Startup Stories - Mixergy artwork

Startup Stories - Mixergy

454 episodes - English - Latest episode: 28 days ago - ★★★★★ - 467 ratings

Business tips for startups by proven entrepreneurs

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Episodes

#2264 From Chaos to $200M. Ryan Deiss’s Method

March 01, 2024 18:00

Ryan Deiss’s business was too chaotic to grow beyond a few team members. So he tried creating SOP’s, you know those how-to docs that every business is told to create, but few people end up using. He figured there had to be a better way. Through experiments with he came up with “an operating system for companies.” He says this approach helped him grow to over a dozen different companies which last year did revenue in excess of $200 million. He explained his process in his book Get Scalable: Ho...

#2263 Art.com’s A Rocky Road to Success

February 23, 2024 18:00

He built Art.com through the early days of the internet, despite the dotcom bust, and through heavy competition….After all that work, the company sold to a much bigger company….And that’s when the lawsuit came. You’ll hear how Joshua Chodniewicz built that business and how his latest business, Fundify, is changing startup investing by making it super-simple. Joshua Chodniewicz is the founder of Art.com, a pioneering online platform for art and wall décor. He is deeply passionate about entrep...

#2262 What happened to Allbirds?

February 16, 2024 18:00

Allbirds were the sustainable shoes known to be worn by Marissa Mayer, Jennifer Garner, and every dude I knew when I lived in San Francisco. How did the company get so big and where is it now? I invited the founders Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger to talk about it. Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger are the founders of Allbirds. Previously, Tim was a footballer and business student. And Joey specialized in biotech and renewable materials. Sponsored by Gusto – The easy payroll and benefits softwa...

#2261 Succeeding Where Airbnb Falls Short?

February 09, 2024 18:00

This founder found a niche that Airbnb didn’t reach and rode it to $6 million in revenue. Steve Satoru Naito’s Anyplace, accommodations come with big monitors, high-speed internet, an office setup, ergonomic chairs, webcams, and key lights, all tailored to create an optimal environment for remote work and zoom calls. In this interview, you’ll hear Steve’s entrepreneurial journey from Japan to Silicon Valley, the unique business model that sets Anyplace apart, and strategies for customer acqui...

#2260 Noah Kagan, SHUT UP and take my $100!

January 30, 2024 18:00

My vision for this interview was to hear Noah Kagan’s process for launching companies, like the $80+ million / year AppSumo – the process he wrote about in his book, Million Dollar Weekend. We did that. You’ll hear his step-by-step business launch process. But, when I asked him how he was proving his process, he told me he was creating an alternative to Docusign and started asking me about the problems I have with it. I got so angry listing my problems that I told him I’d fork up whatever mon...

#2259 Bootstrapping a Subscription Service Company

January 26, 2024 18:00

Video Husky started with a challenge. Justin Tan challenged himself to get 10 customers in 90 days for his new venture. The company grew to over $1 million in annual sales by providing flat fee remote video editing services. In this interview, we explored how he found his initial customers, how he pivoted to more profitable customers, and the inner-workings or running a subscription-based service business. Justin Tan, the founder of Video Husky, has navigated the intricacies of growing a vid...

#2258 Why Didn’t Facebook Groups Crush Circle?

January 19, 2024 18:00

When I interviewed founders of online courses and asked about their communities, they often said they host them on Facebook. “That’s where everyone is” was the answer. Sometimes they’d use Slack, but FB was dominant. So how did Circle break through? That’s what founder Andrew Guttormsen & I breakdown. Andrew Guttormsen is the Co-Founder of Circle.so, a modern community platform for creators. Prior to founding Circle, he spent nearly five years at Teachable, where he joined as the seventh emp...

