ScaleHQ Podcast

A quick update on why there’s been a short gap in programming from your ScaleUps Podcast host, Sean Steele.

Doing startups is hard. Doing just one is usually enough for most people. But doing 100 in 5 years, that’s a special kind of insane or amazing depending on how you look at it!

That’s precisely what Mark McNally Co-Founder and CEO of Nobody Studios and previous guest and Co-Founder, Barry O’Reilly have done. They’re seeking to launch one hundred compelling businesses in 5 years. That’s right. One hundred.

To succeed in producing that many quality businesses you have to have learned a few things about how to filter out ideas that won’t succeed, how and when to raise capital, how to recruit great talent who together can create that magic that brings ideas to life and who can successfully and rapidly execute and iterate small tests and experiments.

If you’re a Founder who’s got a new product or service idea or business model you’d love to make fly you’ll love this week’s episode with experienced and successful entrepreneur Mark McNally, Co-Founder and CEO of Nobody Studios who’s on a mission to build 100 startups over 5 years. We explore the problems with getting big valuations too early on the journey, the ingredients that make ideas succeed, equity crowdfunding, how to avoid burnout and so much more.

03:00 – The Genesis of Nobody Studios

10:54 – The Problem with Big Valuations too Early

16:47 – The Portfolio Approach to Building Startups

20:28 – Sourcing Ideas When Building 100 Companies

24:21 – The FruAgressive Concept

25:43 – Some of the Early Companies Coming Out of Nobody Studios

32:00 – Ingredients that Make Startups Succeed

36:46 – Equity Crowdfunding

41:32 – When Investors Realise Returns

45:07 – Avoiding Burnout

50:33 – How to Follow Mark and Nobody Studios

If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Website: https://nobodystudios.com/

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/says-nobody-studios/

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

Third-party cookies are about to become a thing of the past. Company’s reliant on using cookies to track users and personalise experiences to support their customer acquisition and customer experience objectives will find it increasingly difficult to kick goals without leveraging their own data.

Enter stage left, Matt Forman the Founder and CEO of XPON Technologies (www.xpon.ai) who is materially disrupting how customers gather, analyse and leverage their marketing and customer experience data to drive decisions in their business and is taking a leading role in creating blended reality virtual experiences for those seeking to reach customers in new ways.

You’ll love this week’s episode with Matt Forman, Founder and CEO of XPON Technologies where we explore the incredible growth journey of the company which in two years went from start-up to 120 team members, global reach and listed on the ASX. We explore the numerous transformational drivers of growth in the business, how XPON built their bench strength and created a unique culture that’s successfully sustaining rapid growth.

01:41 – Overview of XPON

04:02 – The Problem XPON is Solving

08:28 – How XPON is Reducing Customer Churn

14:16 – The New Partnership with Google

21:33 – Pros and Cons of Going Public on the ASX

26:12 – Approach to Building Executive Bench Strength

28:31 – Applying Rigour to Finding Product-Market Fit

30:16 – Psychological Safety

31:13 – How Distribution Partnerships Supercharged Growth

32:32 – Growth By Having Ultra-Low Churn Rates

35:03 – Sage Advice When Hiring Team Members

37:31 – Most Difficult Times as a CEO

41:26 – Is There Such a Thing as Balance?

45:14 – The Business in 3 Years

47:24 – Matt’s 3 “Above All Else’s”

49:41 – How to Connect with Matt or Follow XPON

If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Website: www.xpon.ai

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xpon-technologies/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/xpontech

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

I know you probably think you’ve got feedback nailed as a Founder, or you’re probably not bad at least. But what about your managers? Are they nailing it? What about your team? Are they great at asking for feedback as well as giving it to each other, their one-up managers, their direct reports?

If the answer is “maybe not”, then there’s something to learn!

This week I interview Amy Sandler, Chief Content Officer at Radical Candor. Radical Candor is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book that’s been published in 20 languages. It shares a simple framework to help you become a kick-arse boss through nailing feedback and guidance to others. It illuminates the path to building a culture in your business where people care deeply and personally yet challenge directly.

You’re guaranteed to learn something valuable that you can implement immediately in your business, enjoy this week’s episode!

Here’s What We Cover This Week….

02:05 – We Might Nail Growing a Business, But Do We Nail Feedback?

04:05 – Guidance vs Feedback – Are They Different?

07:26 – Unpacking a Framework that Helps

15:00 – Tough Feedback for Sean

22:15 – Aligning Feedback to Motivation

26:00 – Feedback as a Regular Muscle, not an Event

27:31 – Some Great Questions to Solicit Feedback

30:52 – Make Praise Specific

32:57 – Steps to Great Feedback

39:21 – Stop Rambling, Get to the Point

41:47 – The Problem with the Feedback Sandwich

44:45 – When Team Members are Not Communicating Well

52:50 – Building Safety

55:15 – How to Learn More About Radical Candor (and Free Resources)

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If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

Follow us on your favourite socials:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

You can connect with Amy Sandler at:

Free Download: www.RadicalCandor.com/one-pager.

Website: www.radicalcandor.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/candor-inc/

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

Podcast: https://www.radicalcandor.com/candor-podcast/

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

If you’re curious about early-stage megatrends that are going to shift the way your customers and employees think about your business, what they expect from you and from each other… this is your episode!

This week I interview Barry O’Reilly… best-selling author, speaker, faculty member at Singularity University on innovation, entrepreneur, advisor, co-founder of Nobody Studios and ExecCamp.. the list goes on! Barry and I unpack the megatrend of the “ownership economy” and Web3 technologies and how you might consider leveraging them in your business.

Here’s What We Cover This Week….

00:49 – Intro to Barry

04:27 – Introducing the Megatrend of the Ownership Economy

09:50 – Contributors Getting Rewarded for Creativity and Content

13:18 – How NFTs and Creators Come Together

15:00 – Equity Crowdfunding

19:42 – Potential Use Cases of NFTs for Communities, Fans, Customers

26:13 – Examples of some Web 3 Projects

31:11 – How Web3 Can Be Leveraged in Traditional Industries

37:51 – The Value of Cryptocurrencies Outside Investing

44:28 – Fear and How to Deal with it as a Founder

52:47 – How to Follow Barry and Nobody Studios

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If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

Follow us on your favourite socials:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

You can connect with Barry O’Reilly:

Read Barry’s blog at: www.barryoreilly.com

Find out more about Nobody Studios at: www.nobodystudios.com

See how you can run an ExecCamp at: www.execcamp.com

Listen and subscribe to Barry’s Unlearn Podcast at: https://barryoreilly.com/podcast/

See what he has to say on Twitter: @barryoreilly

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

This was one of my most fun interviews to do.  Why? Because we’re talking marketing with Timbo Reid.

How much time do you dedicate to marketing in your business? Does it feel like a chore or a hobby? Do you have fun doing it?

Marketing should be fun! It doesn’t have to be boring and serious and given it’s your business and you built it to have an impact, perhaps it’s time to try something new to increase that impact and find that cut-through in your market.

This week Timbo Reid, the very enjoyable-to-listen-to author, keynote speaker, marketing expert and host of the top-10 business podcast Small Business Big Marketing unpacks a literal smorgasbord of marketing gold collected over 30 years.  You’re gonna finish this episode with a smile on your dial and inspired to try something new in your business to stimulate growth and maximise your impact.

Here’s What We Cover This Week….

03:19 – Introducing Timbo Reid

06:17 – Why Marketing Your Business Should be a Hobby

09:45 – Timbo’s Marketing Career Prior to Podcasting

11:31 – Understanding Your Customer

17:10 – Pull vs Push Marketing and the Learning Hub Example

21:01 – The Recovery Room and Geek Squad Examples

24:41 – Platinum Electricians and the 21-Step Customer Manifesto

33:11 – Tom Dickson from Will it Blend and Extreme Product Demonstration

35:17 – Patty Lund Dental Transformation and Killer Innovations

38:44 – Cirque De Soleil Differentiation

41:44 – Mistakes Owners Make

48:04 – How to Follow or Connect with Tim

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Follow us on your favourite socials:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

You can connect with Timbo Reid:

Website:  https://timreid.com.au/

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

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

When you think about it, how much time and professional development attention gets given to building business acumen in your business? How much time do you spend teaching your teams about the inner workings of cash, profit, assets, growth and people? If you did, would they be able to make better decisions that would likely help the business grow? 

And if you wanted to increase the level of business acumen, how would you go about it?

