The 7 Laws of Scaling with Jim Huffman

This week, Jim talks to Lloyed Lobo, Co-Founder of Boast, about his amazing Journey through Entrepreneurship, and how he was able to harness community led marketing to bootstrap a business to over 10M.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Being a swiss army knife
• Don’t let rejection rule you, let it fuel you
• Growing up on the streets of Mumbai: value of community
• The three key skills for entrepreneurship
• The key to consistency
• 3 Different types of community
• How to figure out who to target for your community
• The importance of understanding the customer
• Just ask
• Inflection points of a bootstrap company
• Audience vs Community

Resources:

• From Grassroots to Greatness: 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growth
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

• Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)
• Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)
• How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)
• Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)
• How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim and Yonathan explore another Iconic Read (or in this case watch) as they break down Bill Gurley's filmed speech titled Running Down a Dream.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Who is Bill Gurley
• Being the most knowledgeable vs being the smartest
• Finding your passion and honing your craft
• Bobby Knight – Finding Mentors
• Bob Dylan – Being in the epicenter
• Danny Meyer – Taking Notes
• Sam Hinkie – Focus and Conviction
• Katrina Lake – Being a talent magnet 
• Creating 10x peer groups

Resources:

• Running Down a Dream
• Above the Crowd
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

This week, Jim gives an update on the 3M Dollar challenge before doing a deep dive on a recent book and podcast that has shifted the way he thinks about starting a business.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Update on the 3M challenge
• An inspiration to think differently
• Buying vs Building pros and cons
• Q4 growth hacks/framework
• Growth Calendar
• Always on tactics
• Marketing moments

Resources:

•  My First Million
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

This week, Jim chats with Nick Harris, founder of multiple startups and someone who has come into a company and helped them sell at huge valuations not once, but twice. Nick shares tips on how he managed to be so impactful, his approach when he comes into a new organization, and how to find a good fit in the first place.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Starting early in tech
• Keys to making an impact in a new company
• What do you say no to
• Growth strategy
• Setting Price
• Finding a strategic partner
• Trying to foster inspiration 

Resources:

• Nick Harris Twitter
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

This week, Jim talks with Tejas Manohar, about he and his co-founders grew his data startup High Touch through leveraging communities and marketing smart cuts, and how data activation can become a super power for businesses.

 TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Selecting the right idea
• Selecting the right Co-founders
• How to be scrappy
• Smart cutting
• Leveraging communities
• What is data activation

Resources

• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim and Yonathan continue their conversation from last week and dive into the startups that have caught their attention. Then they give an update on the state of the $3M challenge and brainstorm the next business they would like to acquire.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• New additions to forbes wealth list
• Boomers needing to sell their businesses
• Fudge from Uranus
• The rarity of killer offline marketing
• Luxury brand playbook
• Similarities between luxury and novelty
• Frameworks
• Updates on businesses

Resources:

• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

This week, Jim and Yonathan break down the recent blog post by Paul Graham titled How to do Great Work. They break down overall themes and discuss nitty gritty tactics, as well as sharing what resonates the most and what they weren't aligned with before coming up with some practical ways to incorporate the learnings into your business.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• Paul Graham the Warren Buffett of early stage investing
• Focusing on what to work on
• Exponential work
• Having great questions
• Being honest with yourself
• Tactical insights
• Favorite Quotes
• Contrast to Cal Newport
• Seeking out great colleagues

Resources:

• Blog
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

This week, Jim is joined by Damon Burton who shares his incredible journey starting as a freelancer to becoming the king of SEO. Damon shares how he started as an undervalued employee working for a boss who would get sent to jail leaving him without a job and how he used that low-point in his career as motivation to start his own business and begin his entrepreneurial journey. This culminated in his status as the go to person for SEO optimization and working with some of the biggest brands in the world.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• The freedom to not know the answer
• Betting on yourself
• De-Risking and opening doors
• Phases of Growth
• Growth tactics for every phase
• Referrals and consistency
• Firing yourself from roles through documentation
• Why do SEO now vs paid ads
• SEO business alignment
• Pricing Strategy

Resources:

• https://www.damonburton.com/damon-burton/
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Can you be a leader and be lazy with your time and personal contribution to the workplace? Today’s episode is about an iconic read, in this case, a blog post by Andrew Wilkinson. In the post Lazy Leadership, he discusses delegation, building a machine, and working smarter instead of harder. Listen to the episode for a discussion about the blog post including the overall messages of the post, the best quotes from the post, and who needs to read this post the most. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• What “Iconic Reads” is all about
• Who is Andrew Wilkinson?
• What does “Lazy Leadership” mean and the main takeaways
• Best quotes from the blog post
• What we agree and disagree with about this blog post
• Why this is an iconic read
• Who should read this blog post?

Resources:

• Lazy Leadership by Andrew Wilkinson
• Andrew Wilkinson
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

This week, Jim is joined by Bryan Clayton, who started a business in high-school and parlayed that into a 150 person company that sold for millions, all before teaching himself to code and starting the largest landscaping network in the nation. Bryan shares his frameworks and mistakes he's made at every step of his amazing entrepreneurial journey.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

• How to move from side hustle to business
• The messy middle in real life
• Do you have the appetite
• The psychology of selling your business
• Delegating from stewardship
• Picking the right cofounders

Resources:

• https://www.yourgreenpal.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/bryanmclayton/?hl=en
• Jim Huffman website
• Jim's Twitter
• GrowthHit
• The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)

Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)

How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)

Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)

How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)