#2257 How TikTok Students Sold to Morning Brew

January 12, 2024 18:00

They used TikTok to promote their podcast, but podcasting is painful. There’s no discovery. It’s hard to grow. And there’s little audience feedback. Meanwhile, their short videos took off. This is the story of how the Our Future creators grew their short video business, generated revenue and sold it to Morning Brew. Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu are the founders of Our Future, a media company dedicated to inspiring young entrepreneurs. Michael, with a background in finance and a passion f...

#2256 Profiting from bad email deliverability

January 05, 2024 15:30

The clearest line to a business success is solving big pain. That’s what Benny Rubin did. Senders.co, optimizes email deliverability for businesses. You’ll hear how he came up with his business idea, how he got clients, why he left the business and why he’s back. And Benny will give you some suggestions for getting better results from your email campaigns. Benny Rubin is the founder of Senders.co, which specializes in email deliverability solutions, focusing on technical service and scalable...

#2251 Boast: Community Built to $20 million Revenue

September 15, 2023 16:00

Lloyed Lobo believes anyone could have founded Boast, a company designed to help businesses secure R&D tax credits. However, when asked about why he built it to tens of millions in revenue when others didn’t, he attributes it to community. Lloyed cultivated a network of entrepreneurs through local meetups and a significant annual conference, many of whom became Boast clients. He details his community-building journey in his book, “From Grassroots to Greatness,” and in our interview. Lloyed L...

#2250 SocialBee Faked a Software Company

September 01, 2023 14:57

Today, SocialBee is a fully functional social media management tool. But at first, it was a guy secretly servicing his customers by using publicly available tools like Google Sheets and Zapier. That buy was Ovi Negrean. In this interview, he talks about how he did that, while his cofounder wrote their company’s software. And how the services part of his business turned out to be a revenue machine that turned into a business of its own, called ConciergeBee. Ovi Negrean is a co-founder of Soci...

#2249 Anyword: $10 MM / Year Selling AI for Marketers

August 25, 2023 13:00

Yaniv Makover didn’t intend to launch Anyword, the AI writing tool for marketers. He set out to help publishers like the New York Times buy social media ads so they could grow their readerships. At first, humans wrote those ads. Then, one day, he experimented with getting writing help from BERT, the tool Google released in 2018, long before OpenAI launched ChatGPT. It was clunky and flawed, but Yaniv was convinced this was the future. This is the story of how Yaniv’s company hustled, and defi...

#2248 SiteGPT From Weekend Project to $15,000 Monthly

August 14, 2023 21:17

Seven months ago, Bhanu Teja P saw his Twitter timeline fill with AI talk. He had an idea. What if web users could use a chat-like experience to talk with the content of their sites? He wasn’t sure it would go anywhere, but it would be a good way for him to learn about AI. So he spent a weekend building what became SiteGPT. It took off immediately. Bhanu Teja P is the founder of two sites: Feather, which turns Notion into a published blog, and SiteGPT, which enables web publishers to answer ...

#2247 1 Change Got Wistia a $6 Mil Profit

July 31, 2023 17:00

The change: cutting expenses. Wistia was on track to lose $3 million per year when the founders bought out their investors with borrowed money. Chris Savage & Brendan Schwartz told me that meant the Wistia team had to be maniacal about cutting costs. But why couldn’t they do it before? And cutting expenses isn’t enough to grow a business? What else did they do? Catch the interview and see. Chris Savage & Brendan Schwartz are cofounder of Wistia, the video marketing platform for businesses. ...

#2246 OYO’s One Change Made Billions

July 24, 2023 12:00

Ritesh Agarwal was an entrepreneurial teen in India who loved to travel. So he created a travel search engine. One obstacle to growth was the subpar customer service provided by the local hotels. So he tried something novel: he helped hotels improve. He modernized their lightbulbs. Rewarded staff when customers gave high reviews. Etc. It worked. Hotel owners loved the new, higher occupancy. When Ritesh created a franchise option for them, they signed up. Today you can see his company’s name –...

#2245 RE/MAX Founder

July 17, 2023 12:00

I feel like Dave Liniger is a self-help made man. On the verge of quitting real estate, a transformative seminar reignited his determination and radically changed his business trajectory. When his wife was in a coma, he infused their hospital room with motivational tapes. The two of them left the hospital stronger than anyone could have expected. Liniger’s insights were instrumental making RE/MAX into a thriving, publicly-traded real estate juggernaut. Moreover, his entrepreneurial flair exte...

#2244 Million Dollar Company You Could’ve Built

July 10, 2023 12:00

Yaro Starak had a problem we all experienced: too much email. It was important, but it also kept him from doing real work. So he hired an assistant to answer his email. It’s a bit scary to pass your inbox to someone else, but it worked. The weight was lifted. He was more productive. So he decided to try offering it as a service. This is the story of how that service went from idea to million dollar a year business called InboxDone. InboxDone is a service where virtual executive assistants ca...

#2226 Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work

January 16, 2023 14:00

Today’s guest is a systems guy. He founded Leverage, a growth agency that also does operations, which means they do all the stuff that you think about for growth– SEO, paid social, et cetera. But they also help teams organize their Slack channels, their CRMs, and even get to Inbox Zero. I invited him here to talk about how he systemizes and how he does this for clients. He also has a book on this topic. It’s called Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in ...

#2225 The story of IFTTT (and how to get the most out of automation)

January 09, 2023 14:00

Linden Tibbets is the founder of IFTTT, which runs online digital automation platforms it offers as a service. It makes all your tools more powerful by creating automations between them. I want to find out how he built it and how to get the most out of automation. Linden Tibbets is the founder of IFTTT, which runs online digital automation platforms it offers as a service. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and you want to find out ...

#2224 Overlooked brick-and-mortar startups

January 02, 2023 14:00 - 1.74 KB

Usually I interview software founders but today’s guest created an in-person experience. Erik Anderson is the founder of Scissors and Scotch. It’s basically a 1920s style barbershop, modernized with a cocktail bar in it. I just discovered it here in Austin and so I invited him here because I’m fascinated by how the business has grown. Erik Anderson is the co-founder of Scissors and Scotch, a barbershop chain. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organ...

#2223 Is the 100 year startup possible?

December 26, 2022 14:00

Joining me is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. His name is Phil Libin. He was the head of Evernote which was a phenomenal company and I remember hearing Phil say he was building a hundred year startup. I really was excited about that idea and so I invited him here to ask him why he left Evernote. He has moved on to create a company that is making video so much better online. It’s called mmhmm. I’m going to ask him about mmhmm and also All Turtles, his startup studio. Phil Libin is the co-fo...

#2222 How to win with TikTok

December 19, 2022 14:00

I actually signed up for Hulu just to watch today’s guest on Shark Tank. His company sells freaking shirts; How is he so successful? I’m going to find out in this interview. Justin Baer is the founder of Collars and Co, a menswear brand. Justin Baer is the founder of Collars and Co, a menswear brand. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and you want to find out how to set one up for yourself, go to JoinOrigami.com. Even if you’re just i...

#2221 How to build a financial service platform

December 12, 2022 14:00

Today I’m talking to Edrizio De La Cruz, the founder of Arcus Financial Intelligence. He late sold that company to MasterCard. I want to find out how he did it. Edrizio De La Cruz is the founder  of Arcus Financial Intelligence, which was sold to MasterCard. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and you want to find out how to set one up for yourself, go to JoinOrigami.com. Even if you’re just interested in how these things work and wan...

#2220 Pseudonymity in Web3 explained

December 05, 2022 14:00

Joining me is a person whose real name I don’t even know. He goes by the pseudonym Artorias. He’s not exactly running a company; he’s running a DAO, which means that he and a group of other people got together and they decided to do something that they couldn’t do on their own.   Cult is an investment DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization. Its members invest in projects that help bring about decentralization of power. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized ...

