Dan Martell is a Canadian serial entrepreneur and award-winning angel investor.
Dan’s story could easily be a movie. Willing to challenge the system since his childhood, he ended up taking a wrong path that led him to 6 months in jail when he was 16 years old.
That experience eventually led him to change his ways, learn how to code by himself, and launch the first software company that brought him to become a millionaire at 27 years old.
He later founded and invested in other multi-million and billion dollars businesses.
As of 2020, Dan Martell has an estimated net worth of $37 million.
From Zero to Hero
Born on December 26th, 1979, Dan used to be a troubled kid. His mom was an alcoholic while his dad was in sales and wasn’t much at home.
He has followed his entrepreneurial spirit since the early days when he used to build tree forts and snow cabins.
He always had a creative drive to make things happen. However, it seems like he just didn’t know how to channel it well.
Anger issues started to come up in his teens years, and he moved to a group home for troubled kids.
However, he ended up being kicked out of his group home at 15, and that’s when he discovered drugs.
As well because of his A.D.H.D., he didn’t go to school much and started selling and doing drugs.
This brought him to the lowest point in his life when, at 16 years old, he found himself drunk and high in a stolen car. When the police stopped him to check his license, he started to speed up and ended up crashing inside a house with a gun next to him, ready to shoot at the police forces.
Dan spent the following six months in adult prison, followed by an extensive period of rehab, where he could have to spend time to find himself and channel his energy in positive ways. He knew that there was something more for him in life.
It was during rehab that Dan Martell first learned how to program with Java. Out of rehab, he finished high school and became “addicted” to computer programming.
His father had a significant impact in his life as Dan says in an interview, the ended helping him to turn around his life moving the family in another house in a better neighborhood, so it was easier for Dan to build a new habit and have a better environment.
Since then, Dan Martell's life has been different. He became a millionaire at 27 when he sold his company Flowtown back in 2012.
After his first successful exit, he moved to San Francisco for the following years, where he founded Clarity.fm, backed by world-class investors like Mark Cuban.
Soon after selling Clarity.fm, Dan Martell moved back to Canada, where he now lives in Sussex, New Brunswick, dedicating his time to give back. He not only teaches fellow entrepreneurs how to start and grow his businesses through his youtube channel and e-learning programs but every four months he visits the rehab center that had such a huge impact in his life.
Dan Martell is an avid car and fitness passionate. In an interview, he claimed that fitness is a crucial element for change and success.
Dan Martell Companies
- Flowtown (Acquired by DemandForce in 2012)
- Clarity.fm (Acquired by Startups.co in 2015)
- SaaS Academy (Present)
In 2012, Dan was named Canada’s top angel investor having completed over 33 investments in companies like Udemy, Intercom, Shopify, and Unbounce. (source)
Dan Martell Podcast
Dan Martell is the host of the podcast show “Escape Velocity.”
Dan Martell Wife
Dan’s wife, Renée Warren, is not only a huge source of inspiration for him but also the founder of FamilyAcademy.co, and former co-founder and CEO of PR and Content marketing agency Onboardly.
(Photo source: Big Omaha/Malone & Company)
