375: How to Get a Million YouTube Subscribers with Alpha M’s Aaron Marino

If you’ve ever bought a bottle of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce or Febreze kitty litter, you’ve seen Michael Stone’s powerful approach to brand licensing in action. This attorney-turned-entrepreneur pioneered the form of corporate licensing that makes such products possible and wildly successful. Stone made his first foray into the world of licensing with the launch of his company, Beanstalk, in the mid-1990s. The firm quickly became the go-to resource for prominent brands like Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and AT&T—all corporations that were eager to expand their reach into different product categories and strengthen their relationships with consumers. In 2018, Stone and his company were responsible for generating over $7 billion in retail sales of licensed product. While he stepped down as the CEO a few years ago, Stone still serves as the chairman of Beanstalk and is committed to innovation in this industry. Check out this interview to learn more about the ins and outs of licensing and to hear about Stone’s experience writing his book The Power of Licensing: Harnessing Brand Equity. Key Takeaways Why Stone switched lanes from practicing law to pioneering brand licensing The uncharted territory Stone noticed, and how it led to the launch of Beanstalk The necessary components for successful corporate brand licensing How Beanstalk became the go-to resource for prominent brands An explanation of why Febreeze is a better candidate for expansion via licensing than Citibank Handing over the reins of a business that was responsible for over $7 billion in sales in 2018 Why Stone decided to stick with his existing niche instead of starting multiple new businesses Stone’s honest warning for aspiring entrepreneurs

1 Okt 201958min

Blake Mycoskie had a number of hits and misses as a young entrepreneur, but it was a trip to Argentina that inspired the idea that would become his mission—and end up having a huge impact on the business world. Mycoskie wanted to find a way to help the children he encountered who didn’t have proper footwear, but he wanted to do it in a for-profit, self-sustaining way. That’s how TOMS came to life. From there, Mycoskie blazed a trail in the way companies think about social good, by popularizing the one-for-one giving model and building the beloved brand that still exists today. TOMS generates hundreds of millions in sales and still stays true to its mission of giving back to communities around the world. Check out this episode to learn more about Mycoskie’s advice for those who want to pursue social entrepreneurship, the business model that led to his success, and the expansion of TOMS into other types of products. Key Takeaways Why the idea of a “job” was foreign to Mycoskie growing up How Mycoskie’s entrepreneurial spirit led to him founding everything from a laundry service to a reality cable television channel The trip to Latin America that inspired the idea for TOMS Shoes How Mycoskie changed the social entrepreneurship game with his one-for-one model Why social good isn’t necessarily the right path for every business Mycoskie’s personal reasons for selling half of TOMS to Bain Capital How TOMS was able to grow completely organically through social media when it launched in 2006 The journey to achieving millions in revenue and donations The reasons behind TOMS’ expansion into eyewear, coffee shops, and more How Mycoskie continues to innovate despite a lack of background in apparel design Mycoskie’s best advice on choosing the right partners and building a sustainable business

10 Sep 201931min

In business, everyone wants to win. But sometimes it’s the people who refuse to lose who end up finding success. This is the mindset that food writer, author, and founder of the website Serious Eats carried with him throughout the ups and downs of his career. This tumultuous journey is also the primary focus of his latest book Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption. In this interview, Levine shares the details of how he got into food writing, experimented with media platforms to diversify the way he told stories about food, and ultimately bootstrapped the money needed to launch Serious Eats. From struggling with being profitable to testing his tolerance for risk, Levine shares the sacrifices he had to make to keep his company alive for the eight years leading up to its sale. If you want an unflinching look at the challenges of entrepreneurship, this is your chance. Levine speaks with candor about the toughest aspects of launching a startup and dispels the most common myths around starting a business. Key Takeaways Why Levine published his first book, New York Eats, while working his day job at an ad agency How the book kickstarted Levine’s career as a food writer The various media platforms, from TV to radio, he experimented with to expand the way he told stories about food How Levine’s desire to control his own fate creatively and financially inspired him to launch his first blog in 2005 The journey to bootstrapping enough money to launch Serious Eats Levine’s struggles with making Serious Eats consistently profitable Why knowing the limits of your (and your partner’s) tolerance for risk is critical The financial and emotional costs associated with bootstrapping a business How Levine’s childhood experiences contributed to his “refuse-to-lose” mentality with Serious Eats How Serious Eats organically attracted up to 8 million unique visitors per month and was eventually sold in 2015 Why the startup mantra of “fail early and often” didn’t apply to this 52-year-old digital entrepreneur A sneak peek into Levine’s book Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption, which captures the unspoken side of starting a business Why Levine believes the most important business lessons can’t be learned without starting a business How Levine defines success Final thoughts on what it took to build a tribe of people who are passionate about food

