006: 4 Keys to a Scalable Startup with Venture Capital Author, Paul Ahlstrom

Ace Marks is a brand of handcrafted Italian dress shoes that has leveraged a direct to consumer sales strategy to disrupt one of the most established industries. In the past year alone, Ace Marks have sold in more than 80 countries, and has become the worlds most funded footwear project through Kickstarter. Founders Paul Farago and Julian Gonzalez join SalesFounders to talk about their relentless focus on customer experience, the domain expertise behind this disruptive brand of luxury shoes.  On this Episode we Discuss: Leveraging domain experience around the needs of the customer The pro’s and con’s of the direct to consumer strategy Why Ace Marks chose crowdfunding as their initial source of growth  Kickstarter success and their unorthodox approach to building a campaign Life after Crowdfunding - how to find sustainable growth channels Breaking paradigms - educating customers and the cost=value fallacy Influencer Marketing - the algorithm Ace Marks developed to identify the best influencers How to manage cash flow in high inventory startups Competition and the challenge to disrupt highly established industries

7 Marras 201747min

Roy Morejon is the President of Enventys Partners, a full-service product launch agency that has created more than 450 brands, 65 companies, and made over $1 billion for entrepreneurs and corporations. Roy's passion is helping entrepreneurs launch great ideas and Eventys Partners has a comprehensive solution that supports entrepreneurs with everything from product design and development, to crowdfunding and marketing. Roy joins us this week to talk about product validation and the system that has helped 21 brands break the million dollar crowdfunding mark.  On this Episode we Discuss: The 3 pre-requisites to a winning crowdfunding campaign Eventys Partners receive 150 pitches per day - here’s how they validate the best products 5 things founders can do to prepare for a successful product launch Why simple products perform better than feature-rich solutions The nature of selling and why entrepreneurs should prepare for change How to differentiate your product in highly competitive markets How to initiate a product validation campaign with your target audience Strategies to clarify your ideal customer profile

31 Loka 201738min

Traffic & Funnels co-founder, Taylor Welch, joins us to talk about the challenges entrepreneurs face when it comes to lead growth and predictable funnel strategies. On this episode, Taylor walks us through the anatomy of traffic & funnel strategy as well as the secret behind their 6 million dollar webinar. We'll talk about why validation is the key to establishing a powerful marketing message and the 4 steps they use to convert your core message into lead faucets of predictable revenue. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: The importance of validation and how to identify your ideal marketing message Why Paid Traffic is the key to establishing control and predictable growth How to make the validation process more efficient - simplification and finding your “one thing” Stop complicating the buying process by keeping your messaging clear and simple.  Money and the 4 ingredients of a predictable marketing strategy A really good piece of content . . . just one. Great strategy to drive people to that content and self-filter Funnel to transfer filtered leads to a qualifying call A sales process to convert qualified leads into paying customers.  Time - How to shift from trading hours for dollars and generate leverage.  Feeder Funnels and how to build a lead faucet with paid traffic.  3 Marketing KPI’s   Leads - how many people are coming in at the top? Consumption - how many are sticking around?  Application - how many are going to the next step?   Surround yourself with the right people - you normalize what is constantly in front of you.  "You have to know the levers that correlate to income and chose not to do the thousands of things that take away from the activities that matter."

24 Loka 201737min

Heather Havenwood is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and authority on the subjects of digital marketing and sales coaching. Heather is helping entrepreneurs "break the rules" and implement proven marketing and sales systems. As an Entrepreneur.com contributor, performance coach, and one of Huffington Posts Top 50 Must Follow Women Entrepreneurs, Heather is a power-house when it comes to entrepreneurship. She joins us this week to talk about her challenging journey in entrepreneurship, sales systems, and why more women need to give themselves "permission" to thrive as entrepreneurs.  True freedom is the presence of alignment - Heather Havenwood ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: The pursuit of freedom through entrepreneurship  Reinventing yourself in the face of adversity Tapping into the creating process of entrepreneurship Sales Systems - is your startup really prepared for growth? Messaging and why entrepreneurship struggle to connect with customers.  Women Entrepreneurs - why more women need to give themselves "permission" to succeed.  Get comfortable breaking the rules!

