Startup Stories - Mixergy

By Andrew WarnerSociety & Culture Business Education

Startup Stories - Mixergy episodes

October 12, 2016 #1363 How to find the right price for your product – with Patrick Campbell
A few months ago I had dinner with my friend Noah Kagan. I wanted to get a sense of what our revenues are here at Mixergy. I would love a dashboard that would show me where the revenue is coming from and how it’s growing.
We were talking about different tools we use and he told me to check out ProfitWell. It’s free and most people don’t even realizes it.
So I signed up and I now have a better idea of my revenue.
I got to know the founder behind the company and I learned that it’s growing really nicer and it’s bigger than just ProfitWell—the parent company is actually called Price Intelligently. The goal of Price Intelligently is to help companies price their products right.
Price Intelligently provides SaaS pricing strategy expertise through our unique combination of data and industry experience.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
With Bench, you get a professional bookkeeping team to do your books for you and our simple, elegant software to review your finances. It’s everything you need to forget about your bookkeeping, without actually forgetting about your bookkeeping.
Upon signup, you’re paired with a team of dedicated bookkeepers who understand your business and use simple, intuitive software to balance your books. Each month you’ll receive tax-ready financials that give you a snapshot of the financial health of your business and make filing taxes a breeze.
Sign up at Bench and get 20% off for your first 6 months.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 9 min
October 07, 2016 #1362 How a 17-year-old dropped out of high school to “burn his ships” and become an entrepreneur – with Chris Kelsey
Seventeen minutes of my life were spent looking at the financials of today’s guest before this interview.
His story seemed a little too good to be true. His name Chris Kelsey and he’s the founder of Appsitude, an app and web development firm.
His revenue for the first also seemed too good to be true, his client list a little too impressive, so before the interview I subtly but firmly grilled him about is numbers.
And the numbers were there.
I’m curious about how he built this company and why he left high school early to do it.
Chris Kelsey is the founder of Appsitude, an app and web development firm.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
Pipedrive is a sales management tool for small teams with big ambitions. It visualizes one’s sales pipeline and helps to make sure important activities and conversations won’t get dropped. Salespeople really like it because it’s easy to use and intuitive. Managers like it because they don’t need to nag their team to use their CRM. It also sports built-in forecasting, integrations with other software such as Google Apps, MailChimp and Zapier and a powerful API.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
58 min
October 05, 2016 #1361 The Indian developers making a fortune selling plugins
If you setup an online store, you might have noticed that you can install plugins to give your shop extra functionality.
Webkul, a company you probably never heard of, is quietly developing a big business by making those plugins.
We invited Vipin Sahu, the founder, to talk about how he built a business and how he’s modeling Google’s organizational structure so he could manage a company that has hundreds of products.
Vipin Sahu is the founder of WebKul, which builds open source plugins to give your shop extra functionality.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
Pipedrive is a sales management tool for small teams with big ambitions. It visualizes one’s sales pipeline and helps to make sure important activities and conversations won’t get dropped. Salespeople really like it because it’s easy to use and intuitive. Managers like it because they don’t need to nag their team to use their CRM. It also sports built-in forecasting, integrations with other software such as Google Apps, MailChimp and Zapier and a powerful API.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
57 min
October 03, 2016 #1360 How Kimra Luna built a Facebook group while on welfare and turned a community into a million dollar business
I have to be honest with you that today’s guest was someone that was scheduled to do an interview before but I backed out. I backed out because I was a little nervous. I said info marketing or selling education is really tough.
We’re about tech, we’re about software. We should stay focused on that.
But then a few people who have really solid, respectable companies, the kinds of companies that I aspire to have in my audience and people who I’ve interviewed said, “You’ve got to check out what Kimra is doing.”
One of them said, “Look, go check out her Facebook group. She’s really good at creating groups, really good at creating communities.”
Kimra Luna is my guest for today. She is the founder of Be True, Brand You. She teaches Facebook marketing, how to grow a personal brand, how to create your first webpage, etc. Her whole goal is to help people build businesses and brands around the things they care about.
Kimra Luna is the founder of Be True, Brand You. She teaches Facebook marketing and how to grow a personal brand. Her whole goal is to help people build businesses and brands around the things they care about.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
Converted 2016 is an entire conference dedicated to increasing your leads, sales, and conversions at every stage in your sales process—from the second a new visitor arrives at your website for a very first time—to the day that new visitor joins your email list—to the moment that new lead purchases your first product—becomes your recurring customer—and even goes on to become your advocate and customer for life. We’ll show you how that’s done, step by step.
As a Mixergy fan, you can save up to $250 on the price of your ticket. That’s the “early bird rate” that’s no longer available anywhere else. To claim this discount, visit http://www.leadpages.net/mixergy to get your tickets.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 17 min
September 28, 2016 #1359 Why Alex Osenenko thinks your service business is scalable
A while back I got an email from today’s guest, who said, “Hi Andrew. I’m listening to your July 25th interview with Glenn Elliott and I can’t help but write you this note. One of the first things that Glenn said was the digital marketing company that he founded trapped him. He felt the company truly wasn’t scalable and there was little opportunity for recurring revenue. I feel a strong need to challenge that generalized mindset.
“Using my own company as an example, we started Fourandhalf.com with a simple premise–solve growth for small businesses.” And I’m assuming that Alex, who wrote this email, has actually been growing his company and I want to find out how he did it and why he thinks that service companies can actually scale well.
Today’s guest, the man who wrote that email is Alex Osenenko. He is the founder of Fourandhalf, which is a marketing company that works exclusively with fee-based property management services. I actually don’t exactly know what that means, but we’ll talk about that.
Alex Osenenko is the founder of Fourandhalf, which is a marketing company that works exclusively with fee-based property management services.
Sponsored by
Converted 2016 is an entire conference dedicated to increasing your leads, sales, and conversions at every stage in your sales process—from the second a new visitor arrives at your website for a very first time—to the day that new visitor joins your email list—to the moment that new lead purchases your first product—becomes your recurring customer—and even goes on to become your advocate and customer for life. We’ll show you how that’s done, step by step.
As a Mixergy fan, you can save up to $250 on the price of your ticket. That’s the “early bird rate” that’s no longer available anywhere else. To claim this discount, visit http://www.leadpages.net/mixergy to get your tickets.
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 6 min
September 26, 2016 #1358 How Chad Billmyer built a marketplace for communities of enthusiasts
When I’m not just doing real business stuff, I’m still one of those people who goes online into different forums. Like I recently got into Soylent, so I went to the Soylent forum. When I got into the Apple Watch, I went into the Apple Watch forum. I’m one of those people.
And today’s guest has an interesting business model. He wants to help forums enable their communities to sell to each other.
So, for example, if I’m still in that Trio forum and I want to sell my phone to another enthusiast, then Chad’s software would enable me to do it.
That’s the business that we’re going to talk about here today. His name is Chad Billmyer. He is the cofounder of Panjo, a marketplace for auto, sport and other enthusiasts.
If you’re running a marketplace, you can add his software to your site.
Chad Billmyer is the cofounder of Panjo, a marketplace for auto, sport and other enthusiasts.
Sponsored by
Converted 2016 is an entire conference dedicated to increasing your leads, sales, and conversions at every stage in your sales process—from the second a new visitor arrives at your website for a very first time—to the day that new visitor joins your email list—to the moment that new lead purchases your first product—becomes your recurring customer—and even goes on to become your advocate and customer for life. We’ll show you how that’s done, step by step.
As a Mixergy fan, you can save up to $250 on the price of your ticket. That’s the “early bird rate” that’s no longer available anywhere else. To claim this discount, visit http://www.leadpages.net/mixergy to get your tickets.
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 10 min
September 23, 2016 #1357 How a husband and wife turned proofreading into million dollar idea
My focus is tech and software entrepreneurs who have big revenues or big exits.
Today I’ve got an entrepreneur who’s not exactly tech, but I read about her story in a Business Insider article that was published about a year ago. She and her husband were traveling through South America and came up with this business idea. They launched it and grew it and it was actually generating some really nice revenues.
I’m excited about the business they’ve put together. I’m curious about it and I want to find out how they did it.
So, the woman who’s going to be telling us how she did it is Caitlin Pyle. She is the founder of Proofread Anywhere. It teaches people how to proofread transcripts for court reporters. That’s the business. I was going to say what the revenues were, but I’ll let her say it.
