Startup Stories - Mixergy

When I interviewed the founder of Tradeshift ten years ago, he had a very simple idea: Facebook for businesses. I don’t think even he could have imagined the complex problems he would encounter along the way. Things like global tax compliance, cloud security and enterprise integrations. But he figured it out and today Tradeshift is a unicorn with some very wide moats protecting it. I’ll ask him about all of it in this interview. Christian Lanng is the founder of Tradeshift, a network and platform for supply chain payments, marketplaces, and apps. Christian Lanng is the founder of Tradeshift, a network and platform for supply chain payments, marketplaces, and apps. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’ve been feeling the pain that today’s guest is out to solve. Since moving to Austin, my wife and I still haven’t found a place to buy. So we’ve been jumping from Airbnb to Airbnb and we’re going a little crazy. Well, Luca Zambello found a way to make those check-in processes a little smoother and I want to find out how he did it. Luca is the founder of Jurny,  hospitality tech company offering SaaS-based management solutions designed to accommodate the evolving needs and expectations of the modern traveler. Luca Zambello is the founder of Jurny,  hospitality tech company offering SaaS-based management solutions designed to accommodate the evolving needs and expectations of the modern traveler. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

For years, I thought protesting was a waste of time. To me, the only thing that works is to actually come up with something better. So I’m really excited that today’s guest John Laster, somebody who had been out there protesting and finally said, “You know what? Why are we protesting? Why aren’t we doing something about it?” And he decided he was going to do something about it. John Laster created an app called Blapp, which is a marketplace of black owned local businesses. I invited him here to find out how he did it. Jon Laster is the founder of Blapp, which helps users discover black-owned businesses. Sponsored byHostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I want to understand about the business of content creation so invited Deron Triff. Deron  is co-producer of the Masters of Scale podcast. And prior to that, he was on the executive team at TED. He is THE person to talk on this subject. Today Deron is co-founder WaitWhat, a New York based media invention company that creates and owns premium content. I’ll ask him about that too. Deron Triff is the co-founder WaitWhat, a New York based media invention company that creates and owns premium content. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. SEMrush – If you’re doing content marketing of any kind, you need to know about SEMrush. Explore 40+ SEMrush tools and reports to find the best solution to your challenges. Find and fix SEO issues, track your daily ranks for any keyword, manage your editorial planning, discover the top content in your niche, and so much more. Mixergy listeners get to try their GURU level for two weeks, no credit card required. Just go to Mixergy.com/SEMrush to start getting insights for your content marketing. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

This is the big question I have for this interview: How do you decide what to do with your life? And I have the perfect guest to guide me through that question. Marc Randolph is the co-founder of Netflix. I want to talk to him about that, and why he’s now in podcasting. Today, Marc is the host of That Will Never Work where he works directly with entrepreneurs who have been told “that will never work,” helping them turn their early or struggling businesses into sustainable companies. Marc Randolph is the host of That Will Never Work where he works directly with entrepreneurs who have been told “that will never work,” helping them turn their early or struggling businesses into sustainable companies. Sponsored byLemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Songfinch today: Anyone can have a custom song written for their loved one, client, whoever. Nice business. Growing fast. The future: well, listen to the end. I think you’ll get why this is a much bigger idea. John Williamson is the founder of Songfinch, which creates personalized songs. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. Lemon.io – Why squander time and money on developers who aren’t perfect for your startup? Let Lemon match you with engineers that can transform your vision into reality — diabolically fast. Go to Lemon.io/mixergy for a 15% discount on your first 4 weeks with one of their devs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today Andrew Munday is the founder of Local Kitchens, a micro food hall that lets you mix-and-match your favorite local restaurants in one easy order. He emailed me recently about how he was the first employee at DoorDash and all the things he could talk about from that experience. I’m so excited to have him on to talk about it and also his new company. Andrew Munday is the founder of Local Kitchens, a micro food hall that lets you mix-and-match your favorite local restaurants in one easy order. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

My guest today started a business in January 2021 and has already hit $1M in revenue. But that’s not even the most amazing part. What amazes me is that he did it in a space that I would have thought was too mature for that type of growth. So I invited him here to find out how he did it. Laith Masarweh is the founder of Assistantly, which offers virtual team member staffing solutions. Laith Masarweh is the founder of Assistantly, which offers virtual team member staffing solutions. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. SEMrush – If you’re doing content marketing of any kind, you need to know about SEMrush. Explore 40+ SEMrush tools and reports to find the best solution to your challenges. Find and fix SEO issues, track your daily ranks for any keyword, manage your editorial planning, discover the top content in your niche, and so much more. Mixergy listeners get to try their GURU level for two weeks, no credit card required. Just go to Mixergy.com/SEMrush to start getting insights for your content marketing. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Jason Hirshman is the founder of Uncountable, which helps R&D scientists with comprehensive data management system the whole team can work in. That might sound like a complicated solution but in this interview you’ll find out that he got traction quickly just by taking common Silicon Valley data management into other verticals just outside of tech. Jason Hirshman is the founder of Uncountable, which helps R and D scientists move from isolated spreadsheets and projects to a comprehensive data management system the whole team can work in. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I remember Noah Kagan telling me that he would get on Skype to get feedback from early customers. That idea stuck with me but even then it didn’t seem scalable. Well, today’s guest agrees with that. So he created a platform that can deliver customers insights at scale. I invited him here to find out how he did it. Dan Leahy is the founder of MakerSights,  the product decision platform. Dan Leahy is the founder of MakerSights,  the product decision platform. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today I’m catching up with Jesse Pujji, the founder of Ampush. When we first talked to him in 2011, Ampush was doing $1M a month. I want to find out how big he grew it and what he’s doing now. Jesse Pujji is the founder of Ampush, a growth marketing partner that crafts holistic strategies and executes throughout the funnel. Sponsored bySendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and help you reach the right people and produce the right content. Mixergy listeners who sign up will get one month free with 100,000 emails by entering the coupon code SIBMIX at checkout. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today’s guest has built a $100M dollars in revenue company but it didn’t happen overnight. I want to find out how he he got here. Oscar Hoglund is the founder of Epidemic Sound, which provides Premium Music for content creators. Oscar Hoglund is the founder of Epidemic Sound, which provides Premium Music for content creators. Sponsored byGusto – Gusto’s people platform helps businesses like yours onboard, pay, insure, and support your hardworking team. Payroll, benefits, and more. Their customizable onboarding checklists were built to keep you organized. Gusto offers employee benefits made to fit your budget. If you’re not sure where to start, Gusto’s licensed advisors can help you choose the right health benefits for your team. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Today’s guest noticed a problem that I’ve noticed for years. I want to find out how he was able to make the solution work when so many others have failed. Ruben Flores-Martinez is the founder of Cashdrop, which allows merchants to sell online in minutes. In this interview, we’ll get into the story, the challenges, and the competition. Ruben Flores-Martinez is the founder of Cashdrop, which allows merchants to sell online in minutes. Sponsored bySendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and help you reach the right people and produce the right content. Mixergy listeners who sign up will get one month free with 100,000 emails by entering the coupon code SIBMIX at checkout. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

It seems like everyone is in the creator economy now. So much so that sometimes I wonder if I’m still in the right space. Well, today’s guest has a different outlook and I want to find out why. Dave Nemetz is the founder of Inverse, which covers the latest news and advancements in science, entertainment, gaming, innovation, and the mind and body. Dave Nemetz is the founder of Inverse, which covers the latest news and advancements in science, entertainment, gaming, innovation, and the mind and body. Sponsored bySendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and help you reach the right people and produce the right content. Mixergy listeners who sign up will get one month free with 100,000 emails by entering the coupon code SIBMIX at checkout. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

If you were on my site in 2015 and tried to leave it, a pop up that Tom Cruz created would have sprung up to convince you to join my email list and buy a membership. It worked beautifully, so why did Tom ditch that business for real estate? And can we see his numbers from that business? Tom Cruz is a real estate investor. Sponsored bySendinblue – Sendinblue is the smartest and most intuitive platform for growing businesses. They will guide your business with the right marketing & sales tools and help you reach the right people and produce the right content. Mixergy listeners who sign up will get one month free with 100,000 emails by entering the coupon code SIBMIX at checkout. HostGator – Ready to take your website to the next level? Whether you’re a first-time blogger or an experienced web pro, HostGator has all the tools you need to create a great-looking website or online store. A wide range of options includes cloud-based web hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Founded in 2002, HostGator is the perfect web partner for business owners and individuals seeking hands-on support. Visit www.hostgator.com/mixergy to see what HostGator can do for your website. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint