The Undefeated Underdogs

Andrew Yeung - How to build a million-dollar events company from scratch!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:31:19 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guests:

Business Insider dubbed Andrew Yeung as The Great Gatsby of startups. Andrew moved to the US as an immigrant in 2020 and after a brief stint at Facebook, Google he founded his events company Fibe, generated millions of dollars in revenue, hosted more than 40K tech folks, became a partner at Next Wave NYC, grew his personal brand - all this happened in the last 4yrs.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Andrew discuss networking, succeeding in America as underdogs, why NYC is awesome, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:46: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:14: Intro to Andrew Yeung - the Great Gatsby of startups
04:30: Why Andrew chose NYC and events over San Francisco and product-building
09:00: How Andrew entered tech
10:47: How Andrew built his network in tech
13:34: How to network as a founder vs a VC
17:31: Building a network in 2025
19:37: Cold Outreach 101
21:43: Andrew's favorite cold outreach template
24:41: Navigating cultural shock as an immigrant
29:10: How Andrew found gaps to build his business around
31:07: How to build a business for people's needs
34:06: Andrew's playbook on how underdogs can succeed in America
36:16: Behind the scenes of Fibe - Andrew's event-hosting business
41:12: What's next for Fibe
43:55: How to host better events
46:28: Andrew's favorite event-hosting format
47:15: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Andrew:

Website: https://www.andrewyeung.co/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyeung
Twitter: https://x.com/andruyeung

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Julian Weisser - Why ODF is on a mission of making things for people who make things!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 12:48:01 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guests:

Julian Weisser is a prominent entrepreneur, investor, and musician, best known as the co-founder and CEO of ODF/On Deck, a platform designed to support startup founders in launching and scaling their companies. Under his leadership, On Deck facilitated the launch of over 1,000 startups, significantly impacting the entrepreneurial landscape by providing resources and networking opportunities for aspiring founders.

Julian is currently building Merge for microgrants, Stamp List to help job applicants who require visa sponsorship, and Builders Who Run, a run club based in SF.

With a background in Music and Management from Berklee College of Music, Julian entered the startup world, co-founding Within Health, a company focused on using behavioral science to improve the lives of individuals with chronic conditions.

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Weisser is an active angel investor, having backed over 50 startups across multiple industries, including decentralized finance and health tech. He is passionate about supporting innovative projects that aim to solve significant societal challenges.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Julian discuss building for people who make things, building community in 2025, how to work at a hypergrowth startup, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:09: Intro to Julian Weisser - Co-founder and CEO of ODF/On Deck
04:51: How Julian fell in love with startups
10:43: What founders can learn from musicians
15:01: How Julian built his very first startup
20:41: How On Deck went from a dinner series to a $20M Series A startup
27:07: Lessons from a hypergrowth startup
34:49: How can we build community in person in 2025?
37:33: Julian's project for people with big ideas: Merge
47:11: Julian's project for immigrants: Stamp List
51:17: How Julian started a run club in SF
55:45: Julian's projects in 2025
1:00:44: What should founders focus on?
1:06:13: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Julian:

Website: https://weisser.io
Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/julianweisser
Twitter: https://x.com/julianweisser
Newsletter and Podcast: https://textswithfounders.com/
On Deck: https://www.joinodf.com/
Merge: https://merge.club/
Stamp List: https://landing.club/stamplist
Builders Who Run: https://weisser.io/runners

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Founders of Defang - Building the easiest way to develop, deploy and debug cloud apps in minutes!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:53:18 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guests:

Prakash and Lionello are the co-founders of Defang, a radically simpler way to develop, deploy, and debug production-ready cloud apps.

Lionello is CTO at Defang, as well as an engineering lead and community organizer with EE and CS background and 20 years of international industry experience doing software and hardware. He has lived in Eindhoven, Bucharest, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and recently moved to Vancouver BC. In 1997, he founded a virtual-reality software company, acquired by a multinational company for their real-time 3D rendering technology. In 2019, Workday acquired Trusted Key, the blockchain digital identity startup he helped found. Lio is active in the local maker communities, having been a staff member in China's first makerspace Xinchejian since its founding.

Prakash serves as CEO at Defang. He co-founded & served as Chief Technology Officer, President & Board Member at Trusted Key Solutions. He brings experience from previous roles at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Workday, and Trusted Key.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath, Prakash, and Lio discuss building for builders, how frustration helped them create Defang, growth tactics, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:10: Intro to Lio and Prakash - co-founders of Defang, a radically simpler way to develop, deploy, and debug production-ready cloud apps.
05:29: Why Defang's mission is to help builders move faster
09:19: How frustration led to building Defang
15:01: Why big brands like AWS don't focus on builders
17:02: How to go from idea to MVP for a complex product
23:09: How Defang launched in the market and iterated using feedback
28:40: Defang's growth tactics to reach users
32:33: What made Prakash go from being a technical and engineering lead to a CEO?
34:55: Defang's Product Hunt launch
38:10: How Defang harnesses the power of AI
44:22: How to differentiate yourself from the competition
48:00: Important lessons from corporate and startups
50:56: Where is the app-creating environment going?
53:55: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Defang's Product Hunt Launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/defang

👉🏼 Where to find Defang:

Product Hunt Launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/defang
Website: https://defang.io
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/defanglabs/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DefangLabs
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DefangLabs
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/nNjaJcJ25v
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DefangLabs/
Github: https://github.com/DefangLabs

👉🏼 Where to find Prakash:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakashsundaresan/

👉🏼 Where to find Lio:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionello/
Twitter: https://x.com/LioLunesu

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Brett Goldstein - How Micro is reinventing email and making it great again!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 14:16:17 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Brett Goldstein is the founder of Micro, an email-CRM blend so you can stay on top of your communications. He is also the co-founder of Launch House, which is a community built to connect and support the world's most ambitious entrepreneurs and creators. Launch House brings together emerging leaders in the startup and entertainment worlds to live in illustrious mansions around the world. Previously, he worked at Clearbit, Google, and Accenture, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Brett discuss building in a crowded market, the origin of Launch House, blending ambition and relationships, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:42: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:09: Intro to Brett Goldstein - founder of Micro, an email-CRM blend so you can stay on top of your communications.
04:33: Where Brett found his passion for startups
08:40: What inspires Brett to create?
10:10: Brett's first projects before Google
12:14: Why Brett chose startups and not music as a career
16:22: How Launch House turned from a reality show to a hacker house
20:28: How Brett went from a random tweet to building a network of founders at Launch House
22:43: How Brett pushes founders towards ambition AND relationship-building
25:20: How Brett took advantage of the crypto wave
27:59: What do most founders miss really easily?
33:02: Why Brett is choosing to reinvent email
40:12: How to avoid the downsides of a crowded market
43:01: Why Micro is creating an email-CRM blend
48:30: The problem-solving frameworks Brett used to build Micro
50:15: Brett's criteria for finding cofounders
52:43: Brett's cheatsheet to building a network in tech
54:30: How will AI impact the rise of startups and creative projects?
58:30: What Brett would build if not Micro
1:00:03: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Brett:

Micro: https://www.micro.so/
Launch House: https://www.launchhouse.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/thatguybg
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgoldstein3/
Website: brettgoldstein.com
Newsletter: https://socialstudies.substack.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Chrys Bader - A masterclass on the art of building viral consumer apps for the Internet!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 11:19:29 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Chrys is the co-founder at Rosebud, an AI-powered personal growth journal. He is a 6-time founder, founding Curio NFT Intelligence, Ikaria (social wellness), and Secret (social media). Prior to Secret, Chrys was a Product Manager at Google where he launched the photo-sharing community Photovine and contributed to Google+ and YouTube. He has built and launched several mobile social products such as Fliggo, TwitVid, Vidly and Treehouse. Chrys was born and raised near Boston and is a Y Combinator alumni.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Chrys discuss building in a saturated market, using AI as a thought partner, designing original apps, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:45: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:11: Intro to Chrys Bader - co-founder at Rosebud, an AI-powered personal growth journal
07:07: The experience of building a consumer app in mental health
11:14: How is Rosebud different from other AI companionship apps?
15:43: Where Chrys' love for mobile apps comes from
21:45: Why Chrys prefers building for consumers
25:43: Chrys' design inspiration for Rosebud
30:16: Building Rosebud as a designer and as a founder
33:10: How Chrys refuels himself after hard times in startup world
47:43: Chrys' advice for founders building consumer ideas and consumer apps
56:12: Fundraising vs bootstrapping in 2024
1:01:49: How Y Combinator changed Chrys as a founder and why he didn't go back
1:05:45: How Chrys went from social wellness to photo sharing to mental health apps as a founder
1:08:12: Rosebud's AI origin story
1:10:35: Where Rosebud is going next
1:14:42: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Tyson Rosage: https://teamtreehouse.com/library/how-to-make-design-decisions-tyson-rosage

👉🏼 Where to find Chrys:

