From Wall Street Burnout to $25M ARR: Adam Robinson on Building Retention.com | Investing on Purpose
Description
In this episode of Investing on Purpose, JP Newman sits down with Adam Robinson, founder of Retention.com, for one of the most transparent conversations we’ve ever recorded.
Adam went from Wall Street credit swap trader to bootstrapping his startup from $0 to $25M ARR — all while battling identity crises, personal reinvention, and brutal product failures. If you’re stuck, pivoting, or feeling the grind of entrepreneurship, Adam’s raw wisdom will feel like a mirror.
He breaks down:
• Why most startups fail and what to do when you’re stuck
• The trap of building something no one talks about
• His philosophies on purpose, storytelling, and radical authenticity
• How Retention.com solved a real problem no one else could
• What it really means to build with meaning
This conversation is real, unfiltered, and full of hard-earned insight.
Connect with Adam
https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam/
Connect with Investing on Purpose https://www.instagram.com/investingonpurpose/
👇 CHAPTERS:
00:00 – The Power of Word-of-Mouth Products
02:00 – From Wall Street to Purpose-Driven Founder
05:05 – The High-Stakes Culture of Trading
09:45 – Losing It All to Find Himself
14:50 – The Entrepreneurial Seed: From Lehman to Vimeo Loft
16:00 – Discovering Purpose Through “Delivering Happiness”
18:15 – A Spiritual Awakening Through Entrepreneurship
21:30 – Building Workplaces People Love
23:00 – From Partying to Purpose
26:30 – The First Startup & Hacking Constant Contact
31:45 – The Harsh Truth: Product Market Fit or Bust
35:00 – From Stagnation to Spark: Retention.com’s Birth
39:45 – The Secret to Going Viral on LinkedIn
47:30 – Embracing the Human Spark in the Age of AI
54:00 – Advice for Founders: The Painful Path to Breakthrough
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