EP 616: His Coffee Shops Do $1.8M But His Crowdfunding Platform is More Impressive With $550k 2016 Revenue on 486 Projects With $2.5M Funded with CEO McCabe Callahan

Published: April 1, 2017, 9 a.m.

McCabe Callahan who has been an entrepreneur his entire life. He began with a coffee shop named Mugs Coffee Lounge, which has been operating successfully in Fort Collins, Colorado, since 2002. He began a company called Community Funded, in 2011, out of his passion for providing technology that connects, supports and empowers people.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? \u2013 E-Myth and Good to Great
  • What CEO do you follow? \u2013\xa0 Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? \u2014 Slack
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\u2014 No
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cPay attention to numbers\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:32 \u2013 Nathan introduces McCabe to the show
  • 02:33 \u2013 Mugs Coffee Lounge is McCabe\u2019s first real business
  • 02:43 \u2013 McCabe went to Colorado State University
  • 02:50 \u2013 McCabe was coming back from Europe when he had the idea of the Mugs Coffee Lounge
    • 02:56 \u2013 Mugs Coffee Lounge was the first wireless internet caf\xe9 in Fort Collins
  • 03:11 \u2013 Building relationships is the key to a successful coffee lounge
  • 03:36 \u2013 First year revenue
  • 04:04 \u2013 McCabe is 36; but when he was 24, he was already opening 5 coffee shops
  • 04:22 \u2013 Total topline of all the coffee shops and restaurants
  • 04:58 \u2013 McCabe didn\u2019t raise any capital
  • 05:31 \u2013 McCabe\u2019s credit card debt when he started Mugs Coffee Lounge
  • 05:48 \u2013 McCabe also had debt from other sources
  • 06:43 \u2013 \u201cCoffee is a good business to be in\u2014there\u2019s no recession\u201d
  • 06:58 \u2013 McCabe shares where he sells his business to
  • 07:07 \u2013 McCabe\u2019s income is now generating well
  • 07:16 \u2013 McCabe did $1.6M in sales in 2016
  • 07:30 \u2013 McCabe shares how he started with Community Funded
    • 08:17 \u2013 McCabe had to find a way to secure a loan to open up a location
    • 08:31 \u2013 The amount McCabe wanted to loan
    • 08:45 \u2013 2009-2010 was the hardest time for McCabe
    • 09:41 \u2013 McCabe was about to give up when one of his regulars offered help
    • 10:05 \u2013 5 months after the McCabe\u2019s next shop opened, he heard about NPR\u2019s Kickstarter
    • 10:20 \u2013 McCabe thought, \u201cWhat if he could something like Kickstarter, but for communities?\u201d
  • 10:44 \u2013 Community Funded started out bootstrapped and just recently raised a round
  • 11:03 \u2013 Community Funded first round raised $40K-75K
    • 11:29 \u2013 Total funding was $2.3M
    • 11:38 \u2013 Rounds are equity round
  • 11:50 \u2013 McCabe shares Community Funded\u2019s valuation
    • 12:18 \u2013 People believed in Community Funded\u2019s vision
  • 12:38 \u2013 Community Funded\u2019s is a SaaS model
  • 13:46 \u2013 Sample of fundraising raised in Community Funded
  • 14:26 \u2013 Community Funded\u2019s focus
  • 14:53 \u2013 Current Community Funded\u2019s revenue and revenue goal for 2017
  • 15:54 \u2013 Total transaction volume in 2016
  • 16:03 \u2013 2016 total revenue
  • 17:21 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

  • Lack of funds is not a hindrance in building a company.
  • There\u2019s nothing wrong sharing your problems with your regulars \u2013 you don\u2019t know who can offer you help.
  • Stick and pay close attention to your numbers.

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Resources Mentioned:

  • The Top Inbox\xa0 \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
  • Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
  • Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
  • Host Gator\xa0\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
  • Audible\xa0\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