Learn From Proven Entrepreneurs

I read an article about how Matthew Inman’s web comic, The Oatmeal, generated sales of $70,000 in a single day last year — Black Friday — and $1,000 on a typical day.

So I invited him to Mixergy to hear the details of how he turned his passion into a business, and how that business enables him pursue his passion.

Most entrepreneurs who launch communities can hardly get anyone to join them.

When Erik Wachtmeister launched aSmallWorld, the opposite happened. More people wanted to join than he was willing to let in. I invited him to teach how he built such a sought-after community, and how…

If you click around on Mixergy you’ll see that it’s full of interviews with entrepreneurs who generate millions in sales or who sold their companies for millions.

In this program he’ll hear from a founder who says that’s not all entrepreneurship needs to be about. He’s Tom Rossi, founder of Molehill, which makes three web apps — Tick, msites and Buzzsprout. Each app is profitable, but…

Most of the entrepreneurs I feature on Mixergy build software-based companies. But what if you wanted to build a business that manufactures and sells products? How would you do it?

To help you learn the process, I invited Benjamin Rubin, co-founder of Zeo, a device which helps users analyze and improve their sleep.

How does a bootstrapped entrepreneur hustle to build a profitable company?

That’s what you’ll find out in this interview with Jason Ross, founder of JackThreads, a members-only shopping club that he sold to Thrillist in May.

Frankly, even the fact that he…

Robert Greene, whose books include The 48 Laws of Power, is the author who inspires and guides ambtious upstarts like American Apparel founder Dov Charney, and rapper 50 Cent. (After reading his book, Dov brought him on American Apparel’s board of directors and 50 Cent co-authored The 50th Law with him.)

Like a modern Machiavelli, he explains the dynamics of power in blunt terms, with chapter titles like, “Crush Your Enemy Totally,” and “Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker.”

How did Adam Strum take Wine Enthusiast from a company that sold cork screws from his attic to a $100 million per year business?

He says much of the success comes from riding the growth of wine consumption. Even in recessions, the wine industry does well. But if you listen to the interview, I think you’ll see there’s more to it than that. Like the way he…

How does Naval Ravikant, co-founder of Venture Hacks and AngelList, help first-time entrepreneurs turn the funding process upside down so they gain the upper-hand over investors?

And why would he, an angel who invested in hits like Twitter, bother helping them?

And, most curiously, why would he …

This is the story of how Mike Colella went from $100,000 in debt to $2.2 million in affiliate commissions within about a year.

I’ve known Mike for a long time (he’s the one who helped me get Fred Wilson to do a Mixergy interview), but until recently he wasn’t ready to reveal to the Mixergy audience how he built his business.

This is the story of how an idea emerges, pivots, evolves and matures into a profitable company whose shares trade on the NASDAQ exchange.

If you bounce from project to project and have a hard time focusing on just one, listen to this interview with Greg Thomson.

Lack of focus is what kept his previous businesses from reaching their potential. Once he learned how to work with his innate curiosity (not eliminate it, but harness its power), he made Tall Tree Games into a $6+ million hit casual game company.

Even though Mixergy is the most popular startup podcast, apparently iTunes won’t feature it because I allow cursing in my interviews.

But listen to this interview with Tucker Max and I think you’ll see how cursing gives you an authentic understanding of how he became a bestselling author and built up his huge online following.