He Saw a Gap Nobody Else Was Filling. Twelve Years Later, He Built Three Businesses Around It.

Behind the Scenes of a Founder's Life + Manny Larcher

I asked Manny Larcher to tell me about himself and his journey as a founder.

He started where it all began. With his family.

Manny Larcher is a Columbus, Ohio-based entrepreneur who has been building businesses for over a decade. His dad was a musician. His grandmother owned a restaurant. His parents are from the Caribbean. He grew up watching people in his family create things from nothing.

"I think I was just drawn to entrepreneurship."

He studied marketing and business, and somewhere in that mix of family background and formal education, something clicked. He did not just want to work in business. He wanted to build it.

Twelve years later, he is still at it. And he is just getting started.

From St. Lucia to Columbus and Back Again

Manny was born in Columbus but spent ages five to eleven in St. Lucia. Then back to Ohio. High school in Hilliard. College at Bowling Green and Ohio State.

He told me he wasn't super happy about moving back to Ohio as a kid. The weather alone is a shock to the system when you have been living on a Caribbean island.

But looking back, he is grateful for those years in St. Lucia. He goes back every year now. He spent about a month there last year. He even owns stluciatech.com, a project he is working to develop.

"I'm very grateful I was able to get those years in there. The education system is actually really, really good there. And it really helped me at a young age."

That early experience of living in two very different worlds, Caribbean and Midwestern, planted something in him. A comfort with difference. A curiosity about how things work elsewhere. A habit of not assuming that the way things are done where you are is the only way they can be done.

That habit would show up in everything he built.

Three Businesses. One Through Line.

When I asked him how long he had been an entrepreneur, he paused for a second before answering.

Technically, nine years. But actually twelve.

Twelve years ago, he started a media outlet called YourInfoDaily. It covers music and business and now receives millions of visits a year. Over the years, it has featured endorsements from Kevin Hart to Nipsey Hussle.

Nine years ago, he co-founded Stopwatch Creative with his business partner, designer Lenny Burkett. Together, they have built over 100 websites and mobile apps, run social media campaigns, and done experiential marketing for professional athletes, corporations, and venture-backed startups.

Then the pandemic happened. And instead of slowing down, Manny saw an opening.

"When the pandemic happened, we saw an opportunity to create a curated network to really connect a lot of the people that we were working with with the needs that we saw. Which is really customers, growth capital, and access to talent."

That network became Colaeb. It has grown to over 650 customers across most US states and 14 countries. Clients range from manufacturing to healthcare to consumer products. Last year, Manny was in London twice, attending the inaugural SXSW event, and in the south of France at the Cannes Creative Festival. Colaeb also has enterprise clients like JPMorgan Chase and Mercury Bank.

All three businesses are still running. All three are still growing.

The Hardest Part Was Believing He Could Do It

I asked him about the biggest struggles in the early days and how he got through them.

His answer was not about money, marketing, or finding clients. It was more personal than that.

"Fear. Not believing that I'm capable. Not believing that I could deliver. And maybe not being around the best support network."

He said the turning point was surrounding himself with people who genuinely believed in him. People who uplifted him and gave him the opportunity to prove what he could do.

"After you know what love feels like, it is up to you to continue to go towards love."

Once that foundation was in place, the practical work became clearer. Listen to your customers. Understand why they are choosing you. Build a better solution. Keep them. And let them refer you to the people they know.

He said that is still the model. Nine years in, it has not changed.

Travel Is Not a Reward. It Is Part of the Work.

I asked him what one lesson has shaped how he operates today.

His answer surprised me a little.

"Travel. Just travel. When you have time, take a break and travel. Kill your ego, keep building your skill set, and keep yourself open to the opportunities."

He is not talking about vacations. He is talking about exposure. In the past month alone before our conversation, he was in New York twice, Atlanta twice, Austin for South by Southwest, Charleston, and Miami.

Every trip is a chance to see how people in other places solve the same problems. To break the assumption that the way you do things is the only way things can be done.

"Don't be rigid and assume you know it all. Humility and confidence are not ego and arrogance. Travel, kill your ego, and keep building your skill set."

And for anyone who does not have a travel budget yet, he has a simple answer. YouTube University. The entire South by Southwest conference, for example, is on YouTube. The knowledge is available. The only question is whether you go looking for it.

He Is Already Cloning Himself

I asked him what one thing he wished he had in his business today to help him fully achieve his vision.

He laughed a little before answering.

"An AI super pilot that could duplicate myself or duplicate our team. But ask me this question in three months, and I probably will have it built."

He was not joking. The day we spoke, he had just posted a video of himself using AI to clone his own likeness for content creation. He is already building the thing he said he wished he had.

That is very Manny Larcher. See the gap. Fill it. Move on to the next one.

What Is Next

I asked him what he is working toward right now.

He is focused on making Colaeb more accessible. There is a free tier that gives new members access to onboarding, education, and the community. Paid plans deliver faster, more targeted results. YourInfoDaily, a media outlet that pulls in millions of monthly impressions, enables its partners and customers to reach and distribute their content to their target audiences.

"Building is easy. Distribution is hard. That is the most important thing I am excited about. Being able to help more people get results quicker."

He said it plainly, but it carries a lot of weight coming from someone who has spent twelve years doing exactly that. Not just building things, but building the systems that get those things in front of the right people.

His dad was a musician. His grandmother owned a restaurant. And somewhere in watching them create, Manny decided he was built for this, too.

Twelve years in, it is hard to argue with him.

Want to Connect?

You can find Manny Larcher on LinkedIn and Instagram. To learn more about Colaeb and join the network, search Colaeb online. YourInfoDaily is also available for brands looking to amplify their reach to millions of readers.

And if you are a founder with a behind-the-scenes story, I would love to hear from you, too. These conversations remind us that success is rarely a straight line.

And if your challenge is execution, hiring, or freeing yourself from the day-to-day work, that is where we come in.

At Meet 5 Star Pros, we help founders hire high-level remote operators like Online Business Managers, Marketing Project Managers, and Executive Coordinators.

At Smart VAs, we provide dedicated virtual specialists who support marketing, operations, and growth so you can focus on what you do best.

Growth is not just about pushing harder.

It is about having the right people in the right seats.

And if you are a founder who wants to share your own behind-the-scenes story, DM me on LinkedIn.

Your story might be the one someone else needs to read today.

Sometimes growth is not about working harder.

It is about putting the right people in the right seats.