Starting From Nothing - The Foundation Podcast | Building Your Business Entirely From Scratch.

Mike Paton has spent a lifetime learning from entrepreneurs. Eight years ago he met Gino Wickman and was immediately drawn to the simplicity and usefulness of his Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS). He is now the Visionary at EOS Worldwide, LLC – a role we explore in this interview – and an author, speaker and EOS implementer at Achieve Traction, where he uses his lifetime of entrepreneurial wisdom to helps entrepreneurs and their leadership teams clarify, simplify and achieve their vision.   “We believe that what leaders do is solve problems and resolve issues.”   In This Interview I Ask: 2:30 - Give me the high-level about how you got involved with Traction and EOS. Give us like the 10,000 foot view of what it is and why it actually matters for entrepreneurs. 4:15 - What makes EOS unique? Why is this different than other stuff that's out there? Tell me a little bit about what makes this specifically unique for entrepreneurs. 6:35 - When you come into organizations, what do you think it is that entrepr

Vinnie Fisher is a Founder and CEO of The Total CEO and Founder and Chairman of Fully Accountable. Today we really dove into The Total CEO, unpacked the six core areas of business, and really what we find bleeding through everything is strategy and intention.   In This Interview I Ask: 1:45 – Tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey. How you got started, how you progress, and how you ended up where you're at today. 4:20 – You're a lawyer by trade and then in 2006 you launch your direct response career. How did that happen? What launched you from a lawyer into building $300 million worth of sales for these different brands? How do you get there? 6:00 – Give us the founding story: how did it come about and when did it actually start? 7:00 – What was the driving factor for the creation of Total CEO? What problem is it solving for people? 9:40 – How did you arrive at the place where you knew that being a great strategist was your one thing, your core competency? 15:10 – With this noise or chatter

Craig Ballantyne is a productivity and success transformation coach and the author of The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life. He has contributed to Men’s Health Magazine since 2000, and in 2001 he created the popular home workout program Turbulence Training. On his journey to success Craig has had to overcome crippling anxiety attacks, and he did that with his Five Pillars of Success and Transformation. Today Craig shows men and women how to use these five pillars to lose 10-75 pounds, get a raise and make more money, find the love of their lives, and overcome any obstacle in the way of success. You can read his daily essays on success, productivity and business at Early to Rise.   In This Interview I Ask: 2:40 - Can Craig talk about the rules that he has, why he has them, and why they matter for people when it comes to building out these perfect days? 5:20 - What are some of the rules that Craig has? 10:20 - How does Craig consistently make time for his routines and avoid gettin

In This Interview I Ask: 2:35 – So before we dive in any deeper, Patrick, tell us what are you up to in the world right now? 4:00 – Entrepreneurs in London: how big is that group? 4:30 – Give us a sense of what that group runs on, meaning is that a group that you started on MeetUp? 7:30 –  What was your original intention when you started that MeetUp group? Was it to actually grow it to 18,000 people and monetize it, or when you got that thing started what was going through your mind? 8:48 – What I'm always curious about from entrepreneurs is what it actually looked like for them to start that first thing that blows up. Was there a big strategy and planning going into it? Or did one day you just say, “I can make this better,” and you threw up a group and kind of said, “I'm just going to see how this evolves?” 10:17 – What was that first event? What kind of details do you remember about that very first event? 11:15 – There's going to be a large percentage of listeners who might have been to MeetUp groups, but

Rob Walch, recently inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame, is the VP of Podcaster Relations with Libsyn and hosts the podCast411 podcast.  His books, “Podcast 101” and “Tricks of the Podcasting Masters,” are available on Amazon and iBooks.   In this episode, Rob outlines his tips to entrepreneurs interested in starting a podcast, including when and why to monetize, how to use a podcast to build credibility in your niche, and the importance of providing great content in podcasting.  Rob also discusses his opinion of where the future of podcasting is going.   In This Interview I Ask: 2:50 - What were you up to before you got into the podcast world? 6:45 - When you say clients, what do you mean? What were you helping them with at the time? 8:50 - What is your opinion for entrepreneurs on poor reasons to start a podcast? 11:50 - What are some opportunities available to you if you do start a podcast? 17:30 - If someone wants to build authority in a niche, how does podcasting compare to self-publishing? 21:40 - Wh

Oren Klaff is the author of Pitch Anything, an innovative method for presenting, persuading, and winning the deal. Oren has personally worked on a billion dollar in deals. In this interview, Oren breaks down the Pitch Anything Method, including setting the frame, creating tension and overcoming objections.   In This Interview I Ask: 1:23 - What kind of deals have you been involved in total? 2:46 - With the skillset that you have, why go write a book? 8:06 - In the book, you talk about three levels of the brain. When I’m firing questions at you, which part of the brain am I appealing to? 12:29 - Before you formulated your method of moving through the pitch, what were you doing before instead? How were you thinking about making a pitch during a deal? 14:35 - Why is setting the frame important? 17:11 - How do you set the frame so that you’re negotiating or pitching as equals, even if the other person has a bigger name, a large company, or strong influence or recognition? 20:16 - How are you using this idea intr

Jeremy Chatelaine is the founder of Quickmail.io, a tool to help businesses generate leads on autopilot with automated outbound emails and smart follow-ups. Quickmail.io is one of the first companies to provide a solution for sales automation. In just two years since inception, Jeremy grew Quickmail.io to over 1,000 customers and over $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue. In this interview, Jeremy breaks down each phase of growing his business, from validating his idea to his first customer acquisition to hiring his first team member. He also shares his insights on the realities of a having the freedom of choice with your lifestyle business, and why chooses to focus on customer experience over massive growth.   In This Interview I Ask: 2:30 - Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? 3:34 - What problem did you build Quickmail.io to solve? 4:41 - What did your process look like to validate the idea? 5:42 - Can you give us a sense of where Quickmail.io is right now in terms of monthly revenues and customer

Brian Scudamore is the founder of many companies under the umbrella of O2E Brands (Ordinary 2 Exceptional). He started his first business 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a junk removal company, in college, and grew it to a global brand with franchises in over 30 cities across North America. Brian’s other franchises include Wow 1 Day Painting, You Move Me, and Shack Shine. In this interview, Brian tells us how he grew 1-800-GOT-JUNK from a college side hustle to a 250 million dollar franchise. Brian credits his success to two things: having a clear vision for his business, and hiring the right people.     In This Interview I Ask: 2:30 - How much money can you make running a junk removal business? 4:07 - What were you studying when you were in college? 4:42 - If you were about to have the possibility to enter college today and you still wanted to be an entrepreneur, do you think you would go through it? 6:36 - What did [it] actually look like for you to go from nothing, to getting something created out of thin air? 10:26 - Wha

Andrei Mincov is the “trademark guy” and founder of Trademark Factory. He earned his PhD in law and worked for the biggest international law firm in Russia doing intellectual property work for the likes of Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, J. K. Rowling, DreamWorks and more. When Andrei moved to Canada, he went from being a hotshot lawyer to a nobody. It wasn’t until he read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad that he decided to start his own firm. In this interview, Andrei teaches us about what a trademark does, and why it’s better to trademark before you launch your company rather than later. He also shares the story of how he became “the trademark guy” and how he challenged himself to become an entrepreneur.     In This Interview I Ask: 1:05 - How [did] you come to be the “trademark guy” in the Trademark Factory. What’s your story? 6:15 - How long ago did you join the biggest law firm in Russia? 15:00 - Why are trademarks important, and why are we wrong for not thinking about this stuff? 21:23 - You act

Aaron Vidas is the founder and CEO of Strategy Box, a company that helps others companies find their most profitable customers and creates radically simple plans to help them grow. In this interview, Aaron talks to us about the software he built to help B2B companies determine the ROI of their marketing. Aaron shares his journey from validating his idea to hiring someone else to execute on his minimum viable product. We learn the importance of evaluating the ROI of our marketing and how you can use Strategy Box's dashboard to see what’s working for you in your business.   In This Interview I Ask: 2:55 - Recap for us, what did you find out your business was great at that you decided to focus on? 10:23 - When you look at an opportunity, but [realize] I’m not the guy to go execute it, how did you start moving towards this process? 13:42 - How do you view market/idea validation? 17:07 - What did the build look like for the MVP (minimum viable product)? 21:11 - What does the [StrategyBox] dashboard look like in t

