Social Media Marketing

2025-10-19

What It’s Really Like to Sell Your First Startup

After emerging from a major crisis with Apple, I found myself taking a hard look at the business I had spent eight years of my life building. I started Bizness Apps in my college dorm, working 100-hour weeks to grow it into a tech startup with $10 million in annual recurring revenue. It was my first real company, and I dove into leadership with zero experience. I stumbled a lot, but that willingness to learn on the fly was what made the whole thing possible.

Startup

2025-10-19

What I Learned When Apple Banned My Company's Apps

Moving to San Diego was supposed to be the answer to my burnout. After the multi-year slog of getting my business off the ground, I thought the change of scenery would be a magic fix. In many ways, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. It gave me the space to think, to reflect on how a dorm room project had become a multimillion-dollar startup company. But that breathing room also brought a difficult realization: I wasn’t just tired. I was ready to move on.

Startup

2025-10-19

Why I Chose Profitability Over Startup Funding

My story, and the story of my business, starts with my family. My dad passed away when I was six, leaving my mom to support us without a college degree. She took up cleaning houses because it offered the flexibility to raise my brother and me. We lived on food stamps in San Clemente, a beautiful Southern California beach town where it seemed like everyone else was jetting off to Hawaii for spring break. It was then I learned a hard lesson: money meant freedom. I was determined to build a life where my own family wouldn't have to worry about stretching a paycheck to cover new school shoes.

Startup

2025-10-19

The Hardest Part of My Startup Was Learning to Let Go

With our scalability problem finally behind us, I could turn my attention to the rest of the business. The truth is, I’d been running Bizness Apps pretty much by myself since we launched, and I was completely overwhelmed. My days were a blur of answering support tickets, making sales calls, and troubleshooting with developers. I was pulling 100-hour weeks, chained to my phone and answering emails at one or two in the morning. I can’t imagine doing that now, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get an edge.

Startup

2025-10-19

How a Single Customer Email Solved Our Scaling Problem

After a big win at the DEMO conference put our business on the map, I figured the next step was obvious: hire more friends and scale our cold-calling efforts. I imagined that a larger team, combined with referrals and organic press, would multiply our revenue. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Startup

2025-10-19

How I Landed a $50k Investment for My College Startup

When I first got the chance to meet Christian Friedland, I was a bit starstruck. He was a big name at Chico State, one of the wealthiest people around, and I had learned a lot from his entrepreneurship seminars. So, when he called a few days after I won a local contest, I was thrilled. He suggested we grab dinner at Tres Hombres, a restaurant I’d actually built an app for. This was a huge step for what was essentially a dorm room operation, and I had no idea what to expect. My project was just a side hustle back then, but this meeting felt like it could be the start of turning my idea from a .

Startup

2025-10-12

My Four-Bucket Approach to Personal Investing

It’s a bit surreal to be asked how I invest my money. I grew up poor in rural Maine with my step-grandfather, and from ages 11 to 14, I was homeless, bouncing between neighbors' houses. So, at 43, being in a position to share my financial strategy is something I don’t take for granted.

Investment

2025-10-10

Thinking About Startup Funding? Read This First

Before you start polishing your pitch deck and lining up investor meetings, it’s crucial to get your head in the right place. Getting your expectations, your math, and your strategy straight from the beginning can make all the difference when you’re looking for .

Startup

2025-10-10

How I Left a Prestigious Law Firm for a Tech Startup

It all started on August 13, 2008. Fresh out of law school in Spain, I moved to the United States with my brother Bernardo, who is still my best friend. With our parents’ encouragement, we landed in New York, and I’ll never forget that first taxi ride into Manhattan. As we stared out the windows, completely amazed, our driver, Luigi, shared his life story in a thick Italian accent.

Startup