Traction: How Startups Start | NextView Ventures

In this episode, we mix things up. Jenny Jao of Harvard Business School digs into the making of Traction with host Jay Acunzo. How does it fit into the overall strategy behind NextView Ventures? How should other entrepreneurs produce winning podcasts or content in general? What caused Traction to find early, well, traction...appearing high on the lists of Forbes, TechStars, and elsewhere, all after just a few episodes?

All that and much more in this meta-episode about making these very episodes.

What does the evolution from founder to CEO look like? And how does an entrepreneur balance working IN the business early to tinkering ON the business as it grows? How early does that mentality need to start?

Today, we talk to the co-founder and CEO of thredUP, one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the NextView portfolio (and in general). The company's co-founder and CEO, James Reinhart, talks about the biggest decisions he had to make in starting the company, moving from an insight pulled from his life to a larger, highly scalable business.

Follow James at http://twitter.com/jamesreinhart

Visit http://thredup.com to shop their second-hand clothing store.

Follow Jay at http://twitter.com/jayacunzo or go behind-the-scenes of his creative process every day at http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

Subscribe to all NextView content at http://nextviewvc.com/blog

Today, we talk to startup legend and self-made millionaire, Matt Ruby, founder of Vooza -- thought leader, disruptor, and the next Steve Jobs.

Alright, alright, so none of that is true -- but we DO talk to a guy named Matt Ruby who parodies the startup world through his video production company, Vooza. Not only are they hilarious, but they partner with some REAL startups to create hilarious videos too.

Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/voozahq

Watch Vooza's videos at http://vooza.com

Say hi to Jay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Go behind-the-scenes on Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

In this episode, Danielle Morrill, the CEO and co-founder of Mattermark, shares her company's origin story, including how they created an addicting, ubiquitous newsletter read by VCs and entrepreneurs everywhere. You'll also hear...

1) Why a TV show inspired Danielle to launch a media company, not software startup, and why she was disillusioned with Silicon Valley.

2) The domino effect of thinking and operating with that desire in mind, and how this led to the SaaS startup success that is Mattermark today.

3) Why Danielle would outright argue with almost every VC she called to sell early on in the company's history.

Follow Danielle - @DanielleMorrill and subscribe to the Mattermark Daily newsletter - mattermark.com/app/newsletter

Follow Jay - @jayacunzo - and let him know what you think of the show.

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: September 2015

NextView's NYC podcast rolls on with NYC-based principal and host Tim Devane. Today, Shai Goldman, one of the most active community builders in NYC Tech, on his background, the evolution of the local startup scene ... and who he'd draft to an all-startup pickup basketball game.

Follow Tim and Shai @tdevane and @shaig

Rob's recent Shape of Traction blog post explores a big problem in gaining initial traction. You can find the post below, as well as David Beisel's Part 2. In this episode, Jay Acunzo talks with Rob about how to make heads or tails of this "traction" stuff.

SHAPE OF TRACTION, Part 1: robgo.org/2016/09/07/the-shape-of-traction/

Part 2: HOW MUCH TRACTION DO I NEED TO RAISE VC? genuinevc.com/2016/09/26/shape-t…e-round-financing/

Follow Rob and Jay - twitter.com/robgo and twitter.com/jayacunzo

In this episode of Gotham Alpha, AngelList's Eli Bronner joins NextView principal Tim Devane to discuss NYC Tech's growth and energy, why he chose to start a company in New York, how TechStars started in town, and what founders should know about building early teams through AngelList.

Gotham Alpha is the NYC-focused podcast from NextView. You can find it within the same feed as the firm's flagship pod, Traction.

Follow Eli at twitter.com/elikbronner

Follow Tim at twitter.com/tdevane

Follow NextView at twitter.com/nextviewvc

In Part 2 of our series of episodes with Reboot, Jay plays skeptic to Dan Putt's insistence that you should actively work on communication and the "softer stuff" at your startup. Don't miss Dan's response.

Then, the guys talk about the biggest reason startups fail (based on a study of 10,000 founders) and how you can avoid that same fate.

Once again, Dan Putt, Chief Product Officer of Reboot, joins NextView's VP of platform Jay Acunzo for this series.

Check out the Reboot podcast: reboot.io/podcast

Subscribe to the NextView blog: nextviewvc.com/blog

Follow the guys on Twitter: twitter.com/danputt twitter.com/jayacunzo

What happens when you and your co-founder experience conflict or strife but don't address it up front? When something festers and is ready to boil over, how do you bring it back down to a good place?

This is Part 1 in a series of Traction episodes about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Specifically, we'll tackle issues of communication, leadership, and mental well-being.

Dan Putt of Reboot joins NextView's VP of platform Jay Acunzo for this series.

Check out the Reboot podcast: reboot.io/podcast

Subscribe to the NextView blog: nextviewvc.com/blog

Follow the guys on Twitter @danputt or @jayacunzo

NextView's Rob Go talks with Yoav Shapira, a longtime tech leader in the Boston startup community. Yoav was first employee at CarGurus, a founding executive of HubSpot, CTO at Happier, CTO at Jana, and more. Today, he shares the evolution of what it means to lead a startup from the technical side.