Unicorn Bakery - For Startup Founders
73 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago -Unicorn Bakery is the startup podcast about the essential questions and issues in founding a startup. We interview the world’s leading startup founders and venture capital investors to cover every stage of the startup process, from ideation and strategy to technical, legal and financial issues. Listen to stories and lessons learned from the world's best founders and learn what it takes to create and scale your own startup.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Investing in 10+ Unicorns: Kevin Hartz on Finding and Crafting Winning Founding Teams
July 02, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour - 66 MBKevin Hartz is not only one of the most influential seed investors in Silicon Valley, but also a successful founder. In addition to early-stage investments in PayPal, Uber, AirBnB and SpaceX, he founded Xoom (exit to PayPal for approx. 1 billion dollars) and Eventbrite (IPO). With his current startup Sauron, Kevin is in the process of developing new technologies for the home security market. Kevin talks about how he identifies outstanding founders and thinks about team building in young sta...
The AI Playbook: Richard Socher’s Guide to Building a Successful AI Company
June 28, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour - 64.5 MBRichard Socher, most recently Chief Scientist at Salesforce under Marc Benioff and one of the most renowned AI researchers in the world, has now founded you.com instead of joining one of the big AI companies. Richard believes that he can have a more positive impact on humanity. you.com now reaches millions of users and gives you as a user the opportunity to work based on the latest models. Richard talks about building an AI company that always has to work on the edge of innovation, how he w...
Misconceptions of first-time founders: How to avoid Hiring-Red Flags & the Biggest Fallacies about Finding Product Market Fit - Dan Siroker, Limitless
June 25, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBDan Siroker built Optimizely to more than 120 million ARR before leaving the company. The company was sold and merged, and then launched, rewind.ai-now limitless.ai, a consumer product that, unlike Dan's previous company, has a software and hardware component. Dan gives deep insights into the transition from software to hardware development and the use of AI in modern startups. He explains how empathy and user research can improve the product development process and the strategies he uses ...
Why startups fail with Dave Hersh, Founder & Author
June 18, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBOnly 10% of start-ups are successful and yet 82% of founders think they will be successful. 78% of start-ups don't even manage to pay back their investors. Dave Hersh scaled a company with Jive to more than 10 million dollars in turnover, took a growth investor on board and Jive later went public. Through his other positions as a coach, board partner at a16z and also as a buyer of start-ups, he has a 360-degree perspective on the things that go wrong in the venture ecosystem. His book Re...
Deeptech: The hurdles of making the first Quantum Computer accessible as a B2B Cloud Product - Alexander Keesling, QuEra
May 28, 2024 02:00 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBAlexander Keesling researched quantum computers at Harvard and, together with a team, decided to found a company based on his research. Today, QuEra generates tens of millions in revenue, licenses its quantum computer via AWS and is building a new quantum computer in Japan for around 41 million dollars. In the podcast, we talk about the status quo of quantum computing, when quantum computers will be available to the general public, and also how difficult it is to go from researcher to CEO ...
1100+ investments, 40% Annual Realized Return for 26 years: How Fabrice Grinda built FJ Labs, one of the most successful Venture Capital Funds globally
May 07, 2024 05:56 - 1 hour - 78.9 MBFabrice Grinda, founder of FJ Labs and extreme athlete, explains how he has made over 1100 investments, primarily in marketplace and network-effect startups, generating an average 40% return over 26 years. Fabrice also likes to simplify a lot in his life by outsourcing things. Find out his recipe for a fulfilling life and managing virtual assistants in the podcast. What you will learn: Outsourcing: How to outsource more professionally and privately to increase your quality of life and ou...
Consolidation as Strategy: Razor Group's Path to Market Leadership - Razor Group Founder Tushar Ahluwalia
April 05, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour - 60.4 MBTushar Ahluwalia founded the Razor Group together with his founding team in 2020. Since then, the Razor Group has received more than one billion dollars in investment and credit, acquired and consolidated many Amazon FBA businesses and most recently some Amazon aggregators, such as Perch. Today, the Razor Group is the largest remaining player on the market in terms of sales and serves a product catalog of around 40,000 SKUs. The vision: to revolutionize e-commerce and shine in front of con...
Misconceptions about pitching early stage investors - with Sequoia Capital Partner George Robson
March 29, 2024 04:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIs the European climate for early-stage start-ups improving again? After the European fundraising ecosystem was somewhat more cautious in the years following the corona boom, the question is: how is it currently developing? Fabian meets George Robson, Partner at Sequoia Capital, probably the best-known venture capital fund in the world. Together they talk about financing start-ups with high capital requirements, the fine line between optimistic vision and realism when pitching and the r...
Blitzscaling vs. Bootstrapping: How to choose your founder journey - Casper Rasmussen, Monta
March 22, 2024 04:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBMonta has raised more than 120 million euros for its software platform for electric vehicles to improve the accessibility of charging infrastructure. Within 3 years, Monta has scaled to around 300 employees, is currently hiring 10-20 employees per month and is multiplying revenue annually. Previously, Monta founder Casper Rasmussen built 500+ mobile apps with his agency and bootstrapped the agency to 20 million in revenue. We talk about the differences between bootstrapping as an agency ...
How does it feel to make a 100 million dollars with an exit? with GitHub and Gitbutler Founder Scott Chacon
March 15, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour - 71 MBScott Chachon is one of the co-founders of GitHub, a developer platform that was sold to Microsoft for around 7.5 billion dollars. We talk about the moment he found out about the sale to Microsoft, how much money he made from the sale and whether it made him happy. He is now founding his third startup, Gitbutler, after investing 12 million of his own money in Chatterbug and has now decided to grow the company profitably without investment. We talk about founding in Germany and Europe as o...
Cost-Traps that Cost Your Company Millions David Heinemeier-Hansson, 37signals
March 08, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBDavid Heinemeier Hansson is the inventor of Ruby on Rails and founder of 37signals, a company that has developed products such as Basecamp, Hey.com and more over the last 20 years. However, apart from Jeff Bezos, David and his co-founder Jason Friedman didn't take any money and bootstrapped the company. We talk about the biggest cost drivers for companies, how 37signals managed to develop multiple products in parallel and how David thinks about the differences between Europe and the US wh...
How AI changes creativity forever, with Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer Scott Belsky
February 27, 2024 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBWhat role does creativity play for entrepreneurs? And how is the understanding of creativity changing as a result of artificial intelligence? Scott Belsky founded Behance, sold the start-up to Adobe and is now Chief Product and Chief Strategy Officer there. Adobe is one of the 50 most valuable companies in the world. At Adobe, Scott oversees all new products and is deeply involved in what the future looks like for creatives. In this podcast episode of Unicorn Bakery, Scott Belsky and Fa...
Why Your Product Launch is Overrated with Superhuman Founder Rahul Vohra
February 13, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBRahul Vohra sold his first company Rapportive to LinkedIn and then founded Superhuman. Superhuman is a premium email provider that is significantly faster to use than Gmail and other alternatives. Today, Superhuman has raised more than 100 million dollars and has tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of users. But how do you develop a premium product in an area where there is a lot of competition and, above all, free alternatives? In addition to Superhuman, Rahul has co-invested...
This investor cold walks into offices to invest in a startup & why he doesn’t build a personal brand – Alex Finkelstein, Spark Capital
September 26, 2023 03:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBAlex Finkelstein is a general partner at Spark Capital and has names like Twitter (X), Discord, Snap and Slack in his funds portfolio. But how does a fund like Spark Capital, and Alex in particular, invest? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: Why is it sometimes useful as a founder:in to not just look at everything rationally? How far does Alex go to win deals and invest with founders? How does Alex shape his way of working and living to achieve as...
