Building The Future Show - Radio / TV / Podcast

Kevin Horek: welcome back to the show.

Today we have Jamie Bianchini.

He's the co-founder and c
o o at Purpose in Expenses.

Jamie, welcome

Jamie Bianchini: back to the show.

It's good to be back, Kevin.

Kevin Horek: Yeah, I'm excited
to have you on the show.

I, I loved what you were doing
before when I had you on the show.

You've exited that company, you're working
on something new, but maybe before we

dive into to that, let's get to know
you a little bit better and start off

Jamie Bianchini: with where you grew up.

I grew up in the Bay Area
in San Francisco, in a small

town called Berlingame.

Very

Kevin Horek: cool.

Okay, so walk us through.

You.

You went to school.

What did you take

Jamie Bianchini: and why?

Uh, I studied entrepreneurship
at University of Southern

California Entrepreneur Program.

I've always been a entrepreneur
all my life and really wanted that

to be where I was gonna take, take
my life, building things and, and

still, still doing it to this day.

Kevin Horek: What got you passionate
about that at such an early

Jamie Bianchini: age?

I think it was my dad.

I mean, my dad was an entrepreneur and
I got to watch him do his thing and it

really, I guess I got to see him come
to all of our games and come to every

event that we did, and it, it, I don't
think a lot of dads were able to do

that because if they're working for the
man, you don't always get that freedom.

So I think I always was a bit of a
freedom guy, freedom junkie, being

able to, to, to make my own, uh, my own
hours and to, to write my own destiny.

Kevin Horek: No, I, I a
hundred percent agree.

It's, it's interesting now that
I've been just kind of doing my

own thing the last number of years.

It, it's cool that, you know, you can
take off a couple hours early to go to

something or, you know, whatever, right?

Just because of that freedom.

And I, I love that as well, definit.

So you have a really interesting
kind of journey and career.

Do you maybe wanna walk us through
that, some highlights along the way?

Let's talk about Luella and then

Jamie Bianchini: what you're doing now.

Sure.

I mean, my, my journey was, you
know, come, coming out of this

entrepreneur program from U S C, I
ended up winning best business plan.

I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder
to be honest, and thought I could just

go and just tackle the world and start
making millions and proving myself

and had a bit of a big ego and went
out and made a bunch of mistakes.

I was just trying to make money and, and
realized I was really out of alignment.

I didn't really know what was going on.

I just knew that I, you know, destroyed
my health, a bunch of relationships

and ended up going bankrupt at 28.

Uh, because I just, yeah, I was
just doing a bunch of stuff.

Wasn't really who I was and
what I really, truly wanted.

And, and when I went through that
bankruptcy and a bunch of losses and

personally as well, I, uh, I reflected
back and said, I just want to live a

life of, of purpose and, and meaning,
and, and, uh, decided to, to ride

my bike around the world for peace.

Uh, and, and, uh, started saving money
to do a trip called Peace Pedalers,

where we rode a tandem bike on the
front seat and invited strangers on the

backseat to reduce unjust fears and,
and create more peace in the world.

And, uh, on that trip was eight
years, 81 countries, um, was

where a couple things happened.

One was I invented, I was in a
candle fire and invented the product,

which is the world's first re uh,
technology enabled real flame candle.

Uh, so when I finished that trip, I
was able to start that venture, build

it, uh, and then sell it in 2019.

But another thing that happened
on that trip, which kind of leads

me over, like I, I just decided to
dedicate myself to purpose and impact.

And that trip was really, you know,
seeing have so many people come for eight

years that came in my most vulnerable
state of being on a bike and helping

me over and over and over year after
year, uh, I just decided, you know, I'm

gonna do my best to, to give back as
part of the way I, I conduct business.

So I've been a big, big fan
of the B Corp movement and the

1% for the planning movement.

And it's just really the purpose,
purpose led business has a force for

good, uh, mentality and movement,
which is sweeping the nation in the

world right now, which is exciting.

So this next venture was also, that
is called Pie Purpose and Expenses,

as you alluded to at the beginning.

Uh, purpose and expenses is what it
says, like we're extracting impact

and purpose from the operating
expenses that every business has.

Uh, and that founding story of
how we came up with it was from

the trip was I was trying to find.

Funding for my impact that I was trying
to make with, with Peace Pedalers.

Right?

I had a theory of change and I
was approaching companies saying,

give me money cuz please donate
to me in my cause of what I'm

trying to do with peace pedals.

And people gave me a lot of in-kind
gear like bikes and gear and helmets

and, and all sorts of things like that.

Uh, I had everything I needed to
do at Trip around except cash.

I just couldn't find cash.

I was competing against all these other
nonprofits that were more established with

five one status, which we didn't have.

And I was starting to get kind of nervous.

I approached one company, a
technology company called ceva,

who said, we wanna support you.

Our whole team wants to support
this mission, this expedition, but.

Come back to us with another
idea besides writing you a check.

Like we can't write you a check.

Our budget's tapped, uh, come back to us
with another idea and we'll consider it.

So I went out and just got innovative
and had to innovate in the world of

philanthropy in innovated the world
of impact, and came back from with

an idea, and I said, look, I know
you're writing checks every month,

month after month, year after year, to
technology providers that you need to

spend money for to run your business.

That's internet, that's phones,
that's conferencing software.

All these different things
that companies have to have.

Those are operating expenses
that if you don't pay 'em,

your business doesn't exist.

So they're fit in, they're consistent.

So I said, if you allow me to be the
partner or broker of record on the

renewal of these contracts, those
providers like Verizon will pay me

while I'm traveling on the bike.

And you don't have to write the check.

If they write the check and the cost
stays the same, what do you think?

And he is like, that's a no-brainer.

Why wouldn't I do that?

We're in.

So they came, became this sponsor with
a very innovative way, innovative way of

providing us support for the vision that
we had of creating more peace through

this bike, Tripp around the world.

But we received checks every month,
month after month, year after year from

Verizon because these company needed to.

Well, that company scaled from
about a couple dozen employees

to several hundreds of employees
while I was traveling on the bike.

And as they did, they needed
more phones, more service, more

internet, more connectivity, more
ser, you know, more conferencing.

And that bill, their bill grew longer
and my commission, while I was earning,

grew longer and I was able to use
excess revenue from that to start a

couple schools for AIDS orphans in
the needy in Uganda and Rwanda start,

uh, uh, um, a, well bring a, bring
a, a freshwater service to Bolivia,

bring malaria medication out to remote
villages and do all these things

because the, because I had sustainable
source of, of income to fund my project

that got me through some tough times.

So when Covid hit in 2020 and I had
sold my last venture, I was thinking

back to that, or I wrote a book on this.

I was redoing the book and I thought back
to like, wow, I funded this, this project.

With expenses, why don't we
create a business out of it?

So we started doing it in 2020.

We did a pilot from 2020 and 2021 with a
purpose driven company and, uh, started

to look at their expenses, to broker 'em
in the same way we did for the bike trip.

But for a modern day
company in 20 21, 20 22.

Now 2023, we are going in and for almost
a thousand different technology vendors

and communication vendors from Google to
Microsoft to Verizon to T-Mobile, a w s,

Google Cloud, all these big ones, and all
the way down to the small point solutions

and different, different things like that,
uh, security and even payment gateways.

We can look at those expenses,
arrange them with our model and

what we do to generate recurring
donations as a percentage of expenses.

And that is our model that we're
building with per percent expenses.

Kevin Horek: Very cool.

So I want to back up for a second.

So when you initially
did this, how did you.

No, it was gonna work.

Or how did you pitch the idea?

Or was this already kind
of happening with other

Jamie Bianchini: companies?

Yeah, this channel of distribution
of technology and communication

services has been around for
20 plus years, even longer.

It's not a new distribution channel, it's
an independent channel of distribution.

Right.

You have a direct relationship that
A, any company can have a direct

relationship with Verizon, right?

You can call them up and say, Hey,
we need internet, we need, we need

this, we need, we need phones.

And you can get that direct
relationship, and Verizon's happy to

take full margin on that relationship.

Or you can as a business choose,
I'd like to use a reseller.

I'd like to use a value added reseller.

I'd like to use this partner program.

And, and, and that is not an,
I'm not an employee of Verizon.

I'm authorized by Verizon to, to sell
their services and, and advise folks

and consult on the different offerings
and then write up contracts and I get

paid of recurring amount of money.

And that's, that model has been around
for, for a, for ages and for good reason.

And now more and more companies are
pushing people to this, including

Google, including Microsoft.

They're pushing customers to the
partners because they better support

those partners and there's better
retention through that channel.

Ah, okay.

No,

Kevin Horek: that makes sense.

So I want to dive a little bit
deeper into how does purpose

and expenses actually work?

So if I'm a company, how do I
actually get on board with what you

Jamie Bianchini: guys are building?

Sure.

The first thing is we do a short meeting.

Generally it's as short as 15
minutes, as long as a half hour just

to get to know each other, go over,
you know, high level what we do.

And then the first step
is to be signed an nda.

An N D A allows us, uh, you, our, our
clients to feel comfortable that we're not

gonna sh share any of the, the data we're
gonna be receiving regarding their spends

on and, and their vendor relationships.

Uh, and once we do that, we, we, we
get access through some, mostly just

looking at PDFs and building out a, a,
a spreadsheet of what are they currently

spending, where's that money going,
when is the contract going to expire?

What are the service
requirements for those?

And that's, that's a lot of
heavy lifting on our part.

All we need from the client is pdf.

Simple as that.

Like send us a bunch of PDFs and let us
do our forensic work and let you know what

is available there based on what we see.

Then we come back and we say,
Hey, based on, you know, based on

these expenses and this service
levels, this is what we can do.

Oftentimes the we're able to leave the
provider in place, the entire service

in place and not change anything.

On renewal of the contract, be able
to generate 5%, 7%, 3%, whatever

percentage of that expense, and
turn that into a recurring donation

that keeps giving like an annuity.

So, um, and so the, the, the, the actual
changes that happen are very simple.

There's nothing very complicated about it.

Um, it's just a process that we
go through to one, one vendor at a

time to have the meetings with the,
the, um, the, uh, service owners.

Double check those requirements, explain
to them how the, how, how, how the,

um, repro procurement's gonna look.

Cuz it's really just a repro procurement
or re like, renewing under an, uh,

a channel partner relationship.

Interesting.

No, I,

Kevin Horek: that's, that's very cool.

And I just wanna reiterate something like,
there's no downtime, there's no nothing.

If my services, it's just, it all
gets handled by you and your team.

And it's just basically the payment
goes to, or like it just goes through

your system instead of their system?

Jamie Bianchini: Correct.

Sometimes the payment
goes through our system.

It depends on, we have a lot of
services, uh, so if it's with Verizon

or Zoom, those, those continue with
Verizon and Zoom with Microsoft

and Microsoft and with QuickBooks.

DocuSign and with Dropbox, and
there's various SAS solutions

where we are the actual reseller
that billing will change on that.

Um, but in the, the ability to get
support escalations, the ability to have

the same security protocols, the ability
to have the, the same continuity, that

is such a, an important re requirement.

And we understand risk is a
huge, a huge factor, right?

Nobody in IT, and operations and
finance wants to open up to risk.

So we understand those are requirements.

Continuity requirement, not
having that downtime and really

minimizing distractions on the team.

We feel we're a, we're a value
add and not a value loss.

Obviously, you're gonna.

Generate the recurring donations,
which is a big part of any purpose

driven company's really objectives.

But there's a lot of other value
adds that we add in the way

of simplifying things, costs.

We've saved every, every, every company
we've engaged is we've saved money.

So we, we don't market that as our main
value add, but we always save money.

We always find efficiencies.

We always find that people are really
happy with what we're able to put

together as an overall solution.

So we're technology
advisors first and foremost.

Like we have a really strong tech
advisory team in all the different

disciplines, which adds a lot
of value to to, to any IT team.

Very

Kevin Horek: cool.

So I know you mentioned a few
companies that work with you guys.

Can you maybe give us some more just
to get people thinking about how many

companies that could move to you guys,

Jamie Bianchini: um, in the
way of technology providers?

Uh, wow, there's a lot right now.

Um, As I said, the kind of the
big ones that I mentioned there.

Okay.

Um, I'll give you a quick summary.

Do you want, do want you
could edit this, right?

Yeah.

Okay.

Let me just go to the list
here cause I have this Sure.

I have a really cool thing that I've
been working on, which is this common,

common messaging doc that has one
of the topics, Pete, that's one of

the questions we're asked, and I've
gotta figure out how to get this out.

Like what are the top 10 purpose
powered services that you can consider?

So maybe we can cut this
in on that question.

Yep.

Um, and, uh, you can edit this section,
but uh, yeah, we have like a top 10

list of purpose powered services.

We always like to start with email, right?

That's Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

We have an really deep practice there
and literally takes 30 minutes or

less to get somebody to take that
spend and move it over to our platform

and purpose, power that expense.

It's very easy and there's a lot of
value add there, which we can go into.

Um, any voice connectivity that's
wired phones, mobile phones, any kind

of voice voiceover IP call centers.

Then there's all the data connectivity,
all the fiber connectivity,

SD wan, um, things like that.

All the SAS solutions, a ton of sas from
Zendesk to QuickBooks, Adobe, Dropbox,

Okta, DocuSign, all those SaaS solutions.

You can move those over on our
platform and generate recurrent

donations from those spends.

Um, security, all the Malwarebytes
and Mimecast and Fornet and

Barracuda, all those things like that.

Of course, public cloud is a huge one.

That's all the a w s, Google Cloud, Azure.

And then, um, credit card
payments is a big one.

Like people transact so many payments
with Stripe on online or they're using

point of sale with different providers.

We can always save those
providers money to, uh, save those

companies monies 100% of the time.

And at the same time, create a recurring
donation from every transaction

that happens, which is powerful.

And that includes integrated payments
into ERPs, like s a p and Oracle,

um, and, uh, things like that.

Websites e-commerce.

And then the last practice,
which is really interesting in

the United States is energy.

That's gas and electric
and deregulated markets.

Uh, really exciting, exciting, uh,
opportunities that exist for a company.

Every time they turn their light
switch on, they can be generating a

donation because those are deregulated.

We make recurring dona uh,
uh, commissions, turn those

into recurring donations.

So those are kind of the top 10
services people can think about.

There's a lot and there's a lot that you
can do as somebody takes time to engage

and really share their expenses with us
and go into that NDA and open the kimono

a little bit under the state of trust.

There's a lot that we can.

And if we're not partners with
a particular vendor, we can

oftentimes reach out to them.

We just did this with a a com a, a tech
company called Snowflake, which somebody

said, well, we're gonna be looking to
be, do a sign, a big Snowflake contract.

Well, I said, well, before you
sign the Snowflake contract, let

me become a partner and we'll sign
that Snowflake contract with us.

Right?

So I became a Snowflake
contract That's partner.

And so it's that easy.

It's really not hard.

Same thing with, there's another
company that's, uh, that a lot of

people know that does this kind of
podcast work called, um, Riverside fm.

Um, so Riverside does, does these kind
of podcasts and video video podcasts,

and I became a partner with them for
someone who had that requirement.

Or it's on their budget, right?

It's on their, it's on their roadmap.

Somebody's looking at an e r P.

Let me know what ERPs you're looking at.

I can partner with the ERPs.

So it, there, it doesn't really end.

It's a matter of conscious, conscious
procurement making a decision to

optimize your business' resources.

All of them, not just your profits and
your, and not just your profitability

and slices of pie from your profit.

But look at all the resources inside
your business and expenses and your

vendor list are resources, right?

Those people work for you.

You pay them, they work for you.

You should be able to milk the most
out of them and align them with

your deepest values and purpose.

And so we give that.

That's really all we do.

We don't sell anything.

Everything that a company's already
had, they've already, they already have.

Um, or, or they're gonna get
anyways with or without us.

We're really there as, as a source
to redirect available capital from

those decisions that they're, that
they need to make to run the business.

Very cool.

Kevin Horek: So I'm curious because
there's obviously, it sounds like

basically majority of big companies and
brands that people have heard of, you

either have a relationship where it's not
really that hard to get one, it doesn't

really cost, well, it doesn't cost any
more money than they're already paying.

And, and you alluded to like you
could probably even save them some

money just as you're going through.

So I think for a lot of companies,
It's really a no-brainer.

Right.

And you've been getting a ton of
traction and growth and momentum,

but walk us through that feeling
because, and and what advice do you

give to people to actually get that?

Because we both know, as we've
done multiple startups, sometimes

it's, it works really, really well
and other times you're shutting

'
Jamie Bianchini: em down.

Yeah, it it, this has been a
long road, uh, to be honest.

I mean we were used to be called
Profit and Purpose back in 2020

and I was doing this bit part-time
after, after selling the last

business, but I got shot down a lot.

I mean, people just didn't get it.

Uh, they thought it was kind of,
yeah, they didn't understand it.

They didn't trust me.

Cause we didn't have,
didn't have any clients.

You know, when you don't have clients,
it's hard to get that credibility and.

You know, people just don't get
it and, and they don't understand,

really digest the value props.

They, they say, I think it's a
no-brainer, but they're still,

there's, it's not on fire.

It's not one of those
like critical things.

So people say, yeah, it
sounds really interesting.

Call me in five months.

Yeah, it sounds really interesting.

Uh, well look, this as a Q3
thing, let reach out to me then.

So, because it's really not.

Critical.

And the amount of the amount realistically
that we're donating is really not a

lot relative to what a big company ar
who's purpose driven already donates.

Right?

A large enterprise is donating millions
of dollars and we come in and offer to

museum, donate tens of thousands, which
is a lot considering it came from nowhere.

Yeah, it's great, but it's still, they
see it as work risk, another project.

And so no matter what, I think we all
bring out to the world with our ventures

and we're trying to build something
innovative and build the future.

Like this show, right?

We're gonna run into challenges.

It's just hard.

And this has been hard and it still is
hard cuz I have new challenges as we go up

to bigger companies in the way of getting
all the way to the point that we have a

lot of buy-in and then hitting a bunch
of sticky stuff and hitting a bunch of

no callbacks and ghosting and it sucks.

Being ghosted sucks when you think
you're making progress and the

guy you're supposed to be moving
forward with doesn't call you back.

Um, and so it hasn't been toyed, but
you, I think it's a numbers game and

you gotta just keep going out and,
and believing in, in, in our vision.

Like we, we believe in creating a, we
have a vision to create a 10 million

recurring donation stream by 2030.

It's a very clear kind of milestone goal.

So we just back up from that and say, we
don't know exactly what the steps are to

get there, but we know we need to find.

Champion case studies is
our main focus right now.

So like talking to Dr.

Bronners last week, talking to, uh, keen
footwear, talking to bigger and bigger

companies that people know and trust
and that are bigger, they're gonna,

they're gonna be bigger donations,
bigger case studies to, to demonstrate

that this thing at scale can, can, can
create major impacts similar to 1% for

the planet and B Corp, these movements
that once people came together as a

community, uh, it creates a me measurable

Kevin Horek: impact.

No, that, that makes a lot of sense.

So I'm, I'm curious though, because
you've been through this and it even

took you, you know, a couple years of
iteration and trying probably different

wording and messaging and all that
to start getting people on board.

How did you not quit?

Because you could have a
number of times in your career?

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah,
that's a good question.

And there's a, there's a
cool quote I have on my desk.

I don't know the exact words of it,
but one of the things says that as soon

as you, as soon as you, um, as soon as
you have hesitancy, right, and, and,

and you doubt and you have hesitancy,
um, then you're pulling back from that

energy that is going to attract all
the people and the ideas and everything

that you need to manifest your dreams.

So there's a certain thing about commit.

And for me, I just said,
I'm gonna commit to do this.

I, and I did the same
thing with Peace Pedalers.

Like I didn't know how I was gonna
manifest come coming from bankrupt

all the way to manifesting a trip
around the world with full funded,

with full spa 40 sponsors and,
and make the whole funding happen.

But I said I was gonna do it.

And there's something about saying
you're gonna do it and, and just

committing that you're gonna find a way.

It's same thing with
Luella, the candle company.

I didn't know how I was gonna create
the blend fire and electronics

together and raise $2 million
and, but I said, I'm gonna do it.

