Rocketship.fm

After two years and 200 episodes, we take a step back and reflect on some of our favorite lessons learned, surprising conversations, and what we're working on next. Enjoy!

Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp, talks with us about what it takes for a company to stay around for the long run. From the importance of early habits to the most impactful ways to iterate, he shares some incredible insights in this episode.

Steli Efti, founder of Close.io and co-host of The Startup Chat podcast, talks with us about the emotional side of entrepreneurship and sales, and how he overcomes failures, rejections, and slumps. He talks a lot about the difference between dedication and attachment.

Jon Nastor, host of Hack the Entrepreneur and author of How to Stop Procrastinating, Build a Business, and Do Work That Matters, talks with us about the experience of interviewing over 170 entrepreneurs and writing a book to share the most impactful lessons he's learned throughout those conversations.

Jeff Epstein, founder of Ambassador, talks with us about three distinct umbrellas of affiliate marketing, and how each can help boost your business. He shares some insights into their sales processes and culture, as well as how they use their own product.

Will Hench, founder of ThreadLab, talks with us about their unique approach to ecommerce selling, designed to reduce the buyer's cognitive load by making choices for them, and using data to guide these choices.

Gregg Parise, CEO of Events.com, talks with us about how they’ve prioritized culture above all else, and how impactful that has been on their ability to grow and win in the marketplace.

Craig Wortmann, founder of Sales Engine and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago, talks with us about the difference between professional selling and entrepreneurial selling. He breaks down the key differences between high performing and low performing sales people by walking us through a real-world example.

Rob Walling, founder of Drip, talks with us about his recent focus on customer success. He believes there is a middle-ground between 100% self-serve, and high-touch onboarding, and he's hired help to find it. Rob shares his learnings from focusing on customer success, the impact on his sales process, and the metrics he uses to track it all.

Michael Jamin, long-time Hollywood screenwriter for shows such as Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, and most currently, Maron, talks with us about what a story really is. He walks us through key structural elements that you can use to help tell your company or brand story to better engage with your customers.

David Hauser, Founder of Grasshopper, talks with us about his angel investing philosophy. They don’t invest in companies without at least $500k-$1 million annual revenue and no intention of raising another round. In short, he wants to help fuel growth and culture, not swing for the fences on a low-percentage home run. Also, there are some great lessons in here on how they scaled Grasshopper through paid channels to a fantastic exit for all involved.

Paul Bradley, founder of Eventric, shares his story of bootstrapping for 10 years before raising money and shifting their business model. He talks about how changes in the industry has completely changed the way their business and offerings create value in the market.

Nick Disabato, founder of Draft and author of Cadence & Slang, talks with us about the intricacies of A/B testing that he uses with his clients. Everything from the most impactful changes you can make to a page to how to determine the proper sample size and run-time of your test. This was an incredibly informative episode.

Alex Berman, Chief Marketing Sumo at InspireBeats, talks with us about how they’ve built their business by sending over a million targeted, personalized cold emails. He shares some great tips for improving your emailing efforts and closing more deals.

Adam Saint, co-founder and VP of Design at Bench, talks with us about what design really means to him. It’s far beyond how something looks, and much more about the function of a system, and how that system works best for the intentions of the user. Fascinating discussion around JTBD, experience, and implementation.