Rosebud: https://help.rosebud.app/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrysb
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrysb
Website: https://chrysbader.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Charlie Clark - How a solo founder took a side project from an idea to $300k+ ARR product!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 11:59:36 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Charlie Clark is a software engineer, creative coder, & bootstrapped founder who has grown his short links product, Liinks, to $25K MRR just 3 years after it officially launched.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Charlie discuss being a bootstrapped founder, building in a saturated market, making your side project a full time job, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:35: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:01: Intro to Charlie Clark - founder of Liinks, a beautiful link-in-bio page to gather your socials, music, videos, and more
04:52: Why is Liinks spelled with two ii's?
05:28: Why short links are better
07:35: Why Charlie set $25K MRR as a target to quit his full-time job
11:07: How Charlie designed Liinks to be clean, yet fun
15:41: How to convince people to buy your product
20:35: Learnings as a second-time founder
22:45: Why Liinks: Building in a saturated market
27:20: How to know if you want to commit to your project full-time
30:51: How to market in a saturated market
36:25: How to make creator-led products profitable
40:20: How Charlie made Liinks aesthetically pleasing
43:45: How working at Squarespace helped Liinks grow
48:45: Frameworks Charlie uses for growth, design, and user retention
50:10: How to balance user requests vs your own roadmap?
53:51: How will AI impact the future of Liinks?
58:08: Why Charlie chose the solo founder route
1:00:55: Why Charlie bootstrapped Liinks vs raising venture capital
1:02:53: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Charlie:

Liinks: https://www.liinks.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarkcharlie03
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarkcharlie03
vsual: https://www.vsual.co/closing
Emoji Book: http://emojibook.club/
Colors of Motion: https://thecolorsofmotion.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Zachary Hamed - How using AI and design thinking made Clay the next generation rolodex!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 12:37:13 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Zach Hamed is a design-focused engineer who enjoys designing, building, and selling software. He is currently co-founder and co-CEO of Clay, a beautiful and private home for your personal and professional relationships. Previously, he helped build the product team at Goldman Sachs, co-founded a startup in the enterprise developer tools space, and writes blog posts.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Zach discuss going from a startup to corporate and back to startups, identifying A players, design thinking, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:30: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:56: Intro to Zachary Hamed - co-founder at Clay, a beautiful personal CRM, contact manager, and rolodex for people across industries who want to be more thoughtful with the people they know
05:35: Why Zach is building a startup in NYC vs Silicon Valley
10:38: Zach's experience going through the Thiel Fellowship
13:29: Going from building a startup to working at a large corporate
19:51: A process at Goldman Sachs that serves Zachary well today
25:15: Growth frameworks for Clay
33:53: How to spot and hire talent smarter than you
40:40: How to find A players
46:30: Why does Clay use .earth for their domain?
49:55: Why Zachary pursued a consumer-first approach
57:50: How AI is revolutionizing Clay's people-first approach
1:03:45: Using AI in Clay to catch up and schedule follow-ups
1:09:25: How Zach is building Clay using design thinking
1:17:35: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Sparrow: https://sparrow.en.softonic.com/mac
Mailbox: https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/8/9873268/why-dropbox-mailbox-shutdown
Thiel Fellowship: https://thielfellowship.org/

👉🏼 Where to find Zachary:

Website: https://zmh.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zmh
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyhamed
Clay: https://clay.earth/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Brendan Mahony - Why founders should look at building startups as a game and not a business!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:08:27 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Brendan Mahony is the founder of Sunset, a company that helps tech companies shut down, saving founders thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. He is also the ex-founder of Toybox (YC S18, acquired) and Contrast (shut down). From this experience, he built Sunset!

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Brendan discuss raising money, finding customers at an early stage, weird startup ideas, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:22: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:47: Introduction to Brendan Mahony - founder of Sunset, a startup helping you shut down your startup correctly
04:33: Why create a startup about shutting down startups
10:00: How Brendan raised money as a first-time founder
19:05: How to get investors on board for your startup
20:50: Finding customers as an early-stage startup
25:20: Lessons from the first year of building Sunset
27:20: Building a startup at Y Combinator
32:34: How to bend the rules when you're in founder mode
38:16: How to deal with shutting down your startup - operationally, physically, mentally, emotionally
42:12: What would Brendan work on if not Sunset?
46:00: Weird startup ideas
48:25: Problems startups deal with
50:47: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Andrew Gazdecki: https://www.andrewgazdecki.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Brendan:

Twitter: https://x.com/bmaho2211
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mahony-72929385
Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Ryan Gilbert - How to master the art of building and scaling curation newsletters!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:09:15 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Ryan Gilbert is the founder of Workspaces, a newsletter with nearly 14K subscribers, $2K MRR, and 45K subscribers on Twitter, all about the desks of creatives around the world, born during the pandemic. Workspaces was acquired by Loops in 2022, where Ryan was Head of Content, and re-acquired by Ryan for $1 in 2024. He has also worked at Product Hunt and has a new newsletter all about the best headlines across the internet, named H1 Gallery.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Ryan discuss side projects, building a personal brand, curation vs creation, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:38: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:06: Introduction to Ryan Gilbert - founder of Workspaces
04:41: Curation vs creation and how they're similar
06:35: How to develop taste
11:00: How to build a narrative around your taste
12:02: Current untapped content trends
15:58: The beginning of Workspaces
21:02: How side projects can change your life
22:25: Tactics for growing a newsletter 0 to 1
24:30: Experiments that didn't work for Workspaces
26:47: Improvements that Ryan is planning for Workspaces
28:38: Why sponsorships are harder now
32:08: Running experiments for sponsors
36:52: Ryan's content strategy at Loops - the email platform for SaaS
39:16: Low-cost content tips
40:47: Building a content strategy in 2024
43:54: Current trends people should pay attention to
44:46: How founders can build a personal brand
46:54: Ryan's experience as a new dad
49:46: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Ryan:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rjgilbert
Website: https://www.workspaces.xyz/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryang1lbert/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Yana Welinder - How to build and scale a VC-backed startup as a solo founder!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 13:23:02 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Yana Welinder is CEO and Founder of Kraftful (YC S19) – an AI assistant that helps product teams build better products by listening to users at scale. Before starting Kraftful, she led product teams at multiple tech companies and personally experienced the challenge of trying to involve millions of users in the product development process. At Kraftful, she built a team of Meta, Slack, and IFTTT alumni, backed by Y Combinator, Google, Samsung, and other exceptional investors and entrepreneurs. Yana is also a Stanford fellow and has been invited to give talks at the White House, the UN Internet Governance Forum, Yale, NYU, and many product events and podcasts over the years.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Yana discuss founder mode, creating sticky products, mental health as a solo founder, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:00: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:26: Introduction to Yana Welinder - YC alum, solo founder at Kraftful – an AI assistant
05:01: How Yana discovered a niche for Kraftful
09:40: How to carry off a pivot, emotionally and tactically
15:52: Signals that indicate a need to pivot
18:30: Building a support system as a solo founder
19:50: Therapy frameworks that help solo founders
22:10: Habits to calm you down as a founder
25:51: How Y Combinator changes your startup journey
30:55: How Y Combinator has changed over the years
34:57: How to drive organic traction as a founder
41:45: Wearing many hats as a solo founder: hiring, growth, marketing, product
45:40: How to make your product sticky
48:22: Founder mode vs Manager mode
54:10: Yana's reply to "founder mode is trash" takes
56:58: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Paul Graham: https://paulgraham.com/
Founder Mode: https://www.paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

👉🏼 Where to find Yana:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yanatweets
Website: https://www.kraftful.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ywelinder
TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/author/yana-welinder/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Chris Hladczuk - Tactical advice you need to know to build a fintech startup in stealth!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:36:26 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Chris (300K+ followers on Linkedin and Twitter) went to Yale and played in the Men's Lacrosse team, then to investment banking at Goldman Sachs, then joined the tech startup world, and is now the founder of his own startup. Now, he's bringing together his backgrounds in finance, tech, and startups to create Hanover, with $1 billion in assets under administration.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Chris discuss content creation, why Chiefs of Staffs aren't great for early-stage startups, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:40: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:08: Introduction to Chris Hladczuk - Yale alum, investment banker, content creator, founder
07:00: Chris' lessons learned as a content creator
10:37: The tactical stuff: going from idea -> first draft -> finished content
14:00: A starter guide to becoming a content creator
17:45: Benefits of writing content for 4+ years
19:30: What the early days of content creation are like
21:55: Chris' journey from Yale to Goldman Sachs to tech startups
24:17: How to start questioning the status quo
25:54: How Chris deals with lows, failures, and rejection
28:22: Why sports & startups are the same
31:35: Chris' experience at Goldman Sachs
33:15: Why Chris left Goldman Sachs
34:20: How Goldman Sachs actually helped Chris build a startup
37:25: Why Chris chooses not to be a full-time content creator
38:49: How to pick which startup to work at
40:30: Being an individual contributor vs a Chief of Staff
42:25: The best hard skills to learn
44:50: Chris' experience at Meow
47:52: How Chris developed the conviction to start his own company
51:22: The experience of building a complete product
54:20: Chris' new startup, Hanover: a co-pilot for VCs
57:09: Building in public vs building in stealth
58:14: Fundraising 101
59:15: How AI is changing the world in 2024
1:01:04: Defining excellence in startups

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Jack Butcher: https://twitter.com/jackbutcher
Paul Graham: https://paulgraham.com/
Meow: https://www.meow.com/
Tim Ferriss: https://tim.blog/

👉🏼 Where to find Chris:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrishlad
Website: https://chrishlad.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-hladczuk-b09204153
Hanover: https://www.hanover.co/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Derek - How to master the art of growing and monetizing newsletters from scratch!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:16:41 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Derek is the founder of Remote Jobs, the world's repository for remote jobs, and the creator of Daily UI, the #1 design challenge, with a combined total of 650K+ email subscribers. Join him in this episode to learn how he grew his user base from 0 to 650K+!