So I, I think that's been my secret
sauce is, is been like, I, I see what

I want to build and I'm just not,
I put my blinders on and just keep

going and I know that there's gonna
be things that are gonna be hard and I

just look at it all like opportunities
to grow and part of the process.

And like that's a, that's a big obstacle.

That's a big, that's a part of the
process for me to learn and grow.

And instead of looking at as an
opp as one of the reasons, another

new reason why I should quit, cuz
there's gonna be a bunch of obstacles.

And if you add 'em all up one by one
by one, you could just be in the back

of your mind saying, there's another
reason why I shouldn't do this.

There's another reason why
I should probably not think

about doing something else.

Maybe I should look for a backup plan
now maybe I should start applying,

get my resume, you know, polished up.

And you look for all these
reasons to just stop.

And, and as soon as you do that, it
stops all the good energy that the,

I believe the universe or the energy
of God or source energy, whatever you

wanna call this big forcep, is there
for us when we believe in something.

Especially if it's something that is
noble and is good and is right and

that the world needs to experience.

So building the future, you know,
the people on this show, I'm

sure, like they've said, they,
the world needs to have this.

This is the wrong model.

This is the wrong way.

It's been done.

We need to do it this other way.

And doing it that other way and creating
something that is that other way is hard.

There's just no way around it.

It's just hard.

And, and it's, I think going into
it saying, this is gonna be hard.

Like, you're gonna go and climb a
mountain, you're gonna do something hard.

You just know it's gonna be hard.

So you're expecting it to be hard.

I think that's a, that's
another kind of key.

Yeah.

Kevin Horek: No, I, I actually
think that's really good advice.

I, I think that's the hardest thing to
overcome in yourself, I think is just

when you're back aga is against the wall
and you really have no other option.

It's, it's kind of like
sink or swim, really.

Right.

And you need to make that call.

Jamie Bianchini: And
it's not for everybody.

It's, yeah.

I, I, I agree.

And, and the bottom line is, in
my experience, I think going that

far and going so deep into it.

And if for some reason you were
to fail, going that hard into

it, you're, you're gonna, you're
gonna fall into something awesome.

Because you, because you gave it your
all and you went in with everything.

And then there's no chance of regret if
you were to close something down too soon.

Um, and, uh, you know, not
really give it, give it your all.

I mean, I, I did sell Luella's
and people would say, I sold

Luella a little too soon.

Um, that I sold that company.

But at the same time, in in market
situations where, or, or in a situation

where your health and your relationships
become screwy, then that's the time

where I think sometimes it can become
a reason to shut something down.

Like, I had three kids with Luella.

I was traveling to China all the time.

I was raising money all over
the country, and I was set to go

raising an 8 million series A.

And it just was it, when I got the offer
to sell, it was like a way better option

for my lifestyle, you know, and I, I
knew, but I was still able to see the

product through by being with the company
that was gonna invest that money in to

make the innovation be seen by anybody.

Right and still be enjoyed.

So Luella candles cannot be
purchased and they will be forever,

as far as I'm concerned, cuz
there's a, a big company behind it.

So that's, you know, sometimes
when it's attempt, I don't

know if that's quitting though.

Quitting versus exiting
or that can just depends.

The right time there.

Yeah.

Kevin Horek: But I also think too, it's
really easy to, could tell somebody else

that they should keep going when, if it
just doesn't make sense in your case.

Right.

Like, if you're, like the pros don't
outweigh the cons and you can get an

exit and you're happy with it, it like,
it's really hard to be l to tell somebody

else that you know, cuz you don't know
like, Something could have happened on

the planet that could wipe out your
business or make it way more successful.

We have no idea.

Right?

Mm-hmm.

And when you made the call, it
was the right call for you and

the, your family at that time.

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good point.

And I think most people have to get
to that point where they realize.

Um, but yeah, I think, uh, that,
that, that vision and determination

to build something that's special and
staying firm on that and visualizing

it daily and, and, and being
committed to it is, uh, is probably

the, the, the secret I can think of.

Kevin Horek: Sure.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, you
met your wife while doing or riding

the bike around the world, correct?

That's correct.

S so obviously, walk us through how
you guys met the journey and, uh, her

being c e o and, and you guys working
together because, you know, we've

all heard pros and cons with working
with family members, especially,

you know, your significant other.

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah.

Uh, Christina's my wife
and we met in Argentina.

She came on the back of my tandem
bike as any rider did on my trip and

from, took a 16 kilometer planned ride
into a 20 day trip together, and she

fell in love with the spirit of what
we were building and what I was doing

with peace pedalers and the mission.

And, and we came back on the bike again.

Ended up riding and making a
baby and decided to get married.

And here we are, three kids.

Um, she, she was a big part
of, of Luella my last venture.

And she served in kind of customer
success manager, customer happiness

manager with golfer, something like that.

And, uh, she was, uh, just
a, just a really great force.

We didn't work like side by
side all the time, right.

But she had a good role.

And, um, she was the one, I I,
there we made some big decisions.

We had, you know, we raised $2 million.

We had to deploy that money
to, to build the company.

