A company is only as good as it's people. People drive your business higher. People interact with your prospects and clients. People develop, launch and grow new products opportunities. People are truly your most valuable asset.

Now that we agree your employees are critical to your success, how do managers and business owners make sure those employees are performing at the highest level possible? They use Ambition.com

Ambition is your employee productivity platform. Hundreds of companies from 100 employees up to 4,000+ employees are using Ambition.com to share, track, engage, manage and motivate their employees to become the best they can be. The company has raised $2 million from incredible investors like Justin Kan, Patrick & John Collinson, Redpoint Ventures, Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian. Ambition.com is based in Chattanooga, TN, is already profitable and is hiring.

In this interview I spoke with Travis, co-founder of Ambition, about why he started the company, what problem they are trying to solve, what types of clients Ambition.com is best suited for, how they are acquiring those customers, which marketing channels are working the best, why employers need to invest in their employees, how the company got into Y-Combinator and how much pressure there was to stay in Silicon Valley, why he moved the company back to Tennessee and what it's like building a company there, how much he paid for Ambition.com, what are his biggest goals for 2017, what advice he'd like to share with other founders and much more.

Thanks for listening.

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All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

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You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

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The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

For anyone that has started a small business, especially one that requires equipment, furniture, inventory, perishable goods, etc then you understand how frustrating it can be to find the best suppliers. Thankfully the founder of Kinnek also recognized this problem and decided to create a solution. Kinnek.com is a marketplace that connects small/mid sized businesses with the suppliers they need. The company was started in 2012, is based in NYC, has grown to 50+ employees and has raised $33 million from some incredible investors.

In my interview with Karthik, founder of Kinnek, we discussed why he started the company, what massive problem they are trying to solve, what their fundraising strategy was, which industries they started with, the challenges with building a marketplace solution, what lessons he has learned over the past few years, how they build the supply side and demand side, why liquidity is so critical to their success, what advice he would give to another entrepreneur creating a marketplace, what is the company's top goal for 2017 and much more.

Thanks for listening.

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All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

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You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

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The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

I heard about Exo Protein a few months ago from a friend so I decided to look into the company. I'm very much into fitness so getting adequate amounts of daily protein is important to me and millions of others. Exo Protein stands out from the other hundreds of protein bar companies for one main reason...there bars are made from crickets or cricket flour to be more precise. Hundreds of millions of people around the world consume crickets as part of their diet but the idea sounds crazy to most of us however many years ago the idea of eating raw fish seemed crazy and now sushi is one of the most popular foods in the U.S.

Exo Protein was started in 2014 and has raised a little over $5 million from some very impressive investors including Tim Ferriss and Nasir "Nas" Jones. Like any other startup the company has faced many challenges not the least of which is educating consumers about the health and protein benefits of eating crickets. 

In this interview I spoke with Gabi Lewis, co-founder of Exo Protein about why he started this company and why he was so intrigued with crickets, the challenges they faced with regards to sourcing the ingredients as well as manufacturing the actual bars. We also talked about the company's marketing strategy, how they acquire customers and how they work with influencers and brand ambassadors. We discussed the complexities of running a food business and building a brand as well as how he attracted such a great group of investors and what the company has planned for 2017 in terms of growth and new product development. 

Thanks for listening.

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All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

There's no debate that we're living in an age of unprecedented innovation. The technologies around us that improve our lives and our productivity continue to evolve beyond our wildest imaginations. One of the biggest and most exciting trends are smart products and connected devices which are commonly referred to as IoT aka Internet of Things. 

Thousands of companies and developers are now building internet-connected hardware products from thermostats to refrigerators to coffee makers to shippin containers. In an effort to speed up the process for these developers, Particle offers a suite of hardware and software tools to help everyone prototype, scale, and manage your Internet of Things products. Particle is based in San Francisco, has 35 employees and has raised $14.5 million from investors.

In this interview I spoke with Zach Supalla, co-founder of Particle about his motivation for starting this company, how and why they pivoted from a different concept, how they closed a successful crowdfunding campaign, the business challenges his team faced and how they overcame them, when they decided to raise outside investment capital, how they setup the manufacturing process, how they've been able to sell tens of thousands of their developer kits, how they recruit for the company, who are some of their biggest clients, how are inventors and entrepreneurs using their platform and much more.