This week Kevin Cope best-selling author and CEO of Acumen Learning, who teach business acumen to leaders and their teams to help them grow faster and more sustainably, shares tips and strategies to help you build the business acumen of yourself and your team to help you fuel your growth.

Here’s What We Cover This Week….

02:51 – The Acumen Learning Business Model

05:19 – Kevin’s Background

09:00 – How COVID Impacted the Business Model

16:29 – First Key Hires that Had Big Impact

17:14 – Self-Publishing a Book as a Lead Magnet

25:00 – The Key Levers that Drive Businesses

29:25 – Key Strategies to Immediately Improve Your Business Acumen

33:25 – Dashboarding in Practice

34:59 – Educate Your Team

38:25 – Profit as Benevolence

40:43 – Aligning Incentives with Desired Behaviour

49:01 – How to Contact or Follow Acumen Learning or Kevin

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If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

Follow us on your favourite socials:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast 

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/ 

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast 

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ 

You can connect with Kevin Cope via:

Website:  https://www.acumenlearning.com/ 

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

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

If you own a property, you know the name BMT Tax Depreciation. They’re Australia’s #1 for property depreciation schedules, and number 1 by a country mile.

Being #1 doesn’t mean it’s easy, in fact that can make it harder but it does afford you some benefits. This week Brad Beer, CEO of BMT Tax Depreciation Australia’s #1 for property depreciation schedules, shares the highs and lows of growing to 180 staff and market leadership (by a long way) over 24 years.

Don’t miss this episode.

If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

Website: www.bmtqs.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-beer/

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

Resilience is far more than having coping strategies when things get tough.  Resilience practices can be done proactively, intentionally, purposefully.  There’s going to be a new challenge just around the corner.  That’s business.  That’s life.  If you want to be better prepared for the next one, this week’s episode is for you.

After a devastating accident at the age of 12 leaving her quadriplegic, Stacey Copas Founder of Academy of Resilience, found strength and purpose in her new life and this week shares with you some questions, mindsets and practices to help you navigate through the next challenge in your business or life more gracefully and successfully.  

Don’t miss this episode.

03:23 – Stacey’s Life-Changing Accident

08:07 – Coping with a New Reality

12:28 – The Catalyst to Begin Sharing Her Story

17:19 – Why Resilience Matters

21:04 – Current Generation and Risk Taking

24:35 – Building Resilience in Your Organisation

27:35 – Stacey’s Mantra that Changed Her Perspective

30:25 – Vulnerability as a Leader

34:31 – Seeing Change as a Positive Complacency Killer

37:19 – Where Does Personal Responsibility Fit In?

39:31 – The Danger of “Always” and “Never”

41:42 – Getting Grounded and Present, Then Asking Better Questions

45:59 – How to Follow Stacey’s Work or Learn More

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If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

Follow us on your favourite socials:

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast 

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/ 

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast 

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ 

You can connect with Stacey Copas via: 

Website: www.howtoberesilient.com 

Website: www.staceycopas.com 

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au

When you think about it… every bit of work your team ends up focusing on is a result of the questions you’ve asked and the answers you’ve come up with.  That turns into what to focus on, how to do it, when to do it and why it’s important.  Imagine if you could improve the quality of your questions by 20-50%... would you get the same correlation in improved performances? 

Join us this week as we interview Warren Berger.  Author or co-author of 10 books, multiple appearances on CNN, and NBC’s Today Show, and regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Psychology Today where he writes the “Questionologist” column.

Don’t miss this episode.

Here’s What We Cover This Week….

01:25 – How Warren Became a “Questionologist”

03:05 – The Impact of Poor-Quality Questions as a Leader

06:34 – The Risk of Over-Valuing Your Experience

09:25 – The Power of What-If Questions

17:03 – The Issue with How Questions

20:33 – The Trap of Success and Expertise 

24:12 – The How Might We Questions

27:26 – Questions vs Statements for Your Mission

34:00 – A Cracking Question from Intel

39:19 – How to Build a Culture of Questioning

52:26 – How to Follow Warren’s Work

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If you got value from today’s episode, please remember to:

1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

2. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

3. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email [email protected].

ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast

ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/

ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast

Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

Website: www.amorebeautifulquestion.com

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

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

Website: www.seansteele.com.au