Forward Thinking Founders

Basic information:Tomas Hoyos is the Cofounder and CEO of Voro. Voro is a community where you can search and find doctor recommendations from people you trust. They just raised a $2.5M seed round led by Floodgate. Listen to this episode if you:- If you or your loved ones have health complications, - If you are building a company in NYC- If you want to learn about fundraising and how to raise a seed round- Want to know what the fundraising process is actually like, not from hat you hear on headlines- Are curious how to close out a round once you've found a leadAn ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:Katia Damer is the Cofounder and CEO of Prolific. Prolific builds the most powerful and flexible tools for online research, starting with scientists and researchers.Listen to this episode if you:- Want to learn more about tools for doing user research- Are interested in a founder's thought on how/when to expand to a different market- Want to learn about the nuances of having product-market fit- How to think about decision making when affecting business strategy- How Y Combinator was to go through- How to go through the "scale up" phase of a startup.'An ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:Mark Lutter is the Founder and Executive Director at Charter Cities Institute. CCI is a nonprofit dedicated to creating the ecosystem for charter cities. ‍They believe charter cities are the future of development in emerging economies.Listen to this episode if you:- Are interested in understanding what Charter cities are- Are curious to know if a Charter City would work in the states- Are interested in solving the global poverty crisis- Want to learn about current charter cities underway?- Want to see how you can get involved in the charter city movement.An ask from Mat:Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:Travis Hedge is the Cofounder of Vouch. Vouch provides business insurance for startups.Listen to this episode if you:- Are wondering if you should get insurance for your startup- Are curious how to capitalize on an old industry into a quickly growing startup.- Are interested in how the process of selling within the YC network works. - Are interested in learning how to raise a seed round- Want to learn how to tell a story that the investors will align with- Are curious about how to think like an investor, as a founder.An ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:Greg Head is the CEO of Scaling Point and founder of Gregslist. Greglist is a network of lists that map all software companies in different geographies (Phoenix, Dallas, Utah , etc.). It's important to note that Greg was also the CMO that scaled Infusionsoft from the low millions to over $100M+. Listen to this episode if you:- Want to learn about how tech hubs outside of the coasts can improve their scene and presence on a national scale.- Want to hear about early days of growth at Infusionsoft- Are curious to learn about the stages of growth of a scale-up, and what changes need to be made at each stage- Are interested to hear the perspective of an accomplished tech leader, but outside a traditional tech hub.- Want advice on how to think about growth as an early (or late) stage founder- How to scale exponentially with your company, not linearly. An ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

I read outloud one of the short posts I wrote this year. This won't be the last time I do this, as I want to explore the options with an RSS feed. Stay tuned. To get more of my writing, head over to my Substack: I write free posts, but have most posts gated behind a paywall. Would love to see you over there. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:François Baldassari is the Cofounder and CEO of Memfault. Memfault can automatically catch, triage, and fix issues on any hardware platform. Memfault has raised 2.7M from Uncork Capital, Y Combinator, and others.Listen to this episode if you:- Are working on a hardware product and dislike the debugging process - Are a consumer of hardware products and want to help the companies be more successful- Are interested to know more about what happens inside Y Combinator- Want to know how to get early users for your platform- Want to hear what an experienced tech veteran thinks about the worldAn ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information:Sara Mauskopf is the Cofounder and CEO of Winnie. Winnie helps parents find childcare and preschools in their area.Listen to this episode if you:- Are interested in the ideation process (Learn how it took a while for Sara to hone on on this big idea)- Are interested in building a big audience before you monetize - Want to learn about the nuances of having product-market fit- Are curious about what hypergrowth feels like?