Ben

New @thepeelpod with @jimbelosic Jim bootstrapped @sendcutsend to a $140 million revenue run rate in eight years. We talk building a sheet metal manufacturing business in the US, creative ways he financed the company early on, using speed, trust, and software to compete with overseas competitors, lessons from restaurants, and why you can’t run factories from a spreadsheet. Thank you to @Numeral, @FlexSuperApp, and @Amplitude_HQ for supporting this episode! Timestamps: 0:16 Automating sheet metal manufacturing 5:59 Zero to $140 million ARR in 8 years 7:58 Acquiring a $750k laser with $0 13:38 Automating factories is like baking cookies 15:17 Being legible to capital 17:31 Unlocking custom, low order manufacturing with software 20:00 Building more factories instead of selling the software 24:50 Run your company like a lemonade stand 28:30 Raising an angel round in 2021 as a safety net 33:21 SendCutSend’s unique bottoms-up GTM 38:24 Fun coupons 40:12 Building a moat with speed and trust 45:55 How US factories can beat China 47:40 Gaslight product launches 52:05 Lessons from non-manufacturing businesses 55:19 You can’t run a factory from a spreadsheet 58:10 Using data in manufacturing 59:50 Lessons from Factorio 1:03:17 Unlocking a negative cash conversion cycle 1:06:14 You need to resist automating everything 1:13:51 Surviving COVID with six weeks of cash 1:15:47 Solving the US skilled labor shortage 1:26:17 Teaching kids about manufacturing