Hosted by Nick Draper and Stuart Deacons, the 9yrspodcast drops every Friday during the football season, with some variable audio quality and occasional insightful comment.
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Stuart Draper Podcasts
Stu Draper, a serial entrepreneur, knows just how exhilarating it is to launch a startup to the moon. He is a 9-time Inc. 5000 honoree before age 40 with tens of millions generated in revenue from his startups and an angel investor in 8 businesses. He's also the co-author of the bestselling textbook Digital Marketing Essentials. Stu knows just what it takes to transform an innovative idea into a thriving business. Inspired by the creators of groundbreaking ventures, Startups With Stu is an i ...
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CTRL+CLICK CAST inspects the web for you! We proudly feature diverse voices from the industry’s leaders and innovators, who tackle everything from design, code and content management systems, to culture and business challenges. Our focused, topical discussions teach, inspire and waste no time getting to the heart of the matter. Formerly the EE Podcast, CTRL+CLICK is produced by Bright Umbrella and hosted by industry veterans Lea Alcantara and Emily Lewis.
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Four in a row! What is going on?! At this rate we'll be champions by Christmas. Maybe. Whatever happens this season, we have shown that we are at home in the third tier, despite some mounting selection concerns that Nick and Stu investigate. They review the 2-0 win at Blackpool, and the role a linesman played in the win, before discussing a busy we…
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Nick and Stu return to talk through a third win in a row! What went well against Wycombe, and what do we need to learn from what didn't go so well? We look at squad options and whether we are able to change things as and when we need to. We also have a chat around the latest Dons Trust statement, and what it is actually telling us. Alongside that, …
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Ian Robinson speak to Nick and Stu about his resignation from the Dons Trust Board. Ian explains his reasons behind stepping down, and some of his frustrations during his time in post. Either side of that, we talk all the usual: Nick has an expected rant about 12.30 kick-offs; we review the win at Doncaster; cast an eye over events in the third tie…
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A lot of Trust issues to discuss this week, as election season for the DTB gets underway amidst resignations and recriminations. Nick and Stu try and clear up the mess and confusion, looking at what has happened, what needs to happen, and whether the fan ownership model is the best way forward. There's also a win over Rotherham to review, a trip to…
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Nick and Stu return to pick the bones out of the 3-0 defeat at Bolton, and the two red cards that made life a little harder for us on the day and for the next couple of weeks. It's not all bad news though! I mean it's not great news either, but there's a Season Ticket survey to review, and a Fair Game Index report that sheds some light on the diffi…
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Nick and Stu find themselves in the unusual position of talking about the team conceding goals this week. What has changed over the past fortnight that has seen us become far more open, with chances galore at either end? We take an in-depth look at the defeat at Bradford, before a slightly less in-depth gander at the B-Team Trophy humbling, and wha…
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What happens when a $180,000 M&A attorney has a panic attack on the way to work and throws away his legal career for escape rooms? Raleigh Williams built Alcatraz Escape Games from zero to a $26 million exit across four entertainment brands in Utah, Arizona, and Texas. After leaving a prestigious law firm against his father's wishes, Raleigh spent …
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A cracking win over Barnsley followed up by a cup exit Reading: Nick and Stu discuss whether we were right to make as many changes for the latter as we did, and what the ramifications of the defeat will be - on and off the pitch. But none of this should overshadow the victory in the league, and the number of positives that came from it and the star…
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What happens when a former security company CEO discovers a protein bar so good his kids beg for it daily? Jason Christensen went from teaching business students to building Blue Unicorn, a protein bar brand growing 25% month-over-month with 50% subscription sales. After selling his first company to private equity and spending five years as a BYU p…
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Two excellent performances to discuss this week: a very enjoyable day out at Reading, and a fine, if ultimately fruitless, display against Cardiff at Plough Lane. What tactical intricacies did Nick and Stu spot, and what does it suggest for forthcoming fixtures? There's a new signing to talk about too, alongside the usual look around the third tier…
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What happens when a successful NYC model loses everything, battles depression, and discovers her life purpose through a rescue horse? Natalia Graf-Anders transformed her darkest moment into a multi-million dollar equestrian empire that's revolutionizing how women see themselves in riding apparel. After years of modeling and corporate sales left her…
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Chris Draper joins the show this week to discuss our first league win of the season, and progress in the League Cup. He shoots the breeze with Nick about team selection, the key moments from both games, and what it tells us about the coming month. The brothers also have a look around the third tier, preview the league clash with Reading this weeken…
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What if you could legally exclude up to $10 million from taxes when selling your startup? Richard Levychin from Galleros Robinson breaks down the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) Section 1202 tax code that most founders overlook until it's too late. In this episode of Startups with Stu with host Stuart Draper, Richard explains how proper entit…
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An opening day defeat, but one that gave us all plenty of encouragement. Nick and Stu take a deep dive into Friday night's 1-0 loss at Luton, with a look at shape and team selection and what they might mean for forthcoming fixtures. We also glance around the first set of fixtures in the third tier, preview the visit of Lincoln on the weekend, and p…
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What separates fundable startups from those that never attract angel investment? Akbar Jaffer, angel investor and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Grand Canyon University, has evaluated hundreds of startups through his nine-company founding experience at Snapfish, ZorroSign, and other ventures. In this episode of Startups with Stu with host Stuart …
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We're back! The new season is upon us, and Nick and Stu return to look ahead to what we can expect from the 2025-26 campaign. We discuss changes to the squad, the runners and riders in League One, what is likely to happen at Luton, and whether negativity around the fanbase is justified. We also give our takes on the new kits, and the England Women'…
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Ryan Petersen transforms startup planning by using ChatGPT as his business development partner for Swintros, a new job platform technology. In this episode of Startups with Stu, host Stuart Draper watches as Ryan generates a complete business plan in real time using just one simple prompt to ChatGPT 4.0. The AI instantly creates executive summaries…
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What happens when chips on your shoulder fuel two successful exits but leave you empty at the finish line? Tom Telford sold his institutional finance companies for eight figures by age 37, only to discover his anger-driven motivation vanished the moment he achieved financial freedom. In this episode of Startups with Stu with host Stuart Draper, Tom…
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What happens when a small-town hairdresser discovers her clients need more than just a haircut? Tami Hymas built five successful businesses in rural Idaho, but her biggest venture yet tackles childhood emotional wellness through cartoon characters that help kids identify and process their feelings. In this episode of StartUps with Stu, Tami shares …
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StartFragment StartFragment StartFragment StartFragment What does it take to build a $56 million company after losing everything twice? Jeremy Barker, founder of Murphy Door, shares his incredible journey from making his first $20 million at 21, going bankrupt, and living in his car for exactly one year to building the Kleenex brand of hidden doors…
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What started as a $500 college fund goal turned into a frozen custard empire spanning multiple states. Jessica Mortensen shares her unexpected journey from buying a college student's yellow trailer business for $40,000 to building Karie Anne's Frozen Desserts into a thriving franchise operation. In this episode of Startups with Stu, Jessica reveals…
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Standing alone in her parents' kitchen making a quesadilla, Whitney Rigby heard a male voice tell her to "create magnetic hair extensions" - and nobody else was home. Nine years later, that supernatural moment has transformed into the world's first magnetic hair extension company, with investors begging to get in and trade shows selling out instant…
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Xan Marcucci rejected a $500,000 corporate offer to start Confetti Recruiting as a summer project while caring for her young children. What began with a surprise $20,000 commission check evolved into a thriving business aligned with her family priorities. Xan shares an unconventional perspective, suggesting aspiring entrepreneurs gain corporate exp…
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While most entrepreneurs struggle with expensive lead generation, 24-year-old Derek Bock discovered a networking strategy that costs nothing but delivers warm leads directly to your inbox. Starting with social media work for a Nebraska gym during COVID, Bock has built multiple ventures and now runs The Doers Podcast, which he strategically uses as …
