🔥 Maximilian's 7 figure design business

Hey - It’s Guy & Farzan.

We got upto a sweaty 36 degrees this week in Sydney. Staying in the cool to put together the newsletter.

Take 20 minutes out of your day and have a read/watch of the 2 founder stories, 1 foundero playbook, and 1 founder tweet.

Estimated reading time: 10 mins

2 Founder stories

1. See how Maximilian and Sina built a ‘design as a service’ business to 7 figures in revenue.

"Hard work beats talent" - a mantra that fueled the journey from side hustle to design innovation.

Dive into the story of a founder who turned passion into a groundbreaking subscription design service. From the early days of juggling university projects to leading Magic Design, this journey is a testament to the power of hard work and innovative thinking.

The journey:

🎓 University Hustle: The entrepreneurial seed was planted early, never settling for the status quo.

💡 Leap of faith: Transitioned from side projects to full-time entrepreneurship, taking on the risks and rewards.

🎨 Magic design got started: They identified a gap in the design market and launched a subscription model, revolutionizing accessibility and efficiency.

🛠️ Toolbox trio: Leveraged Figma, Webflow, and Loom to elevate operational capabilities and client engagement.

🎯 The golden lesson? Focus, focus, focus. In a world brimming with distractions, honing in on what truly matters can propel your venture beyond the imaginable.

2. See how Jason and Sawyer built a cookie company that did $1 billion revenue in 2023 (they started in 2017)

Jason McGowan, alongside his wife's cousin Sawyer Hemsley, established the well-known dessert franchise Crumbl in 2017. Serving as the CEO and co-founder, McGowan has propelled the company to remarkable heights, transforming it into one of the fastest expanding food chains in the country. With more than 980 outlets worldwide, Crumbl generates in excess of $1 billion in yearly revenue.

1 Founder playbook

How Pat Walls Grew Starter Story to 1.6 million monthly visitors + over $1M in annual revenue

The Humble Beginnings: A side project turns into a mission.

Milestone: 1.6 Million Monthly Visitors & Over $2M ARR: From early traction on Reddit to dominating SEO.

Lesson for Founders: Embrace every win, no matter how small, and always keep experimenting.

The importance of distribution: One pivotal lesson from Pat's entrepreneurial saga is the importance of distribution over product. It's not just about what you build but how you get it in front of people.

Community: But the journey wasn't just about traffic and revenue. It was about building a community and a platform that valued depth over breadth.

The Power of Hiring and Delegation: Pat's story also underscores a crucial pivot point - hiring his first employee, which serendipitously was his sister. This move not only accelerated growth but also highlighted the essence of trusting your team with autonomy, akin to "mini-founders."

The Diversification Leap: Realizing the risk of a single revenue stream, Starter Story's venture into premium memberships marked a strategic pivot towards sustainability.

Systemize, Automate, Dominate: Pat's knack for automation and systemization allowed Starter Story to scale operations efficiently, ensuring that the focus remained on creating unparalleled content and value.

Engagement through Transparency: Perhaps, one of the most compelling aspects of Starter Story's ethos is building in public. Sharing the highs, the lows, and everything in between, Pat has crafted a narrative that's not just relatable but also deeply inspiring.

1 Founder tweet

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See you in 7 days.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo