Hampton

Most people know Duolingo, but the guy behind it doesn't get talked about much. I started doing a deep dive on Luis von Ahn. His background is crazy. He's from Guatemala and got a computer when he was 8 and started programming when he was like 10 years old. He's played a big role in AI and education. Here's the thing: You've probably used his inventions without even knowing. He helped invent CAPTCHA. And there’s more: -reCAPTCHA started with random words you had to type in to help digitize books and newspapers -They sold it to google in 2009 -Now you gotta click on bikes, buses, traffic lights, etc. to solve them Why? Because it’s now training data for self-driving cars Hundreds of millions of reCAPTCHAs are solved EVERY DAY. That's a ton of data for AI training. He’s fascinating, we might do more on him.

I want to give a shoutout to a friend who became an advisor and an even bigger friend. We grew to $15M GMV with inbound but never had an experienced head of sales. We had a hard time figuring out how to scale sales, and going into 2024, I was looking for some strategic and tactical help. I spoke to a few members of Hampton Community, including Wade Lowe. He spoke with me pro bono for hours, and I asked him to help as a consultant. They helped with training our leads, improving processes, and making the data more transparent. They went through many discovery calls and trained our team to work better. The win conversion has grown. Most importantly, I feel more confident and excited because a big part of the load has been taken off my shoulders. For example, last week, we hired a US-based sales exec. Wade and his team have helped us determine what kind of person we need and what qualities to look for. He interviewed the candidates and helped us negotiate with the right hire. It’s not an ad. I genuinely want to make a recommendation for anyone who is struggling like I did. If you are, talk to Wade Lowe.

We had an incredible Chicago Tech CEO event last night at The Aviary (a world-renowned cocktail bar in West Loop). Hampton founders synced up to talk about wins/losses and have what I call “founder therapy” over drinks. Thanks for joining everyone. William Hancock, CFP® Steven Farag Grant Hensel Seung Chan Lim (Slim) Jeff Benning Rob Daly Kevin Alsterda Chris O'Neill Peidi Wu Jeremy Keeshin Anar Isman Garrett L.

Wanna know how one pissed-off founder turned his M&A headaches into a biz? One that’s helped 1000+ startups cash out over half a billion dollars? And did it in just 4 years? Buckle up. Selling a business is almost always a pain in the ass. Years to find a buyer, weeks of due diligence, endless legal crap. And don’t forget the broker fees (sometimes deserved, but mostly wtf). Andrew Gazdecki felt that pain multiple times. So he built acquire . com, a marketplace that’s basically tinder for startup acquisitions. In just 4 years, they’ve done over half a billion dollars in acquisitions. Not bad for a guy who was just trying to solve his own problem. Here’s the wild part: --> all they set out to do was make M&A suck less. --> He took all the headaches of selling a business (and trust me, there are many) and said “what if we just made it not terrible.” The result? A platform where founders can list their startup for free, get matched with legit buyers, and close deals quickly. But they’ve gone way beyond just connecting buyers and sellers. He built stuff like: Legal document builders Metrics connections Escrow integrations A valuation tool Basically, if it makes selling your startup easier, Acquire probably has it. They even have an M&A team to hold your hand through the process. I don’t know about you, but I hate corporate jargon more than just about anything. One of the most impressive parts is that their growth has been mostly organic. No fancy PR stunts or million-dollar ad campaigns. Just good ol’ fashioned word-of-mouth and some cameo videos on social media. Making things more accessible so founders of different sizes can have life-changing exits is awesome. So, what’s the moral of this story? Sometimes, the best businesses come from solving your own problems. And if those problems involve millions of dollars and legal headaches, even better!

as a community is growing, one of the best things that happens is that Members start to make it something of their own. our Members self-organize for coffees, dinners and other types of hangs -- amazing to see this happen organically. people want to be around each other, all building. kudos to you Hampton members leaning in and building the community. cheers.

Why do I join groups like Hampton? Well, these groups provide me with well-vetted advice quickly. Despite the high annual fees, the valuable knowledge I gain always outweighs the cost. Here are some of the critical questions I’ve been able to answer quickly through my network over the past few months: 1) How do you design a compensation package for a business development executive? 2) How can I build strong culture among a remote workforce? 3) How can I best hire global talent without being exposed and incurring unforeseen costs? 4) What are some lessons learned from offering a phantom equity plan? #entrepreneurship #startups

SaaS businesses can be sexy. Why? high gross profit margins We're analyzing data for our 2024 SaaS Report that comes out next week. check this out a bunch of SaaS companies that our members own operating at 80%+ gross profit (ps: yes we collect data in a Google form; its functional)

How many hours did you work last week? If above 40 hours -- do you think it was effective? Why might we ask: "Young people talk about wanting balance. Well then you don't want to be rich. You can have it all. You just can't have it all at once." Scott Galloway said this on MoneyWise a couple of weeks ago. Its refreshing in today's world to hear something like this. The idea that balance isn't always possible - we can't always live in a dream. But at some revenue number, I dunno, maybe $10m or when you can afford to hire a team, 40-50 hours for most weeks is 100% adequate. Curious what yall think about the optimal number of hours.

Today I'm coming out as a Hamptonite/Hamptonian and I’ve attached an interview to prove it. https://lnkd.in/g5azD44C Before joining, I was alone. I just put my head down for YEARS in the shadows while working and shut the world out because there’s just so few people to talk to about things like: - Not knowing who you can ever fully trust.  - Making the wrong decisions and the guilt that comes with it.  - Being scammed, impersonated, hacked, siphoned, sued, slandered etc.  - Worrying about being my true self, especially on the internet/social media. - How to be a good father/husband while juggling the extreme highs and lows. But it’s not just about the bad! I also didn’t have a community that could truly understands the good that comes with massive risks paying off and the joys that are associated. Hampton changed this for me in the blink of an eye. It’s like someone turned on a switch and all of a sudden I’m surrounded by people doing even better than me going through all the same things? I still have trouble believing it. I feel like I have new energy for the phase of my life. I really mean it. Thanks for making something like this, Sam Parr Joe Speiser. I didn't know something like this existed, but I finally found a home. (Ps. I wrote this while listening to Dashboard Confessional, remember that?? #myspace #emo)

As the CEO of Hampton, I've had the privilege of working with some incredible entrepreneurs. I've tried thousands of products, but these 3 from Hampton members have become my daily essentials. Here's why I can't live without them (and the impressive stories behind each).. 1. Soul: My secret weapon for deep sleep: Their Sleepi gummies. - I fall asleep in 20 minutes flat - Don't wake up when kids sneak in - Consistently hitting "100" scores on my Eight Sleep Founded by siblings Mike & Angie Lee, one former pro athlete, all DTC, company is growing like a weed... 2. SwagUp: The backbone of our Hampton swag game. - Makes our fulfillment process effortless - Responsive team, easy automation - Top-notch customer support Michael Martocci bootstrapped this to an impressive $100M+ total revenue across 5,000+ customers. They started at a tech conference in 2017 and haven't looked back since! 3. Lower Street The audio wizards behind our Hampton podcast. - Elevated our MoneyWise show's quality - Find and vet incredible guests - Work seamlessly with our co-founder Sam Parr Harry Morton founded Lower Street and helped it achieve 100% annual growth for 3 years straight. They're running a 20-person team across 6 countries! These products aren't just in my daily routine - they're game-changers run by incredible founders. What products have become your can't-live-without essentials? Let's find some hidden gems that help you run your life 💎