Pouyan Salehi is the co-founder and CEO of Scratchpad—a company trying to take the busy work out of sales. He has founded three other companies, including PersistIQ (acquired by Wishpond) and Stackmob (acquired by PayPal). In addition to being a serial founder and entrepreneur he is also a husband and a Dad to three kids. We discussed:

* Coming to America from Iran and restarting his life with his parents

* Why there’s no perfect time to start a family

* How each kid is different and requires different parenting strategies

* Advice he’d give his younger self about how to relax

* Appreciating the new way your life comes together after kids

* Moving across the country to be closer to family

Where to find Pouyan Salehi

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pouyansalehi/

* Twitter: https://x.com/psalehi

Where to find Adam Fishman

* FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[1:49] Welcome

[2:13] Pouyan’s professional background

[3:51] Scratchpad

[4:47] His childhood

[9:34] How did you meet your wife/tell about your kids

[10:44] Desire to start a family vs. focusing on careers

[13:09] Earliest memory of becoming a dad

[15:13] Emotions that arose when becoming a dad

[16:20] Parenting three kids

[17:38] Parenting a teenager

[19:08] Advice for younger Pouyan

[21:06] Advice to ignore

[22:24] Move to Minnesota

[24:25] Parenting Frameworks 

[26:26] How has parenting evolved kid-to-kid

[27:50] Has being a parent helped him lead teams & vice versa

[29:40] Aligning with partner

[32:14] Kid’s relationship with tech

[33:52] AI & kids

[36:19] What’d he give up to be a dad?

[37:18] How does he recharge his batteries

[38:18] Mistake made as a dad?

[39:54] Where to find Pouyan

[41:07] Lightning round

[48:43] Thank you

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Show references:

Scratchpad: https://www.scratchpad.com/

Wishpond: https://www.wishpond.com/

Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/us/home

Dominos: https://www.dominos.com/en/

Tod Francis episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwFYEpFSi3A

Apple: https://www.apple.com/

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/

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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit startupdadpod.substack.com