#2219 Making money off churn

November 28, 2022 14:00

Nick Fogle is the co-founder of Churnkey, which makes clever retention tools to help SaaS Founders eliminate churn. Nick Fogle is the co-founder of Churnkey, retention tools to help SaaS Founders eliminate churn. Sponsored by Origami – If you’ve heard about DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and you want to find out how to set one up for yourself, go to JoinOrigami.com. Even if you’re just interested in how these things work and want to learn more, the Origami blog is a great pl...

#2218 How Bankless launched their DAO

November 21, 2022 14:00

I’ve got another web3 interview for you today. Today’s guest is Lucas Campbell. He was working at a publishing company called Bankless, which has been evangalizing web3 as the future. Bankless was doing well based–a little over a million a year–for a company of about 5 people. That’s when Lucas had the idea to launch a DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization. I want to know why. Lucas Campbell is the Senior Editor at Bankless, the world’s most popular daily crypto email. Sponsored by ...

#2217 The glamping startup that sold for over $100 million

November 14, 2022 14:00

My guest today created a company that I’ve watched from a distance. It’s  called Under Canvas and what they do is put up these gorgeous, beautiful tents near national parks that let you be part of nature but without having to go full-blown camping. It was an ecotourism company that was facilitation glamping before glamping was really a thing. She sold that company for over $100 million in 2018. I want to find out how she did it. Sarah Dusek is currently the founder of Enygma Ventures, a ventu...

#2216 A look at Web3’s art market

November 07, 2022 14:00

Some of you are going to love what today’s company sells and others are going to not just hate it, but hate me for even talking about it. John Crain is the founder of SuperRare, a marketplace to buy and sell NFTs from the world’s top artists. And still, despite the fact that you could right-click and save the art to your computer, they’ve sold over a quarter billion dollars worth of digital art in their marketplace. I wanted to understand how so I invited the founder here to talk about it. J...

#2215 LivePerson’s Robert LoCascio is back after 10 years

October 31, 2022 13:00

It’s been 10 years since I interviewed Robert LoCascio, founder of LivePerson. Last time we talked about therapy and the founder mindset. This time we talk about AI and the public market’s impact on the company. Robert LoCascio is the founder of LivePerson, which enables meaningful, personalized connections with your customers while delivering real outcomes for your business. Sponsored by Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon ma...

#2205 The untold story behind CreativeLive

August 08, 2022 13:00

Most people think about Chase Jarvis when they think about CreativeLive. Well, today I’m talking to the guy behind that guy. His name is Craig Swanson and he co-founder of CreativeLive. I’ll ask him about why he has no ego about not being in the spotlight and why, in his words, he’d rather own the spotlight. Craig Swansons the c0-founder of CreativeLive, online classes in photography, art, design, craft & DIY, marketing, business, and entrepreneurship. Available on-demand 24-7. Sponsored by...

#2204 How to solve a specific problem for a specific niche

August 01, 2022 13:00

Jonathan Kite is the co-founder of Rent Ready, which was built to eliminate the frustration of getting an apartment home move-in ready. It’s a very simple tool that is very powerful for the right customers. I’ll ask him how he discovered the idea and how he’s grown Rent Ready to over $4MM arr. Jonathan Kite is the co-founder of Rent Ready, which was built to eliminate the frustration of getting an apartment home move-in ready. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most i...

#2203 How Leon Kuperman built Cast.ai

July 25, 2022 13:00

Joining me is Leon Kuperman from Cast.ai whose goal is to cut your cloud bill in half. I invited him here to talk about how they do it and  also what happened to his eye after he sold his previous company. Leon Kuperman is the founder of Cast.ai, which cuts half of your cloud bill, automates DevOps tasks, and ensures business continuity thanks to multi cloud. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your busine...

#2202 An agency creates its own tool which gets acquired by Adobe

July 18, 2022 13:00

Today’s guest launched an agency, created software for the agency and grew that tool into a successful software company. way harder. Not only that, he also got to the finish line–he sold the software to Adobe and now he’s traveling all over the world. I want to find out how he did it. Alex Packham is the founder of ContentCal, a social media planning tool. Alex Packham is the founder of ContentCal, a social media planning tool. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most ...