14 Aug 20191h

When Nir Eyal has a burning question (which he frequently does), he goes on the hunt for an insightful answer. That curiosity is what led Eyal to publish his first and wildly popular book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. He was inspired to delve into this topic after launching a startup in the advertising and gaming industry, where he observed that product design had the powerful ability to change human behavior. Eyal wondered why some companies were so good at it while others failed. In this fascinating interview, we chat with Eyal about his early days as an entrepreneur, the behavioral model behind forming habits and get a sneak peek into Eyal’s upcoming book Indistractable: Mastering the Skill of the Century. Plus, Eyal uses Nathan as a live case study and shares his best tips for breaking bad habits! Whether you’re an entrepreneur who wants to better understand the link between product design and human behavior, or you’re an individual looking for tangible ways to build better habits, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. Key Takeaways The story behind Eyal’s successful startups in the solar power, advertising, and gaming industries How observing the behavior change through product design led to a burning question in Eyal’s mind Eyal’s journey to understanding the deeper psychology behind how products are designed to be habit forming The principles behind the Hook Model, and how the Bible is a perfect example How Eyal’s own book inadvertently helped him improve his physical fitness How his desire to control his attention inspired Eyal’s upcoming book Indistractable: Mastering the Skill of the Century A sneak peek into techniques from Eyal’s new book to help people overcome internal triggers A live case study with Nathan to help him address the habits he wants to break Why high levels of distraction at a company are usually symptoms of a bigger problem

6 Aug 201948min

Success doesn’t happen overnight. This is something Foundr CEO Nathan Chan knows all too well. Before he started his business, Nathan was in a common predicament: he hated his job and he had no idea what career path to take. It took many steps to plant the seed that eventually became Foundr. Even then, it wasn’t an easy path forward. He stayed in his job long after starting Foundr, and at one point, Nathan even launched a webinar from his parents’ basement. There was no magic involved—only hard work, strategic decisions, and many lessons learned. In this video interview, Dave Hobson, our Head of Growth and Marketing and one of the first to join the Foundr team, has a raw conversation with Nathan about his journey to building a global brand. Nathan opens up about what it took to get Foundr off the ground, shares the key takeaways he picked up along the way, and reveals the nitty gritty details around how he turned a webinar presentation he hacked together into a multimillion-dollar product. This episode is chock-full of sage advice, life lessons, and even an embarrassing story or two from our CEO’s humble beginnings that you’ll definitely want to hear. Key Takeaways How Nathan went from working at an IT job he hated to launching a digital magazine The steps Nathan followed to turn a webinar presentation to a multimillion-dollar digital product How falling into the trap of seeking perfection will prevent you from reaching your goals The difference between “painkiller” and “vitamin” products Why it’s so critical to build an audience and test your ideas first How to use concepts like “a thousand true fans” and the “Oprah strategy” to create a successful business

