What Happened When 99% of His Wealth Was in One Business with Jon Morris Part 1

This GPT has already supported hundreds of multi-generational businesses through complex transitions, and I’ve translated that experience into a free Custom GPT available on our website. Explore it here: https://bit.ly/art-of-succession-our-GPT ------------------------------------------------ Want to be a guest on our podcast? Apply and share your expertise with our audience at https://www.podmatch.com/member/artof... ------------------------------------------------ Welcome to The Art of Succession Podcast. Host Barrett Young, CPA, talks with Jon Morris, CEO of Fiscal Advocate, Inc., and Founder and Executive Director of The Professional Service Community. Jon shares his journey from growing up in a family of entrepreneurs to starting his first digital agency shortly after college. He explains how he rebuilt after the dot com crash and later launched Rise Interactive with a 10,000 dollar business plan grant, growing the agency to 40 million dollars in revenue before selling the company. Jon also reflects on lessons about hiring strong teams, using financial data to guide decisions, choosing the right industry for growth, and planning for both business success and life after an exit. Jon shares how he grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and started his first digital agency shortly after graduating from college in 1996. After losing most of his revenue during the dot com crash, he pursued an MBA in finance at the University of Chicago, where a business plan competition led him to launch Rise Interactive with a 10,000 dollar grant. He explains how he rebuilt his business using stronger financial systems, a data-driven approach to digital marketing, and a focus on hiring highly analytical employees. Over the next 16 years, Jon grew the agency to 40 million dollars in revenue before selling the company, and reflects on lessons about leadership, financial discipline, industry timing, and planning for succession and life after an exit. Key Takeaways: 1. Jon started his first digital agency in 1996 after graduating from college. 2. After losing most of his revenue during the dot-com crash, he earned an MBA in finance at the University of Chicago. 3. He launched Rise Interactive with a 10,000 dollar grant from a business plan competition. 4. Over 16 years, he grew the agency to 40 million dollars in revenue using a data driven approach. 5. After selling the company, he started Fiscal Advocate to help business owners scale and manage finances. Here are a few quotes from the episode: "I really like being in the trenches." - Jon Morris "The only thing worse than going bankrupt is to be a business of the living dead." - Jon Morris "I would much rather have a C-level team in an A-level industry than an A-level team in a C-level industry." - Jon Morris Join Jon Morris, CEO of Fiscal Advocate, Inc., and Founder and Executive Director of The Professional Service Community, as he shares his journey from launching an early digital agency to building Rise Interactive into a 40-million-dollar business. He discusses lessons from the dot-com crash, the role of financial data in scaling a company, and the experience of growing and eventually selling his agency after 16 years. Episode Highlights [00:00] - Teaser [01:44] - Introducing guest Jon Morris [02:50] - Jon's entrepreneurial childhood & first agency [07:03] - Losing 80% of revenue as a "dot-com casualty" [09:39] - Winning a business plan competition [12:40] - Family intervention to stop him from launching [15:17] - Pivoting from teaching to a full-service agency [18:36] - The "Double Wind" concept & picking the right industry [21:49] - Gross margin obsession and sales strategies [23:36] - Taking big bets and making big bets that didn't pay off [28:03] - Three reasons Jon decided to sell his company FOLLOW THE GUEST: Jon Morris - LinkedIn:   / jonmorrisramsayinnovations   Company Website (Fiscal Advocate, Inc.):   / fiscal-advocate-inc   Company Facebook (The Professional Service Community):   / the-professional-service-community   Email: [email protected] FOLLOW THE HOST: LinkedIn:   / barrettyoung   Company LinkedIn:   / gwcpa   Website: https://gwcpas.com/ Email: [email protected] FOLLOW THE PODCAST: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... YouTube:    / @artofsuccession   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7uhogBx... LinkedIn:   / art-of-succession-podcast   Website: https://gwcpas.com/podcast