By Esteban Reyes
The podcast currently has 20 episodes available.
What’s up everyone! Today I’m joined by Chet Corcos, programmer, product designer, and engineer at Notion. His notable career includes working at Affirm and SpaceX.
In the long run, how you build something has a more substantial impact than what you built
Notion is an all-in-one workspace that blends everyday work apps like databases, kanban boards, notes, calendars for you and your team. In this episode, Chet shares about his startup journey, product building principles at Notion, approach to building things “with good design”, startup growth strategies, and thoughts on tool making and privacy.
Episode Quotes
"A good designer fights habituation." - Tony Fadell
"You learn so much by building."
"Build something you want and you love... and pray that people follow it."
"First we shape our tools and then our tools shape us." - Marshall McLuhan
"How you build something has a more substantial impact than what you built."
Listen to Learn
01:31 - How Chet got into the world of startups
11:58 - Chet's journey at Notion
17:16 - Building things "with good design"
27:41 - How Notion reached a million users
39:55 - Tactics to maintain growth and get people creative
48:00 - Product building principles for other problems
54:23 - Thoughts on ethics on tool making and privacy
59:27 - What is the future of business software?
01:03:09 - Parting thoughts
Hey everybody! Joining me this week is Sam Corcos, software developer, community builder, and Co-founder and CEO of Levels, a company that aims to reverse the trend of metabolic dysfunction.
Figure out who your biggest champions are and lean into them a lot more
Levels started with the performance and athletic market to build brand credibility and thought leadership, to then move into mainstream health and wellness in 2021. Focusing on metabolic health, Level’s product gives personalized insights into how different foods affect your body and your health.
In this episode, Sam talks about the metabolic health crisis, how Levels is solving this problem, the science behind Levels, tactics for team alignment, product-market fit strategies, and importance of communities for business growth.
Episode Quotes
"We need to break the stigma around glucose monitoring and make it an objective desire."
"Figure out who your biggest champions are and lean into them a lot more."
"Ship early, ship quickly, and keep learning from your customers."
Listen to Learn
00:52 - Career background and journey to Levels
04:50 - Understanding metabolic dysfunction and sugar addiction
16:06 - Why there's less attention on metabolic health
21:33 - What is Levels, how it works, future plans
30:16 - Level's operating system and decision making frameworks
35:50 - Tactics for team alignment, focus, product-market fit
40:20 - Community led-growth, Making key hires
42:56 - Challenges encountered and lessons learned
46:52 - Advice for entrepreneurs
What’s up everyone! Joining me this week is Albert Wenger, businessman, venture capitalist, managing partner of Union Square Ventures, and author of World After Capital.
The #1 thing that I've learned is to invest in things that I love
Albert combines over 10 years of entrepreneurial experience with an in-depth technology background. He founded and co-founded various companies in the field of consulting and data analytics. In his book World of Capital, he shares the importance of figuring out how to live in a World After Capital in which the only scarcity is attention.
In this episode, Albert and I talk about investment mistakes and tips, convex vs. concave bets, the knowledge age, and frameworks for attention allocation.
Episode Quotes
"Convexity and concavity are inherent to different business models."
"The number one thing that I've learned is to invest in things that I love."
"The biggest mistake to make is to try and copy what others are doing."
"In this knowledge age, knowledge is the place to go look and find purpose."
Listen to Learn
01:16 - Investing: Convex vs. Concave
15:13 - Establishing convexity features
18:16 - Investment mistakes and lessons learned
22:17 - Biggest mistakes VCs make
29:20 - The knowledge age, Frameworks for attention allocation
37:24 - End notes and links
What’s up everyone! Today I am joined by Jeff Clavier, founder and managing partner of Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC). He founded Uncork Capital in 2004 to serve an unmet need of startup founders: active support and capital for companies in their first 18 months of life. Some of his successful investments include Fitbit, Sendgrid, Eventbrite, and Vungle.
As a VC today, working hard/smart is not enough. You need to find that investor-market fit.
After first working as a CTO for a fintech startup in France, Jeff then founded Uncork. Since then, Uncork has been helping startups through their most critical early stages. Jeff has helped guide these companies through the many struggles that come with being an early stage startup.
Listen as Jeff shares his startup and VC journey, challenges encountered with founders, and how he built a successful venture capital firm. Enjoy!
Episode Quotes
"You can't just put a thesis together and say I'm going to work hard and succeed"
"Today working hard/smart is not enough. You need to find that investor-market fit"
"Get the valuation that the market gives you but don't go seeking the unicorn status"
"We should do fundraising not just for the sake of raising but to scale faster, better and higher"
Listen to Learn
01:04 How Jeff got into startups and venture capital?
04:53 Helping founders and challenges encountered
08:14 Jeff's core VC skill
14:13 Advice for new investors or startup founders
19:08 Insights from the recession, The $15 million VC fund
23:56 What does it take to start a successful fund?
32:41 Non-rapid Fire Questions
43:45 Jeff's social media links
What’s up everyone! In this episode, I am joined by Alex Rigopulos. Alex is a video game designer, musician, and the founder and creative director of Harmonix Music Systems. Harmonix is a video game development company best known for their music video games such as Guitar Hero, Dance Central, and Rock Band.
Our mission has always been delighting the world through music and gameplay.
As a musician with a passion for the music game industry, Alex left MIT to start Harmonix with Eran Egozy. The first few years weren’t that great for Alex having to go through few flopped games. It was a defining moment until a monumental game called Guitar Hero changed the whole world of the company and shaped on what is now.
Listen as Alex and I talk about Harmonix, the hardest challenges he faced as an entrepreneur, how Guitar Hero became a success story, and some advice from Alex for entrepreneurs. Enjoy the episode.
Episode Quotes
"Music has this incredible, primal, mysterious power over our emotions"
"One thing that strengthened and flourished us as a company is we keep people focused on a mission"
"As an entrepreneur you simultaneously need to have an irrational amount of optimism and irrational amount of pessimism"
"I don't let fear be a factor in my decision making"
Listen to Learn
00:32 Getting to know Alex Rigopulos - Harmonix and startup journey
04:11 Core mission that strengthened the company, Alex's core company building skill
06:32 Make-it-or-break-it moments as an entrepreneur, The Frequency game story
16:02 The EyeToy: Antigrav story
18:34 The success story of Guitar Hero
20:34 How to balance optimism with rationality
23:47 Pivot or Persevere? The problem with Lean Methodology
27:10 Advice that helped Alex overcome business challenges
28:14 Non-Rapid Fire Questions
36:33 Exciting games coming up from Harmonix
Today we talk to Holly Hester-Reilly. Holly is a product expert with multiple leadership roles in hyper growth companies like Shutterstock and MediaMath. Currently, she works at H2R Product Science and advises multiple startups.
As founders, we must understand the people more than the system because this creates more value.
Holly’s love of software and technology paved her way into the startup world. Her experience as a product leader in various hyper growth companies enabled her to understand the business on a product perspective.
She is here to share her startup journey and the challenges she faced as a product leader at Shutterstock and MediaMath. We talk about how to lead teams and expand the support of the customer’s workflow. Also, Holly mentions about people dynamics and incentive alignment, what are good and bad OKRs, how to implement them in the team, and what leaders should focus on to leverage the company’s success.
Episode Quotes
"One of the best ways to build/launch software on a timeframe that works is to make sure that you are a person that it is safe to tell the truth to"
"It is a holistic thing; it is not just the analytic experiments but also knowing the market and the customers' needs, then sharing it to the team"
"Sometimes leaders do things that are mainly focused on accumulating power at the expense of the organization's growth"
"Good OKRs are those that clearly define the vision for what kind of value your team is providing"
"Money is a means to an end not the end in itself"
"If you actually empathize with people then you can make things happen and there is a lot of value"
"As a founder, make your people do their best work towards the company's vision above just achieving the vision"
Listen to Learn
00:32 Getting to know Holly Hester-Reilly - tech startup journey
03:30 Holly's core company building skill
05:50 Make-it-or-break-it moments as a product leader, How her core skill was helpful in
solving these challenges
11:19 Why is describing a product or product market a recurring problem for most founders?
