HIGHLIGHTS 

• Creating an athleisure product category with $1,000
• Building an online brand with micro influencers and ambassadors
• Organic funnels and global shifts to online business grows endūr
• Growing an ambassador program with genuine passion

QUOTES

Rob: "We're talking one sale a day, sometimes zero sales a day. This was a very long slow burn. Over a year in, there were some days where we wouldn't have one Shopify sale. These things take time. We didn't really start paying to acquire customers for at least two years in."

Rob: "I wouldn't say oh, overnight we tripled our spend on Facebook or anything like that. We just continued. So I would say the majority of the growth came from the organic funnels we had built and just the organic referral and people talking about the product."

Rob: "I just wanted to be a voice in the conversation that was like, business is hard. You should make a profit. Raising money is not as cool as you think it is. I was just annoyed with the overwhelming voices of the young startup founders thinking that it's all about status."

You can connect with Rob in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbfraser/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/robbfraser/
• Website: https://www.endurapparel.com/

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Growing 4-5x by developing an excellent online platform
• Embracing the advantages of a small company for genuine connection
• A spice forum became the company's hub for content and engagement
• Website feedback and a fun buying experience for repeat customers 
• Collaborations and formulating spice blends

QUOTES

Ori: "If chefs who have access to all the best ingredients in the world are getting this excited about the spices, then maybe there's an opportunity. Also, not just for more chefs and more spices, but also it's at home cooks haven't tried something like this before."

Ori: "The pandemic broke people's regular behavior of going into the grocery store because grocery was out or nobody wants to step foot. People started Googling best spices, best cinnamon, best bay leaves, all that stuff, and we were right there ready for them."

Ori: "When we hit about a thousand members, all of a sudden we had 3 or 4 people that were these more heavy-duty super influencers that they wanted to post, they're posting everyday, they were sharing these incredible meals, they were such talented cooks. It was really impressive to see it all."

You can connect with Ori in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/orizohar/
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/burlapandbarrel/
• Website - https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/
• Email - ori@burlapandbarrel.com

HIGHLIGHTS

• A different PR strategy based on personalization and trust
• Be prepared and thorough when pitching to journalists 
• Choosing the right clients with or without media training 
• PR and SEO: A unique offering that anticipates bad links 

QUOTES

Tyler: "It all comes down to building relationships and building trust with producers, with journalists, with editors on why we're going to bring value time and time again... Once we bring them one or two quality guests and quality appearances, they trust us and they're more willing to take a chance on a third or fourth."

Tyler: "This is part of our secret sauce, Zach, is taking time to be timely and be thorough and to be comprehensive in our responses and to get those back to the journalist in a timely fashion. Or the producer, whomever. So, that way, we're making their job as easy as possible and we're setting them up for success."

Tyler: "Number one, first and foremost, make sure that you have your house in order. And then, number two, make sure that your entire team is briefed on the strategy and is ready to take advantage of it."

You can connect with Tyler in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylersickmeyer/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/tsickmeyer
• Website - https://fidelitasdevelopment.com/

HIGHLIGHTS

• A passion for pastries ushers in the chocolate business
• Figuring out storage and shipping for chocolates
• Word of mouth and direct marketing with newsletters 

QUOTES

Elaine: "That's been a bit challenging in terms of the physical space because we don't have a very large space, so that is one thing that we are now running into is the fact that we're limited, in some ways, by the physical space that we have."

Elaine: "Interspersed with that newsletter will be other things that are kind of happening, so our newsletter list is broken out to a general everybody list and a smaller local list. So the smaller local list might get more newsletter because they're on the general list and the local list."

You can connect with Elaine and EH Chocolatier in the links below:

• Website - https://www.ehchocolatier.com/
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ehchocolatier/

HIGHLIGHTS

• Several touch points make return customers more likely
• Robotic handwritten cards as a marketing strategy
• Leverage post-purchase campaigns

QUOTES

Michael: "Customers do buy more when there's a multitouch approach. They're more likely to come back, they're more likely to spend more, when you combine the power of your digital marketing campaigns and offline direct mail campaigns."

Michael: "We have robotic technology that literally holds a pen, holds a pen to paper, writes the card out in completely authentic handwriting... it sends an actual handwritten card with a handwritten envelope and a real stamp on it to that customer. And again, it's just a great way to cut through the clutter."

You can connect with Michael in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mepstein1/
• Website - https://www.postpilot.com/
• Email - michael@postpilot.com

HIGHLIGHTS

• Founding Robolink to make technology fun and approachable
• Testing in an after school program and perfecting product market fit
• Marketing with Kickstarter and winning the 2019 CES Innovation Award 
• Fostering community, online camps, and robotics clubs

QUOTES

Hansol: "We were testing our product every single day with our students, so that's why when we actually released our janky product prototype, and then when that went to the market, it had a really good product market fit."

Hansol: "We think about the marketing as, okay, how do we actually make the most impact? And then actually create the social responsibility for our company too because we're an educational company."

You can connect with Hansol in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansolhong/
• Website - www.robolink.com
• Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robolink/buildy-bots-zero-screen-time-coding-and-robots-for-kids-5

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Being everything to everyone initially and focusing services after that 
• Working with the Chargers move from San Diego to LA 
• Red flags in clients to watch out for 
• Improvements in UX/UI that increase conversion
• Creating a customer journey and improving the subscription model

QUOTES

Drew: "What I typically recommend is, if you're starting out, maybe having the full service or having like one or two freelancers is a little bit easier so that they scale and grow. But, as you get more mature, I do think having the specialist help a lot, and that's for us too."

Drew: "Especially on mobile, we see this improved conversion by half a percent or a percent, I'm scrolling on my phone, I'm on the product page, just have the add to cart follow me along on that journey. Or have it follow the user on the journey on mobile."

Drew: "How do we think about subscription? How do we think about all the elements of benefits and things like that to be able to offer that community above and beyond just a little discount."

You can connect with Drew in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-himel/
• Website (PCR) - https://consultpcr.com/
• Website (personal) - https://drewhimel.com/

This week’s episode of the Zero to a Million Podcast with Zach Rego showcases the season's best moments. We featured founders and organization movers who built their companies from the ground up as they shared their biggest wins, losses, and all the lessons they learned in between.

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Aneela Idnani, Co-Founder of HabitAware
• Ryan Smith, Head of Partnerships at Emotive
• Nathan Rothstein, Co-Founder of Project Repat
• Phillip Rivers, Founder and CEO of Tetra Marketing
• Melissa Tavss, Founder of Tipsy Scoop
• Laura and Kelly Moffat, Founders of Kirrin Finch
• Albert Matheny, CEO at Promix
• David Roger, Co-Founder & CEO at Felix Gray
• Gihan Amarasiriwardena, Co-Founder and President of Ministry of Supply
• Chris Meade, CEO and co-founder of CROSSNET

You can connect with Zero to a Million's amazing guests in the links below:

• Aneela Idnani - https://habitaware.com/
• Ryan Smith - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-rsmith/
• Nathan Rothstein - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanrothstein/
• Phillip Rivers - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emailautomation
• Melissa Tavss - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-tavss-a3a55833/
• Laura and Kelly Moffat - https://www.instagram.com/kirrinfinch/
• Albert Matheny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertmatheny/
• David Roger - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-roger-2a9b2632/
• Gihan Amarasiriwardena - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gihanamarasiriwardena/