DraftKings' Jason Robins -- In this episode, NextView partner Rob Go talks to the CEO of the newest unicorn -- Jason Robins of DraftKings. Jason is generous with his storytelling and tactical tips for fundraising when VCs aren't receptive, partnering with larger players in your industry (as DraftKings was able to do with brands like Disney/ESPN, the MLB, the NHL, etc.), and building a company that's capable of being truly analytical -- not just driven by data but obsessed with it.

So ... how does a unicorn gain traction anyway?

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN:

- A clever question to ask VCs to ensure you get a firm answer.

- Tactics for fundraising when being met with some resistance.

- How young startups can partner with massive brands.

- Why and how you should build a data-obsessed team.

- Marketing and user acquisition advice for those in hot, competitive markets.

STORIES YOU'LL HEAR:

- The early struggles Jason experienced while raising fundraising (and the way they overcame this pushback).

- The surprising companies that breed highly analytical minds and user acquisition geniuses.

- The hiring process at DraftKings and other data-obsessed companies.

LINKS MENTIONED:

- Jason's company: DraftKings.com

- Jason's Twitter: @JasonDRobins

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

Kathryn Minshew, co-founder and CEO of career platform The Muse, shares tactical details from her scrappy founding story. Today, The Muse generates over 4 million monthly views and offers job postings from and visual windows into hundreds companies, ranging from Uber and Facebook to HBO and Adidas.

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN:

- Tactics to build audience for a startup

- What the very FIRST step to building an audience of millions should be

- Clever uses of channels blogging, email, social, and more

GREAT STORIES YOU'LL HEAR:

- Kathryn's fight for early traffic through some very non-scalable means

- How the first promotion discussion of her career led to an uncomfortable moment and, in a positive twist, some national press for The Muse

LINKS MENTIONED:

- Kathryn's company: TheMuse.com

- Kathryn's Twitter: @kmin

- Snow Fall (New York Times): http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM:

- Casey Henry, Growth Expert & Marketing Analyst, Wistia - @caseyhen

- Andy Crestodina, Author & Co-founder, Orbit Media - @Crestodina

- Giuliano Iacobelli, CEO, Stamplay (500 Startups) - @Giuliano84

Get all episodes of Traction, plus exclusive resources and advice for seed-stage startups at ViewFromSeed.com or follow @NextViewVC.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

Bootstrappin' CEO Patrick Campbell, cofounder of SaaS startup Price Intelligently, shares his story of leaving Google, bootstrapping a startup, beating cancer, and more. 

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN


GREAT STORIES YOU'LL HEAR


LINKS MENTIONED:


[ Get all episodes plus other useful content for startups: Subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com and follow @NextViewVC ] 

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

Tech Journalist Dennis Keohane -- Imagine you were told to enter a brand new field tomorrow and that you had 18 months to get hired by one of the top brands in that space. What would you do? That's where the story of Dennis Keohane, national tech reporter for Pando Daily, begins.

Dennis shares the story of his whirlwind year and a half, during which time he went from innovative teacher to writer covering tech innovation. Plus, he offers his perspective on how to fix Boston tech's lack of broader awareness and, specifically, how media can help.

If you like the show and want more episodes and related content, subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com. You'll receive new episodes of Traction as soon as they're available, along with more stories, resources, and advice for seed-stage startups from entrepreneurs, VCs, and industry experts.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

General Assembly CEO Brad Hargreaves -- When Brad set out to create General Assembly, he had to face both an unusual and a difficult decision: the "Chicken, Egg, or Farm to Put It All" problem. Listen for an explanation, as well as his story of how GA gained its first few results on the way to a global organization in the education space.

Also on the show:

Like the show? Subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com to get every new episode plus more exclusive resources and stories from entrepreneurs and VCs.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

NatureBox Co-founder/CMO, Ken Chen -- If ever there was a sneaky way to learn and gain initial traction, this is it. NatureBox currently ships millions of healthy snacks to consumers everywhere, but they all started with a single observation, a single hack using some free tools, and a single weekend of effort. Fastforward to 2015, and they're a Series C startup some would call a success, relative to most startups that launch.

Ken Chen, co-founder and CMO of NatureBox, reveals the story of how he and his co-founder Gautam Gupta launched and began building an actual brand -- a rare thing for startups to care about from Day 1, but a crucial thing for NatureBox to achieve.

Like the show? Subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com to get every new episode plus more exclusive resources and stories from entrepreneurs and VCs.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

LinkedIn Co-Founder Lee Hower -- Imagine being on the founding team of not one, but TWO of the startup world's biggest legends: PayPal and LinkedIn. Lee Hower experienced exactly that. In the episode, he shares his stories of how LinkedIn scrapped towards early results back before most of the tech we all use today was even around -- it'll sound pretty archaic to most young entrepreneurs today.

Lee also shares what it was like to get hired by Elon Musk, as well as work alongside the great Reid Hoffman twice.

If you like the show and want more episodes and related content, subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com. You'll receive new episodes of Traction as soon as they're available, along with more stories, resources, and advice for seed-stage startups from entrepreneurs, VCs, and industry experts.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

Fred Shilmover, InsightSquared -- In Traction's first-ever episode, NextView's VP of platform Jay Acunzo briefly explains the concept behind the show - to share the stories of the creative, unusual, and brilliant ways entrepreneurs scrap their way to early results. Then, Jay and co-founding partner Rob Go hear the seed-stage story of InsightSquared, a successful SaaS startup that's exploded in Boston, all based on a smart-yet-sneaky tactic used by co-founder and CEO Fred Shilmover before he had any capital, co-founders, or even software.

If you like the show and want more episodes and related content, subscribe at ViewFromSeed.com. You'll receive new episodes of Traction as soon as they're available, along with more stories, resources, and advice for seed-stage startups from entrepreneurs, VCs, and industry experts.

Let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @Jay_zo

Launching this spring, a podcast from NextView Ventures about the creative, unusual, clever, and downright brilliant things that entrepreneurs do to gain early results. While everyone gets told to "do things that don't scale," we don't often hear what those things actually are -- at least not until a company succeeds and the story gets polished for the press.

NextView partner Rob Go and VP of Platform Jay Acunzo talk to top founders, startup executives, media members, and VCs about how they scrapped and fought their way to enough traction to survive and advance against the odds.

Subscribe at the NextView blog for seed-stage startups, the View from Seed.