Part 2 of my interview with Chuck Morris…

Curious about how the live music business works?  Like to know about the early days of acts like The Eagles and Jimmy Buffett in Colorado?  You’ll love my interview with Chuck Morris, President & CEO of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains.  As always, I dig into the business side of things and Chuck answered all the things I’ve always been curious about!  If you missed Part 1, make you sure listen!

“Do the 70’s bands still touring today make much money?”

 “What’s the business model of a live promoter?”

“Do the 70’s bands still touring today make much money?”

“What’s the business model of a live promoter?”

Awesome interview – so awesome that I extended our time and this is Part 1!

Heather Terenzio used her generous spirit to solve her biggest problem: getting enough skilled technical talent.  Techtonic Group created internal apprenticeships to develop coders for the projects it takes on for clients.  Amazingly, Techtonic then allows the talent it has developed to be hired by its clients.  Extending that mission, Heather founded the Techtonic Academy to help those with coding ambition learn the skills needed to change their lives… the story about a guy working in a pizza joint becoming a successful software coder is just one of many!

I enjoyed my interview with Tom Ryan, CEO of SmashBurger.  He’s done the franchise thing before, and each time he builds in more of what he learned from before.  In the interview, Tom shares some of those lessons – about “building-in scalability,” staying relevant, and from his background with very large brands including Pizza Hut, things the big guys do that he wants to replicate, or avoid.

Speaking with John Fischer, CEO of StickerGiant was a contrast with many other interviews I’ve had with successful entrepreneurs who are, perhaps, less deliberate. John manages StickerGiant with “Open Book Management,” and it’s not a “phase” for StickerGiant.  It’s the way the company operates, generating 20% growth year over year and a dominant and growing position in their very competitive niche.  In this interview, John and I discuss how he manages the business driven by metrics, goals and reports, while keeping the culture fun and dynamic.

I enjoyed speaking with Andrew Hudson, of Andrew Hudson’s Job List.  A humble guy who just wanted to help job seekers, Andrew turned his part-time “Andrew’s List” into a full-time endeavor which helps Colorado employers and job seekers come together.  I was eager to learn how Andrew could possibly compete against Monster.com, Indeed.com and others.  After our conversation, I’m still amazed at what he’s done, the extremely profitable business he built based on the organic demand he innocently created, and what we can learn from his experience.

I loved visiting with Jackie Ros, co-founder of Revolar.  Her candor and energy are refreshing.  It may seem to those on the outside that the company was an overnight success.  And relative to others, it did achieve great things more quickly than others.  Listen to learn why, including Jackie’s comment, “You have this delusion when you start a business that at some point it’s gonna get easier… at some point you’re gonna have more time in your life, and then you realize, no, each day is uniquely challenging and beautiful in its own way.”  Kendall Colman of Colman Coaching, sat in on this interview for some insights on messaging used by Revolar.

Developing a powerful niche  Convincing customers to adopt a new method  How to develop a brand that is accepted by famous brands