Rising Tide Startups

What if your customers like your software, but don’t have the time to use it? Farzad Rashidi learned this the hard way. Back in college, he cold emailed the founder of Visme, offered to work for free, and eventually became the company’s first marketing hire. He helped grow the bootstrapped platform to eight figures and learned one major lesson along the way: backlinks could drive serious organic growth, but the outreach process was painfully time-consuming. That insight eventually led him to co-found Respona, an outreach platform built to make the process easier. At first, the software gained traction. But over time, Farzad and his team ran into a frustrating problem. Customers did not leave because the product was bad. They left because they did not have the bandwidth to actually use it. In this episode of The Rising Tide Startups, Farzad shares how one conversation with an Australian client helped them rethink the entire business. That moment pushed Responda from DIY software into a productized service, and helped unlock 5x revenue growth in just twelve months. Key Takeaways: Action Produces Information. Taking any step forward yields the critical data points required to make the right move. Focus on Outcomes. Customers care about tangible results and deliverables, not just being handed a toolset they have to manage themselves. Build a Surround Sound Strategy. Modern AI search visibility requires replicating citations across authoritative lookalike publications. Position Yourself to Get Lucky. Proactive, direct initiative throws enough spaghetti at the wall until something sticks. Productize Your Services. Scale manual workflows by turning human operations into a standardized, predictable assembly line. Lower the Bar to Execution. With minimal technical overhead required today, launching an early project beats staying trapped in the idea stage. Seize Exponential Shifts. Capitalizing on moments when technology and user behaviors fundamentally change creates an immediate competitive edge. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Farzad: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzadrashidi/ Website: https://respona.com/ Closing Thought If you haven't started yet, that first project's goal is just to give you the data point to know what to do next. And so if you're going with that mindset of not being afraid of losing... what do you have to lose is a few hours of your time. — Farzad Rashidi Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2026! Podbrand Media - Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective in content creation and lead generation!

What if one random podcast episode on a Tuesday completely changed your career trajectory? Agne Maria Moa is a content strategist at Notus, one of Europe's leading personal branding agencies, where she helps founders build their LinkedIn presence. Her journey started when she accidentally listened to a podcast by Rory Vaden about how personal brands impact sales. The next day, she posted her first piece of content. While still a university student in Lithuania, Agne worked unpaid for six months at an early-stage agency while her peers worked as baristas. Agne takes a different approach that goes beyond chasing virality. She's learned that breakthrough comes from pushing through when you have zero engagement and nobody's responding. She starts with deep interviews to understand clients' backgrounds and goals before creating anything. Rather than copying what works for others, she helps founders figure out what makes them unique and builds strategies around their personal experiences. This conversation gets into building a personal brand from scratch. Agne shares how she dealt with impostor syndrome as a student with no experience, why she did things differently when everyone questioned her, and how focusing on value attracted opportunities. Key Takeaways: Do Something Different to Build Success. Building an extraordinary life means doing what others aren't doing, even when it feels uncomfortable. Push Through the Uncomfortable Period. Breakthrough happens after you gain momentum, but you have to keep posting when nobody's engaging. Strategy Before Content. Understand your goals, target audience, and what makes you unique before creating posts or chasing engagement. Personal Stories Beat Tactical Advice. Content that ties personal experience to insights performs significantly better than generic how-to posts. Don't Chase Virality at the Expense of Positioning. High engagement doesn't matter if it positions you wrong or attracts people who won't become clients. Test Different Content Pillars. Mix tactical advice, personal stories, industry insights, and aspirational content to find what resonates. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Agne: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnemokrikaite/ Calendly: https://calendly.com/agne-mokrikaite/30min Closing thought: "In order to be successful in life, you need to do something completely different to what other people are doing." Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2026! Podbrand Media - Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective content creation and lead generation!