And a lot of times I would come to
her and I would say, Hey, you know,

what do you think of this vendor or
this vendor, or this, this contractor

or this, this, uh, this firm here?

And it's like, eh, I don't, I
don't like the feel of these guys.

Even though they were the best or they
had the best whatever, they're, they're

like, I like this little small guy.

And every time she was
right and I was wrong.

So she had this intuition to her
and the way that she did things.

Which was so much, it was like a yin
and yang kind of situation, right?

And we balanced each other out.

She brought some softness
to the Luella brand.

She brought a lot to the messaging
when we worked together in messaging.

So we decided to make her the c e o here.

So I didn't go deploy capital
in the wrong place and, and go

with the wrong partnerships, and
I had to run everything by her.

And she's been really great,
responsible for the rebrand from,

from Purpose and Expenses Over to Pi
Purpose, excuse me, from Profit and

Purpose was the name of our company.

When we launched it, we now
changed it to purpose and expenses.

And she was really instrumental for that.

And the branding and the, the,
the, the visual stuff that

we've done on the website and.

So, uh, yeah, she's, I, I don't, right
now she's, we have three kids and she

works a part-time job as we bootstrap
this thing part, you know, part-time

with, with other jobs and stuff.

But, you know, I work full-time in this,
but she's part-time, so we're gonna see

when she goes full-time later in the
year how it's gonna be working together.

But I would imagine we'll
find our, find our groove.

Kevin Horek: No, that I, I think it,
it's super important, and I've found

this throughout my career, whether
it's a significant other or business

partner or whoever, but in my case,
it's been my wife too, where it's

like how many times they've talked
you off, like that metaphorical ledge

of like quitting something or you're
like struggling with something and

you're just like this, you know?

And just having that like sounding board
I is like so important as an entrepreneur

because you know, the highs and lows
of this stuff and, and just getting

their thoughts on sometimes having
that outside perspective sometimes.

Yeah.

You just kind of make everything.

Not always a hundred percent better,
but usually a lot of times way

Jamie Bianchini: better for sure.

Kevin Horek: So I'm, I'm curious,
where do you take purpose and expenses?

Like, obviously you want to get bigger
and bigger companies, but it seems like

you could really do a, a lot more and
with your background and, and constantly

giving back, like where do you take

Jamie Bianchini: this thing?

I mean, our bigger vision in the,
you know, between now and, and,

uh, 2030 is, you know, to hit that,
to hit that goal, we're gonna need

bigger companies to come on, right?

Uh, and we're doing a funding
round at the end of this year,

you know, for q3, q3, q4.

We're gonna kick that off.

Uh, we're not exactly sure what
that's gonna look like, but it's

not gonna be a traditional VC round.

It's gonna be really an impact investor.

Very, very unique kind of term
sheet because we're not building

a company that is ever gonna sell.

Right, like 1% for the planet.

1% for the planet will never sell.

It's, it's a, it's a nonprofit.

Now.

We decided not to be a nonprofit.

We, a lot of people were like,
why aren't you a nonprofit?

I'm like, because everyone, all, all
my nonprofit friends told me not to.

Kevin Horek: Wait, wait, sorry.

Before you could like, or maybe come
back to that, like, I want to know why.

Because if, if people are making that
decision when they're building a.

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah,
well, but keep going.

Yeah, we'll definitely go down that road.

So, um, so the term sheet we're putting
together, like for our growth trajectory,

the first round we're gonna do is really
a bridge round to get us to profitability,

cuz we're not gonna be able to meet all
of our expenses, be profitable right away.

We've got a good, good revenue growth.

We've got great, it's a SaaS
model, so it keeps building and

it's very, very predictable growth
and it's exciting to see it.

Um, but we're not by the end of the
year when my, my, my, my, right now, my

runway is the way that I'm get getting
by as I'm still paid by my old company.

So that's gonna end the end of this year.

And when we, when we, uh, When we move
this forward, uh, we'll need to have, you

know, the, all that operational expense
and sg a put into a, a real budget.

So we're really just trying to get
some runway with this next raise.

Get us to KO fail positive and to prove
the model out, get our efficiencies

dialed in, and, uh, learn a lot about how
to build, uh, build an actual platform.

And that's the next round of
funding that I envision doing is

where we build a platform where we.

Anybody, whether you hear it
about, on a podcast, you go to our

website, it puts you in and you
sign up on our platform for free.

And you start just entering your
information and uploading your

documents and managing your tasks.

And the tasks are in, the workflows are
automated and it, it self-selects people

that are serious or not serious because
the system itself does it all right?

So that's where we wanna build it.

But before we build that, we want to just
go out and prove this up a little bit.

But that will be something that will
take somebody and you can upload

the invoices in a secure area.

We know we get it.

That gets analyzed, that
comes back with a thing.

What do you want to do?

And, and it just has a, and it manages
all of the manual workflow that we're

doing now so that it could scale from
this 10 million in recurring goating

donation to hundreds of millions.

Like 1% of the planet is gonna
do a quarter billion dollars

in donations by having a lot of
companies donate 1% of revenue.

So we're asking a lot of companies
eventually to come into this

movement and allow us to redirect
a percentage of that spend.

Through this model and
through our platform.

And so that's where we'll go longer term.

