#137: Cole Zucker on His Remarkable Journey from $0 to $60M in Revenue, Selling a Company, and Starting the Influencer Platform Hey Hero

Cole Zucker is the Co-Founder and former Co-CEO of Green Creative, a company that offers a comprehensive line of high-performance LED lighting solutions that have been widely adopted by some of the largest companies in the world. After graduating from college, Cole moved to Shanghai, China where he met his business partner, Guillaume Vidal. In 6 years, they took the company from $0 to $60 million in revenue and eventually decided to sell the business.

Cole and his wife Katie have since started a new venture, influencer platform Hey Hero, offering a solution for people who want a better way to communicate directly with influencers—and for influencers who want to better monetize that connection. Platform users can search for their favorite influencers and ask questions or request personalized recommendations for a fee. Then influencers can accept the offers, and respond on their own time—via video, voice chat, or text.

Connect with Cole Zucker

• Green Creative
• Green Creative on LinkedIn
• Green Creative on Facebook
• Green Creative on Twitter
• Hey Hero
• Hey Hero on Facebook
• Hey Hero on Instagram
• cole@heyhero.com

Some of the Topics Covered by Cole Zucker in this Episode

• How Cole and his business partner Guillaume Vidal started Green Creative in Shanghai
• Why Cole moved to China after college
• Cole's entrepreneurial spirit and inspirations
• Cole and Guillaume's napkin business plan
• Figuring out roles and responsibilities as co-founders and co-CEOs
• Getting Green Creative off the ground and the challenge of getting their first customers
• How Cole was eventually able to move past door-to-door sales
• How their product development and manufacturing evolved
• How learning from mistakes led to growth
• Building out a team
• Standing out against the competition by becoming fast integrators
• The process of deciding to sell the business
• What Cole would've done differently looking back
• Deciding to start another business and what is Hey Hero
• The customer discovery process for Hey Hero
• Cole's book recommendations
• How Cole recharges
• Cole's advice for entrepreneurs

Links from the Episode

• The Outsiders by William Thorndike