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

A little over a year ago I watched Craig Fitzpatrick present his company PageCloud on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. [watch that video here]. I was blown away by the technology and knew immediately that PageCloud was going to change web publishing in a very meaningful way. Their platform gives non-technical people the ability to build and launch amazing websites with unprecedented functionality. For the millions of individuals and entrepreneurs looking to launch a blog, a personal page or even a business website...now they don't have to pay a developer thousands of dollars to get something that looks great, performs well, meets their needs, can be easily edited and most importantly is affordable. Suppose you only have $15,000 to start a home based business...now you can get a great looking website for just $25 per month and spend the other 99% of your startup capital on sales and marketing. 

In this interview I spoke with Craig about his vision and motivation behind starting PageCloud. The company is based in Ottawa, Canada and has already raised millions so obviously we touched on both of those topics as well. We also chatted about how PageCloud is changing the web publishing industry, why they priced their service a little higher than their competitors, the types of people and companies using PageCloud, how they are acquiring those users, what are some of the metrics and KPI's that he likes to look at, why he loves the SaaS business model, what is their hiring strategy, what he's learned over the past couple years, what have been the biggest challenges, his advice for other startup founders, why Canada is a great place to build a company and why they might be opening up an office in the U.S. very soon. 

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

There's no doubt that live streaming has become a fundamental part of our lives, whether we're producing it or consuming it. More and more individuals, celebrities and brands have integrated live streaming into their marketing and messaging strategies. Many of us are familiar with other live streaming services like Facebook live or Periscope or even Instagram live but none of them can offer what Stream does. Stream provides two distinct advantages over those other platforms... (1) complete control of your content and (2) the ability to broadcast via your own website thus enabling you better opportunities for monetization. 

Stream was launched several years ago out of Charleston, SC. The company has been completely bootstrapped to date and build their own proprietary technology rather than licensing it. Right now they are dual focused on providing a valuable live streaming service to consumers as well as companies/brands.

In this interview I spoke with Will Jamieson, Chief Marketing Officer of Stream and former co-founder of YikYak about his excitement around joining the company in 2015 and helping to propel things to the next level. We talked about Stream's current marketing strategy, how they went from 0 to 1 million users in the first year, why they are finally raising outside capital, what makes Stream different and/or better from other live streaming services, why they'll be putting more resources into their enterprise offering, why Charleston has become an incredible place to start and grow a company, how Stream does their hiring/recruiting, what are some of their business goals for 2017 and much more. 

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

As an entrepreneur knowing if and when to pivot is extremely hard but if it's done right it can put the company on a better path to success. That's exactly what happened with Apptopia. Jonathan and his co-founder Eli started the company in 2011 as a marketplace for buying and selling mobile apps. Things were going well, they had raised money from investors and were growing but they felt there was a bigger opportunity to pivot into a mobile app intelligence company providing data and analytics at affordable prices. 

Over the past couple years since doing the pivot and rebuilding their technology platform things have gone very well. The company raised another $2.7 million this year from investors like Mark Cuban and Ashton Kutcher (via Sound Ventures) and growth is headed in the right direction. Apptopia's service is being used by thousands of individuals, developers, marketing teams, investors and corporate executives. Currently the company offers a free trial of the service but they're in the process of switching to a "freemium" business model where everyone gets a free account to access some of the features then you can upgrade to a paid account to access all of the features. 

In this interview I spoke with Jonathan about changing directions for the company a couple years ago and how the team arrived at that decision, how the Apptopia service is helping clients with their market intelligence needs, why some of the early investors kept participating in future funding rounds but others did not, how Apptopia is acquiring their biggest customers, why they are switching to a freemium model, how they are differentiating themselves from their biggest competitor, what valuable lessons he has learned over the past 5 years, what advice he would give to any aspiring entrepreneur and so much more.

