GE 225: Why David Henzel Sold His Business for $10M+ and Started a Podcast Called ‘Managing Happiness’ (podcast)

Hey everyone, in today’s episode I share the mic with David Henzel, previous owner of MaxCDN, founder of CDN Advisor LLC, and podcast host of Managing Happiness.

Tune in to hear David share about his passion for applying business principles to one’s personal life and relationships, the principles that will help you achieve continual success, how he sold his e-commerce business for $300K just so he could move to the U.S., and how defining the company’s mission statement made growing the business much easier.

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: Why David Henzel Sold His Business for $10M+ and Started a Podcast Called ‘Managing Happiness’ TRANSCRIPT

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:36 – Leave a review and rating and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast
• 01:00 – Eric welcomes David Henzel
• 01:45 – David shares his background
  • 01:48 – Dropped out of school at age 16; originally from Germany and always dreamed of moving to America
  • 02:06 – Was unable to get a H1B visa due to lack of formal education; sold his e-commerce business in 2007-2008 which enabled him to move to America
  • 02:23 – Started Max CDN in 2008 and sold it last year
  • 02:35 – His wife being diagnosed with breast cancer prompted Max to pursue his true passion, managing happiness
• 03:35 – Sold his e-commerce business for around $300,000 in 2008, and sold Max CDN for more than $10 million
• 04:25 – The origins of Max CDN
  • 04:40 – A good friend of David’s asked him to come onboard as an investor
  • 05:20 – CDN stands for contract delivery network; it takes a copy of a file from a server and puts it on servers around the world
• 06:24 – A recovering introvert, David was uncomfortable speaking in English
  • 07:31 – Went to conferences to network and get rid of his shyness
  • 07:40 – David’s a-ha moment was realizing that “every decision that you make in life is either out of love or fear”— speaking out of love while giving presentations enables him to do a good job
• 09:12 – David’s assistant was not doing a good job with company newsletters; David explained to him that if he did his job out of love, his quality would surely improve
  • 11:00 – Check out David’s blog post about leading your life with “Love, Not Fear”
• 11:44 – David explains his core business philosophy
  • 11:44 – Not having a mission statement in the initial years of Max CDN was a huge mistake
  • 12:25 – Took a while to figure out that CDN was really hard to buy since it was an enterprise product
  • 12:42 – Worked on making CDN more accessible and easier to purchase
  • 13:41 – Takes on Jack Ma’s business philosophy which is to look for ways to make business easier
  • 14:14 – Feels that FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is critical for developing a strong position in the market
  • 14:31 – A vision or mission statement is like the North Star that aligns the business and works as a decision filter
• 15:42 – David lists Max CDN’s company core values
  • 16:44 – The first core value is, “To make cool shit”
  • 17:07 – The second core value is, “To work and whistle”
  • 17:27 – The third core value is, “To own it, build trust and accountability”
  • 17:58 – The fourth core value is, “Share the love”
  • 18:29 – The fifth core value is. “Don’t stop believing in your growth potential”
• 19:50 – David offers a “Managing Happiness” course which is about applying business principles to your life
  • 20:08 – Entrepreneurs find it difficult to have a work-life balance as business can easily consume you
  • 21:11 – Business concepts, such as mission or vision statements, regular meetings and goal setting, are meant to align a group of people together and ensure that there is no friction
• 21:35 – David’s life mission statement: “To be a change agent and transform individuals and organizations and help them reach their full potential”
  • 22:30 – Does not invest in a lot of businesses because it does not align with his life’s mission statement; came up with his life’s vision statement by engaging in a “funeral exercise” where he visualized his own funeral
• 23:46 – The “Managing Happiness” course is a six-week course: emotional strength, family core values, roles and responsibilities, planning and goal setting, problem solving and finances are the various topics covered in the course
  • 26:33 – Course is priced attractively at $200; Growth Everywhere listeners will get 25% off (see below)
  • 27:25 – David’s wife was resistant to defining roles and responsibilities, but changed her mind after seeing positive results
• 28:38 – It is always important to have growth everywhere, be it in business, money or relationships
• 29:09 – Engages in daily habits/rituals that foster gratitude and an “all is well” mindframe
• 31:06 – As an entrepreneur, it is important to be emotionally strong which can enable you to act in the most difficult situations
• 31:50 – Has simplified his wardrobe by purchasing five pairs of the same jeans, 15 of the same black T-shirts and three pairs of the same black shoes
• 32:49 – What’s one new tool that you added in the last year that added a lot of value for you? – Better Proposals
• 33:42 – What’s one must-read book do you recommend? – Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success, Think and Grow Rich, The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book), The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
• 35:33 – Connect with David on Facebook or via email
• 35:48 – Head back to Growth Everywhere for show notes and additional resources; leave a review and rating and subscribe to the podcast

3 Key Points:

1. Apply business principles to your relationships to ensure that they are in a continuous phase of GROWTH.
2. Lead your life with LOVE, not FEAR.
3. Develop emotional strength which will help you act in the most difficult of situations.

Resources From This Interview:

• MaxCDN
• CDN Advisor LLC
• Managing Happiness podcast
• “Love, Not Fear” blog post
• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore
• “Managing Happiness” course
• Zencastr
• Better Proposals
• Must-read books:
  • Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill
  • The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book) by Don Miguel Ruiz
  • The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
• David on Facebook
• David’s e-mail
• Growth Everywhere listeners will receive 25% off for managinghappiness.com with coupon code GROWTHEVERYWHERE

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