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Derek discuss taking lessons from building community, how to curate the perfect service, how to monetize your user list, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:43: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:08: Introduction to Derek - founder at Remote Jobs
04:30: Growing your email list when you have 0 internet presence
10:23: Derek's lessons from organizing meetups & community
15:14: Lessons from 10+ years of building community
22:32: How to juggle a side project with a full-time job
29:37: Employee mode vs founder mode
37:30: How to grow your user base using curation
46:20: Breaking the tipping point of users to get to exponential growth
48:22: Hacks to grow a user list from 0
52:10: Common mistakes when building a user list
1:01:20: How to monetize your newsletter
1:08:07: Derek's new and upcoming projects
1:11:43: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Playbook: https://www.playbook.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Derek:

Twitter: https://x.com/derkolstad
Remote Jobs: https://remotejobs.com/
Daily UI: https://x.com/dailyui

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Dani Grant - Why falling in love with your users and the problem you're solving is a differentiator!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 13:57:28 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Dani Grant is the CEO of Jam, a dev tools startup helping 30K+ improve their bug reporting process, backed by executives from Apple, GitHub, and Pager Duty, and VCs such as Village Global (LPs include Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos). Before Jam, Dani was an early product manager at Cloudflare, where she worked on core developer products such as 1.1.1.1 (now used by 10 million+ people). She also worked as a VC at Union Square Ventures.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Dani discuss taking product-led startups, relaunching your product, building distribution, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:56: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:21: Introduction to Dani Grant - founder at Jam.dev
06:46: How non-technical teams complete demos at Jam.dev
08:36: Dani's journey from product manager to venture capital to founder
12:08: Dani's innate purpose behind Jam.dev
14:23: What was Dani's push to start Jam.dev?
17:13: What Dani would build if not Jam.dev
18:34: How founders should choose a business idea
22:07: Discussing problems vs solutions with customers
25:35: How to retain unsatisfied customers
27:28: How to test out a messy product without alienating customers
30:55: 5 biggest lessons of launching a product
37:34: Ship fast vs ship perfect
40:57: How product-led thinking made Jam.dev
45:55: How to build distribution for your startup
48:14: How Jam.dev grew through podcasting
50:00: Playing long-term games in the startup world
52:53: The lowest point for Jam.dev in 4 years
56:00: Hiring strategies that worked for Jam.dev
59:00: How Dani raised $12M in venture funding
1:02:20: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Irtefa, Jam.dev - https://jam.dev/blog/author/irtefa/
140+ Business Ideas You Can Launch Tomorrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn5HcjucwY0
The Mom Test: https://www.momtestbook.com/
Paul Graham, "How Not to Die": https://paulgraham.com/die.html
Seth Godin: https://seths.blog/

👉🏼 Where to find Dani:

Website: https://jam.dev/
Jam.dev's pitch deck: https://deck.jam.dev/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedanigrant
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danigrant
Blog: https://jam.dev/blog/author/dani/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Derek Sivers - How to reframe your life using ideas and beliefs as tools!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:48:04 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Derek Sivers is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising quotable insights and pithy succinct writing style. Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company, CD Baby, for $22 million and gave all the money to charity. Sivers' books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want, Useful Not True) and newest projects are at his website: sive.rs

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one, as well as running Founder Gigs, a resource to discover flexible gigs while building your dream business.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Derek discuss taking scary leaps, why beliefs are better than truths, how to pick your next move, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:00: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:27: Introduction to Derek Sivers - founder, musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown
04:30 Why Derek wears a daily uniform (and no, it's not to imitate Steve Jobs)
15:51: Why is Derek obsessed with change?
19:06: How to pick your next move
22:43: How to move on from what you love
32:15: What Americans can learn from traveling the world
39:30: Derek's bucket list of countries
44:04: Derek on parenting
53:10: Turning a hook into a book
1:01:13: Useful beliefs vs the truth
1:13:10: Derek's beliefs that take him to action
1:18:10: The philosophies that drive Derek to create
1:20:43: Derek's first scary moment
1:27:00: Deleted scenes from "Useful Not True"
1:34:33: What Derek is struggling with right now
1:38:09: Derek's practices to improve consistency
1:43:40: Rapid Fire 5: From favorite city to best recent read
1:45:32: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
"Playful Parenting": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/160909.Playful_Parenting
"The Eternal Pursuit of Unhappiness": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22925205-the-eternal-pursuit-of-unhappyness
"Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Bitches": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60653.Cows_Pigs_Wars_and_Witches
"City of Gold": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1588793.City_of_Gold

👉🏼 Where to find Derek:

Website: https://sive.rs
Derek's book, "Useful Not True": https://sive.rs/u
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sivers
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/dereksivers
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrea1996/
Contact Derek: https://sive.rs/contact

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Andrew Rea - Why first-time founders should invest time and effort in building conviction!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:02:04 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Andrew Rea is the founder of TaxWire which automates SaaS sales tax compliance across your finance stack. He accidentally started Taxwire when he was doing fractional work. Previously he played key roles and led growth at On Deck and Party Round. He also built and sold an EV company that made golf carts.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one, as well as running Founder Gigs, a resource to discover flexible gigs while building your dream business.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

This episode is brought to you by Sunset. They handle all the legal, tax, and operational burdens when shutting down — making sure founders and investors avoid penalties, reduce liabilities, and immediately move on to what's next. If you're interested in learning more, visit sunsethq.com to meet with a representative for their team. And make sure to mention the Undefeated Underdogs Podcast to get $2K off of your dissolution.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Andrew discuss building health, conviction in yourself as a founder, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:34: Shoutout to Acquire.com and Sunset
03:50: Introduction to Andrew Rea - founder of Taxwire and fan of rotisserie chicken
05:38 Why Andrew is a fan of rotisserie chicken
12:50: Why founders need conviction
22:40: The first breakthrough for Andrea and his transition to being a founder
31:06: Why we need to take more bets on people
38:45: When founders should focus on growth
45:20: Patterns of unconventional growth at startups
49:25: How to find the problem only you can solve
59:23: Why you should or should not apply to an accelerator
1:01:08: Why founders should pay attention to boring problems
1:07:06: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Link to Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com
Regina G. - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpgbx
Capital: https://capital.xyz/

👉🏼 Where to find Andrew:

Twitter: https://x.com/andrew__rea
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrea1996/
Newsletter and Blog: https://blog.andrewrea.xyz/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Mehul Nariyawala - From selling a $40M startup to Google to building the future of smart home robots!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:48:50 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Mehul Nariyawala is the founder of Matic, where he is building fully autonomous home robots. He previously worked at Nest as a Lead PM for Nest Cams Portfolio and founded Flutter, a company that develops gesture recognition technologies, and was eventually acquired by Google for $40M. Mehul Nariyawala attended The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one, as well as running Founder Gigs, a resource to discover flexible gigs while building your dream business.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Mehul discuss the future of hardware, the immigrant founder experience, how hardware and software are similar, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:49: Shoutout to Acquire.com and Sunset
04:04: Introduction to Mehul - founder of Matic, fully autonomous home robots
06:21: Why Mehul loves robots
18:00: How to find a boring, unsexy, and profitable problem
25:30: How Y Combinator startups have changed from 2012 to 2024
30:40: Mehul's funniest story from Y Combinator
34:11: How Mehul transitioned from Flutter to Google to Matic
40:51: The story of Google Glass
43:55: What Tony Fadell, founder of Nest, taught Mehul
46:10: What software and hardware have in common
49:45: Mehul's immigrant journey
54:23: The importance of Silicon Valley in building the future
58:14: Taking Matic Robots from 0 to 1
1:05:07: How to manage anxiety and panic as a founder
1:11:30: The future of Matic
1:16:15: Where hardware is heading next
1:20:45: Advice for hardware founders
1:22:32: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Link to Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com
Paul Graham: https://www.paulgraham.com/
Tony Faddell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Fadell
Gusto: https://gusto.com/
Rescale: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rescale
Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/
John Collison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison
PlanGrid: https://construction.autodesk.com/products/plangrid/
Meta Raven: https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/1173079702739172/
Scott Belsky: https://www.scottbelsky.com/
Notion: https://www.notion.so/
Figma: https://www.figma.com/
Dylan Field: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield

👉🏼 Where to find Mehul:

Matic: https://maticrobots.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/mehul?lang=en
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehulnariyawala/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Phil Lakin - How an enterprise no-code startup went from zero to one to Zapier acquisition!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 11:32:35 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Philip Lakin is the co-founder and CEO of NoCodeOps, a community and automation management platform (Operator) dedicated to supporting operations professionals that are reimagining the future of internal innovation with no-code. He was previously the Solutions Architect for National Operations at Compass where he built the onboarding program for over 15,000 real estate agents across the United States. He has more than 8 years of experience in operations, internal system implementation, field marketing, and onboarding.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one, as well as running Founder Gigs, a resource to discover flexible gigs while building your dream business.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Phil discuss how to the best nocode tools, how to sell your company, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:25: Shoutout to Acquire.com and Sunset
04:43: Introduction to Phil Lakin - co-founder and CEO of NoCodeOps
10:22: How acting led Phil to the world of no-code
15:30: What Phil would tell his beginner no-code self
19:30: Phil's 0 to 1 journey to building NoCodeOps and raising $5M+
26:00: Why Phil loves no-code
31:10: How no-code fits into today's tech stack
37:10: Predictions for the future of no-code and the best no-code tools
45:25: The downsides of AI and no-code
52:55: The journey: going from founding NoCodeOps to being acquired by Zapier
56:16: What's next for Zapier with Phil as Head of Enterprise Innovation?
59:49: Advice for younger founders
1:04:31: How to balance being a parent and a founder
1:08:59: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Link to Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com
Butternut AI: https://butternut.ai/
Butternut AI Podcast Episode: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/60

👉🏼 Where to find Phil:

NoCodeOps: https://www.nocodeops.com/about-us
Twitter: https://x.com/philiplakin
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-lakin

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Blake Emal - How to convert people browsing your website into people buying your product!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 11:40:52 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Blake Emal is the CEO and founder behind Pagetear. He is the 10-year marketer behind Marketing Monday and has been an SEO Specialist, agency manager, marketing leader at a $10B tech co, and ex-CMO of Copy.ai.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one, as well as running Founder Gigs, a resource to discover flexible gigs while building your dream business.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Blake discuss how to convert your landing page visitors into buyers, the art of landing pages, how to blend AI and design, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:00: Shoutout to Acquire.com and Sunset
04:18: Introduction to Blake Emal - landing page whiz and CEO and founder behind Pagetear!
05:38: How SaaS landing pages have evolved
08:13: How to differentiate yourself in landing page design
14:21: How websites can use AI for better copy and design
17:21: How to bring the human touch to copywriting
21:00: How to make the best first impression with your landing page
25:19: The best landing page triggers to purchase for a customer
29:04: How to balance SEO and emotional writing on your landing page
31:46: Blake's secret tips to improve landing page conversions
34:05: How to organize your landing page to increase conversions
40:13: What Blake is going to recommend to his next client
45:33: How Blake balances being a founder with being a copywriter
51:11: What is working for people trying to build their personal brands on social media?
58:55: The next iteration for growing on social media
59:43: If Blake started Pagetear again, what would he change?
1:02:30: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Link to Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com

👉🏼 Where to find Blake:

Website: https://blakeemal.com/
Pagetear: https://pagetear.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heyblake
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uxblake

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Pritika Mehta - How you can build a dream website using a simple prompt with Butternut AI in 20secs!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 09 May 2024 12:23:46 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Pritika Mehta is the founder of Butternut AI, an AI-based website builder. After having earned her first dollar on the internet when she was 14, Butternut is her third startup, having built Mindbatteries (acquired), and SockSoho (YC S20), which went from 0 to millions in ARR in 18 months. She is also a TEDx speaker, having spoken at Wilmington Women about focus, failure, and the future of work. In addition, she is an advisor to Innovation Mission Punjab ($30M Startup Seed fund), has built Kiddycoders to bring young kids into STEM, and is running a merit scholarship program for underprivileged girls in India. Her other projects include a 10,000+ member community of pet parents over WhatsApp.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for being the first sponsor of The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Pritika discuss the AI wave, going from D2C to software, being an immigrant founder, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:16: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:42: Introduction to Pritika Mehta - founder at Butternut AI, TEDX speaker, scholarship creator, and more!
07:22: The common traits of founders
08:45: Going from software to D2C to software
13:45: Destroying self-doubt in a new industry
15:45: How to validate your product idea
17:45: Getting into Y Combinator with a sock company
19:15: The impact of Y Combinator
21:10: The story of Butternut AI
25:07: Pritika's favorite website built on Butternut AI
25:40: Behind the scenes at Butternut AI
28:00: The future of Butternut AI
30:26: The ultimate vision for Butternut AI
32:31: Which domains will remain untouched by AI?
33:30: Pritika's backups if she wasn't working on Butternut AI
38:02: Where is the Indian startup ecosystem heading?
41:34: What Pritika looks for in founders she's investing in
43:37: Lessons learned from SockSoho
45:55: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Magic: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/magic-2
PartnerHQ: https://www.partnerhq.com/
Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Pritika:

Website: https://pritikamehta.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pritika_mehta
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritikam/
Butternut AI: https://butternut.ai/
SockSoho: https://socksoho.com/
Kiddycoders: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/india-coding-children-opportunity/
TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APPRZcGkFIU
BBC: https://wspartners.bbc.com/clip/p07sr603
TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/31/fashion-brand-socksoho-is-using-data-science-in-a-bid-to-become-the-uniqlo-of-india/
The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/are-children-being-introduced-to-coding-too-early-in-life/article62106966.ece
WEF Economic Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91KzyE6V5So

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Hiten Shah - How startups are building a future using AI that is fully inspired by our past!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 01 May 2024 13:00:46 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Hiten Shah (268K followers on Twitter!) has been building and writing about SaaS businesses for 20+ years. He is currently the CEO and Co-founder at Nira and is the ex-founder at CrazyEgg and KISSmetrics.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Hiten discuss the AI wave, figuring out your niche, launching a podcast, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:43: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:08: Introduction to Hiten Shah - multi-founder for 20 years!
04:32: Creating your own podcast and what to keep in mind
09:56: Advice to people starting their own podcasts
14:17: "Record the show and they will come" - how this can work and how it can go terribly wrong
22:00: How to figure out your audience
22:46: How to create a startup in a crowded market
31:54: Where to create your AI startup in 2024
34:24: Reality vs deepfakes: when will we be unable to distinguish between the two?
48:17: How Hiten's father influenced his life philosophy
53:17: How to decide your identity
56:10: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Airchat: https://www.air.chat/
Devin: https://www.cognition-labs.com/introducing-devin
Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Hiten:

Website: https://hitenism.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hnshah?
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hnshah
Nira: https://nira.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Marie Martens - The story of how two founders bootstrapped a $1M+ ARR startup!

Sharath Kuruganty — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 14:26:38 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Marie Martens is the co-founder of Tally, the simplest way to create forms. With a background in marketing, she co-founded a travel marketplace, Hotspot, and pivoted to Tally during the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2024, Tally's lean team has bootstrapped Tally to a $1M in ARR!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Marie discuss juggling parenthood and startup life, hockey stick growth, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
1:10: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:34: Introduction to Marie Martens - the co-founder of Tally.so!
05:50: How does being a mom keep Marie motivated?
09:22: Why Tally refuses to hire or raise funds
20:35: Tally's original mission in 2020
24:03: Secrets of hockey stick growth
30:32: Ways to get over burnout
38:04: Why Marie founded Tally in an over-crowded market
44:10: How Notion influenced Tally
47:30: How no-code tools and AI could have changed Tally's growth
52:24: Marie's Plan B in case Tally didn't work out
55:10: How building Tally differs from Marie's previous startup
56:36: Tally's tactics that led to hockey stick growth
59:08: What's next for Tally?
1:03:25: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Marie:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarieMartens
Linkedin: https://be.linkedin.com/in/mariemartens
Tally: https://blog.tally.so/author/marie/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Peer Richelsen - How Cal.com is changing the perception of open-source software(OSS)!

Sharath Kuruganty — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:10:47 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Peer Richelsen is the co-founder and co-CEO of Cal.com. Peer has also previously served as the head of product at On Deck and as the founder and CEO of Lean Hire, as well as attending Y Combinator as an alumni in the winter of 2019. for Mage App, Inc., where they raised $880K in funding over three years and served over 50k customers across Europe and the USA.

Today Peer and the team launched their newest product of Cal.com called Platform and Atoms. Go support the launch here: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cal-com-platform

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Peer discuss the future of open-source software, intellectual property in an age of AI, sales as a first-time founder, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:54: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:19: Introduction to Peer Richelsen - the founder of Cal.com!
06:10: The origins of Cal.com: Going from being an operator to a founder
11:06: How to stand out in a crowded market
14:40: How to differentiate your product
19:15: How to make your product strategy
22:43: Why open-source is Cal.com's superpower
27:33: The importance of IP in a post-AI world
30:00: Where to get product inspiration
32:10: Transitioning from being a bootstrapped founder to a VC-backed founder
39:45: The ultimate aim of every founder
44:31: What would Peer work in, if not scheduling?
47:40: How to approach sales as a first-time founder
50:52: How to get in front of big clients
52:15: Approaching the chicken-egg traction problem in fundraising
56:30: How did Y Combinator change Peer as a founder?
58:18: Dealing with self-doubt
59:50: What drives Peer as a founder?
1:06:04: Peer's beef with Supabase
1:07:44: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Support Cal.com Platform on Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cal-com-platform
Seven Seven Six: https://sevensevensix.com/
Founders Podcast's episode on Jay Z: https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/63997262/senra-jay-z-decoded
Supabase: https://supabase.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Peer:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peer_rich
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peer-richelsen-221233138

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Sonia Baschez - Why you need to hire a fractional CMO!

Sharath Kuruganty — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 12:10:50 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Sonia Baschez was the Head of Marketing at Atmos and currently is a a Marketing and PR Advisor at The Council. She is an expert at building and executing marketing strategies for early-stage startups focused on social media, content creation, and email marketing.

