The Top Entrepreneurs In Money, Marketing, Business And Life

Brandon Foo, co-founder and CEO of Polymail (YC S16) – an email platform making businesses and companies more productive. Previously, he co-founded CTRL LA Collective, a co-working space in LA. He graduated from UCLA where he co-founded Bruin Entrepreneurs which is now the biggest entrepreneurship organization at UCLA. Listens as Brandon shares how he built Polymail and why entrepreneurs prefer it over Gmail. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – N/A What CEO do you follow? –  Aaron Levie Favorite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 7-8 If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Spend more time with side projects and less on school work”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:35 – Nathan introduces Brandon to the show 02:08 – Polymail is a super-powerful email platform designed for business users 02:18 – With just 1 app, you can do a lot with your email 02:37 – It is a complete stand-alone email client 03:15 – How are you convincing people to make the switch? 03:20 –

Rey Grainger, founder and CEO of Mavenlink, where he’s leading a mission to re-invent the way businesses do work. Ray brings over 25 years of experience in software and technology consulting to Mavenlink. He also invests in several technology companies through Accenture technology ventures including enterprise knowledge manager vendor InQuira. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Good to Great What CEO do you follow? –  Marc Benioff Favorite online tool? — Evernote Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—  I don’t If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “That I would actually end up achieving what I have setup to do”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:24 – Nathan introduces Ray to the show 02:28 – Ray likes corporate world more 03:00 – How Accenture invested in AI Technology 03:20 – Ray left Accenture in 2005 when InQuira started to get into the market 03:48 – Ray already had an idea for Mavenlink 04:45 – Mavenlink is SaaS business management solution 05:09 – Mavenlink is a subscription base

Ben Dobyns, CEO and founder of Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. He’s started giving the company’s films away for free ever when he started the company—a tradition he’s proud to continue today. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Art of Game Design What CEO do you follow? –  Jamie Wilkinson Favorite online tool? — Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Take the time to pursue the dream. Shortcuts will disempower you and empower other people”    Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:33 – Nathan introduces Ben to the show 01:57 – Ben had a terrible experience with Hollywood distribution in 2008 02:10 – Ben didn’t get paid for the film they made 02:18 – The company owed Ben $ 30,000 03:23 – “Independent films will lose your money if you invest in them” 03:34 – Ben launched his new company in 2010 and paid their investors back after a year 03:47 – Zombie Orpheus Entertainment was launched in 2010 03:59 – “We’re going to give people free films

Debbie Johnston, recognized as Entrepreneur of Richmond and the founder of Care Advantage – a dynamic and compassionate care company that is devoted in giving back to the community. She’s the author of The School of Heart Knocks. Listen as Debbie shares her inspiration in starting Care Advantage and her experience in Secret Millionaire. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Think and Grow Rich What CEO do you follow? –  Steve Jobs Favorite online tool? — Facebook Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Never If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Start your business earlier, you know more than you think.”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:54 – Nathan introduces Debbie to the show 03:10 – Adoption is close to Debbie’s heart 03:28 – Care Advantage is a full service care company 03:54 – Care Advantage has a special care division 04:30 – Care Advantage is all over the country 04:50 – Payment for the services is by the hour 05:12 – Care Advantage reimbursed in the state they’re in 05:44 – C

Matt Kepnes of NomadicMatt.com, the man who went from everyday worker to travel writer. Matt grew up in Boston and he didn’t take his first trip until he was 23—a cruise to Montreal. After he started a life as a young professional, he decided to travel the world, so he headed to Costa Rica in 2004, Taiwan in 2005, and never looked back. Listen as Matt talks about the success of his blog and how he grew it from a simple online journal. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Influence What CEO do you follow? –  N/A Favorite online tool? — N/A Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Value eating healthy”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Matt to the show 02:53 – Matt was working in administration 03:16 – Number of unique website users on average per month is 1.2 million 03:27 – Matt started the blog in 2008 after 14 months of traveling 03:50 – Matt built the blog as an online resume 04:17 – Matt is getting more visitors in 2010 0

Chris Bruznicki, CEO of Vaystays, which is a vacation rental marketplace tool used by propriety manager like Wyndam. He has been featured in Entrepreneur and was awarded the bronze star. Listen as Chris tells us how Vaystays is earning and what made him decide to raise capital.  Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Good to Great What CEO do you follow? –  Steve Jobs Favorite online tool? — DocuSign Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Networking is super important and consider raising capital”     Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Chris to the show 02:20 – Vaystays is used by professionals managing a vacation companies 02:27 – People who have houses in Tahoe and the like will have the vacation companies manage their properties 03:44 – Vaystays gives them a marketplace for distribution 03:55 – Vaystays provides open cable like service 04:17 – Team size and location 04:26 – Vaystays is making 5 million transactions and Ch

