Mike Paulus of PCM Encore | Secrets to billion dollar success

Mike Paulus of Encore Investments is today's guest, who's a successful entrepreneur in the FinTech sector. Mike shares his journey of bootstrapping businesses, emphasising the importance of customer focus, identifying overlooked problems, and leveraging technology, particularly AI, to enhance business efficiency. He discusses the significance of metrics in driving growth and the strategic approach of choosing the right customers for long-term success. Mike's insights provide valuable lessons for entrepreneurs looking to navigate the complexities of business growth and customer satisfaction.

Takeaways

• Bootstrapping is viable in certain industries, but not all.
• Customer focus is crucial; measure and improve customer satisfaction.
• Identify overlooked problems in less competitive markets.
• Leverage technology and AI to enhance business efficiency.
• Choose customers wisely; long-term relationships matter.
• Understand your business's unit economics for sustainable growth.
• Be self-critical and continuously seek improvement.
• Invest in technology to streamline operations and improve service.
• Measure everything; data-driven decisions lead to success.
• A positive mindset and a focus on incremental improvements are key.

Chapters

00:00 Bootstrapping Success: The Journey Begins
09:05 Customer Focus: The Heart of Business
15:59 Identifying Overlooked Problems: Fishing in Your Own Pond
25:00 AI in Business: Embracing Technology for Efficiency
30:02 Choosing Your Customers: Building Meaningful Relationships

Mike Paulus in his own words

Michael Paulus is a recognised corporate leader who built two successful financial technology companies, which collectively report on more than $6 trillion of assets. Michael’s previous ventures have helped millions of Americans meet their financial goals and asset protection needs.

Michael is a financial thought leader, who holds two patents for his innovations in financial technology. Both of these inventions help financial institutions and advisors better understand and manage client portfolios.

Michael is a graduate of Stanford University, where he combined his love of finance and technology to earn an undergraduate degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering. While at Stanford, Michael helped manage the Charles R. Blyth Fund, a student-run investment portfolio that invests a portion of Stanford University's nearly $37 billion endowment.

Michael has deep expertise in alternative investments, including experience as a Partner at Andreessen-Horowitz, a leading Venture Capital firm that manages more than $42 billion and a General Partner at ACG, a real estate firm responsible for more than $2 billion of developed properties.

PCM Encore (Encore Investment)

Hawx Pest Control

Listen to other episodes of The Small Business Big Marketing Spotlight here. And if you’re a business owner focussed on improving the marketing of your business then you’ll love The Small Business Big Marketing Podcast which you can listen to here.

Thanks for tuning in. May your business shine.

Tim Reid

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