Starter Story - "You hired your wife?"

Read this in 2 min, 30 sec

The first person I hired at Starter Story?

Someone by the name of... Samantha Walls.

People get confused when they see this...

“Pat... did you hire your wife?”

No, I did not.

But we do happen to share the same last name.

And you what's even crazier?

When I hired her, Starter Story was making $5,000 per month.

Today, it's making over $250,000 per month.

Mostly thanks to her.

Today, I want to tell you that story.

In two minutes, I will convince you on why you should build a family business.

Samantha Walls – Sam – is my little sister.

One of my favorite people in the world.

And when the world went to shit in 2020, she was one of the first people I knew that lost her job.

I’m getting flashbacks to the day she called me:

Pat… they let me go. There’s nothing they could do. This sucks.

I was devastated for her. And I just wanted to help.

But… Starter Story was in the dumps too.

I was not focused.

I was distracted by 15 other projects.

The business was not growing.

I was stuck at like $5K/month.
Barely getting by.

But I felt like I had to do something.

Sam… I don’t have a lot… but maybe you can help me with a few projects?

I can pay you… but I can only pay you $15/hour for a few hours a week.

Her response?

No hesitation – YES!!

Now here’s what you don’t know about my sister:

She’s the hardest working person I know.

And when I hired her, I had a tiny thought in the back of my mind:

Maybe this could be the start of something great?

A week later we jumped on the phone to check in.

She had already dissected my ENTIRE business:

Pat you’re leaving money on the table here, here, and here.
I think you should optimize this page.

If you do XY&Z, I think you'll make a LOT more money.

What do you think?

I was blown away.

Not gonna lie… I wasn't thinking about any of that stuff.

I was stuck in the weeds, fixing bugs and adding pointless features.

I wasn't thinking about marketing at all.

(the important stuff)

F*ck it – let’s do it.

Sam... for the next couple months I'm gonna let you call the shots.

Whatever you think will grow the business... I support it.

We got to work.

Within a matter of days, we start seeing results.

More people to the site.
More people opting in.
More people paying us money.

And here’s the craziest part:

Sam was just one year out of college - she didn’t know anything about internet businesses.

But what she did know…

She knew how to sell.

She knew how to operate.

She knew how to just dig her heels in and figure it out.

It was exactly what I needed.

I wrote the code.
She did the marketing.

I focused on writing and building an audience.

She focused on sales.

I was good at big picture stuff.
She was good at the day to day.

The results were clear.

The business essentially doubled overnight.

I realized that my solopreneur days were over.

It was time to build a team.

I asked her to come on full time and offered her a real salary.

But... everyone told me:

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT. Whatever you do… DON’T go into business with family."

But I think that's bullsh*t.

Family === trust.

And trust is everything when it comes to building a team.

But... here’s the caveat: it wasn’t blind trust.

I hired her in a part time capacity.

Then she proved herself and went way above and beyond my expectations.

She loved sales.
She loved thinking of ways to grow.
She loved operating the business.

And she was damn GOOD at it.

Together, we absolutely transformed the business.

Growing it 50x in just a few years.

If it weren't for her, I'd probably still be just getting by.

But now... we're building one of the biggest businesses in our space.

That is the power of a family business.

––

If you're serious about starting a business that could change your life, then you should definitely join Starter Story.

We have 4,418+ case studies of regular people like you and me with million dollar ideas.

4,418+ people who’ve changed their own lives and lives of their families.

It’s time to get started → Join us

– Pat

Love ya, sis :)

Starter Story - Advertise with us - Share your story - About us

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here for our newsletter.

Starter Story - 4920 W Cypress St Ste 104 - #5143 - Tampa, FL 33607

Click here if you want to stop receiving emails from us.

Your first million

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Read this in 1 minute, 20 seconds So there's this guy I've been following for a few years. His name is Lane. He started a website called "boot.dev". And holy sh*t... I've never

I hate this time of year.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Read this in 1 minute, 41 seconds I HATE this time of the year. Why? Because it's tax season and my accountant will not stop pestering me. Asking me a million questions about invoices, expenses,

She built a $10K/mo app in one weekend

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Starter Story's Sunday Breakfast #86 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

"How did you build 200k email list?"

Friday, March 29, 2024

Read this in 1 minute, 19 seconds Every day I get a DM like this: Yo Pat… How did you get 100K subs on YouTube? How did you grow your email list to 200K? How do 1.5M people visit your website monthly?

Dan has a disease

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

2 min read Today, I woke up, and chose violence. This is the story of my good friend Dan. Dan suffers from a disease called rejection avoidance. I want you to avoid contracting this disease, because it

The quantum talent squeeze

Friday, January 10, 2025

+ One of Europe's largest ever Series A rounds; Northvolt sister company Stegra 'fully financed' View in browser Sponsored by Zoom Good morning there, “We're expecting a spectacular

Inside Meta’s dehumanizing new speech policies for trans people

Friday, January 10, 2025

"A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it," reads a new guideline telling moderators what is now allowed on Facebook and Instagram Platformer Platformer Inside Meta's

🗞 What's New: A casual tweet from Marc Lou turned into a huge meetup

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Also: A $1.4K/night business ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

⏳ 72 HOURS LEFT — Accelerate your ecommerce destiny!

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Learn from world-class mentors and make your first sale in just 5 days. Hi Friend , The countdown is on—less than 72 hours left until the Make Your First Shopify Sale 5-Day Challenge kicks off! If you

SaaSHub Weekly - Jan 9

Thursday, January 9, 2025

SaaSHub Weekly - Jan 9 Featured and useful products JitBit Helpdesk logo JitBit Helpdesk JitBit is a web-based help desk and ticketing software solution #Customer Service #Customer Support #Help Desk

[SaaS Club] Rescuing & Rebuilding an Enterprise SaaS

Thursday, January 9, 2025

The SaaS Club Newsletter Hey Reader Here's a quick round up of what's been going on at SaaS Club: In this week's newsletter: 🎙️ Rescuing and rebuilding a struggling SaaS 🤝 A next-gen CRM

Monk Mode

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Some self-experiments for the start of 2025 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Growth Newsletter #232

Thursday, January 9, 2025

How to choose a topic that makes money ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Behind the founder: Drew Houston (Dropbox)

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Drew Houston opens up about battling against big tech, building and rebuilding culture, finding purpose, and more ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

⏰ 4 days to go...join this 5-day ecommerce challenge

Thursday, January 9, 2025

7+ world-class mentors to help build and validate your ecommerce business. Hi Friend , Just 4 days to go before we start revolutionizing YOUR ECOMMERCE JOURNEY. Are you in? If you feel like you're

Starter Story - "You hired your wife?"

Older messages

Your first million

I hate this time of year.

She built a $10K/mo app in one weekend

"How did you build 200k email list?"

Dan has a disease

You Might Also Like

The quantum talent squeeze

Inside Meta’s dehumanizing new speech policies for trans people

🗞 What's New: A casual tweet from Marc Lou turned into a huge meetup

⏳ 72 HOURS LEFT — Accelerate your ecommerce destiny!

SaaSHub Weekly - Jan 9

[SaaS Club] Rescuing & Rebuilding an Enterprise SaaS

Monk Mode

Growth Newsletter #232

Behind the founder: Drew Houston (Dropbox)

⏰ 4 days to go...join this 5-day ecommerce challenge