Just Go Grind

Nicole Clark is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trellis, a state trial court legal research and analytics platform with AI-based insights on judges, opposing counsel, motions, dockets, and legal issues. They make state trial court data searchable and analyze it to give law firms insights into the way judges are ruling. Legal teams are able to "Google" search state trial court records and uncover key intelligence on opposing counsel, motions, rulings, dockets and other legal issues. Prior to founding Trellis, Nicole Clark was a business litigation and labor and employment attorney who handled litigation in both state and federal courts. She regularly represented multinational corporations in claims ranging from high-profile trade secret disputes to complex class-action litigation. Frustrated by sending internal emails and collecting anecdotes on judges in order to make strategic case recommendations, she built Trellis to solve her own need for access to data, information, and analytics at the state trial court level. Prior to law school, Nicole attended Bard College, beginning her college coursework at the age of sixteen. She graduated with honors from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BA in Journalism, and received her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, NJ. Nicole sat for the Bar Exam in California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and remains licensed to practice law in all three states. Some of the Topics Covered by Nicole Clark in this Episode What Trellis is Nicole's background as a litigator and the pain point that led to her start Trellis From validating the idea by using the tool as a litigator to building it into a company and eventually going full time with Trellis Deciding on and going through the Techstars accelerator Jumping directly from her law career into the new venture and accelerator Fundraising, from a friends and family round to closing a seed round and how the company evolved during the process How Nicole flipped her mindset around the friends and family round What keeps Nicole going through the "no"s of fundraising The importance of building a good team and how Nicole went about it for Trellis The evolution of the business model for Trellis Leveraging SEO and creating a freemium product Allocating resources to content creation and creating evergreen content How Nicole approaches expanding into new markets and how the service functions today The future of Trellis How Nicole views the competition How Nicole structures her days Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Joe Mahavuthivanij is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mythic Markets, an investing platform enabling anyone to buy, sell and trade fractional shares in alternative assets with enormous fandoms. Starting with pop culture collectibles, they are securitizing vintage comic books and collectible cards, allowing fans to invest in the things they love. Mythic Markets is a venture-backed startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their team first met in San Diego, California, and since then have worked at places like Apple, Fandom, Google and Uber. Some of the Topics Covered by Joe Mahavuthivanij in this Episode What Mythic Markets is and how Joe started it Leaving investing to start his own company Building the team for Mythic Markets Navigating COVID and going remote Determining which products to put on Mythic Markets The future for this marketplace of alternative of investments The roles of evolving entertainment and escapism, especially during COVID Raising the Series Seed for Mythic Markets and their plans for a Series A How they approached going to market How they curate and price items for Mythic Markets Mythic Market's business model and their plans for the future to become a "Robinhood Gold" What has fueled growth for Mythic Markets What Joe finds really exciting about this work How Joe manages his time and how COVID has affected his work How Joe is navigating these challenging times Joe's podcast recommendations Being an investor vs. being a founder What Joe looks for in an investor The big picture for Mythic Markets: being the stock market for all kinds of fandoms Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Josh Snow is the Founder and CEO of Snow, a direct to consumer (DTC) leader in oral care and oral cosmetics. Snow produces premium oral care products including patent pending teeth whitening systems, premium floss, anti-aging lip care products, and more. The perfect storm of beauty, technology, and oral care. Snow® is proud to have over 1 million fans, and customers in 175+ countries around the world. Their videos have gone viral with over one billion views cumulatively. Snow has been featured on The Doctors, Wendy Williams, The Kelly Clarkson Show, VOGUE, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, WebMD, Harvard Medical, and more, and is a top selling brand on Target.com, in Best Buy, Neiman Marcus, Bed Bath and Beyond and is now the most popular oral cosmetics brand on Instagram. In May of 2020, a Snow product was sold every 29 seconds. Some of the Topics Covered by Josh Snow in this Episode What Snow is How Josh became an entrepreneur at the age of 13 Josh's background in web developing, marketing and advertising How Josh developed the idea for Snow Disrupting the oral care industry Snow's MVP Developing a product in an area outside of your expertise Snow's go to market strategy Bootstrapping Snow and deciding to be a customer-funded business What has fueled growth for Snow Diversifying channels beyond Facebook and Instagram ads Influencer marketing Building a modern household name Being transparent and harnessing the power of your customers and followers Why Josh decided to become Josh Snow and the impact it had Josh's advice for building a brand Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Javier Marriott and Ruth Stedman Marriott are co-founders of A Pup Above, a company committed to changing dog food for good by using fresh real ingredients that dog parents can trace back to the source farm-to-bowl. On average, they deliver +70% more protein than other fresh dog food products in retail & online.  