Patrick Ambron, co-founder and CEO of BrandYourself.com, which helps people look better online. He’s an instructor at General Assembly and was included INC’s 30 under 30 list. Listen as Patrick talks about his experience on SharkTank and how it boosted his company’s revenue. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Made to Stick What CEO do you follow? –  Reed Hastings Favorite online tool? — X.AI Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish that when I was building my business, I knew how important it was to have people who don’t have your strengths”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Patrick to the show 02:00 – Patrick got a $ 2 million deal on SharkTank but didn’t take it 02:11 – Patrick didn’t take the deal because they wanted 25% 02:30 – Patrick’s episode was aired 2 years ago and it was a good exposure 02:40 – Patrick did over $ 1 million in revenue while they were on SharkTank 03:10 – Patrick said No on-air 04:07 – B

Renee Zau, co-founder and CEO of DonationMatch, a product donation network for school and charity events that works similarly to match.com. She’s obsessed with increasing a win-win partnership between brands and non-profit that don’t cost money but can generate more for everyone involved.  Famous Five: Favorite Book? – E-myth Revisited What CEO do you follow? –  Craig Newmark Favorite online tool? — Streak and Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Almost If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Believe in yourself and talent even if it is different from someone else’s’ idea on what you should do”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Renee to the show 02:08 – It takes 300 hours to secure in-kind and other donations from a benefit event 02:31 – DonationMatch streamlines the product for companies and reduces the work for school and charities 02:50 – Sahara Sam’s receives 100s to 1000s requests of tickets a year to raffle off at charity events 03:26 – Doing

Ash Kumra, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, public speaker, and talk show host recognized twice by the White House as an entrepreneur making an impact. Listen as Ash shares how he runs Youngry, a media company he co-founded that informs, inspires, and elevates young and hungry minded entrepreneurs to thrive. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Inside Steve’s Brain What CEO do you follow? –  Mark Benioff Favorite online tool? — Lead.com Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “To not be worried about other people’s things”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:44 – Nathan introduces Ash to the show 02:10 – Youngry is an entrepreneur media company 02:27 – Youngry provides helpful information from successful entrepreneurs 02:38 – Youngry’s business model provides e-commerce product 03:40 – Youngry provides a community for early stage entrepreneurs to get the best content to help them thrive 05:04 – Ash and his team decided to launch Youngry wi

Karan Chaudhry, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CPO of Comnplus, a company building advanced machine learning based personalization and recommendation engine focused on online digital content industry. He received his MS from Stanford University and is an active mentor and advisor at StartX, advising entrepreneurs on topics like fundraising, team building, data product management and product marketing. Prior to Comnplus, Karan was the co-founder and CEO of DropThought, a machine learning based instant feedback and text platform for voice over applications. Listen as Karan explains how DropThought was acquired last year and how he started Comnplus. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk  Favorite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Take risk. Failures are highly over-rated. It just makes us stronger”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:44 – Nathan introduces Karan to the s

Shawn Porat, founder of Scorely, Judgment Marketplace and Fortune Cookie Advertising. He’s a VP at Mark Echo Enterprise and a contributor to Forbes, Time, and Money Magazine among others. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – N/A What CEO do you follow? –  Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — N/A Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Never If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Work with others and meet as many entrepreneurs as you can”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:53 – Nathan introduces Shawn to the show 02:17 – Scorely is a business credit bureau 02:23 – Started 6 months ago 02:35 – Shawn is trying to get more small businesses in the platform for free 02:53 – Subscription plans 03:15 – Scorely is currently on pre-revenue and will launch in 3 weeks 03:25 – 10,300 people in their launch list 03:48 – The idea of Scorely started 3 months ago 03:54 – They’ve partnered with different government agencies and businesses 04:25 – The chamber of commerce 04:30 – The members ha

Bill Lyons, a successful real estate entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Revestor.com. Revestor is in the business of helping real estate investors find profitable properties to rent out as short and long term rentals. He also helps identify properties for quick profits. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Slash What CEO do you follow? –  Tony Robbins Favorite online tool? — Rapportive Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “That when you get to your 30’s, a week is like a day, a month is like a week and year is like a month and slow down. Do what you can today”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:48 – Nathan introduces Bill to the show 02:27 – Revestor started in 2012 02:37 – Revestor is now focused short-term Airbnb properties 03:08 – Bill is asking $ 250,000 for 10% in short-term properties 04:10 – Bill was in Shark Tank in November 2012 04:25 – Bill got 15,000 users but never got over 1,000 paid users 04:38 – Bill can’t raise money af

Craig Ballantyne, a productivity and a success transformation coach and the author of The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life. He’s been a contributor to men’s health magazines since 2000 and in 2001, he created a home popular work out program, Turbulence Training. Listen as Craig tells us how he overcome his anxieties using the 5 pillars of transformation and how he managed to make his users stay. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Rockefellar Habits What CEO do you follow? –  Matt Smith Favorite online tool? — N/A Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I should stop drinking before I’m 30 years old”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:54 – Nathan introduces Craig to the show 02:43 – Craig uses the 5 pillars of success 03:06 – Craig started in the fitness industry in 1999 and he started selling Turbulence Training online 03:19 – In 2011, Craig bought the business, Early to Rise, a success wealth building newsletter 03:3

