Startup Stories - Mixergy

I don’t think in 1000+ interviews I’ve seen someone use social media as well as today’s guests. These guys built up their business using influencers. That’s what they’re good at and it’s how they bootstrapped their business. I invited them here to talk about how they did it. Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic are the founders of HiSmile, a teeth whitening system. Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic are the founders of HiSmile, a teeth whitening system. 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 More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’ll be honest with you. I felt guilt about an interview that I did years ago with today’s guest. This was back in, let me see here, 2013. I interviewed Sam Ovens about how he built up this consulting business and was teaching people how to do consulting. I thought maybe I got taken for a ride. It was too good to be true. Then I started hearing people who were in his program talk about how big the program is. Then I started hearing more and more people say they were in the program. I realized, “Actually maybe I underestimated the guy.” And the more research I did into it, the more I realized that was true. Then I went hat in hand and said, “Hey, Sam, can I interview you again on Mixergy?” Sam Ovens is the founder of Consulting.com, it offers online training programs to help everyday people start their own consulting businesses. Sam Ovens is the founder of Consulting.com, it offers online training programs to help everyday people start their own consulting businesses. Sam’s hosting a free webinar which shows you in detail how to start your own consulting business, click here to register for the free training. 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. 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

I hate to admit it, but I hesitated when someone suggested today’s guest. And you’ll see why when I tell you what he does. Today’s guest is Nick Gray. He is the founder of Museum Hack, which encourages people to explore museums in a new way. I get how that would be fun but I wasn’t sure it was really a business. But we did our research and we found that anyone who is as committed as Nick to making $1,000,000 in sales is someone we have to interview. Nick Gray is the founder of Museum Hack, which encourages people to explore museums in a new way. 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

Today I have an interview with a former sales rep for a printing company who created an e-commerce company that sells dog food and dog supplements. It’s doing really well so invited her here to talk about how she did it and why we need another site that sells pet food. Lori Taylor is the founder of TruDog, a family-owned pet food and supplement company. Lori Taylor is the founder of TruDog, a family-owned pet food and supplement company. 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

Joining me today is Sachin Dev Duggal. I know him as the guy who created Nivio, a company that actually let you get Windows apps on your freaking iPad, and it was all legal. It was this beautiful thing. People loved it. And he sold it. I thought we were going to do an interview about that and that’s what I’m all geared up for. Instead, that’s kind of going to be the backstory to what ends up being the actual interview, which is this new company that is actually bigger, more substantive and it’s called SD Squared. It’s got this crazy freaking business model that if I didn’t know somebody who worked there, I wouldn’t believe it actually existed. If anyone goes to SD Squared and has SD Squared build an app, it costs no more than $25,000 for an app on any single platform. If it’s more expensive, then they just do the work and they don’t charge you any more than $25,000. I want to know if he is losing his shirt on this. And we’ll talk a little bit about this company that everyone in tech seemed to love, Nivio. Sachin Dev Duggal is the founder of SD Squared Labs, a boutique complete services software & application development company 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. 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. 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

Joining me is Daymond John. He’s one of the stars of Shark Tank, the incredibly popular show where entrepreneurs try to raise money from him and other investors. I heard of Daymond back when I worked for my dad’s store as kid in Brooklyn. One day this guy walked into the store wearing a FUBU logo. A few days after that it felt like everyone was walking around in FUBU, which stands for “For Us, By Us.” I will always remember how authentic that brand was and the sense of pride people had who wore it. In this interview I want to find out how he built that company. I also want to find out about the investments he’s made on Shark Tank and how he thinks about investing in companies. And I’ll ask him about his latest company, Blueprint + Co. Blueprint + Co is a co-working space where you get more than just a desk. It comes with the conveniences of cafes and concierge and support for founders. Daymond John’s latest company is Blueprint + Co, a co-working space where you get more than just a desk. It comes with the conveniences of cafes and concierge and support for founders. 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. 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