Tired of not knowing what was really in their dog Lola's bowl, Ruth and Javier set out to make it effortless to know what's in your pup's bowl and to feel good knowing you're providing them a food that's both healthy and delicious. Their fresh pup meals are gently cooked sous-vide to deliver exceptional flavor, more nutrients and more protein in every bite. All of their ingredients are 100% human-grade and their packaging is 100% recyclable. About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies. They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches. They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs. Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company. Learn more at variasearch.com. Some of the Topics Covered by Javier and Ruth in this Episode What A Pup Above is, and how Javier and Ruth's dog Lola inspired the company The gap they found in the dog food market The first steps Javier and Ruth took to start the company The sous vide cooking style and its benefits Finding a vet nutritionist to work with How they approached early customer acquisition, feedback and growth for A Pup Above Making the switch from a commercial kitchen to a USDA human-grade food production facility How they got into retail by starting local and eventually expanded Selling in retail stores versus online The challenges they've faced in scaling the business How they view competition and what sets A Pup Above apart How their product has evolved over the years How they handle the challenge of forecasting inventory How they've approached pricing as a premium product What has helped them grow as entrepreneurs The experience of co-founding a business with your spouse The decision to bootstrap A Pup Above Their advice for entrepreneurs Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Bryan Clayton is the Co-Founder and CEO of GreenPal, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the “Uber for lawn care” by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 100,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day. Before starting GreenPal, Bryan Clayton founded Peachtree Inc., one of the largest landscaping companies in the state of Tennessee, growing it to over $10 million a year in annual revenue before it was acquired by Lusa holdings in 2013. Bryan‘s interest and expertise are related to entrepreneurism, small business growth, marketing, and bootstrapping businesses from zero revenue to profitability and exit. Some of the Topics Covered by Bryan Clayton in this Episode What GreenPal is and how Bryan started it How Bryan went from a high schooler mowing neighbors' lawns to building one of the largest landscaping companies in Tennessee, with over 150 employees and making $10M in revenue What brought Bryan out of retirement and how he came up with the idea for GreenPal Outsourcing the tech for the first version of GreenPal How Bryan connected with his co-founders and his advice on choosing a co-founder The myth of a work-life balance early on in starting your business How they taught themselves to build software The importance of making time to invest in yourself The importance of innovating around growth and distribution, not just product development, and how Bryan has fueled growth for GreenPal How Bryan decided to go all-in on organic search as a marketing strategy Ben Horowitz's advice of firing bullets then cannonballs Reid Hoffman's advice to double down on what's working Bryan's approach to creating content, the different types and purposes of diverse content and their role in a robust SEO strategy Why Bryan doesn't outsource content creation GreenPal's marketplace business model Why Bryan is passionate about GreenPal and who he sees as his true customer How they're avoiding platform disintermediation How Bryan has approached expanding markets and why it was slow to build momentum How they vet providers and why they prioritize reliability How bootstrapping has influenced decision-making and balancing long term vision and short term execution Asking "why" 5 times Why Bryan decided to bootstrap GreenPal and why he thinks self-funding is part of why they've survived as a business Bryan's advice on how to prepare for starting a business that requires a lot of capital How Bryan and his co-founders side-hustled to bridge the gap between their lack of technical knowledge and gaining the skills necessary to run a SaaS company Bryan's book recommendations How signing up for a marathon gave Bryan business insight and also enabled him to find a better work-life balance Bryan's advice for living a good life and how to apply it to your business Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Max Rofagha is the Founder and CEO of Finimize, the world’s largest and most engaged finance community. Max previously co-founded one of the largest ecommerce players in Switzerland, which he sold with 200 employees to the largest Swiss media house. He was a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016, and is a mentor at Techstars. Finimize is financial news for everyday people. They strive to demystify finance by making financial news easy to understand, succinct and relevant to their readers. By enhancing financial literacy, they're helping the Millennial generation make more informed decisions when it comes to their own money. The content on Finimize is produced by industry experts who previously worked at Barclays, Bloomberg and Forbes.   