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Jonathan Gillon, the founder of Roost. His unique business costs almost nothing to run, and is taking over the nation. Though he has experienced failures along with success in his business endeavors, Jon is a self-proclaimed optimist. He sees the potential growth of his business and wants to be the one to take it to its full potential.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? \u2013 The Hard Thing about Hard Things
What CEO do you follow? \u2014 Andy Dunn
Favorite online tool? \u2014 Geckoboard
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 Don\u2019t get kicked out of college. Stop getting in trouble.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:10 \u2013 Nathan\u2019s introduction
01:25 \u2013 Jonathan explains Roost
01:45 \u2013 Profits come from a percentage of transaction fees
02:55 \u2013 They focus on storage and parking spaces
03:15 \u2013 Mostly garages
03:45 \u2013 His first-year revenue was zero
04:10 \u2013 He found an opportunity with a storage unit that was closing
05:45 \u2013 Numbers of buyers and sellers
06:55 \u2013 He has a team of 17 people in San Francisco
07:30 \u2013 His rent in San Francisco
08:25 \u2013 $4.9 million in capital
09:35 \u2013 Roost uses a \u201ctargeted approach\u201d working with car-share companies
10:55 \u2013 Total revenue 2015 - $80000
11:25 \u2013 Revenue is now 25k/month
12:10 \u2013 Reasoning behind the company\u2019s evaluation
12:50 \u2013 Potential of the company
13:30 \u2013 Jonathan sees great value in Roost
14:00 \u2013 They are still in \u201cbeta mode\u201d
15:00 \u2013 They have virtually no competitors
16:10 \u2013 Jonathan prefers to \u201cbuild something big and fail\u201d than build something small
17:05 \u2013 His experience with Droperty Tax
17:40 \u2013 He lost everything he earned from that company
18:30 \u2013 He wants to grow revenue and get Roost to its potential
19:25 \u2013Jon\u2019s blog about his experiences as an entrepreneur
21:20 \u2013 Average revenue per buyer \u2013 about $41
22:20 \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019ve got almost no churn.\u201d
23:10 \u2013 Cost to find a new space is almost nothing
23:30 \u2013 Money is spent on marketing
24:35 \u2013 He pays himself $64k
25:30 \u2013 The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Look for a business opportunity that requires low upfront costs.
Don\u2019t be afraid to stand behind your business and be optimistic about its potential.
If your company gets bought, don\u2019t go on a spending spree.
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.
Geckoboard \u2013 Jonathan\u2019s favorite online tool

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives