Build

In this episode we’re tackling a tough topic that isn’t talked about a lot: The Challenges Immigrant Tech Entrepreneurs Face.

Whether you’re an immigrant, thinking of immigrating to the US, or just a startuper, you’re sure to be inspired by this episode, because we talk about what it takes to overcome a number of obstacles and setbacks over a 4 year period before breaking into the US market with big customers and investors!

Agustina Sartori, the CEO & Co-Founder of Glam St shares how she began her career as a software engineer in Uruguay working at a startup, and then decided to strike out on her own with her co-founder Carolina Bañales to build Glam St.

Watch and learn:

• How she and her co-founder landed their first big client L’Oreal before building anything!

• How they built their first prototype.

• Alternate sources of funding they pursued because there aren’t a lot of investors in Uruguay.

• How cultivating a level of self-awareness when talking to potential customers and investors is beneficial to attracting them.

• Why it’s important to build relationships with organizations who can help you grow your business like accelerators.

It’s the final episode of FemgineerTV for the 2015 season!

It felt like just yesterday I was waking up at 5am on a January morning to buy bagels for Ben Congleton our first guest. Then driving up with him to SF to beat the traffic on 101. Still can’t believe we made it one piece for the live pilot episode!

Since then we’ve produced a total of 11 episodes with guests who are changing the landscape of technology in the way they design, engineer, and lead product innovation and their companies. If you’ve missed even one episode, then take some time this holiday season to watch them all here.

Of course none of these episodes would have been possible without the support of our sponsor Pivotal Tracker. Specials thanks to Ronan Dunlop, Charles Springer, and Dan Podsedly for believing in my vision for FemgineerTV and continuing to support it. These are some of the BEST guys in Silicon Valley to work with!

I also want to thank my team: Michael Zeligs (videographer), Nathalie Arbel (editor), Christy Buckland (editor), and Gary Kirk (video editor). They are such a pleasure to work with, and go out of their way to make the episodes look and sound amazing! 

Now on to the final episode of FemgineerTV for the 2015 season!

In this episode we’ll be exploring the theme of what it’s like to start building a technology company and product with little to no experience.

We’ve all heard stories about tech founders who started their careers as engineers, designers, product managers and sales staff, while supporting a tech company. But can someone from outside tech successfully launch a tech product? Sandi MacPherson is proof it can be done! She’s the founder of Quibband has a unique story of how she became a founder.

In the latest episode of Femgineer TV, Sandi shares how she went from working in eastern Canada as a scientist, studying climate change, to completing her MBA, and eventually moving to California to start a technology company.

Having no prior experience in tech, Sandi went through a series of steps and received a lot of hands-on help that led her to eventually start Quibb, a service that shares articles and reports that influencers and experts are reading, in a newsfeed and daily email.

In this episode, you’ll learn the following from Sandi:

• The risk she took that helped launch her tech career.
• How founders without a tech background can get started.
• How she turned to the users of Quibb for funding and how you can use this strategy, too.
• A special side project she is working on!

We know that funding is critical for the life of a startup, and founders can opt to bootstrap or raise capital from VCs. Many do both as we saw in episode 8 when I interviewed Melody McCloskey.

Then in episode 9, I spoke to Shruti Gandhi, the founding and managing partner at Array VC, a fund that invests in early stage startups. Shruti shared with us the different ways investors can help a company grow, plus tips for dealing with different types of investors, and how to dig into an investor’s thesis to see if they’re the right fit for you.

In today’s episode, we’re going to expand beyond the mechanics of funding, and learn about a startup that’s helping investors and founders learn all they can to make decisions when it comes to investing.  Danielle Morrill is the CEO and co-founder of Mattermark, a data platform that keeps track of startups and their growth signals.

Danielle began her startup career working Pelago, then went on to become the first employee at Twilio, and recently launched Mattermark.  

Her goal is to make Mattermark the go-to source for information about startups and their investment potential.  Think of it as Bloomberg  for private companies.  

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Mattermark compiles information about private companies and help investors make informed investment decisions
• What Mattermark’s Startup Index and Growth Score are, and how they benefit startups
• How startup founders can benefit from Mattermark using it as a one-stop shop for finding the right investors
• How Mattermark helps startup discover potential customers

If you’ve been following along with FemgineerTV, you’ll have learned what the investor-founder dynamic is like from the viewpoint of an entrepreneur. In the last episode, I sat down with the CEO & co-founder of StyleSeat, Melody McCloskey, to understand what it takes to raise capital at the various stages of a startup, from Seed to Series A and beyond.

In today’s episode, we’re going to get the opposite perspective by diving into an investor’s mindset. We’ll try to understand what compels them to write a check and, more importantly, how they add value beyond a check.

(That’s right, they’re not just a source of capital; they can be an indispensable partner!)

I’ve invited Shruti Gandhi to chat with us. Shruti is the founding and managing partner at Array VC, a fund that invests in early stage startups. She began her career as software engineer. Since then, she has been a startup founder and an investor in five funds; now, she has started her own.

Having been in many roles, Shruti understands the importance of capital, but she also knows firsthand that founders need help beyond the check.

During our conversation, you’ll learn:

• How investors can help you accelerate your company’s sales
• How investors test a founder’s commitment to their product and company
• How to work with different types of investors: corporate, institutional, and angels
• Why investors look for founders who have been an early employee at a startup before striking out on their own
• How to dig into an investor’s thesis to find out if they are a right fit for you

You’ve probably noticed the ongoing debate about whether or not we’re in a tech bubble. Headlines are always gushing about the latest companies with billion dollar valuations.

There’s a lot of investment capital out there right now, and if you’re a startup founder who hopes to raise money, you might be wondering what it takes to attract some of that capital to you .

You have to figure out what to say to attract investors, but here’s the thing: depending on whether it’s your first fundraise or a follow-on round, you have to take a different approach.

So, what do investors look for in a startup ripe for Series A versus Series B? When should you stop bootstrapping and search for seed funding?

To help us out with these questions, I’ve invited Melody McCloskey, the CEO & Co-Founder of StyleSeat, who has successfully raised $39.9M for her company through 4 separate fundraising rounds, ranging from seed to Series B.

Each round was different, and it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Melody. Hear how she succeeded in her 4 rounds and learn:

• Why it’s important to start bootstrapping before you consider taking capital;
• What investors are looking for at different stages, like seed, Series A, and Series B; and
• How to pitch investors who know very little about your industry.

You might have used products that just get the job done. (Think Excel.) They compete with similar products on features, cost, and other mechanics. The problem is, these products become commodities and can lose their users to competition in a heartbeat. 

Meanwhile, there are standout products that are heralded as works of art. They inspire people and change lives, and consumers stick with these brands for a long time thanks to a glue called love. Most of us want to make amazing products and are looking for that je ne sais quoi to take it to the next level:

Why do Apple and Nike stores continue to make money during retail recessions?

What do the Jony Ive’s and Tom Gruber’s of the world know that we don’t?

And when we hear that our products need to “delight” the user, what does “delight” really mean?

Today on FemgineerTV we’re going to talk about the balance of science and art that goes into amazing design and discuss the building process behind products that delight users every single time.

To help us out I’ve invited Pauly Ting, a user experience designer who has helped brands like Bloomingdale’s, Lexus, and American Express to reveal their purpose, express their personality, and deliver a complete and authentic user experience. 

Whether you’re building a product for a startup or a larger corporation, you’ll want to watch this episode to learn:

- Why it’s hard to differentiate your product if you fixate on features and the science behind them

- Why most companies fail to make a meaningful connection with users

- A simple 4-step framework that helps you clarify your design and speeds up development time

After you’ve listened to the episode join the conversation here: http://femgineer.com/2015/08/the-art-vs-science-of-user-experience-design/

We all have ideas for features, products, and companies. But we cannot bring them to life alone. Partners and teams help us get out of our echo chambers, see possibilities we’ve never imagined, and put one foot in front of the other when the going gets rough. 

The best teams are composed of individuals with complementary skill sets, and as we learned back in Episode 4, empathy for one another.

But you might be wondering: How does a team form over time? And how do you pick an initial partner or co-founder if you’re starting from scratch?

In today’s episode of FemgineerTV we’re going to talk about how to pick partners, assemble a founding team to get your idea off the ground, and reveal the key ingredient to a lasting partnership.

To help us out I’ve invited the co-founders of Pop Up Archive, Anne Wootton and Bailey Smith. Pop Up Archive is a startup based in Oakland, CA that makes sound searchable by using cutting edge speech-to-text technology. Anne Wootton is the CEO and Bailey Smith is the CTO. We’ll learn about how, as co-founders, they split their responsibilities, support each other, and resolve conflicts.

Listen to the episode and learn:

- The traits you should look for in a potential co-founder that are different from a teammate or an employee

- How to communicate setbacks to your co-founder

- How to critique each other constructively

If you’re actively looking for a co-founder or if you already have one and want to improve your partnership, you’ll want to watch this episode! 

After you’ve listened to the episode join the conversation here: http://femgineer.com/?p=7246

If you’re a technical person, such as an engineer or designer, then your todo list is probably filled with product launches, bug fixes, interviewing candidates, attending meetings, answering emails, and fighting fires. 

The daily grind can leave you wondering if the work that you do is actually worthwhile and makes a big impact.

While it’s easy for people to tell us to work smarter, not harder, the bulk of the work still falls on our shoulders, and it often feels like the only way to get it all done is to put in more hours!

In today’s episode of FemgineerTV, we’re going to tackle your todo list. We’ll talk about how you can identify activities that will make a big impact for your organization, your team, and yourself, and how to feel good about deprioritizing those that don’t!

For expert guidance, I’ve invited Edmond Lau, who is the author of the new book The Effective Engineer. Edmond has worked as an engineer at big companies like Google and growth-stage startups like Ooyala, Quora, and, most recently, Quip. While he onboarded and mentored many new engineers at work, he discovered which habits, techniques, and mindsets set them up for success early on (read: huge impact in less time).

