Startup to Last
161 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsTwo founders talk about how to build software businesses that are meant to last. Each episode includes a deep dive into a different topic related to starting, growing, and sustaining a healthy business.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
How to recruit interns
September 26, 2019 22:00 - 50 minutes - 49.2 MBThis episode ended up being much more about how to increase workforce diversity than how to hire interns. Here’s a quick rundown: Tyler and his team at Less Annoying CRM want to increase diversity They primarily source candidates via their summer internship program Tyler and his team have had great success at WashU with this model However, this has led to a lack of diversity across his 17 employees (~50% went to WashU) Tyler wants more internships to come from schools other th...
Interview with Tyler King, co-founder and CEO of Less Annoying CRM
September 20, 2019 14:00 - 37 minutes - 33.5 MBHere’s what you should know about Tyler: Grew up in St. Louis, Missouri Went to college at Washington University in St. Louis (“Wash U.”) Majored in Computer Science Became a web developer through side projects and internships Played guitar in a heavy metal band called Embers Rise (listen here) Left his Masters program early to join a startup called Zane Benefits (which is now part of PeopleKeep) in Park City, Utah Met Rick at Zane Benefits in 2007 Survived a lay-off with ...
How to market a podcast
September 05, 2019 23:00 - 55 minutes - 51.7 MBIn this episode, we talk about why we started the podcast, who we think our ideal listener is, and how we plan to grow our audience. After going back and forth, the following framework emerged for marketing a podcast Why did we start the podcast? Who is our audience and ideal listener? What problem are we solving for our audience? What makes our podcast unique? How will we measure success? How will we achieve success? Takeaways include: Our ideal listener is someone who: ...
How to teach yourself to code a web-based application
August 30, 2019 17:00 - 50 minutes - 47.9 MBIn this episode, Tyler helps Rick create a plan to teach himself how to code a web-based application. Rick isn’t sure where to start and asks Tyler for help. Tyler shares best practices he’s learned from teaching more than 15 people how to code from scratch. After going back and forth, the following framework emerged for teaching yourself how to code a web-based application: Clarify why you want to learn how to code. Get a macro understanding of the skills, languages, and techno...
How to communicate major product changes to your users
August 22, 2019 22:00 - 50 minutes - 45.6 MBIn this episode, Rick helps Tyler think through how to roll out a major product redesign for his 20,000 users. Tyler has a plan, but he’s concerned about losing customers through the transition. His biggest roadblock is figuring out how to roll this out without causing his customers to get angry and leave. After going back and forth, the following framework emerged for communicating major product changes to existing users: Why you are making the product changes in the first place?...
How a non-technical founder can make their first technical hire
August 08, 2019 22:00 - 54 minutes - 51.4 MBIn this episode, Tyler helps Rick evaluate how to build a new software application from scratch. Since Rick is a nontechnical founder, his biggest roadblock is figuring out how to build the application without raising money. After going back and forth, the following framework emerged for nontechnical founders trying to hire a first employee: What is the idea (i.e. problem and solution)? What type of application needs to be built to deliver on the idea (i.e. requirements)? What t...
How an employee handbook can help with recruiting
August 01, 2019 22:00 - 46 minutes - 44.3 MBWhat’s an employee handbook? Tyler: The topic this week is employee handbooks. This has been on my mind because we redid our whole employee handbook this last spring leading up to hiring some new people. So I rewrote it and put a lot of thought into it, but I wanted to talk through it with you. I'd like to cover things like what should actually go into it. And one thing that I hadn't thought of prior to now is when and how should the information in an employee handbook be communica...
Working remotely vs. working in an office
July 25, 2019 23:00 - 44 minutes - 42.5 MBTyler: In this episode, we're gonna talk about the pros and cons of remote work, such as when does it make sense for a company to have employees altogether in an office versus fully remote or something in between. Rick: I personally get this all of the time. I've heard of four core models that . One is “single site” which means everyone works in the same office environment. Second, is “multi-site” where you have multiple locations with everyone working within the office. And then t...
The role of a CEO
July 18, 2019 23:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBThe role of a small business or startup CEO Tyler: In this episode, we're going to talk about what the role of a CEO should be at a small business or a startup. I always hesitate to call myself a CEO, depending on who I'm talking to because it seems a little pretentious. I run a 17-person company and some days, I don't do any CEO stuff: I just write code or design something. And some days I'm in meetings and brainstorming long term product vision and I feel more like a CEO. I'm a l...
Impostor syndrome and fear-based decision making
July 11, 2019 17:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBTyler: In this episode, we're going to talk about impostor syndrome. Do you want to kind of explain what you had in mind here? Rick: Yeah. So you know this. I left PeopleKeep after 11 years. For most of the time, I was the leader of the company under various titles, most recently CEO. I left in October. So it's been about nine months now. Rick: One of the big reflections I had was sometimes how I treated people. Sometimes I was super impatient with people and put certain immediate...
Salary transparency
June 29, 2019 21:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBIn this episode, we discussed salary transparency. After some back and forth, we concluded that a company’s salary transparency policy should be based on its personnel strategy. In other words, how you handle salary transparency, whether it's no transparency, partial transparency or full transparency, entirely depends on the people you have and more importantly the people you want to attract. Before you decide on a compensation strategy, you should identify the people you need to h...