Episode 359: Justin Gordon interviews Everett Cook, Co-Founder & CEO of Rho, about how he built the company into a leader in business banking.

Everett Cook's dream was to start a company.

Even before Rho, he'd always loved markets and finance. So much so that he interned for the Mike Bloomberg, where he got to learn from one of the best entrepreneurs in the world.

Then he spent a decade as Portfolio Manager at multiple macro hedge funds, and had the time of his life.

But still, there was something missing. Something of his own.

So when he got tired of waiting for the 'spark of opportunity', he decided to go look for it himself.

That was the start of Rho, the fintech that quickly became a key player in the business finance world.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

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Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

01:18 Introduction

02:14 The start of Rho

04:14 Everett's background

9:53 Decision-making in the early days of Rho

14:50 Partnering with banks

17:48 Growth in the early days

20:44 Building community

25:19 Rho's competition

27:10 How does Rho get feedback

29:16 Rho's target and non-target market

31:29 The SVB crisis and other challenges

35:22 Hiring in-person vs remote

38:15 Raising capital

47:43 Everett as a founder

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

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What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 358: Justin Gordon interviews Jacob Jaber, Co-Founder, former CEO, and current Board Member of Philz Coffee, the company that grew from one neighborhood shop in San Francisco into a beloved national brand known for its personalized blends and people-first approach. Jacob helped scale Philz to over 70 locations across the country, raising venture funding while staying true to its community-driven roots. He's now the Founder of Humble Lion, where he invests in and supports the next generation of brick-and-mortar businesses built with heart.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

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Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

1:14 Introduction

2:32 The story behind Philz Coffee

7:13 What made Philz stand out?

11:05 Expanding Philz

18:01 Hiring for the new locations

24:19 Challenges of expanding

29:00 Raising capital

36:09 The keys to scaling Philz

40:02 Long-lasting brands

42:57 Starting Humble Lion

51:17 What to look for in a brick-and-mortar

54:29 Contact Jacob Jaber

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

---

What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 357: Justin Gordon interviews Dave Fontenot, Founder of HF0, the residency for repeat founders. At HF0, 10 teams live in a 20,000-square-foot mansion in San Francisco for 12 weeks to build their life's work. During the residency, everything is taken care of for them, healthy meals are provided daily, and founders can focus solely on building their company. The quality of these founders is awe-inspiring, with many teams reaching $2M-$3M in ARR by demo day.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

---

Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

1:22 Introduction

2:49 What is HF0?

6:00 Dave's background

9:57 Dave's vision

15:12 Early days of HF0

19:35 From MHacks to HF0

24:53 First ever concept of HF0

27:46 Second batch

32:58 Dave's take on inner work

37:23 From New York to San Francisco

40:05 Funding HF0

48:29 Putting the teams together

1:05:40 The success of HF0

1:10:23 On the lookout for a GP

1:11:57 Dave's hypothesis on why HF0 worked

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

---

What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 356: Justin Gordon interviews David Daneshgar, Co-Founder and CEO of Whippy, about how he went from pro poker player winning the World Series of Poker to startup founder doing more than $4M/year in revenue.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

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Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

1:21 Introduction

2:15 The present state of Whippy

3:18 David's background

6:26 From poker to business school

8:34 Early days of BloomNation

11:45 What makes David a good salesman?

13:12 Events as a growth strategy

15:49 Growing BloomNation

18:06 Starting Whippy

25:21 The start of Whippy's revenue

27:35 Product development at Whippy

33:14 The first million in revenue

34:54 Where is Whippy going

41:37 David on hiring

43:44 The distributed team at Whippy

46:39 Next big challenges

50:05 David as a founder

54:03 Keeping Whippy on top of the AI world

57:09 Who is Whippy for?

58:42 How to contact David

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

---

What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 355: Justin Gordon interviews Tim Huelskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of 1440, about how he built 1440 into a $20M+/year business and a newsletter with more than 4.5 million subscribers.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

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This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast-growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue.

Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!

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Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

1:18 Introduction

2:32 Where is 1440 now?

4:11 The story behind 'Topics'

12:30 How did Tim know 1440 had product market fit?

15:07 How do they get user feedback

16:32 'Topics' monetization

21:28 1440 vs AI

25:49 Founding 1440

27:27 Partnering with Co-Founder Andrew Steigerwald

31:09 The first year of experimentation

35:34 Tim's investment in 1440

37:18 Start of advertising

39:00 Funding 1440

45:33 How much of revenue is reinvested in growth

49:36 The team at 1440

51:40 How does AI fit into 1440?

53:36 Where's the opportunity for a new media company today?

58:20 Reach out to Tim Huelskamp

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

---

What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 355: Justin Gordon interviews Everett Cook, Co-Founder and CEO of Rho, about how he started and grew the company.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

--

This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast-growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue. Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!

