The Badass CEO

Photographer: Teemu Paananen | Source: Unsplash A pitch deck is a short presentation you need for your company to raise capital. It is a good idea to have a pitch deck from the beginning to make sure you are looking at all the essential aspects of your business. In essence, it is a condensed business plan. You shouldn’t have it be more than 12 pages or under 3-5 minutes to present it. You want it to be clear and concise. The primary purpose of a pitch deck is to generate excitement and interest to follow or invest in your company. Here is what I would include in your pitch deck. Explain the Problem Explain the Solution Why Now Market Size (Is the Tam big enough Business Model (How are you going to make money) Competition and Your Competitive Advantage Costumers and how you will distribute. Your Team Financials/ What metrics do you use? The Ask The pitch deck needs to explain the problem and the pain points your company will solve. How is it being done today? As a founder,...

Photographer: Scott Graham | Source: Unsplash One of the perks of having your own business is being able to deduct business expenses from your income. If you are not doing this, you are missing the boat and you are leaving lots of money on the table. But the question is what to deduct ……It can be a bit confusing so I compiled a list below. I use Bench which helps me go through each item and tells me how to categorize it and if it is deductible. If you haven’t tried Bench , you are missing out! It has changed my life. No longer do I have to stress about my books….It is seamless, personable, and VERY reasonably priced. Best yet, you get 20% discount on your first 3 months when you click here. WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT Technology Costs Software such as Later, Active Campaign Website Costs to hosting, domains, anything you pay to keep your website running Apps or services such as Zoom, Skype, Google, Office space Rent for office space or if you work from home see note below PO Box Shi...

Kara Goldin is the founder of Hint Water, a game-changing healthy drinks to replace to soda and flavored water. She joins us this week to talk about how she built her business and the lessons she learned along the way. She talks us through her new tell-all book Undaunted and the risks she took to launch Hint and turn it into the successful company it currently is. Episode Contents Lessons from Walking the Grand Canyon Personal Motivation to Create Hint Water How Personal Stories Connect Us Sharing Business Lessons Across Multiple Platforms Questions About Financing Thinking and Doing Outside the Box Connecting to Consumers To Become Advocates Links Lessons from Walking the Grand Canyon Hint Water CEO, Kara Goldin with her book, Undaunted Mimi: Kara, thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so excited. Hint Water is my kids' favorite water. Even the other day, they came down there with the little boxes, and then we took your new Hint Sunscreen on vacation with us, and we lo...

Photographer: Amy Hirschi | Source: Unsplash The statistic that only 5% of females ever reach C-Suites or become CEO is shocking. There are more women who go to college know than men, there is an almost 50/50 split between women and men in the workforce but still, only 5% ever reach the top. Why do you think this is? Besides the obvious gender bias that we are all very aware of, I came up with a few reasons that I think maybe attributing to this. Many women don’t want it. Ever since I was little I always thought I wanted to be making my way to the top of the corporate ladder. But once I started working in corporate America I realized pretty quickly I did not want to go all the way. I wanted to have a family and flexibility. I did not want to commute to work hours a day being away from more family. I had another friend who was offered one of the top jobs at one of the top banks and she turned it down. She didn’t want the responsibility that this new C-Suite job would bring and...

If you have wondered what it takes to be a C-suite level executive and how to run a startup during COVID, this week’s episode is for you. Mary McGovern is the CEO of New Wave Foods, a sustainable plant-based alternative to shrimp. New Wave is revolutionizing the food industry and Mary’s 25 years of packaged goods and consumer experience has helped her run the company and prepare them to launch in stores, restaurants, and the wider foodservice industry. Episode Contents Following Passion and Aligning Experience Mentorship Helps Achieve C-Suite Level Recognizing a Timely Opportunity Distinguishing Between CEO of Startup Versus C-Suite Level in Corporate America Knowing Your Leadership Style For Success Practices and Tools To Support a Busy CEO Links Following Passion and Aligning Experience Mary McGovern start up CEO bring her passion and experience Mimi: Welcome back to The Bad-Ass CEO. This is Mimi, and today we are going to talk to a C-suite consumer package executive who turned start...

Photographer: Thought Catalog | Source: Unsplash Third Door - A Must Read for Entrepreneurs As the title suggests, The Third Door shows you how many successful people used the third door to become successful. Alex Banayan takes us on a personal journey that starts when he is 18 years old, winning xx game shows. From those winnings, he sets on a path different than his parents envisioned for him to find out what the secrets are, from the likes of Steven Spielberg to bill gates to Lady Gaga. Using the Front Door When The Determined Use The Third Most people go through life using the front door. The wealthy and connected use the back door, and then there is the third door for the more determined. I loved this book because he shows you through perseverance and creativity, you can get what you want. Banayan describes how you need to create your opportunity; no one will give it to you. If you want something wrong enough, you can’t give up and keep trying something different until yo...

Leslie Hsu started her business Sunflow in the summer of 2020 when the world was still deep into the pandemic and she proves that with perseverance, design expertise, and a strong business plan you can build a successful company during a pandemic. She lets us in on how she started her business in secret, raised money prelaunch, and seamlessly works with her husband to run Sunflow. Episode Contents Leveraging Design Expertise for the Perfect Beach Chair Aligning Brand With Vision Networking - A Big Factor in Raising the First $1M Launch Strategy During the Pandemic Planning For More Openings Thinking Super Big What Else Has Worked to Achieve Success? Links Sunflow Leverages Design Expertise Sunflow Beach Chair Mimi: Welcome back to the Badass CEO. Today we have Leslie Hsu, the founder of Sunflow. It designed focus beach chair company, which she started the summer of 2020 after an outing to the beach. She had an idea to make a more stylish and comfortable beach chair and accessories. Les...