The Best Boss: Y Combinator

Showing posts with label Y Combinator. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

#1407 Chatbot?! with Dmitry Dumik of ChatFuel

Instead of an interview, this ended up being a conversation about the future of chatbots. I got so passionate about how messaging bots will change business that my voice became a bit hoarse. My guest, Dmitry Dumik is the founder of ChatFuel, the platform for building chatbots. I’ll have him back soon to do an interview about how he built the company.

Dmitry Dumik is the founder of ChatFuel, the platform for building chatbots.

Sponsored by

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from #1407 Chatbot?! with Dmitry Dumik of ChatFuel

Monday, February 6, 2017

#1406 How TickPick is bootstrapping against competitors like StubHub

What excites me about this guest is that he’s heard me interview two of his competitors. He knew going into his space that there were tons of competitors—so why did go into it? And how is he still standing? Brett Goldberg is the founder of TickPick which offers a no-fee ticket marketplace where you can buy, bid and sell tickets.

Brett Goldberg is the founder of TickPick which offers a no-fee ticket marketplace where you can buy, bid and sell tickets.

Sponsored by

Toptal – If you’re having trouble finding developers, Toptal is a network of elite pre-vetted software developers. You tell Toptal what you’re looking for, they search their network for the best people, they test the candidates, and then they present you with only the candidates who meet your individual needs. Once you pick someone you can start work with them the next day. They offer a no-risk trial period. Go to Toptal.com. Get the best of the best right now.

Pipedrive is a sales management tool for small teams with big ambitions. It visualizes one’s sales pipeline and helps to make sure important activities and conversations won’t get dropped. Salespeople really like it because it’s easy to use and intuitive. Managers like it because they don’t need to nag their team to use their CRM. It also sports built-in forecasting, integrations with other software such as Google Apps, MailChimp and Zapier and a powerful API.

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from #1406 How TickPick is bootstrapping against competitors like StubHub

Friday, February 3, 2017

#1405 Valuing creativity over profit – with Alistair Croll

There is one proven method I’ve noticed from interviewing successful founders. It’s a process that starts with understanding a customer’s pain and then addressing that pain. That’s what today’s guest did. He started a consulting company, found a problem his clients had and then found a way to solve it on a repeatable basis. Boom—he launched his company and it took off. But then the internet imploded. We’re going to hear the story of how he found his customer’s pain, how the market screwed him over, and how he recovered from it. Alistair Croll is the cofounder of Coradiant, which provided web performance management.

Alistair Croll is the cofounder of Coradiant, which provided web performance management.

Sponsored by

With Bench, you get a professional bookkeeping team to do your books for you and our simple, elegant software to review your finances. It’s everything you need to forget about your bookkeeping, without actually forgetting about your bookkeeping.

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from #1405 Valuing creativity over profit – with Alistair Croll

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

#1404 Use the science of nonverbal communication to increase your sales

I’m doing this interview because there’s a person on my team who’s been pestering me about this woman. Apparently he took a 3-day course through CreativeLive and it was revolutionary for him. He said it was going to help him grow sales. He said the person who taught the course, Vanessa Van Edwards, was so good at teaching people how to express themselves through body language, how to understand people better through microgestures and microexpressions. She has the #1 most sold course on CreativeLive. I had to have her on here and find out how big of business is there in teaching body language. Vanessa Van Edwards is the founder The Science of People, which helps people supercharge their careers, dates and social lives with quick and easy people skills.

Vanessa Van Edwards is the founder The Science of People, which helps people supercharge their careers, dates and social lives with quick and easy people skills.

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from #1404 Use the science of nonverbal communication to increase your sales

Monday, January 30, 2017

#1403 How Mark Sisson grew a loyal tribe before launching a niche health food line

Today I have the founder of Primal Kitchen, a Paleo health foods line by Mark Sisson. They make avocado oil, protein powder, dark chocolate and more. We’re going to talk about how he built this company by starting with a blog. Mark is also the author of multiple books including Primal Blueprint. We’ll talk about that an so much more.

Mark Sisson is the founder of Primal Kitchen, a Paleo health foods line which makes avocado oil, protein powder, dark chocolate and more.

Sponsored by

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from #1403 How Mark Sisson grew a loyal tribe before launching a niche health food line

Friday, January 27, 2017

#1402 How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days – with John Lee Dumas

How do you sell something that is old technology in a modern world and get people to love it and to keep buying it? About a year ago, this guy who I’d known for years emailed me and he said that he was coming out with a book, which I thought, “Great. I can’t wait to get it on Kindle.” Then he said, “No, no, actually it’s a journal. I’m expecting people to fill it out, get out a pen or a pencil and start filling it out.” I thought, “This is a little bit weird. Are people actually still writing down on paper? Aren’t we all doing everything on our phones?” At the same time, I feel like it’s an anachronism. In a world where everything is on my phone, my journal, my photos, everything. Why is this guy sending me this book and how well is it working? Today’s guest is John Lee Dumas and the journal that I’m talking about is called “How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days.” I want to know the business behind it.

