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Cody McLain, the founder of Support Ninja. Cody launched his first business at 15, and sold it 18 months later, having made $150k in revenue. He\\u2019s an entrepreneur with incredible drive who\\u2019s been featured in Forbes, Mashable, Entrepreneur and more. Tune in to hear how Cody sold two businesses before he was 24, why he\\u2019s set up and outsourcing company, and why this relentless entrepreneur thinks that everyone just needs to slow down.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? \\u2013 The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster
What CEO do you follow? \\u2014 Ben Casnocha
Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Droplr
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \\u2014 It\\u2019s not always about making money. Slow down and explore the connections you can make with other humans.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
00:56 \\u2013 Nathan\\u2019s introduction
01:25 \\u2013 Welcoming Cody to the show
01:30 \\u2013 Starting your first business at FIFTEEN?
02:01 \\u2013 His friend proposed starting a hosting company to pay for the new XBox
02:40 \\u2013 It took several years to move from on-selling HostGator\\u2019s services to starting their own hosting company
03:17 \\u2013 At 16 or 17 he merged with another partner, having made $150k in revenue
04:41 \\u2013 He was in foster care when he started his first business
05:11 \\u2013 Aged 19, was screwed over by a potential business partner who ended up in a litigation battle
06:00 \\u2013 Lost customers because the buyer damaged the company\\u2019s reputation
07:09 \\u2013 Servers were shut down and customers quit
07:55 \\u2013 Cody walked away and moved to Seattle
08:29 \\u2013 He started a new business, PacificHost
09:40 \\u2013 Put around $30k of his $70k savings into the business before it was profitable
10:11 \\u2013 PacificHost was making around $650k in annual revenue when he sold it
10:51 \\u2013 Margins tend to be low in the hosting industry.
12:06 \\u2013 Sold PacificHost for a little under $1 million aged 24
12:35 \\u2013 Started an outsourcing business with a partner in India
13:11 \\u2013 \\u201cI always wanted to be a startup...but I\\u2019m very risk-averse. So I took the opportunity to work with startups\\u201d
13:53 \\u2013 Support Ninja was founded to provide outsourcing services for small startups
14:09 \\u2013 14 months in, they have over $1 million in contracts
15:23 \\u2013 First-year revenue in 2015 was less than $500k
15:44 \\u2013 \\u201cWe didn\\u2019t even know what we were selling the first few months\\u201d
16:01 \\u2013 \\u201cI would say we provide Outsourcing As A Service\\u201d
16:37 \\u2013 Support Ninja uses similar metrics to SaaS and they expect a 40% net margin
18:38 \\u2013 Cody\\u2019s eager to use the skills and platform of Support Ninja to launch new projects
19:05 \\u2013 They currently have 10 clients
19:30 \\u2013 Average annual contract size is $100k - $400k
19:40 \\u2013 Team size is 5 in the USA, 100 in the Philippines
20:20 \\u2013 Follow Cody on Twitter or check out his website
22:05 \\u2013 The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
It\\u2019s not all about making money. Slow down. Connect with the people around you.
Know your own skills.
Always be looking ahead. Know where your current project can take you.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
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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