- Want to learn about distribution channels like SEO and content marketing- Are wondering if you should run ads for your product- Are dealing with the chicken and egg problem of a marketplaceAn ask from MatJoin the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information: John Xie, Cofounder of Taskade. Taskade combines tasks, notes, and communication all in one place. Taskade has raised $5,000,000 and is a Y Combinator alumni.Listen to this episode if you:- Want to hear productivity hacks for your life and work- Are wondering what platforms you should start off with- Want to learn how to operate and manage a lean team- Are interested in remote work or future of work trends- Are into the nocode/creator movementAn ask from Mat Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we're talking to Austin Petersmith, founder of Capiche. In this episode, we talk about:What is Capiche?How does a user interact with Capiche?Is getting pricing transparency the main goal with Capiche?Where did this idea come from?What's the big vision for Capiche?What would happen if prices for software companies were compared like Amazon compares prices?What tech trends interest you right now?What have you learned over your career so far?Any advice for first-time founders?How can our community help you?Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, I interview Kevin Sun, who is the founder of Dex. Dex is a personal CRM. In this episode, we dive into:What is Dex?What's the inspiration behind Dex?How does someone use Dex?Why didn't our parent's address books transfer to the digital age for us?How do you know what features to build with Dex?What features do you plan on building in the next decade to make Dex better?What are your tips on relationship management?How do you think about getting users?How should I manage my 10,000 LinkedIn connections?What are the coolest products you use?How can the forward thinking founder community help you?Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, I talked to Peer Richelsen of Mage, which is a Magic The Gathering card marketplace. In this wide-ranging episode, we dive into:What is Mage?What is Magic The Gathering?If I wanted to play, where would I get my starting Magic cards?Does Mage allow its users to get more valuable cards?Have you ultimately built a stock market for Magic The Gathering cards?What made you fall in love with Magic The Gathering Do you have any competition up in SF?How did you explain this to investors?How are there cards worth six figures?How do you get users?What's the big vision for Mage?How can the Forward Thinking Founders community help you?Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

It was great talking with Jijo Sunny, Founder of Buy Me A Coffee, as we talk about the creator economy. His platform helps creators get paid for their work. Check out my own Buy Me A Coffee page here. In this episode, we dive into:What is Buy Me A Coffee?What did you feel the need to build Buy Me A Coffee?Can you break down different features on your platform?Is a "coffee" a unit in the website? if so, what does a "coffee" equal?What are some of your favorite examples of creator pages?Does Buy Me a Coffee replace the sponsorship model? Why is everyone thinking about creators now? What happened?What do you think of the no-code movement?What tips do you have for a new creator who joins Buy Me A Coffee?How do rewards work on Buy Me A Coffee? What's the big vision for Buy Me A Coffee?How do you think about picking a winning market?Hope you enjoyed today's pod! See you tomorrow.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we talk to Daryna Kulya, Cofounder of Openphone. Openphone is building the world's best business phone number. We dive into these questions:What is Openphone?What did people do before Openphone? What was the market like?Where did the inspiration for Openphone come from?Can you walk through the logistics of Openphone? How does it work?What's your vision for Openphone?Are you building Zapier for phone calls?Who are some of the personas that are the best fit for Openphone users?What do you spend your time thinking about when you're not working on your company?How do you think about operations for scaling? What's growth mode like?What have been some of your biggest learnings you've had since you started Openphone?How can our community help you?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this conversation with Chandan Lodha, the cofounder of Cointracker, we dive deep into the world of cryptocurrency. Cointracker is a product that helps you track your crypto portfolio and makes sure you stay compliant within the IRS. In this conversation, Chandan answers some of these questions:What is Cointracker?How does your portfolio tracker product work?Is cryptocurrency taxed by the government?Why did you decide to start Cointracker?Were you working on this during the 2017 hype cycle? What was that like?Did you know the market was about to blow up before it did when you first started?What is the state of cryptocurrency in 2019?Is being a first-mover in the cryptocurrency domain a good idea? Are there good apps being built on blockchain tech right now?How should someone think about opportunities to build in the crypto space?What's your vision for Cointracker?What do you think of Libra?What are tips you have for aspiring founders?How can the Forward Thinking Founders community help you?