Collective Wisdom For Tech Startups

Do you ever wonder what keeps the founder of Casper (https://casper.com/) awake at night? How they came to dominate podcast advertising? And how much your startup's name matters? (spoiler alert: not much)

In this episode of Collective Wisdom, Micah Rosenbloom (https://twitter.com/micahjay1) distills a dozen actionable tips from Casper's Philip Krim (https://twitter.com/pkrim), the mattress king of Brooklyn.

Luck is an important part of any startup, but Match.com's CEO talks about how it shaped his career. He sold his first company for $30M before graduating college, but just weeks later the market crashed. In this clip he explores how you need to prepare yourself for luck and take advantage of it once it arrives.

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Tinder has changed the way people date, but Match's CEO Sam Yagan (https://twitter.com/samyagan) explains what makes the site work—and it's more than the right swipe. Yagan explains how Facebook and instant messaging are the real game changers.

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In the early days of a startup, almost all press is good press. As you mature as a company, it becomes a more complex calculation.

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99% of founders would be well served by making sure their fundraising strategy dovetails with the prices their natural acquirers would pay. Basically, if the big players in your industry are stingy, don't raise tons of money, otherwise your exit opportunities may be limited.

Also, while design and product management are important, distribution is even more critical for marketplace-based startups.

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Good news Series B startups, the difference between your last deck and an IPO isn't that different! Just keep up the good work!

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In the early days of OKCupid, co-founder Sam Yagan tried to get reporters to write about his company. When they balked, he cut out the middleman, and developed a data-driven content marketing strategy that had the company regularly featured on national news media.

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+ Think big: Large companies don't want to buy small companies, unless you have some critical tech, or key people. If you want to get acquired, you need to build something impressive.

+ Build relationships: Founders need to figure out who their natural acquirers are and build relationships with them well before it's time to sell.

+ Get a second bidder: Your deal will only be as good as the competition you create, so find several potential buyers.

+ Deal structure matters: Getting cash up front is the best case scenario, but founders can improve the quality of the deal by being flexible with terms.

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Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1HxRhhC

An important thing for founders to remember when they take investment, and add people to their board, is that they're in effect hiring their own boss. Match.com CEO Sam Yagan shares some advice on how not to get fired from your own company.

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Match.com CEO Sam Yagan manages workers in offices in Dallas, Vancouver, and Paris—the secret? Video. High quality video, along with a fair amount of flying, are the keys to success.

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