Ben Nye. Ben joined Bain Capital Ventures in 2004 and leads their infrastructure software team. Listen as Ben talks about how he became Turbonomic’s CEO and how they got to Series D. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs Book What CEO do you follow? –  Jeff Bezos Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I knew about the power of equity”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:34 – Nathan introduces Ben to the show 02:00 – Ben joined Bain Capital Ventures in 2004 02:15 – Capitalized Turbonomic as an investor in 2009 and first delivery of product in GA in 2010 02:30 – Joined the company full-time in 2013 02:40 – Bain Capital Ventures is a sector focus 02:55 – They want something with a prepared mind 03:17 – They cover multiple sectors 03:38 – Total capital raised 03:59 – Ben is the lead investor at Bain Capital Ventures for Turbonomic 04:17 – There was 3 CEO in Turbonomic 04:46 – There was an issue be

Amit Shanbhag, co-founder of RocketReach.co, a company that allows users to lookup email addresses, phones, social links, etc. for over 250 million professionals worldwide. Amit bootstrapped to RocketReach from zero to over a hundred thousand customers including Apple, Google, and Morgan Stanley to name a few. He has more than a dozen patents and started his professional life writing code for geo-stationary satellites. He loves open water swimming, watching cricket, and spending time with his 4-year old son. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – N/A What CEO do you follow? –  Marissa Mayer Favorite online tool? — Google Drive Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Live the moment and enjoy what you have”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:53 – Nathan introduces Amit  to the show 02:33 – RocketReach is a sales management tool 02:54 – RocketReach was founded in 2015 03:03 – Amit and his co-founder used to work for a SaaS business 03:15 – They tried t

Hal Elrod, a husband, father ,and the best-selling author of 8 books including one of the best self-published book of all time, The Miracle Morning, which sold over 200,000 copies and has been translated into 21 languages. He is an entrepreneur and international keynote speaker, podcaster, and co-creator of best blueprint ever life experience. Listen as Hal talks about his life after a car crash and how it paved his future.  Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Love is the Killer App What CEO do you follow? –  Jeff Hoffman Favorite online tool? — Five Minute Journal iOS App Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Have patience”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:53 – Nathan introduces Hal to the show 02:30 – The Miracle Morning now has 240,00 copies sold 02:40 – It was published in 2012 03:00 – When Hal was 20, he was the top sales agent for a kitchen knife company 03:25 – Hal was in car accident on his way home and broke 11 bones 03:36 – Hal

Steli Efti, CEO and founder of Close.io. Listen as Steli talks about how he uses sales and communication to his company’s advantage and why he won’t disclose their churn rate—his answer WILL surprise you. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Paypal Wars What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — Evernote Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I knew how to manage my own emotions and focus on consistency”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:23 – Nathan introduces Steli to the show 01:52 – Steli’s entrepreneurial power is in sales and communication 02:02 – Close.io is Steli’s biggest success 02:15 – There are less than 20 people in the team 02:21 – Steli is competing with massive organizations 02:40 – They launched their first product in 2013 02:56 – First year revenue is $ 200,000 03:10 – They started as a services business 04:08 – There’s a common pattern with SaaS companies building product 04:45 – Close.io is a CRM 04

Chris Koerner, founder and CEO of LCDcycle – a company that recycles broken iPhone screens and supplies wireless repair shop with wholesale electronic parts. Aside from being a motivational speaker and winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award, Chris is a guy who appreciates the haters. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Delivering Happiness What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Flipboard Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— I try but I don’t If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Tell myself to appreciate the haters”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:46 – Nathan introduces Chris to the show 02:31 – LCDcycle was founded in 2013 02:43 – Chris opened a smartphone repair shop in college in 2010 02:51 – Sold it for $ 30,000 03:50 – They started in Alabama 04:10 – They got more customers in the Texas market 04:45 – The supply parts to repair shop 04:58 – First year revenue 05:08 – Did $ 2.1 million for the first full year 05:13 – For 2014, they did $ 4.8 m

Will Mayo, founder of SpokenLayer. Being dyslexic led Will to find an alternative to written text and he thought of an audio solution. Listen ad Will talks about how SpokenLayer changes mainstream reading and how it helped him personally. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The E-Myth What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Streak Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Just keep trying and you’ll figure it out”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:13 – Nathan introduces Will to the show 02:05 – How is a podcast different from SpokenLayer 02:28 – “Spoken edition is a different interpretation of what audio can be” 02:44 – It caters to listeners first then letting them choose the experience 02:53 – Working for about 30 properties 03:13 – SpokenLayer distributes articles for Playboy 04:10 – Different publishers work in different ways 04:15 – Some publishers would pay to have a spoken edition 04:27 – SpokenLayer help publisher