Some of the Topics Covered by Max Rofagha in this Episode What Finimize is and how Max was inspired to found it The genesis moment and mission of Finimize How Max utilized email, blogs and personally reaching out to university students to expand Finimize's reach from friends and family to their first 10,000 users The evolution of Finimize from a newsletter to the app and what it is today How Finimize built their community organically Finimize's business model and how they prioritize revenue streams How Max has approached content creation for Finimize The importance of clearly defining your value proposition and core customers How Max defines community How they facilitate interaction and meaningful learning within the Finimize community How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Finimize and the community they've developed How going virtual opened opportunities for the Finimize community What the post-COVID hybrid in-person and virtual interactions may look like What Finimize's community host playbook consists of How they've fueled growth for Finimize Why they decided to start using paid marketing How Finimize has been able to scale their user base through paid acquisition Finimize's referral program The lessons Max learned from running an e-commerce business before Finimize The importance of clearly-defining company culture How Max recharges and why it's so valuable Max's book recommendations   Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Robert Krayn is the Co-Founder and CEO of Talkiatry, a company working to change the fact that mental health experiences are often intimidating and complicated for people who need help. Talkiatry makes finding and visiting a qualified professional simple. By combining technology with accessibility and comfort for patients and providers, they achieve the depth of a fully featured psychiatry and therapy network while having the immediacy of a clinic. Prior to the founding of Talkiatry, Robert was Vice President at MidOcean Partners, where he spent 5 years as a senior analyst. He oversaw a $300M portfolio of high yield bonds, equities, and derivatives in the consumer, retail healthcare and other sectors. His experience and understanding of these sectors helped him develop the proprietary business model for Talkiatry. Before joining MidOcean, he was an analyst at Guggenheim Partners in their Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York as well as a credit analyst at the Bank of New York Mellon. Robert graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. Robert's passion for mental healthcare stems from personal experience. In December of 2016, just days before Christmas, he was assaulted by a neighbor during a home invasion in the New York apartment he shared with his fiancé. Struggling with feeling comfortable in his own home, he began seeking mental healthcare. The journey to get appropriate help only compounded the problem as he was forced to see a cash-pay out-of-network provider with a lengthy waitlist. Arriving at the basement-level psychiatrist’s office, he was confronted with tape-covered doorbells with hastily scrawled names beneath them and no reception staff, a concept all-too-familiar to New Yorkers. Fast forward to 2019, after having spent over 5 years investing professionally in consumer and retail-health companies for a large asset management firm in New York, Robert decided he wanted his next career move to have an impact. He combined his passion and his previous experience to start a new venture, one that would expand the access and reduce the stigma of mental healthcare - Talkiatry.      About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies. They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches. They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs. Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company. Learn more at variasearch.com.   Some of the Topics Covered by Robert Krayn in this Episode The problem Talkiatry is aimed at solving and how they're doing it The personal experience that prompted Robert to start Talkiatry How Robert approached market research before founding Talkiatry and the barriers he had to tackle How Robert ended up partnering with his co-founder Dr. Georgia Gaveras How Robert approached partnering with major health insurance companies Their strategy for onboarding senior-level psychiatrists Customer acquisition for Talkiatry and focusing on effective patient acquisition How Robert's financial background helped him bootstrap Talkiatry and why they are considering raising capital Robert's transition to becoming a founder How COVID-19 forced Robert and the Talkiatry team to be flexible How Robert invests in himself Robert's decision-making process What kinds of investors Talkiatry is looking to align with How Robert recharges and prioritizes his mental health The big vision for Talkiatry and the stigma and barriers to access they are working to dissolve   Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

