Mixergy - Startup Stories with 1000+ entrepreneurs and businesses

How is Close doing so well in the CRM space against such big competitors? The answer: focus. Instead of chasing enterprise clients or trying to build a CRM that does everything from web hosting to calendaring, Steli Efti focused on sales teams at small and mid-sized businesses. And he built a product with a tight set of features focused on more client conversations and less data entry. Steli Efti is the co-founder and CEO of Close, a CRM platform designed to eliminate manual data entry and make sales more human and efficient. Before launching Close, he co-founded Elastic Sales (a sales-as-a-service agency) and SwipeGood (a charitable micro-donation startup) Fun fact—he once said he spent six years following up twice a year to finally buy the domain close.com. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Have you noticed how AI search results are now linking to websites? Today’s guest runs an SEO agency that helps his clients’ sites show up in those chat responses. I invited Chirag Kulkarni founder of Taco to talk about how he’s doing it and how he built his agency. Chirag Kulkarni is the founder and CEO of Taco, an AI-powered SEO firm helping brands dominate emerging search platforms. Chirag and his team are building Taco into the go-to partner for companies navigating the shift from Google to generative search. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

After closing a company that failed, Tim Huelskamp decided to keep it simple. He launched an email newsletter that briefed smart people about the day’s top news. Today his company, 1440, has over 4 million subscribers and generates over $20 million in annual revenue Tim Huelskamp is the co-founder of 1440, the fact-focused daily newsletter. Tim and his team are building 1440 into a trusted source for intellectually curious readers who want an inch-deep, mile-wide view of the world. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Before I partnered with Jesse Pujji, we were buddy-buddy. Texting all the time. When we got started, we got excited about the world of possibilities for our company. Now? Something is missing. I asked him about it. And about where he put his money, why he’s not launching more companies now, what he’s building with AI, and more. Jesse Pujji is the founder of Gateway X, the venture studio. Jesse & Andrew are building Bootstrapped Giants, a resource for ambitious, unfunded founders. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

When Kasey Grelle heard that private equity companies paid marketing agencies to evaluate companies they wanted to buy, she spotted a business opportunity. That realization became Aux Insights, the firm that’s become “the office of the CMO” for private equity companies. Listen to how they got clients & built their business. Kasey is a former reporter who founded Aux Insights, a global advisory firm that acts as the office of the CMO for private equity firms, specializing in digital growth strategy and marketing diligence. When she's not scaling businesses, she's up before dawn at 4 AM, savoring the quiet magic of early morning work before the chaos of her three-kid household kicks in. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Tucker Max thought his business was worth $64 million. Then it nearly died. This is the story of how Scribe, the ghostwriting and publishing company rose, crashed, and rose again. Tucker Max first became famous for his best-selling “fratire” books. He shifted to entrepreneurship when he launched Scribe, a book ghostwriting and publishing company. Today he spends time on his ranch where he grows his own food, and runs Tell Your Story Memoir Academy, which helps authors document their truth. Sponsored bybeehiiv – The best email newsletter publishing platform because they'll grow your audience faster than any other service. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Zillow laid him off. So John Doherty launched Credo a digital agency matchmaking firm. Exactly 7 years later — to the day — he sold the company. This is the story of how he built and sold Credo, and how he’s building his latest company, EditorNinja, which offers outsourced text editing. John Doherty is the founder of Credo, which matches digital agencies with clients. After an exit in 2022, he built his professional editing/SEO service EditorNinja. When he’s not doing that, he disconnects from everything tech and goes skiing. Sponsored byGusto – The HR platform so well designed that your team will thank you for using them. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Shaan Puri was exceptional at doing the Silicon Valley thing. Still, he says his newsletter was the fastest way he's ever made money. Within a year of its creation, The Milk Road grew to 250k readers and a reported 8-figure exit. Shaan Puri is perhaps most famous for co-hosting the My First Million podcast with Sam Parr, which has garnered over 200 million YouTube views since it started in 2019. Some of his additional projects include Bebo (sold to Twitch in 2019), Blab (live-streaming service with ~4 million users), a venture fund, and his newsletter The Milk Road (250K readers in https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

