Ivan Matkovic founded Spendgo in 2010 at the age of 24, following some advising from his college professor (and now Spendgo Board member) John Durham. During the past three years, Ivan has taken Spendgo from a tiny warehouse with three developers to a national company with clients that include Jamba Juice and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. Today, he is the CEO of the digital loyalty startup and responsible for company revenue, operations and partnerships. Ivan also serves as the President of Accura Precision, a quick prototype and production manufacturing and machining company. Follow him @iamatkovic.
Who is your hero? (In business, life, or both.)
With regard to entrepreneurship, it has to be Sir Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group). He built his company from scratch, is living life to the fullest, and — among other honors — he was even knighted. Overall, he seems like someone you’d like to be around in business and in life regardless of his wealth.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
Stay away from reading your competitor’s press releases. I know it sounds counter-intuitive because you should stay up to date on what’s going on in your industry, but know that what you are reading is the “Photoshopped” version of reality. Just like seeing a model in a magazine might make you self-conscious, reading that competitor announced millions of signups can do the same. It’s not like you can change what they are doing, and your energy is better spent focusing on your business.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
I made the mistake of hiring based on years of experience and past positions/titles. As a young entrepreneur, your instinct is that a 10-year VP at a Fortune 500 company is probably better than the guy who worked at some no-name startups. Even though the person was a fit in personality, passion and industry background, what we learned the hard way is how much additional resources they needed. We were less than half the size we are now, but burned more capital with far fewer results. We now place a lot more emphasis on hiring people who have experienced success at companies of a similar size and stage as ours.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I wake up and filter through my inbox so that when I get into the office, I only have the most important items ready for my attention. This helps me get a quick start while in office, and allows me to succinctly address any East Coast correspondences that need attention. My No. 1 “pro tip” recommendation is to create a filter labeled “Unsubscribe.” This does wonders for clearing up non-critical emails.
What’s your best financial/cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
You’ll save a lot if you can keep things simple enough to use templated legal documents (from a reputable online service) and accounting software, as well as avoid paying rent on expensive office space. These are the first items I tell new entrepreneurs to cut from their budgets/projections. Nothing is worse that seeing all early revenue go towards these items instead of business growth.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Focus on eliminating customer friction. The moment someone decides they want to buy from you, and then make their first payment and start using your service is so critical. If you can crack the code here then you’re well on your way to having a scalable business.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
The goal posts are always moving, but when I started out success was as simple as having someone randomly talking about how much they liked our service without them knowing who I was. Fortunately, this has happened many times now, but it’s always just as exciting.
Now, I would characterize success as having been able to profitably replace myself with someone better for every role in the company. In doing so, I’ve created a sustainable business by delivering long-term value that doesn’t require my presence to be successful. Coincidentally, this will also likely be the point where I get to take a vacation without looking at my phone.