I did this interview because I wanted to know happens when one of the most successful venture capitalists becomes a startup founder. Andy Rachleff is the founder of Benchmark Capital, whose investments include Uber, Snap, eBay, and Juniper Networks. More recently, he founded Wealthfront, the automated investment firm. It invests your money with minimal amount of work from you. Then it monitors your portfolio daily to look for opportunities to rebalance or harvest tax losses. Mixergy listeners can get their first $15K managed for free when they sign up at wealthfront.com/mixergy. Andy Rachleff is the founder of Wealthfront, an automated investment service that’s allowing people to invest in a smarter way. Sponsored byIf you need anything designed–a new web page, a new landing page, a new logo, DesignCrowd will do it for you. They ask you what you’re looking for, who you are, what your company is like. They will give you lots of options, you pick the one you like, pay for it, and they guarantee results. It’s that simple. Find out how DesignCrowd is different than the other companies and go to designcrowd.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’ve got the story of an entrepreneur who was happily working for a company and things were going well until someone said something to him that sent him in a totally different direction. It was one of those moments in his life that became a turning point. We’re here to talk about the phenomenal company he’s started. Curtis Hite is the founder of Improving, a technology management and consulting services firm. Curtis Hite is the founder of Improving, a technology management and consulting services firm. 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 More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today I’ve got a guest who tried to get rich fast and instead, he lost a bunch of money. It’s one of those things that’s easier to smile about in retrospect, but at the time was painful. But today he’s running a company where he’s trying to get rich and the speed is not as important for him anymore. The company is growing and I want to find out how it’s growing. I want to know more about it. His name is Nikolay Piriankov. Nikolay is the founder of Taylor & Hart, which sells custom diamond rings online. Nikolay Piriankov is the founder of Taylor & Hart, which sells custom diamond rings online. Sponsored byIf you need anything designed–a new web page, a new landing page, a new logo, DesignCrowd will do it for you. They ask you what you’re looking for, who you are, what your company is like. They will give you lots of options, you pick the one you like, pay for it, and they guarantee results. It’s that simple. Find out how DesignCrowd is different than the other companies and go to designcrowd.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

Instead of an interview, this ended up being a conversation about the future of chatbots. I got so passionate about how messaging bots will change business that my voice became a bit hoarse. My guest, Dmitry Dumik is the founder of ChatFuel, the platform for building chatbots. I’ll have him back soon to do an interview about how he built the company. Dmitry Dumik is the founder of ChatFuel, the platform for building chatbots. Sponsored bytrouble 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 More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

What excites me about this guest is that he’s heard me interview two of his competitors. He knew going into his space that there were tons of competitors—so why did go into it? And how is he still standing? Brett Goldberg is the founder of TickPick which offers a no-fee ticket marketplace where you can buy, bid and sell tickets. Brett Goldberg is the founder of TickPick which offers a no-fee ticket marketplace where you can buy, bid and sell tickets. 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. 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

There is one proven method I’ve noticed from interviewing successful founders. It’s a process that starts with understanding a customer’s pain and then addressing that pain. That’s what today’s guest did. He started a consulting company, found a problem his clients had and then found a way to solve it on a repeatable basis. Boom—he launched his company and it took off. But then the internet imploded. We’re going to hear the story of how he found his customer’s pain, how the market screwed him over, and how he recovered from it. Alistair Croll is the cofounder of Coradiant, which provided web performance management. Alistair Croll is the cofounder of Coradiant, which provided web performance management. 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. 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. 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

I’m doing this interview because there’s a person on my team who’s been pestering me about this woman. Apparently he took a 3-day course through CreativeLive and it was revolutionary for him. He said it was going to help him grow sales. He said the person who taught the course, Vanessa Van Edwards, was so good at teaching people how to express themselves through body language, how to understand people better through microgestures and microexpressions. She has the #1 most sold course on CreativeLive. I had to have her on here and find out how big of business is there in teaching body language. Vanessa Van Edwards is the founder The Science of People, which helps people supercharge their careers, dates and social lives with quick and easy people skills. Vanessa Van Edwards is the founder The Science of People, which helps people supercharge their careers, dates and social lives with quick and easy people skills. 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. 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

Today I have the founder of Primal Kitchen, a Paleo health foods line by Mark Sisson. They make avocado oil, protein powder, dark chocolate almond bars and more. We’re going to talk about how he built this company by starting with a blog. Mark is also the author of multiple books including Primal Blueprint. We’ll talk about that an so much more. Mark Sisson is the founder of Primal Kitchen, a Paleo health foods line which makes avocado oil, protein powder, dark chocolate and more. 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. 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. 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

How do you sell something that is old technology in a modern world and get people to love it and to keep buying it? About a year ago, this guy who I’d known for years emailed me and he said that he was coming out with a book, which I thought, “Great. I can’t wait to get it on Kindle.” Then he said, “No, no, actually it’s a journal. I’m expecting people to fill it out, get out a pen or a pencil and start filling it out.” I thought, “This is a little bit weird. Are people actually still writing down on paper? Aren’t we all doing everything on our phones?” At the same time, I feel like it’s an anachronism. In a world where everything is on my phone, my journal, my photos, everything. Why is this guy sending me this book and how well is it working? Today’s guest is John Lee Dumas and the journal that I’m talking about is called “How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days.” I want to know the business behind it. John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of EOFire and author of “How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days.” 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. 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. 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