How to Find and Validate Your Next Idea

Ian Ippolito is a serial tech entrepreneur. He created one of the first open-source sites (Planet Source Code) and the first online freelance marketplace with escrowing and arbitration (Rent a Coder, which was later renamed to vWorker).

Inc. magazine named vWorker to the Inc. 5000 list (of fastest-growing private companies in the US) four years in a row. Entrepreneur magazine named his company “one of the hundred most brilliant companies”. And he’s been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, CBS news, Fox news, and many more.

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Life After Selling

In this interview, Ian and I talked about life after selling vWorker.com. After the sale, there were a number of surprises that came Ian’s way and he shared what he learned from these. We also dove into how he came up with his next idea, how he tested it, and how he created the products.

If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:  Jason Swenk Talks About Life After Selling Your Company – How to Regain Your Significance & Create a Profitable Online Business

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:  Rick Martinez on How to Create the Ultimate Lifestyle Business

 

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Life After Selling Company – How to Launch a SaaS Company

Jordan is the cofounder and CEO of CartHook.com, an abandoned cart app that helps ecommerce stores make more money by recovering their abandoned carts.

He’s built multiple businesses in the past, some good and some bad. Of course, that means he learned a lot along the way and applied what he learned to CartHook.

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Life After Selling

In this episode, Jordan and I talk about what life was like after he sold his company, how he came up with the idea for his next company, and how he was able to recruit two technical co-founders to help him develop the software. We then round out our discussion with a detailed look at the very crafty strategy that he used to attract his early customers using cold email.

If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:
How James Deer Has Grown His SaaS Company to $39,000 In Monthly Revenue

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:
Zvi Band on Growing His SaaS Company from Near Zero to a Million in 12 Months

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How to Build a Scalable B2B Sales Process

Damian Thompson is a Sales Coach, and Founder & CEO of Salesability, i.e., expanding sales ability for scalability. He has led sales teams in a dozen countries, coaching hundreds of professionals to tens of millions of dollars in sales. Damian helps companies scale from 6-figures to 8-figures and beyond. First, he focuses on “leveling up” founders’ sales skills & techniques while developing the behaviors, attitude, & expertise of sales champions. Then he helps companies create the strategic sales approach (process, methods, tactics) their unique market requires. All of this serves to help companies GAIN customers faster and RETAIN them longer.

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Life After Selling

In this episode Damian and I talk about the difference between a B2B sales system and a sales process. If you want to scale up your sales team to increase growth, or make your company more valuable to sell, you are going to need to create a scalable sales process. Listen to this interview to discover how to do it right.

If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:  How Block Imaging Increased Sales by $9 Million

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy:  How to Apply Data Science to Your Company’s Sales Process

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Rick Martinez on How to Create the Ultimate Lifestyle Business

Rick is a veteran, registered nurse, writer and successful entrepreneur. He is also Founder and CEO of the BizAcademyOnline.com. The mission of BizAcademyOnline.com is to build the next generation of ‘10x Entrepreneurs’. The ‘10x Entrepreneur’ is the business leader who chooses to create the life of their dreams with Purpose, Passion and Profit.

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Life After Selling

In this episode, I’m joined by Rick Martinez and we talk about life after selling his 40(ish) employee staffing agency, what life was like after the sale, and some unexpected realizations he made in the months after the deal closed. We also talked about why he went on to create an online business and why it’s such a good fit for he and his wife now that they are about to become empty nesters.

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Jason Swenk Talks About Life After Selling Your Company – How to Regain Your Significance and Create a Profitable Online Business

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David Fox on Life & Lessons Learned After a $20M Exit

David started his entrepreneurial career with a backyard vegetable garden in Sydney Australia when he was ten, joined the family retail business a few years later, and set out on his own to establish a technology distributor in the mid-80s. He sold out to a partner and moved to San Francisco in 1994 to launch an eCommerce venture which was acquired by a NY public company for $20M. Since then he has provided seed funding to 15 startups and co-founded 2 non-profit organizations.