Siamak Farah is the founder of Info Street (now SkyDesktop), an in-browser cloud app platform that allows small business owners to access, manage, and use all their business apps in one place. Siamak has had an amazing career working his way up at multiple software companies, including Steve Job’s Next Computers. With the knowledge and experience he acquired, it’s no wonder that he now runs his very own successful software company. In this interview, Sia shares his journey of how he learned every facet of running a software company, from his time at Next Computers to starting his own web-based operating system. Sia gives us his insights on automation, being ahead of “the cloud” curve, and implementing the lattice management structure to empower his team’s passion.    In This Interview I Ask: 2:54 - When did Info Street originally start? 3:47 - Tell us a little bit about what you were doing before you started Info Street in 1994. 4:46 - What was your role at Next [Computers]? 10:03 - What did a Next computer c

Kallen Diggs is an international bestselling author, career strategist, and contributor to major publications like Entrepreneur Magazine and The Huffington Post. He is the founder of Reaching the Finish Line, and has both a book & internationally syndicated radio show by the same name. Kallen has helped over 2,000 people reach the finish line in their careers. In this interview, Kallen shares the mission behind Reaching the Finish Line, how he got started in entrepreneurship, and the habits he practices as well as the tools he uses in his business. Kallen also gives his insight on what it was like to publish his first book through traditional publishing, and why writing for smaller publications actually produced more sales for him than his exposure from larger publications.     In This Interview I Ask: 1:54 - What is the purpose of Reaching the Finish Line? How do you help folks? 2:38 - Who is the avatar for Reaching the Finish Line book/radio show? Who do you see as your target audience? 4:25 - How long

Jenn Scalia runs a coaching business and membership site for women who want to put themselves out there and run their own online business. Formerly, she enjoyed doing social media full-time for the largest casino in Atlantic City until she was laid off. Jenn felt like she hit rock bottom after her second layoff in two years. It was then that she decided that she wanted control over whether or not she worked and how much she earned. Jenn then moved back in with her parents’, and leveraged their support to get out of debt and slowly grow her business to the six-figure company it is today. In this interview, Jenn tells us all about Little Black Business Book, and what it takes to run a membership site. We also talk shop about creativity and why she’s addicted to investing in one-on-one coaching.     In This Interview I Ask: 2:35 - Did you go and get another job after [getting laid off]? 4:21 - What were the first 60-90 days like from the time you [decided to start a business]? What did it look like in the first

Jason Carter is a software engineer with a PhD in computer science. While going through The Foundation Process, Jason dabbled with a few different niches. Once he started seeing results, he focused on the path of least resistance. Through consistent action and reflection, he learned what he what he was doing wrong in his process, then made adjustments to set his system right. In just eight months he was able to generate $115k all from using cold email.   In this interview, Jason tells us what he’s learned from mistakes he’s made when he first started cold emailing people, and what he changed in his subsequent emails. He also shares why he deviated from developing a software for multiple customers in one niche (like most Foundation students have done), to developing software on a per-project, one-off basis.     In This Interview I Ask: 4:41 - What was going on in your life before the Foundation, and what was the impetus for you to decide to go through [the program]? 6:01 - Have you ever been out there selling

Jennifer Barcelos and Sandy Connery are both alums of The Foundation Class of 2013, who met and instantly became friends at our Foundation live event. Jenny was a lawyer and new mom wanting to explore new ways to fund the nonprofit organization she worked with, while Sandy was a certified pedorthist, who after selling her previous business was looking for a new entrepreneurial challenge. After uncovering a common pain point shared by yoga studio owners, Jenny founded Namastream, a virtual wellness studio service for yoga instructors. Sandy, being a fellow yogi and Namastream enthusiast, joined the team a year and a half later. In this interview, Jenny tells us the story of how Namastream came to be, and what her experience of building a SaaS solution from inception to growth is like. Sandy shares what prompted her to join the Namastream team and how roles are divided between them.   In This Interview I Ask: 4:59 - How many studios did you end up speaking with before you saw the pain you were going to solve fo