What if the problem isn't finding talent, but that we're all looking for it in the wrong places? Nick Petros is a serial entrepreneur who's appeared on Rising Tide Startups three times now, and for good reason. He's got that restless entrepreneurial itch that sees better ways to do things everywhere he looks, even when it's been "extremely expensive to operate this way." Nick's latest venture is Freely, a platform that's trying to replace the resume and revolutionize how companies find fractional talent. But this isn't his first rodeo. He previously built MyDash, a data integration service, and PinchForth, which started as a growth marketing agency before evolving into something much larger. What sets Nick apart is his experience watching the agency space become "toxic really fast." He's seen how the race to the bottom pricing and endless competition for the same clients create a system where nobody really wins. His experience building Pinchforth taught him that founders don't need agencies to just "do it for them," they need specific expertise delivered by people who are genuinely skilled at what they do. This insight led him to realize that the real problem isn't a lack of talent, it's that we're stuck in outdated hiring models that focus on resumes instead of actual skills. Key Takeaways: Skills Matter More Than Resumes. The most successful professionals are evaluated on performance and abilities, not educational backgrounds or credentials. Fractional Work Is the Future. Remote work is creating opportunities for people to build careers serving multiple clients instead of one employer. Marketplaces Create Race-to-the-Bottom Pricing. Traditional platforms like Fiverr commoditize services and force providers to compete on price rather than value. Pre-Qualified Leads Change Everything. When providers pay to connect with businesses, both sides are more serious about creating value. Most Agencies Got Lucky, Not Smart. The biggest agencies succeeded by riding the wave with amazing brands rather than driving their growth. Businesses Want Line of Sight, Not Options. Companies prefer choosing from three qualified providers over sorting through 600 random applicants. Community-Driven Expertise Builds Trust. Platforms work better when users establish expertise by helping others rather than just promoting themselves. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Nick: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpetros/ My Dash: https://www.mydash.ai/ HireFreely: https://www.hirefreely.co/ Closing thought: "Work the way you want to work." Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2025! Podbrand Media - Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective in content creation and lead generation!

Most people avoid cold calls. Gabe Lullo built a multi-million dollar company on them. Gabe Lullo didn’t take a traditional route to the top. He started in the trenches, working the phones as an SDR, and built his way up to CEO of Alleyoop, a global sales development firm making over 11 million cold calls a year. Along the way, he juggled rejection, resilience, and yes—actual juggling. In this episode of Rising Tide Startups, host Kevin Prewett sits down with Gabe to unpack the real story behind scaling a sales-driven company from scratch. With a degree from the Barney School of Business and more than a decade running his own sales, marketing, and training firm, Gabe brought deep experience in recruiting and leadership before ever stepping into the CEO seat. He shares how those early roles, from executive search to culture-building, shaped how he leads today. Gabe also unpacks why sales development should be treated as its function, why cold calling still works, and how product-market fit makes or breaks a sales strategy. Beyond tactics, the conversation explores leadership, culture, and building teams that scale. Gabe shares why every hire interviews with him personally, how he empowers leaders to own decisions, and the mindset that’s carried him from startup days to leading a 100+ person team. His story is grounded in grit, but it’s also filled with systems and structure that anyone can learn from. Key Takeaways: Cold Calling Isn’t Dead—It Just Needs a Human Touch. Despite spam filters and caller ID, phone calls are still the fastest way to book meetings when done correctly. Leadership can be earned from the ground up. Experience at every level of a company builds the kind of perspective and empathy that drives strong, effective leadership. Sales Is About Grit, Not Just Technique. Red Apples, Green Apples, Rotten Apples. This is a powerful metaphor for: 10% are “red apples”—ready to buy. 10% are “rotten apples”—never going to convert. 80% are “green apples”—undecided, and this is where great salespeople shine. Success in sales comes from nurturing the green apples through timing, perspective-shifting, and persistence. Rejection builds resilience. Facing consistent “no’s” in business teaches adaptability, sharpens communication, and strengthens long-term confidence. Don’t scale without product-market fit. No amount of leads or marketing can fix a poor offering. Sustainable growth starts with a clear value proposition and a validated market need. If you’re not excited to sell it, neither will your team be. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Gabe: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lullo/ Alleyoop’s: https://alleyoop.io/ Closing thought: “You can start at the bottom, take every hit, and still build something extraordinary—if you stay hungry and never stop showing up.” Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2024! Podbrand Media - Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. We create podcasts that actually make you money!

