Hampton
@HamptonFounders
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A private, highly vetted network for high-growth founders and CEOs. Follow for operator insights and a behind-the-scenes look at incredible founder stories.
Joined March 2023
Starting a mega-thread library here of cool Hampton Reports…. These reports contain data from successful founders on building great businesses and lives…. 1/ What do successful founders do with their money?.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Hampton's 2023 Wealth Survey. We asked our members a bunch of money questions:. - Their net worth.- Personal income.- Personal expenses.- Asset allocation.- Hours worked per week.- And more. Check it:
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Dan Crowley makes millions each year from dump trucks. But this photo captures one of the only time he's ever driven one. Here's how a Jonah Hill movie (and access to the internet) inspired an 8-figure sweaty startup with more revenue per employee than Apple.
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This business started as a single Zapier automation the founder built for a friend. Today, it does $2.5m+ in revenue ($800k+ in ARR alone), and runs with big dogs like LegalZoom. Here's how BetterLegal got started, and grew (plus untapped opportunity in the space) 👇
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Each week, we ask multi-million dollar founders where they see untapped opportunities. Adam Lawrence sells millions in used tractors on the internet. It's a $40B industry no one thinks about. Here are two business opportunities he sees ripe for the taking 👇
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We run a community with hundreds of multi-million dollar founders in it. Many are famous. About half of them are parents. None of them (literally zero) talk about the money or success with anything close to the joy they have when talking about their family. Interesting data point.
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Starting a mega-thread library here of cool multi-million dollar founder stories. 👇. 1/ Dan Crowley - Hauling Gravel For Uncle Sam.
Dan Crowley makes millions each year from dump trucks. But this photo captures one of the only time he's ever driven one. Here's how a Jonah Hill movie (and access to the internet) inspired an 8-figure sweaty startup with more revenue per employee than Apple.
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Summer Reading List: Personal Finance Edition. We've got a Slack channel dedicated to personal finance and investing. There are 130+ multi-million dollar founders in there. We asked them all which money book they recommend most often to friends. Here are 10.
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Trying to learn B2B sales?. This is hands-down the most-recommended book in our founder group for building multi-million dollar sales pipelines.
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So there you go. Great example of how opportunity is everywhere. If you want more, check out the full story here + other behind the scenes looks at how founders build awesome businesses.
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Launching on Product Hunt?. A bunch of our members have used it to kick off successful products / companies. Here are 6 of their all-time favorite PH launch guides. .
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Hampton member @patrickdichter is not an accountant. But that didn't stop him from buying (and 3Xing) an accounting firm. After just 18 months, they're on track for $3.5m. Here's a breakdown on the acquisition, growth channels, challenges, untapped opportunities, and more👇
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Founders, here's an exercise you can use to diagnose problems in your company. It comes from Jess Chan, who has a background in theoretical calculus and bootstrapped her agency to 7-figures in it's first year. Something not working in the biz? Ask yourself these 5 questions 👇
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Bobby Watts is a Hampton member who does $5m+ per year building custom drones. NatGeo, History Channel, Stranger Things, SpaceX - he's worked with them all. 20 employees, and 10k+ sq feet of office/innovation lab. Here's how he bootstrapped the entire thing 👇
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Inside our Slack group, we keep a library of everyone's favorite industry newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and thinkers. Here are the ones you may not have heard of, from. 1. CPG.2. Media.3. Apps.4. Real Estate.5. Staffing/BPO.6. Manufacturing.
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The US has a water problem. There are 150,000 public and private utilities. Mostly outdated. Many serving water worse than Flint. Very few consumers know. Seyi Fabode built company to fix it. They'll do $3m+ this year. 📚Here are 4 books that help him think outside the box.
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Agency owners, what do you think of this valuation chart?. We've heard multiples are high (current are more like ~1/2 to 1/3 this) but the factors affecting value are spot on. What are you seeing?
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Jasmine Star dropped out of law school to be a photographer without even owning a camera. Today, she makes millions teaching people to tell visual stories. "At each turn, I was uneducated, unfunded, unqualified, and unprepared to start a new business, but I did.". Her story 👇
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We keep seeing more and more founders building big businesses without full-time hires. For example, Ania Wysocka bootstrapped her app to 2m+ users and 7-figures in revenue. Several key contractors. But zero FTE's. Here's how.
