Jon Nastor's Hack the Entrepreneur

My guest today is an SEO specialist, marketing consultant, connector, and digital entrepreneur.

He is the founder of ResourceFull, a weekly digital publication designed for digital entrepreneurs looking to save time and money.

My guest has spent years becoming the “Unconventional Digital Marketing Consultant”. He’s grown an e-commerce site to $1.5 million in 8 months, and has managed an $80k a year online marketing budget.

He is also the host of the Sell More Podcast.

Now, let’s hack…

Brandon Lewin.

In this 36-minute episode Brandon Lewin and I discuss:

• Truly listening to your customer’s needs, whether you are the one to help them or not
• Brandon’s entrepreneurial roots and why he kept pushing past the challenges
• Knowing the difference between what you’re not good at and what you don’t enjoy doing
• Doing the necessary research when pursuing new products and what to do when these ideas seem to fail

• BrandonMLewin.com/ResourceFull
• Sell More Podcast
• Brandon on Facebook
• Brandon on Linkedin
• Brandon on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Hired.com— HTE listeners can try Hired for free by going to hired.com/hack. Enjoy a $2,000 credit on your first hire!
• Show Sponsor: Ahrefs—Sign up via HTE.IO/SEO and you’ll get a free 14-day trial of Ahrefs and 30% OFF your first 6 months if you decide to stay!

My guest today is a leader, speaker, Marxist-capitalist, and a smart entrepreneur.

During the past 20 years, he has bootstrapped a printing company called Webmart, dealt with the rise of the Internet in his market, and thrived based on his principles.

He firmly believes traditional business is broken and too focused on the exploitation of workers, customers, and partners. So he has build Webmart to be focused on the happiness of his team.

He calls his approach “Marxist-capitalism”, explaining it as a direct way of using the profits to go directly into the people on the team. My guest believes that if you keep the people around you happy, they’ll do great work.

Now, let’s hack…

Simon Biltcliffe.

In this 41-minute episode Simon Biltcliffe and I discuss:

• The positive impact of saying thank you and showing genuine appreciation
• How Simon employs a “Marxist-Capitalism” business model that is centered around the happiness and well-being of his team
• Focusing on the emotional and intellectual needs of your team in order to get to the desired financial outcome
• The importance of experimenting with new ideas and learning from their failure

• WebMartUK.com
• Simon's Inspire London Talk
• Simon on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Ahrefs—Sign up via HTE.IO/SEO and you’ll get a free 14-day trial of Ahrefs and 30% OFF your first 6 months if you decide to stay!
• Show Sponsor: Braintree— To learn more about how your company can grow with Braintree, visit braintreepayments.com/hack

My guest today is a creator, user experience expert, eternal optimist, and an entrepreneur.

Back in 2002, he started building businesses as the founder and head creative behind The Paper, an independent and online student newspaper.

Then, due to an injury that had him bedridden, he taught himself to code. With this newfound skill he built the early foundations for what was to become StageBloc.

Over the next five and a half years, he brought on cofounders and just over $600,000 in funding to grow the company. StageBloc was acquired by Fullscreen in March 2015.

Now, let’s hack…

Tom Giles.

In this 36-minute episode Tom Giles and I discuss:

• The importance of planning and Tom’s three-phased 10-year plan
• How Tom created a successful business from what was meant to be a personal outlet
• Bringing on partners who share the passion and vision for your business
• Stagebloc’s acquisition and its effect on the company’s time and resources
• Using an internal mission statement as a guide when taking on new projects

• FullScreenDirect.com
• Tom on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Ahrefs—Sign up via HTE.IO/SEO and you’ll get a free 14-day trial of Ahrefs and 30% OFF your first 6 months if you decide to stay!
• Show Sponsor: ActiveCampaign— Sign up for a free 14-day trial now, no credit card needed: Visit: ActiveCampaign.com/hack

My guest today is a logistics specialist, podcaster, and entrepreneur.

From 2010 - 2014, my guest was the founder and President of Capital Freight Management, an online freight management, trucking and supply chain services company.

He is currently the cofounder and CEO of Outlier, an online publication, co-working space, and conference series aimed at entrepreneurs and startup founders.

My guest today is also the host of the Outlier On Air Podcast.

Now, let’s hack…

Ever Gonzalez.

In this 31-minute episode Ever Gonzalez and I discuss:

• Trusting your gut even when it doesn’t make sense on paper
• Defining Entrepreneurship as being able to work on what you want, when you want
• Focusing on your strengths and delegating the rest
• Ever’s three pillars that form the basis of his decision-making and promote discipline
• The importance of “touching the fire” and learning from your own mistakes

• OutlierMagazine.co
• Jon on the Outlier On Air Podcast
• Outlier on Twitter
• Ever on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: 3D Cart— Go to 3Dcart.com/hack to try 3D Cart for free and get started in just seconds! As a HTE listener, you’ll get your first month free! That’s 3Dcart.com/hack to start selling online today.

My guest today is a musician, author, and an entrepreneur.

He has spent the past 21 years writing, creating, and building things to help musicians, authors, and creative entrepreneurs use their talents to make a living and make a difference.

He has created The Buzz Factor, Empowered Artist, Full-time Author, and Improv st. Louis. He is also the author of Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, Empowered Artist, The DIY Career Manifesto, and nearly two dozen other books.

Now, let’s hack…

Bob Baker.