17 Loka 201739min

Alex Hermozi has perfected the sales launch. What started as a passion for weightlifting and fitness, became a $55k investment in his own gym and a steep learning curve to profitability. In time, Alex figured out how to scale his efforts into 6 highly profitable gyms. Realizing the value of the "system" he had developed, Alex sold his gyms and turned his attention to the thousands of struggling gym owners across the country. Today, his "gym launch" system helps gym owners fill their gyms in less than a month and scale towards million dollar businesses. "Launching a gym is like baking a cake" says Alex, and on this weeks episode, he shares a number of his plays that can help any startup identify the ingredients of a powerful sales launch.  "The amount of money you make is in direct proportion to the number of offers you make." -Frank Kern ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: The 5 Stages of the Gym Launch System:  Lead Generation Lead Nurture Sales Event Fulfillment Resell and Ascension Customer acquisition costs vs. cash flow How to leverage a single marketing strategy through multiple campaigns  How to get your customers to front the cost of getting more customers Two reasons LBO's (low barrier offers) might be killing your startup  Creating "front-end" offers with higher retention rates Increasing revenue through exception customers service, not scale How to replicate your systems into a training program for new sales employees Establishing clear leadership and accountability

10 Loka 201740min

Startup Accelerators have become a powerful source of guidance and support for aspiring entrepreneurs all over the world. One of the pioneers of startup acceleration is Robb Kunz, a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor. Following his seemingly endless struggle to find entrepreneurs with sufficiently validated business models, Robb co-founded  Boom Startup, a mentorship-based seed accelerator for entrepreneurs in the disciplines of technology, education, government, and space. 7 years into this rapidly changing industry, Robb joins us on SalesFounders to talk about the future of seed acceleration, and some of the most valuable lessons he has learned from 18 exits and thousands of entrepreneurs.  ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: The biggest problems angel investors face in todays startup world 3 ways Boom Startup is changing the nature of seed acceleration The 5 stages of validation within Boom Startup What are the components of a great founding team? Tracking 18 exits, these are the two consistent traits of the highest performing startups How to create profitable relationships with channel partners and resellers How to build a winning sales culture from the start The value of bringing outside sales guidance before making the big sales hires

3 Loka 201743min

Following a lucrative exit from the sale of his first company, Shane Cox let it all ride on his second venture that quickly became an unscalable and capital exhaustive business that bled him dry. After liquidated all of his assets, and selling the last of his prized possessions, Shane doubled-down on the one promising component of his solution - the QBall - a microphone imbedded into a dodge-ball. Over the course of the next two years, Shane scraped by, often sleeping in his car to afford any event that would allow him to pitch his product. In time, the product gained traction and on his third attempt, Shane was invited onto the set of Shark Tank.  This Sunday, October 1st, Shane's moment in the tank will be featured on the season premier. On this week's episode of SalesFounders, we explore the business Shane has built and his rollercoaster ride of validation and traction that has led him to one of the most coveted entrepreneurial stages.

26 Syys 201742min

More than a third of the US workforce is comprised of freelancers. Freelancing has become a trillion dollar industry that can be challenging for founders to navigate. With so many experts to choose from, it can be hard to know what to look for, and how to integrate hired talent into your organization. My guest this week is Connor Gillivan. After selling more than $25 million on Amazon from his dorm room, Connor went on to create FreeeUp.com, a freelancer marketplace that connects businesses with the top 1% of freelancers in eCommerce, digital marketing, virtual assistance, and web development. Not only has Connor leveraged freelancers to build his Amazon business, but he has also built FreeeUp into a multi-million dollar business using...well...freelancers. Connor joins us this week to talk about this booming industry, the challenges he has faced in his journey, and why freelancers might be the perfect solution for your startup.

19 Syys 201738min