“A Hybrid Setup is the worst” | How to get new hires up to speed during hyper-growth | How to not be the bottle neck of growth as a founder | - Job van der Voort, remote.com
August 18, 2023 03:00 - 49 minutes - 44.9 MBIn the last 4 years Job van der Voort has founded remote.com, raised about $500 million from investors like Sequoia, Accel, Index and General Catalyst, reached a valuation of $3 billion and turned the company profitable last year. Fabian talks to Job about structures that make hyper-growth possible, how remote.com managed to scale without a fixed HQ & what it took to do so, and personal growth as a founder. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: What ...
Why VCs shouldn't try to tick boxes & focus too much on pattern recognition | Seedcamp's Investment Process after receiving a Pitchdeck - Reshma Sohoni & Kate McGinn, Seedcamp
August 11, 2023 03:00 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBWhy VCs shouldn't try to tick boxes & focus too much on pattern recognition | How to choose your Fund-Strategy | Importance of the German Market | Seedcamp's Investment Process after receiving a Pitchdeck - Reshma Sohoni & Kate McGinn, Seedcamp Seedcamp has been investing in startups for more than 15 years. A few of the investments include companies like Wise, UiPath, Revolut, Ramp and many more. Recently, Seedcamp announced their 6th fund and will increase their presence in Germany with ...
Danger of Optimising for Valuation | The problem with large VC funds | Startups stay a high risk business at later stages | New Definition for Unicorns - Micah Rosenbloom, Founder Collective
August 04, 2023 03:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBFounder Collective is a New York based fund that has invested in Uber, Trade Desk, Stack Overflow and many more top startups. Fabian talks to Managing Partner Micah Rosenbloom about the risk of using money to magnify problems rather than solve them. "Too much capital at early stages quickly leads to bad habits and inefficiencies," says Micah - but why is that? Plus, find out why high valuations often hurt rather than help founders:in and what the thesis is all about. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKE...
How to win in the AI hype, is Growth Financing back? & European venture ecosystem with Matt Turk, FirstMark Capital
July 07, 2023 03:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBIn this episode, I talk with Matt Turkm General Partner at the New York based Venture firm Firstmark Capital about succeeding as a VC. Firstmark invests in a very focused way, primarily in Series A rounds. Matt himself has been focused on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Data for more than 10 years. AI Hype: What do companies and founders need to survive the hype? Growth Fundraising: Matt's portfolio companies Pigment and Synthesia just raised large growth roungs. Are growth ...
How to win in the AI hype, is Growth Financing back? & European venture ecosystem with Matt Turck, FirstMark Capital
July 07, 2023 03:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBIn this episode, I talk with Matt Turck General Partner at the New York based Venture firm Firstmark Capital about succeeding as a VC. Firstmark invests in a very focused way, primarily in Series A rounds. Matt himself has been focused on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Data for more than 10 years. AI Hype: What do companies and founders need to survive the hype? Growth Fundraising: Matt's portfolio companies Pigment and Synthesia just raised large growth roungs. Are growth ...
B2B SaaS Company Building: Learnings from two 9-figure exits & How to build a B2B Logo Machine: Learnings from Scaling MOAT, Jonah Goodhart, Montauk Labs
June 30, 2023 03:00 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBJonah Goodhart has had two exits with a total volume of more than $1.5 billion. He was a founding investor in Right Media (sold to Yahoo), but according to insiders, he was much more involved. He sold the advertising management platform MOAT to Oracle in 2017 for about $850 million. That's why we're talking about Jonah's company building for B2B SaaS startups. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: -Validating ideas: What makes a really good SaaS...
How to scale an organization to >100M ARR: From founder to CEO, Scaling culture, Agile organization - Ronni Zehavi, HiBob
June 23, 2023 03:00 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MBHiBob is now doing more than 100M in annual recurring revenue (ARR). They have cracked the threshold from 10m to 100M ARR in 3 years. But how does the organization need to be set up to withstand hyper growth? What you'll learn: How do I find my culture in early stages? How do I retain culture in hyper growth? What is the path from founder to CEO? Why didn't HiBob raise at a valuation higher than $2.5 billion? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery (00:00:00) Hibob...