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We are going up say we are going up! Nick and Stu review a great day - if not a great game - at Wembley, including all the key moments, battles, and managerial decisions. We talk about the stadium, atmosphere, and post-match celebrations, as well as what life must have been like in the Warsaw end. Alongside all that, we look at the key moments of t…
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"I magically carve out hours for my day. So some days I have to start at 4 a.m." This is how Akvile DeFazio, who fled Lithuania during the Cold War with just a wooden crate, manages to run a thriving social media advertising agency while raising a kindergartner. In a decade of business, she's achieved something almost unheard of: she's never been f…
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Que Sera, Sera ... it's the 9yrs Wembley preview show! Nick and Stu discuss our road to the play-off final, and how much we are looking forward to the day. Clearly hyper, we take a circuitous route through many varied topics, from CCL memories to Portuguese women's football, but we manage to stay on track to comment on Notts County, Warsaw, and Jos…
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In a recent episode of Startups with Stu, host Stuart Draper, Join us as we explore the innovative journey of Subitt.io, a startup that's transforming how small businesses implement subscription models to drive customer retention. Founder Nick Hepworth shares his insights on building a platform that makes subscription services accessible to mom-and…
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A wonderful night in Nottingham - and we're halfway to Wembley. What were the key elements of our win at Meadow Lane, and how will we have to be different in the second leg? Whilst Owen Goodman was outstanding, Nick and Stu also look at the other main players in the victory, and what role they played. It's not all sunshine and flowers though: a str…
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Learn how SBA loans can transform your business dreams as Craig Sherle, VP of SBA Lending at Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) with 25 years of small business lending experience, explains exactly how to get financing when other lenders reject you. These government-backed loans (covering 75-85% of the risk) have helped numerous employees become owne…
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We're in the playoffs! Nick and Stu discuss how we got there, and what we might expect from Notts County, Warsaw, and Chesterfield. There's also a lot of ranting about kick-off times, TV, ticketing, and just modern football in general. A combination of tiredness and excitement made us a bit hyper and where this podcast goes, nobody knows - but it's…
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In this episode, we sit down with James Reber who transformed his frustration with torn rugby jerseys into a thriving custom sports apparel business. Starting with just 50 misspelled rugby balls, James now celebrates breaking six figures in Q1 2025—more than his entire previous year's revenue. He shares the exact moment he received his first $72 ch…
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Do you need a long description of what we talk about this week? It's one game left, and it's playoffs or not playoffs. Nick and Stu weigh-up our chances following on from no wins or goals in three, including a quite eventful defeat to Port Vale on Saturday. MFWAJJOTM gets us thinking about some great AFCW memories also.…
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Meet Mak Grgic, founder of Notey's World, who's tackling a universal challenge: 90% of people who try learning guitar eventually quit. In this investment pitch, Mak showcases how his Techstars-backed startup transforms musical instruments into actual game controllers, creating an addictive learning experience that's seeing unprecedented user retent…
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We'll keep this brief: why does everything feel so negative? We're 5th in the league! Nick and Stu pick the bones out of the current zeitgeist. Are football fans ever happy? We discuss individuals and formations, and the fourth tier promotion picture. There's also MFWAJJOTM and a look ahead to Saturday's game with Port Vale…
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What happens when three executives who built a million-dollar EdTech company reunite to share their unfiltered startup journey? In this 30th episode of Startups with Stu, founder Stuart Draper and his former executive team Trevor Erickson and Brandon Winter pull back the curtain on their meteoric rise from working out of their homes to becoming a g…
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McKay Francis never planned to battle the SEC or catch Grant Cardone's attention when he launched Casa Shares, the investing platform letting broke college students buy real estate for just $10 per share. This episode of Startups with Stu unveils how Casa Shares secured a game-changing federal exemption allowing non-millionaires to invest in proper…
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From creating America's #1 cake mix to writing a $25,000 check that launched an educational empire—Corey Smith's unexpected journey unfolds in this episode of Startups with Stu. When Stuart Draper lost his third job in a row, it was Corey's unwavering belief that transformed a desperate situation into Stukent, a company that would eventually impact…
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Are we going up automatically after all? Or could we end up missing out on the play-offs entirely? We're not ruling anything out, as making predictions in this division this season has been an entirely moot exercise. Nevertheless, Nick and Stu attempt to prognosticate on whom will find themselves in the top three after 46 games. Some have, on paper…
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Nick and Stu return to pick the bones out of a mad week. Why has the team lost the ability to hold onto a lead? There are a few key reasons to investigate. The knock-on effect, with automatic promotion now looking trickier and holding on to a play-off place looking less assured, is also food for thought. Alongside that - how are so many lower leagu…
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From eight-figure exit to nearly $1 million in debt in less than a year! Serial entrepreneur John Rampton joins Stuart Draper on Startups with Stu to share his journey from childhood candy stand owner to multi-million dollar success. John reveals how writing for major publications like Forbes and Entrepreneur helped launch his businesses, and detai…
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A little disquiet has accompanied the release of season and matchday ticket prices for next season. Nick and Stu consider the issues, and whether the costs are justified, and if some of the criticism has been a little unfair. Alongside that, we revisit the latest 2-2 draw from 2-0 up, and wonder whether the point with Barrow was actually better tha…
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Nick and Stu return to discuss our return to the automatic promotion positions following a win at Carlisle and some favourable results elsewhere. How important were the changes we made, and is this an end to our dodgy run en route to a procession to promotion? Alongside this, we ostensibly discuss the realities of a football regulator, but it's saf…
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EP357: I'm your hell, I'm your dream
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Our dodgy spell continued this week with defeat at home to Cheltenham, but should we have seen the light of the Notts County win was a false dawn at the time? Nick seems to think so, and the problems we've been having, arguably since the turn of the year, continue to raise more questions than answers. However, Stu has one key reason as to why our f…
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Nick and Stu return to discuss how and why the team have gone from 12 unbeaten to winless in four, and why have the goals dried up? Alongside that we nose around Division Four, with a focus on who might still gate crash the play-offs, and which club (spoiler: we hate them) looks to be in crisis and potentially heading for the drop. We also have a f…
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Building Wealth Without Sacrificing Family
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From turning down multi-million dollar Wall Street recruitment bonuses to building a billion-dollar wealth management firm, Chad Willardson's entrepreneurial journey is anything but conventional. In this captivating episode of Startups with Stu, Chad reveals how he walked away from a $1.4M salary at Merrill Lynch to start Pacific Capital, taking a …
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7,000 Languages + Gaming = $23.4M Valuation: The Gravity Jack Story
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The gaming industry surpasses music, movies, and sports combined in market size, yet Luke Richey envisions something bigger than profits alone. As founder of America's oldest augmented reality company Gravity Jack, he's crafting a revolutionary gaming experience backed by legendary Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and protected by a powerful patent por…
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This 30-Year-Old Made Bank on a Fourplex, Now He's Building a Junk Empire (With a 5-Year Exit Plan)
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What's the smartest way to turn $10,000 in savings into a business that gives you true time and financial freedom? In this episode of Startups with Stu, Ethan Clark reveals his journey from real estate investing to co-founding Idaho Falls Junk Removal, while plotting an ambitious exit strategy that could multiply his company's value. Host Stuart Dr…
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How This Founder Got 1,000+ Publishers Like Forbes & Fast Company to Chase Expert Content
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What happens when you combine the urgent need for expert voices with publishers' insatiable demand for authentic content? Brett Farmiloe, founder of Featured.com, shares how he transformed this market gap into a thriving platform that now powers content for industry giants like Fast Company, Forbes, and HubSpot. In this episode, Brett reveals the s…
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Few different topics this week! Obviously an excellent win over Bradford to kick things off, with assorted selection and tactical considerations, but then we delve into more BREAKING NEWS AUDIO as we discover another game has been moved to a 12.30 kick-off for broadcasting reasons. Dons Trust board positions and Bond repayments follow, before Nick …
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