14:17 How to leverage success and be antifragile? Learnings from the Shutterstock experience
17:47 People dynamics and the role of incentive alignment, Importance of implementing well
defined OKRs
21:52 Examples of good and bad OKRs
26:39 Trello's unique way of doing "wear your customer's shoes"
28:35 Non-Rapid Fire Questions
33:23 End notes and website links
Hey everybody! Today, we have Connie Kwan. Connie is a B2B expert with multiple leadership roles in hyper growth companies. She is the Chief Storyteller at Product Maestro, and Head of Product at Atlassian’s Marketplace.
Building a startup is hard but there is an ecosystem of people willing to help that makes it an enjoyable experience
In this episode, Connie shares her career and business journey which includes her experiences in different hyper growth companies. She also talks about her core company building skill and how she used it to overcome the cash gap and sales gap in the business.
Moving forward, Connie and I talk about how to avoid the common death traps in product management. We touch on concepts like lean startup, building an MVP, product building and marketing, as Connie stated, “There is more balance towards build more versus sell more first.” Connie shares her insights for investors who are looking for hyper efficient capital businesses, and then for founders about cultural readiness and product understanding.
Join us in this awesome conversation about product building, product management and Connie’s Product Maestro.
Episode Quotes
"We need to keep our spirits up, and that is very important, because we can't work effectively without that"
"Having a positive attitude help people see an example and feel that energy to continue to be positive"
"'One brick at a time' is the most valuable values for me"
"If you've been persistent over time, and then you take a step back, you will see that it got built"
"Don't get confused by the bad feeling that you have in the moment that you're not making any progress because you are actually making progress"
"I think there is definite balance towards let's build more versus let's sell more first"
"There is not a huge benefit for startups to having a lot of diversity especially in the early stage"
"Building a startup is hard but there is an ecosystem of people willing to help that it is an incredibly an enjoyable experience"
Listen to Learn
01:36 Getting to know Connie Kwan - career and business journey
03:38 Connie's core company building skill
04:45 Make-it-or-break-it moments as a founder
09:00 How did you overcome those business challenges?
10:02 Most valuable advice, and how did it change your perspective
13:30 Advise for founders to avoid the common death traps in product building
15:52 Connie's take about the concept of lean startup and building an MVP
20:40 Advise for investors looking for hyper capital efficient businesses
23:58 Advise for founders about cultural readiness and customer understanding
27:41 Non-Rapid Fire Questions - fun, off balance questions
38:03 What is Product Maestro?
41:20 Parting thoughts and website links
Welcome to another episode of Antifragile. I am joined by Jason Mendelson – general partner and co-founder of Foundry Group. Jason is going to talk about the awesome story of Foundry Group and the interesting ecosystem of boards, investors and founders.
The thing that a great functioning board can do is be the CEO's partner
Tired of dysfunctional boards and overbearing investors? It is time to turn those “bored” meetings into productive board meetings.
In this episode, Jason share powerful insights about the ideal board structure and agenda. We are also going into details about the ecosystem of boards and investors, and share solutions to the problems that exists within the team.
Furthermore, Jason talks about emotional intelligence and why it is a critical factor in achieving success.
Episode Quotes
"When you think you’ve lost everything is actually when you’re the most powerful"
"It is when there’s something still left to lose that we are constrained"
"There is nothing better than having clients that trust you with their lives and support you"
"It is not just about leverage. It is about selecting the people who can make you better"
"The lack of humility is the #1 cancer that venture capitalists have"
"The thing that a great functioning board can do is be the CEO's partner"
"The main reason why startups fail is that the team doesn't execute correctly and doesn't work well together"
"If you have tremendous emotional intelligence and can make teams work better, you have a much better chance to success"
"I always keep an open mind for everybody. I make a quick decision, act on it, but I always keep my mind open."
Listen to Learn
00:34 Getting to know Jason Mendelson - career journey
05:07 Jason's core building skill
06:11 Make-it-or-break-it moment - the Foundry Group story
09:11 Jason's turning point and realizations
15:02 Importance of partner selection
18:24 Why most boards are dysfunctional and how to make them functional
21:03 The #1 cancer that investors or venture capitalists have
22:44 What is an ideal board structure and agenda?
25:48 What does a great functioning board looks like?