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

The story behind Squatty Potty is truly remarkable. Many of us remember Squatty Potty from Season 6 on Shark Tank when Bobby and his mother Judy appeared in front of the Sharks and pitched their pooping stool product which was met with some laughter. However the Sharks weren't laughing for long when they learned that Squatty Potty had already done $6 million in sales to go along with some very ambitious forecasts. Bobby and his mother ended up doing a deal with Lori Greiner at $350,000 for 10% equity and since Shark Tank the company has done over $40 million in sales with $27 million coming in 2016 alone. 

Watch this SharkTank pitch video (click here)

In this episode I spoke with Bobby about the original product idea and his motivation behind starting Squatty Potty, how they were able to do $1 million in their first year of business and $6 million before getting onto SharkTank, why they got rejected from Shark Tank on their first attempt, why they setup manufacturing in China but moved those operations to Utah, why they spent $250,000 to create a pooping unicorn video and how that video has completely changed their business, what it's like to work with Lori and be one of these most successful Shark Tank companies ever, how and when they decided to go into retail stores, how they are doing over $1 million per month just on Amazon, what it's like to work for Squatty Potty, how he has grown this into a $27 million revenue business and of course what's next for the company in 2017. 

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

Ryan Harwood just realized the dream that many of us entrepreneurs strive for...he sold his company. Last week PureWow was acquired by a group run by Gary Vaynerchuk of Vayner Media and billionaire Stephen Ross of RSE Ventures. When I booked this interview with Ryan back in November I obviously had no insight that this deal was happening so it was a pleasant surprise we were able to add this exciting topic to the conversation. 

PureWow is an online publisher of content for women focused around categories such as lifestyle, fashion, beauty, food, health and travel. Ryan started the company in 2010 after a career at Goldman Sachs. He knew very little about the publishing industry and he was certainly no expert in women's lifestyle topics but he believed their was a unique opportunity to create high-quality content and pair that up with native branded advertising. Fast forward 6 years and his assumptions have paid off big time with PureWow now attracting more than 15 million monthly visitors to their website and according to sources they are generating something in the range of $20 million in annual revenue.  

In this interview I spoke with Ryan about the early days of PureWow, how he got started, how he hired his first two editors, how he was able to secure a $100,000 launch partner, how this team was able to grow their loyal user base so rapidly, managing the quality vs quantity debate when it comes to content, the 4 ways they work with brands and advertisers, why he was super focused on generating revenue from the very beginning, what he was looking for in early investors and what he's learned over the past few years that has made him a better CEO today. Then of course we spend a considerable amount of time talking about the acquisition of PureWow, what it means for the company going forward and why he felt this was the right deal at the right time for himself, the employees, the investors and the company. This interview is packed full of great advice as well as the inside look of an entrepreneurial journey from starting to selling. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for listening.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.

If you're looking for some honest and actionable entrepreneurial advice, want to learn how to build your personal brand, curious about influencer marketing and simply get into the day-to-day mindset of a social media guru and successful entrepreneur/investor than this interview is for you. Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Branden Hampton, one of the most influential people on social media with more than 33 million followers. He's also a serial entrepreneur, co-author of "How to Setup Your Business for Under $1,000" and an investor/advisor to several super hot startups like Dollar Beard Club, WhereFor and Trendy Butler. 

In one of our best interviews to date, Branden opens up about a ton of things including his journey as an entrepreneur, why he's sought out by big brands regarding his expertise in influencer marketing, why he decided to write a book with his close friend and business partner Dan Fleyshman, his favorite parts of the book, why he's involved with "Elevator Nights", what he looks for in a company or team before making an early investment, why advice is sometimes more valuable than capital, how he got so many incredible usernames on social media, his thoughts on the future of Snapchat and so much more.

To receive a free copy of Branden's book go to BuyThisBook.com and use "elevator" at checkout. 

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Thanks for listening to the Startup Sense Podcast. If you enjoy our show please share it with your friends and please leave us a review. Thank you.

-----

All of our interviews and episodes are available at StartupSense.net

Please subscribe to the Startup Sense Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and YouTube.

-----

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, AngelList and JonahLupton.com

Message me at [email protected]

-----

The Startup Sense Podcast is sponsored by the Lupton Group -- our team can help your company with all of your design, development, branding and marketing needs. Please visit our website at LuptonGroup.co and send us a message for a free analysis and consultation.