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with Andy Sparks, CEO of Holloway, we dive into:What is Holloway?How does the publishing process go from ideation to publication to promotion?Will you allow others to write book on Holloway?What is it like to read a book on Holloway?What do you think about the advertising model, and why didn't you go with it for Holloway?Are you building for the Passion Economy? Who is your ideal author on Holloway?How have you worked on your public speaking in the past? How so?What's the biggest vision you can think of for Holloway?What is your favorite book(s)?What tips do you have for aspiring founders?Find Andy on Twitter here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with Mark Thomas, CEO of Zensports, we talk about:What is Zensports?How do people bet on sports today?How could I use Zensports to bet with someone else?How do you use cryptocurrency within Zensports?Why did you decide to use cryptocurrency vs. the US Dollar?Is your currency a utility that can be used outside of just speculation?How do you plan to get your token to reach critical mass?Were you an early adopter to cryptocurrency?What do you spend time thinking about when you're not working on Zensports?If humans could live to 150, what would you do with your extra time?How have you liked the LAUNCH Accelerator?Find Mark on Twitter here. Thanks for tuning into #55!If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with the Cofounder and CEO of Goodly, Greg Poulin, we dive deep into these questions:What is Goodly?How does Goodly exactly work?How do employees and employers react to Goodly when they hear about it?What is the cost of not offering great benefits to their employees?How do you think about distribution channels for Goodly?What are some of the similarities or differences between being an early hire at a company and a founder of a company?How should a new employee take advantage of working at an early stage company to learn?What do you spend time thinking about when not working on Goodly?What advice do you have for someone listening but doesn't know the first step to do itFind Greg on LinkedIn here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, I interview Spencer Burleigh from Rent The Backyard, the company that lets you set up a house in your backyard and make money off of it for no cost. In this episode we talk about questions like:What is Rent The Backyard?What got you interested in this market?How does it work for homeowners who want to rent their backyard?Why did you start in SF?Can someone have more than one home in their backyard?How do you know when housing laws are changing in SF?How do you use Twitter as an asset for your brand or business?Are there social interactions between the renters and the rentees?Are you also a construction company as well?What's your vision for SF in 20 years?What do you think about building a personal brand via a newsletter?What tips do you have for aspiring founders?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with CEO of Demodesk, Veronika Riederle, we dive into these questions:What is Demodesk?How does it work for an SDR or AE?What type of analytics do you track in the meeting?What was the inspiration behind DemoDesk?What's the product vision for the next decade?Can you give us insight into the fundraising process?How do you think about picking the right VC partner?What do you think about when you're not thinking about your company?Why is videochat tech so hard to build? Is it getting easier?What advice do you have for aspiring founders?Find Veronika on Twitter here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. In this episode with the Bhav Ashok, the founder of Nuron Labs, we dive into these questions.What is Nuron Labs?What is a neural network?Is a neural network a type of AI? Is it something else? How do you break it down?Is OpenAI using neural networks when it plays in DOTA tournaments?Why did you want to start Nuron Labs? Does Nuron Labs tackle the long tail or short tail data of a distribution? What excites him about this space?How do you sell your softwareWhat will be possible when we have a wordlist neural net layer that isn't possible today?Can you unpack the AR layer world for me?Is Mark Zuckerberg a bad person?What advice do you have for aspiring founders?Learn more about Nuron Labs here. If you liked this episode, please buy me a coffee and help support the show. ★ Support this podcast ★

Amos is the Cofounder and CEO of Carve, which allows you to rent out unused cars in a dealership lot. In this wide-ranging conversation, Amos covers some of the following questions:What is Carve?How does the platform work for a dealer?Do you market it to used car dealerships or all dealerships? Can you dive into the sales process for Carve?How did you come up with the name?How long have you been working on Carve and what have you learned in the processWhat the big vision for Carve?What advice would you give aspiring founders?Learn more about Amos on Twitter here. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we dive into many different topics, as Domm answers the following questions:What is Fast?How does it work for consumers? Businesses?Why didn't you just build a chrome plugin like everyone else?How do you think about growing Fast?How should a growth team be made up of?What is the future for Fast?What did you do in your first month after moving to SF?How did you break through the noise and build a network here?What tips do you have for aspiring founders?What is an "ask" you have for the Forward Thinking Founders community?Find Domm on Twitter here. Thanks for tuning into #49! See you tomorrow :) ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we cover many questions, including but not limited to these ones:How did you get this idea and the inspiration for this company?What are some of the skillsets needed to build this product?Is the product software or hardware?How does the AI work/think to identify Respiratory Illnesses?What was the Thiel Fellowship like?Did you ever get to meet Peter Thiel? What's he like?How can founders better balance their work and their life?What are some of the best learnings you've had while working on this company?What advice you have for an aspiring founder?What is your ask for the Forward Thinking Founders community? Learn more about Emily on Twitter here and find Canairy online here. Thanks for tuning into #48! See you tomorrow. ★ Support this podcast ★