27:40 Emotional Intelligence - a critical factor in achieving success
33:08 Non-Rapid Fire Questions
40:48 End notes, website and social media links
Welcome everybody to another episode of Antifragile. Joining us today is Brad Feld – author, entrepreneur and investor. Brad is going to share about venture capital investing and entrepreneurship.
I focus my investment approach not on being the boss, but being someone who is of service to the CEO
Being one of the most successful VC investors, Brad has a lot of insights for us on how he was able to attract and work with top entrepreneurs, citing the interesting success story of Harmonix (Guitar Hero).
Together, we discuss both the founder and investor side of venture capital investing. As he says: “Ultimately it is about understanding how you can best work with people (founders/investors) and how that synergy can create success”. Furthermore, Brad shares what makes a durable company and his approach to investment. One exciting thing about this episode is Brad’s opinion about traits of good vs great investors.
Episode Quotes
"We're very focused on being partners with the entrepreneurs and founders of the company rather than control investors"
"Do not be emotionally invested in the outcome to the point where it interferes your ability to be constructive"
"Companies that acknowledge mistakes and make adjustments are much more durable than the ones who does not"
"The best way to fly is to throw yourself off the ground as hard as you can miss"
"As founders don't be insular. Get perspective from people outside your company"
"Ultimately it's about understanding how it is that you can best work with people (founders/investors) and how that synergy can create success."
"I focus my investment approach not on being the boss, but being someone who is of service to the CEO"
"Your goal is to make a return that's above the market return, and there's a lot of different ways to do that"
"I try really hard not to have envy of other investors and not to have remorse for companies that I didn't invest in"
"What attracts me to companies is the utility of what they do rather than the aspirational thing that they are setting up"
Listen to Learn
00:18 Episode intro, getting to know Brad Feld
03:30 What enables Brad to attract and work with top entrepreneurs?
10:29 Untold make-it-or-break it moments
13:45 The Harmonix (Guitar Hero) success story
15:43 The huge failure - "We are losing $5 million a month"
19:48 Change is inevitable - how to have control over your business
25:45 The cryptocurrency phenomena
29:30 Founders: biases vs experiences
34:46 What founders could do to find objectivity?
38:43 Traits of a great vs a good investor
42:54 Brad's approach to investment
45:43 Brad's take on Warren Buffett's investor letter, venture investment
52:24 Rapid Fire Questions
57:49 Investing in companies where the product/product vision is awesome
01:00:45 Rapid Fire Questions (continuation), end notes
Welcome to another episode of Antifragile. Joining us today is Ben Metcalfe – entrepreneur, investor and community builder. Ben co-founded WPEngine and is currently into venture capital at Ridge Ventures. Today, he is going to share his experiences as a founder/investor and the dynamics of sales and marketing team.
Founders should motivate the sales team, and make sure that growth is occurring
Seeing the opportunity to help more founders, Ben shifted into venture capital. He shares that a lot of founders, especially technical people, have a lot of anxiety in the area of sales. To cope with that, Ben believes that, as a founder, the next most important job after identifying an opportunity is hiring the best people in your team.
Ben and I discuss the importance of mentoring and motivation in the success of the sales team, as he mentions that founders and sales team must make sure that growth is occurring. He also thinks that the Ivy League is overrated and that in fact, what gives entrepreneurs a much better chance at success is hustle and talent.
Episode Quotes
"As a founder your most important job after identifying an opportunity is to hire the best people who are smarter than you"
"Making sure that mentally you are in the most performant place you can be is really important"
"You have to motivate a sales team, there is a dynamic to being a successful salesperson"
"If you're an entrepreneur and you can hustle and you have talent, I think that gives you much better chance at success"
"If you're an entrepreneur it's hard, it is a journey but enjoy the journey"
Listen to Learn
00:15 Getting to know Ben Metcalfe, business journey (WPEngine)
04:02 How Ben got into venture?
06:29 Skills that entrepreneurs should develop
09:27 Make-it-or-break-moments as a founder
13:41 The concept of behavioral fitness
16:58 How did you solve business challenges?
19:42 Hiring a good sales leader, Founder and the sales team
25:24 Rapid Fire Questions
32:57 Links and announcements
The podcast currently has 20 episodes available.