Re-run - This week we're sharing our interview with Tammy Nam, COO of PicsArt, a photo-editing platform with over 100 million monthly users. Tammy has worked at tons of cool companies such as Slide, Scribd, and Viki, and has earned quite a name in the consumer-facing tech world. In this episode we discuss: How to deal with different founders The attributes of virally successful companies The role of culture in startups Full of helpful startup marketing tips, this episode is for all non-technical entrepreneurs out there. Voted one of the top 25 women to watch in tech by AlwaysOn, Tammy has a ton of expert advice to share, from how to bring out the best in different founders to navigating the challenges of being a woman in tech. Our favorite part of this episode is her strategic, purposeful marketing and growth strategies. Marketing is often boiled down to storytelling or hacking, but Tammy shows us how you can approach marketing in any stage of your company in a thoughtful, future-focused way. Don't miss this episode if you really want to get into the client-focused side of a product, it is an expert crash course in UX/UI. 

In today's episode, Philip spoke with serial entrepreneur Heini Zachariassen Founder of Vivino. Vivino is currently the world's largest online wine marketplace with over 36 million users and attracting 20 thousand new users per day. Boosting a very impressive database of over 10 million wines from over 200 thousand producers around the world Heni knows a thing or two about how to build a tech company. To date, VIVINO has raised around $57 million dollars in funding in venture funding.

Before founding Vivino he also played a key role in the success of BullGuard an antivirus startup that went on to generate $20m in revenue. 

In this episode be prepared to learn everything you need to know about building a successful app, building a startup the right way and when and how to leverage strategic partnerships and more.

This episode is sponsored by Blinkist. Click the link to start your 7-day free trial. 

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This was a slightly different type of interview as I did not interview a serial entrepreneur who’s built multiple tech companies and sold it for millions or a venture capitalist but instead, I spoke with a different type of entrepreneur. Ben Hecht, Ben is an unusual type of entrepreneur because he actually focuses on philanthropy and more specifically on shortening the race pay gap and the racial wealth gap. I don’t think based on his work he’d call himself an entrepreneur but his approach to solving this problem is nothing short of entrepreneurial and it’s been he’s life’s work for over 20 years. From creating a site in the early 2000s allowing people from economically challenged backgrounds to improve their skills to today where he’s the CEO of Living Cities which is collaborating with large corporations and local governments to help achieve dramatically better results for low-income people through investment, research, networks. We talk about everything from systemic issues surrounding low-income households to what can be done to change things over the next 100 years. We also discuss his latest book Reclaiming the American Dream: Proven Solutions for Creating Economic Opportunity for All.

site: startuphandmedowns.co

In this episode, Philip had the pleasure of speaking with serial entrepreneur, advisor, and investor Dan Sutera. Dan Sutera has started a number of tech companies which he’s either sold or, has created so much meaningful value that it'll eventually sell at some point. When you have a look at Dan Sutera's entrepreneurial resume it looks as if everything he touches literally turns into gold. Amongst his many successes, Dan was the co-founder of Futurism which is a technology-focused media company that boasts over 5m monthly views–– the company was recently acquired by Singularity University. His most recent project is Parallel Markets which brings liquidity to private investors in the cryptocurrency market which is great if you’re sitting on some crypto.

In this episode, Philip and Dan talk all things product from ideation to execution to process which Dan seems to have down to a tee.

Site: startuphandmedowns.co

In this episode Philip sat down with Ezechi Britton Principal at Impact X Capital and Co-founder of Neyber to talk about his journey so far. From growing up in Lewisham with his parents who were teachers to finding his way into investment banking and later as a co-founder to a startup that would go on to raise £200m. Ezechi touches on moonlighting Neyber while still working as an engineer at an investment bank and why he believes entrepreneurs should keep cashflow coming at all costs until they can transition out and work on a project full time. 

visit: startuphandmedowns.co

Re-run: This episode originally aired in March 2018 but Kai's lessons in entrepreneurship are timeless. In this episode Philip spoke with serial entrepreneur and now venture capitalist Kai Bond. Kai is the lead investor at Catalyst Fund which is a seed fund based in New York City. Catalyst Fund is an extension of Comcast Ventures and it serves as a unique investment vehicle to elevate minority entrepreneurship by matching capital and resources with underrepresented minority entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Catalyst Fund Kai has had a truly remarkable career as an entrepreneur. He’s had some painful failures and tells Phil about his lowest point where he didn’t even have enough money for a subway ride. Kai talks about building his third startup within 60 days (Pixie Tv) which he would then go on to sell to Samsung within a year. Kai was also the General Manager of Samsung's accelerator and Hatch Labs where the dating app Tinder was incubated during his tenure as GM.

Visit our site: startuphandmedowns.co

Sticking with the theme of Black History Month, Philip sat down with Eric Collins who's the founder and CEO of Impact X Capital which is a venture capital firm based in the UK. They invest in diverse, underserved –– or what Philip likes to say "underestimated"–– founders in the UK and across Europe. 

On this longer than usual episode, Eric talks about him growing up in the South and his career as a consultant where he worked on M&A deals. Eric talks about the importance of key partnerships to enable growth, raising capital and why he and his stellar founding members decided to start Impact X Capital.

Skip to 1:00:00 if you want to get straight into the Impact X Capital conversation.

Site: startuphandmedowns.co

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Alain Sylvain is the founder and CEO of Sylvain Labs, an innovation and brand design consultancy. They have offices in New York, Amsterdam and Richmond, VA. The company serves as a strategic planning resource for product developers and marketers. They have some of the biggest names as clients including Google, Airbnb, Spotify, General Motors, Samsung, Facebook, Nike, Uniqlo, PepsiCo, Bloomberg, and others.

Alain is co-founder and investor of several ventures including: Master + Dynamic, a design-driven, premium audio brand. Lílo, the first-of-its-kind refrigerator-stable açai bowl, and Waynesaw, a mobile game.

On the show, we unpack what it takes to get branding right and he gives us an insight into the creative process without giving away too much.

If you haven't already please subscribe and leave a review on the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Sponsor: DesignCrowd. A website that helps entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses outsource or ‘CROWDSOURCE’ design. Get $100 off your first project with this link designcrowd.com/hmd

On this episode, Philip spoke with Charles Hudson. Charles is a serial entrepreneur and is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. They recently closed their second fund at $31m, doubling their first fund which was $15m.  Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC. In this role, he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure.

Before joining the world of venture capital Charles was a budding entrepreneur in the events industry and then the gaming industry.

In this episode, they talk startups, diversity in tech and more.

This is a rebroadcast to celebrate black history month.

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Fliegel who’s an early-stage investor and serial entrepreneur with a focus on sports tech.  Before Jordan started investing he co-founded a number of successful startups, including Draft, a fantasy league app which he started with his best friend and went on to be acquired by Paddy Power. At the time of the acquisition, they had a team of fewer than 15 employees.  Jordan also co-founded CoachUp which he raised $15m for with the likes of Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors later investing in the company. A calm and humble entrepreneur Jordan talks nothing but facts about what it actually takes to start and run a company and how marketing is really about maths. These days, Jordan Fliegel heads up TechStars as the MD of their first-ever sports tech-focused accelerator based out in Indiana.

We recorded the show at BetaWorks studios in meatpacking New York.