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From Grit to Growth
Welcome to From Grit to Growth! With a combined 50+ years of executive experience in retail, technology, and financial services, Mark and Jennifer have played pivotal roles in the success of several Fortune 500 companies. In this podcast, they'll talk about the key factors of successful founders, what holds them back from growth, how to find the why behind what they do, and much more.
Episodes
10 episodes
10. How FrostBuddy Grew From a Backyard Idea to a $70M Rocket Ship
FrostBuddy didn’t start with a pitch deck or a perfect plan. It started with two brothers in a small Illinois town who were curious enough to chase an idea and resilient enough to keep going when the market got crowded.In this conversati...
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49:39
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9. The Mom Who Built a Multi-Million-Dollar Brand from Her Basement with Julie Cole
When Julie Cole left the courtroom to start making waterproof name labels in her basement with three other moms, she didn’t know she was building a category-defining brand. Twenty years later, Mabel’s Labels has become a household name, helping...
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37:21
8. Growing at the Right Pace: How GURU Pet Company Reached $2.5 Million in Revenue in 3 Years
When Amy & JJ Stone founded GURU Pet Company in 2023, it was like stepping out from behind the curtain to take center stage in a play. After more than a decade inventing pet products for some of the biggest pet brands in the world, the Ston...
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40:16
7. The 5 Most Common Reasons Founders Fail
Founders fail for a variety of reasons, and it’s almost never because of a bad product. Over the years, Mark and Jennifer have had front-row seats to a multitude of startups, and they’ve spotted patterns that separate the successes from the fai...
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42:00
6. Do You Really Need Capital Right Now? Critical Cash Management Tips for Early-Stage Founders
Cash is king. No one knows the truth of that statement better than a startup founder who suddenly finds himself owing his suppliers, his employees and his landlord all within a week of each other. Growth is exciting, but it’s easy to lose sight...
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47:50
5. Culture is More than a Ping-Pong Table in the Office
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s a common saying in the business world, and it’s also one of the most important truths that the most successful startups understand. Too many founders think that culture is as simple as putting a ping ...
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27:24
4. How Every Founder Can Leverage AI to Get Better
More often than not, when we ask founders how they’re implementing AI in their day-to-day, we’re met with blank stares. Artificial intelligence is changing the landscape for businesses everywhere, so why aren’t more founders leveraging it to ma...
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42:22
3. Healthy Founder, Healthy Startup: Why Physical Health is Key for Growth
Welcome back to “From Grit to Growth,” where we discuss what it takes to be a successful founder. In this episode, we’re talking about health. While many people don’t make the connection between physical health and success at work, we find that...
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39:04
2. The Numbers Every Founder Needs to Know (Hint: It’s Not Revenue or ROAS)
In this episode of “From Grit to Growth,” we’re back with our thoughts on cash. Mark shares a story about a founder who wanted $1 million for desks and “probably a CTO” and a few other things. Mark’s response: “If I gave you that $1...
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18:52