Podcast Summary: The Russell Brunson Show

Episode: Writing The Clickfunnels Startup Story...

Date: April 22, 2020
Host: Russell Brunson

Episode Overview

In this episode, Russell Brunson shares his excitement and plans for a new book project chronicling the complete, bootstrapped origin story of ClickFunnels. Unlike his previous books in the “Secrets” series, this work will focus on storytelling—capturing the real-life journey, challenges, and triumphs behind building ClickFunnels with his team, without external funding. Russell outlines the process he's undertaking to document key events, collaborate with co-founders, and create a legacy that others can learn from far beyond tactical marketing advice.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Tell the ClickFunnels Startup Story?

• Russell feels drawn to document the bootstrapped journey of ClickFunnels to provide insight and inspiration for entrepreneurs who start from scratch.
  • “Some of you guys have heard me talk about the fact that I bought the domain bootstrap.com and my goal is to tell the story about how ClickFunnels got bootstrapped.” [02:15]

2. A Shift from “How-To” to Storytelling

• Unlike the “Secrets” trilogy, the new book (“Bootstrap”) will not be a step-by-step guide, but a narrative-driven recounting of the startup process—highlighting the struggles, key decisions, and emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.
  • “Instead of being like a how-to book, like all of the Secrets trilogy has been, this is going to be like the story of what we did and how we did…” [02:27]

3. Building the Timeline: Research and Organization

• Russell walks listeners through his systematic approach to reconstructing ClickFunnels’ history year by year, using Trello to organize milestones.
  • Working alongside his collaborator Melanie, each year from 2009 onwards gets a Trello column.
  • Key milestones: meeting co-founders, product launches, big company events (Funnel Hacking Live, writing books, etc.).

Timestamps for Major Years Discussed:

• 2009: Met Dylan Jones (original co-founder/designer) in Fiji through a Tony Robbins event.
  • “In 2009 is when I met Dylan, who's one of the original co-founders of ClickFunnels.” [05:16]
• 2010: Suffered a major business crash—laid off 90 people, forcing a complete reset.
• 2011-2012: Teamed up with Todd Dickerson (future ClickFunnels co-founder) after an email outreach for coding help.
  • “So I email my list, get a response back from Enter Todd Dickerson. Todd Dickerson emailed back and we started working together…” [09:51]
• 2013: Started building ClickFunnels in earnest; Todd did coding, Russell drove the vision.
• 2014: Beta launch, first webinars, and the beginning of the explosive ClickFunnels growth.

4. Intention to Deep-Dive with Co-founders and Team

• Russell aims to personally interview all key contributors (Dylan, Todd, Brent, Dave, Rya, etc.) for their unique perspectives at each milestone.
  • “I'm gonna fly each of the people that were involved… and then interview them about each step in the thing: like, how were you feeling when this happened…?” [13:58]
• The goal is to capture not just business decisions but emotional states, personal backgrounds, and behind-the-scenes reality.
• Suggests future inclusion of all these materials—audio, video, emails, photos—in the book, potentially via QR codes.

5. Creating a Timeless Legacy

• Russell reflects on the importance of leaving behind more than just business results—turning learned lessons into a resource for others, including his children and future generations.
  • “I think all of us come to Earth and our goal is to try to make the earth a better place when we leave… You package it in a way that can, like, live beyond yourself.” [19:33]

6. Lessons from Traditional Publishing—A Different Approach This Time

• Shares frustrations with publisher-imposed deadlines during “Traffic Secrets” book creation; prefers no advance or deadlines on “Bootstrap.”
  • “I want to give the money back. Like, here you go. I don’t want your money. Like, your money is stressing me out. Like, just let me write my book in peace.” [23:12]
• This project will be done on his own timeline, for maximum authenticity and value.

7. Interactive Vision for the Book

• Envisions a book filled with stories, photos, and “live” elements such as QR codes linking to videos of key moments, making the history come alive for readers.
  • “How cool would it be…if there’s a video, like, if there’s a QR code, you hold your phone over it and boom, pops up and you, like, watch the video of the thing I’m telling you about?” [25:06]

8. Summing Up the Journey—And the Next Chapter

• Russell points out that the story doesn’t really have an ending yet, just like real startups.
  • “I don’t think we have an ending yet to the story. That’s the hard part—it’s just like…and then we were here. …Part Bootstrap part two coming soon.” [17:43]
• Draws parallels between his personal crash in 2010 and the broader “Corona crash” of 2020, noting cycles of adversity and reinvention.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On documenting the real story:
  “…doing it in a way that will help people understand the ClickFunnels story and how it came to be—and hoping in the process you’ll learn a lot.” [18:42]

• On the entrepreneurial legacy:
  “So this—I mean, literally, it was 11 years ago that I met Dylan. So this has all happened last decade, last 10 years. It was five or six years ahead of time of trying a bunch of stuff, ups and downs…” [27:13]

• On sharing lessons beyond tactics:
  “All the how-to stuff’s in the secrets books. You got enough. You got enough secrets over there. You’re good. Now you just gotta hear the story.” [18:06]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 02:15 | Decision to write the ClickFunnels story | | 05:16 | 2009: Meeting Dylan Jones in Fiji | | 09:51 | Email outreach finds Todd Dickerson, future co-founder| | 13:58 | Plan to interview co-founders/team on each milestone | | 17:43 | Acknowledgement: Story has no “ending” yet | | 19:33 | Reflections on legacy and passing on lessons | | 23:12 | Rejecting deadlines from publishers | | 25:06 | Envisioning a multimedia, interactive book | | 27:13 | Recognizing the span of the journey (11 years) |

Tone and Language

Russell’s delivery is energetic, candid, and reflective. He openly shares both the highlights and the painful downturns, using self-deprecating humor and a sense of awe at the journey. The tone is inspiring but unpolished—reflecting the authenticity he seeks to bring to the Bootstrap project.

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a vulnerable, inside look at the painstaking process of capturing a company’s true origin story. Russell encourages listeners to consider their own legacies, not just in what they build, but in how they document and share their journeys for the next generation.

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