Published: Sept. 26, 2016, 9 a.m.
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Gavin Zuchlinski, the founder of Acuity Scheduling\\u2014the slickest way for businesses to automate and manage their appointments online, allowing clients to schedule themselves. He\\u2019s a self-professed tech geek and an espresso-maniac who wholeheartedly believes that business should be totally fun.
Famous Five:
- Favorite Book? \\u2013 Anything You Want
- What CEO do you follow? \\u2013 Andy Grove
- Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Canary
- Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 \\u201c8 and a half hour is my ideal number\\u201d
- If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cSpend more time doing the things you enjoy doing.\\u201d
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Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 01:37 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Gavin to the show
- 02:09 \\u2013 Gavin is on his 4th espresso for the day
- 02:25 \\u2013 How Acuity Scheduling generate sales
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- 02:30 \\u2013 SaaS to manage scheduling appointments online
- 02:48 \\u2013 Developed for Gavin\\u2019s mother
- 03:00 \\u2013 2006 started
- 03:21 \\u2013 Start of Gavin\\u2019s business
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- 03:48 \\u2013 2007 first year in business
- 04:05 \\u2013 Only a side project
- 04:54 \\u2013 First year revenue
- 05:21 \\u2013 Transition from working as a government employee
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- 05:50 \\u2013 Organic search results and SEO
- 06:24 \\u2013 Had friends\\u2019 sign up on private link
- 06:45 \\u2013 2013 decided to shift
- 07:15 \\u2013 Hired the first employee
- 07:50 \\u2013 \\u201cKeep things small\\u201d
- 08:20 \\u2013 Number of users on free trial
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- 08:50 \\u2013 Number of users at the moment
- 09:25 \\u2013 10% month over month increase
- 09:50 \\u2013 Number of users in the past week
- 10:54 \\u2013 85% active users on paid accounts
- 11:46 \\u2013 Most SaaS count their total base
- 12:57 \\u2013 Growth from organic results and referrals
- 13:54 \\u2013 \\u201cWhen the rate of growth gets too high, that\\u2019s when I need to hire\\u201d
- 14:07 \\u2013 Total team size
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- 14:18 \\u2013 Everyone is remote
- 14:40 \\u2013 Support works for only 6 hours a day
- 15:18 \\u2013 Team size question is Gavin\\u2019s pet peeve
- 16:06 \\u2013 Growth customer churn is about 8% per month
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- 16:18 \\u2013 Dashboard churn
- 16:40 \\u2013 Current customer acquisition cost on average
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- 16:55 \\u2013 10 dollars to acquire for paid acquisition
- 17:12 \\u2013 Total marketing spender
- 18:07 \\u2013 Total expected earnings from a new unique customer
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- 18:58 \\u2013 Monthly RPO
- 19:37 \\u2013 Gavin\\u2019s bootstrap
- 19:50 \\u2013 Goal for the company
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- 20:08 \\u2013 \\u201cCreate a company where I enjoy working\\u201d
- 20:47 \\u2013 Connect with Gavin thru his website and LinkedIn
- 22:40 \\u2013 The Famous Five
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3 Key Points:
- Sometimes, you just have to choose \\u2013 and choose what makes you happy.
- Small team has advantages too \\u2013 it\\u2019s easier to manage.
- Just be patient and let things grow slowly.
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Resources Mentioned:
- Toptal\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan found his development team using Toptal\\xa0 for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn\\u2019t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal\\xa0 developers.
- Host Gator\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
- Freshbooks\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
- Leadpages\\xa0 \\u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
- Audible\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
- AcuityScheduling.com \\u2013 Gavin\\u2019s website
- LinkedIn \\u2013 Gavin\\u2019s linkedin account
- Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
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