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Life After Selling

In this episode, I’m joined by David Fox and we discuss life and lessons learned after selling a company for $20M. We talked about his experience in the due diligence phase, what to expect, and how best to prepare in advance. We also talked about how to preserve wealth post-sale, and how to come up with an idea for your next business.

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Jason Swenk on Life After Selling Your Company – How to Regain Your Significance & Create a Profitable Online Business

 

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Jason Swenk Talks About Life After Selling Your Company – How to Regain Your Significance and Create a Profitable Online Business

Jason is a digital-preneur and author with 12+ years of experience running a successful digital agency until he sold it in 2011. Jason Swenk started his digital career with Arthur Andersen in the 90s. After realizing the vast opportunity in digital marketing, he quickly started his digital agency in 1999. Since then, Jason has worked with some of the biggest clients in the world including names such as Aflac, Lotus Cars, Hitachi, AT&T, Coke, and Legal Zoom.

Jason helps businesses establish strategies that get them to the next level, by sharing what works and what doesn’t, so you know exactly how to build a successful business.

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Life After Selling

In this interview, Jason and I talk about life after selling a company. In Jason’s case, it was bittersweet, as it also came along with some challenges. We talk about those unexpected challenges, how he dealt with them, and ultimately, how Jason went on to create the most successful (and enjoyable) company he’s ever run.

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Butch Bellah Talks About Lessons Learned After Selling His Company

 

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Tom Poland Talks About Lessons Learned After Selling Four Companies

Tom is a 58 year old serial entrepreneur who started his first business at age 24 and has gone on to start and sell four others, taking two of them international. In that time he’s managed teams of over 100 people and annual revenue of more than 20 million.

Since 1995 Tom has dedicated himself to helping business owners to live a fulfilling personal and professional life while adding value to their clients and their own businesses. At last count Tom’s process has helped over 2,000 business owners across 193 different industries and 4 continents to develop and grow their businesses. Many have gone on to add millions to their earnings – and he has their glowing testimonials on his website to show for it.

Tom’s work has been published in 27 countries and he’s shared international speaking platforms with the likes of Michael Gerber of E-Myth fame, Richard Koch from the 80-20 Principle, Brian Tracy, and many others.

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Life After Selling

Tom and I talked about how he planned the sale of each of his four companies, how he manages work/life balance, and why he so enjoys being a digital entrepreneur.

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If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Butch Bellah Talks About Lessons Learned After Selling His Company

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Butch Bellah Talks About Lessons Learned After Selling His Company

Butch Bellah is the owner of Dallas-based B2 Training & Development where he works with salespeople and organizations to gain more appointments, win more business, and retain more customers.

He started his career at 21 and at 35, he and a business partner acquired controlling interest in the company he’d helped build from a $35 million local business to one of the largest wholesale food distributors in the nation, with annual sales almost a quarter-billion dollars.

In addition to his 10 year stint as a stand up comedian, Butch has written two books:

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Life After Selling

Butch and I talked about some of the challenges he experienced after selling his company. Much to his surprise, it wasn’t all “beaches and margaritas” as many expect. Listen to this episode to discover how Butch has reinvented himself as a digi-preneur.

If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Tom Poland Talks About Lessons Learned After Selling Four Companies

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Aaron Walker talks about how life can go wrong after selling your company

Businessman and Life Coach Aaron T. Walker has inspired many through his leadership, mentorship, and consistent pursuit of excellence. He enjoys helping others and believes experience is a great teacher. 35 years of entrepreneurship and marriage have given Aaron a wealth of experience. Aaron sold his first business to a Fortune 500 company at 27 years old and continues to reach new heights and broaden his perspective of the terrain by examining his experiences and growing from them.

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Life After Selling

  • Aaron and I talked today about what happened after he sold his company at age 27. Contrary to what you might think, life wasn’t all roses for a guy who’d already made enough money to never have to work again. Something was missing. Listen to the episode to learn what went wrong, what he learned, and how Aaron has gone on to leverage his skills and expertise in a way that has created more prosperity and happiness than ever before.

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BI 180: The Bright Ideas Podcast is Back!

In this episode, I share with you why I put the podcast on hiatus for almost a year, what I learned while I was off the air, how our agency won its largest contract ever, and what is in store for the future of the show.

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