The business is growing. You’re overwhelmed. Welcome to the small business black hole. For Alan Pence, founder of the Owner Institute, building a multi-million dollar company didn’t come from working more hours or saying yes to everything. It came from realizing that what got him to $1M in revenue was exactly what was keeping him from going further. Like many founders, Alan hit the wall. The point where the systems broke down, burnout started creeping in. That wall? He calls it the “small business black hole.” In this episode of Rising Tide Startups, we sit down with Alan to unpack the patterns he’s seen across hundreds of businesses. He explains why burnout, blurred vision, and stalled growth are symptoms of a deeper issue: the business is built around the founder instead of beyond them. Alan shares how to shift from being stuck in the day-to-day to building a company that scales sustainably—with clear systems, empowered leadership, and a renewed sense of purpose. Whether you're hitting a revenue ceiling, burned out from doing everything yourself, or wondering if your business is building a life you want—this episode is for you. It’s honest, practical, and filled with the kind of insights you’ll wish you had five years ago. Key Takeaways: Founders often become the bottleneck. Many businesses stall because the owner is doing too much or holding on too tightly. Start with personal vision. You need to know what kind of life you want before you build a business to support it. You can't scale if you try to do everything. At each stage, the owner must shift roles, delegate, and level up skills. Hire for what drains you. Free up your time and energy by handing off tasks that wear you down. Understanding your numbers helps you grow without guessing or overspending. Common Barriers at Different Stages $1M Stage: Founder is doing too much. Needs to focus on sales and delegate everything else. $2–5M Stage: Growth requires key operational hires to handle increased complexity. $5–10M Stage: Need to build a real leadership team with specialized functions (sales, ops, HR, etc.). $10M+ Stage: Owner must extract themselves from what they’re best at and structure scalable systems. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Alan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanpentz/ Owner Institute: https://www.ownerinstitute.com/ Closing thought: “Small businesses stay small for a reason. That reason is the owner.” Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2024! Podbrand Media - Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective in content creation and lead generation!

What if you could grow a business without ads or cold calls? That’s exactly what Mike Faraci set out to prove and did. Now the Founder & CEO of Red Button Media, Mike helps brands rise above the noise with authentic, story-driven video content. But his path didn’t start with a marketing budget or a polished campaign. It started with one camera, a clear message, and a commitment to post on LinkedIn for 500 days straight. In this episode of the Rising Tide Startups, we talk with Mike about how he built a media company from scratch without spending a dime on ads or picking up the phone for cold outreach. Mike shares how he developed systems around strategic content, how to speak to a “Target Viewer Persona,” and why trust-building starts with showing up as yourself online. This isn’t just a conversation about content strategy, it’s about discipline, self-belief, and doing the unscalable work when no one’s paying attention. Whether you're a solopreneur, startup founder, or just tired of growth tactics that feel fake, Mike’s story is a reminder that showing up with purpose and consistency can still beat the algorithm. Key Takeaways: Consistency beats perfection. It’s not about being flawless, it’s about being there. Show up regularly and let the momentum build. Content replaces cold calls. Done right, consistent content creation brings in warm, inbound leads—no ads, no chasing. Trust is built through familiarity. Every scroll-by impression adds up. People trust faces they recognize. Be visible. The cost of silence is high. If you're not showing up, your competitors are. Inaction has a price. Put a face to the brand. Personal content outperforms faceless brands. Relatability wins. Capture attention instantly. You’ve got only 3–5 seconds to lead with value or lose the moment. If you're not creating content in 2025, you're already behind. Organic visibility isn’t optional anymore, it’s the baseline. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Mike: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikefaraci Red Button Media:: https://www.hittheredbutton.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themikefaraci/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mikefaraci Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mike.faraci Closing thought: “If you’re not building a founder-led brand, you’re leaving trust, visibility, and opportunity on the table. Mike proves that showing up consistently isn’t optional—it’s the new competitive edge.” Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2024! Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective in content creation and lead generation!