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From garage prototype to $80m+ in annual rev in under 4 years @thecoldplunge founders told us:. -How they got their first 20 customers.-The influencer strategy that landed Tony Hawk and Huberman.-Where they see untapped opportunity.-and more. Check it👇.
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You can build a big business without relying on paid ads. @courtstarr did. $68m raised in VC.75k+ clients.8-figures in revenue.Recently acquired. Here are 7 ways his team grew the biz without burning a ton of money on ads.
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Some crazy things you may not know about mobile games. -They can cost $25m-$50m to make.-Publishers pay $12-$20 per download in some cases.-70% of users bail in 24 hours. And yet, Ryan Filsinger bootstrapped his studio Iron Fox to millions in year 1 with zero ads here's how 👇
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A-players hire A-players. B-players hire C-players. Your first B hire will dramatically change your company. Remember that.
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You've heard of the water in Flint, Michigan. But did you know there are 150,000 water utilities in the US, and many are worse than Flint?. Seyi Fabode is fixing it. This is no charity. He's raised millions, and is on track to do $3m+ in rev this year. Here's how.
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By the way, he says there's a big opportunity most people don't know about in brokering dump trucks for these temporary projects. Brokers pull 5-10% of a truck's day rate without ever actually owning the trucks. Can be 6-figures per month with very low overhead.
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In our private founder group, we have a parenting channel with 200+ founders in it. Recently, they traded recommendations for kid-safe Youtube channels that'll help 'em learn cool stuff without melting your brain as an adult. Here are 8 favorites. .
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This is awesome - one of our members, @alexisgrant has built several successful media companies. Here's a loom she made breaking down their entire editorial funnel, tools, and process for working with freelance writers.
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Walmart's former CEO once told Sam if you want to build a company that could be bought for $100m in 3 years, look at fit analytics. Returns cost retailers billions. Well, this guy is doing it using AI/VR, and 2 photos from your phone. Here's his story.
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It was just supposed to be a hobby biz - something to do as a couple. But today, the apparel brand they started from their spare bedroom does $60m+ and is one of the fastest-growing female-led companies in the US. This is the story of Fresh Clean Threads 👇
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This is a great pivot story. Hampton member Jay Sapovits helped grow Marquis Jet to $1B in <5 years. But when his next company failed, it was really tough. He hung in, and today, does millions in rev with clients like Penn Entertainment, DoorDash, Crocs, etc. Here's how👇
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Incredible way to land high-ticket clients: Start a podcast. Jason Harris' agency does $50m+ net revenue, and his Soul & Science pod is the perfect relationship starter. Just dropped a piece with more here 👇.
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Hampton member Jasmine Star ditched law school to become an entrepreneur, and today she runs a multi-million dollar SaaS business. Here are two books that helped her decide to bet on herself.
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In less than four years, Hampton member @anthony_j_zhang has built Vinovest to the biggest wine and whiskey investing platform in the US, with. -150k+ registered users.-650k+ bottles.-$100m+ AUM. Here's how 👇
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Since then, he's specialized in gravel and aggregate jobs for the gov't. They've gradually grown to 6 trucks and 5-6 employees. They make $10m-$15m per year doing this. And there's a lot of demand.
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Every week, we ask successful founders where they see untapped business opportunities in their industry. Their insights are gold. Dan built a $10m+ company that hauls gravel for the government. His answer to the question: Brokering dump trucks. 👇
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Triple Whale was originally an internal tool, designed to help the co-founders with their DTC brand. Two years later, it's a stand-alone SaaS with 5k+ users, $50m+ in investment, and 8-figures in rev. Here are 3 keys to their early growth (straight from co-founder Maxx Blank)👇
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After 8 months in stealth, we're finally opening our doors to the public. 🚀 @thesamparr @jspeiser @dipietromedia
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📚 Book Drop: Hampton member Joshua Lisec built a $1m+ ghostwriting company. Here are 2 books that influenced him most. 1. Getting Everything You Can out of All You’ve Got by @RealJayAbraham."Taught me to think like a marketer in every aspect of my services business,"
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The Founder Micro-MBA. Want to understand your company's numbers better? You don't need to drop $15k on an exec-ed course at Yale. Here are 7 free or low-cost options designed for busy founders and recommended by Hampton members. .