Geoff Woods is the host of The Mentee Podcast and an alumni of The Foundation, who went from having a 6-figure sales job to becoming a full-time entrepreneur. Geoff was going through The Foundation’s “Idea Extraction” process when he realized that SaaS was not a good fit for him. Instead he made a pivot to focus on something he was much more passionate about building, which ended up being his podcast, The Mentee. Because of the guidance from his mentors, Geoff was able to monetize within three months of launch. In Part 2 of this interview, Geoff breaks down the steps to meet the top influencers in your industry. Plus he fulfills his promise to share the strategies he used to become a contributor on Entrepreneur.com within a mere three weeks, and how you can do it too!     In This Interview I Ask: 2:26 - Take us through the process of what it looked like for you to find your own billionaire mentor. 5:46 - How can you, wherever you are right now, start tapping into people who are lightyears beyond you? 6:57 - H

Geoff Woods is the host of The Mentee Podcast and an alumni of The Foundation who went from having a 6-figure job to becoming a full-time entrepreneur. Geoff was going through The Foundation’s “Idea Extraction” process when he realized that SaaS was not a good fit for him. Instead he made a pivot to focus on something he was much more passionate about building and that was his podcast, The Mentee - which Geoff was able to monetize within three months of launching. In Part 1 of this interview, Geoff recalls the moment when he realized it was time to take the leap into entrepreneurship. He shares how he was quickly able to connect with successful people, get mentored by them, and then later interview them on his podcast. Geoff also talks about the importance of adding value, focusing on ONE thing, and taking continuous action in order to move closer to your goals. Also joining us in this special interview is tactical marketing extraordinaire, Ryan Twedt.   In This Interview I Ask: 5:58 - Back when you were a me

Aaron Vidas is the founder and CEO of Strategy Box, a company that helps others companies find their most profitable customers and creates radically simple plans to help them grow.   In this interview, Aaron talks to us about how he transitioned from moving back into his childhood home and working with low leverage clients to working with companies ten times as big and quadrupling his rates.     In This Interview I ask: 5:09 - What did you study in university? 6:04 - Knowing what you know now, [would] you go back and do that university program? 8:23 - What are some of your ongoing takeaways from backpacking through China? 17:31 - How did you go about firing your own clients? 24:50 - What shift did it take to go from calling companies making under a million in revenue to companies that were 10x-ing that? 29:08 - What does simplification actually mean? 33:28 - What are people doing wrong when they’re tracking the lifetime value of a customer, and how does that affect what they’re able to do with that informatio

Lisa Bodell is the founder and CEO of futurethink, which enables organizations to embrace change and become world-class innovators. She’s also the author of two books: Kill the Company, which is about how to get rid of thing to make space for innovation, and Why Simple Wins which is about how can we get to the work that matters by making simplicity a habit or rather how to make simplicity an operating principle to make innovation happen. In this interview, Lisa shares how to overcome the complexity trap, and figure out what is holding us back from making change in our organizations. Ultimately, it comes down to defining simplicity, “killing stupid rules”, and asking killer questions.   In This Interview I ask: 3:20 - How do we start down the path of innovation? 5:25 - How do you measure the productivity of “thinking time”? 8:00 - What are we not doing, in terms of cultivating our employees, that is preventing their ability to think, and not do what they’ve always done. 9:55 - How do we create the culture of [

Jeff Wenberg is the founder of Smart Video Metrics and an alumni of The Foundation. Jeff started a voiceover and video business right after being let go from his job. He grew tired of the inconsistent income of that business so in 2015, he joined The Foundation. In this interview, Jeff tells us how he came up with the idea for Smart Video Metrics, how much time and money he invested in his solution, and his takeaways from his experience so far.    In This Interview I asked: 4:28 - How did you know that there was an opportunity to solve a problem? 6:35 - What problem were you experiencing that you wanted to go out there and solve? 7:57 - Why is it important to be able to track this [video conversion data]? 9:43 - Why did you feel confident in breaking the rules of the pre-selling model? 13:04 - In retrospect, what are the things you would go back and change? 14:24 - How did you build [your solution]? 17:27 - How long was the process between hiring a developer and receiving the final product? 19:34 - With no pr