Just Go Grind

Jacob Pace is the CEO of Flighthouse, the largest media brand on TikTok. Flighthouse has almost 25 million followers and over 2 billion likes. They also operate an agency that works with a variety of brands and labels on TikTok marketing campaigns. A native of El Paso, Texas, Jacob started working for record labels and PR firms remotely as a teenager. Just after graduating from high school, he moved out to L.A. to work for Create Music Group. He has since become one of the youngest CEOs in the industry. Connect with Jacob Pace Instagram LinkedIn Flighthouse Media Flighthouse on TikTok Flighthouse on YouTube Flighthouse on Instagram Some of the Topics Covered by Jacob Pace in this Episode How Jacob got his start in the music industry What Jacob's experience was like moving out to L.A. at a very young age What Jacob's job was like when he was first hired by Create Jacob's view of "the hustle" How Jacob became the CEO of Flighthouse How Flighthouse grew to nearly 25 million followers How Flighthouse creates content How the quarantine and COVID-19 crisis has affected Flighthouse's content creation How they manage content distribution across platforms Keys to creating successful TikTok content How brands are using TikTok as the newest social media How Flighthouse Media, the brand side of the business, was born What Jacob's position as CEO involves What's next for Flighthouse The big lessons Jacob has learned along the way Jacob's advice for artists breaking into TikTok A day in the life of Jacob, and how quarantine has affected his routine Jacob's journaling and meditation practices What Jacob is excited about moving forward How Jacob keeps up with trends Jacob's podcast recommendations Links from the Episode How I Built This (podcast) The Tim Ferriss Show (podcast) Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations (podcast)

Chris and Nicholas are the founders of www.WithClutch.com. The two met at Stanford Business School in 2011 and started their first company, Carlypso, in 2013. After going through YCombinator and raising $10M in venture funding, Chris and Nicholas sold Carlypso to Carvana in 2017. Their new business, WithClutch, allows car owners to calculate savings and refinance their loans from the comfort of their home. Chris is a huge car enthusiast. He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for undergrad, joined McKinsey & Company out of college and worked at McLaren in the UK before graduating from Stanford. Nicholas used to be an avid golfer, playing on Germany's national team for four years. After finishing his master's degree in Germany, he worked at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch before he moved to the U.S. in 2011. Connect with Nicholas Hinrichsen and Chris Coleman WithClutch Carvana Nicholas Hinrichsen on LinkedIn Chris Coleman on LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Nicholas and Chris in this Episode What is WithClutch? How they got the idea for WithClutch while running their first business, Carlypso How Chris' dream of working for a Formula 1 team eventually led him to the Stanford Graduate School of Business How Nick went from playing on the German golf national team to working in renewable energy to Stanford for business school, where he met Chris How Carlypso was born when Chris and Nick began helping their classmates sell their cars at Stanford What factors nudged Chris into entrepreneurism Why Nick decided to become an entrepreneur in the U.S. instead of Germany Getting their first $50K and deciding to start Carlypso The customer discovery process and finding value as they began their business The founder relationship between Chris and Nick and how they knew they could build a business together Beginning to find investors, and how they quickly went from a goal of $250K to $1M Expectation versus reality regarding the management of their initial funds The problems they ran into as they looked to scale Carlypso as a peer to peer model Joining the Y Combinator accelerator program and how they addressed the issue of not growing fast enough How changing their model led to a growth in inventory from 100 cars to 30,000 overnight How immense growth affected the business operationally The strengths and weaknesses of Carlypso's marketing strategy The challenge of explaining the Carlypso model to consumers The two methods they used to build out the Carlypso team as they continued to grow The biggest obstacles Nick and Chris faced, mistakes made, and the importance of trusting your intuition What led to the Carvana acquisition, and how they managed the transition The recent launch of their newest venture, WithClutch The most important lessons each Nick and Chris have learned as entrepreneurs Links from the Episode Y Combinator (startup accelerator)

