Nathan Hirsch
About Our Guest
Nathan Hirsch is a lifelong entrepreneur and focuses on the unsexy or boring parts of entrepreneurship (bookkeeping and hiring).
Nathan is currently the CEO of EcomBalance/AccountsBalance and Outsource School. He is best known for co-founding FreeUp.net in 2015 with an initial $5,000 investment, scaling it to $12 million in yearly revenue, and having it acquired in 2019.
Today, he leads EcomBalance/AccountsBalance, an online monthly bookkeeping service for eCommerce and digital businesses, and Outsource School, a membership teaching business owners how to hire effectively online. Nathan has appeared on 700+ podcasts and you can follow him on LinkedIn.
About this Episode
Nathan Hirsch: Scaling a Freelancer Marketplace to 8 Figures Before Exit
Are you after riches? Fame? Or is your true pursuit freedom – the kind where you call the shots and dictate your own destiny? Nathan Hirsch, a seasoned entrepreneur, knows this yearning intimately.
His journey led him from umpiring in his small town, undercutting his university bookstore, drop shipping on Amazon before it was cool, to crafting a thriving people-centred enterprise, FreeUp, which rose to 8 figures and was eventually acquired by The HOTH in 2019.
But Nathan’s story doesn’t just revolve around financial gains; it’s a tale of personal and intrinsic reward. He lays out what drives him and other entrepreneurs so doggedly. He also doesn’t shy away from insights on due diligence, navigating earn-outs, and the art of valuation.
What you will learn in this episode
- The questions you need to ask freelancers in an interview
- What every entrepreneur needs to do after they sell
- This key tip during due diligence to ensure a smooth process
- How to calculate your business valuation number
Connect with Nathan Hirsch
Personal Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhirsch/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathan.hirsch/
Business Social Media:
EcomBalance
Website: https://www.ecombalance.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecombalance/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecombalance/
AccountsBalance
Website: https://accountsbalance.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountsbalance
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/accountsbalance1
Outsource School
Website: https://www.outsourceschool.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/outsourceschool/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outsourceschool1
Show Notes
(5:45) Some entrepreneurs are just born with it. At college, outcompeting the official bookstore, Nathan hustled buying and selling textbooks, even creating a referral program.
(12:34) Being a solo seven-figure entrepreneur. Nathan shares about working 20 hours a day, feeling overloaded, and realising he needed a virtual assistant. His recommendations now: earlier rather than later.
(24:00) From $1M in the first to $5M, then $9M, and finally $12M in the last year, FreeUp’s growth exploded. From starting with an MVP to increasingly complex solutions, here’s how Nathan and his partner got here.
(39:39) After four years of high-growth – and still growing – Nathan and his partner exited to The HOTH. Interested in the intricacies of the deal? Here’s his advice on upfront VS earnout and how to make sure your earnout is fair.
(51:38) What drove Nathan to be an entrepreneur was freedom. In his words “live life, give back, and do whatever I want, when I want. And starting businesses – because it’s fun.”