Taboola: Corporate culture, internationalization and advisory board, Adam Singolda, Taboola
June 16, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBTaboula's success story is exciting for you as a founder in many ways: naivety and mistakes can break your neck on the one hand. In this episode, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at a company that has focused on authenticity and the ability to self-correct. Today, Taboola is publicly traded, turns over more than $1.5 billion and employs more than 1,500 people, according to LinkedIn. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: The importance of authentic...
End of the line exit: What strategic buyers really care about, Jonathan Rothenberg, Cyderes
June 09, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBIn this episode, Jonathan Rothenberg, Chief Strategy Officer at Cyderes, shares their experiences and tips on M&A. He emphasizes the importance of a solid company foundation and M&A from a buyer's perspective. Why is due diligence critical here? And why should you focus on acquisitions? You'll also learn why and how market changes affect M&A deals. In addition, there's a look at the seller perspective: how do earn-outs and retention affect decisions? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.a...
Exit: What strategic buyers really care about, Jonathan Rothenberg, Cyderes
June 09, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBIn this episode, Jonathan Rothenberg, Chief Strategy Officer at Cyderes, shares their experiences and tips on M&A. He emphasizes the importance of a solid company foundation and M&A from a buyer's perspective. Why is due diligence critical here? And why should you focus on acquisitions? You'll also learn why and how market changes affect M&A deals. In addition, there's a look at the seller perspective: how do earn-outs and retention affect decisions? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.a...
Profitabilität und Anpassung: Erfolgsstrategien für Gründer in herausfordernden Zeiten, Bastian Krautwald, OWWN & deineStudienfinanzierung
June 02, 2023 03:00 - 19 minutes - 17.4 MBIn diesem Podcast spricht Bastian Krautwald über die Auswirkungen der aktuellen Marktsituation auf Gründer und deren Startups. Er erklärt, wie er seine internen Ziele an die neue Realität angepasst hat. Wir sprechen darüber, wie Basti seine Teams und Geschäftsmodelle angepasst hat, um in der aktuellen Umgebung erfolgreich zu sein. Bastian Krautwald spricht auch darüber, wie er seine Entscheidungen mit seinen Stakeholdern kommuniziert hat und wie wichtig Transparenz dabei ist. ALLES ZU UNI...
Profitability and adaptation: success strategies for founders in challenging times, Bastian Krautwald, OWWN & deineStudienfinanzierung.
June 02, 2023 03:00 - 19 minutes - 17.4 MBIn this podcast, Bastian Krautwald talks about the impact of the current market situation on founders and their startups. He explains how he has adapted his internal goals to the new reality. We talk about how Basti has adapted his teams and business models to succeed in the current environment. Bastian Krautwald also talks about how he communicated his decisions with his stakeholders and the importance of transparency in doing so. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery ...
Changes in the venture industry: a look at the last 20 years, Mark Sherman, Telstra Ventures.
May 26, 2023 03:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBIn this podcast episode, Mark Sherman of Telstra Ventures talks about the changes that have taken place in the venture and startup industry over the last 20 years. Telstra Ventures invests in companies with $1 million to $10 million in revenue, with a particular focus on identifying promising companies early and understanding product-market fit. Sherman also discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry and stresses the importance of closely monitoring trends. Further, he e...
Inside General Atlantic: How the investment firm invests in growth startups - Cory Eaves, General Atlantic
May 19, 2023 03:00 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBGeneral Atlantic invests in growth startups that leverage technology and are already successful in the marketplace. Important criteria for investment include business model, management, market and margins. In addition to capital, the firm offers industry knowledge and expertise in human capital and go-to-market strategies. Exit strategy is not the most important factor, but IPOs and sales to strategic buyers are equally important options. What you'll learn: General Atlantic's investment s...
How to inspire 1 billion users - Chris Barton, Shazam
May 12, 2023 03:00 - 56 minutes - 78.2 MBIf you're currently looking for capital for your startup, check out re:cap: https://go.re-cap.com/unicorn He developed an app before apps even existed - today over 1 billion people use his invention. Many scientists thought it was impossible to develop an algorithm like Shazam's. But Chris Barton didn't give up, developed the product and since the launch of the iPhone, has been delighting music fans. Shazam was then bought by Apple for over $400 million and is now integrated on every iPhone...