Caitlin Pyle is the founder of Proofread Anywhere, which teaches people how to proofread transcripts for court reporters.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
Acuity Scheduling – Acuity Scheduling helps businesses offer and manage their appointments online. With this tool, you’ll be able to automate your client bookings, cancellations, reminders & even payments without sacrificing you soul. Plus, automated reminders and follow-ups eliminate your no-shows, and incentivize repeat bookings. Get an exclusive 45-day trial at AcuityScheduling.com/mixergy
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 7 min
September 20, 2016 #1356 FreshBooks spent $10 mil to recreate software that already works
Today I’ve got one of my first interviewees, the founder of FreshBooks, Mike McDerment.
I’ve used FreshBooks to send out invoices pretty much since I started Mixergy.
And to be honest with you, I was taking some time off–I wasn’t recording interviews. But Mike emailed me and said, “I think we should do another interview. It’s been seven years since the last one.”
I assumed Mike was doing this interview to announce he was selling FreshBooks. So, that’s why I agreed to come to the office and record it.
Then I realized what the actual news is…
Mike McDerment is the founder of FreshBooks, invoicing software for small business.
Sponsored by
Converted 2016 is an entire conference dedicated to increasing your leads, sales, and conversions at every stage in your sales process—from the second a new visitor arrives at your website for a very first time—to the day that new visitor joins your email list—to the moment that new lead purchases your first product—becomes your recurring customer—and even goes on to become your advocate and customer for life. We’ll show you how that’s done, step by step.
As a Mixergy fan, you can save up to $250 on the price of your ticket. That’s the “early bird rate” that’s no longer available anywhere else. To claim this discount, visit http://www.leadpages.net/mixergy to get your tickets.
Acuity Scheduling – Acuity Scheduling helps businesses offer and manage their appointments online. With this tool, you’ll be able to automate your client bookings, cancellations, reminders & even payments without sacrificing you soul. Plus, automated reminders and follow-ups eliminate your no-shows, and incentivize repeat bookings. Get an exclusive 45-day trial at AcuityScheduling.com/mixergy
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
58 min
September 19, 2016 #1355 Chris Winfield interviews me about what I’ve learned from 1000+ founders
This interview is a little different because this time I’m the one who’s being interviewed. What you may not know is that over the years, I’ve taught others how to interview. I do that because I think the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.
Some of my favorite students are people who I’ve interviewed on Mixergy who said that they wanted to learn interviewing from me to see how I got them to be so open, how I got them to understand themselves better through interviews. When I meet someone through an interview, I get to know them better. We create a bond and they want that.
Well, today’s interview is someone who I interviewed years ago. His name is Chris Winfield and I first had him on Mixergy back in 2009. He was running a search and social media marketing firm back then. So he was ahead of the curve when I had him on.
Well, in 2016 he signed up to learn how to interview from me and soon after, he said, “Andrew, I’m an interviewer now. I want to interview you for my site.”
The reason that I want to post it here is because somewhere towards the middle of the interview, Chris said, “Andrew, you did all these interviews. What did you get out of them? Sum it up for me. What’s the point of it all?” And he drew some interesting ideas and understanding that I didn’t even realize I had from doing all these interviews. I want to share it with you. If you’re a fan of Mixergy, if you’re learning along with me, then I think you’ll get a lot of that.
Chris Winfield is an entrepreneur, writer and coach in New York City.
Sponsored by
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 1 min
September 16, 2016 #1354 Is Nathan Latka a bulls%@# artist?
Or is he an incredible promoter of his personal brand and his podcast?
Nathan Latka is the founder of The Top Entrepreneur podcast and Heyo which was acquired in 2016.
Sponsored by
Converted 2016 is an entire conference dedicated to increasing your leads, sales, and conversions at every stage in your sales process—from the second a new visitor arrives at your website for a very first time—to the day that new visitor joins your email list—to the moment that new lead purchases your first product—becomes your recurring customer—and even goes on to become your advocate and customer for life. We’ll show you how that’s done, step by step.
As a Mixergy fan, you can save up to $250 on the price of your ticket. That’s the “early bird rate” that’s no longer available anywhere else. To claim this discount, visit http://www.leadpages.net/mixergy to get your tickets.
HostGator is your one-stop shop for all things web hosting. From design and marketing services to easy-to-use website builders, they are with you every step of the way. Thanks to their 24/7 – 365 days a year live support – which you can get via chat, phone and email – any and all questions you have can be answered in no time at all.
HostGator offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, an easy to use control panel, one click WordPress installs and more.
More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
1 hr 12 min