Ever wondered how Madwire got it's start 10 years ago? In this awesome interview with Starter Story, our Co-Founder and Co-CEO, JB Kellogg, talks to Pat Walls about Madwire's beginnings, lessons learned along the way, and where we're headed next. Check it out here!
Story Highlights
The Internship that Changed Everything
"I walked in and asked if I could intern there in my final semester. They said they didn’t require any design or marketing but they did need a new website. They asked me if I knew how to design and build a website. This was early 2005 and website design and development were still pretty new. I told them, no, but if they gave me a desk, computer, and a couple of months, I’d figure it out. So they did.
Over the next eight weeks, I learned everything I could about website design and development. I designed and built the website two or three times over before I felt confident enough to show the owner, Terry. When I showed her the website, she paused and said, “This is the best website I’ve ever seen. Not only is it beautiful, but it achieves all our needs and goals.” I knew at that moment I had a talent not many people had at the time"
The Beginning of Madwire
"In 2009, while working out during our lunch break as we do together every day, we started talking about how our strategies would work well to help any business grow, and how the way businesses were marketing was changing from traditional offline methods to new digital online methods. Exactly what we were successfully doing. Within that one hour workout, we came up with the entire business plan for Madwire and our mission of helping small businesses grow and the enormous impact that could have if we did it right.
Over the next three days following our “big idea”, we fine-tuned our business plan and strategy. The following Monday we decided to go all in. My Dad handed the brokerage company off to his partner, I gave up all my accounts, and we started Madwire in a tiny little office that barely fit two people."