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Apparently, this site gets 100k-400k visits per month and makes ~$10k. It does one thing. Suggests synonyms to help you remove the word "very" from your writing 👇
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"I wasn’t drawn to the arms and munitions aspect — or, of course, doing anything illegal" Dan said. "But I remember thinking: I could do what they're doing. Why can't I supply propane to the Air Force?". So he started searching SAM, the gov't contract site.
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This memo is from Steve Jobs' company, NeXT. He launched it after being ousted from Apple. A decade after he wrote this, they were acquired by Apple for $427m, and their work became Mac OS X. Build slowly, and carefully.
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Ever hear of the Mochary Method?. Matt Mochary and his team are some of the most sought-after executive coaches on the planet (counselled AngelList, Coinbase, Reddit, etc.). This Google doc contains their full curriculum (100s of pages):.
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Trying to get your remote team to gel? Our group has a bunch of fully remote 7- and 8-figure companies. Here are four books their founders used to unify their teams (have your staff read them together!). 1. Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
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Of course owning the trucks is also cool. -Cost ~$200k.-Can finance 100%.-5 year payback.-5.5% interest. BUT in some cases you can depreciate 100% of the cost in year 1. Meaning you can basically grow your fleet to offset income/taxes elsewhere. Very cool.
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Great example of how founders come from all backgrounds. Carina Clingman got her PhD in Molecular Pharmacology. When she joined the job market, she noticed a problem: There are no scientists in recruiting. That insight became a $5m biz. Here's how👇.
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Incredible story from our network: When covid hit, @aschwags3 launched a talent network called @GrowthAssistant. -Grew to $50k MRR in first 100 days.-Bootstrapped to $11m+ since then.-Just 8 US employees.-Zero ad spend. She did a full write-up here 👇.
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In 2019, they won the largest rock delivery contract in Missouri state history: $23m to deliver 550k tons of shot rock (about 30,000 dump truck loads!). They had ~100 or so dump trucks running all day, every day for about six months to repair three levee breaches.
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Yes, an exit is a big win for a founder. But it's also scary to stop earning! There's often a fear of losing it all, and it's hard to relax without a regular paycheck. If you struggle with this, you're not alone. Here are 4 tips from post-exit founders in our group 👇.
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One automation --> $2.5m+ biz. It's a great example of how one insight can lead to surprising opportunities. For more, including:.-more "oh sh*t" moments.-keys to the business model.-opportunities in the space.-and more. Check out the full piece here:.
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New $5m Case Study: Hampton member Antonella Pisani has an incredible story. -Former VP at several major brands.-Launched her own freelance shop in 2016 (unplanned).-Grew to $5m+ and 20 FTEs.-3x Inc 5000.-Totally bootstrapped. Full breakdown here👇.
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I don't know if we've quite met anyone like Jonathan Sturgeon. I mean he named his company after his "two dead sexy cats" (his words). but, he stands out in a sea of sameness. 3.5 years into his business and its about to reach $10m. so, what the hell is Dingus & Zazzy?. (props
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We just wrapped up our Core Group Retreats. 150+ founders in beautiful Ojai Valley. 🌞. Luxe location. Incredible programming. Super thoughtful workshops. Invaluable connections. Pretty stoked about the feedback coming in. .
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Here's how $50m agencies are getting leads right now, according to insights traded in our private founder Slack group.
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How do you build a company that lasts 100+ years?. Members in our group discussed this recently. Here are 7 books they look to for inspiration 👇. 1. Lessons From The Century Club.Results of a decade-long study into 100+ year old companies.
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Tracking personal finances is tough if you're involved in multiple companies. So founders in our group recently shared their favorite tools:. Outside of Google Sheets, @KuberaApp and @Addepar were most-common. Augmented with Tiller, @CopilotMoney, and @FintableHQ
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A lot of people are interested in HoldCo's these days. Our member, Dan Tamkin built one that does $50m+ per year, profitably. In this piece, he broke down. -How they source acquisitions.-His equation for good deals.-Favorite tools & thinkers.-And more.
