A few years back, I met Paul during our time at the 500 Startups program in San Francisco. Paul is the CEO and Founder of a company called Cushion. Cushion is a bot with a black belt in bank fee negotiation. The premise is simple. You connect your bank’s accounts then authorize Cushion to begin fighting with the bank to save you money. Cushion then sends its client a summary of the fees saved. A bank refund is initiated within just 24 hours with your saved bank fee.
What I love about this business is that the only way Cushion makes money is if you, the client makes money.
A simple idea with one hell of a story.
Unfortunately, Things didn’t go as planned
At the end of the year, all the startups in the program got the chance to pitch their company to investors. This is the product of three months of grinding through “startup school.” While most were prepping their pitches, Pauls’s company was back at the drawing board. They realized they had to essentially redo their product from the ground up.
At the time they had little to no runway, a team of dedicated employees to pay as well as many people telling him he was crazy.
Obviously, this led to one stressful situation. What is oh so fascinating about Paul is his stubbornness not to give up on his dreams. In this podcast, Paul will tell the story of all the weights that were put on his plate and the process he went through to push through and bring his company to the next level. As of late April, Cushion announced a Seed round of 2.8 Million that shows no sign of slowing down.
In this episode you will learn:
- Tips and tricks to successful fundraising.
- How story marketing can make or break your business.
- Stress Management 101.
- And How to run your business without sacrificing your life.
- Learning how to get refunds on your bank fees.
Social Media
- Follow Phil on Linkedin: @paulkesserwani
- Follow Ian on Instagram: @ianlenhart
- Follow Damn Good Day on Instagram: @damngoodday