Samantha Patil is the founder and CEO of Well Traveled, a members only platform for trusted travel recommendations and reviews. The growing platform, currently in beta, is designed to streamline travel discovery and planning, through a community driven approach to content curation. Well Traveled's content library of trending hotel, restaurant, nightlife and activity recommendations is member sourced and endorsed and is constantly evolving based on member feedback. Membership is on an application basis and once accepted, members can endorse, review and contribute to the content collection, providing a relevant list of travel recommendations sourced directly from and vetted by their trusted network. A graduate of the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business, Samantha has her background in marketing. After working at a number of startups, she took the leap to work full time on her own venture in 2019. She brought on co-founder Casey Hough, and Well Traveled recently soft launched. When Samantha isn't hard at work growing her new business, she can be found riding her Peleton bike, playing with her labradoodle puppy, or baking. Connect with Samantha Patil Well Traveled Well Traveled on Instagram samantha@welltraveledclub.com LinkedIn Instagram Some of the Topics Covered by Samantha Patil in this Episode How Well Traveled is coping as they launch during the COVID-19 crisis What is Well Traveled and how the idea was born from a sense of information overload Samantha's process in the early stages of building the concept The challenge of getting a developer Building up a "fellow founder network" How Samantha and her co-founder Casey split responsibilities and balance each other's roles The value of setting aside weekly meeting time for strategic planning The ongoing customer discovery process for Well Traveled How Well Traveled is prioritizing the expansion of features How Samantha made the leap from nights and weekends to making her startup her full time gig How Samantha and Casey have managed the financial journey of their business so far How to fund raise among friends and family What questions to ask in building your pitch How they began building their customer base before launching Samantha's vision for the growth of the company How they built their revenue model based on annual membership How they are adjusting their model amidst COVID-19 to focus on local travel and make their platform more accessible given the current climate The "everything is figureoutable" approach The biggest challenges Samantha has faced building her company from scratch How Samantha structures her workday and manages her time Samantha's approach to weekends The importance of disconnecting Resources Samantha recommends for entrepreneurs What Samantha does to recharge The biggest lessons Samantha has learned along the way so far Samantha's long term vision for Well Traveled Potential opportunities to work for Well Traveled Links from the Episode Y Combinator (resource for funding early stage startups The Pitch (podcast) Everything is Figureoutable (book by Marie Forleo) How I Built This (podcast) Skimm'd From The Couch (podcast) Venture Deals (book) Girlboss (community) The Wing (community)

Adam Mendler is the Chief Executive Officer of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries: Beverly Hills Chairs, a leading office furniture e-tailer; Custom Tobacco, a one-of-a-kind cigar customization e-commerce platform; and Veloz Solutions, a technology consulting and software development practice. Adam remains active in each portfolio company, providing strategic guidance and support. Adam also provides business thought leadership as a speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations; as the host of the leadership and personal / professional development podcast Thirty Minute Mentors; as an expert regularly cited in national media outlets; and as an advisor, consultant, coach and board member. Connect with Adam Mendler Adam Mendler The Veloz Group Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook Some of the Topics Covered by Adam Mendler in this Episode What being an entrepreneur means for Adam, including the 3 companies within The Veloz Group, being a writer, public speaker, and podcast host Addressing demand versus creating demand 3 tips on how to lead through the coronavirus crisis How to make sure your company and team are prepared for a crisis in the future How to communicate with and support your team during this crisis Letting go of employees with empathy, compassion and honesty The opportunity of talent becoming available due to the COVID-19 crisis layoffs How Adam got started as an entrepreneur How Adam founded The Veloz Group with his brother and the challenge of defining their direction For bootstrap businesses, the importance of choosing which ideas can be most efficiently monetized How to decide which business ideas to pursue as an entrepreneur Evaluating potential, considering feasibility, and defining your target customer Juggling different ventures and the importance of being "Dr. No" The importance of being self-reflective as a leader and entrepreneur Adam's perspective on making mistakes Adam's book recommendations How Adam's day-to-day has changed during the COVID crisis What tools Adam uses to maximize his day Being a baseball fan during the crisis, and an Angels fan in Los Angeles Links from the Episode The Best and the Brightest (book by David Halberstam)

