280: From Online Poker Affiliate to Referral Marketing Mogul: Ambassador’s Jeff Epstein Shares His Journey

280: From Online Poker Affiliate to Referral Marketing Mogul: Ambassador’s Jeff Epstein Shares His Journey

Jeff Epstein paid off his law school student loans in an unconventional way. When he and a couple of friends noticed the booming online poker sites in the mid 2000s, they created an affiliate company to refer traffic to them and get paid in return. The business did well enough that Epstein was able to sell his stake to his partners for a nice profit that helped him pay off his debt. Epstein ultimately decided not to pursue law, but his entrepreneurial experience stuck with him. In particular, he recognized the power of referrals to help businesses gain more customers. As a result, Epstein eventually founded Ambassador, a referral marketing software that enables brands to build and scale referral, affiliate, partner, and influencer programs. While the journey to growing Ambassador was far from a smooth ride, Epstein picked up many valuable lessons along the way that helped him grow as both a person and an entrepreneur. Eventually, Ambassador became successful enough that it was acquired by a large corporation. Check out this interview to learn more about Epstein’s journey and hear him open up about his biggest mistakes, regrets, and lessons learned. Key Takeaways How Epstein used his poker affiliate business to pay off law school debt What he learned about the power of referrals in the process Why Epstein regrets acquiring his first SEO company, and what ultimately led to its demise How this failure informed the idea for referral marketing software, Ambassador Why it took six months for Ambassador to get a repeat paying customer What it was like to run a “fat” startup How Ambassador’s acceptance into Techstars helped the company take off The growth of Ambassador and its stressful acquisition by West Corporation

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613: Why Most Beauty Brands Fail - and How to Beat The Rest | DIBS Beauty Founder

613: Why Most Beauty Brands Fail - and How to Beat The Rest | DIBS Beauty Founder

DIBS Beauty went from zero to one of America’s fastest-growing makeup brands in just four years, with founder Jeff Lee scaling the business into the mid–8 figures and landing a top spot on the Inc. ...

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612: (Solo) Funding vs Bootstrapping - The Real Tradeoffs EVERY Founders Needs To Know

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Should you raise money or bootstrap your business? It’s one of the biggest questions every founder faces — and the wrong decision can shape the entire future of your company. In this episode, I share...

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611: From Homeless to Multi-Billionaire - His Success Habits | John Paul DeJoria

611: From Homeless to Multi-Billionaire - His Success Habits | John Paul DeJoria

John Paul DeJoria went from being homeless twice to building two global billion-dollar brands, Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila, using nothing but resilience, sales mastery, and a refusal to quit. ...

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610: (Solo) The Secret to Finding Agencies That Don’t Burn You

610: (Solo) The Secret to Finding Agencies That Don’t Burn You

When you’re just starting out, the fastest way to grow isn’t automation, ads, or scaling systems — it’s doing things that don’t scale. In this episode, I share why the most successful founders — fr...

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609: From $0 to $20M in 3 Years Selling Suppliments | Damien Fitzpatrick

609: From $0 to $20M in 3 Years Selling Suppliments | Damien Fitzpatrick

From professional rugby player to successful entrepreneur, Damien Fitzpatrick built a sports recovery brand trusted by elite athletes around the world. In this interview, Damien shares how he went...

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608: (Solo) Why Short-Term Wins Can Quietly Kill Your Business

608: (Solo) Why Short-Term Wins Can Quietly Kill Your Business

When I first started Foundr, I made a lot of short-term decisions — and most of them hurt us more than they helped. It took years (and a few hard lessons) to understand that sustainable growth only co...

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607: How I Built a $120M/Year Cookie Business From My Appartment | Loren Castle

607: How I Built a $120M/Year Cookie Business From My Appartment | Loren Castle

Loren Castle turned a life-threatening cancer diagnosis at 22 into the spark that built Sweet Loren’s, a $120M-a-year clean food brand now sold in over 5,000 supermarkets nationwide. In this inter...

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606: (Solo) The Week Before Black Friday: What Smart Ecommerce Founders Are Doing Differently

606: (Solo) The Week Before Black Friday: What Smart Ecommerce Founders Are Doing Differently

It’s not too late to win Black Friday. Even if you’re behind, there’s still time to drive serious results—if you focus on the right moves. In this episode, I share my final Black Friday checklist a...

18 Nov 202510min

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