The Shopify Growth Show

JIm is joined once again by Brian Lockard the Co-founder of Bala shoes. Brian and Jim talk about fundraising strategies, how to research a products for a successful launch, and check in on Bala which had 7 figures in sales in its first 12 days.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      Launching with $1m sales without any ad spend·      The value of product insight and understanding your customers·      The challenge with Kickstarter campaigns·      How to manage growth so it doesn’t become a liability·      The problem with the “technology” approach in consumer goods·      Pitch Tips·      Fundraising Approaches Resources:Bala ShoesBrian Lockard: Making $1.5M in 7 Days Launching His Shoe Brand (#26) Jim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

On this episode, Jim is joined by Blake Emal. Blake tells us how he was able to go from dropping out of college to becoming a CMO in the matter of a few years. He deep dives deep on skillsets and strategies you need to grow an audience and how to leverage that to succeed in growth marketing.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      The value of working for an agency·      Trying to prepare for jobs that don’t exist yet·      “T” shaped skillsets·      The importance of changing your title often·      Formatting copy for the internet·      Strategy for content creation: Tips and Tricks and core principals·      The value of transparency and open sourceResources:Blake Emal TwitterJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's PlaybookAdditional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim is joined by founder and incredibly skilled chef Joel Gamoran. Jim and Joel talk about finding a new path and making your own opportunities in business and tips and tricks for developing an on-screen presence. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      Food as a way-of-life·      Creating your own opportunities ·      The importance of getting reps·      Tips to make the most of your 15 minutes of fame·      How chance encounters can be life-changing ·      What do good support systems look like·      Cooking secrets     Resources:· Homemade· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      $3M Challenge Update·      Product development surprises·      How to grow without resources·      New AI ideas in the design space·      Consulting and agency tips·      What content should you focus on·      How do you approach different types of clients·      Value vs. Volume·      How to price services Resources:· Consulting Success· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's PlaybookAdditional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim and Yonathan debut a new segment where they break down iconic think-pieces written over the years. On this first edition they give their thoughts and takeaways from Sam Altman's iconic 2019 blog post "How to be Successful." TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      Compounding yourself·      The importance of original thinking·      Don’t be afraid to fail: You only need to score once to win·      Getting rich by owning things·      Why you might not always need to be a “force of nature”Resources:· Sam Altman Blog Post· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim is joined by Craig Swanson, who has started more than 10 companies that continue to operate to this day. From co-founding CreativeLive to selling an e-product business for 8 figures, Craig has been incredibly successful in the e-product space and gives tips on how to increase growth in the digital marketplace and shares success (and failure) stories from his own life.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE    Criteria for building an e-product business    How to make failure a business strategy    Separating family finances to afford business risk    What to do when business strategy doesn’t align with personal work    Learning from the customers and user generated content    When can you raise prices and still entice new customers    Half-baked ideas for a growth agency  Resources: Craig Swanson WebsiteJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)

Jim is joined by ClickMinded co-founder Tommy Griffith and they dive into a subject that is often overlooked: personal finance strategies for founders. Both Jim and Tommy have lived and learned how difficult it can be to balance the different financial approaches you apply to business finances and personal finances and they share mistakes they've made and tips and tricks they've learned along the way.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      How to approach personal finance as a business owner·      Betting on yourself vs. Betting on a stable market·      The benefits and downsides to a high-risk tolerance·      Is it better to own your own business or work around and get stock options·      Angel investing: funds or single businesses?Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51)Resources:· Clickminded· The Psychology of Money· I Will Teach You to Be Rich· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook 

Rob Sobers joins Jim again to look ahead at 2022 with tips on what to watch and trends to keep an eye on before They share several half-baked startup ideas for the new year.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODEMarketing trends to watch in 2022Industries to watch in 2022  Company / startup to watch in 2022Person to watch in 2022What will flop in 2022? Half-baked startups for 2022Resources:· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Jim is joined by Angela Brugioni, the creative director for GrowthHit. Angela shares her experience and knowledge and walks through some of the strategies for brand creation and standing up creative materials on a tight deadline.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      What are the bare-bones brand elements necessary to launch a product or service·      The differences between B2B and B2C marketing strategy·      What questions do you ask to drive your brand strategy·      Establishing a visual language for Brand·      How to present options and mock-ups·      How much do names matter, and what does that process look like·      How much time do you spend on a logo·      Takeaways from Handsome Chaos processResources:· Handsome Chaos· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Jim and Yonathan reflect on the wins and misses from 2021 and look forward to a new year with some of their favorite frameworks to set and  achieve goals.TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE·      Wins and Misses from 2021·      Understanding why you don’t hit some goals·      Jim and Yonathan personal and professional goals for 2022·      Frameworks for setting goals and allocating energy RESOURCES:· Jim Huffman website· Jim's Twitter· GrowthHit· The Growth Marketer's Playbook