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Jared Kleinert just raised $3m to build the "Airbnb" of offsites!. He took us inside the biz to show us:.-Top growth channels.-Tech stack for sales + dev + bank.-Mistakes he's made.-What he got right.-Where he sees untapped opportunities.-and more. 👇.
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The Agency Profitability Stack:. Three of the biggest challenges in any multi-million dollar agency: time tracking, resource planning, and project management. Here are the tools that agency founders in our group love for each. .
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Founders don't pay themselves as much as you think in base salary. A majority (36%) of our surveyed members pay themselves between $100k to $200k. But that's by design. (right?) . It saves cash for the business to spend in other areas.
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New Case Study: Hampton member @jodie_cook has a fascinating story. -Forbes columnist.-Sold an agency for 7-figures.-Travels the world competing in powerlifting.-Grew her new AI SaaS to 6-figures ARR pre-launch (!). She showed us how here👇.
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A great question founders in our group discussed recently:. "If you get a cold email from another founder who clearly wants to become your vendor, and they're offering to meet for lunch, what would make it an easy YES?". Here's the 2 main takeaways.
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4/ Is AI eventually going to run my business?.
Check this out. Pretty cool. We got 100 Hampton members to show how their using AI to grow their business. Some people used it to grow their Insta to 1m or publish newsletters. Pretty wild. Then we asked them specifically which tools they're using and how.
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Joseph Mambwe bootstrapped his app to $2.5m+ in revenue with zero employees. Recently, he broke down the biz for us including. -Inspiration.-Building the MVP.-Top growth channels.-Where he sees opportunity in the space.-and more. 🧵👇
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Exciting news: Our team is growing. We're hiring for a kick-ass Content Lead to tell the stories of incredible founders in our newsletters, blog, social, and more. If you're the person we should talk to, apply here👇.
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2/ Different ways to build a successful Agency business.
I got ~30 agencies owners in Hampton to reveal their:. - revenue.- profit.- profit per employee.- a list of challenges they're facing. A few interesting takeaways:. - agencies that offered consulting services on average had 2X the revenue of next highest service category. - it.
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New on the blog: @melanie-balke grew her solo consulting practice to a seven-figure agency with 24 employees in ~2 years. The kicker: They run a 4-day workweek and have 20 days mandatory PTO. Here's how👇.
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Here's a $1m+ business you maybe never thought existed: Online coaching for people in recovery . Hampton member Matt Serel. -Launched first biz at 14 .-Almost died from OD .-Got sober .-Successful exit .-Now helps 1000's stay sober . Full breakdown👇.
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Every year, founders lose millions of dollars because they didn’t do the “boring” stuff. Small mistakes and oversights can literally cost you years of work…. Especially when it comes to QSBS, the single most generous tax break in the US. @ankurnagpal just dropped a QSBS 101 in
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This week, @thesamparr asked an interesting question in Hampton community Slack: . "Have any of you effectively gone from a 0-1 type of entrepreneur to a proper capital allocator?". @Dan_Tamkin did. He built a $60m+ HoldCo (profitably). Here's how👇.
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3/ Finding your edge in eCommerce.
ANNOUNCEMENT:. Hampton's 2024 ecommerce report is live. We surveyed a ton of ecom businesses. Ave rev of responder: $25m. We asked:. • revenue per employee. • which marketing channels have been best/worst. • salaries of CEO/owner. • gross profit, income,
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He wrote more about the whole thing here, including. -Gross & Net margins of the biz.-A look at his hiring playbook and EOS scorecard.-Full breakdown of the tech stack.-3 more untapped opportunities he sees.-And more. Check it out👇.
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Hampton member Seth Odell launched the fastest-growing higher ed marketing agency in the country:. -Bootstrapped to $7m+ in just 4 years.-Started with just $5k.-Hasn't spent a penny on ads. Here's how👇.
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30% of support tickets never go to a human anymore. .This was one insight we captured at @HamptonFounders in our AI report earlier this year. .(Hampton is a membership community for founders and CEOs.)..We surveyed our members to see how they’ve implemented AI into their
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Unique sales hack for service businesses:. Don't discount your rates. Instead, make a course teaching clients' employees how to do what you do, and sell THAT at a much lower price. -New revenue stream.-Allows you to keep service prices high.-Some will buy your services after.
