Startup Stories - Mixergy

Today’s guest got really into chat bots before anyone else did and understood how to use them. Recently he and I recorded an interview about how he does messaging bots, but also wanted him to come on to talk about how he built up his businesses. Ezra Firestone is the cofounder of BOOM by Cindy Joseph. They sell organic skincare and cosmetics for women of every generation. He also has this tool that allows you to do a one-click upsell. He turned it into a plugin that anyone can use. That’s a whole other business called Zipify. They make ecommerce plugins for Shopify stores. Finally he’s got SmartMarketer.com where he teaches everything he knows about ecommerce marketing. Ezra Firestone is the founder of SmartMarketer.com where he teaches everything he knows about ecommerce marketing. Sponsored byActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I looked up today’s guest on Product Hunt before this interview and people were beating up on his product, beating up on him. I wasn’t really sure what to make of him. And then our producer talked to him and found out about the business. It’s just growing and growing for a company that has got an innovative idea and in an area you never would have thought could support a product. I want to introduce you to him and find out how he built up his company. His name is Latif Nanji. He is the founder of Roadmunk. Roadmunk helps companies create and share their products strategy and roadmaps. We’ll talk more later about what that means. Latif Nanji is the founder of Roadmunk which helps companies create and share their products strategy and roadmaps. Sponsored byActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

How does Andrew do it? A busy husband and father, what system does Andrew have in place to help him be a successful entrepreneur? Nick McDonald, the founder of 3DayMonk, turns the tables on Mixergy’s founder and asks the hard questions to discover what processes Andrew has in place that drive Mixergy’s success. Nick Mcdonald is the founder of 3DayMonk.com which helps people who jump from idea to idea stick with their plans long enough to find success. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’m a longtime radio fan and I grew up listening to a guy named Adam Carolla who decided one day decided he was going to do a podcast. Today I have his wife, Lynette Carolla, who is also the cofounder and owner of Carolla Digital, which publishes Adam Carolla’s show. I’m interested in the business of podcasting. Lynette Carolla is the CEO of Carolla Drinks which offers a club membership to speciality alcoholic drinks created by Adam Carolla. Sponsored byActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

How does a startup founder keep his company from being a “one hit” wonder? Five years ago I did an interview with a founder named Jo Overline who got a lot of press for an app he created called Ugly Meter. It was even featured on the Howard Stern Show. But he never wanted to be a one hit wonder. A few weeks ago Jo emailed me and said, “We actually have a real agency now…and I’d like to come back to Mixergy to talk about how we did it.” Today Jo Overline is the founder of SwingDev, which builds web and mobile apps for startups and early stage companies. Jo Overline is the co-founder of SwingDev which builds web apps and mobile apps and they do everything from the design to creating scalable back ends and they specialize in working with startups and early stage companies. Sponsored byActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. 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

We’ve got weapon sales coming up in this interview. We’ve got entrepreneurial depression that nearly led to suicide. We’ve got partner issues that listeners in my audience need to know about. We’ve also got a real business with millions in sales. The guest you’re about to meet is Saud Juman. He’s the founder of PolicyMedical which makes software that allows healthcare professionals to spend more time with patients and less time on administrative tasks. Saud Juman is the founder of PolicyMedical which makes software that allows healthcare professionals to spend more time with patients and less time on administrative tasks. Sponsored byAcuity 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 Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today I have the story of a founder who built a marketplace, but what makes this guest so interesting is that his company added software in addition to the marketplace. And it was the software that helped his company grow 10x. Joe Coleman is the founder of Contently which empowers brands to produce and manage high quality content marketing programs. Joe Coleman is the founder of Contently which empowers brands to produce and manage high quality content marketing programs. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. 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 If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today’s guest says he has an ecommerce platform that did about a quarter-billion in sales and I’ve never freaking heard of it. How did I not hear about it and I’m the guy who’s deep in this stuff? George Palmer realized there wasn’t an easy way to sell digital goods. If you want to sell physical products, you could do it through places like Amazon and others. But how do you sell a stinking PDF? So he built a platform that would do it. SendOwl makes it easy for you to sell digital products direct to your audience from your blog, social media or anywhere you can paste a link. It’s gotten way more sophisticated than that little thing that just enables simple PDFs. We’ll talk about how the company evolved in this interview. George Palmer is the founder of SendOwl which makes it easy to sell digital products. Sponsored byActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

He wrote Rich20Something, a book to help millennials start & grow their businesses. Even though he has a profitable & growing business that I’ve known about for years, my team and I put him through Mixergy’s rigorous screening process. Plus I couldn’t promise we’d publish his interview before his book launch. Jerk move on my part? Was he angry? Listen to his voice when he responds to those questions at the start of the interview. Daniel DiPiazza is the author of Rich20Something, a book to help millennials start & grow their businesses. Sponsored byAcuity 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 Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I never would have imagined that sending food to customers on a regular basis could be a business that would support more than one person. But I’ve been doing these interviews long enough to have talked to several entrepreneurs who send food out as subscription and actualy grow it into a real business. I’m amazed that these businesses work and that’s why I’m having today’s guest on. Reggie Milligan is the founder of Mantry, a food subscription for men. Reggie Milligan is the founder of Mantry, a food subscription for men. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. ActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Wait till you see how Ezra Firestone uses chat bots to get real sales for his cosmetics company, Boom by Cindy Joseph. Ezra Firestone is the creator of Boom by Cindy Joseph, a cosmetics company. Get Ezra’s Facebook Video Ad Training here. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. ActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

As a user, do you ever try a new app and come across a problem? What do you do? You probably give up on the app and go with one the competitors instead. Well, today’s guest founded a company that helps app makers identify those problems before that can happen. Doron Reuveni is the founder of Applause, which offers software testing, usability, and market research. Doron Reuveni is the founder of Applause, which offers software testing, usability, and market research. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. ActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Ecommerce and direct to customer opportunities have made it possible for companies to build things and sell things we couldn’t have done before the earliest days of the Internet. That’s why I’m excited to bring on today’s guest. Josh Meyer founded a men’s brand, a line of high-performing skincare and grooming products for men. The company is called Brickell Men’s Products. I want to find out how much of this analysis that I have is right and how he’s taking advantage of it to grow his business. Josh Meyer is the founder of Brickell, a line of high-performing skincare and grooming products for men. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. ActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I keep seeing Pencils of Promise everywhere. What is this organization and how do they get everywhere? I have the creator here today to find out. Pencils of Promise is the non-profit created by Adam Braun. It helps build schools and increase access to education in developing countries. Adam has recently left the organization and launched MissionU, a one-year program that gives you the skills and experience needed to launch a successful career. Pencils of Promise is the non-profit that helps build schools and increase access to education in developing countries. Sponsored byToptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. ActiveCampaign – Improve your marketing & sales processes by upgrading to an automated platform. Start sending follow-up that adapts to your customers’ behavior so you are sending the perfect message at the perfect time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversions. See why over 150,000 marketers use ActiveCampaign to create intelligent marketing that gets better results. If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I am obsessed with chatbots so the last time I had today’s guest on I asked him about chatbots instead of about his company. We even disagreed about the future of chatbots. But today I want to get into how he built his platform, Chatfuel. It’s the most popular platform for creating fully-featured chatbots. Dmitry Dumik is the founder of Chatfuel, the most popular platform for creating fully-featured chatbots. Sponsored byWith 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. Sign up at Bench and get 20% off for your first 6 months. Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint