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Derric Haynie. He\u2019s the CEO of Vulpine Interactive, a social media marketing agency that helps build contagious brand and passionate fans. Nathan met Derris at Los Angeles when they were at Sean Ellis\u2019 Growth Hacking event. Derris has an interesting story that goes from poker to social media to speaking, blogging, growth and digital marketing.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \u2013 They Ask You Answer
• What CEO do you follow? \u2013 Neil Patel
• Favorite online tool? \u2014 Queue
• How many hours of sleep do you get?\u2014 8-9
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cI wished that I have been able to pursue business earlier and give up poker earlier\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:51 \u2013 Derric believes that his agency will grow and exist on its own
• 02:02 \u2013 The peak of poker for Derric was in 2009-10 when he was 24
  • 02:21 \u2013 Derric was making mid 6 figures and working 3 hours a day doing poker
  • 03:00 \u2013 Derric had a lot of great mentors in poker
  • 03:19 \u2013 Those that are better than Derric are really geniuses
  • 03:27 \u2013 Derris started to feel his personal boundaries
  • 03:57 \u2013 Derric knows that he\u2019ll never be the grand master in poker
  • 04:02 \u2013 The best player in poker takes all the money
• 04:55 \u2013 Derric didn\u2019t pay himself for the first year and a half of his agency
  • 05:03 \u2013 It was in 2014
• 05:22 \u2013 Derric got funding in 2015 of a total of $150k from his poker friends
• 06:06 \u2013 Derric was telling himself that he\u2019s not focused on revenue but on learning and finding the opportunities
  • 06:34 \u2013 Derric spent around $25K attending conferences and events
• 07:19 \u2013 Derris\u2019 wife is his co-founder and they started paying themselves just last year
  • 07:28 \u2013 They now make $5000 a month
• 07:51 \u2013 Derric and his wife are trying to structure a company for growth and scalability
• 08:10 \u2013 Vulpine now has 2 part-time employees
• 08:50 \u2013 Raising a child cost Derric around $3000 a month
• 09:06 \u2013 Derric had a lavish life that he gave up
  • 09:31 \u2013 Derric has sold a lot of things
• 10:28 \u2013 Team size is 4
• 10:37 \u2013 Typical customers for Vulpine are ecommerce and SaaS businesses
  • 10:48 \u2013They also have to be thought leaders with a willingness to create great content
• 11:00 \u2013 Vulpine is good at repurposing great content and content should be originally from the company
• 11:21 \u2013 2016 revenue is around $70-80K
• 11:41 \u2013 Check agency/transparency to see their financial score sheet
• 11:57 \u2013 Target MRR is $100K by December 2017
• 12:07 \u2013 If they don\u2019t hit $50K MRR by December, they will stop the company
• 12:32 \u2013 Average contract size is $2K a month with 3 months minimum
  • 13:56 \u2013 Derric has been advised too that the contract should be at least for a year
  • 14:21 \u2013 Derric was thinking of the best value that he can provide for his client when he decided on the 3-month minimum
  • 14:36 \u2013 Derric believes that if he can\u2019t consistently deliver month over month, he should be fired
• 15:12 \u2013 Derric currently has 14 customers with some pro bono
• 17:27 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

1. Poker may bring more money than your business, but sometimes it\u2019s not about money.
2. At a certain point in your life, you have to give up things that you\u2019re used to and learn something new.
3. In business (especially pricing) always have a market study and comparison first, or ask for advice.

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Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more
• Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Hotjar \u2013 Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you\u2019re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience
• Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives