The Hiring Strategy Behind an 8-Figure Side Hustle That Scaled Using Airtasker with Dean Leibbrandt

The year they went full time … they tripled. 

In this episode, I sit down with Nakie co-founder Dean Leibbrandt to unpack the team and hiring decisions behind their growth. They went three and a half years without paying themselves, used Airtasker to survive Black Friday, and built a lean remote team around life rather than growth at any cost.

Dean also shares the mistakes that cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, including one discount code error that wiped out $205,000 in profit.

If you’re building a business around a full-time job, struggling to know when to hire, or wondering how to scale without creating a business that owns you, this episode is for you.

Key moments:

00:00: How to Turn a Problem You Care About Into a Product That Sells

03:47: How to Get a Manufacturer to Say Yes When Everyone Else Says No

06:55: Why Your Next Product Could Grow Revenue Faster Than More Ads

08:07: The First Hire That Gives E-commerce Founders Their Time Back

09:16: How to Know When It’s Finally Time to Quit Your Day Job

16:31: The Scrappy Hiring Hack That Can Save Your Biggest Sales Period

19:19: How Running Out of Stock Can Unlock Better Supplier Terms