Edmond will help us identify common myths about productivity in software development that hold us back from making a big impact. We’ll also share our favorite framework for evaluating how much impact our activities and tasks actually have, using the concept of leverage.

Watch the episode and learn:

1. Why it’s important to focus on more than just technical skills

2. Why you shouldn’t drop everything to satisfy a request

3. Why you should dedicate time to activities like automation as well as mentoring and onboarding new employees

If you find yourself drowning in tasks and feel like you’re not making the kind of impact you want to make, then you’ll want to watch this episode!

Check out Edmond's latest book here: http://www.theeffectiveengineer.com/book

After you’ve listened to the episode join the conversation here: http://femgineer.com/?p=7197

There’s one skill that every wildly successful product manager, UX designer, businessperson, and leader has in common. It helps them unite teams and ship products that customers love time and time again. 

What could possibly unite all these technologists? 

It’s conscious and deliberate empathy. 

Most people believe empathy is just about being compassionate, like lending your friend a shoulder to cry on when they’re going through a breakup. Others dismiss it altogether as a distraction, because they believe it’s more important to be efficient, focus, and get stuff done!

Well, it just so happens that when a company is plagued by lack of motivation, missed deadlines, and high employee turnover, often it’s because employees feel that their teammates, bosses, and management don’t “get them.” They might feel like coworkers jump to conclusions or assume their intentions and motivations. In other words, they don’t feel that anyone has empathy for them as an individual.

Lack of empathy is terrible for team-building, but it also impacts another crucial part of your business…

It actually seeps into how products are created, so customers feel like your company doesn’t “get” them either! Why would a customer who feels misunderstood stay loyal to you or recommend you to your friends? 

Empathy isn’t just about being compassionate. There are actually several different types of empathy. And there’s one that’s most helpful for success in business and technology.

We’ll tell you how to start using it right away in today’s episode of FemgineerTV. For expert guidance, I’ve invited Indi Young, a founder of Adaptive Path, user experience consultant, and author of two books: Mental Models and, most recently, Practical Empathy. 

Indi will help us clarify several misconceptions and avoid some misuses of empathy...and of course to learn how to actually practice it in the right way.

Watch the episode and learn:

1. Why Tom Gruber, the designer and co-founder of Siri, believes empathy is crucial to getting things done in tech companies.

2. Why empathy isn’t limited to just building products but extends to processes and building teams.

3. Why we’ve fallen in love with quantitative data, but it isn’t enough to develop a deep understanding of our teammates and customers—we need qualitative data too.

4. Why empathy is a skill that can be learned and practiced.

5. How to translate our learnings from practicing empathy into actionable insights for our business.

If you’re struggling to understand your customers and find alignment with your teammates then you’ll want to watch this episode!

After you’ve listened to the episode join the conversation here: http://femgineer.com/?p=7110

We all want customers to crave the products we build. Next, we want them to spread the word, because WOM (word-of-mouth) marketing is THE strongest and most authentic for your product. 

WOM is a testimonial delivered from one customer to another. The customer spreading the word cares about helping the other person out and is willing to vouch for the product based on benefits they’ve personally experienced. 

These days, most customer-to-customer testimonials live on the internet through social media, forums, forwarded emails, and other online communities. 

They also live on Product Hunt, TechCrunch’s Best New Startup of 2014.

Product Hunt is an online community where members submit and vote up the best new tech products. A simple upvote arrow is the site’s distilled version of word of mouth, and highly recommended products float to the top of the site and get an influx of visitors. According to TechCrunch, Product Hunt is “taking the industry by storm as founders, investors, early adopters and other tech enthusiasts now check the site on a daily basis.” 

Recommendation-driven user acquisitions aren’t the only benefit for products that succeed on Product Hunt; they might also nab press coverage, investor interest, or high-quality feedback from the tech enthusiasts.

When Product Hunt was just getting started, it faced a classic chicken-and-egg problem that typically burdens community-based products. You need users on your home turf to attract other users, but how do you go from an initial 0 users to 10 or 100? 

Product Hunt did a phenomenal job building up a following. The founder, Ryan Hoover, started with a simple email list that grew into a strong community of evangelists eager to use the product every day. 

In this episode of FemgineerTV, we’ll cover how he did it. Any new startup—even if it’s not social or community-based—can use these strategies to drive word-of-mouth recommendations for their product. 

I’ve invited Ryan Hoover and his founding team member Erik Torenberg to candidly share how they used evangelists to accelerate Product Hunt’s growth in the early days. They’ll also explain how they continue to build fervor for the product through an engaged and growing community.

Watch the episode and learn:

1. What they did to create a positive first impression of their company on prospective users and influencers.

2. How they attracted early adopters even before ProductHunt was built.

3. How they mobilized their early adopters to evangelize the product and bring in more users.

4. Strategies that did and didn’t work to increase community engagement.

5. How they keep users hooked and coming back.

If you’re struggling to get traction for your software product, watch the episode. You’ll definitely walk away with some valuable insights to apply to your business right away!

After you've listened to the episode join the conversation in the comments here: http://femgineer.com/?p=7086