12 Juni 20191h 12min

“I think about how little we knew, but how—I believe—how courageous we were,” says Christene Barberich, reflecting on the early days of Refinery29. Before she and co-founder Piera Gelardi were the women at the helm of one of the fastest-growing digital media companies in the world, they were new entrepreneurs working tirelessly on a vision (first sketched on a napkin) that outsiders failed to understand. The Refinery29 founding team formed in 2004, and in those early days (before Twitter had even launched), people struggled to grasp even the concept of digital media. The co-founders’ pitches were met with skepticism. “We would go talk to people, and they would act like we were trying to sell them a carpet or something,” Gelardi says. “They thought it was a scam.” Potential advertisers and brand partners also didn’t think customers would ever want to buy something online. “I just remember thinking, like, ‘I don’t think that’s true,’” Barberich says. That skepticism gave them an advantage, though: It gave Refinery29 the freedom to operate and experiment without the pressure of competition. Today, Refinery29 has an international audience of 550 million and has earned multiple distinctions, including Webby awards and Inc. 500 list mentions. Key Takeaways How the two met and influenced each other’s decision to go all in on Refinery29 The early days at Refinery29 when wireframes were hand-drawn The freedom of operating under the radar when digital media was still the Wild West The critics who doubted the business model and thought it was a scam What they lose sleep over How they approach content creation What they look for when hiring The advice they would give to entrepreneurs who want to use content to grow their businesses How they define quality content

4 Juni 201949min

When Kim Perell landed a job at a hot new internet startup in 1998, she thought she had hit the jackpot. She loved her job and learned a lot, but when the dot-com bubble burst, the startup went bankrupt. What was once a dream company that she recruited many friends to join had become a nightmare when she had to lay off those friends, and then lose her own job too. “In an instant, someone pushed delete on my life, and my future, my identity,” she says. “My multimillion-dollar stock went up in flames and was worth nothing.” Perell turned to the one person she thought might give her a loan to start over: her grandmother. And sure enough, even though Nanny didn’t know what the internet was, she loaned her granddaughter $10,000, which Perell spent on a computer, a GoDaddy account for a website, and a one-way ticket to Hawaii to live with her boyfriend rent-free. Perell launched Frontline Direct, a digital marketing company pairing brands with online advertising. Scarred from the bankruptcy, she was eager to work for herself and get back to basics, which meant focusing on profitability and growth. In 2008, Frontline Direct was acquired for $30 million, and again by Amobee, where Perell now serves as CEO. Through all the ups and downs, Perell has learned many lessons, which she passes on to fellow entrepreneurs in her latest book, The Execution Factor: The One Skill That Drives Success. After investing in over 70 startups, she noticed one thing stood out in particular for those who succeeded: they focused on execution more than anyone else did. For her, writing The Execution Factor was a way to pay it forward. “If I could shortcut the system and share, based on my own experiences, what is important as an entrepreneur, that was really meaningful to me,” Perell says. “And I just felt like my grandma made a bet on me, and I was going to pay that back.” In addition to the book, she established The Execution Factor Fund to provide seed stage funding to execution-driven startups. One hundred percent of the proceeds from her book are contributed to this fund. (And in case you were wondering: Perell paid back the loan to her grandma.) Key Takeaways The rock bottom moment when the internet startup she worked for went bankrupt in the dot-com bubble burst What she did with a $10,000 loan from her grandmother Founding Frontline Direct, a digital marketing company, while living rent-free in Hawaii Frontline Direct’s multimillion-dollar acquisition Her new book, The Execution Factor Why vision, though important, is not enough The five traits you need to master execution How to attract and retain great talent What she looks for when investing in businesses Thoughts on branding versus direct response On if she felt a loss of identity after selling her business

26 Mars 201946min

When Ross Andrew Paquette founded email service provider Maropost in 2011, he never expected it to take off. “The plan was to have 10 customers and maybe sit by the pool a little more often than not,” he says with a laugh. But since then, he’s scaled the company to nine figures, with an impressive customer list that includes DigitalMarketer, Livestrong, and The New York Post. And beyond email marketing, Maropost has expanded into customer acquisition and ecommerce solutions. These are extremely crowded markets, but at the core of the company’s success is its strong commitment to excellent customer service, with heavy emphasis on a 24-hour in-app live chat and five-minute support response times. We chatted with Paquette to learn the strategies he used to so impressively grow his SaaS company in a short amount of time. Key Takeaways How Maropost got started The crazy story behind how Paquette met his co-founder How Maropost has expanded from email marketing to customer lead acquisition, mobile push notifications, CRM, and more How long it took to build the first version of Maropost What makes Maropost different from other ESPs The strong customer support focus of the business Why they focus on building a great organization, not just hitting numbers and growth Where he sees the SaaS market moving in the future Why he’s focused on building a legacy with his business What exciting projects are in store for Maropost

5 Mars 201953min