Founding Journey

How Sam Corcos Grew Levels into a $300 Million Startup


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This is how Sam raised $67M for his startup, Levels, and helped turn one of his co-founders into a successful influencer with nearly a million followers.

πŸ“š 1,800 Pitch Decks (Free) β†’ deck-database.carrd.co

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🐦 X β†’ x.com/samcorcos
πŸ’Ό LinkedIn β†’ linkedin.com/in/samcorcos
πŸš€ Startup β†’ levels.com

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Sam's Startup Journey
01:24 β€” How Sam almost didn't become an entrepreneur
05:46 β€” Sam's companies before Levels
09:45 β€” Early entrepreneurial lessons learned

Customer Insights
17:19 β€” Importance of understanding customers
21:12 β€” Customers are directionally correct
22:48 β€” Engaging with customers

PR & Community
11:59 β€” Power of PR for startups
27:20 β€” Building community at Levels
29:16 β€” Community as a growth strategy

Content & SEO
30:37 β€” Levels' SEO strategy
33:25 β€” Focusing content efforts
35:18 β€” Content as a hiring tool
41:24 β€” Measuring influencer ROI
58:14 β€” Creator partnerships insights
59:13 β€” Increasing content breakthroughs
1:02:38 β€” Pursuing a viral content strategy
1:04:25 β€” Value of follower count

Market Positioning & Growth
53:42 β€” Carving a niche in a crowded market
56:11 β€” Sustaining growth over time
1:06:04 β€” Selling before launching
1:08:25 β€” Finding product-market fit

Networking & EfficiencyΒ 
1:11:13 β€” Building a broader network
1:14:28 β€” Network theory for investors
1:16:20 β€” Creating systems & delegation
1:01:15 β€” Time management in growth

Rapid Fire
1:18:15 β€” Who's an investor you'd recommend?
1:18:48 β€” One thing you'd change about startups?
1:20:17 β€” Advice for first-time founders?
1:20:28 β€” Something you believe that most disagree with?

...more
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Founding JourneyBy Michael Houck