Author: Paris Vega
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40: How to build a successful Link-Building Agency with Alexandra Tachalova
In episode #40 of the First Customers podcast, we are joined by Alexandra Tashalova, founder and CEO of Digital Olympus. Alexandra shares her entrepreneurial journey, starting from her days at Semrush to creating a successful link-building agency that has worked with major clients like Vivint, G2, Wave, Finder, and Discover Cars. Tune in for an…
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39: Mastering YouTube Lead Generation with Ali Schwanke
Watch or listen to the First Customers podcast across all major video and podcasting platforms. In episode 39 of the First Customers podcast, Ali Schwanke, a successful entrepreneur and YouTube influencer, shares her journey of leveraging YouTube to generate over a thousand leads. From her humble beginnings in a photography business to creating a top…
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38: Matheus Riolfi raised $30 million in VC funding. How did he find his first customers?
Matheus Riolfi is the CEO & Cofounder of Tint, an embedded insurance platform that raised $30 million in venture capital investment from Y Combinator and others. They’ve worked with clients like Uship, Deel, and Outdoorsy. Show Links Show Transcript Paris Vega (00:00.97)Welcome to the first customers podcast. I’m Paris Vega, your host. Today we are…
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37: Jon Darbyshire sold a company for $200 million, now has 600 customers at his new startup. How does he find his first customers?
Jon Darbyshire ran the global security practice for Ernst & young, then started a company called Archer Technologies that he sold for $200 million after 9.5 years, and now he’s currently Founder & CEO of SmartSuite, a company he’s grown to 600 customers after 2.5 years. Show Links Watch the full version of the First…
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36: How did Mark Stouse grow his startup from $0 to $2 million in revenue in 18 months?
Mark Stouse grew his startup, ProofAnalytics.ai, from $0 to $2 million in revenue in 18 months. Now they’re one of the 100 partners for Salesforce and they’re still growing. Their client roster includes mega brands like Bayer, Samsung, Johnson Controls, Oracle, and others. Show Links Mark Stouse Links: Links to First Customers podcast Episode 36…
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35: How did Karthik Suresh’s startup Ignition raise $5 million and find their first customers?
Karthik Suresh, ex Facebook product manager, is now the co-founder/CTO of Ignition, the world’s first go-to-market ops platform. They raised $5 million in VC funds, including lead investor Altman capital (Sam Altman of Open AI fame and his brothers). He’s a go-to-market expert so his insights are perfect for the show. He delivers a ton…
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34: How did David CM Carter, the world’s leading CEO mentor, find his own first customers?
In episode 34 of the First Customers podcast we have an inspiring conversation with David C.M. Carter, the world’s leading CEO mentor. David takes us through his entrepreneurial journey, starting from his first venture at age 14. He shares insights into mentoring CEOs, his bestselling book “Breakthrough,” and the experiences that shaped his career, like…
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33: How did Alex Levin & the Regal.io team drive over $1 billion in revenue for their customers?
Alex Levin is a Harvard grad and the Founder/CEO of Regal.io, an Outbound Phone & SMS Sales Platform. Starting in 2020 with 0 customers, their service has now generated over $1 billion in revenue for their customers a few years later. Alex has a clear and proven perspective on how startups are built. He delivers…
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32: How did Mark Ross Smith revolutionize the airline industry’s rewards programs with Status Match?
Mark Ross Smith, CEO & Founder of StatusMatch.com, revolutionized the way airlines run their incentive programs for frequent travelers. Through Status Match he’s brought over one billion dollars in new customer value to major airlines, like Emirates, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and more. Show Links Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn…
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31: Why did Billy Samoa Saleebey leave Tesla to start Podify?
First Customers podcast episode 31: Billy Samoa Saleebey (available on all podcasting platforms + YouTube). Billy Samoa Saleebey is an Ex-Tesla Global Leader and Cofounder/CEO of Podify, a service that produces podcasts like Language of Love with DR. Laura Berman from Oprah’s TV network. He’s also a slef-proclaimed ramen addict. Billy gives great advice for entrepreneurs…
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30: What can Liam Corcoran, teacher/rapper/artist, teach you about networking?
Liam Corcoran is a Teacher, Rapper, and Artist. He’s also the Founder of an education startup called OK. He is one of the founding teachers at Synthesis, the online program that evolved out of Elon Musk’s school at SpaceX. He also served as an Acton Academy Guide. Liam’s thoughtfulness, openness to connection, and clarity of…
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29: How did Andres Glusman get the first customers for Meetup.com & DoWhatWorks?
Andres Glusman helped get Meetup.com’s first customer and first $14 of revenue. Meetup later sold for $200 million. Now Andres is the cofounder and CEO of Do What Works. His experience spans across decades, from the birth of the internet in the 1990s to modern day startups. This episode is packed with extremely valuable practical…
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28: How did Liz Parker start a successful strategic planning business in Hong Kong after quitting her job?
Liz Parker, Founder of LT Results, just released a new book called “Who’s Leading Your Business?”. Twenty-four years ago she quit her successful international sales training job at DHL in Hong Kong to start a strategic planning company from scratch. On this episode, Liz tells us the story of those first moments starting her business…
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27: How did Esteban Dalel raise $250k for Watermelon Tools before getting their first customer?
Esteban Dalel, CTO/Co-Founder of Watermelon Tools, raised $250k before getting their first customer and now has over 4,000 users. Get insight into how a scrappy team of two programmers got their first investors, users, and how they plan to get their first paying customers. Show Links Show Transcript This transcript was generated automatically, please forgive…
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26: How did Tyler Robertson grow Diesel Laptops from $0 to $100 million in revenue in 8 years?
Tyler Robertson, Founder/CEO of Diesel Laptops, quit his six figure job in the truck service business and scaled his part time gig into a $100 million business. This is a great story about slow and steady growth, taking smart risks, and obsessing over solving your customers’ problems. Show Links Show Transcript This is an automated…
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25: How did David Smooke grow HackerNoon from 0 to 4 million readers per month?
David Smooke, Founder & CEO of HackerNoon, a technology website that publishes 50 stories per day read by about 4 million people every month. He takes us on the journey from selling his skills as an agency, through the grind of building HackerNoon for years without pay, until finally landing their first advertising deal. This…
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Why take risks?
It’s easy to convince yourself that if you never take risks, you will always be safe. If you don’t move, if you don’t speak up, if you don’t try, you will never fail. But that’s simply not true. Choosing not to explore is choosing ignorance of what would be explored. Choosing not to take a…
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24: How does Jeff Beale, Mr. Marketology, turn awareness into sales for brands like The Home Depot?
Jeff Beale, Founder and Marketing Strategist at The Marketology Group, develops marketing strategies for frustrated businesses who want to go from brand awareness to sales. He’s worked with brands like Home Depot, Turner Broadcasting, and more. Links to First Customers podcast episode #20 with Jeff Beale on all major platforms including YouTube. Jeff is an…
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23: How did John “Small Mountain” Hill build an international sales/marketing agency coaching service?
John “Small Mountain” Hill, author of Selling from Scratch and Founder of Adapted Growth, an international sales/marketing agency coaching service. This episode of the First Customers podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms including YouTube. Mentions Topics Covered: (Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Raw Transcript paris_vega:Welcome to the first…
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Starting a watch brand… or maybe not.
I started building a watch brand in 2019. It didn’t work out. Here’s the story about what happened during one of many entrepreneurial experiments I pursued in 2019. In the past, I never thought about watches much. Wore them a few times, but couldn’t get into it. The Apple Watch [1] had enough utility to…