Anna Samios Leaders' Program:
How one start-up scaled a $1 icy pole into a $1million dollar charity donation

Ante Juricin and Shannon Poulton co-founded Good Thnx, a SaaS start-up with the ambitious goal of being the world’s best gifting and recognition tool, in late 2014. Since then, they’ve enjoyed the steady rise that is every start-up’s dream. And like so many successful companies, Good Thnx started with a simple ‘What if…?’

It all began on a hot summer day in Adelaide when Ante bought Shannon an icy pole to say thanks. That simple interaction sparked an idea between the two friends. What if you took the idea of that token $1 present and turned it into a donation to the receiver’s charity of choice? Good Thnx was born, but Ante says they didn’t start out to build a business.

One of the comments many of Anna’s clients make is that her approach allows them to really cut through. Anna lays out a strategy to implement the Scaling Up framework that propels them forward, rather than leaving them spinning their wheels, trying to work out which direction to turn. This is exactly what Ante found working with Anna: “Having a proper structure and framework has been eye opening; Anna really takes it to another level.”

Building a good team has been a major focus for Good Thnx. Bringing in A-players is vitally important, no matter what stage of business you are in. As entrepreneurs, Ante and Shannon had some experience already, but they also learnt a few lessons by trial and error, now having a wealth of knowledge behind them as a result.

Ante and Shannon were introduced to Anna through an investor who had worked with her and knew that she could produce some real results for Good Thnx. Ante sees his investor’s endorsement as a testament to Anna’s proven process. And he understands that in the lean, mean world of start-ups, finding the cash to fund a business coach can be hard to justify. But from Ante’s perspective, the ROI from working with Anna as a certified Scaling Up coach makes it worth pursuing. As he says, “If we hadn’t gone through the recent success that we have, you wouldn’t believe the results that Anna’s strategy has delivered.”