Mixergy - Startup Stories with 1000+ entrepeneurs 171e37

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 by beehiiv – 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 by Gusto – 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 s), a venture fund, and his newsletter The Milk Road (250K readers in <1 year). Sponsored by beehiiv – the email platform that Shaan used to build The Milk Road. It’s fantastic. Try it free using our link. More interviews -> 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 s 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 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

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 ion for history, hospitality, and the unique storytelling of the American West, all of which play a central role in his current venture. 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

Ryan Deiss’s business was too chaotic to grow beyond a few team . 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 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

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 ionate about entrepreneurship and enjoys discussing business strategies and ideas with his sons. Currently, Joshua is leading Fundify, focusing on democratizing startup investments. 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

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

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 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

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 ed 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 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

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 . 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 ion 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 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

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 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

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 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