But as I said, it's not gonna
be something that someone's

gonna be looking for an exit.

An investor will get a good return, get
their money back, and get a good return,

and maybe some recurring profits as well.

Um, so that's what the term sheet
that we're gonna be developing over

the next couple months, uh, to get
through these, that phase, and then

the next phase of, of bringing on
some additional capital to scale.

Kevin Horek: Interesting.

Just for, to be clear, how do you
guys make money if you're offering

the, your services basically for free?

Jamie Bianchini: Uh, we make
50, like all the revenue we earn

from doing our brokering service.

I'll give you a perfect
example as Google Workspace.

Okay.

Or Microsoft 365, both of them.

I make 10%.

I walk away with 10% after I pay my
team that I've got, I've got, you

know, the way our split works with
some team that we work with, uh, with

a, with a strategic partner is we
end up with 10% revenue of the spend.

So if somebody spends a hundred thousand
dollars a year on Google Workspace or

Microsoft 365, we make a thousand dollars.

Our model is a 50 50 split with the
nonprofits of our member's choice.

So 50% of that $500 becomes a recurring
donation, and $500 stays with us

as a r r annual recurring revenue.

And that's our revenue that we
use to operate our business.

So we have to, because we give
away half of what we bring in.

We have to find twice as
many customers, right?

You know, and, and that's okay with us.

And that is our model
and that's our vision.

And some people said,
it's a dumb, dumb idea.

We should scale it up over
time, blah, blah, blah.

But some people say it's a great idea
cuz you're standing up immediately

for what your model is and being
very transparent of how you're

gonna build a movement, right?

We're a, we're a nonprofit
funding movement.

Like we're trying to fund nonprofit
impact and getting people to join

a movement by just coming in and
having us look at their expenses.

Cause you have to spend 'em many anyways,
or you can't operate your business, right?

So let us look at 'em, let us look at 'em,
give you a proposal of what they could be.

You don't know that's free and
doesn't know obligation for us to

do that step, which is to give you
a proposal after looking at them.

And then if you want us to
execute, we can, we, we can

liberate capital from those.

Got

Kevin Horek: it.

So you didn't go the nonprofit route.

Why

Jamie Bianchini: was that?

Uh, it was, we were really close to,
we, it was on the front burner for

a long time because we were ready to
really start pouring, pouring our, our

business, putting, you know, putting our
hearts into the business and growing it.

Right.

I was, my, my work with Lou Del, my
last company was getting li lighter

and lighter as, as, as I start to move
outta that company and their other,

the other leadership team comes in.

So I had started to find myself with more
time and we started focusing on it more.

And then because we're a nonprofit
funding model, really trying to emulate

1% for the planet, really in that model.

Like, ask a lot of people to do a little
bit and you can create a lot, right?

So we're like, wow, we're doing this,
and why wouldn't we just be a nonprofit?

So I started to interview nonprofit
leaders on my, my office is surrounded

by nonprofits where I work right now,
and all of 'em said the same thing.

They're like, just be a b.

You can get all the same benefits as
a B Corp because you are, you generate

revenue, your business generates revenue.

Right.

And you, unlike a B Corp, unlike
a nonprofits, always looking for

grants and donations and Right.

Corp.

Like that is their model for
funding is ask, put their hand

out, say Please support and fund
our operating budget this year.

Then they have to do it next year,
then they have to do it next year.

Right.

And it, it's, it's a grind for them.

But they said, for, for us, be a B
Corp because you have revenue and,

and it will allow you to attract great
people, allow you to do whatever you

wanna do as opposed to a nonprofit.

You're always li you're always
limited and your eyes are always on

you and you're always in paperwork.

You're, they said, do, don't do it.

Like they were serious too.

They weren't just like, eh, maybe
they're like, just don't do it.

There's everything that you need is
in a, in the B, the new B Corp format

for you to do what you need to do.

And so B Corp is awesome
because it does hold.

I'm in the middle of the, the,
the assessment right now, the

tail end of it here, hopefully.

And it, it is rigorous.

Like they are gonna look at your
stuff and they want to know that you

are committing and doing what you're
say you're gonna do to be, to have

your business be a force for good.

And so that movement alone
and 1% for the planet for that

matter, we're also members there.

Like you're basically standing up
and saying, we're gonna use our

business for a force for good to go
out and solve social and environmental

challenges by the way we operate.

And, uh, but we are, we, we
definitely go the extra mile for sure.

And there's nobody who does what we do.

And I think that's gonna be
our competitive advantage.

Um, and eventually, I think long,
long term we may even do a, a, a

model similar to, uh, Newman's own,
where we just give away all, you know,

all profits just get given away or
something, something to that tune.

But this model works right now, uh,
for us to get going cuz it does give

us, you know, a recurring SaaS model
to build, to build a, a company on.

Kevin Horek: No, makes a lot of sense.

So I, I'm curious because you seem
to care, obviously tremendously

about, you know, these causes.

How did, how did you, or what
advice do you give to people to

start a business around this?

Because let's be honest, most people
want to make the most amount of money.

Possible with their business.

But I think more and more
people these days are actually

saying like, you know what?

Like at a certain point I need
to actually start giving back.

And so what advice do you give to that?