This Episode - Turning an Unlikely Business into a Multi-Million Dollar Success Meet Will Milliken, president of a fast-growing dog waste removal company and founder of the President of Swoop Scoop® and founder of Poop Scoop Millionaire™. What started as a small side hustle has become a booming business with multiple locations and a thriving online community for aspiring entrepreneurs. Will shares how he transitioned from digital marketing to home services, why the pet waste removal industry took off, and the key strategies that helped him scale. With a focus on exceptional service and customer care, Swoop Scoop® has grown into a leading company serving thousands of satisfied clients. We also cover the marketing strategies that work (and don’t), building a standout brand, and the importance of fast customer response times. Plus, Will shares the surprising lessons he learned from a failed partnership with Pizza Hut and how he’s preparing for national expansion. Key Takeaways: Standardized, flat-rate pricing works best: customers prefer knowing costs upfront. Fast response time is critical: answering inquiries quickly sets businesses apart in home services. Professional branding (uniforms, truck wraps, CRM systems) increases trust and allows for premium pricing. Scaling starts with predictable lead generation. The biggest bottleneck is acquiring customers consistently. Marketing experiments matter. Facebook ads, Google SEO, and wrapped trucks work best, while some partnerships (like pizza box ads) miss the mark. Standardized operations make scaling easier. A clear system for hiring, training, and customer acquisition makes franchising a real possibility. Track Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) vs. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): understanding these numbers earlier could have cut growth time in half. Anticipate bottlenecks as you scale: hiring, vehicle acquisition, and equipment logistics become challenges as the business grows. If you don’t know how to acquire customers, your business will struggle. If you're not willing to start a poop scooping business, you're probably not going to start any business. Will’s journey proves that even the most unexpected businesses can be wildly profitable with the right systems and mindset. Ready to think outside the box (or the yard)? This episode will change the way you look at service businesses. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Will: Swoop Scoop: https://swoopscoop.com Poop Scoop: https://www.skool.com/poop-scoop-millionaire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-milliken Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Scoop-Start Blog: https://scoopstart.com/ Closing thought: “Big opportunities come from solving everyday problems. Price smart, systemize, and scale—success will follow.” Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2024! Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective in content creation and lead generation!

In this episode of the Rising Tide Startups Podcast, Tekla Tskhvediani shares how she went from Georgia’s corporate hospitality industry to creating a location-independent career in Bali. She talks about what led her to take that leap, the challenges she faced, and how she built a career that gives her both freedom and fulfillment. Tekla explains why the traditional job-hunting approach, like sending out resumes and hoping for the best, doesn’t work anymore. She shares how showcasing your value, thinking outside the box, and aligning your strengths with market needs can open new doors. From her own journey to the lessons she now teaches as a career mentor, Tekla offers advice for anyone looking to create a career on their own terms. If you’ve ever thought about working remotely, switching careers, or just designing a work life that fits you better, this episode is for you. Tekla’s approach is all about flexibility, creativity, and making career choices that align with the life you want. Here are the key takeaways from the conversation: Offering free value and fostering genuine connections can establish trust and credibility before monetizing your expertise. Confidence in pricing and business growth comes from proven results rather than vague affirmations. Clients benefit more from specific, actionable guidance that reduces decision fatigue than from generic advice. A successful coaching business must balance scalability with maintaining personalized, high-quality support. Traditional job applications are outdated—standing out requires creativity, personal branding, and authenticity. Personal career struggles can become a powerful asset when helping others navigate similar challenges. Sustainable business growth relies on consistent value delivery and authentic relationship-building, rather than aggressive marketing. Overcoming mental barriers and self-imposed limitations is often the biggest step toward career transformation. Listen to the full conversation here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR Connect with Tekla Tskhvediani: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tekla-tskhvediani-24b81a105 Website: https://pillar.io/teklatoppings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teklatoppingstestimonials Please leave us an honest rating on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Shoutout to our Great Sponsors: Naviqus Virtual Services - Hassle-free administrative support services that are efficient, affordable, and tailored to your needs. Check out https://naviqus.com now to jumpstart your business for 2024! Have you ever considered starting your own podcast for your company or brand? Podbrandmedia.com can help. Affordable and effective content creation and lead generation!