Is this episode Francis covers some of these questions:What is Ascen?Why do you believe that remote work is the future?How would I use Ascen for my own recruiting needs?How did the remote work adoption come to fruition and become as popular as it is?How do you find talent around the world to come on your platform?What other areas of life do you think the internet will improve?Where are people coming into your platform getting their skills from?What was it like cofounding Leif?What was Austen Allred like when you first met him (Leif supplies Lambda School's ISAs)What's your vision for Ascen?What does the world look like in a decade (or more!)What other companies need to exist to fill spaces to make your vision come into reality?What have been some of the biggest lessons you've learned along the way?Find Francis on LinkedIn here. Thanks for tuning into #47! See you for the next one. ★ Support this podcast ★

Some of the questions we dive into in this episode including:What is MIdtype?What featur3s did Midtype build so others didn't have toHow does a team implement Midtype in their product?Why go through YC?What is open source?What are some of the reasons to go open source from the beginning? What are some of the most successful open source companies?What advice do you have for someone wanting to start a company?'And tons more!Learn more about Jay on Twitter here. Thanks for listening to #46! Catch you tomorrow. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Krish answers some of the following questions:What is Fireflies?What is the "why" behind Fireflies? Why did you start it in the first place?How dos Fireflies work if we were using it right now? (we were)Where do you see Fireflies in a decade?How co you think about distributing for Fireflies?What are the biggest learnings from raising your seed round?How does someone break in and get into the "inner circle" of investorsWhat advice do you have for someone who wants to start their own company?Learn more about Krish on his website here and on Twitter here. Thanks for tuning into #45Forward Thinking Founders is part of the f20r.com network. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we talk about so many topics related to real estate. Some of the questions that I ask Abhi are:What is Hutsy?What is the New York Tech scene like?How does Hutsy feel to a user? Walk through a user experience with me.Where are the big three waves of real estate tech innovation?Are you similar to Atrium for real estate?What was Y Combinator like for you?How do you know when the right time to pivot is?What interests you in the world right now? What framework do you have for picking good ides to work on?What are your biggest learnings from startup a startup in college?What does Hutsy look like in a decade?Any advice for first-time founders just getting started?Find Abhi on Twitter here. Find Hutsy here.Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of Forward Thinking Founders! See you tomorrow :) ★ Support this podcast ★

It was so nice to reconnect to Jack Morrison to talk about his company, Scythe Robotics. Scythe builds autonomous lawnmowers to sell to commercial lawn care companies. Jack and I first got connected at Boulder Startup week in 2016, and three years later, here we are. On this episode, we dive into questions like:What are you building at Scythe?What fundamental problems does Scythe help solve?Is the lawnmower owned by the city, a family, or a commercial company?What knowledge did you have going into Scythe?What goes into building an autonomous lawnmower?What is Lidar and Radar, and which one did you pick for Scythe?Do you have plans to go beyond commercial neighborhoodsWhat is the sales process for Scythe’s lawnmowers?Do you see other companies using autonomous robots in different verticals? What do you think about Boston Dynamics?How do you see cities using parking lots in the future?What do you think about Tesla?Tips for starting a companyAnd more!!!Learn more about Jack on his website here. Thanks for tuning in!What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (f20r)! f20r is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