They feel like the millionth company to offer email newsletter publishing. How are they growing so fast despite the competition? Tyler Denk is a big reason. A former Morning Brew employee, he took their growth techniques and turned them into a software company: beehiiv. Tyler Denk was the second-ever employee at Morning Brew. After growing it to the reported biggest exit of any newsletter business, he started building beehiiv. Now, they're doing $15 million in ARR as a growing underdog. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Vlada Lotkina noticed something wrong at her daughter's school. So she built the solution and sold it for 8-figures. It's called ClassTag, and it's a platform where teachers, parents and school administrators can communicate and send out announcements. No flyers, no ridiculously long emails… My favorite part is that she's a Mixergy listener herself. She literally called a previous guest of mine and got him to invest before her business took off. Vlada Lotkina is the co-founder and CEO of ClassTag, an edtech platform that simplifies communication between teachers and parents. She grew up in Ukraine and watched as her father pursued entrepreneurship during the fall of the soviet union. As a mother in the U.S., her own frustrations with poor school-parent communication inspired her. She eventually exited ClassTag for 8-figures. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Adam Robinson struggled to compete with MailChimp. So he built software that’s too dangerous for them to build. Businesses that use Retention.com can instantly grab email addresses from anonymous website visitors — even if they never fill out a form. To promote his software he made himself into one of the few interesting follows on LinkedIn by picking fights, bringing drama and adding production values. Adam Robinson is the founder and CEO of Retention.com, which identifies email addresses from anonymous website visitors. He previously worked in finance but launched the email marketing company Robly after the 2008 financial crisis jeopardized his career. Following an 8-figure exit, he bootstrapped retention.com to over $21M in ARR. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Brent Underwood had a business idea: buy an abandoned town and turn it into a tourist destination. It didn’t work. Mostly because he tried running it remotely. Then he moved in. He started looking around, diving into old mines, and finding old treasures. He shot video of what he saw and of his renovations. That got hugely popular on social media, helped him raise money and allowed him to fund his project. It’s all in his book, Ghost Town Living, and in this interview. Brent Underwood is the founder of Cerro Gordo, an ambitious project aimed at reviving a historic ghost town into a tourist attraction and real estate opportunity. Outside of his entrepreneurial endeavors, Brent has a passion for history, hospitality, and the unique storytelling of the American West, all of which play a central role in his current venture. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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: How to Create an Operating System for Your Business, and in this interview. Ryan Deiss is the founder of DigitalMarketer and The Scalable Company. His most recent book is “Get Scalable: How to Create an Operating System for Your Business.” Despite the fact that he built a massive online community and offline event business, he's so shy that we rarely see him at events here in Austin. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 entrepreneurship and enjoys discussing business strategies and ideas with his sons. Currently, Joshua is leading Fundify, focusing on democratizing startup investments. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 acquisition and retention in the competitive accommodation sector. Steve Satoru Naito is the founder of Anyplace, which offers monthly, furnished accommodations designed for remote work. Originally from Japan, he moved to San Francisco to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams, and he has a background as a tech reporter for TechCrunch Japan. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 money he wanted to buy his alternative. Noah Kagan is the founder of AppSumo, which provides entrepreneurs deals on software and other tools. He's also a popular YouTuber whose channel just broke 1 million subscribers and the author of “Million Dollar Weekend.” Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 video production company from a simple 90-day challenge to over a million in revenue. Outside of his entrepreneurial ventures, Justin enjoys competitive gaming, having reached the top 20 percent of players worldwide in Age of Empires. Sponsored by Gusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 employee and led a 15-person growth and marketing team, helping to grow the company’s monthly recurring revenue from $10K to over $25MM in annual recurring revenue. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 for storytelling, has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s strategic vision. Simran, bringing expertise in digital media and content creation, has been instrumental in driving the brand’s innovative approach and expansive growth. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 business growth. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

