Mike & Kass Lazerow - From Zero to $745M | The Simple Truth About Growth
Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Immediate red flags in founders
Mike and Kass warn against arrogance, lack of focus, and founders who can't name priorities.
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Mike and Kass Lazerow are married serial entrepreneurs and investors best known as the co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, a social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce in 2012 for $745 million. Their entrepreneurial journey began after they reconnected at a mutual friend's wedding in 1996, and two years later they co-founded Golf.com before marrying in 1999. After selling Golf.com to Time Warner in 2006 for $24 million, they launched Buddy Media. Since then, they have supported nearly 100 early-stage startup founders as angel investors and advisors, with their investments generating more than $10 billion in realized gains, including notable successes like Scopely and Liquid Death. They are authors of "Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story" and have received numerous accolades, including being ranked number one on Business Insider's Silicon Alley 100.
➡️ Show Links
https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/
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➡️ Talking Points
00:00 – Intro
01:28 – Why Building a Company Is Awful and Amazing
04:33 – How Not to Destroy a Relationship in Business
08:16 – Turning Each Other’s Weaknesses Into an Edge
11:45 – Building a Company With Your Partner
13:56 – Pivot or Die: Surviving the Hard Moments
18:26 – When to Quit vs. When to Push Through
23:29 – Sponsor Break
26:13 – Getting Your Team to Truly Buy In
33:03 – The 3 Real Reasons Companies Fail
35:46 – Why They Hired a Coach After Raising $100M
42:15 – Health, Burnout, and Long-Term Success
51:50 – Sponsor Break
53:45 – The Traits They Bet On as Investors
1:05:38 – Is Social Media Breaking Entrepreneurs?
1:10:38 – The “Go Gauge” Decision Framework
1:15:59 – The Founder Delusion That Kills Great Ideas
1:17:26 – What They Respect Most About Each Other
1:18:23 – The One Lesson They’d Teach Their Kids
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