She has previously worked on the Hillary for America campaign, where she wrote, designed, and launched email programs for 38 states. She has also worked with startups (Makerpad, Winnie, Holloway), authors (Elisabeth Rosenthal MD, Sam Walker, Alexandra Sacks MD), and influencers (Jeanne Pinder, Marlon Peterson, Luz Claudio, Muhammed Idris) to create their brands/profiles, grow followings, and promote their work.

Most recently, she's launching her own fractional CMO company, Bend Growth Co. Check her out at https://www.bendgrowth.co/!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Sonia discuss the future of personalization, where email marketing is headed, when you should make your first marketing hire, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:47: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:14: Introduction to Sonia Baschez - the fractional CMO!
04:35: The day-to-day life of a marketer
06:02: Life as the mom of a 2-year-old
09:43: How Sonia started her story in marketing
21:52: Similarities between startups and political campaigns
26:29: When should a founder prioritize marketing?
30:24: Downside of fractional employees
33:35: What is the future of email marketing?
43:39: How to do personalization perfectly.
51:12: The marketing part of product-market fit
59:10: Working with your spouse: how to maintain professional and personal boundaries
1:05:10: Bend Growth Co. - the new-age fractional CMO company!

👉🏼 Resources:

Lenny Rachitsky: https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/
Obviously Awesome by April Dunford: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45166937
Nathan Baschez: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/50
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Sonia:

Bend Growth Co.: https://www.bendgrowth.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoniaBaschez?
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniabaschez
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniabaschez/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

James Evans - How CommandBar is using AI to help brands master user assistance!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 13:23:54 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

James Evans (Princeton alumni, ex-Bain) is the co-founder and CEO of CommandBar, a user assistance platform that makes your software product easier to use. In 3.5yrs, CommandBar is a 7-figure ARR SaaS business, with over 20 million end-users across hundreds of customers like Hashicorp, Freshworks, and Hubspot and has grown to a team of 40 people and raised $24 million.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and James discuss the No-PM Policy, why popups suck, the secrets of a first-time founder, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:05: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:34: Introduction to James Evans – Founder of CommandBar and hater of popups!
04:58: Why are popups so irritating?
08:32: What are ways of grabbing a customer's attention?
14:14: How most startups should be capturing customers
19:30: CommandBar's newest product...or not
26:45: Finding inspiration for your brand
29:58: James' No-PM Policy
34:04: Making UX better
38:49:The hardest parts of building
42:48: Applying to Y Combinator
46:00: How the best founders design products
49:57: Under shared secrets from a first-time founder
52:41: What is the secret of sales?
55:35: The dangers you'll see in sales
57:39: The best type of content strategy for startups
1:02:11: Where CommandBar is going next and how AI is revolutionizing the way we work
1:07:08: What drives James as a founder?
1:10:25: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Big Desk Energy: https://www.bigdeskenergy.com/
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find James:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dazzeloid?
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-evans-7086b3126/
CommandBar Website: https://www.commandbar.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Dr. Corey Wilks - How can founders access baseline greatness, self-awareness and clarity in life!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:52:20 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Dr. Corey Wilks is a licensed clinical psychologist and executive coach who helps top entrepreneurs in the world clarify what matters, overcome limiting beliefs, and build values-aligned lives and businesses. His work focuses on exploring the psychology of how to succeed in life and business. Podcasters like Chris Williamson and Paul Millerd praised Cory for his ability to steer founders in the right direction by unlocking the next level in business and personal growth.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Corey discuss becoming self-aware, finding greatness, breaking limiting beliefs, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:26: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:52: Introduction to Dr. Corey Wilks – Psychologist & Executive Coach!
04:11: Why Corey picked psychology as his field of study
09:10: How do you define psychology?
14:09: Introverts vs extroverts in psychology
18:44: How to think about your personal identity
26:35: How to break limiting beliefs as a founder
32:48: Mental models for founders
39:27: How to find the courage to live your life
44:31: How to bring your conviction to 100%
52:44: How Corey pushes founders to find greatness
56:07: How founders can keep up their focus
1:01:32: How to find your own philosophy as a founder
1:12:56: Inculcating self-awareness and spending time with your thoughts
1:21:11: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Corey:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoreyWilksPsyD
Website: https://coreywilkspsyd.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Louis Pereira - Why prioritizing fun helps you build and grow viral AI products!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:33:45 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Louis Pereira (10K+ followers on X!) lives a dual life. During the day, he works with his family to run a traditional, offline first business in Goa, India. At night, he is a creator on the internet where he builds web apps and publishes the occasional article.

He is currently building AudioPen, a voice-based note-taking app. Since launch, it has been voted Product Hunt's #1 Product of the Day and has 35,000+ users from all over the world.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Louis discuss balancing work and hobbies, rolling the dice on your entrepreneurial endeavor, bootstrapping, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:11: Introduction to Louis Pereira – Creator of AudioPen!
05:00: The journey of AudioPen
07:35: Mindset for handling extreme highs and lows
09:52: How composure helps you build products
12:59: The various end goals of making a product
14:33: Transitioning from building your Product 1 to Product 2
21:34: Rolling the dice on your entrepreneurial endeavors
24:00: How a regular person can build AI products
27:10: Step #2 of building a new product
28:18: Bootstrapping vs raising money
32:00: How building in public makes you a better founder
38:54: Going all in for entrepreneurship
43:09: Louis' future product ideas
45:31: Building something new vs growing current products
47:17: Noticing problems and building for yourself
49:28: Why writing matters
52:43: How Louis is planning on integrating AI into products
55:22: Wildest stories from AudioPen users
58:55: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Louis:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louispereira
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louispereira/
Website: https://louispereira.xyz/
AudioPen: https://audiopen.ai/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Adam Renklint - How should founders navigate through VC and grow a startup with intention!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:10:16 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Adam Renklint is the co-founder, CEO, and prev CTO of Pitch (allowing teams to create compelling stories in the blink of an eye). Adam was previously the founder of Wunderlist, and before that, a senior software engineer at Microsoft, where they led a cross-platform team that developed the task suggestion algorithm that powered Microsoft To-Do. Prior to that, they were a full stack developer at 6Wunderkinder.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Adam discuss the AI wave, growing a startup with intention, playing the long game, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:37: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:02: Introduction to Adam Renklint – CEO at Pitch!
05:25: Entering 2024 full of intentionality for a startup
10:40: What does success look like for Pitch?
13:45: How to downsize your goals
17:02: Facing fear when finding a path
20:00: Shift from CTO in 2018 to CEO in 2024
25:15: The philosophy of playing the long game in startups
28:27: Setting expectations as a CEO & founder
32:58: Creating a company with 8 co-founders
41:03: How Pitch started
45:34: How much of Pitch comes from Adam's experience at Microsoft?
51:12: How does Pitch go from idea > feature > product?
1:00:02: Where does the inspiration for Pitch come from?
1:04:33: Which products are points of inspiration for Pitch?
1:09:49: How to choose your own entrepreneurship path
1:16:21: What's next for Pitch
1:21:25: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Christian Reber: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianreber/
Linear: https://linear.app/

👉🏼 Where to find Adam:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamrenklint
Linkedin: https://de.linkedin.com/in/adam-renklint
Pitch: https://pitch.com/about

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Mubashar Iqbal - How to build a career & a name in tech by shipping side projects!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 13:20:10 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Mubashar Iqbal (Maker of the Year on Product Hunt) is a serial maker and the creator of 114+ side projects! He was a Lead Engineer at Founderpath and the ex-CTO of MadGlory Interactive. Legend says Mubs shipped more than 200+ projects in the last decade. He is known for being prolific when it comes to taking an idea to MVP at lightning speed.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Mubashar discuss side projects, tech waves, new pricing models on the market, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:11: Introduction to Mubashar Iqbal – maker of 114+ side projects!
05:12: How Mubs has shipped 114+ side projects
09:33: Navigating the highs and lows of side projects
13:24: Handling comparison as an indie maker
18:22: Making money with side projects
23:10: Decision-making framework for an indie maker
26:04: Journey to being a full-time indie maker
36:30: Measuring your "startup age"
40:30: The planning process for a side project
45:57: Should you only work on projects where you have skin in the game?
49:31: What are the effects of AI on side projects
55:08: Which technology wave is the most interesting so far?
58:25: New pricing models on the market
1:08:19: Which tech areas are expanding for side projects?
1:12:44: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Campfire: https://once.com/campfire

👉🏼 Where to find Mubs:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mubashariqbal
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mubashariqbal/
Portfolio: https://iworkedon.com/@mubashariqbal

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Nathan Baschez - How AI is revolutionizing the way you write on the Internet!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 14:26:53 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Nathan Baschez is the founder of Lex, a modern word processor that enables a radically new way to write. He also cofounded Every, a writer collective focused on business. Previously, he was the first employee at Substack, the Head of Product at Gimlet Media, and co-created the original version of Product Hunt.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Nathan discuss the present and future of AI, the Apple Vision Pro, being employee #2 at startups, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:29: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:56: Introduction to Nathan Baschez – a founder revolutionizing AI writing!
04:41: Buying the Apple Vision Pro
11:57: The experience of writing the first lines of code for ProductHunt
16:19: Lessons learned as an early startup employee
23:25: Lessons from each persona: founder, developer, writer
28:25: How does Lex help people write better?
37:30: Downsides of solving your own problems as a founder
43:07: Developing self-awareness as a founder
47:58: Craziest idea Nathan has ever had
49:43: If not Lex, what would Nathan do?
57:02: The current reality check with AI in tech
1:01:24: The future of AI and writing tools
1:04:15: Differentiating Lex from competitors
1:14:00: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Nathan:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nbashaw
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nbashaw
Medium: https://nbaschez.medium.com/
Every: https://every.to/@nbaschez
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nbaschez
Substack: https://nathan.substack.com/
Future: https://future.com/author/nathan-baschez/
Lex: https://lex.page/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Emuye Reynolds - How to build and scale your engineering teams in startups!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 11:58:03 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Emuye worked as Head of Engineering at Superhuman, where she focused on scaling the engineering team. She joined Superhuman in 2016 to build the mobile team and also managed the customer delight team, becoming an integral member of company leadership.

