The Startup Podcast

Look at any great tech company, and there is an exceptionally talented team behind it. Great talent is always in short supply, so how do you make sure that you are able to secure incredible people for your startup? In this episode, Chris and Yaniv discuss: Hiring as marketing & sales Sourcing Employer branding What makes a good startup employee How to run a tight process Making a thoughtful decision Closing well Chris' "Tips for hiring like Uber" post: https://www.chrissaad.com/startupsnippets/2021/12/oxin1bo5ow0s53tz7vcsh7c3g8z5k3

The co-founder relationship is far and away the most important one in any startup. If you get the partnership right, you become an unstoppable team. If you get it wrong, the relationship will blow up -- most likely taking the startup with it. So how do you know what to look for in a co-founder? And how do you find Mr/Mrs/Mx Right? In this episode, Chris and Yaniv dive into: Getting unstuck at the beginning of the startup journey Do you need a co-founder? (spoiler alert: yes) The key skillsets in a founding team Co-founder relationship as a marriage, founder dating What makes someone a co-founder Finding vs. earning a co-founder

You’re a “tech” company, so you’re building technology, right? Wrong. Technology is merely the medium through which you are bringing a product to the world. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv talk about what it means to build a product, what that means for your relationship with customers, and the profound importance of learning how to say “no” to your customers.

Have you followed your heart when choosing the business model for your startup? Or are you making the choice out of fear? Yaniv and Chris examine when to go B2B and when to go B2C, and how too many startups are selling to the very industry they should actually be disrupting. Episode overview: [1:44] Chris explains how the Netflix and Uber b2c business models made them so truly disruptive [7.22] Why pursue a full-stack disruption over a traditional B2B model? [11:16] Case study examples: Uber and Instagram’s success with customers [13:51] The consequences of moving from B2B to B2C [16:21] Aggregation theory and power of aggregating demand [29:01] The mirage of playing it safe in life and in business [29:53] How to bring investors on board with your b2c, full-stack disruption business model References: Stratechery blog - https://stratechery.com/

Chris and Yaniv have a discussion with Nick Crocker, General partner at Blackbird Ventures.  Together they discuss  The truth about "VC Value add" and how the wrong investor can be value destructive How founders and VCs partner over a multi-stage iterative game of growth Reference checking potential investors How founders imagine and build new products The importance of hiring operations and finance people The precious nature of a founder's attention and health And more!

Building compelling and clear fundraising narratives and pitch decks can be life and death for your startup.  In this episode, Yaniv and Chris discuss what a standard pitch deck narrative looks like and go deep on each slide and explain best practices and common mistakes when telling your story. They also talk about other important uses of the pitch deck that you might not have considered yet!

Knowing how to run a good fundraising process (and what to ask for) can make the difference between a glorious partnership that takes you to your next big milestone and serious resource constraint and a fractious relationship with investors. Getting this right is one of the highest leverage things and founder can do. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv discuss: Signaling: how to make yourself look credible How to run a fundraising process How to craft your ask (how much, for what valuation) How to pick your investors Article link: VCs Should Play Bridge

The symbiosis between founders and venture capitalists is at the core of what makes the startup business model possible. When it works well it can work very well indeed, but when it goes badly the result can be catastrophic. Get educated on how it all works, and how to dance the dance. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv discuss: Different stages, seed vs A etc. Aside: non-dilutive capital What investors look for Thinking about defensible moats Selling the big picture vs. existing traction

Is your startup about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? When you've built a product that customers love, scaling up to take that product to more customers might seem simple. In fact, the scale-up phase of a startup's life is arguably the time where things can go most spectacularly wrong. Chris and Yaniv talk about all the surprising thrills and challenges of scale-up life, including: “Growth” vs. marketing vs. product Growing your organisation The changing role of founders as an org scales Common mistakes in scale-ups Examples of great execution at this stage Love The Startup Podcast? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on your favourite podcast app!

Ideas are cheap, but execution is where the magic happens. Listen as Chris and Yaniv talk about what it means to execute successfully as an early-stage startup.  We finally disagree about something too! Topics covered: What do we mean by execution? What is good execution in an early-stage startup? WTF is an MVP? How do you know you have PMF? The pivot. When to pivot. Common mistakes in early-stage startups. Examples of great execution at this stage.

Got an idea for a startup? Congratulations, so does everybody else. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv dive deep on the idea of ideas, their role, and their limitations in the context of building a startup.  Discussion topics include: Do ideas matter?  What does a good idea look like?  How does progress create opportunities? And vice versa!  Validating your idea.  Building consensus for your ideas.

What is the difference between a Silicon Valley-style tech startup and a regular small business? In this first episode of The Startup Podcast, Chris and Yaniv talk about the many ways people misunderstand what makes startups different to other businesses, and what goes wrong when these differences are ignored.