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Episode 198: Haroon Mokhtarzada – Co-Founder and CEO of Truebill

Haroon Mokhtarzada, the Co-Founder of Truebill and Webs.com, joins the show to share his journey from Harvard Law School to creating and selling multiple companies with millions of users for millions and billions of dollars. Hear how to build momentum before spending advertising dollars, set up your business for acquisition, use customer feedback to make your offering better, unplug from your family business, and Haroon’s go-to magic trick. This episode covers everything from piano to product strategy. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• What is a magic business
• How do you think of your business as scalable
• What has Haroon learned from the acquisition processes
• How much revenue and users should you have before applying to Y Combinator
• What was instrumental to Truebill’s growth besides marketing
• How did Truebill get acquired by Rocket Companies
• What is improvisation piano
• Cappadocia

Connect with Haroon on Twitter @Haroon and try out Truebill on the App Store.

Enjoy the shoooooow! Check out the show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

• Intro & Webs.com
  • [0:31] Email me at max@maxpodcasting.com to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool
  • [0:41] Connect with Haroon on Twitter @Haroon and try out Truebill on the App Store
  • [3:33] What did he think he’d be doing when he enrolled at Harvard Law School
  • [3:47] Entrepreneurs, Shopify
  • [4:15] Economics (Econ)
  • [4:28] LSAT (Law School Admission Test)
  • [4:35] Harvard University
  • [4:46] Freewebs, Webs.com
  • [5:16] What is a magic business
  • [5:39] What was Haroon’s favorite magic trick to perform
  • [6:01] The Wire
  • [6:27] Where did Haroon start getting interested in the website space
  • [6:39] Marketing
  • [7:55] When did they change the name from Freewebs to Webs.com
  • [8:19] How do you think of your business as scalable
  • [10:06] Salary
  • [10:26] How did Webs.com get acquired by VistaPrint
  • [10:49] Facebook, Digital Marketing
  • [11:17] Revenue
  • [11:50] What has Haroon learned from the acquisition processes
  • [13:09] Nigel Morris, Capital One, Robert Keane
  • [13:37] CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
  • [13:48] Employee Rating

• The Truebill Story
  • [14:22] Pardon My Take, PFT Commenter
  • [14:50] How did Haroon start shifting to the personal finance space
  • [15:26] Mint
  • [16:16] Podcast Production
  • [16:35] Shoutout Spense!
  • [17:02] What are the first steps Haroon took to build Truebill
  • [17:19] Product Hunt
  • [17:28] Y Combinator (YC)
  • [17:47] Angel Investors
  • [18:12] How was Truebill’s experience at Demo Day
  • [18:50] TechCrunch
  • [19:11] How much revenue and users should you have before applying to Y Combinator
  • [19:58] How did Truebill break through the finance clutter
  • [20:22] Credit Karma
  • [22:12] How did Truebill use customer feedback to make the app better
  • [23:01] Engineers
  • [23:30] A/B Testing
  • [23:33] Slightly corny
  • [23:59] Statistical Significance
  • [24:46] How did Truebill get momentum before spending advertising dollars
  • [24:53] PR (Public Relations), Word of Mouth Marketing
  • [25:13] App Store, SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
  • [25:42] Series A
  • [25:50] Whaaaaaaaaaaat
  • [26:08] Robinhood
  • [26:50] Feedback Loop
  • [27:17] NPS (Net Promoter Score)
  • [28:09] What was instrumental to Truebill’s growth besides marketing
  • [28:45] Chime
  • [29:39] Congrats, Haroon!
  • [29:51] Whoops
  • [30:06] Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs)
  • [30:19] How did Truebill get acquired by Rocket Companies
  • [31:40] What has been the biggest difference between the Truebill and Webs.com acquisitions
  • [32:44] What advice does Haroon have for entrepreneurs who aspire to sell businesses one day
  • [33:22] DMOZ, Google
  • [34:33] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at max@maxpodcasting.com to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
• Inspiration & Creativity: People, Hobbies, and Resources
  • [35:40] Hippo Direct, our family business
  • [35:54] How do you build a business with your siblings
  • [37:12] How much time do Haroon and his brothers spend talking about the business
  • [37:33] How do you unplug from your family business
  • [38:00] How do you be and stay creative
  • [39:04] Mokhtarzarda Hatchery at the University of Maryland
  • [39:50] What is improvisation piano
  • [40:43] Bazinga

• Rapid-Fire Q&A
  • [41:09] What’s a fantastic cuisine in Maryland besides crab
  • [41:32] Shoutout Seven Valleys!
  • [42:09] What’s something about visiting Turkey most people would be surprised by
  • [42:58] Shoutout Mitali!
  • [43:15] Cappadocia
  • [43:26] American Idol
  • [43:28] What’s a weird talent Haroon has
  • [44:02] David Copperfield
  • [44:09] Harry Houdini
  • [44:32] Connect with Haroon on Twitter @Haroon and try out Truebill on the App Store
  • [45:08] What are Haroon’s Final Thoughts
  • [46:05] Follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about the podcast. And 5 stars on Apple Podcasts & Spotify if you’re feeling super nice
  • [46:29] Check out the Wild Business Growth Podcast on GoodPods, where you can see what your favorite people are listening to
  • [46:32] Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn @MaxBranstetter
  • [46:35] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at max@maxpodcasting.com to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
  • Theme music: Freestyle Percussion Magik – “Jungle Tribe” – provided by Jamendo

What is the Wild Business Growth Podcast?

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur joins the Wild Business Growth Podcast to share the wildly creative and unusual ways they grew their business – and teaches you how to do it, too. Hear the minds behind WordPress, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Drybar, the voice of Bart Simpson, and more wild stories. Hosted by Max Branstetter (that’s me), Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting.

How do you start a podcast?

Interested in starting a professional-sounding podcast for your brand, but don’t want to deal with the time commitment of all those behind-the-scenes details? I’ve got you covered. Email me at max@maxpodcasting.com to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool.

Thanks for listening to Haroon Mokhtarzada on the Wild Business Growth Podcast. To hear more Wild stories like this one every Wednesday morning, follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about it. And cancel your outdated subscriptions together using Truebill. Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…and Bring on the Bongos!!