“Start your day the Golden way!” That’s the mantra of accomplished musician and Golden Ratio’s founder and Caffeinated Executive Officer (AKA: Chief Executive Officer), Clark Nowlin. And like the steady cadence of a good drumbeat, this mantra has powered and inspired him throughout his entrepreneurial journey.
From his late teens into his early twenties, Clark was a touring guitarist—having played more than 200 shows with American Idol artists Tim Halperin and Jason Castro. While on the road, he got used to consuming a lot of low-grade, grab-and-go coffee—which eventually wreaked havoc on his stomach. This led to his discovery of light-roast coffee and a lot of time researching the science behind it. The result: the launch of Golden Ratio.
Golden Ratio offers a line of low-roast coffee—a light, low-acid brew designed to alleviate common stomach discomfort that comes with acidic black coffee.
Inspired to “up the cup” and create a premium gold-blend, low-acid coffee for the masses, Clark quit his job in the music industry and drained his 401(k) to fund his venture.
“We wanted to create a great product and make it available across the U.S,” said Clark. “We just want people to start their day feeling good [the Golden way]. This is a personal commitment in my own life and what’s driven me from the beginning.”
Partnering with his middle-school best friend, Hunter Thompson, the two set out to turn water into gold and vision into reality.
Millennial visionaries, Clark and Hunter were born with technology in their DNA. From the start, they sought out the best cloud apps to help run their company at peak efficiency.
Golden Ratio operates as a typical start-up: a small number of people wearing a lot of hats. Hunter Thompson, Chief Operating Officer (and also an accomplished and active musician) has been integral in building the company’s tech stack. And while, by his own admission, he was green to the role of COO, he noted that the extreme ease of use in setting up BILL and the dedicated support he received was invaluable.
A daily user of the solution, Hunter values BILL for helping “make more room in their heads.”
“The less we have to think about payables, the more it frees our minds to focus on making the best products for our customers and expanding our reach into new markets.” — Hunter Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Golden Ratio
Like any business owners, Golden Ratio leaders feel the pain of a never-ending to-do list. Procuring raw materials, planning revenue projections, and continually enhancing product offerings and design is just a small sampling of what occupies the minds of Hunter and Clark. It’s why they rely on top technologies like BILL to streamline tedious back-office processes like AP.
“The greatest value to me is that it simplifies a process that would otherwise be exceptionally time-consuming and complex and makes it simple and streamlined,” said Hunter. “When you have a long list of to-dos every day, you don’t want to worry about how people are going to get paid. BILL is our one-stop shop to get payables done quickly…and it frees our minds to focus on the million other tasks we have.”
Clark added: “Running a marathon is hard. Running a marathon with your shoes untied is harder. BILL lets us run the marathon with our shoes tied so we can focus on what’s important, like expanding our product line and always improving our packaging to be as eco-friendly as possible.”
Other fan-favorite features of BILL include pre-scheduling of invoices for contractors, vendors, and suppliers. BILL enables Hunter to follow a set-it-and-forget-it model for paying invoices—all while offering peace of mind that invoices are processed correctly.
The partnership between BILL and BILL Spend & Expense further fuels Golden Ratio’s efficiency and helps to streamline workflows. Hunter stated:
“[BILL Spend & Expense] offer clear, simplified, and fast insight into our budget. This leaves us more time to focus on compliance, timelines, and production schedules." — Hunter Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Golden Ratio
Having hand-selected BILL Spend & Expense, Clark loves the flexibility and control they have over spending and the company’s line of credit. He stated: “With [BILL Spend & Expense], we got this awesome card management portal, a generous line of credit without a personal guarantee from me, and a solution backed by a reliable company we can count on. It was a no brainer.”
Hunter is a fan as well:
“With BILL Spend & Expense, we have the ability to control credit limits at the individual level and monitor spending on a dime without banks, credit cards, or mistakes. A key benefit of using [BILL Spend & Expense] is the ability to maintain a controlled budget in one place.” — Hunter Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Golden Ratio
As the company’s founder, Clark has stayed true to his initial vision to make a better product that meets a real need.
As a self-proclaimed tech geek, Clark is always in touch with the latest and greatest technologies. “We want to operate a sustainable and eco-friendly operation. Technology and innovation is how we do that.“
“Life is too short and precious to not feel good every day. If we can help people take better care of themselves by putting something good in their body first thing in the morning, that makes us happy and we’ve done our job.”