#2201 How to build a great chat platform for remote teams

July 11, 2022 13:00

Joining me is someone who created a way for us to talk with the people we work with remotely. There are hundred of tools out there that can be used for the same thing so I want to find out what made his solution stand out from all the others. Rajiv Ayyangar is the founder of Tandem, a chat platform for remote teams. Rajiv Ayyangar is the founder of Tandem, a chat platform for remote teams. Sponsored by HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time bl...

#2200 Truebill sells for $1.275B – Here’s the story

July 04, 2022 13:00

I’m so excited to do this interview because it’s been 12 years since I last talked to today’s guest. Haroon Mokhtarzada is the founder of Truebill, which helps users find subscriptions, manage bills, and even cancel recurring charges with a single click. Since we last spoke, he’s got a $100+ million dollar exit under his belt. I want to talk about that experience and his new company, Truebill, which is another massive success. Haroon Mokhtarzada is the founder of Truebill, which helps users ...

#2199 The Airbnb for storage

June 27, 2022 13:00

I’ve been told by many founders that you can’t just build the Airbnb of whatever or the Uber of whatever. You have be more creative than that. That’s why I’m so excited to have today’s guest on. Joseph Woodbury is the co-founder of Neighbor, the Airbnb of extra space in your house for self-storage. And it’s doing really well. I want to find out how he came up with the idea and why this version of Airbnb worked when so many other don’t.   Joseph Woodbury is the founder of Neighbor, the Airbnb...

#2198 Conquering Chaos: How Clate Mask Grew Infusionsoft into Keap

June 20, 2022 13:00

I originally interviews Clate Mask after he had build Infusionsoft, a software that I felt revolutionized email marketing. Well, that company has grown massively since then and even changed names. It’s now called Keap. I want to find out about that and how Clate has grown a $100M dollar company without going crazy. Today, he is the founder of Keap, an all-in-one sales and marketing software built for small businesses. Clate Mask is the founder of Keap, an all-in-one sales and marketing sof...

#2197 What is it like running a startup from a war zone?

June 13, 2022 13:00

Today I’m talking to Alyona Mysko. She’s the founder of Fuel which helps startup founders making their finance function efficient. But she built her company out of Kyiv and was there when the sirens went off.   Alyona Mysko is the founder of Fuel which helps startup founders making their finance function efficient. Sponsored by Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into rea...

#2196 An Operating System for Ecommerce

June 06, 2022 13:00

I’m talking to someone whose company is still really young but his revenue is more than I would have imagined. To be honest, I was going to pass on this interview because I didn’t understand how it was possible, but I was later convinced. You’ll see why in this interview. Maxx Blank is the founder of Triple Whale, An Operating System for Ecommerce. Maxx Blank is the founder of Triple Whale, An Operating System for Ecommerce. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most int...

#2195 First interview: Profitwell bootstrapped to $200 million

May 27, 2022 13:00

Before he announced the sale to the world, Patrick Campbell said he wanted to come on Mixergy to explain what happened. This is the story of how he bootstrapped Profitwell, where he’s going to spend the money he made and why he’s in Puerto Rico. Patrick Campbell is the founder of ProfitWell, revenue automation products that automatically reduce cancellations, optimize pricing, and give you accurate, free revenue reporting. Sponsored by Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers w...

#2194 A venture fund with the heart of a bootstrapper

May 23, 2022 13:00

I’m talking to an entrepreneur who built and sold a company in public. The company was called Storemapper. We’re going to talk about how he did that but I also want to know more about what he decided to do afterward. Today, Tyler Tringas is the founder of Calm Company Fund, an ecosystem of founders and funders of profitable and sustainable businesses. Tyler Tringas is the founder of Calm Company Fund, an ecosystem of founders and funders of profitable and sustainable businesses. Sponsored b...

