Startup Slingshot Radio

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I sit down with Venu Shamapant of LiveOak Venture Partners. In our time together, we deconstruct three of Venu’s most successful investments in an effort to shortcut your path to success. We also dive into the process of starting a venture capital firm and tons of other great knowledge nuggets. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I sit down with Sean Spector, co-founder of Gamefly and his most recent venture Dropoff. In our time together we cover how he got Gamefly off the ground and what he learned from that experience that he’s taken with him to Dropoff. Stick around to hear what he learned from his time a Disney and to find out what $20 purchase he’s recently made that changed his life for the better. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I sit down with Mike Maples Jr. Mike is the Founding Partner at FLOODGATE where he has invested in a whole host of startups including Twitter, digg, Chegg, and Spiceworks. In our time together, we chat about what he thinks founders should look for in a VC, what he looks for in companies he invests in, and so much more. Don’t miss Mike share his experience eating dinner with Bill Gates and the time he taught Tim Ferriss all about angel investing. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I sit down with Navin Prasad. Navin is the Lead Product Design at Netflix. In our time together, we tackle UX in hopes of sharing what you need to know to build quality products. To do this, we cover UX foundation, user research, structure, documentation, and design patterns. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I chat with David Spinks. David is founder and CEO of CMX Media, the hub for the community industry. In our time together, we chat about actionable tactics you can use to build a community to help your business thrive. Toward the end, we cover mini-case studies on how companies like Udemy, LeWeb, & Zaarly developed their communities. The knowledge David shares in this episode is sure to put you on the path to building a thriving community. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I chat with Gordon Daugherty. Gordon is an advisor, investor, and Managing Director at Capital Factory in Austin, Texas. In our time together, we chat about startup M&A and cover everything from how the acquisition process goes down to how founders screw it up. The insight Gordon shares in this episode is sure to help you get your startup acquired. Enjoy!

On this episode of Startup Slingshot Radio I have Jason Seats. Jason is currently a Partner at Techstars where he invests out of a $150M early-stage venture fund. In our time together, we dive into his experience building Slicehost, a company he sold to Rackspace, as well as his time running the Techstars Austin accelerator program. The knowledge Jason shares in this episode is sure to help you shortcut your path to startup success. Enjoy!

Today on Startup Slingshot Radio we have Steli Efti, the CEO of Close.io. In our time together, we dig in to sales including what you need to do strategically, tactically, and mentally to crush it. You won’t want to miss Steli share his experience battling the mental side of sales and the new mantra he created to allow him to meet his goals.

Today on Startup Slingshot Radio we have Marco Zappacosta. Marco is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, a service marketplace with over 200,000 service professionals, 300+ employees, and over 5 million customers. We talk a lot about getting Thumbtack off the ground, how he keeps his team motivated, and how he’s developed himself professionally, so he can stay ahead of the growth of Thumbtack.

On today’s episode of Startup Slingshot Radio we have Paul Pellman. In our time together with Paul, we cover a lot including: the most important things he learned at Harvard Business School, essential startup sales knowledge, his experience as an EIR, and how he played his cards to get Google to acquire his company.

Shari Wynne Ressler, CEO of consumer package goods (CPG) startup accelerator SKU (formerly Incubation Station), joined Startup Slingshot Radio to reveal how early stage CPG founders can excel at product development, distribution, and branding.

Today on Startup Slingshot radio I have Robin Bruce, CEO of Action Business School, an accredited business school built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. We cover everything from how they train people to become entrepreneurs to what they think it takes to be an entrepreneur. Enjoy!

Today I sat down with Oishin Hanrahan. Oishin is the founder and CEO of Handy, a marketplace that allows you to book home cleaning services, handymen and plumbers online in 28 cities. During our time together, we went back to the beginning to see how he got such a big idea off of the ground in an effort to help you get your big ideas off of the ground. Enjoy!

To find out what most successful entrepreneurs know and do differently, I sat down with Kirk Dando. Over the last 20 years, Kirk has helped more than 5,000 executives – including eight Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year and several “Best CEO” winners – kill it in business. In this interview, we cover what successful entrepreneurs think and do differently, so that you can begin to change your thoughts and actions. Enjoy!

Recently, I went looking for a serial entrepreneur to interview. My thought was simple, if a founder of just one venture can share so much value; imagine what a founder of multiple ventures would have to share.    With this in mind, I sat down with Bob Fabbio. Bob is the definition of a serial entrepreneur. He has launched 5 companies including multiple category creating companies across several industries. During our discussion, we dig into each of his entrepreneurial endeavors to pull out actionable lessons you can take away and apply to building your business. Be sure to pay attention to his lessons from Tivoli (acquired by IBM for $743M), Dazel Corporation (acquired by HP for $180M), and his stint on Forbes’ Midas List Of Top Tech Investors while a VC.

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to work for Steve Jobs or if you’ve ever wanted to start a successful company, you will want to hear what Scott Abel, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Spiceworks, has to say. His experience is unique, his stories are entertaining, and his knowledge nuggets are actionable. Enjoy!

You’re not going to want to miss this interview with Alan Knitowski, Founder & CEO of Phunware.  During the interview, we dig into Alan’s incredible background including his stint as an Army Ranger, the founding of his first company (he sold for $169M after just 22 months), and so much more.  The stories Alan shares in this interview are inspiring and the knowledge he shares is priceless. Enjoy!

Like most founders, you are probably looking to secure more customers, so you scale revenue. While this should be a top priority, it’s also important to think about how you are going to support your growing customer base. If you are, you are ahead of many founders that don’t take the time until they start running into serious customer retention issues.  With this in mind, I sought out the help of Douglas Hanna. Douglas is a member of INC Magazine’s 30 Under 30, helped run customer support at HostGator, and sold his last company for millions. Currently, Douglas is the CEO of Help.com.  I sat down with Douglas to help you think more holistically about your customer support strategy and give you the tools, resources, and methodologies you need to be successful. Enjoy!  

Most of you are running a company for the first time. Virtually every demand and experience you face is new. That includes both raising money and working with investors to build a successful business.  With this in mind, I sat down with Krishna Srinivasan of LiveOak Venture Partners to learn how he works with the founders in his portfolio and what he suggests you can do to maximize your relationships with your investors.

As a startup founder, you always have more product ideas than resources with which to execute. With limited development resources, you have to be strategic when deciding what to build and when to build it. Failing to do so will delay your time to market and your ability to secure product/market fit. Such delays will force you to defer monetization opportunities causing you to burn through your precious capital. That’s where Rick Orr comes in. Rick is a multi-time, product-focused founder. In our time together, we cover how you can make better product decisions inside your startup. Enjoy!