How did Ali Abdaal reach over 5 million YouTube subscribers? How did he build his business? what insights can he offer to aspiring content creators? You'll hear about that and about his new book, Feel-Good Productivity. Ali Abdaal is an ex-doctor turned YouTuber, Podcaster, entrepreneur and author. His book is called Feel-Good Productivity. Sponsored byGusto – The easy payroll and benefits software the Mixergy interviewees love. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Before we started, I asked Alyssa Ravasio, why she didn’t model her company on other marketplaces. “Why don’t you encourage more people to buy land near national parks and turn them into campgrounds that they list on Hipcamp? It’s a good way for entrepreneurs to make money and for Hipcamp to grow your inventory.” She didn’t seem happy with my suggestion. Alyssa is trying to preserve nature and get more people into it, not “capitalize” on nature. Still, her business is growing. This is the story of why and how she did it. Alyssa Ravasio is the founder of Hipcamp, the comprehensive resource for discovering and reserving unique tent camping, RV parks, cabins, treehouses, and glamping. Sponsored byGusto – See how easy payroll and benefits can be. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Jess Mah was listening to my interviews when I first connected with her, just like you are now. We got to know each other and I invested in her first startup, indinero. It aimed to take on Quickbooks, before pivoting to bookkeeping services. After watching her grow as an entrepreneur and pilot, we lost touch for years. We recently reconnected and I learned she’s now the founder of Mahway, which launches companies with moonshot ambitions. Jess Mah is the founder of indinero, the tax, financial and bookkeeping company, and of Mahway, a venture builder that aims to create innovative, industry-changing, billion-dollar businesses that improve the world. Sponsored byGusto – The cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resource management software Mixergy interviewees use. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I read a plea from Kevin Natanzon on X: Hi @harleyf, PLEASE HELP. I live in Israel ?? And I woke up to MORE BAD NEWS. Can it get any worse? Yes. The main source of our revenue was cut. @ShopifyDevs delisted our app. Why? Because of a simple bug. We have not monitored the app during the past week. You see, I’m a little bit busy burying friends and helping other friends and family go through this fucking hell. Yes, you read that right. Want to help the people in Israel? Expedite this ASAP, the team has already resolved it. I invited Kevin to do an interview about what his startup has been going through since Hamas’ invasion, how his family is rebuilding their kibbutz, and how he’s been growing a startup in Israel, or as he kept referring to it, “Startup Nation.” Kevin Natanzon is the founder of CreatorKit, a platform for ecommerce businesses to create images and videos with AI. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 Lobo is the founder of Boast, which helps companies find and claim their R&D tax credits. And the author of From Grassroots To Greatness, the book that explains how he built Boast by building a community and teaches others how to create their own communities. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 SocialBee, the social media management platform. Sponsored byPodflow – If you want to have the Mixergy team produce your podcast, contact us here. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 defied death, to capture the opportunity to create AI writing software company. Yaniv Makover is the cofounder and CEO of Anyword, the AI performance writing platform for marketing results. Sponsored byPodflow – If you want to have the Mixergy team produce your podcast, contact us here. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 their visitors’ questions with a personalized chatbot trained on their website content. Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. Stop Asking Questions, by Andrew Warner (me) – The book that shows you how to lead high-impact interviews and learn anything from anyone. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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. Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 – OYO – on hotels all over the world, which led OYO to a multi-billion dollar valuation. Ritesh Agarwal is the founder of OYO, the multinational hospitality platform More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 extends to diverse ventures including a sandwich chain and a golf course. Now, he’s passing his self-improvement message to others on his podcast, Ambition and Grit. Founder of RE/MAX, short for Real Estate Maximums, it is an international real estate company that operates through a franchise system. Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 can answer your email with the same tone and approach you would and get you to inbox zero. Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