How to inspire 1 billion users - Chris Barton, Innovation Keynote Speaker & Shazam Co-Founder
May 12, 2023 03:00 - 56 minutes - 78.2 MBIf you're currently looking for capital for your startup, check out re:cap: https://go.re-cap.com/unicorn Chris Barton developed an app before apps even existed - today, over 1 billion people use his invention. Many scientists thought it was impossible to develop an algorithm like Shazam's. But Chris Barton didn't give up. Developed the product, and since the launch of the iPhone, it has been delighting music fans. Apple then bought Shazam for over $400 million, and is now integrated into e...
How to disrupt and protect yourself from disruption - Pascal Finette, be radical
May 05, 2023 03:00 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBEspecially in today's market, major macro changes can happen quickly. But how do I react to this as a founder? Pascal Finette does just that with be radical: He helps companies arm themselves against disruption and has written his new book "Disrupt Disruption" to do just that. What you learn: How do I recognize impending disruption and what signals do I need to watch out for? How much do I need to consider future market conditions when building my products today to avoid losing value? AL...
Operational Excellence: A look behind Uber's China business - Cleo Sham, Stride VC
April 28, 2023 03:00 - 50 minutes - 68.7 MBFormerly an operator at Uber China, now an investor at Stride VC - that's Cleo Sham. In addition to exciting impressions of the Asian market, she also has operational insider knowledge for your success. What you learn: Do you necessarily need people on the ground if you want to operate in a non-European market? What are the differences between the Asian market and Europe and the US? What kind of help do I look for when my company needs operational support? What makes a good internal pla...
Operational Excellence: A lock behind Uber's China business - Cleo Sham, Stride VC
April 28, 2023 03:00 - 50 minutes - 68.7 MBFormerly an operator at Uber China, now an investor at Stride VC - that's Cleo Sham. In addition to exciting impressions of the Asian market, she also has operational insider knowledge for your success. What you learn: Do you necessarily need people on the ground if you want to operate in a non-European market? What are the differences between the Asian market and Europe and the US? What kind of help do I look for when my company needs operational support? What makes a good internal pla...
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): For clearer processes and better team goal achievement - Blake Hutchison, Flippa
April 21, 2023 03:00 - 41 minutes - 56.9 MBBlake Hutchison has a different view of the company: His years of sales experience now help him keep an eye on the problem at Flippa, just as they do at other companies: Where is the strategy hiccuping, where are SOPs not quite optimized, and where do you need to tweak things to hit the target? What you'll learn: How does the leadership style differ for a sales-savvy CEO versus a product-savvy CEO? What SOPs are helpful for my company? What should a sustainable and stable strategy look l...
Billion Exit, Churn Rate Optimization, Cab Table Management & Employee Participation - Ragnar Sass, SaltoX & Ex-Pipedrive
April 14, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBRagnar Sass built Pipedrive up to a billion dollar exit - but how does it work? Which KPIs are important for this, how do I manage a clean cap table as a founder and how do I deal with investor feedback on my KPIs? We talk about concrete numbers, mistakes in hiring and cap table management from Ragnar's last years and why he is now rethinking employee ownership with Salto X. What you'll learn: What opportunities are there in a market that seems saturated? What processes and skills did t...
Billion Dollar Exit, Churn Rate Optimization, Cab Table Management & The Importance of Giving Shares to Employees - Ragnar Sass, SaltoX & Ex-Pipedrive
April 14, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBRagnar Sass built Pipedrive up to a billion dollar exit - but how does it work? Which KPIs are important for this, how do I manage a clean cap table as a founder and how do I deal with investor feedback on my KPIs? We talk about concrete numbers, mistakes in hiring and cap table management from Ragnar's last years and why he is now rethinking employee ownership with Salto X. What you'll learn: What opportunities are there in a market that seems saturated? What processes and skills did t...
