pEd is a really great VC. He backs founders from “Day 1” long before there’s a product. Even better, Ed happens to love PLG just as much as I do. We discuss the differences in backing PLG startups at different stages./p

Ed Sim (Boldstart): What Do VCs Look for in PLG Founders?

It takes 3 ingredients to build a software startup in today’s wild market: people, product and growth. Easier said than done. BUILD is here to help by featuring conversations between venture capitalist Blake Bartlett and the smartest folks in software. OpenView is a VC firm that invests in amazing companies like Datadog, Expensify and Calendly. Visit ov.vc for more details.

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pAlex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach—raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF.nbsp;/ppbr/ppIn 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic. /ppbr/ppAnd now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach —building a fully remote amp; asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup.nbsp;/ppbr/ppAlex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all. /ppbr/ppBlake and Alex talk through: /pp(7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design/pp(09:01) Why Alex doesn’t believe in remote work for large companies/pp(10:11) Remote work pitfalls/pp(14:21) When to replace yourself as CEO/pp(15:52) How to find your zone of genius/pp(18:31) When do startups hire a CFO or COO?/pp(21:14) #1 piece of advice for founders/pp(24:14) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C)/pp(27:27) Why not raise venture capital/pp(28:28) When startups should (or shouldn’t) raise venture capital/pp(29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding/pp(39:14) What AI and ChatGPT is good for/pp(44:13) Best time to start a company/pp(46:20) Not all startups need VC funding/pp(47:16) Advice for VCs from a founder/p

Alex MacCaw (Clearbit  Reflect): Everything I’ve Learned as Startup Founder

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach — raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF.  
 In 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic. And now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach — building a fully remote & asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup. 
 Alex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all. 
 Blake and Alex talk through: (7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design (09:01) Why Alex doesn’t believe in remote work for large companies (10:11) Remote work pitfalls (14:24) When to replace yourself as CEO (15:41) How to find your zone of genius (18:32) When do startups hire a CFO or COO? (21:16) #1 piece of advice for founders (24:15) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C) (27:29) Why build an indie software company (28:28) When startups should (or shouldn’t) raise venture capital (29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding (39:15) What AI and ChatGPT is good for (44:09) Best time to start a company (51:45) Not all startups need VC funding (52:51) Advice for VCs from a founder 
 Mentioned in this episode: Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter Alex MacCaw, CEO and Founder of Reflect LinkedIn Twitter Subscribe to Blake Bartlett on YouTube. Podcast produced by OpenView. View our blog for more context/inspiration. OpenView on Linkedin OpenView on Twitter OpenView on Instagram OpenView on Facebook

Alex MacCaw (Clearbit & Reflect): Everything I’ve Learned as Startup Founder

pPatrick says work-life balance is the wrong framework. It’s more about work-life fit and finding what suits you best. This is especially true for startup founders, where your work is often all-consuming./ppbr/ppEpisode Highlights/pulli[00:32nbsp;-nbsp;02:30] Thoughts on work/life balance/li/ulpbr/ppstrongMentioned in this episode:/strong/ppa href=https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankSign up for OpenViews weekly newsletter/a/ppConnect with Patrick on a href=https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankLinkedIn/a/ppFollow Patrick on a href=https://twitter.com/Patticus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankTwitter/a/ppSubscribe tonbsp;a href=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankBlake Bartlett on YouTube/a./ppPodcast produced bynbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView/a./ppView ournbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/blog rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankblognbsp;/afor more context/inspiration./ppa href=https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Linkedin/a/ppa href=https://twitter.com/openviewventure rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Twitter/a/ppa href=https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Instagram/a/ppa href=https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Facebook/a/p

Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell): Work-Life Balance for Founders

pCulture at a startup is always tricky, but there’s one common mistake founders should avoid at all costs. It’s the desire to make everyone happy all the time. Patrick says this leads to a “culture of accommodation” which ultimately ends up not working for anyone. Hear Patrick’s journey as a founder to define the culture at ProfitWell, and how you can do the same at your startup./ppbr/ppEpisode Highlights/pulli[00:03nbsp;-nbsp;01:31] Episode intro: Patrick Campbell/lili[01:59nbsp;-nbsp;04:04] What is the role and importance of company culture in todays market environment?/lili[06:39nbsp;-nbsp;10:26] The culture of ProfitWell and the journey to get there/lili[12:15nbsp;-nbsp;16:26] The most charitable interpretation/lili[17:23nbsp;-nbsp;20:08] ProfitWell values and four principles/lili[20:21nbsp;-nbsp;23:16] Speaking their mind, being human in the most charitable way/lili[21:11nbsp;-nbsp;23:16] Values and principles must have trade-offs/lili[23:16nbsp;-nbsp;25:41] Heres how we operate, transparency in hiring/lili[25:46nbsp;-nbsp;32:10] Advice for making culture something more than theoretical, a real experience/li/ulpbr/ppstrongMentioned in this episode:/strong/ppa href=https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankSign up for OpenViews weekly newsletter/a/ppConnect with Patrick on a href=https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankLinkedIn/a/ppFollow Patrick on a href=https://twitter.com/Patticus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankTwitter/a/ppSubscribe tonbsp;a href=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankBlake Bartlett on YouTube/a./ppPodcast produced bynbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView/a./ppView ournbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/blog rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankblognbsp;/afor more context/inspiration./ppa href=https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Linkedin/a/ppa href=https://twitter.com/openviewventure rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Twitter/a/ppa href=https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Instagram/a/ppa href=https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Facebook/a/p

Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell): What’s the “Right” Culture for Your Company?

pEvery startup wants to create a category. This is often a mistake. Or at least it’s prioritized too early by many founders and marketers. Ryan Carlson, longtime CMO at Okta, explains why this falls flat with customers and what to do instead./ppbr/ppstrongKey Takeaways: /strong/pulli[00:31nbsp;-nbsp;01:53] nbsp;A noted skeptic on category creation/lili[01:54nbsp;-nbsp;02:15] Everybody wants to be a category creator/lili[02:16nbsp;-nbsp;03:19] Focus on how theyre better than the alternative/li/ulpbr/ppstrongMentioned in this episode:/strong/ppa href=https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankSign up for OpenViews weekly newsletter/a/ppa href=https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarlson/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankRyan Carlson, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Wiz/a/ppa href=https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarlson/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankLinkedIn/a/ppa href=https://twitter.com/ryantcarlson?lang=en rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankTwitter/a/ppSubscribe tonbsp;a href=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankBlake Bartlett on YouTube/a./ppPodcast produced bynbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView/a./ppView ournbsp;a href=https://openviewpartners.com/blog rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankblognbsp;/afor more context/inspiration./ppa href=https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Linkedin/a/ppa href=https://twitter.com/openviewventure rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Twitter/a/ppa href=https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Instagram/a/ppa href=https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/ rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blankOpenView on Facebook/a/p

Ed Sim (Boldstart): What Do VCs Look for in PLG Founders?

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