#150: Entrepreneurship is an Addiction: Multiple Exits and Back at it Again

Mike Jackness is a hardcore entrepreneur who has built and exited many e-commerce brands. Mike began with affiliate marketing and cut his teeth in the online poker world and grew into legitimate e-commerce businesses. He started with Treadmill.com, Color It, Icewraps.com, Wild Baby, and then took his experience and shaped it into Ecom Crew. Ecom Crew is Mike’s podcast and blog that provides real-world value to business owners and e-commerce professionals. He tells me what he learned from his multiple exits and why he is always moving forward and avoiding boredom.

What you will learn:

• Mike’s experience with entrepreneurship.
• How he got into affiliate marketing and the online poker business.
• The reasons Mike walked away from his poker business.
• How he exited the company and managed to set up a passive income.
• The lessons he learned from affiliate marketing.
• Entrepreneurship is an addiction.
• The 6-month hiatus that led to Ecom Crew.
• Why Mike returned to entrepreneurship.
• What is Ecom Crew?
• How Ecom Crew has changed Mike’s view on business.
• Entrepreneurship is not for everyone.
• How to be real with your audience.
• How to build strong brands.
• The downside of creating an office culture.
• The sale process of Color It.
• Mike’s plans for the future.

Takeaways:

Reflect on why you have your business before burnout sets in, what's the point? What do you need financially to be successful? What are your options?

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative
Ecom Crew
Ecom Crew email
The One Thing by Gary Keller
Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: Why Now Is the Time to #JoinTheRide by Darr
en Hardy

About Mike:

Mike has been involved in online marketing for over 10 years. During the poker craze of the early 2000s, he ran one of the largest poker affiliate companies in the world with over 60 employees (He even owned part of the Canadian Poker Tour!). After Black Friday (the day congress basically made it illegal for Americans to gamble online) he ventured into e-commerce with Treadmill.com. He sold that company in 2014 and have since then started multiple other e-commerce brands with total revenues over $7million annually. Today he’s based in San Diego but he lived throughout the world including Las Vegas, the Cayman Islands, and out of a Class A motorhome while touring North America.