Overview

On this episode of Build Your Network, Host Travis Chappell interviews Justin Hartzman, serial business starter and CEO of Needls, an AI company.

Topics Discussed: 

• About Justin Hartzman
  • Sold his first two businesses a year after graduating college.
  • Tries to find gaps that need to be filled while making the masses lives earlier.
  • At Needls:
    • Only 5 million of 65 million companies on Facebook are advertising.
    • It’s Robo-Agency that learns who you are and what you’re trying to sell and to who.
    • The ads are created an optimized seven days a week.
    • The data finds your better customer.
    • Most companies are searching for people who may have an interest, but they’re not showing up in the moment of need.
    • Their service is a $100 p/month SaaS fee and then whatever you want to spend on advertising.
    • They’ve been in this space since 2005, Needls began in 2014 and this product has over 800 accounts.
    • A lot of time, energy, thought, smarts and dollars went into creating this software.
  • Do you believe that what you know or who you know is more important, and why?
    • You can’t choose one over the other.
    • You have to have a good understanding of a lot of things, but you always have to be hiring smarter people than yourselves.
    • If you had to choose one, it would have to be who you know.
  • Tell us about a time when a connection led to a moment of success?
    • In their current funding round, they were looking to raise $500,000 and raised $1.5 million.
    • In Toronto there is a business pitching event to win $50,000.
      • He applied to do the competition and didn’t get picked.
      • He sent an email and then immediately got an email saying that they had gotten picked.
      • He ended up winning the competition and the $50,000. But he met someone who runs a huge angel network, and it helped him raise around $400,000.
    • What was the big thing that got you out of bed to participate in the competition, though you didn’t really want to do it?
      • Fear of missing out.
      • Guilty conscience – He didn’t want to back out on his word.
    • Why are some people opportunity-averse?
      • Life is all about opportunities and what you make of them.
      • The best things in life come on the opposite side of fear. -Will Smith
      • You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. -Wayne Gretzky
    • What would you say to someone who’s afraid of rejection?
      • Get the word no said to you as many times as possible and get used to it.
      • Thousands of “no’s” make you stronger.
      • When people say no, ask them why, don’t let them off the hook.
        • This will help you get better at what you do, and you can overcome those objections in the next pitch.
      • If you could boil everything down to one tip, what would it be?
        • Talk to at least seven people and hand out at least seven business cards in every room you enter.
          • Get to know the people there and find out if you can work together to make something happen.
        • How important have mentorships and masterminds been throughout your career?
          • He hasn’t done a lot of that but does do a lot of conferences.
          • Having a mentor is super important, he mentors for others.
          • All great leaders will have a mentor or seek to find the right one.
          • You have to understand who your inner and outer circles are and what you can share with each group.
        • Why are there so many people who neglect to network?
          • Fear of rejection.
          • How do you find the right situation?
            • You have to find where the right places to learn for you are.
            • When you’re first starting, you don’t really know what the right places for you are yet.
            • The only real asset that we have is time, not money.

The Random Round:

• What profession other than your own do you think it would be fun to attempt?
  • Helping people do what they’re passionate about.
• If you could sit on a park bench with anyone for an hour who would it be, and why?
  • The older version of him.
• How do you like to consume content best, books, blogs, podcasts, or videos?
  • Podcasts
• What is one of your most favorite podcasts?
  • Mixergy
• Give us a glimpse of your morning routine
  • Get up and get kids out of bed, spend time with them
  • Shower, brush teeth
  • Grab bag and get into office
• What is your go-to pump up song?
  • It Was All a Dream
• What are you not very good at?
  • A lot of things
• What is one place where we can find you online?
  • Live chat on needls.com or Facebook

Tweetable Quotes:

• Life is all about opportunities and what you make of them.
• Curiosity is one of the top traits of a great networker.
• All great leaders will have a mentor or seek to find the right one.
• The only real asset that we have is time.

Resources Mentioned:

Buildyournetwork.com – Podcast website

BYN.media/fb – Facebook Group

Needls.com – Justin’s website

jh@needls.com – Justin’s contact info