Founder University

In this episode, Eric Martin (Vanta) walks us through what Vendor Risk Management is and why it's important to consider. You'll learn:

• The benefits of vendor risk management
• How startups typically do this AND how you can set up a process to mitigate risk
• 0:00 Intro
• 0:40 What is Vendor Risk Management
• 0:55 Why companies invest in Vendor Risk Management
• 2:12 How do startups do this today?
• 3:20 How do you identify critical vendors that your employees are sharing data with
• 4:00 How do you classify vendor risk?

Email eric@vanta.com for a special 25% discount on Vanta products.

In this episode, Eric Martin (Vanta) walks us through what Vendor Risk Management is and why it's important to consider for startups.

0:00 Intro

0:40 What is Vendor Risk Management

0:55 Why companies invest in Vendor Risk Management

2:12 How do startups do this today?

3:20 How do you identify critical vendors that your employees are sharing data with

4:00 How do you classify vendor risk?

Email eric@vanta.com for a special 25% discount on Vanta products.

In this episode, Presh Dineshkumar (LAUNCH) walks us through how to use ChatGPT for content ideation and creation, specifically, how startups can start producing high-quality content with ChatGPT right away.

(0:00) Intro (0:29) Generating ideas from existing content (6:28) Using Chat-GPT for your product or service from scratch (10:34) Creating micro-content with Chat-GPT

In this episode, we're joined by Shensi Ding, Co-Founder at Merge, to talk about product-led growth and how you can implement it at your company.

Merge is a single API to add hundreds of integrations to your app. Learn more at: https://merge.dev/twist

Speaker: Shensi Ding - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shensiding/

• 1:13 Why focus on PLG (product-led-growth)
• 5:01 Prioritizing Customer Success
• 6:57 Three pillars of Product-Led-Groth

In this episode of the Founder University podcast, we've got a great talk by Richard Wang (Pilot), walking us through how to understand your startup budget and optimize it for the current economy. Also, you’ll learn some tips on how to extend your runway.  

Learn more at http://pilot.com/events/cfo-office-hours  

Richard Wang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardycwang/  

• 0:50 Smart budgeting
• 2:01 Understanding key budget drivers
• 4:28 State of the VC market
• 5:15 Tips to extend your runway

In this episode, we hear from Jen Bryan (Velocity Growth), who walks us through how to get started with Paid Acquisition. 

You'll learn: 

1. How to find & create custom audiences that you can use for ad targeting
2. How to create engaging and relevant ads
3. Where to find your competitor's ads & see what works well for them   

Learn more from Jen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenBryan_ 

• 1:30 What is advertising?
• 3:20 Problem / Solution fit
• 6:26 See competitor ads
• 7:45 Building custom audiences

First, we hear from Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH), who walks us through how to set up a fundraising process AND what to do/say/show in your first investor meeting.   

After that, we have a presentation from Eric Martin (Vanta), who talks about SOC 2 compliance, and why you might want to pursue it, and how to use it to your advantage to win deals.  Learn more: www.vanta.com/landing/soc-2-in-2-weeks 

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How to Fundraise & Prepare for Your First Investor Meeting - Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH)  

• 1:13 The fundraising funnel 
• 1:40 Where to find investors 
• 4:14 Investor tracking pipeline template 
• 9:45 Pre-meeting preparation 
• 12:38 Post-meeting follow up

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Why Compliance Wins Deals - Eric Martin (Vanta) 

• 15:06 What is SOC 2 
• 15:40 Importance of SOC 2 
• 18:45 How to use SOC 2 to your advantage & wins deals

First, we hear from Presh Dineshkumar (LAUNCH), who walks us through how to write a compelling blog post that will rank in search engines. You'll learn how to structure your blog post, and some SEO tips and tricks!  

After that, we have a talk from Ben Jennings (Embroker), who runs us through a startup strategy playbook for 2023. Specifically, you will learn about business transformations in the past two years, and how adjust your business for the new economy.   

Learn more at http://embroker.com/startups  

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How to Write a Blog Post that Ranks in Search Engines (SEO) - Presh Dineshkumar 

• 1:03 Where should you publish your blog?  
• 1:57 How to create a compelling blog post headline  
• 3:58 How to write a compelling introduction in your blog post  
• 5:17 SEO checklist -- things to include in your blog post  
• 7:11: Get started today with your first blog post! http://founder.university/seo-checklist   

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Startup Strategy in 2023 - Ben Jennings (Embroker)  

• 8:15 Business transformations in the past two years  
• 9:05 When to make changes in your company  
• 13:50 creating a step-by-step plan  
• 18:55 Building an organization that is aligned  
• 20:55 How to measure success

First, we hear from Brian Landau (Vennly), who walks us through his formula for creating podcasts that grow your business. You'll learn how to get customers and build relationships with your key stakeholders, and more!   

After that, we have a presentation from Aaron Dignan (Murmur) who talks about how startups can move quickly by creating a culture of agreements. You'll learn how to clarify team norms, processes, and policies. You'll also learn how to create an efficient decision-making process inside your company.   

Visit https://murmur.com/founderu for a free 30-day trial to start making better decisions inside your organization.   

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How to Grow Your Business with a Podcast - Brian Landau (Vennly)  

• 1:33 Where does your business podcast fit?  
• 4:10 Podcast execution cycle  
• 5:30 Why you should create audio content  
• 7:44 how to set up your podcast for business growth (getting customers)  
• 10:05 Examples of business podcasts that you can create today  
• 12:15 Use your audio content as a content engine 
• 12:45 Pre-production framework  
• 14:07 Podcast best practices   

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Building a Culture that Moves Quickly - Aaron Dignan (Murmur)  

• 19:17: Culture of Permission vs Culture of Agreements  
• 22:23: What is a culture of agreements and how to implement it  
• 25:29: Four core principles of a culture of agreements  
• 31:03: How to make decisions that are optimized for progress

First, we hear from Aofie Jacob (Velocity Growth), who runs us through how to optimize your landing page. You'll learn the key components to include for a successful landing page, how to optimize capturing leads on your page, and general tips for measuring success.  

After that, we have a presentation from Becki DeGraw (Wilson Sonsini), sharing 5 essential tips for founders to negotiate their term sheet. This talk was filmed at our Founder University two-day program. 

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How to Optimize Your Landing Page - Aofie Jacob (Velocity Growth)  

• 1:55 What is a landing page  
• 3:27 Requirement for a good landing page  
• 7:19 Different types of landing page  
• 13:38 General tips for landing pages  
• 17:28 What tools should you use to build a landing page? 

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5 Keys to Negotiating a Term Sheet - Becki DeGraw (Wilson Sonsini)  

• 20:26 How to negotiate valuation  
• 27:34 What you need to know about liquidation preferences  
• 31:21 Importance of Board Composition  
• 39:29: Stockholder Vetoes & Control  
• 44:08 Investor Rights 

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First, we hear from Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH) who runs us through how to write effective investor updates.  

After that, we have a presentation from Rick Turoczy (Microsoft for Startups) walking through important startup metrics like CAC, LTV, and Churn. Learn more at http://aka.ms/founderuniversity  

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How To Write Investor Updates - Kelly Schricker  

• 1:37 Benefits of writing investor updates  
• 3:44 Invest in Dots Not Lines (Mark Suster blog post: https://bothsidesofthetable.com/invest-in-lines-not-dots-611f36491d73)  
• 4:47 Writing an investor update: what to include, how to format it  

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Startup Metrics - CAC, LTV, Churn  

• 19:22 What is CAC?  
• 20:34 What is LTV?  
• 22:48 What is Churn?  

Learn more at http://aka.ms/founderuniversity

First, we hear from Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH) who runs us through how to manage your time effectively as a founder.  

After that, we have a presentation from Ranga Bodla (Netsuite) on how to deal with inflation as a startup. You will learn how to manage cashflow, how to think about forecasting, and lastly, how to use automation to save money. Learn more at http://netsuite.com 

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Time Management for Founders and Startups - Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH)  

• 1:45 How to be proactive with your time  
• 4:30 Demonstration of how to effectively time block  
• 11:25 The Pomodoro Technique of getting through your tasks  
• 12:39 The Eisenhower Decision Matrix - managing work outside of timeblocking  
• 14:15 Tips for time management!  

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How to Deal with Inflation - Ranga Bodla (Netsuite)  

• 16:40 How to think about cashflow management 
• 19:30 How to think about forecasting 
• 21:26 Using automation to save costs  

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First, we hear from Presh Dineshkumar (LAUNCH) who talks about how you can implement an SEO strategy and capture leads on your website.

After that, we have a presentation from Vinayak Hegde (Microsoft for Startups) on how to build a tech stack. You'll learn what a typical stack looks like, and how to choose the right database & framework for what you’re building. More resources at http://aka.ms/startuptraining   

Sign up for Founder's Hub at aka.ms/founderuniversity  

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How to Capture Leads with SEO/SEM - Presh Dineshkumar  

• 2:26 What is SEO? 
• 3:53 How to implement an SEO strategy
• 7:19 What tools to get started capturing leads on your website
• 8:08 Sumo.com email pop installation  

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Building a Tech Stack - Vinayak Hegde (Microsoft for Startups)  

• 11:52 What is Microsoft for startups? Free resources at http://aka.ms/founderuniversity 
• 13:13 What a typical tech stack looks like 
• 18:18 How to choose a good database/datastore
• 22:09 Choosing the right language/framework

First, we hear from Kelly Schricker (LAUNCH) who talks about why and how to find a co-founder.

