Mike & Kass Lazerow - From Zero to $745M | The Simple Truth About Growth

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Mike and Kass Lazerow are married serial entrepreneurs and investors best known as the co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, a social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce in 2012 for $745 million. Their entrepreneurial journey began after they reconnected at a mutual friend's wedding in 1996, and two years later they co-founded Golf.com before marrying in 1999. After selling Golf.com to Time Warner in 2006 for $24 million, they launched Buddy Media. Since then, they have supported nearly 100 early-stage startup founders as angel investors and advisors, with their investments generating more than $10 billion in realized gains, including notable successes like Scopely and Liquid Death. They are authors of "Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story" and have received numerous accolades, including being ranked number one on Business Insider's Silicon Alley 100. 

➡️ Show Links

https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/

https://kassandmike.com/ 

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➡️ Talking Points

00:00 – Intro

01:28 – Why Building a Company Is Awful and Amazing

04:33 – How Not to Destroy a Relationship in Business

08:16 – Turning Each Other’s Weaknesses Into an Edge

11:45 – Building a Company With Your Partner

13:56 – Pivot or Die: Surviving the Hard Moments

18:26 – When to Quit vs. When to Push Through

23:29 – Sponsor Break

26:13 – Getting Your Team to Truly Buy In

33:03 – The 3 Real Reasons Companies Fail

35:46 – Why They Hired a Coach After Raising $100M

42:15 – Health, Burnout, and Long-Term Success

51:50 – Sponsor Break

53:45 – The Traits They Bet On as Investors

1:05:38 – Is Social Media Breaking Entrepreneurs?

1:10:38 – The “Go Gauge” Decision Framework

1:15:59 – The Founder Delusion That Kills Great Ideas

1:17:26 – What They Respect Most About Each Other

1:18:23 – The One Lesson They’d Teach Their Kids

Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary (@scottdclary). On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.successstorypodcast.com.