There’s no money in owning markets, John Catsimatidis told me. So how did he become a billionaire? He leveraged his supermarkets to buy real estate, gas stations, and more. Owning the markets protected his downside, as he explains in his book, “How Far Do You Want to Go?” and in this interview. John Catsimatidis is a Greek-American businessman and philanthropist. He was born on September 7, 1948, in Nisyros, Greece. Catsimatidis is the owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group, a conglomerate that includes interests in oil refining, convenience stores, real estate, and supermarkets. He is also the founder and owner of Gristedes Foods, a grocery store chain in New York City. Catsimatidis has been involved in politics, running for mayor of New York City in 2013 as a Republican. Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Before the recent AI craze, Dima Shvets and his cofounders invented Reface, the viral tool that lets people rip a face from a photo and replace it with theirs. He says it's doing tens of millions in revenue and was downloaded by over 270 million people, but it only happened because of a huge failure. Dima Shvets is the cofounder of Reface, the AI video & photo generating company Sponsored byLemon.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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’ve been waiting for literally years to do this interview. I’ve known some inside information about this startup for a long time but because it involved Shopify–we couldn’t talk about it. Today Jordan Gal is here to talk about what happened. Jordan Gal is the founder of Rally, a headless checkout for modern brands. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’m excited to talk to the entrepreneur I have here today. In a world of AI and VR and web3, there is room for simple, offline business that are still innovating in the physical world. That’s the story behind PODS and it’s newer incarnation Red River. Today I welcome Peter Warhurst, the founder of both of these companies. Peter Warhurst is the founder of PODS and Red Rover, moving and storage solutions that are more affordable and convenient than traditional options. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Arnaud Castillo got $1.5 million in prepayments from customers who think he found a way to make accurate predictions about financial markets…the weather…venture capital…and anything. Arnaud created CrunchDAO, which holds online tournaments in which data analysts compete to see who can create the best predictive models. Skeptical? He might remind you of the Netflix Prize, the $1 million tournament in which a team of outsiders improved Netflix’s recommendation algorithm by 10.05%, or his entrepreneurial track of proving skeptics wrong. Arnaud Castillo is the founder of CrunchDAO, which is building the future of asset management. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Joining me is Seth Godin, one of the first entrepreneurs I interviewed back in 2008. He is a marketing legend and author of multiple books. He’s coined phrases that have become parlance for startup founders today and he’s back on Mixergy with a forthcoming book about leadership. Some of the concepts are non-obvious but some of them seemed obvious to me–I wanted to ask him why he included them and find out what I’m missing. Seth Godin is a dot com legend and author of 20 bestselling books. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Joining me for a repeat visit is Derek Flanzraich. Last time I talked to him he was running the content site Greatest. Greatest was all about health and Derek became like a guru to my friends who were in the content space. He built it up, he sold it, and I kind of lost track of him. Today he’s launching a new credit card. It’s a big swing. It’s called Ness. It’s gonna give people all kinds of health benefits. We’re going to find out what happened with the Greatest exit and why he’s taking such a big risk with this next company. Derek Flanzraich is building Ness, a health-first credit card company. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Joining me is a friend whose businesses I have grown to appreciate so much more over the years. He’s recently written about the experience of building a profitable businesses while prioritizing family. The book is The Family First Entrepreneur. I’ll ask him about that and his businesses in this interview. Steve Chou is an entrepreneur and author of The Family First Entrepreneur. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