David Zeff is the Founder and CEO of Whistle, a marketing and sales agency that is designed to help companies acquire customers through setting best practice sales and marketing processes and strategies and deploying lead generation activities through highly qualified sales development representatives as well as via digital marketing channels. With over 10 years of selling technology to hundreds of SMB and Enterprise companies across multiple sectors, David has begun to wrap his head around the art of sales. He has been a part of two exits – one as a founder and the other as a founding team member. He's a people person who loves to connect, lead, share experiences, coach, strategize, and implement. He takes learning seriously and dedicates two hours per week to direct learning. David enjoys writing and sharing ideas and is a recognized thought leader in the SAAS community. He has built and scaled full cycle business units and as an individual contributor, has closed large enterprise deals with over 200 brands such as Coca Cola, The UC System, Hearst, US Legal Support, Globo, CheckPoint, Demandbase, Sisense, Squire Patton Boggs and more.   Some of the Topics Covered by David Zeff in this Episode What Whistle is and how David started it David's 10-point "startup blueprint" for determining which ideas to pursue How the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of getting Whistle off the ground The current Whistle team and how David has strategically built it out Building a sales development team from scratch and David's tips for hiring SDRs How David tests different sales strategies Being "channel agnostic" and David's advice for channel prioritization How David has approached content development The way the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how we connect David's advice for in-house hiring versus outsourcing What's next for Whistle   Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Christopher Hussain is the Founder and CEO of RealKey, browser based mortgage process facilitator that centralizes and simplifies documentation collection and review to reduce touches with underwriting by getting the right information and data the first time, direct from the source through API integrations and OCR text recognition, while automating review of data through algorithms and text recognition, creating a clean loan submission that reduces time, effort, and frustration for all parties involved. Prior to founding RealKey in 2015, Christopher was the number one Mortgage Originator in the United States from 2010 to 2011 and personally funded over $2 billion in residential loans in all 50 states. A born entrepreneur, in 2013 Christopher also co-founded Sindeo, a San Francisco-based startup that raised $50 million to create a new mortgage experience. As a recognized business and thought leader in the mortgage industry, he has successfully scaled numerous mortgage loan companies. In his current role as CEO and Founder of RealKey, Christopher is leveraging his breadth of industry experience to transform and enable faster, more efficient mortgage loan processing. Christopher spends his free time advising for numerous startups and entrepreneurs on growth hacking, marketing, and operations strategy. He is also a 4th degree instructor in Taekwondo and rare beer collector.   Some of the Topics Covered by Christopher Hussain in this Episode What RealKey is and the pain points it's trying to solve Christopher's background in mortgage technology and his entrepreneurial journey How Christopher built, grew, and sold Sindeo Christopher's family challenges that led to him founding RealKey Managing potential conflicts of interest for RealKey How the RealKey team has shifted over time Raising capital for RealKey and Christopher's advice for founders in the process Christopher's experience going through the Batchery incubator How they handled running out of capital in 2017 How and why they decided to pivot RealKey Integrating RealKey into the mortgage tech industry instead of creating friction within it User research and feedback for RealKey and the tools their team uses Their experience so far with The Flagstar MortgageTech Accelerator Program The 3-pronged approach to customer acquisition for RealKey The positive ways the COVID pandemic has changed the way the world does business and how RealKey has leaned into remote culture RealKey's business model and how they determined pricing What Christopher's day-to-day looks like and how he recharges How Christopher invests in himself   Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Samara Mejia Hernandez is the Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in the next generation of badass founders. Samara has over 15 years experience in investing, selling and advising on both public and private markets. She has a background in sales, operations and technology at Goldman Sachs. She was an early-stage investor with MATH Venture Partners and advisor to Angeles, Camino Financial and Chicago Blend. She studied engineering at the University of Michigan, and has her MBA from Northwestern University. Samara is a proud Mexican immigrant and mama to a toddler.   About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies. They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches. They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs. Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company. Learn more at variasearch.com.   Some of the Topics Covered by Samara Mejia Hernandez in this Episode What Chingona Ventures is and how their name aligns with their mission and portfolio How Samara got involved in VC and why she started her own venture fund How Samara found an LP for the fund How Samara deals with imposter syndrome Deciding between starting an angel group and a venture fund How Samara advises different types of investors Being resourceful as a fund manager Building deal flow The role a fund's lifecycle plays in VC How Samara approaches investing geographically Evaluating founder-market fit The importance of value alignment Some of the companies Chingona Ventures has invested in that Samara is passionate and excited about How Samara prioritizes self-care and both her physical and mental health The stigma of therapy, particularly in the Latinx community How Samara views her way of making a difference   Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/