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Ilias Tsagklis, co-founder of Excelexis. He\u2019s a software developer-turned-entrepreneur who gave up a great salary to found his own company. Ilias blogs about entrepreneurship at Wealth Triumph. Listen in to hear why a developer built an ad company instead of a software company, and just what he\u2019s doing to make 85% net margins.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? \u2013 Millionaire Fast Lane
What CEO do you follow? \u2014 Marcus Lemonis
Favourite online tool? \u2014 Asana
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\u2014 Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \u2014 That the road to success is only through self-education. Don\u2019t expect anyone else to help you.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:14 \u2013 Nathan\u2019s introduction
01:56 \u2013 Welcoming Ilias to the show
02:17 \u2013 Trying to monetise platforms like banner display
02:37 \u2013 Provided sponsored content for a recent customer - trying to move away from traditional banner displays
03:25 \u2013 Own Telecode Geeks, a content site, where they can place adverts
04:02 \u2013 Ilias started out as a software developer
04:18 \u2013 He quit his job after 7 years, looking for something new
05:02 \u2013 \u201cI wanted to build something that could scale\u201d
05:40 \u2013 Gave up a salary in the mid 5 figures - a high salary in Greece
06:40 \u2013 Started building a community writing technical articles
07:15 \u2013 Why monetise through ads using Java instead of building your own software platform?
07:30 \u2013 \u201cWe were more interested in building a steady income to replace the corporate job\u201d
07:55 \u2013 Around 85% net margin in the business
08:22 \u2013 Multiple revenue streams: advertising; sponsorship; lead generation and affiliate marketing
08:47 \u2013 Total revenue in 2015 was in the mid 6 figures
09:15 \u2013 Two co-founders, several assistants, and some freelance writers
09:40 \u2013 Ilias\u2019 revenue goal for 2016 is $500k
10:30 \u2013 Connect with Ilias on Linkedin or at his blog
12:00 \u2013 The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Success comes from self-education. Start investing time and energy in yourself.
Build a community before you try to monetise. Once you have a tribe, everything else will follow.
Define your goals as an entrepreneur. Explosive growth? Steady income? Early retirement? Once you know your why, you can worry about the how.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator \u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages \u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible \u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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