Previously, she worked at Zite Technologies and is an advisor for many startups. Emuye's first gig was at Apple, where she joined as an iOS developer and worked on Apple TV and made her mark on one of the revolutionary devices we use today.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Emuye discuss hiring, moving into startups, leaving a legacy, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:55: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:22: Introduction to Emuye Reynolds – one of the first iOS engineers in the world!
04:53: When founders should build an engineering team
07:06: Upsides and downsides to joining a startup and what to look for before you join
13:09: How should founders decide which shots to take?
14:48: Apple's startup-like operations system
19:01: The impact of Apple TV and Steve Jobs' involvement
23:17: The mindset behind creating products that leave a legacy
26:07: Positioning vs product
29:34: Joining Superhuman and the appeal of vision
33:51: The importance of hiring in startups
37:34: Importance of research and process in hiring
40:20: Emuye's #1 hiring strategy
42:53: What do people miss in interviews?
44:42: Advice for transitioning from big corporations to startups
46:46: Next steps for Emuye
48:09: How to build a product
50:17: Decisionmaking in different stages of a startup
52:24: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Emuye:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emuyereynolds?lang=en
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emuye/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Katelyn Bourgoin - Unpacking the hidden secrets behind why people buy!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:17:13 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Katelyn Bourgoin (190K+ followers across Twitter and her newsletter!) is a marketer by trade and a 4X founder by choice. Her specialty is helping growth-hungry teams figure out what triggers customers to buy so they can market smarter. She's been called an "influential entrepreneur" by Forbes and named as one of the "top 20 wonder women of SaaS marketing and growth."

She's run her own branding agency—reeling in clients like Target and Holiday Inn—built and sold a restaurant consulting business in under 2 years, and founded a VC-backed tech company that Inc. Magazine once called “the next LinkedIn”. Over the years, she's been featured in Forbes, Inc., USA Today, HuffPost, CBC, CTV, Bustle, and more. She writes Why We Buy newsletter covering all trends in marketing.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Katelyn discuss discovering your ideal customers, overcoming startup failure, customer frameworks, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:56: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:24: Introduction to Katelyn Bourgoin – "The Customer Whisperer"
05:10: How Katelyn learned the skill of being authentic on the internet
11:38: How to overcome startup failure
17:02: Katelyn's journey to learning how customers buy
22:52: The biggest mistake founders make in customer discovery
29:24: The best framework to find your ideal customers
34:31: How to find customers for your business again and again
40:50: How to write a newsletter every week
46:30: How to differentiate yourself in marketing
51:27: Why 2024 needs your personal brand
58:03: Why investing in copywriting is the #1 skill you need
1:05:46: How to link your business actions to science
1:07:31: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Amanda Natividad: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/8
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Katelyn:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateBour
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebour/
Customer Camp - The way to find your customers: https://customercamp.co/
Unignorable - Build an unignorable personal brand: https://www.demandcurve.com/unignorable
Why We Buy Newsletter: https://customercamp.co/twitter-sign-ups/
Wallet Opening Words - Make tiny copy tweaks that drive BIG sales: https://www.walletopeningwords.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Rob Hope - The science behind building a perfect landing page!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:13:31 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Rob Hope is a South African-born entrepreneur and the founder of One Page Love, the leading online showcase of beautiful One Page websites, templates, and resources. He also sends a weekly newsletter and interviews good folk building their own thing on the Yo! Podcast (yo.fm)

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Rob discuss consistency, Shiny Toy Syndrome, the perfect landing page, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:42: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:10: Introduction to Rob Hope – founder of One Page Love
08:50: How Rob Hope found courage for 10+ years straight
24:54: How to be consistent for 10 years
35:09: How to stay focused on your own niche
47:40: How to chase your own path - and not be distracted by competition
55:14: The science behind a perfect landing page
1:08:07: How Rob's podcast helps him in in-depth research
1:24:25: How did surfing impact Rob's founder journey?
1:35:27: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

FullPage.js: https://alvarotrigo.com/fullPage/
Garrett McNamara: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_McNamara
Shawn: https://twitter.com/swyx
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Rob:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/robhope
Website: https://robhope.com/
Linkedin: https://za.linkedin.com/in/robhope
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/robhope
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rob_hope/?hl=en
Weekly Newsletter, Love Letter: https://onepagelove.com/letter
Landing Page Hot Tips Ebook: https://onepagelove.com/100
One Page Love: https://onepagelove.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

James Brackin IV - How to land your podcast in one of the top 1% popular shows in the world!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:31:46 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

James Brackin IV is in the top 1% of podcasters worldwide, hosting "The You Can Too Podcast" where he interviewed Seth Godin, Derek Sivers, Mark Sisson, Evan Carmichael, Bruce Lipton, Case Kenny, Gary Brecka, and so many more. He is also a coach, living by the belief that most people wait too long to demand the best from themselves and subconsciously hold themselves back from stepping into the next level of their lives. James' coaching was created to help you shorten the time period from idea to execution.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and James discuss resilience, rejection, mindset, and a life of abundance.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:25: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:47: Introduction to James Brackin IV – top 1% of podcasters at the age of 20
04:39: The story of starting "The You Can Too Podcast" at age 18
07:44: What inspired James to start a podcast?
9:42: James' favorite role models
12:08: How to know if you are ready to be an entrepreneur
14:24: James' coaching style for founders
16:35: How to start asking yourself insightful questions
19:03: How to develop the skill of speaking
22:30: James' take on practicing your craft
23:40: James' most interesting experience as a coach
28:00: How we can experience abundance
30:31: The journey to becoming a top 1% podcaster
33:50: How to distribute your content to reach 1%
39:17: James' dream podcast guest list
39:54: How to handle rejection
42:48: James' most ambitious goals
43:40: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Steve Barrett: https://twitter.com/Steve_J_Barrett
Tim Ferriss: https://tim.blog/
Noah Kagan: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/45
"Your First Million" author, Arlan Hamilton: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/43
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find James:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jamesbrackiniv
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-brackin-iv-506069216/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYCEy_okaPrrihxdWF-94Gw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrackiniv/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesbrackiniv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-you-can-too-podcast/id1593897435

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Noah Kagan - All you need is a weekend to launch a million-dollar business!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 12:41:44 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Noah Kagan (1.5M+ followers across Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter) graduated from UC Berkeley and became employee #30 at Facebook, where he invented status updates, developed the Facebook ads platform, and worked on the very first version of Facebook's mobile app. He was also employee #4 at Mint, and since 2010, Noah has been Chief Sumo of Sumo Group, a $70 million company, offering ecommerce and marketing tools that help millions of small businesses grow their audiences and reach more customers. He is also the author of Million Dollar Weekend, the surprisingly simple way to launch a 7-figure business in 48 hours!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Noah discuss the pathways to becoming millionaires, the various journeys to being an entrepreneur, and how to get access to successful people.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:26: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:56: Introduction to Noah Kagan – founder, author, content creator
04:22: Noah's obsession with tacos
06:03: Why Noah wrote "Million Dollar Weekend"
09:21: How to know if you are ready to be an entrepreneur
12:18: How to start your entrepreneur journey
15:55: Balancing starting small vs thinking big
21:03: How to get access to successful people
30:15: 3 lessons from millionaires
35:33: An underrated business idea that will make you a millionaire
38:51: What to explore if you want to become a millionaire in 10 years
46:12: How to convert rejection into success
51:50: The definition of happiness for Noah
53:44: The ambitious goals Noah is chasing
55:37: Conclusion and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Noah's new book, "Million Dollar Weekend": https://noahkagan.com/mdwbook/
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Noah:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noahkagan
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahkagan
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF2v8v8te3_u4xhIQ8tGy1g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noahkagan/
Website: https://noahkagan.com/
Book - "Million Dollar Weekend": https://noahkagan.com/mdwbook/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Arvid Kahl - Lessons from being a bootstrapped founder and a content creator!

