Assertion certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

King Profited $8,000 in First Month Cold-Calling for Sign Repairs

Levi King · Leading Authentically: Levi King’s Journey from Entrepreneur to Fintech Innovator · Jun 4, 2025 · at 5:51

Levi King, co-founder and CEO of Nav, describes how he launched his first entrepreneurial venture servicing electric signs after college.

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“My first month, I profited eight grand, a cold call. I drove around at night, looked for burnout electric signs, and I'd cold call the next day and offered to fix the sign, and that turned into an 8000 dollar profit”

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