‘What I Learned From Starting A Profitable Company When I Was 14′ – With Robby Berthume
on Nov 5, 2009 - 1:27 PM PSTIf you like this site, vote for it on my favorite news site here
In 2000, when he was 14-years-old, Robby Berthume started building web sites for local businesspeople. When he turned 22, the LA Business Journal featured him in its “Twenty in Their 20s” report because his company was earning healthy profits on about $1 million in sales by building profitable web sites like WhereToGetEngaged.
I invited Robby to Mixergy to talk about what he learned about building profitable sites.
The FULL program
About Robby Berthume
Robby Berthume is the Founder/CEO of Epsilon Concepts, a digital agency based in downtown Los Angeles. He is also the CEO of Moon Berthume, an Internet marketing firm in addition to being the Editor of the WhereToGetEngaged blog. He is also CEO and Co-Editor of the Los Angeles Digital Directory. Robby is also in the process of launching 2 social network / directory / search engine platforms around divorce and outsourcing in late 2009. You can also find him on Twitter or Facebook.
A few points we talked about
Talk up your business
In the early days of starting a business, some entrepreneurs are embarrassed to talk about it because it’s not successful yet. It’s just a budding idea. But Robby told us how he brought in clients by talking up his business everywhere. Some of his early customers came from places like his church.
Entrepreneurship can be a better education than school
Starting a business early (even if it ends up failing) can be more educational than going to school. We’ve talked about this in past interviews, like this one with Jared Kim, who quit school before starting his current company.
Turn down business
Robby’s business took off after he decided to pare down his project list and focus. It took him a year to cut down his company’s commitment to work on 40+ projects.
Don’t underestimate contests
Robby uses contests to help draw users to his site. He said it’s an inexpensive promotion because the prizes, like the rings that he gives away on WhereToGetEngaged, are often given to him for free from suppliers who want exposure on his sites. And it works because he uses the contest deadline to create urgency for users who might otherwise procrastinate about registering.
Have a profit-oriented mindset
We talked about how many online entrepreneurs start out looking for “eyeballs,” with no concern for revenue. Then, many of those same founders struggle to keep their companies going because they didn’t build a revenue plan into their businesses.
Start small
WhereToGetEngaged started out as a directory for a single state. Then it expanded into other states. Then it started offering other services like social networking.
In our pre-interview Robby told me this is one of the most important points that he wants to communicate to anyone building a web business. Start small. Reduce your idea to its simplest, most-manageable version. Then build it up.
Listen to the full interview to hear a deeper discussion on this point.
Full transcript
This is a mechanical transcript. If you see errors, feel free to correct them.
Full program includes
- Get ideas about where to find your ideal business partner or co-founder.
- Learn how to take a big business idea and reduce it to something small enough to launch effectively and cheaply.
- MY FAVORITE PART: See how to build a profitable directory business. You’ll hear how Robby gives away listings to populate his directory. Then he brings in revenue by selling premium placements.
Suggested comments
- What could I have done to make this program more helpful for you?
- I typed out some of MY most valuable notes from this interview. What did YOU find most valuable?
Program sponsor
Haystack – Find the right web designer for your next project.
Could you check out Haystack.com and give me suggestions for what I should talk about as I do my ads for the site over the next few weeks?
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November 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
If you like this site, vote for it on my favorite news site here… kept telling me to try again
November 5th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Hey Andrew,
I enjoyed this interview especially the point Robby brought up about finding markets where the topic is “all consuming” and providing people with solutions to these problems. The example he gave was getting engaged, or getting a divorce and how that is on the person's mind constantly. I think the interview went well but I did find myself drifting a little because of how fast the tempo was. As far as starting small we have heard that here before and it seems to be agreed upon that this is the best way. I am curious though, why did the site start in Virginia? Was there a reason for that particular state?
Congratulations on getting married as well as the move. I hope all is well down there, on a completely unrelated note…I was transfixed on your shirt! haha Where did you get that at?
Thanks,
Mike
November 5th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
The speed was actually refreshing.
Also, I saw a first here, maybe others would disagree. This felt like the first time you actually hammered a blueprint out of the interviewee that other entrepreneurs can adopt. The last twenty minutes of this was the most valuable 20 minutes I've gotten out of any video you've done Andrew. Props.
And thanks Robby for being open and detailed. I'm finalizing my business plan and was agonizing over milestones. Your “have a big vision but do it in increments” really gave me the peace of mind and reinforcement I needed. Clutch.
For a Beverly Hills guy you sure can riff.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am
How could a guy manage 40 projects at once?
Enjoyed info on outsourcing, slimming down number of projects to focus on a few, confidence and self presentation, and being vocal.
Like to hear more on good and bad experiences in finding quality staff and how to swing that financially.
Speed was fine. Liked that you asked for some personal info ( travel, hobbies, etc ) … that is good to help relate to the guest.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I was running into this problem as well…
November 7th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your feedback!
WhereToGetEngaged.com started in Virginia because that was where the client, a Virginia jeweler, had the most connections and it was easiest to build a prototype site and test the concept before focusing nationally.
Be well!
Robby
November 7th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Thanks Casey, appreciate the kind words. I felt like at some points we were all over the place, hahaha, but there was definitely some good discussion and great guidance on Andrew's part to try and flesh out some points from the talk.
I wouldn't yet call myself a “Beverly Hills” guy (I've moved 25 times+), but thanks for the compliment… hahaha,
Be well!
Robby
November 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
By not sleeping that much, being on the phone all the time and working my ass off essentially!
Definitely would talk more about staffing as well as financial aspects of building companies as well as websites.
Sorry I looked half asleep on the interview, I think I wasn't looking right into the camera, haha.
Kind Regards!
Robby
November 7th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I can confirm Robby working his ass off. When he comes home to visit his family it can be annoying because he's either on his Mac or iPhone doing deals and talking with clients BUT that's a big reason why he's had the success he's had. Lazy people can only get so far on brains alone.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
This “etherpad” seems to be overloading my browser… ie6 and firefox 3.0… maxing out my cpu..
Haystack feedback:
Amazed at what some are charging for sites!
Like that you can save to favorites without logging in.
Easy navigation.
Too many items/listings on homepage.
Add type of design to filter? i.e. blog, twitter, myspace, wordpress, drupal, joomla, shopping cart, etc.
Ability to add tags to designs: grunge, minimalism, industrial, green, etc
November 8th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Awesome interview, I liked the pace :)
Where can I learn more about offices in Beograd? I don't quite understand are they working separately, for local projects out there or no? That's pretty close to me, I'm from Croatia so I'm interested if there's any company out there which used your services.
On WhereToGetEngaged.com, Robby why did you picked separate domain name for each state?
WhereFloridaGetEngaged.com seems little bit to long and not that good ( when choosing domain name ) IMO … was there a reason? Given the fact that each state has it's own site, then why should I visit GLOBAL – main site? Aren't you loosing social aspect and website value doing that way? Isn't it simpler and better to do it in florida.wheretogetengaged.com way, or I'm wrong?
I like the way you're selling ads on site – you never lose visitor because manufacturer has it's own little website inside of WhereToGetEngaged.com, and a pretty great one. It creates value because visitor always comes back to your site ( WTGE owners site ).
November 20th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Hi Matej,
Thanks for the kind words. They are working exclusively on Epsilon Concepts and Moon Berthume (our marketing agency) work, they are not doing any work at this time outside of that.
The client picked the domains for every state and most countries. We actually now set it up like you have described for better SEO / organization, but the separate domains still work as well.
Thanks for the feedback!
Robby
November 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
[...] Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com interviewed Robby Berthume, CEO of Epsilon Concepts, about his remarkable start a teenage entrepreneur and how to build [...]
November 20th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Thanks for explaining it Robby, I can see that domain URL structure has changed, looks great now.
Good thing that I have subscription to comment replies or otherwise I'd stop checking for replies by now :) useful add-on.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:32 am
[...] Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com interviewed Robby Berthume, CEO of Moon Berthume, about his remarkable start a teenage entrepreneur and how to build [...]
November 25th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Hi Andrew,
I recently found Mixergy and have somewhat randomly been going through your interviews. This one caught me off guard. Not that I expected a bad interview, but it's surprising how bright and determined Robby was at such a young age! Completely makes me feel like a slacker, and I like that (very motivating).
I also appreciate that he had to work at it, it wasn't an overnight success, but there's definitely an intelligent strategy here.
Also, you did great job digging for the useful bits of information! I haven't seen anyone else that interviews like that, it's a big differentiator for you.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Hi Andrew,
I recently found Mixergy and have somewhat randomly been going through your interviews. This one caught me off guard. Not that I expected a bad interview, but it's surprising how bright and determined Robby was at such a young age! Completely makes me feel like a slacker, and I like that (very motivating).
I also appreciate that he had to work at it, it wasn't an overnight success, but there's definitely an intelligent strategy here.
Also, you did great job digging for the useful bits of information! I haven't seen anyone else that interviews like that, it's a big differentiator for you.