Summary
Welcome back to the Startup Junkies Podcast!
Our hosts Matthew Ward, Caleb Tally, and Jeff Amerine meet with Jessica Fialkovich of Transworld Business Advisors and Exit Factor in this week's episode. Working in five startups, overseeing millions in transactions, with 1,000 business owners and over 300 deals... we were fortunate to hear Jessica's story and advice!
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes
(1:22) Introducing Jessica Yokovitch
(1:47) Jessica's Path to Entrepreneurship
(5:05) Creation of Exit Factor
(7:07) Pro Tips on Business Selling
(9:28) Exiting & Multigenerational Business Plans
(13:56) Small Business Advocacy
(20:20) The Startup Itch
(23:40) Navigating a Husband and Wife Team
(28:23) Advice to Younger Self
(29:29) Wrap Up
Links
Quotes
"There's this fallacy of protection and security in corporate jobs... I mean, really the only security you can have is for yourself." (2:39)
"There is some emotion around this [multigeneratinal business plans] when they thought it was going to be a legacy business. But, their legacy can continue, because if you can extract finances, you can extract money out of a sale, then you can fund what's going to be the next legacy project for your family and the next generation." (11:29)
"What we've seen is the necessity for dissemination of information and helping business owners get through crises." ( 14:33)
"[Work-Life balance is] just an ebb and flow...Cause it's never balanced." (27:04)
"I always say that I would have told myself, you don't have to do this all on your own." (28:42)
Glad to have you back to another episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast!
The podcast crew is back in person and better than ever! In this episode, Jeff Amerine and Caleb Tally meet with Vance Clement, CEO, and Spencer Jones, Founder, and CTO, of Lineus Medical. With their company being right on the heels of FDA approval for their flagship device, Safebreak Vascular, you won't want to miss this discussion! We cover all things from balancing expectations, responding to failure, and navigating what’s next after success.
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes
(1:22) Introducing Spencer Jones and Vance Clement
(1:27) Origin story of Lineus Medical
(9:25) SafeBreak Vascular in the Marketplace
(12:43) Pros and Cons of Accelerators
(20:58) Future of Lineus Medical and Venture Capital
(24:29) Transitions from Day Jobs to Entrepreneurship
(26:59) Counting the Cost and Responding to Failure
(35:44) Advice to Fellow Entrepreneurs
(39:45) Wrap Up
Links
Quotes
"As startups do, [we were] trying to balance things on a knife's edge. We were waiting to get clearance and then we would have lots of money, and if we did not get clearance, we would have zero money." (9:25) - Vance Clement
"[A good accelerator] can be really valuable with helping you grow, helping you learn, but then helping you expand your network in areas where you may not have a lot of contacts." (15:11) -Spencer Jones
"It'll become painfully obvious when it's time to leave your current employer for your entrepreneurial endeavor." (28:40) Spencer Jones
"A simple rule: the rule of PI, it's going to take 3.14 times longer than you think. And cost 3.14 times as much money." (37:14) Spencer Jones
Welcome back to another Startup Junkies Podcast!
Thanks for tuning in! In this episode, Jeff Amerine, Caleb Tally, and Matthew Ward talk with Bryan Clayton about business growth, culture setting, localized PR, and all things lawn care! Bryan began in the lawn industry, creating one of the largest landscaping companies in Tennessee, then transitioned to the online marketing world with GreenPal. He has a ton of experience and wisdom for us startup junkies, and you won’t want to miss a thing!
Shownotes
(1:03) Introducing Bryan Clayton and GreenPal
(3:28) Managing People and Setting Culture
(7:45) Challenges of a Multi-Sided Marketplace
(11:46) GreenPal and Venture Capital
(19:00) User Retention
(24:18) Residential or Commercial?
(25:57) PR Strategy
(28:01) GreenPal and Liability
(30:29) The Why
(34:57 ) Advice to Past Self
(35:50) Wrap Up
Links
Quotes
“It’s amazing how, in some ways, the accidental business, the one you never probably were at sleep at night dreaming about, becomes something that can be huge and really great.” (3:13)
“When you’re in a service-based business like that, it’s very people dependent that you know, that your, your culture is kind of one of your competitive advantages.” (4:44)
“One thing that we applied to the second company in GreenPal is making it super dead easy for anybody that does business with you to talk to you and tell you how you’re doing, where you suck, where they wish you would improve. (6:13)
“I think there's a correlation between the least you can make your business sexy [and] the greater, your chances of success.” (11:17)
“PR is a big part of our strategy to move people to the platform on a local level...We want to move a local audience to a local network.” (26:45)
“[On mentorship] I know that I’ve got to be able to add value when I meet with this person to help them be successful...when I get home tonight, I’m not turning on Netflix. I’m turning on YouTube and I’m watching some kind of podcasts like this one.” (33:02)
Welcome to another episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast!
Thanks for tuning in! In this episode, Jeff Amerine and Caleb Tally talk with Michael W. Marra. Jeff and Caleb speak with Michael about his transition from civil engineer to now serial entrepreneur and investor. Michael is the CEO and founder of Entre: Social Network for the future of work and gives us all the details of that journey. You won’t want to miss what the advice this startup junkie has for you! Thanks for listening!
Shownotes
(1:06) Introducing Michael Marra
(1:27) From Civil Engineer to Serial Entrepreneur
(3:22) History of Entre
(6:12) From Social Media to Real Life Networking
(9:33) Revenue Model of Entre
(15:36) Entre Partnerships
(17:00) Community Scaling and Accessibility
(20:45) Outside Capital
(22:29) Value of Connectivity
(27:10) Building a Team
(31:42) Product PR vs. Personal PR
(34:17) Advice to Past Self
(37:32) Wrap Up
Links
Quotes
“...none of my friends were entrepreneurs, none of my family was, I was always looking for people to connect with. And that's when I started really building up this community of entrepreneurs, which led me down to building Entre.” (2:29)
"So we're more transitioning into being the platform and the vehicle that enables more connection and enables actually people to build their own communities in their own businesses." (9:06)
"Entrepreneurship is such a global thing now. And, I think there's a lot to be said for enabling connection cross countries as well." (18:28)
"I encourage every entrepreneur to do events... because without doing events at the beginning we never would have been able to do what we're doing right now... it led to all of our relationships." (21:47)
"...one connection can literally lead to an endless, endless possibilities." (29:55)
"Putting their name and their face on everything… if you do that, then the company's never going to be bigger than yourself." (33:33)
Once you can have clarity around who you are and that's in, who you are, is in line with what you do. That is the ultimate clarity. (36:03)