This was a fascinating conversation with Justin who is the creator of Matrix, which is a venture-backed ESports team. This was a deep dive into this space, and it was super interesting to talk to a pro like Justin who is on the ground floor making it happen. He answers questions such as:What is Matrix?What are Esports?How are Esports growing so quickly?How did you get into Esports?How does someone make a team within Esports?What elements make up a team? Coaches, players, sponsors? What else?How do you use democracy within the Matrix team?How far off are we from playing and watching Esports in virtual reality?Can Esports teams be venture-backed or is it entirely sponsorship based?What interests you about interplanetary inhabitation and cryptocurrency?How do you think about innovation in the crypto space? Is being a first-mover too risky?What do you think of Libra?What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a company?Find Justin on Twitter here and find Matrix on Twitter here. Thanks for tuning in and see you next week! :)What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (f20r)! f20r is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I had a great time talking to Hamza Zia, who is the CEO of GitStart. They are creating a whole new way that companies can recruit technical talent + a new way to engage developers looking for work. He also has many insights on the future of education in this awesome conversation. Today, we dive into: What is GitStart?How does the model work for companies? For developers?Is GitStart considered a coding competition?How do you pay fort coding tasks within GitStart?Your model feels ripe for blockchain technology. Have you thought about implementing blockchain?Does GitStart feel like an agency to the companies?Where did the inspiration for GitStart come from?Are you going horizontal or keep it vertical for near to mid future?What’s the master plan for GitStart?Who’s innovating on the social side of the college experience?What does the future of education look like in next 50 years?What advice do you have on starting a company?Learn more about GitStart here. Thanks for tuning in! See you tomorrow.What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (f20r)! f20r is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

This was a great conversation with Elena Nadolinski, who is the CEO and founder of Beanstalk. She is a whiz and super insightful person when it comes to blockchain, crypto, and all the way to remote work. She is also a Pioneer, like many of my other guests. ———Quick note - You’ll hear a sound in the background for the first third of the video. This will go away in the middle of the recording.—————In this conversation I ask her some of the following questions: Can you dive into your background?What is Beanstalk?What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin?What are some practical use cases of blockchain and cryptocurrency? Why does privacy matter in cryptocurrency?How are you making your own blockchain?When’s the killer app coming? Why hasn’t it come yet?What is Libra and will Libra matter in a century?Is it too early to build on blockchain technology or is it perfect timingWhat do you think about when you’re not thinking about Beanstalk?What is the remote ecosystem missing to help it breakthrough?If you had $100,000,000 to invest, what areas would you invest in first?Will investors be more remote-friendly in the future?What advice do you have for early professionals who want to have a great career?What tips do you have for someone who wants to start a company but doesn’t know the best step?Thanks again for tuning in. You can catch Elena on Twitter here. You can find Beanstalk right here. Thank all for tuning in and I’ll see you tomorrow :) And if you haven’t subscribed yet, you know what to to do. 👇 What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (f20r)! f20r is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Neal is a legend at growth. Period. He co-founded Bell Curve, a premiere agency to help startups with growth that have worked with Outschool, Clearbit, Envoy, and many others. From there, he co-founded Demand Curve, a company aimed to teach founders how to do growth themselves, for a fraction of the cost of an agency. On this episode, we dive deep into many topics, including: What is Demand Curve?What is the origin story of Demand Curve?What was it like transitioning from an agency to a tech startup. Is there a difference?Is Demand Curve good for CEOs who want to hire for a growth lead, or is it better for founders who want to grow their company themselves? What space would you consider Demand Curve In?What’s the 10-year vision for Demand Curve?Steps to think about growth as a startup founder:Where should a founder focus on first if they want to grow their company?How would you invest $100,000 into growth for a startup? How does someone evaluate when to push the pedal on growth for their company?What is the biggest mistake that early-stage startups make around their growth?What tips do you have for a first-time founder?This was such a fun episode to do with Neal and I hope you learned something new about startup growth. I know I sure did! As a reminder, find Demand Curve right here and you can find Neal on Twitter right here.What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (f20r)! f20r is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was such a blast to have Chris, the CEO of Trainual, on the podcast. Chris is a friend from the Phoenix startup scene and is one of the nicest guys out there. He is also one of the most successful, with Trainua being one of the hottest companies in the valley. In our conversation, he answers some of these questions:What is Trainual? How does Trainual work for users?How did you get the idea?How did you get your first users? What is it like building a rocketship in Phoenix?How