Smash Notes
17 Years of Online Ventures, with Matt Giovanisci of Swim University

The Failory Podcast

17 Years of Online Ventures, with Matt Giovanisci of Swim University

Matt Giovanisci (@MattGiovanisci) is the founder of Swim University, the biggest niche site around swimming pool and hot tub care. Matt got into the internet world after learning how to build a website for his indie rock band. Since then, he has spent the last 17 years getting fired and re-hired, building new ventures, launching lots of podcast episodes…

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Notes

  1. Who Is Matt Giovanisci at 2:31

    Matt shares his background and what he is currently working on. Full answer

  2. What Led You to Building a Swimming Pool Niche Site at 3:42

    Mat shares his motivation behind building SwimUniversity, a niche site around swim pool and hot tube care, which was making $400k/y, pre-Amazon's cut on… Full answer

  3. Why Did Matt Giovanisci Want to Be His Own Boss? at 5:05

    Matt Giovanisci, founder of Swim University, says he always wanted to be his own boss and has never done well with authority. Full answer

  4. What Was Matt Giovanisci's Failed Startup Spruce? at 8:56

    Spruce was Matt Giovanisci's attempt to turn the monthly spreadsheet behind Swim University into software. Full answer

  5. What Were the Motivations Behind Spruce at 20:31

    After sharing the whole Spruce's fail story, Matt shares what were his real motivations behind building the product. Full answer

  6. Is There Any Space in the Market for Spruce Nowadays at 23:37

    Brandon asks Matt if he thinks there are any other products solving what they aimed to solve with Spruce and if there's any space for a product like it to… Full answer

  7. Why Does Matt Share Failure & Mistakes So Transparently at 27:01

    Matt has a personal website (called MoneyLab) where he runs experiments on his different online ventures. Full answer

  8. What's Swim University (matt's +$35k/mo Niche Site) About at 33:38

    Matt shares what is Swim University about as if he was explaining it to a 10-year old child. "We teach Mommy and Daddy keep your pool clear". Full answer

  9. How Has Matt Grown a Site Almost 5m Visits/year at 34:20

    Matt shares how he grew his swim pool care site to millions of visits and 6 figures per year. He has been working on the site for +10 years... Full answer

  10. Were Your Failed Startup Lessons Useful Somehow at 42:17

    Brandon asks Matt is he applied any of the lessons learned from Spruce's failure into SwimUniversity or other businesses. Full answer

  11. What Keeps Matt Giovanisci Working on Swim University? at 47:02

    Matt Giovanisci says inspirational posts do nothing for him. He runs on negative motivation: tell him he cannot do something and he will. Full answer

  12. What Content Mistakes Does Matt Giovanisci See Most Often? at 50:51

    Matt Giovanisci, publisher of Swim University and Money Lab, says marketers obsess over volume. Full answer

  13. What Would You Tell Former Self After Failing at 59:01

    Matt shares what he would tell Matt from many years ago after Spruce Metrics was shut down. Full answer

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