After that, we have a presentation from Obi Akpuda (Microsoft) talking about how to build your MVP. You'll learn how to test ideas and iterate quickly, increase operational efficiency, and determine which architecture & stack to use. 

Learn more at http://aka.ms/slush/architecture

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How to Find a Co-Founder - Kelly Schricker

• 1:36 Co-founder or Founding team member?  
• 2:26 Reasons to have a co-founder
• 4:35 What to look for in a co-founder
• 6:18 Where to find a potential co-founder 
• 10:15 How to recruit a co-founder

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Building Your MVP - Obi Akpuda

• 11:38 Three stages of innovation
• 14:27 What architecture should you use?
• 18:55 Exploring different architectures

First, we hear from Scott Bair (Lunour) who talks all about product design and how you can build loved products like Airbnb, Uber, and Apple.

After that, we've got a presentation by Tom Eschbacher (LinkedIn) talking about B2B Marketing & Ads. Claim your free $100 Linkedln Ads credit at http://linkedin.com/founderu to get started.  

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How To Design Loved Products - Scott Bair  

• 1:43 How to solve problems through design  
• 3:33 Step-by-step design process
• 6:20 Design walk-through
• 8:32 Wireframing
• 9:45 Polished Designs
• 14:18 UI/UX Design Best Practices 

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Ads Theory for B2B Startups - Tom Eschbacher

• 19:35 How to think about lead generation
• 20:28 North Star metrics (measure what matters) 
• 24:45 How to optimize ads on LinkedIn

First, we hear from Scott Bair (Partner at Lunour), who talks about how to build a strong brand as a startup. After that, we’ve got a great talk from Netsuite on how to get your financial data under control.  

How to Build a Strong Brand - Scott Bair   

(1:43) Branding Experiment - which brand would you buy?  

(3:10) What is branding?  (5:35) Brand Strategy Pyramid   

(9:13) Creating a logo  (10:30) Good logos vs bad logos  

(12:01) Designing a landing page  

(13:45) Books & resources on Desing                                

(17:19) - The benefits of a clean P&L

(19:00) - How to get your financials organized

(22:58) - Key takeaways

First, Presh Dineshkumar breaks down how to build no-code apps (0:43), followed by a presentation from NetSuite Senior Product Marketing Manager Scott Beaver on things that startups should consider when adding subscription services!

(0:00) Jason Calacanis tees up today's talks!

(0:43) Benefits of using no-code

(1:45) How to use no-code to test ideas

(2:53) Pros and cons of no-code

(3:41) Building a no-code MVP: what tools to use

(7:49) No-code resources

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NetSuite Sr. Product Marketing Manager Scott Beaver

(8:20) What startups should consider when adding subscription services

(9:07) Common subscription pricing models

(11:24) Managing subscription billing and accounting

(13:49) How to manage subscription changes

(15:22) What metrics to use to track subscription performance

(17:40) Recap!

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Jesse Venticinque (Fitbod) breaks down how to build features that move your metrics, followed by a presentation from LinkedIn's Tom Eschbacher on a founder's guide to thought leadership. Visit http://linkedin.com/founderu for $100 LinkedIn ad credits!  

How to Build Features that Move Your Metrics  

(0:21) How to identify and invest in features worth building  

(1:21) Prioritizing features (offensive vs. defensive)  

(2:05) Identify high-leverage features in your product 

(5:32) What are need-gaps and how to identify them  

(8:47) What to ask for in user interviews  

(12:05) Tools to conduct user interviews 

A Founder's Guide to Thought Leadership  

(16:18) Thought exercise: I am a founder who...  

(17:39) The importance of thought leadership  

(19:10) How to identify whitespace in thought leadership  

(20:06) Four types of thought leaders (which one are you?)  

(21:01) Three stories every startup needs to tell  

(21:55) How to build a strong community  

(23:04) Tactical tips to jumpstart your thought leadership on LinkedIn - FREE GUIDE (http://lnkd.in/foundersuniversity)  

LAUNCH's Presh Dineshkumar shows how to retarget customers using Google's tag manager!

Subscribe to Founder University on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8bLXgWx7dTGcA9kssYDjdw?sub_confirmation=1

First episode coming soon!