• How to find your one thing and stay focused
• Why success starts within and can only be defined by you
• Becoming an 'untrepreneur' and music marketer

• Bob-Baker.com
• EmpArtist.com
• Bob Baker's Amazon page
• Bob on Twitter
• Jonny on Twitter
• Sponsor: Grab your FREE domain name right now at Bluehost.
• Sponsor:  Sign up for a free 14-day trial now at ActiveCampaign.com/Hack

My guest today is an author, creator, and entrepreneur with a great personal motto: “Life’s too short to build something nobody wants”.

He has been building web-based products for more than a decade and started building his own products as the founder of WiredReach, and their flagship product BoxCloud.

My guest is the founder and CEO of LeanStack, building tools, content, and coaching that help entrepreneurs succeed.

He is also the author of Running Lean, and the brand new book Scaling Lean.

Now, let’s hack…

Ash Maurya.

In this 39-minute episode Ash Maurya and I discuss:

• Applying the concepts of “right action, right time” and “timeboxing”
• The pitfalls of specialization and how Ash and his team work through them
• Focusing on skepticism of your own ideas versus validation
• The Lean Canvas method to developing a business model

• ScalingLean.com
• LeanStack.com
• Books by Ash Maurya
• "It's Time to Fire the Business Plan for Good"
• Red Butler
• Ash on Linkedin
• Ash on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Google AdWords— Go to G.CO/hackpodcast to get a $75 credit after you invest $25 in your first campaign 
• Show Sponsor: Braintree — To learn more about how your company can grow with Braintree, visit braintreepayments.com/hack

My guest today founded and built a window and pressure cleaning company in Michigan.

With his passion for business systems, he pushed the company to over $150,000 a month in revenue. In 2015, he sold the company to a national buyer and moved to Costa Rica with his family.

He now runs two online businesses with a small team of global professionals and is also the host of the Quick Talk podcast.

Now, let’s hack…

Joshua Latimer.

In this 27-minute episode Joshua Latimer and I discuss:

• Focusing on progress versus perfection and being relentless in the process
• Taking the plunge into entrepreneurial opportunities from a steady, 9-to-5 job
• The importance of building a team and delegating tasks
• Why executing an idea and not the idea itself is key to making a product successful

• Quick Talk Podcast
• SendJim.com
• Joshua on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Google AdWords— Go to G.CO/hackpodcast to get a $75 credit after you invest $25 in your first campaign 

My guest today is a digital marketer, dad, self-proclaimed nerd, traveler, and an entrepreneur.

After 12 years in IT, my guest decided he had enough of punching a clock every day. He decided to try and make the move to working remotely one day per week, but his boss was having none of it. So, he quit.

He made the natural move from a steady job to working as a consultant. This lead him further into consulting and also brought him into product creation when he co-founded Bulko and ThingShare.

For the past year and a half, my guest has been traveling in an RV with his four children and building a community around NomadTogether, which equips digital nomads, location independent couples, and families to live a freedom based lifestyle.

Now, let’s hack…

Paul Kortman.

In this 41-minute episode Paul Kortman and I discuss:

• Providing value and sparking a more personal connection by getting your clients on the phone/li>
• How Paul was able to work his way out of the office environment and into entrepreneurship
• Useful methods for ensuring you are following up with your clients
• Making sure you can sell a product or idea before you investigate it further

• Connexdigitalmarketing.com
• Homealongtheway.com
• Location Independent Families Facebook group
• NomadTogether.com
• Trello.com
• Upwork.com
• Contactually.com
• Paul on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: DesignCrowd— Check out DesignCrowd.com/hack for $100 off your project 

Nothing about today’s guest is ordinary. He dropped out of high school and talked his way into college only to drop out again.

Finally, he decided to take his last $700 and start 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Having built this company into a multi-million dollar home services empire, he is now passionate about empowering other small business owners to take the lead in their own companies.

He is the founder of O2E Brands, the banner company for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1- Day Painting, You Move Me, and Shack Shine. They are leaders in customer experience, innovation and franchise development with a combined revenue of $215M.

Now, let’s hack…

Brian Scudamore.

In this 31-minute episode Brian Scudamore and I discuss:

• Putting your vision for the future in writing and setting it into motion
• The concept of “entrypreneurship” and how Brian works to help people grow as entrepreneurs
• The value of identifying your weaknesses and being “WTF” (willing to fail!)
• Revolutionizing an ordinary business and making it exceptional
• The importance of weathering the storms of entrepreneurship

• O2EBrands.com
• Brian on Linkedin
• Infographic World on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: Google AdWords — Go to G.CO/hackpodcast to get a $75 credit after you invest $25 in your first campaign
• Show Sponsor: Braintree — To learn more about how your company can grow with Braintree, visit braintreepayments.com/hack

My guest today is slowly becoming a serial entrepreneur and is always looking for exciting projects to take on.

He is the founder and president of Infographic World, what began seven years ago as a side hustle business. He built it one job at a time in the evenings and it has blossomed into a rapidly expanding team of 20+ people.

Beyond this, the company itself has outgrown its original premise of an infographics specialty and is currently expanding outward as a visual communications agency.

In 2015, they were named Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 20 Startups to watch.

Now, let’s hack…

Justin Beegel.

In this 39-minute episode Justin Beegel and I discuss:

• The value of negative feedback and encouraging the constructive criticism of your ideas
• How Justin gradually evolved from social media manager, to consulting work, to building his own innovative infographic company
• Learning to let go of the day-to-day aspects of your company in order to let it grow

• Infographicworld.com
• Justin on Linkedin
• Infographic World on Twitter
• Jon on Twitter
• Show Sponsor: DesignCrowd — Check out DesignCrowd.com/hack for up to $100 off your project.