"CEOs shouldn't have meetings" - 5 million users, 20M ARR with no investors and empty calendar! - Amir Salihefendic, doist
April 07, 2023 03:00 - 53 minutes - 73.1 MBAmir Salihefendic completely bootstrapped doist and didn't bring in any investor money even at the market high of 2021 - but why not? In this episode you'll get a deep insight into bootstrapping mindset and the art of keeping a huge market success alive without outside help. Todoist is probably the best known product of the group and has more than 5 million users. Basically, I find it exciting that Amir has almost no meetings and doesn't just rush from appointment to appointment. Definitel...
First company sold to Google, purchase offer rejected by Mark Zuckerberg, successor sought together with Ben Horowitz: a look behind the scenes at Foursquare and Dennis Crowley - Dennis Crowley, Livin
March 31, 2023 04:43 - 58 minutes - 80.1 MBDennis Crowley founded Foursquare and is one of the most blatant insiders of the last 20 years. Originally known as a consumer product, the company now does more than $100M in revenue with B2B licensing. Dennis sold his first company to Google and dubbed it a failure. That's why he turned down Mark Zuckerberg's offer to buy the second company. After pivoting the business model to B2B, Dennis knew he didn't want to be CEO anymore. He picked his successor in Ben Horowitz of a16z. After Fours...
First company sold to Google, purchase offer rejected by Mark Zuckerberg, successor search together with Ben Horowitz: a look behind the story of Dennis Crowley (LivingCities, Street FC & Foursquare)
March 31, 2023 04:43 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBDennis Crowley founded Foursquare and is one of the most blatant insiders of the last 20 years. Originally known as a consumer product, the company now does more than $100M in revenue with B2B licensing. Dennis sold his first company to Google and dubbed it a failure. That's why he turned down Mark Zuckerberg's offer to buy the second company. After pivoting the business model to B2B, Dennis knew he didn't want to be CEO anymore. He picked his successor in Ben Horowitz of a16z. After Fours...
Award-winning company culture & the relevance of capacity building as a founder – Robert Glazer, Acceleration Partners
March 21, 2023 03:00 - 37 minutes - 52.3 MB30+ awards für company culture and a lot of learnings in capacity building and leadershipment – that is what Robert Glazer brings into the interview. He wrote three books and shares all of his knowledge, so that you can start your personal development as a leader and elevate your team. What you’ll learn: How to be a good leader for a remote team or a physical one How to hire exactly the people your company needs – without telling them you are “that one company” with “that important values...
Learnings as Head of Product at Instagram, Airbnb & Coinbase; product strategy, leading product teams & scaling - Sanchan Saxena.
February 28, 2023 03:00 - 58 minutes - 80.9 MBSanchan Saxena was one of the first employees at Instagram, then led product management at Airbnb, and then was responsible for everything consumer at Coinbase. What you'll learn: How do the product strategies of Kevin Systrom (Instagram), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) differ? What qualities do I look for in product management? How do I test a senior executive in product management? What skills does a good product team need and how do I select the right people fo...
Customers pay this founder >100,000 per year: pricing software and the interplay of content and business - Kison Patel, DealRoom.
February 17, 2023 03:00 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBKison Patel created Dealroom.net, the solution for corporate transactions as a tool, without investors. Over the years, he has additionally launched MA Science, an educational brand for the Mergers & Acquisitions (company acquisitions) space, and has shaken up the scene. What you'll learn: What problems are really worth solving with a product or software Pricing of software solutions (Dealroom sometimes charges more than 100.000€ per year from customers) The challenges of team building a...
Finding Focus, User Engagement at Any Cost & The Social Dilemma - Nir Eyal, bestselling author.
February 10, 2023 03:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBFinding Focus, User Engagement at Any Cost & The Social Dilemma - Nir Eyal, bestselling author. Nir Eyal is internationally known for his books "Indistractable" and "Hooked". What is actually the difference between habit-forming and addictive products and what is our responsibility as a founding team here? Additionally, we talk about how you deal with distractions in your everyday life and develop focus. Nir, by the way, was interviewed for "Social Dilemma" on Netflix for over three hour...
