GGOB + 21 Hats-1

 

About Our Podcasts

Podcasts for entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders. These messages are brought to you directly from CEOs and business thinkers to help build healthier companies, better businesses, and better lives for both you and your employees.
 

A Silicon Valley Bootstrapper Tells All

Loren Feldman


 

Introduction:

This week, special guest Sharon Gillenwater lets us in on some dirty little secrets about Silicon Valley. She is the founder of two businesses. The first one was backed by venture capital and then destroyed by venture capital. Despite that experience, Sharon tried to raise capital for her second business, Boardroom Insiders, a software-as-a-service marketing tool that helps businesses sell to the top decision-makers at big corporations. But this time, the VCs weren’t interested. So she bootstrapped the business with the help of an angel investor—and proceeded to learn some surprising lessons, many of which she shares in her book, Scaling with Soul. Perhaps the biggest surprise came when she sold her business and learned the happy lesson that the founder of a relatively small bootstrapped business can walk away with more money than the founder of a venture-backed business that sells for far more. In our conversation, Sharon is unusually candid about what it took to build her business, what she learned about B2B marketing, and precisely how much money she made along the way.

— Loren Feldman

 

I Used to Sell to Consumers

Loren Feldman


 

Introduction:

This week, Paul Downs, Jaci Russo, and Sarah Segal talk about how they wound up pitching their products and services not to consumers, but to other businesses. They all agree that selling to business is more profitable, and they all agree that it has other advantages, as well. “In general,” says Paul, “it’s easier to sell to businesses because the person you’re talking to, it’s rarely their money.” But some aspects of selling B2B can be harder. For example, how do you break through and reach the right person at a business, especially if you’re trying to reach the owner directly? And of course, there’s always a learning curve: Selling to a big business requires a level of professionalism that can be challenging, especially early on. Plus: Sarah explains why—even though she had to lay off people last year—she’s doubling her office space this year. Jaci is exploring what policies make hybrid offices most effective. And Paul, who says he’s having his best year ever, spells out the way he calculates when it’s time to add employees, as he had to do earlier this year.

— Loren Feldman


 

The Worker Co-Op Solution

Loren Feldman


 

Introduction:

In this week’s bonus episode, Cameron Madill takes us on his succession journey, which began years ago when he started having conversations with older business owners, many of whom seemed to feel trapped. They’d had a lot of success, they were proud of the business they’d built, but they weren’t sure what to do with it or how to leave it. None of the usual options seemed terribly appealing. Hoping to write a different ending, Madill, now in his 40s, started looking for better options much earlier than most owners, and the one he landed on was an unusual choice: a worker cooperative. Now, there are aspects of this model that are likely to give some owners pause. For one, a co-op probably isn’t going to produce the biggest payday for a selling owner. And if the owner wants to stick around as CEO, he or she will have to report to a board, and that board can challenge any and all of the owner’s decisions. But Madill, as he explains in a conversation we recorded late last year, before he stepped down from his role as CEO, decided to sell to his employees anyway. Not only is he glad he did, he thinks co-ops are an option far more owners, especially those struggling to find a buyer, should consider.

— Loren Feldman

 

About The Podcast

GGOB + 21 Hats-1

The Great Game of Business has partnered with 21 Hats to bring the 21 Hats Podcast to all entrepreneurs in The Great Game of Business community! Hosted by Loren Feldman, this podcast offers real-world business insight. Tune in to stay up to date on today's business issues, hear real stories about organizational challenges leaders are facing, and take away strategies CEOs are using in the business world today. When you subscribe, you'll receive a weekly email notification of this podcast. Plus, receive a message any time a new podcast episode is published on The Great Game of Business "Change the Game Podcast."

 

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