Jamie Bianchini: I would say, I would
say definitely start with purpose.

Start with what?

What is that itching side of you
that is saying this can be better?

And whether it's environmental, whether
it's something in social, whether it's

something in equity, whether there's
so many different areas where somebody

feels like there needs to be progress
here in that area, and that there's some

way that they can envision making it.

That progress.

And then that could be the burning kind
of inside, I inside that you can look at

to build something around that foundation
that's starting with the why of why you

exist on a deeper, for a deeper re reason.

So one of our clients that's onboarding
right now, um, is a credit company,

but they exist because they want to
make good credit available, available

to underserved communities that never
knew the tools or the processes or the

tricks or the systems that the kind of.

Privileged whites were able to find,
to get a 700 square, an 800 square

credit and buy a house or a car, right?

So their deeper purpose is how
do we give this gift to people?

But then the mechanism that they're doing
is technology services when a whole system

and a platform and a workflow and so
forth, and a subscription-based model that

allows people to do that and measure it.

Um, so the, like, what
are you passionate about?

You know, and start with that why, and
that what are you deeply passionate about?

And then find a business around that.

Very

Kevin Horek: cool.

No, I, I think that's,
that's really good advice.

But we're kind of coming to the end
of the show, but I really, because

you've been an entrepreneur basically
your whole career, is there any other

entrepreneurial advice that you
would like to pass on to the listener?

Because I think you have a ton of

Jamie Bianchini: it.

I would say, If I, I, I did say earlier
that it, that entrepreneurship is hard.

Yeah.

And, and we, and we do know it's
hard and that's why not a lot

of people do it, quite frankly.

There's a lot of fear in it, A
lot of, um, a lot of, like, a lot

of folks that will tell you you
can't do it or you shouldn't do it.

And it's not a wise idea, uh, to do it.

You got your family, you got your own,
you know, and so, I would say don't

listen so much to the other people,
especially if someone's been a more

career focused person and, and, and
working for others for a long time.

I would say just, just go for it and,
and, and, yeah, it's gonna be hard,

but I, I, I still think it's worth it.

Building something, creating something
that is yours and building something

innovative that is, you know, a
creation that you want is, is worth

anything you have to go through.

I mean, I think the growth that you get
going for going through those things and

the amount of, uh, personal development
that you get to go through is, is awesome.

And, uh, I, I would just advise,
just don't, don't let your own

mind voices in your head and the
voices of those around you that.

Are jealous that you're gonna make the
leap, get in the way, you know, make the

leap and go for it and you know, get help.

There's a lot of mentors out there
and they're probably my other one.

There's a lot of mentors out there and
there's a lot of people out there that

love helping new entrepreneurs and first
time founders and tap into those networks.

They're all over the place.

They're everywhere.

So if you're gonna do it, don't try.

Don't think you have to do it alone.

Reach out to people, get support.

Kevin Horek: Well, I think that's
really good advice, and you brought

it up earlier and I don't, and I think
it's just, I think as good advice

is your wife still works, right?

Or part-time.

Yeah.

And I think there's nothing wrong with
starting a business and becoming an

entrepreneur while working full-time,
part-time, or doing something completely

separate from building a business like
you read online, or in certain cases

people are like, it's all or nothing.

It's like if you can't be all or nothing
and you need to do it in the evenings

or in the weekends or part-time,
there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah.

And I don't know why that's so like
frowned upon in with certain people.

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah, definitely.

I mean, we, we side hustled this thing
while I was working full-time for the

j for the company that I sold, and
Christina ended up working for the school.

And so we're working and hustling
and then having to do this on the off

hours and nighttime and mornings and
different things like that to make it

work and test your, test your theory.

You know, there's a lot
of things you can go out.

There's so much testing
mechanisms now to test ideas.

There's so many cheap ways to test
if something, something works or

doesn't, that you can still keep your
job and your, make sure you meet,

you know, pay your mortgage and your
expenses without diving in right away.

But there will come a point that you'll
need to make that dive and, uh, and

that's when you need to watch the
demons in your own boy head and those,

and the, the demons at the other heads
around you and, and make that leap.

Kevin Horek: No, I a hundred percent agree
with you, but how about we close the show

with mentioning where people can get more
information about purpose and expenses

and any other links you wanna mention.

Jamie Bianchini: Yeah, purpose in expenses
is, is easy to spell and easy to remember.

It's purpose in expenses and,
uh, I, I would say go there and

check out some of the videos.

There's a two minute video there, my wife
and I telling you kind of how it works

again, and, and there's a booking link to,
to, to, um, to, to book a time with me.

Some.

I, we've had people find our
website and just say, here's all

the expenses that I'm getting.

They just send 'em to us and
say, here's what I've got.

And it just shows up in our box.

And then we, you know,
start, start the process.

So wherever your trust level is or
whatever your level is, but uh, purpose

and expense is a great place to start.

Kevin Horek: Very cool.

Well, Jamie, I really appreciate
you again, taking the time to be

on the show and I look forward
to keeping in touch with you and

have a good rest of your day, man.

Jamie Bianchini: You too, Kevin.

Talk to you soon.

Thank you.

Okay,

Kevin Horek: bye.