Startup Founder Discovers Revenue Model After Losing Cash For Years

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Today we talk with Tony Stubblebine. Tony is the CEO and Founder of Coach.me. Tony originally started his company as Lift. It was an app you used to help you make personal changes. But it was failing fast.

Lift looked successful to users but was losing money day after day. Tony had a choice to make, close down Lift or make a change.

And that change is what Tony and I discuss in this episode.

Here’s what else you’ll discover in this episode:

Why he wanted to build tools that helped people to achieve, as he said, “really astounding things.”
Tony response when he went to the bank to get a loan and they asked him, “How is it you have so many users but you’re losing money?”
How the fear of losing your team when you make changes in the company stops some founders to stop growing.
How they made the decision to pivot when the choice was either “shut down or try something new.”
How the branding change was the beginning of the difference that made the difference.
How Tim Ferriss, one of their advisors, had an idea for a challenge inside Lift started their coaching platform.
The importance of a name change and why it was necessary to evolve from no profit to a revenue generating company.
How their old name caused a support nightmare.
What does it mean to be a ‘founder’ of a company?
Why they took 4 years to, “find our legs.”
Why Tony brought his investors along to coach.me after the change.
The problems facing you don’t always change because the baggage you had before is brought along for the change.
Tony’s challenge running a startup with revenue coming in and expenses to support staff.
How he faces the challenge to bring on quality new people who aren’t sure this is something they want to risk and commit to.
Why he said, “It’s interesting to look back on how much failure effects you physically and emotionally.”
How things seem much simpler for Tony now that coach.me is moving more smoothly.
How they evolved to creating a business-to-consumer-to-business coaching model now.
Why Coach.me is moving into the business coaching market and how they’re making the transition.
Why Tony loves to read case studies of successful people.
How Jerry Seinfeld accidentally became the productivity hero with his one tip.
Why Tony would love to have the opportunity to talk with Oprah.
What Tony means when he said, “It’s not about finding the optimal strategy. It’s about finding the optimal packaging that makes it easy to adopt that strategy.”
Why he said, “My job is to learn about human potential. What makes humans excel and succeed?”

Enjoy the show.

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