Impact of the current market situation on VC funds; finding the right CFO & fundraising strategy - Alexander Langholz, Cherry Ventures
January 27, 2023 03:00 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBAlexander Langholz is CFO at Cherry Ventures and has previously supported various IPOs for years. He talks to Fabian about the business as CFO of a venture capital fund, IPOs and fundraising strategy. What you learn: What impact does the current market situation have on venture capital firms (using Cherry Ventures as an example)? At what point do I absolutely need a CFO in the company? How have funding rounds changed due to the crisis years and market changes? How can I recognize a good...
Recalibrating as a startup: without aligned milestones, you won't get new funding - Marvin Liao, Diaspora Ventures
January 24, 2023 03:00 - 45 minutes - 62.8 MBWith over 450 investments in early-stage startups, Marvin Liao is one of the most active investors in the world, In the podcast, we talk about how you recalibrate as a founder to see if you're on track. Marvin often sees with his portfolio companies that founders assume too much that it only affects others and don't want to perceive that the market situation affects them too... What you learn: In what ways are people currently investing differently? Who is currently getting money?? Why i...
Companies are bought, not sold - Mike Janke, Datatribe
January 20, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutes - 76.7 MBMike Janke has built Datatribe, one of the best data science and cyber security venture studios globally.... His experience with Special Forces helped him build the company - but how? We talk about team leadership, growth stage, when your Head of or VPs shouldn't grow with the company and how to teach them to go easy on themselves. What you'll learn: How good team building works and whether you always have to herd experts. If you are planning an exit - how should you prepare your team and...
Seed to Series A, good pitch deck & network building - Jon Dishotsky, Giant Ventures
December 20, 2022 04:30 - 43 minutes - 60.6 MBJon Dishotsky has raised 50 million himself from top investors like Y Combinator or Index Ventures, meanwhile, he is an investor at Giant Ventures and thus works on the other side. In the podcast, we talk about the phase between Seed and Series A, a good pitch deck, how to properly ask for intros, and much more. What you'll learn: Why you should always give context when asking someone for help as a founder: in- and the role a like-minded trusted network plays in this. What is important in...
Anecdotes from Spotifys founding days, personal growth and insights into the mindset of a seed investor - Sophia Bendz, ex-founding team Spotify, General Partner at Cherry Ventures
December 13, 2022 04:40 - 45 minutes - 61.9 MBSophia Bendz is a general partner at Cherry Ventures. Sophia joined Cherry from Atomico, where she was also a Partner and built the firm's well-known Angel program. Sophia's passion is supporting early-stage companies, an interest she has discovered in over 40 angel investments in Europe and North America. Sophia was also Global Marketing Director at Spotify for seven years, taking the audio platform from a Swedish apartment-based startup to an international player with hundreds of million...
How to build billion-dollar companies from pivots – Cal Henderson, Co-Founder 6 CTO Slack
December 09, 2022 12:18 - 40 minutes - 56.4 MBCal Henderson and his team wanted to improve ways to connect online. The result was a lot of bad decisions - and finally, Flickr and later Slack. Where did the courage come from to build something from the failed pile to such successful companies? What you learn: When was the right moment for Cal to walk away from Flickr, and how that led to the idea for Slack What strategies have been established for a small company to make software popular in the B2B space? What role do blockchain, cr...
Ryan Breslow on the silicon valley mafia, founding multiple Unicorns, company culture & what makes founders successful
December 02, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBRyan Breslow looks back on many successful founding years: Bolt (11 billion dollar valuation), Eco (Unicorn), and now love.com. He gained plenty of experience on the road to success, which he now shares with you. He talks to Fabian about the influence of Silicon Valley, the importance of setbacks, his biggest mistake, and the perfect company culture. What you'll learn: What mindset & skillset do you need to start a stable business outside the flourishing ecosystem? Can a successful busine...