over the course of his career, Brendan has sold over 1 billion in residential volume. And with more than 20 years of experience in this business, Brendan has also made it his mission to help other agents achieve the same success as he did through his real estate coaching company.Let us hear from Brendan as he shares how his journey helped shape who he is today, his views on how technology and data are changing the real estate industry, and how the book - 4 Disciplines of Execution influenced his success.Top Takeaways:1. What pushed Brendan to pursue a career in real estate (2:48)2. How all the success in real estate comes down to a formula (3:46)3. What Brendan thinks of Zillow’s acquisition of Showing Time(13:42)4. If technology companies take over 80% of the consumer journey, How would agents make more money? (17:59)5. What Brendan considers the “Ferrari’s” of this industry when it comes to technology (22:44)6. Brendan’s secret to building his business (26:33)To know more about Brendan and if you’re interested in his coaching services, visit www.brendanbartic.com.Podcast Transcript33 min
About CEO SECRETS
From the publisher's feed
Have you thought about building your own Real Estate business and creating your empire? CEO SECRETS podcast is for you! Chris will be addressing questions from real estate agents across the country…
who are on their own journeys to building successful top producing teams… Send in your biggest, deepest, hardest to answer questions about what it takes to be successful in the real estate world today. Avoid the same mistakes along the road and take advantage of their big wins! Tune in!