He's Making How Much from Text Message Marketing? EP 288: Chris Brisson
Chris Brisson, the founder of Call Loop website. Call Loop is a voice and text messaging service that\u2019s used by a huge range of clients. Listen as Chris and Nathan talk buying out a co-founder, building a company while working full-time, and how to pivot with an established product.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? \u2013 Stealth Marketing
What CEO do you follow? \u2014 James Clear
Favourite online tool? \u2014 ClickFunnels and ConvertFlow
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?\u2014That being young is an advantage - take the opportunity to make mistakes
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:22 \u2013 Nathan\u2019s introduction
01:40 \u2013 Welcoming Chris to the show
02:00 \u2013 Call Loop is a voice and text messaging service
02:22 \u2013 Had the idea in 2009; business was founded in 2011
03:00 \u2013 It took 3 years to build the software as a side project
03:55 \u2013 Put in $10,000 to kick-start the project
04:12 \u2013 Bought out his business partners in 2015
04:50 \u2013 Two investors put in $90k total for 7.5% equity
05:55 \u2013 How did buying out his co-founders work?
06:20 \u2013 One co-founder had a full-time job and didn\u2019t want to be hands-on
07:20 \u2013 Chris wasn\u2019t financially experienced - hadn\u2019t put caps of cliffs on the equity
08:10 \u2013 Co-founder had 25%
09:10 \u2013 Bought out for less than $100k
09:30 \u2013 \u201cWe have SaaS components but we\u2019re not really a SaaS business\u201d
10:00 \u2013 Different customers have extremely different needs - they buy credits differently
10:45 \u2013 Topline revenue in 2015 was $385k
11:25 \u2013 Reinvested $150k in the company in 2015
12:15 \u2013 Revenue goal in 2016 is $430-450k
12:35 \u2013 Around 1000 unique customers each month
13:54 \u2013 Sending around 400k text messages each month
14:34 \u2013 Goal is to develop the software behind the product, add features, and scale
15:45 \u2013 Chris hopes to pivot towards marketing automation
18:18 \u2013 Connect with Chris at the Call Loop website
19:55 \u2013 The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Youth is an advantage. Don\u2019t be scared to act because you\u2019re too young.
When you\u2019re distributing equity with co-founders, by sure to have a vesting schedule. You\u2019ll hugely reduce the risk of problems down the line.
Look for opportunities to pivot, even when you\u2019re an established company. The market changes; technology changes: make sure you keep up.
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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