Adam Robinson spent a decade on Wall Street trading credit default swaps, then walked away to build a company out of his own apartment. Today he runs a $35 million business with 32 people and lives in Aspen with his family. Getting there was no easy feat.
In this episode, Adam and I go back in time to where he first learned what success looked like watching a neighborhood orthopedic surgeon to how his father, an oil trader, shaped what he expected from work-life. We talk about brute-forcing his first company into revenue by running a call center out of his own apartment, the two in-person mass layoffs he had to deliver years apart, and the identity crisis that hit after he left Wall Street, one he describes as the closest he's come to depression. We trace how his relationship with money changed over time, from the trading floor's need to always make more, to a point today where he says he's no longer attached to any number at all.
Adam opens up about what it felt like the day his first company sold, why it didn't feel like real success at the time, how Retention.com was born as a result, and what he's building now with his fourth company, MoltSets.
This is a conversation about what happens on the inside as a founder finally makes real money and starts living the dream. If you've ever wondered what happens after you make it, this one's for you.
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(01:38) The neighborhood doctor who defined success
(04:18) The phrase that changed how he saw work
(07:19) Talking his way into Lehman Brothers
(10:22) Watching his roommates build Vimeo
(11:50) Why he finally left finance behind
(23:39) Why the first seven years were terrible
(25:30) Running a boiler room from his apartment
(26:17) The loophole that built his first company
(27:52) Brute forcing his way to revenue
(30:56) The layoff he still calls the worst
(32:29) How Retention.com was actually born
(34:41) Was selling Robly his first real success?
(35:37) $35 million ARR with 32 people
(36:44) How his relationship with money began
(37:41) The identity crisis he calls indescribable
(39:41) When money stopped being the point
(41:35) No longer attached to a number
(42:00) Moving to Aspen and living without lack
(46:51) Why he's starting a fourth company
(52:20) How he defines success today
Show notes:
Connect with our host:
- Follow Melissa on LinkedIn where she shares stories & lessons from her founder journey weekly.
- Connect with Melissa at melissakwan.comand subscribe to 'your founder next door', Melissa's weekly newsletter on what it's like to build a company without an abundance of resources and friends in high places.
- Follow @themelissakwan on Instagram and YouTube where she shares short videos of business advice and other truth-bomb sound bites.
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