Andy Mewborn

🎙️ New Podcast Episode Alert! In this episode, we're excited to welcome Ryan Palmbaum, the visionary founder of Dabbl Discovery. Ryan shares the journey behind his innovative educational short-form video platform, designed to offer a positive alternative to traditional social media. With a deep passion for learning, he discusses the inspiration behind Dabbl Discovery and the platform's mission to create engaging educational content. Ryan opens up about the challenges faced by young entrepreneurs and highlights the crucial role of networking and building relationships. He emphasizes the importance of taking the first step, being open to learning from others, and combining passion with interest to drive positive change. The full episode link is in the comments below, or you can listen on your favorite podcast platform. #BusinessofEducation #ShortFormVideo #YoungEntrepreneurs #DabblDiscovery #Entrepreneurship

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How did Jetson get 40,000 users and close $3M in funding? 🚀 🎙️ Will Rush joins the podcast to talk about how he built one of the top apps for future founders: 💰 Fundraising tactics 📊 Standout pitch decks 👥 Community-led growth 🔄 Pivoting to tech 🏃 CEO lifestyle 👇 Full episode below!

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All great founders have their ONE THING. The thing that looks like magic to others & stacks the deck in their favor as entrepreneurs. For Nikita Bier, it's consumer social growth. For Austin Rief, it's deep & objective thinking. For Codie A. Sanchez, it's high octane storytelling. All I want to do is talk to as many great founders as I can about their one thing.

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Good agencies and great agencies are separated by one thing. People. I used to think it was process too. But, I think most agencies have virtually the same process. The difference in good process v bad process are the people executing that process and the quality at which they do it and how much they care. The name of an agency matters virtually zero. The people within the agency matter, a lot. The size of the agency, most of the time, doesn't matter a TON. The quality of the TEAM at that agency, that you are working with, matters. 3 A players will accomplish more (and a higher quality output) than a bigger group of B + C players. All this to say, if you are looking to build a great agency, you must find A players who care about the success of the agency and the clients you serve, almost as much as you do. When you find them -- pay them extremely well. Invest in their success, their happiness, their future. Most of the 'bad' agencies I chat with, don't charge their clients enough, or have a good enough margin, to support a team of A players, and it shows. They have high employee churn. In turn, high client churn. And worse, overall morale is low. Great agencies are made up of A players. Play like a champion, today :)

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I talk to lots of founders who want to sell. Every 3 weeks, I send an email featuring a few of those companies to buyers who want unique deal flow. You will not find these deal opportunities anywhere else. The founders have not yet listed with a broker or marketplace, so you'll connect with them first. Next issue goes out May 13. How to subscribe: https://lnkd.in/eUkC549d

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When you're scaling a DTC brand from $5m to $30m, don't try to optimize for lowest cost of capital when you raise debt financing... The lenders out there who can offer the lowest cost of capital usually can't offer the capital flexibility and deal terms that you need as you scale. Low cost of capital lenders don't love DTC. It scares them because there is little to no A/R and inventory is a riskier collateral base. As such, they'll either offer you way too little capital availability or their offer will come with hefty protective provisions that feel punitive. Non-bank lenders tend to be the best fit for a DTC-heavy brand that is scaling profitability beyond $5m in annual sales. Traditional bank lenders, which offer lower cost of capital, tend to become a better option after you hit $30m+ in annual sales. Obviously, there are always exceptions to this rule, but the advice I'm offering here turns out to be true most of the time in my experience. __ Want more tips like this? Consider reposting or giving me Jon Blair a follow.

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Help a founder out: For those who have raised a pre-seed or seed round of funding: What was your strategy for securing initial funding? If you've already raised a round, do you have tips or things you wish you knew at the beginning, specific to our region (Nashville/SE)? For those who are bootstrapping: Would you consider your company high growth tech? What makes it so? Why did you choose this path? Did you bootstrap at first and then raise a round? So many questions!

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Your biggest problem is not that you don't know what to do, it's that you do not have the accountability to do it. That's why... You downloaded that template and still haven't opened the email Paid for that $50-$200 online course and only watched the introduction Followed 20 Sales Influencers, but only liked their post rather than take the actions and implement them. You have every thing you need in order to be successful. I know this because humans are resourceful and capable beings. You MUST implement. Implementation will be the difference between 50% quota attainment and 75%+ I get Reps asking me for help in the DMs. Here's the FIRST thing I do in response to their ask. I ask them a question and then set them a task. 1. What is it you actually want to learn? 2. I typically set them a task that will help them get to the next level. For free. Only about 10% of them come back to me. I never hear from them again. Here's why... They want the quick answers, they don't want to learn how to create their own success. When you hold them accountable it feels a little like work. But it's this work that will make all the changes to how you perform in your role, how you feel once you log off, and your energy once you get time with your loved ones. This could be the game changer for your revenue results.

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Most DTC founders second-guess their decisions because they don’t know how those decisions will impact their cash position. “If I double down on this campaign, will I be able to buy inventory next month?” “Can I afford to hire someone to help me with website design?” Very reasonable questions, but the answers are hard to find when you rely on spreadsheets and have 100 other things to do. Using Viable, founders can easily forecast cash flow and understand what investments they can make without risking the business. #cashflow #dtc #ecommerce

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Why Early-Stage Founders Need To Focus As an early-stage founder, you work a TON There seems to not be enough hours in the day for everything you need to get done However, how much of that work is "busy work"? Time spent on things that don't drive the business forward for customers or revenue Things like • Email • Meetings • Networking events • Texts A few years ago, i started to implement what i call "Focus Time" each day I pick an hour or sometimes two where i shut off my phone, silence notifications on my email and focus on a revenue generating activity for my business I don't let anything interrupt this session I am wired in on the task at hand You will be amazed at how much you can get done when there are no distractions I swear I get like 3-4X more productivity when i get rid of everything else that distracts Just like my buddy Tedi, let's get locked in ✍️ Feel free to share you favorite activity that helps you focus in the comments ♻️ Reshare to help others on the platform.

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21 Ways to Kill Your Company Day 8: Run Out of Money Yeah, yeah, i's an obvious way to kill your company. But not every company that runs out of money is a bad company! Even good companies with solid product run out of money because of poor cash management, bad fundraising planning and more. Remember to put together (and use!) those pro formas! #21waystokillyourcompany #foundertips

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Here's a link for a short 10-question survey developed a few years ago based on information from a VC article at Texas Monthly. No personnel data is collected and it is anonymous. The survey helps evaluate the likelihood of receiving funding as a startup or early stage enterprise based on common investor criteria. No guarantee for funding but may provide some insight. https://lnkd.in/gFmAGqfC

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There's one consistent challenge for mental health founders. The evidence <> capital death loop... If you want investment, any serious investor will want evidence that your product is effective. But guess what, building that evidence base ain't cheap. In fact, it's often the reason you need capital from the investor in the first place. So how do you get past this death loop? John Parker has some great advice... He advises founders to focus ruthlessly on the part of your product that is unique to you. Then work on what you need to make that piece work super well and build an evidence base around just that! Investors who are worth their salt will see that that is what's special about what you're doing. Alon Greenspan from Mind Ventures also had some words of wisdom; “In the context of VC funding, I suggest founders focus on early, circumstantial evidence and demonstrate their solution’s viability and the team's ability to execute. This will make it easier to build investor conviction and attract the necessary capital to build a more substantial evidence base.” So... focus on what's truly unique to your product, then do what you can with what you got. __ I wrote a whole piece for The Hemingway Report last week on how mental health founders should think about VC. Go check it out if you're interested.

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The Motley Fool dedicated their Money show yesterday to lessons investors can learn from "The Illusion of Innovation." I enjoyed the conversation, which included some hot takes formulated on the spot. A little bit dangerous with 3-5 million listeners, but a lot of fun. Ricky Mulvey is a great interviewer. We talked about: --The importance of being a contrarian --Whether companies should invest in innovation or just manage operations for cash --Why ROIC is a misleading metric ...and much more. Link below, give it a listen.

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What's the deal with everyone going crazy over Miami's tech scene? It's like they're trying to force it to be the next Silicon Valley or what New York City and Austin used to be. Let's be real, though. We're not there yet. People talk about driving #Miami to be the tech capital of the USA. There are this "enlightened" people that feel they are the drive to this move, they organize one event and suddenly: I made Miami a tech hub. But let's call it what it is. Companies aren't coming here for some magical ecosystem. They're here for the tax breaks and lower costs compared to their home states. Startups? They're struggling to even afford a decent office or studio with the insane prices here. How can anyone declare this as the go-to city for startups when most #tech people I know are leaving because it's just too damn expensive? Salaries don't match the cost of living, and it's a constant battle to make ends meet. I've been here for 12 years, coming from Barcelona, and let me tell you, this isn't the tech paradise they paint it to be. It's outrageously pricey, and everyone's scraping by while the wealthy take advantage of tax loopholes, leaving us with inflated prices and little room to grow. Miami's "tech hubs/city hubs" love to talk about supporting tech entrepreneurs (not going to name names), but the reality is harsh. They'll say they'll help, but if you haven't raised a ton of money, suddenly you're not relevant. Believe me my office is next to one of them. Who's going to support you then? It's a lonely road for #startups here. Honestly, I'd rather be in #Tulsa. At least there, the tech scene is actually growing, and you can afford to live without selling your soul. Companies actually care about entrepreneurs there. Right Brian Brackeen & Charlton Cunningham? Miami's tech scene and scene in general often feels like a facade, where people show off wealth they don't necessarily have. It's like the other day watching a Maserati deliver UberEats to my doorstep, like what???. Don't get fooled by the hype. My advice: don't come here at all. #buildinginpublic #startup #miami #investor #dockaboat

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If you like making more money DTC- this post is for you: This one simple tool is going to save Toto tens of thousands (if not more!!) money as we continue to grow and scale DTC, and it feels unfair to gatekeep. Here’s how: First - some context; Affiliate marketing fraud is… expensive. Like, over $1.4 billion annually kind of expensive. And if you have any sizable biz online, chances are you’re probably affected too. You know those coupon sites like Honey? Those are enemy #1- and that's where your affiliate codes are getting leaked. These leaks used to cost me thousands in overpaid commission and discounts before I even notice a leak occurred. To prevent this and make sure we’re saving every dollar we can, we started replacing our influencer’s static coupon codes with Safelinks from Social Snowball ☃️. This allows affiliates to share a discount to their audience WITHOUT the risk of a code leaking to a coupon site. Here’s the gist: 1. Affiliates share a link to their audience instead of a static code 2. Every shopper who clicks on the link has a unique single use code generated for them instantly to use while they're shopping. 3. If any of the codes leak to a coupon site, they won’t work because they’re all single use. :) If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of this before, yeah- that’s exactly what I was thinking too when I discovered this. All I have to say is two words— Life hack. If you want an intro to their team- they’re absolutely amazing, and I think this has the potential to bring so much value to you too. Brick by brick! #entrepreneurship #leadership #dtc

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I’ve raised three times for Founder + Lightning, and in the midst of fundraising again right now ! Here are 10 fundraising realities and tips for those in the same boat👇 Realities: 1) You have to accept you will be ridiculously busy, there’s no way to avoid this. It’s a cliche, but it’s a full time job. Buckle up. 2) You’ll get rejected way more than you get yes’s. Don’t take it personally. 3) You have to say yes to stuff that might end up being a waste of time. Not every event/meeting/meet-up will be successful but you have to say yes regardless (you never know what might happen). You can be strategic, so it’s not a scattergun approach but some of my best investors have come from serendipity, and talking to people. 4) There are some really good clubs, networks and syndicates out there. But some bad ones too - it’s hard to know which ones are legit. 5) Every single meeting/conversation you have, you have to be at 100%. You might be at the end of an event, at the end of a really long day, and you’ve just had 3 rejection emails so feeling low - but the person you’re talking to now might be your next investor ! Give it the same energy as your first meeting of the day. Tips: 1) Work really hard at following up. If you said you’d send over a deck, do it when you said you would. Investors value reliability, and competency. 2) Practice everything so you have your short pitch / story ready to go, whenever you need it. Make it super simple so your mum understands it. 3) Talk passionately about what you are doing. It’s better than a 100% polished pitch (slightly contradictory with the point above, but do both). 4) Make sure you take time to tweak your deck/pitch based on feedback between meetings. 5) Create content to get inbound leads, focusing on your expertise and finding a niche. Speak passionately, show don’t tell, and have fun with it (show your personality). Any other reflections/tips to add ? #investment #investmentadvice #fundraising

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Mind blowing stat we don't talk about: 47% of free signups turned out to be *fake* accounts 🤯🤯 This was at Clay -- the hyper-growth startup that you probably know of & might be using for sales automation. Signups went from 10-15 per day a year ago to 1,000 (!) per day now. But of these signups: 1️⃣ 20% were repeat signups 2️⃣ 19% were fakes 3️⃣ 8% were bots This makes conversion data nearly impossible to discern. It leads to sales & marketing resources wasted on folks who won't buy. And it could cause a startup to either abandon or water down a #PLG strategy. I unpacked this in today's Growth Unhinged: https://lnkd.in/gM-Q66CV We covered how to figure out if you have a problem & how to solve it (without adding friction for your real users). Shoutout to Yash Tekriwal, Eric Engoron, and Henry LeGard at Verisoul for their contributions here. #growth #gtm #marketing

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