#2193 The $100M fitness subscription

May 16, 2022 13:00

Today’s guest is a long-time listener. When I heard how big his company Future has gotten, my head almost blew off. Rishi Mandal is the founder of Future, which offers customizable personal training with your own fitness and wellness coach. Rishi Mandal is the founder of Future, which offers customizable personal training with your own fitness and wellness coach. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your bu...

#2192 A profitable positive impact company

May 09, 2022 13:00

Can a business be both a luxury brand and a positive environmental impact brand? I want to find out in this interview? Ryan Shearman is the founder of Aether Diamonds, which creates diamonds made from carbon extracted from the atmosphere. Ryan Shearman is the founder of Aether Diamonds, which creates diamonds made from carbon extracted from the atmosphere. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business ...

#2191 This SaaS is bringing transparency to the beauty industry

May 02, 2022 13:00

I would have thought the product today’s guest created would be a nice-to-have. I was wrong. Sabrina Noorani is the founder of ClearForMe, which is changing how the world consumes ingredient information. Sabrina Noorani is the founder of ClearForMe, which is changing how the world consumes ingredient information. Sponsored by Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into reali...

#2190 Case Study: A Sweaty Startup

April 25, 2022 15:50

Joining me is an entrepreneur who started out by pushing a lawnmower. In this interview, you’ll hear how he was able to actually scale that into a business and even sell it. What he did next is even more interesting. Bryan Clayton is the founder of GreenPal, a freelancing platform that connects landscapers to clients in the United States. Bryan Clayton is the founder of GreenPal, a freelancing platform that connects landscapers to clients in the United States. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sen...

#2189 Personalized drink ware: a physical product roadmap

April 18, 2022 13:00

I’m fascinated by today’s story. I hate the word inspiring, but that’s really what it is. Brian Johnson is the founder of Well Told, custom barware and drink ware. I want to find out how he launched on Etsy and grew the brand far beyond. Brian Johnson is the founder of Well Told, custom barware and drink ware. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and he...

#2188 Why real estate needs more tech founders

April 11, 2022 13:00

Real estate has lagged in terms of digital adoption and there’s a massive opportunity waiting for founders. Today’s guest is someone who seized it. I want to find out how he did it. Matt Giffune is the founder of Occupier, an end-to-end lease lifecycle management software platform for commercial tenants. Matt Giffune is the founder of Occupier, an end-to-end lease lifecycle management software platform for commercial tenants. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most i...

#2187 Why the world needed another job board

April 04, 2022 13:00

Why launch a company that has been done by a million other entrepreneurs? That’s the first question I have for today’s guest. Dylan Buckley is the founder of DirectlyApply, which matches job seekers and roles. Dylan Buckley is the founder of DirectlyApply, which matches job seekers and roles. Sponsored by Sendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and help you reach the ...

#2186 Building an automation solution

March 28, 2022 13:00

My guest today discovered a real pain in his previous career. He was working as an attorney and he noticed how awful the process was of sending documents back and forth, getting signatures, and dealing with revisions. Instead of just dealing with it, he decided to create a solution. Richard Mabey is the founder of Juro, an all-in-one contract automation solution. Richard Mabey is the founder of Juro, an all-in-one contract automation solution. Sponsored by Gusto – Gusto’s people platform h...

#2185 Building two companies in the same space

March 21, 2022 13:00

The thing that I’m especially curious about today’s guest is that his current business is very similar to his previous business. Why is it that more entrepreneurs don’t do that? Anthony Welgemoed is the co-founder of Ziflow, creative collaboration and proofing software. I’ll find out from him what the advantages and disadvantages are of staying in the same space. Anthony Welgemoed is the co-founder of Ziflow, creative collaboration and proofing software. Sponsored by Lemon.io – Why squa...

Guests

Jordan Harbinger
2 Episodes
Seth Godin
1 Episode