The Shopify Growth Show

Rob Sobers is a developer turned growth marketer. Today, he gives advice to first-time founders about the idea playing on easy mode. He breaks it down into the following 5 categories: B2B not B2CRecurring revenueSaaS not self-hostedEstablished tech stackMake your version of an existing productAt the end, he also talks about ideas he has if he was starting today. Playing on Easy ModeJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Are you starting an agency?  Don't miss these tips from an agency owner that's built a 7 figure business. Jim talks about the following:What your agency should focus onWhy you should niche down right awayHow to price your servicesHow to manage your client communicationWhy you should focus on recurring work vs. project based workThe key to great work is in the onboarding RESOURCES:Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Do you have a company that runs itself?  Learn how Chris was able to bootstrap his business to 8 figures. Then hear the steps he took to build a board of directors and to hire a professional CEO.  Finally, Chris provides insights on how he invests his time and money in e-commerce and real estate. RESOURCES:Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Jim breaks down how he had zero innovative ideas while building a 7 figure business. He talks about how he stole every single idea along the way and he gives credit to where those ideas came from. From jumping on the trend of "Growth Hacking" that was invented by Sean Ellis to stealing his long term vision of micro acquisition from Andrew Wilkerson at Meta Labs, Jim gives credit to all the companies and founders that innovated before him.Finally, hear about the 1 thing that actually matters to make all of this happen. RESOURCES:The Non-Visionary CEO on How to Steal Ideas (Blog post)Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Listen in to today’s episode to hear Andrew Gazdeki discuss the startup opportunities that get the most demand, how he has grown MicroAcquire, and the impact journaling has had on his career.Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Andrew’s backgroundA summary of what MicroAcquire isWhat Andrew is seeing as far as the type of opportunities that get the most demandHow to think about founder/company fitHow to measure traction in a product marketMicroAcquire’s buyer poolThe growth of MicroAcquireAnnual subscriptionsCommunity as a channelMicroAcquire’s community group on FacebookHow Andrew grew a company and sold itWhy Andrew was interested in micro acquisitionsWhat Andrew is excited about right nowThe impact journaling has had on AndrewThe nicest thing anyone has done for Andrew professionallyResources:Andrew GazdeckiAndrew on TwitterMicroAcquireTED TalkJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

As a founder, what do you do on the days when the sky is falling? When times get tough I change my mindset to be proactive rather than reactive.  While bad things happen to you, you still control your actions and your perspective.  I start playing offense.I list out all the momentum we have at the company.  Then I identify the positive things I can control. Hear about the framework I use to get my mind on the right track.RESOURCES:Playing Offense: A Mental Model for FoundersJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

This episode features Ryan Hamilton, a standup comedian that's toured with Jerry Seinfeld, starred in his own Netflix's special and been on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallow and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  Learn about his writing process and how we went from PR to comedian. Here are some highlights:What he learned touring with Jerry SeinfeldHow he went from PR to being a full time standup comedian in NYCRyan's process for writing a jokeAdvice he would give to any young comedian starting outRyan's half-baked startup ideas he would start todayRESOURCES:Ryan Hamilton WebsiteRyan Hamilton Instagram Happy Face on NetflixComedy CellarJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

Here are the 20 tools I use to run my seven figure business. You can have the same tech stack for under $500. ONE MAN SALES MACHINETypeform - Free / $20Calendly - Free / $20Pipedrive - $19Zapier - FreeSuperHuman - $30Bonsai - $19QuickBooks / PayPalMARKETINGMailShake -$59 / monthCampaign Monitor - $80 monthJustUnoUpWork - design for content upgrades, building outreach database for partnership or potential leadsPROJECT MGMT TECH STACKSlack [Free]Zoom [Free] - $19 Asana [Paid] - $11 per userG Suite [Paid]Report Garden / Google Data Studio - $89CLIENT TOOLSGoogle OptimizeAds ManagerResearch Tools (SEMRush, SimilarWeb, SpyFu)MailCharts Resources:Jim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook

What does an executive coach do for their clients? You’ll learn more about that from today’s interview with Rick Maguire. Rick has a fascinating backstory, as he was a former Naval Officer who then became a Microsoft executive before becoming an executive coach. Listen in to learn how his Navy background translated in the rest of his career, what benefits his clients receive from coaching, and what kind of mistakes Rick sees in the course of his work. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:Rick’s ideal clientThe main benefits that Rick’s clients walk away withWhat Rick’s Navy experience was like and how it translated to the rest of his careerThe time period when Rick was at Microsoft and what the transition was likeWhat people get excited about when scaling upHow to figure out where to startCommon mistakes Rick seesWhere the leader’s time should be spentHalf-baked ideasHow to get in touch with RickResources:Rick MaguireFuturity ResourcesFuturity on TwitterJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit

After working with startups for 10 years, I’m getting into the check writing game.  Here is why I'm doing angel investing:What is Angel investing? My investment advantage: Not the market, not real estate, startups?Why I like Bala Nursing Shoes:Riches in NichesProduct is a Painkiller (and not a vitamin)Not marketing to everyone (Know their persona)Proactive buyer (not passive)Community with high referral potentialHigh AOVHigh Repeat purchase (surprisingly, this one is better than I thought)Validated a ProductGrowth w/ no AdsA+ teamMy Concerns:Product Quality: The first 10,000 pairs of shoes arrive from China during a pandemic. They have been unable to have their own people on the ground to inspect the shoes. New Brand: Bala is doing everything for the first time and they have no trust from customers. Plus, they’re going head to head against big brands with big budgets.P&L Concerns: On average, the shoe industry has a high return rate of 20%. How will these guys fair? This business is very heavy on working capital and mismanagement of cash flows can kill growth and a business.Consumer Growth: Can they diversify their audience from the NurseLifeRN partnership and find scalable channels that are ROI positive? Repeatable and scalable growth only gets more and more expensive as companies get bigger.Team: This team has no startup experience. Can they handle “the unknown unknowns” while working in a remote world? We shall see.Resources:Why I'm Investing $25k in this StartupBala ShoesJim Huffman blogTwitterGrowthHit