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Agency Owners: If you ever wondered what it's like going from small shop to big team, you'll love this. @thekerrrn started in a basement office, then. -Built a reputation for bold work.-Landed clients like Starbucks.-Got acquired in 2019.-Now leads 50+.
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By the way, as a quick side note, these are the resources that helped him prepare mentally to make the acquisition:. -@TLAOpodcast.-@AcquiringMinds_.-@acquanon. And @HarvardBiz guide to buying a small business.
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5/ How much do CEOs and Founders actually pay themselves? .
Ok so we surveyed 150+ @HamptonFounders.members. Had simple questions about salary, compensation, and bonuses. We took all of that and put together this report to find out things like. 📷 How much do founders pay themselves in salary.📷 Types of bonuses and equity they
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Matthew and Melissa Parvis launched a DTC clothing brand from their spare bedroom, and grew it to $60M+. They broke down. -How they launched.-Most effective growth channels & ads.-The "oh sh*t" moments.-Thoughts on leadership & working as a couple.-More.
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a single zapier automation morphed Into A $2m+ business. Zapier and No-Code tools are now legit -- helping people build multi-million dollar businesses. check it out. Chances are you've filed your fair share of LLCs in your day – and you know what a pain it can be. What should.
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Why would you give up $500k/month personal cash flow?. ---.@thesamparr opens up Season 2 of MoneyWise with @marshal's story. Marshall chose to forgo his substantial income for mental space and a $26M exit. Thats a hard decision to reconcile with. Recorded just weeks after
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Proof that the 4-day workweek can work:. @Melanie_Balke pivoted her personal consulting to an agency circa 2021. Grew to 24 teammates and 7-figures in rev by 2022. Set to grow ~150% this year. They work 4 days a week. Here's the story.
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So there you go, two big opportunities in a space most never even consider. For more, including. -How he launched the biz.-Tools / books he relies on as a leader.-Other places he sees opportunity. Check out the full piece here.
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Our member, @jjesschan has driven $300m for DTC clients via retention marketing in the last few years. This week, she opened her team's playbook, including:.-Their audit process.-Crucial email/SMS flows.-Benchmark performance data.-and more.
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Podcast Drop: Here's a podcast our members are loving. Patrick Campbell - Does $200m Make You Happy?.
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Dan Crowley built a $15m business hauling gravel gravel for the government. He's only driven a dump truck once. Here's one book and two podcasts he says have been crucial in his journey 👇
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Keep in mind, he didn't actually have the trucks. He had to figure all that out. Some thoughts he had. “Damn, do I need to fly out there?” “What if something goes wrong?” “Should I be on site to manage the deliveries?”. But the project went smoothly, and a business was born!.
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When he was younger, @BradSchiller says he was a terrible communicator. But his time at McKinsey sparked a passion for writing, and now he runs one of the biggest college essay coaching companies on Earth. He broke down the whole journey here👇.
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It started with War Dogs, the Jonah Hill movie (based on a true story) of government contractors who made millions selling weapons. "One of the first contracts they won was supplying 50,000 gallons of propane — just by playing middle man and brokering the contract." Dan told us.
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DTC Founders: Where are you spending your ad budget right now?. Here's some anonymized data from some founders in our group. What's your allocation look like?
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This is a free course on how to buy, grow, and sell companies. Used to be $300, but bought it and opened it up to everyone.
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At @HamptonFounders we just surveyed 160+ founders with over 1.5 billion in total revenue…. There's always questions floating around about salaries. And when you Google it, the answers are all over the place and lack context. So, we went straight to the source and asked our
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Looking for VC's?. One of our members compiled a spreadsheet of 150+ who are actively investing. We're sharing it with our email list tomorrow, along with a $50m DTC case study, and tips for managing email overwhelm as a founder. Sign up here to get it:.
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His buddy was charging $300/hr to do work that could be automated. Sakonchick took a crack at implementing Zapier, and was able to cut the time required by 95% which allowed his buddy to charge less, but still make more per minute. He plotted the OG zap flow on this wall
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During peak covid, when everything was uncertain, Mae Karwowski turned down a $25m acquisition offer. "[I knew] we were worth significantly more and we would pull through," she says. She was right. Here's what she learned bootstrapping to a killer exit 👇.
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