John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of EOFire and author of “How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days.”

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from #1402 How to Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 Days – with John Lee Dumas

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

#1401 Proven marketing tactics from Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Formula

Today I’ve got an author which may seem a little different but it’s really not. I used to think that authors don’t actually make money from their books. I thought they built up a reputation and make money selling consulting services but that the books are kind of a loss. And then I met today’s guest. Mark Dawson is an author who’s written 25 books. In addition to writing books he’s also teaching people how to self-publish through courses at Self Publishing Formula. Even if you’re not selling books, the marketing tactics that he uses to sell his books will work in other areas outside the publishing world.

Mark Dawson ia a best selling author of over 25 fiction books. He also runs Self Publishing Formula, which offers courses for aspiring authors who want to self-publish.

Sponsored by

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If you’re with one of their confusing competitors and you want something new, you owe it to your business to check out ActiveCampaign.

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from #1401 Proven marketing tactics from Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Formula

Monday, January 23, 2017

#1400 A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade – with Robert Cialdini

A few weeks ago I interviewed a founder and I couldn’t figure out why his company was so successful. His software was the same as his competition. The founder told me his company was using influence techniques in the way they create their content. I said, “Wow, that reminds me of this book by Robert Cialdini called Influence.” Turns out, that’s the book he’s been using to teach the people on his team. So that’s why he was doing so well. It wasn’t just his software—it was his persuasion skills. Well, Robert Cialdini has noticed something interesting. He noticed that what happens before people persuade you impacts how receptive you are to their persuasion. I invited him here to talk about that.

Robert Cialdini is the author of Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Sponsored by

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from #1400 A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade – with Robert Cialdini

Sunday, January 22, 2017

#1399 How Raj Jeyakumar built Skillbridge and sold it to Toptal

A few weeks ago I talked to a guy who sold his company to one of my sponsors. The company was Skillbridge and he sold it to Toptal. I wanted to get a sense of how Toptal was growing. While I was on the phone with Skillbridge’s founder I couldn’t believe how interesting his story was. I had to invite him to come share it with my audience. I want to hear how he had a killer idea before and missed out on it because of a stupid mistake! But he built his company to the point where it was acquired. Raj Jeyakumar is the founder of Skillbridge, an online platform to help you find and hire the world’s best consultants on demand.

Raj Jeyakumar is the founder of Skillbridge, an online platform to help you find and hire the world’s best consultants on demand.

Sponsored by

Noah Kagan Presents – If you’re listening to me, I think you’ll enjoy a new podcast by Noah Kagan. It’s called Inflection Point because unlike Mixergy, Noah will interview people who are just getting started—people who are at that moment in their lives when things start to turn. He’s with giving people challenges because he wants them to take action like finding their first customers and getting out of their comfort zone.

But get this, if you subscribe to Noah Kagan Presents Noah’s also going to give you $1. Just email him at mixergy at okdork dot com to ask for your dollar.

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from #1399 How Raj Jeyakumar built Skillbridge and sold it to Toptal

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

#1398 How to get your offline business to grow beyond offline – with Andy Fossett

I got an email from a listener in the audience who said she had a yoga studio and wanted to know how she could grow it. She wanted to know how to use online ads, and social media like Instagram. My response to her was that maybe those platforms are hard to use for a reason. I thought her market was more limited to local advertising. I thought of her before recording this interview and here’s why. Today’s guest built a company that took fitness online. And his cofounder started with a yoga studio! So anyone in my audience who has a business in a fixed location can learn how to go online and grow beyond local.

Andy Fossett is the cofounder of GMB Fitness, which teaches people how to use their bodies better.

Sponsored by

The Infection Point – If you’re listening to me, I think you’ll enjoy a new podcast by Noah Kagan. It’s called Inflection Point because unlike Mixergy, Noah will interview people who are just getting started—people who are at that moment in their lives when things start to turn. He’s with giving people challenges because he wants them to take action like finding their first customers and getting out of their comfort zone.

But get this, if you subscribe to The Infection Point Noah’s also going to give you $1. Just email him at mixergy at okdork dot com to ask for your dollar.

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from #1398 How to get your offline business to grow beyond offline – with Andy Fossett

Monday, January 16, 2017

#1397 How a jerky founder learned to lead with emotional intelligence – with R Michael Anderson

Today’s guest says that at one point in his life, he was a real ass. He says he was pushy and insistent on his approach until he discovered a better way. I initially invited him here just to talk about his business but I had no idea he’d be open to talking about that and the issues he had with his cofounder. To me, the emotional intelligence part of his story is the most interesting and what I want to get into here. R. Michael Anderson is the founder of Radiant Technologies, which was an ERP reseller.

R. Michael Anderson is the founder of Radiant Technologies, which was an ERP reseller.

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from #1397 How a jerky founder learned to lead with emotional intelligence – with R Michael Anderson