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Show Notes: 

00:00 What’s coming in the episode…

01:27 Introduction

02:50 What is Rho known for today?

03:34 Starting Rho

8:59 Early days and partnering with Co-Founder, Alex Wheldon

10:34 Their first conversations with investors

14:50 From just an idea to Rho’s first customer

16:27 Partnering with banks

19:25 Search for customers

22:15 Growth strategies

24:12 First employees

27:01 Rho after Covid days

29:13 Post Rho’s Series B round

31:54 In-person culture at Rho

34:04 How Everett’s background reflects on his present day at Rho

36:00 How Rho stands out in today’s market

39:12 Founder journey vs Trader days

41:49 Everett’s personal growth as a founder

45:26 A look into the future: why did Rho win?

Referenced: 

• Mike Bloomberg

• Alex Wheldon (Co-Founder of Rho)

• Airbnb

• Webster Bank

• Scrub Daddy

• Shark Tank

• Jeff Bezos

• Sara Blakely

Connect with Justin: 

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

What Justin is working on: 

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Episode 354: Justin Gordon interviews Shawn Sheikh, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Adly, about how he builds, acquires, and invests in companies.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
• Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.

--

This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue. Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!

--

Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

01:14 Introduction

02:55 Shawn Sheikh's background

04:45 Starting Solve

09:15 Starting PivotCMO

11:29 Meeting Adly's co-founder, Fred Chiang

13:38 Selling PivotCMO

17:14 Moving on to company investment and acquisition

22:04 Raising capital

25:10 Shawn's goals and motivations

27:26 Adly's deal flow

29:30 What to look for in a deal

31:46 Red flags in a deal

34:21 Why is Adly winning the deals?

36:32 Next steps after the deal

38:45 Building Adly's team

40:06 Shawn's day to day at Adly

42:33 Adly's portfolio companies

44:17 Adly's purchase of Smodin AI

48:57 Shawn's approach to starting something new

50:50 What's next?

52:26 How to reach out to Shawn

Referenced:

• Adly

• Solve (acquired by Blacklane)

• Pivot CMO (acquired by Conspiracy Theory and Unfold)

• DoubleList

• Smodin

• Guthy Renker

Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/

Yacine Sibous is the Co-Founder of Parker, the financial stack for scaling your e⁠-⁠commerce brand faster and more profitably.

After studying Physics and Computer Science at McGill University, Yacine left to attend 42, a unique software engineering school in France. It's there that he met his co-founder Milan Ray.

Yacine and Milan went on to participate in Y Combinator in 2019. They have since raised $157 million from investors and have processed more than $550 million on their platform, with customers that include brands like Caraway, Venus et Fleur, and Dolls Kill.

• 0:00 Parker: A digital banking platform for internet-based companies

• 1:05 How a friend's business selling phone cases on Instagram in college led to the inception of Parker

• 5:36 Attending Y Combinator and how COVID led Yacine and Milan to return to their original idea after many pivots

• 8:50 How Yacine met his co-founder, Milan Ray and decided to work together

• 10:08 Attending the unique school 42 in France

• 10:59 Early feedback on Parker that led Yacine and Milan to stick to their original idea

• 12:01 Understanding the fundraising game and raising their first round from YC

• 13:35 The mistake of under-utilizing funds and burning too little

• 15:09 What fueled Parker's growth

• 17:19 Leveraging events for growth post-COVID

• 18:09 What differentiates Parker from its competitors

• 21:45 How customer feedback enabled them to build a credit model unique to e-commerce

• 23:58 The key to raising debt

• 24:49 Yacine's best fundraising advice

• 27:03 Tips for building hiring both junior and executive team members

• 31:12 How a focus on growth has enabled Parker's success

• 33:30 How Yacine invests in himself

• 35:21 What's next for Parker

• 36:52 Parker's target customer

• 37:10 Where to connect with Yacine

Website: Parker LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yacine-sibous/ Twitter: @YacineSibous Email: [email protected]

Learn from other world-class founders: https://www.justgogrind.com

Follow Justin Gordon, the host, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212

Written version: https://www.justgogrind.com/p/larry-ellison

More about the Just Go Grind newsletter:

• Learn the tactics, strategies, and stories of world-class founders. I spend 20+ hours each week researching founders like Sam Altman, Melanie Perkins, and Patrick Collison, sharing the best insights with you every Sunday.
• Subscribe to the Just Go Grind newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe

Written version: https://www.justgogrind.com/p/shonda-rhimes

More about the Just Go Grind newsletter:

• Learn the tactics, strategies, and stories of world-class founders. I spend 20+ hours each week researching founders like Sam Altman, Melanie Perkins, and Patrick Collison, sharing the best insights with you every Sunday.
• Subscribe to the Just Go Grind newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe