Execepreneur: From Executive to Entrepreneur

Manpreet Singh is co-founder and President of TalkLocal, a company that connects users with service providers over the phone within minutes of their request. He started his first company in high school - a website that had 300K visitors per month. He then worked full-time at an investment management firm through college and his MBA, helping to grow it from $20 million to $2 billion under management, and now has launched TalkLocal.

Our two questions for Manpreet?

1. Why did he leave an investment management firm he had been at for twelve years (as Employee #1) to start an internet company?
2. How did he conceive of TalkLocal and get it off the ground?

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

Alim and Steve left the University of Waterloo in 2001 and ​went on to help build Infusion into a $100 Million company. Hear the story of how they did it - through hustle, paranoia, audacity and insanity.

This week's questions:

1. You started out as 20-somethings and a handful of people back in 2001. How did you think about the path forward in those early days?
2. You've built Infusion in part through strategic partnerships, including Microsoft. How have you been able to craft those collaborations?
3. Aside from the partnerships, what has been the key to Infusion's growth?
4. What are your lessons learned and advice for aspiring and newer entrepreneurs?

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

James Costa started the first version of his business when he was just 17. He was in high school, a newly minted single father and juggling a business on the side. He now runs a 13 person digital agency in Toronto where his clients, employees and partners that all love him. In this episode we get his insight into how he’s been able to build a sustainable company that has everyone invested and happy - something we can all learn from.

Pat Murray was Director of Pricing Analytics at Home Depot and Senior Vice President of Client Service & Development at a reputable analytics consultancy before striking out on his own. Pat discusses how he launched "operations soft landing" as he transitioned from executive to entrepreneur, his first office with a door as a desk above a dentist practice, and how he has grown with the mom squad. If you're looking to launch or grow your own self-funded company, learn from someone who has successfully made the transition!

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

In this episode, Ronan Levy talks about something that likely rings true for many of us that went down a Corporate path - the desire early on to do something entrepreneurial, but delaying for something safe. He really nails why he thinks many of us do this. He's had some ups and downs, which he shares very candidly - and as he shares his lessons learned, he answers the question, "Would you do it all over again? Leave a high paying Bay Street corporate gig for the wild ride you've just been on?"

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

Burton Goldfield has led explosive growth at three different companies and in this episode we learn how he grew TriNet from $100M in revenue to over $500M in revenue. Burton describes what two things were key to the growth and how they can even apply to someone looking to go from $100K to $500K.

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

Former NPR producer, MIT MBA and Boston Consulting Group consultant Matthew Lieber co-founded Gimlet Media with Alex Blumberg - and has a hit on his hands. With highly successful shows like Startup, Matthew shares the story of his transition, how he built a great team at Gimlet, and why, after the epic Chris Sacca pitch, Alex desperately needed him.

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

In Part II of our conversation with Eric Green (CEO) and Dennis Sarafa (COO), we discuss how they executed on the strategy they came up with in Part I. There were several key takeaways, including why it's important to operate with an inverted org chart mentality, why partnerships are important for 3rd party validation, and how two 40-something guys turned around a fledgling small business because they had no choice but to succeed.

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

This is part one of a two-part conversation with Eric Green (CEO) and Dennis Sarafa (COO) on the strategy and introduction of their pivot to customers. It’s a fantastic episode that covers how they took over a company that was missing the numbers and figured out how to plot a new course – including taking a list of nearly 50 services offered down to just 5.

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.

Learn how Mike Tayter left the corporate world (Engagement Manager at McKinsey, Director at Dell) to start a fast-casual franchise. Hear what he thinks his unique advantages are and how TV advertising turned his business around.

For insightful articles on making the transition from executive to entrepreneur, including member-only content, visit execepreneur.com.