When I talk to entrepreneurs, they talk about how they use data but I think for a lot of people, looking at analytics is just not something they want to do. It’s much easier to focus on customer support or new product features. That’s why I’m happy to have today’s guest on the podcast.  Amit Prakash is the co-founder of ThoughtSpot, an AI powered analytics company. They help users make the most of their data. Amit Prakash is the co-founder of ThoughtSpot, AI-Powered Analytics. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I was super excited to talk to today’s guest because he is the founder of Clearbit, a software that would magically take an email address and then tell you about the person behind the email address. I didn’t expect to talk about his new company but shocked to find out how powerful and big it’s gotten already. Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, which helps users keep track of thoughts, books, and meetings. Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, which helps users keep track of thoughts, books, and meetings. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Joining me is somebody who has pivoted so freaking much that my notes were out of date just after a few months. I admire how he’s been able to adjust and pivot and keep growing his business and today he’s got a success. Shane Kovalsky is the founder of Glue. It is end-to-end employee engagement and connection platform for distributed teams. I don’t freaking know what that even means. We’ll find out in this interview. Shane Kovalsky is the founder of Glue, an end-to-end employee engagement and connection platform for distributed teams. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Many of the people who I’ve interviewed were lifelong entrepreneurs. They sold things as kids or had lawn mowing services. But joining me today is someone who went a different path. He’s a scientist who got a great job, made his parents proud, and then decided to become an entrepreneur. He built something that he thought was incredible, but the people didn’t seem to see his full vision. But he didn’t let that stop him. Josep Solá is the co-founder of Aktiia, a continuous blood pressure monitor. I invited him here to find out why he did this, how well it’s doing, and how he thinks this can change the world. Josep Solá is the co-founder of Aktiia, a continuous blood pressure monitor. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

If you’re in SaaS, you know that you get revenue on an ongoing basis, which is really nice. But maybe you’ve been afraid to go into physical goods because you don’t get that kind of business model where you have a consistent set of revenue that comes in month after month. Well, joining me is a guest who said, “It doesn’t have to be that way. Physical products can be sold on subscription or recurring basis.” Dileepan Siva is the founder of Upscribe. They enable Shopify stores to have recurring revenue. I invited him here to talk about how to do it. Dileepan Siva is the founder of Upscribe, subscription software for fast-growing eCommerce brands. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

You know how painful it is to watch an explainer video from someone on your remote team? Well, Komodo is making that process a lot easier. I invited the co-founders here to tell me how they bootstrapped it. Today’s guests are Khanan Grauer and Harry Brodsky. Their company is Komodo, a screencasting solution that helps you collaborate faster and share your ideas with people without the need to type lots of text, and scheduling online meetings. Komodo is a screencasting solution that helps you collaborate faster and share your ideas with people without the need to type lots of text, and scheduling online meetings. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

If you look on Instagram or YouTube or TikTok, you’ll people who are living out of their vans. These vans are usually beautiful and these van-lifers travel the country and live and work wherever they want. But the challenge with vanlife is that it could be pretty lonely. At some point, you do want a community. Well, today’s guest came up with a solution for that. Colin O’Donnell is the founder of Kift, which combines vanlife with a network of community houses for co-working, cooking, and connecting. Colin O’Donnell is the founder of Kift, which combines vanlife with a network of community houses for co-working, cooking, and connecting. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Joining me today is someone with multiple exits on his record. I thought his story was success, success, success but turns out that there was one big setback in there that knocked it all out and put him in the hole for a million dollars. He came out of it with his latest business, which he recently sold for just shy of $70 millions. Travis Steffen is the founder of multiple companies including GrowFlow, a B2B SaaS serving licensed cannabis businesses. Travis Steffen is the founder of GrowFlow, a B2B SaaS serving licensed cannabis businesses. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I thought today’s guest was making a mistake by getting into podcast hosting. I thought, why does the world need another one of these platforms? I was wrong. Find out why in this interview. Justin Jackson is the founder of Transistor, podcast hosting and analytics. Justin Jackson is the founder of Transistor, podcast hosting and analytics. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

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 Work. Nick Sonnenberg is the founder of Leverage, an operational efficiency consultancy that is reinventing the way work gets done. Sponsored byOrigami – 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 place to start. 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 reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint