EP 139: What it Takes to Build a Multi-Million Dollar Company - A Conversation Between CEOs Seth Buechley and Trevor Mauch

I invited my mentor and close friend Seth Buechley out to my house this past weekend to talk about what we’re learning on our journeys as entrepreneurs, some of the growing pains with scaling Carrot (#599 on the Inc 500/5000 & Oregon’s fastest growing software company) and what we’re doing in order to lead our teams well and continue building valuable businesses. Seth has sold multiple companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is the CEO of Cathedral Consulting, and the host of the Business Done Right podcast. 3:36 - Once you have a vision for your future, your dreams will begin to materialize quicker. Think long term for your family and your business - create a life list! Where do you want to wake up in 5, 10, 25, 50 years? The life I was living as a serial-entrepreneur and freelancer actually wasn’t the life I wanted.   7:27 - If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you tend to “cycle” every 3-5 years or so and get bored or distracted by the next big thing. We need to practice patience and persistence and focus on what resources that we have right in front of us in order to be successful. Become an expert in one thing before branching out and focus on niching down in your industry.   15:59 - Make yourself “less relevant”. Being a great leader sometimes means taking a step back and empowering your team to step in. Learn how Trevor has created systems and processes that have allowed him to gain more freedom and flexibility, while still being the voice of the brand. 23:31 - Leaders must make tough decisions. When we avoid them, we put the successes of our business, our team, and ourselves at risk. Hear why turnover is a sign of a healthy culture... to a certain point.   28:17 - What’s the difference between transactional leadership and transformational leadership? Transactional leadership worked for Trevor until Carrot hit around the $1 million revenue mark. It’s reacting and delegating. It’s creating basic processes for how to complete tasks. Transformational leadership is empowering and unleashing your team, ultimately freeing you up from small tasks. It’s done by asking “What’s the outcome we're looking for? and What’s the way we measure success? And “What’s blocking you?” Write down where they're blocked and invest in the time to train them on decision making - design a process that guides them through the right questions to ask.   46:20 - I used to say I wasn’t a morning person. A habit tracker is the key tool that helped me change that.... and I’ve never even been good at habits!   52.34 - Accountability is misconstrued. You can create it for yourself through social pressure, measurements, and honesty. Habits that get you thinking about things differently.   Full show notes at: https://carrot.ly/_KUI

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***Need to grow as a leader? Check out Trevor’s podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/EFF

***Learn more at Carrot.com/shows - Carrot, a 5x Inc 5000 company, with millions of motivated leads generated over 10+ years.