Talent Stacking to $3.4 Million Revenue

Back in 2018, Sam Shepler founded Testimonial Hero, a productized service that helps businesses collect video testimonials 🤩

In 2020 the company did more than $1 million in revenue, and they tripled that last year to $3.4 million.

Sam told his story in a recent interview, including how he came up with the idea for Testimonial Hero…

Another concept Sam focused on was a concept coined by Dilbert cartoonist, Scott Adams, called talent stacking.

“Basically you think about making a rare and valuable mix of talents by stacking them. I had video production but I also had B2B sales and marketing. I wasn’t in the top one percent at either of those, but combining everything, I thought I could be the best at B2B videography. I could be in the top one percent.”

Sam also reckons more entrepreneurs should start with a service business, rather than something like software as a service (SaaS)…

It’s very trendy to have a bootstrapped SaaS, but on a risk-adjusted basis, most people should start with a services business. You can create a profitable, cash-flowing business very quickly. It’s easier to quickly build up a high-ticket service compared to high-ticket software.

Also in software, there is a ton of competition, much of it venture-backed with considerable resources to outcompete you.”

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