do you think about fundraising vs. bootstrapping when starting a startup? What have been some of the biggest learnings from this journey so far?What advice to you have for future business owners?And tons more!Chris is such a smart guy and it was so fun having him on the podcast. If you want to learn more about Trainual, check it out here. Want to catch Chris on Twitter? Find him right here. What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (FTF)! FTF is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Hannah was a blast to talk to. She is the Founder and CEO of YC backed company, Localyze, which helps international employees relocate without needing to deal with dozens of websites to stay compliant. Localyze does it all. In this conversation, we dive into:What is Locayze?What is the current way that people relocate for a job?How does Localyze improve the process?What’s the origin story?What is your big vision for Localyze?What industries interest you outside of what you’re actively working on?What was it like scaling from Founder to now becoming a CEO and manager?What tips do you have for people wanting to start their own company?And tons more! I hope you enjoy this episode with Hanna. Find her on Twitter here and learn more about Localyze here. What is Forward Thinking Founder?Welcome to Forward Thinking Founder (FTF)! FTF is a podcast and publication where I interview high potential startup founders, usually before they hit their Series A. Past guests include Austen Allred, Daniel Gross, Leah Culver, Laura Behrens Wu, and many more.Consider it the opposite of “How I Built This”. Instead of interviewing someone after they are successful, we interview early founders with a little traction and a big vision, and hear what they want to will into the world and why. This is Forward Thinking Founder. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Ashutosh is a startup CEO monk if I ever met one. What an insightful conversation all about productivity, tying in his company perfectly. Sunsama is one of the cleanest and most helpful tools I use to plan my day, and It was super interesting to dive into a lot of the “why” behind it hearing straight from the CEO. In this conversation, we dive into questions such as:What is Sunsama?What is the backstory for Sunsama?Can you explain the user flow for a Sunsama user?How do you advice startup founder users to get the most out of SunsamaDo you tie mindfulness into Sunsama and what do you think of the mindfulness boom in the tech scene today?Where did you get the name for Sunsama? How do you balance reactive activities (Putting out fires) and proactive activities (planning out your day and doing things that you plan)Where do you see Sunsama going in the next decade Does Sunsama replace Asana or Todoist?What are some general tips for productivity?And more!I really hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. And with that, this week is a rap! Hope you all have a great weekend and see you on Sunday with a roundup of the last week on f20r (Forward Thinking Founder). Not on the email list? Think again! Sign up below :) Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was such a pleasure to talk to Stefania Olafsdottir, who is the CEO of Avo. Avo is a tool that product leaders can use to track the right data in their app at the same speed that that code is being shipped. Avo recently went through Y Combinator in their W19 batch. We had a really insightful conversation about tons of different topics, including but not limited to:What is Avo?What is the relationship between shipping code and tracking the right data?What happens when startup don’t track their data properly?What have you learned while building Avo?What industries interest you outside of tracking data?We dive deeper into remote workGlobal warmingSan Francisco What makes San Francisco so special?What are channels with San Francisco?What tips do you have for someone wanting to start their own company?And tons more!You can learn more about Stefania on Twitter here. Thanks for checking out today’s episode. If you have subscribed to the pod yet, there’s no time like the present :)That’s it for me. See you next time! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Joshua Browder has built one of the coolest products I have ever used, DoNotPay. What started as a way to fight parking tickets has grown into an app the waits in phone lines for you when calling companies, cancels trials for you automatically, and can get through legal matters that you don’t want to spend time on. Funded by Founders Fund, a16z, Index Ventures and more, this is a unicorn in the making. On this show, Joshua and I dive into:What is DoNotPay? Why did you start DoNotPay?What are some of the use cases for DoNotPay?How do you trick companies to treat DoNotPay users like gold?How do you get the word out about DoNotPay?How do you help your users find hidden money?What does the future of DoNotPay look like in a decade?What are the plans for future features for DoNotPay?What movements in the tech world interest you as a technologist?Is AI taking our jobs? Are you helping this move faster?What advice would you have for someone wanting to start their own company?And tons more!I really appreciate you tuning in to today’s show with Joshua. If you want to learn more about DoNotPay, check it out here. Find Joshua on Twitter here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I got the chance to talk to the CTO of Glide, which is a powerful platform that enables you to build mobile apps with Google Sheets. Yes, you heard me correctly. Apps powered by Google Sheets. Fresh out of Y Combinator, Glide is one of the leaders in the no-code space right now, as their simple interface but powerful functionality enables creatives to build whatever they want. When I sat down with Mark, I asked him several questions, including topics like:What is Glide?What is the big vision for GlideWhy is now the time the #nocode is getting so big?How did you come up with the idea for Glide/what is the backstory?What are some of the coolest apps that have been built with Glide?Do you have any idea you wish someone built?Where do you think the #nocode movement is going?What tips do you have for someone wanting to start a company?And more!!!Learn more about Glide here and learn more about Mark here. Thanks for tuning in and see you for the next episode! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

In today’s episode, we talk to Rajiv Ayyangar, who is the CEO and Cofounder of Tandem. Tandem is a virtual office for remote teams. Fresh out of YC and coming off a big raise from a16z, Tandem is on a tear building tools for the ever-growing remote world. In this conversation, we talk about:What is Tandem?Is remote work actually growing? If so, why?What does a typical user get when they use Tandem?How does he think about replicating the office experience, but onlineWhat are other companies pushing Remote Work forward?What other industries interest you other than remote work collaboration? What does the future of work look like in 100 years?What advice would you give to a first-time founder who wants to get started?And plenty more!I also wanted to note, Tandem is hiring. Check out their job board and if anything looks interesting to you, email me and i’d be happy to make an intro if it makes sense. (Mat at Matsherman.com). Also, if you want to join Pioneer, the game I mentioned at the beginning of the recording, you can do that here.Alright, I’m signing off. See you next episode! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I had the pleasure of speaking to Sankaet Pathak, who is the CEO of Synapse. Synapse provides building blocks to build financial software products. They enable anyone to compete with Chase Bank or Bank of America on top of Synpase’s infrastructure. With funding from a16z and Trinity Ventures, this is a rocketship in the making. Some of the questions I asked are:What is Synapse?What can a startup build on top of Synapse?What is wrong with the current system of banking?What are some of the companies are Synapse poweringWhat have you learned while building Synapse?What is the big vision for Synapse?What advice do you have for new founders wanting to start a company?Learn more about Synapse here and learn more about Sankaet here. Thanks for tuning into another episode of Forward Thinking Founders. See you next week :) Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was a pleasure to speak to Jude Gomila about his company, Golden. Golden is building a smart knowledge base that is easily searchable of topics in the realms of technology and science. Jude has raised money from the likes of a16z, FoundersFund, SV Angel, and tons more where that came from. In this wide-ranging interview, some of the questions I ask Jude are:What is Golden?How did you get into tech?Where did he get the idea for Golden?What is the user experience like on Golden? How do you think about getting all the world’s knowledge onto Golden?How does Golden use AI to help with the efficacy of information?What makes Golden have perfect timing in the markets? How does Golden know what to listen to in the world to document?What does Golden look like in a decade?What problems interest him in the world?What about Golden makes him so excited to work on it every day?What advice does Jude have for aspiring founders?You can learn more about Golden at Golden.com. You can find Jude on Twitter @judegomila. This was one of the coolest interviews i’ve done and I hope you really enjoy it too. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was so fun to chat with Pavle about what he is working on with Mine VR. Mine VR is a VR Adventure Game for the Blind. Pavle was also one of the first Pioneer winners. which is the game that Daniel Gross started over a year ago. Fun stuff! On this episode, we talk about:What is Mine VR?What problem does it address in the world?What was it like playing and winning Pioneer?What has he learned while working on Mine VR?Why didn’t he use haptic gloves when developing Mine VR?How does he think about VR headset distribution?Thoughts on how to start a company if you have an idea?And tons more! Relevant links:Mine VR’s website KaleidoscopePavle’s TwitterPrune Games’ Twitter I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did! See you for the next episode :) Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was a treat to interview the CTO and co-founder of Lunchclub, Scott Wu. Lunchclub is a brilliant platform that helps connect like-minded people together for lunch meetings or coffee conversations in select cities. They also just announced a $4M raise from a16z as well, so congrats to them. It’s invite-only right now, but click the link above and you’ll get access. In this dynamic conversation with Scott, we cover topics like:What is Lunchclub?Why are they focusing exclusively on meeting in person?What was the path leading up to Lunchclub?What category does Lunchclub put themselves in, or are they making a new category? How does Lunchclub democratize opportunity and how does that tie into their vision?What other industries interest Scott?How did Scott become the world-leading competitive programmer?What is the vision for Lunchclub?And what are Scott’s top tips to start your own company?I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Get access to Lunchclub here and learn more about Scott here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

There are few people more knowledgable about the future of work and education than Ruben Harris, CEO of Career Karma. Ruben is a wealth of knowledge on all things future of work and I was thrilled to get the chance to sit down and talk with him about some of topics like:What is Career Karma?How did the coding bootcamp era get started Where is the coding bootcamp era headed?What does Ruben see as the future of work?How does the democratization of opportunity matter in the future of work?What are Ruben’s 100-year predictions on where work will end upWhat tips does he have to get started building the futureAnd tons more!!!!Learn more about Ruben on Twitter here and check out his podcast, breaking into startups, here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I am so excited to publish this episode. My guest today, Julia Enthoven, is the CEO of Kapwing. Kapwing makes it simple to create videos for the internet and social media platforms. Recently coming off a big series A, Kapwing is growing rapidly. I am thrilled to get the chance to ask Julia tons of questions about what she’s building, why, and how. We talked about topics like:What is Kapwing?What makes Kapwing different from iMovie?What did she learn from Google before starting Kapwing?Use cases for a tool like KapwingHow did they come up with the name, Kapwing?Where did your “first principles” thinking come from?What do workers expect in software in the next decade?What tips does Julia have as a first-time and younger founder?And way more! Listen to the podcast to hear the rest of the topics! Learn more about Kapwing here and chat with Julia on Twitter here. Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

If there’s one movement I’m most excited about right now, it’s the #nocode movement. One of the companies powering this is Adalo, a platform to build mobile and web applications without coding. Today, I talked to Jeremy Blalock about Adalo and several other topics, including:What does Adalo do?How did Jeremy get started on Adalo?How does one build a platform to allow someone else to build anything?What is Adalo’s place in the no-code movement?What does no code mean for entrepreneurship and access?What are the apps you wish were built on Adalo that haven’t been built yet?What advice would you have for someone trying to build the future?And tons more!Learn more about Adalo here and find Jeremy on Twitter here.Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I had an incredible conversation with Yoshi Yokokawa, who is the CEO and co-founder of Alpaca. Alpaca is building an API to let anyone start their own version Robinhood, anywhere in the world. Exciting stuff! In this episode, we talk about:How Alpaca worksWhat did Yoshi get started on itWhat’s happening in the world to allow Alpaca to exist He explains the shift of power from East to West in the financial markets Yoshi has some predictions for the financial markets He gives tips to anyone wanting to break into businessAnd much more!Learn more about Yoshi on Twitter here.Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Immad Akhund is my next guest, who is the founder and CEO of Mercury. Immad is a 4x founder, was a part-time YC partner, and is an investor in over 100 tech startups. Mercury is a bank for startups, simple as that. As a customer myself, I am so excited with what Mercury is building, as I have had horrid experiences with other banks in the past. In this episode, we talk about:What is Mercury?Why did he start Mercury?What is the typical banking experience for a startup likeIs working 12 hours a day the right decision?Is it easier starting a startup now than as a first time founder?What areas interest Immad as an investor?What is Immad’s big vision for Mercury?What tips would he have for anyone just getting started in business building.Learn more about Immad on Twitter here.Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I had a really great conversation with Kate Swanson who is the CEO of Ensembl, which pioneering a new type of cookware system. On the podcast, we covered a range of topics, including:What is Ensembl?The history of pots and pans ngWhat is the actual use of a handle in the kitchen?What is the vision for Ensembl?Thoughts on co-livingThoughts on ChinaThoughts on FintechWhat advice she has for people wanting to start a company.If you haven’t yet, you gotta check out their website and look at the design of these pots and pans. Too cool! Learn more about Kate here and find Ensembl on Twitter here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★