Victoria Repa is the CEO & Co-Founder of BetterMe, a health and fitness app empire with more than 50 million installs, 400,000+ paid subscribers, and annual revenue of more than $60 million. BetterMe's flagship app often ranks as one of the top #5 apps on the App store in the health and fitness section. Connect with Victoria Repa LinkedIn Instagram Some of the Topics Covered by Victoria Repa in this Episode How Victoria started BetterMe How Victoria decided on the initial version of the app and decided to focus on weight loss initially The thinking around the target audience for BetterMe early-on Victoria’s user acquisition strategy for BetterMe The importance of understanding who your audience is How BetterMe implements changes based on user feedback The content strategy behind BetterMe and how they decide which content to add to their apps How Victoria looks at building new apps vs. improving the apps they have at BetterMe The approach Victoria has used to grow the team of BetterMe from 3 to 100 people The biggest challenges along the way of growing BetterMe Victoria’s big vision for BetterMe in the future and how she plans on getting there How Victoria views competition What Victoria’s day-to-day looks like as CEO Why Victoria just uses paper and pencil for planning and running her day The biggest lessons from Victoria’s career so far and why she prioritizes speed over efficiency Links from the Episode Reid Hoffman Blitzscaling Masters of Scale Summit Robert F. Smith The Daily Stoic Find the show notes at justgogrind.com/podcast

Lauryn Nwankpa, Head of Social Impact at Dave and former Head of Social Impact at Headspace, is drawn to impact driven organizations, her work primarily focuses on developing and implementing effective strategies to eradicate poverty, increase access to education, and alleviate wealth and income inequality. From outreach and advocacy, to philanthropy and community engagement, she brings together critical stakeholders to increase access to key resources leading to the empowerment and self-actualization of marginalized communities.

Ed Buckley is the CEO of Peerfit, a digital platform that makes it easy for employers, insurance carriers, and brokers to offer fitness classes to their clients and employees. Peerfit users gain access to a variety of services and experiences, empowering them to personalize your journey to wellness, to lead a more active and healthier lifestyle. Peerfit is on a mission to empower individuals to live healthy and active lifestyles. They believe wellness is personal and fitness is more fun with friends. Their day isn't complete without a little sweat and they stay motivated by their community. They believe today’s corporate wellness is stale and boring, and they're changing that. Sign up for THE WEEKLY GRIND, my weekly newsletter with tips, tools, and strategies for growing your business: http://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ JUST GO GRIND Show Notes with links to everything mentioned in this episode:  http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ JUST GO GRIND on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/

Dan is the founder of e-commerce brand, Unbound Merino, which is a maker of quality merino wool clothing. The company was started as a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are now doing $4m in revenue. 

Sam Adams serves as chief executive of dot.LA. A former financial journalist for Bloomberg and Reuters, Adams moved to the business side of media as a strategy consultant at Activate, helping legacy companies develop new digital strategies. Adams holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Southern California. A Santa Monica native, he can most often be found at Bay Cities deli with a Godmother sub or at McCabe's with a 12-string guitar. His favorite colors are Dodger blue and Lakers gold. dot.LA is a news and events company with a mission of shining a light on the innovation in the L.A. startup and tech community.

Kari's story: "During my first week back from maternity leave, my daughter’s daycare closed for two weeks because they accidentally left a kid at the park. Rough start, and it didn’t get easier from there. I used to question every decision I made as a mom and would end up crying in the bathroom at work. I just felt like I was reinventing the wheel each day, which is why I knew I had to build something to help myself (I was basically my own guinea pig) and the countless other ambitious women out there  According to our insight at Uplift, what’s hardest for moms is the emotional pressure. The guilt. The constant mental load. The rampant imposter syndrome. So, we’ve built a robust support system to up your working mom game.  My story has a happy ending: I became better at my job (and life) post kids thanks to the many small changes I developed and then weaved into Uplift. I’m more efficient, more focused, and a hell of a lot happier. " What Uplift does: Uplift empowers working women to turn motherhood into a career advantage, not a drawback. They do this through ‘snackable coaching’ that fits in busy moms lives: coaching sessions during pumping, 5-minute exercises and audio content for commutes. Their program is based on interviews with 70 working moms at the top of their fields (such as the CTO of Nest, CMO of Hulu, and founder of Hint Water). Significant life changes have been shown to be excellent times to adopt new habits since your entire life is already changing.