Sharath Kuruganty — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 13:26:42 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Arvid Kahl is an entrepreneur, podcaster, and writer. He co-founded and bootstrapped FeedbackPanda, an online teacher productivity SaaS company, with his partner Danielle Simpson. They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money in 2019, two years after founding the company. He is also the author Zero to Sold and Embedded Entrepreneur, the bibles for founders who bootstrap. His course Find the following helps anyone to build an audience on the Internet in a mindful way. He is one of the prominent founders who amplifies build in public movement and constantly finds ways to help other founders. Currently, he is building Podline.fm in public.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Arvid discuss the importance of kindness as a superpower, and the impact of relationships on personal growth, as well as professional topics such as being an entrepreneur in the age of AI and the importance of emotional intelligence.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:24: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:52: Introduction to Arvid Kahl – founder, writer, content creator
06:48: Life outside of work and the importance of relationships
13:10: Thinking about our legacies
24:20: How to learn from every experience
28:04: Learning from Builder Arvid vs Creator Arvid
37:22: Content experiments people should run
41:41: The cons of content creation with AI
47:18: The future of AI
52:42: Is Apple's data protection the future?
1:01:41: Shifting back from content creation to building
1:06:03: Arvid's new and different approach to building in 2024
1:12:06: Conclusion and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Pieter Levels: https://twitter.com/levelsio
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Arvid:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arvidkahl
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/arvidkahl
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBootstrappedFounder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arvidkahl/
Gumroad: https://bootstrappedfounder.gumroad.com/
Book - The Embedded Entrepreneur: https://www.amazon.com/Embedded-Entrepreneur-Build-Audience-Driven-Business/dp/3982195772
Book - Zero to Sold: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Sold-Start-Bootstrapped-Business-ebook/dp/B08BWZS8VN
The Bootstrapped Founder: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Arlan Hamilton - On a 10yr mission to empower 1000 underrepresented millionaires!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 11:42:56 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Arlan Hamilton is the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a seed investment fund that backs overachieving, underrepresented startup founders, breaking barriers in VC and championing diversity and inclusivity. She is also a tour manager with world-renowned artists, an author, a podcast host, and one of 2018's Fortune 40 Under 40. With Rachel L. Nelson, she authored the book It's About Damn Time - an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you want to be in, and achieving your own dreams. Her second book, Your First Million, came out recently and is available now.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

In this podcast episode, host Sharath interviews Arlan Hamilton, as they discuss her mission to empower underrepresented millionaires and her belief in the power of empowerment and being an underrepresented founder.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:40: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:06: Mission to empower underrepresented millionaires
08:00: How to reach your first $1M
12:37: How to find belief in yourself
16:36: Learnings from building Backstage Capital
20:11: What makes an underestimated founder an overachiever?
23:11: How to pick founders to invest in as a VC
26:30: How to pick ideas to invest in
27:21: How Arlan's investing philosophy has changed over time
27:48: Advice to people going through tough times
30:02: Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

It's About Damn Time book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-About-Damn-Time-Underestimated/dp/0593136411
Your First Million book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-First-Million-Business_and-Generational/dp/0316507962
Your First Million Event: yourfirstmillion.live
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-first-million/id1467515562
Lisa Nichols: https://motivatingthemasses.com/home-new/
Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Arlan:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArlanWasHere
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arlanwashere/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlanhamilton
Backstage Capital: https://backstagecapital.com/crew/
Hire Runner: https://www.hirerunner.co/
Your First Million Event: yourfirstmillion.live
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-first-million/id1467515562
Your First Million Book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-First-Million-Business_and-Generational/dp/0316507962
It's About Damn Time Book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-About-Damn-Time-Underestimated/dp/0593442709/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Jack Appleby - How to use originality and authenticity to build a social brand on the Internet!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:11:44 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Jack Appleby is a social media whiz and the founder of Future Social, a newsletter with 60,000+ subscribers. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Jack has worked with multiple well-known companies, such as the NBA, Microsoft, Beats By Dre, Verizon, Spotify, and more.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

In this podcast episode, host Sharath interviews Jack Appleby, a social media expert and creator of the Future Social newsletter. They discuss various topics related to social media, creativity, and personal branding. Jack shares insights on how to keep creativity flowing, the importance of breaking down social media content, and how to avoid burnout in social media jobs.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:27: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:54: Introduction to Jack Appleby, the creator of the Future Social newsletter (60K+ subs!)
06:00: Keeping creativity juiced up
09:00: How to create content from new angles
15:53: When to stop scrolling social media
19:00: How to prevent social media burnout
21:47: Twitter under Jack vs X under Elon
28:15: Why LinkedIn is underrated
33:20: Why Jack started a newsletter
38:43: Building a personal social media brand through curation
43:47: Designing and pitching a media campaign
47:51: Lessons from failed campaigns
50:56: Common pitching mistakes
55:20: Writing viral content
59:02: From bad ideas to good ideas to great ideas
1:02:48: The power of timing on social media
1:06:08: The pros and cons of working on something you love
1:08:57: How to become a celebrity on social media
1:12:34: Rapid Fire 5: Favorite creator to favorite book to favorite NBA player
1:16:53: Closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Dabbly Ducks: https://www.instagram.com/dabblyducks/
The Personal MBA: https://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591845572

👉🏼 Where to find Jack:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jappleby
Future Social: https://futuresocial.beehiiv.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackappleby

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Chenell Basilio - How to grow a newsletter empire(50K+ subscribers) on the Internet!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 12:19:45 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Chenell Basilio is not just a name, but a powerhouse of knowledge and strategic thinking that fuels the growth of leading creators. With her incredible ability to reverse engineer the growth strategies of top creators, she uncovers the blueprint of creators who amassed over 50k+ subscribers via her Growth In Reverse newsletter. By investing over 20 hours each week in research, she presents a wealth of insights on strategy, marketing, and growth.

Chenell has done deep dives on Kat Norton(Miss Excel), Dan Koe, Justin Welsh, Codie Sanchez, Lenny Rachitsky, Harry Dry, and many more. Growth In Reverse now has more than 27k+ creators and readers! Beyond this, she actively shares her journey on X/LinkedIn platforms authentically.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab, and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath interviews Chenell, the creator of the Growth in Reverse newsletter. In this conversation, Chenell Basilio discusses her approach to choosing newsletters for deep dives and the criteria she uses. She also shares her insights on growth strategies and the importance of unique and valuable content. The conversation delves into the topic of friction in newsletters and the impact it can have on engagement.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:46: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:12: Introduction to Chenell, the creator of the Growth in Reverse newsletter (28K+ subs!)
05:38: The journey from being a 9-5 business analyst to a content creator
08:54: The story of creating Growth in Reverse
11:18: Choosing newsletter as a medium
12:30: Overcoming doubt as a writer
14:24: Challenging parts of doing research
16:34: Patterns among good newsletter creators
19:00: Definition of good content
21:14: What changes would Chenell make if she had to start again?
22:38: Growth strategies for 50,000+ subscribers
23:58: Tips for newsletter creators
24:53: Note-taking process and composing notes
27:13: Utilizing unused material
30:28: All-time favorite scoops and profiles on Growth in Reverse
33:51: Insights from the process of reverse-engineering
36:12: The most surprising lesson from reverse-engineering
40:07: Initial expectations when starting Growth in Reverse
41:15: Moments of doubt and pointlessness
42:10: Selection criteria for deep-dive profiles in 'Growth in Reverse'
43:26: Why Chenell only profiles creators with 50K+ subscribers
44:29: 0 to 1 growth strategies for newsletter creators
46:36: Building products with intentional points of friction
52:02: Measuring newsletter success with metrics
53:53: Chenell's plans for 2024
56:04: Closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Sahil Bloom: https://twitter.com/SahilBloom
Billy Oppenheimer: https://billyoppenheimer.com/
Ryan Holiday: https://ryanholiday.net/
Jack Butcher: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/1
Justin Welsh: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/16
Ali Abdaal: https://aliabdaal.com/
Kat Norton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-norton-7187aa58

👉🏼 Where to find Chenell:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chenellco
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHxdl9oXfWpxTeuB7G-kTeA
Growth in Reverse newsletter: growthinreverse.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenellco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chenellco/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Eric Bahn - Why being a founder of a VC fund is often easier than being a founder of a startup!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 14:09:10 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Eric Bahn who proudly identifies as a 'Minivan enthusiast' is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, a VC fund that invests in "hilariously early" founders at the pre-seed stage. With $130M AUM, they invested in over 500 startups including the biggest names like Webflow, Copy AI, and Voiceflow!

Before Hustle Fund, Eric spent his career as a product leader at renowned companies like Instagram and Intuit. He also founded Beat The GMAT(acquired by the Daily Mail in 2012) and co-founded Read Your Story(Acquired by JibJab, 2022) with his sister.

Eric has been featured in numerous press outlets like TechCrunch, Time Magazine, and The New York Times. He holds a BA and MA from Stanford University.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Eric discuss the next generation of venture capital, the importance of empathy in founder relationships, and of course, Eric's obsession with minivans.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:40: Shoutout to Acquire.com
04:06: Introduction to Eric Bahn, 3x Founder and Creator of Hustle Fund VC
06:00: Eric's Obsession with Minivans
09:45: The Impact of Family
15:02: Hacks to Raising Responsible Kids
19:17: Developing a Long-Term Vision
22:29: Triggers to Motivate Your Work
27:02: What Makes a Founder Trustworthy
34:45: How the VC Industry Needs to Improve
39:57: Comparison of Being a Start-Up Founder vs. VC Founder
43:01: Lessons Learned as a Founder that Help in VC
50:37: Choosing Between Being a Founder or VC
51:34: Advice for Aspiring VCs
54:49: What is a "Hilariously Early" Founder?
56:21: Outro and Closing Thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
"The Righteous Gemstones": https://www.hbo.com/the-righteous-gemstones

👉🏼 Where to find Eric:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericbahn
Hustle Fund: https://www.hustlefund.vc/team
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbahn

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Alex Friedman - How to be unapologetically authentic and optimist on the Internet!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:51:46 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Alex Friedman is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence for Techstars Music. She is also an angel investor and a 3x startup founder who has developed CPG products that have been sold in over 3,000 stores across the nation. She is well-known for building Founder Gigs((part-time gigs for startup founders) using no-code tools and selling it to Hirerunner after 6 months with over 5k MRR!

Along with her experience as Program Manager for Techstars Austin and Techstars Impact, she has worked with thousands of startup founders. As a content creator, she has a following of over 150k across various platforms at @heyalexfriedman.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Alex discuss authenticity while building content, building microprojects for acquisition, entering the founder community, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:42: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:07: Introduction to Alex Friedman, 3x founder and influencer
06:08: Why is there a cowboy hat on Alex's Twitter?
09:24: How to be optimistic in writing
13:47: Next 3 steps after you've run out of stories
15:34: Breaking into founder communities as an introvert
26:00: Developing a thick skin as a founder
30:32: The journey from microprojects to acquisition
38:23: Building better marketplaces
41:50: What makes a content piece go viral?
49:17: The importance of highlighting the failures of business-building
54:10: How dealing with personal losses impacts all aspects of your life
1:06:16: Recovering from loss
1:10:12: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
FounderGigs: https://www.foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heyalexfriedman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyalexfriedman/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heyalexfriedman
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyalexfriedman/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

John Andrew Entwistle - How to make the right decisions in the most crucial times!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 15:58:35 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

John Andrew Entwistle is the founder and CEO of Wander, a startup revolutionizing short-term rental space! So far John and his team have raised over $27M in funding and are on a mission to deliver high-quality experiences for travelers. John was previously a Thiel Fellow and co-founder of Coder, a venture-backed startup that is making strides in moving the development workstation to the cloud, amplifying security and productivity for software development teams.

His passion for start-ups and dedication to transforming industries brought him recognition as one of the "Insider 30 Rising Stars of Real Estate” in 2022 by Business Insider and his innovative work at Code led him to be featured in Forbes "30 under 30" in 2019.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and John discuss focussing on your own priorities in life, making difficult decisions, and the journey to a brand new startup in a new industry.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
01:15: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:51: Introduction to John
06:35: What is the transition from coding to real estate like?
09:45: How did 18-year-old John stay on track to build a company that raised $45M?
14:05: The dangers of overwork
16:25: How to handle life regrets
20:40: The various decision-making frameworks in John's life
26:23: Which decision was John 100% sure about?
31:49: The best ways to handle failure
42:25: How to restart a company from zero
47:30: The impact of the Thiel fellowship on John's life
51:38: A bet John took that changed people's lives
54:22: The biggest decision today that will impact John's life
57:09: The difficulties of working in real estate
1:01:30: How to convince investors to invest in your startup
1:05:55: Lessons learned while creating Wander
1:09:15: Handling the heavy lifting of making homes livable
1:15:55: The next dream for Wander
1:24:08: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

"Courage is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave" by Ryan Holiday: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58145670

👉🏼 Where to find John:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaentwistle
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaentwistle/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaentwistle

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Polina M. Pompliano - How to master the art of asking insanely great questions!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 12:58:25 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Polina Marinova Pompliano (131K followers!) is the founder of The Profile, a new media company that features long-form profiles of successful people and companies each week. Previously, she spent five years at FORTUNE where she wrote more than 1,300 articles and earned the trust of prominent investors and entrepreneurs.

As the author and editor of Term Sheet, FORTUNE’s industry-leading dealmaking newsletter, Polina interviewed the industry’s most influential dealmakers, including Melinda Gates, Steve Case, Chamath Palihapitiya, Alexis Ohanian, and more. She is the author of Hidden Genius, a phenomenal book where she deconstructed and unpacked the habits and mindsets of the world's most successful people so you can navigate how to live and lead a fulfilling life.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Polina discuss growing as a journalist, the importance of being uncomfortable, and creating as an immigrant.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:40: Shoutout to Acquire.com
04:07: Introduction to Polina
05:17: Polina's sideways journey to journalism
09:07: Introversion in the world of journalism
10:20: Mastering the art of research
14:18: Creating an excellent interview out of research rabbit holes
17:59: Going from thoughts -> the perfect article
20:41: How to choose the best people for profiles
22:15: Polina's biggest life challenges
26:14: What Polina has in common with her 8-year-old self
25:41: Do one thing every day that sucks
30:53: The art of asking great questions
34:40: Different definitions of success
36:52: Imposter syndrome is different for everyone
41:41: How humans should push their own boundaries
47:58: Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
49:28: What makes a human a top performer?
50:22: Rapid Fire 5 round

👉🏼 Resources:

Get Hidden Genius book: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Genius-secret-thinking-successful/dp/1804090034⁠
James Clear: https://twitter.com/JamesClear
Sara Blakely, the Self-Made Billionaire: https://theprofile.substack.com/p/the-profile-dossier-sara-blakely
Francis Ngannou, MMA champion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ngannou

👉🏼 Where to find Polina:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/polina_marinova
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polinampompliano/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polinamarinova/
Substack: https://theprofile.substack.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Bobby Pinero - How to successfully execute big, bold, ambitious bets as a startup founder!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:31:43 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Bobby Pinero (CEO at Equals) has been an analyst for the past decade. With 8 years at Intercom, building Finance, Analytics, Biz Ops, and several other functions, he built out functions that took the company from $1M ARR and ~20 employees to ~$200M ARR and ~700 employees.

He then launched Equals in the middle of 2021, raising a total of ~$23M from Kristina Shen at Andreessen Horowitz and David Sacks at Craft Ventures.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Bobby Pinero discuss the beauty of spreadsheets, pricing as a founder, and taking big bets as a founder.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:29: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:55: Introduction to Bobby Pinero and Equals - next-gen spreadsheets
06:29: The process of leaving corporate to build your own startup
11:55: Bobby's journey as a builder from early-stage startups to starting his own business
16:50: Maintaining courage as a startup founder
20:38: Why building in spreadsheets is Bobby's calling
25:27: Big bets vs small bets when building a startup
27:00: The founding story of Equals
30:28: The impact of raising money on building your product
34:31: How to get customer feedback when building a large product vs MVP
39:14: How Bobby built in public - in an unusual way
42:43: Pricing advice for early-stage startups
50:25: Frameworks for pricing and going freemium
53:51: Finding a niche in a crowded and competitive market
56:34: Finding the sweet spot to build in as a founder
59:57: Raising $6.6M for a seed round at Equals - process, networking, deciding the amount
1:04:11: Scaling Intercom from $1M to $200M
1:09:14: The similarities between Intercom and Equals
1:10:54: Lessons from building Intercom that are important at Equals
1:15:22: What's next for Equals?
1:18:02: How to keep going every single day as a founder
1:22:51: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Equals: https://equals.com/
Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/
Abbey, Business Operations at Equals: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbey-minondo/
"How Freemium Nearly Killed My Business": https://wraptext.equals.com/the-fallacy-of-freemium-in-saas/

👉🏼 Where to find Bobby Pinero:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bobbypinero
Equals: https://wraptext.equals.com/author/bobby/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobby_pinero/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbypinero

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Danny Miranda - The art, the power and the impact of podcasting!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 13:00:29 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Danny Miranda (The Danny Miranda Podcast, ArtOfInterviewing.com) is a writer and podcaster, with 420+ episodes on his podcast. His interviews include Gary Vaynerchuk, Alex Hormozi, Robert Greene, Seth Godin, Andy Frisella, Chris Williamson, Kamal Ravikant, and more. His friends introduce him as someone who's always looking at the bright side and at the core, he is a communicator who aims to empower people to pursue the highest versions of themselves and raise the consciousness of humanity — one person and one day at a time.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Danny Miranda discuss building your own happiness, handling rejection, and the art and process of making a podcast.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:51: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:15: Introduction to Danny Miranda
07:10: How Danny started his newsletter on making money
10:14: How journalism impacts your happiness
14:49: Being happy consistently as a human being
16:10: How Danny found his purpose
18:11: Danny's mistakes as a young person
19:55: Find the support system that helps you be yourself
21:40: Danny's experience with depression
25:18: Should humans chase the pinnacles of happiness?
31:15: How Danny moved from writing to podcasting
32:40: How Danny chose his path to podcasting
34:03: Danny's podcasting routine
36:20: Balancing earning and podcasting
41:52: Advice for young podcasters
50:49: The biggest lie Danny told himself
53:55: Why selling isn't that important
1:01:39: Askers vs Givers
1:04:32: Why habits are so important to Danny's happiness
1:09:32: How a retreat can change your life
1:13:00: How to maintain clarity on your goals
1:19:00: Danny's learning goals from his own podcast
1:21:20: Danny's experience interviewing Gary Vee
1:24:36: How to handle rejection
1:27:08: Danny's experience interviewing the founder of 75 Hard - the formula for confidence and grit
1:29:00: Country music as inspiration
1:30:29: The biggest media person in the next 10 years
1:31:05: Danny's next ambitious goal
1:31:57: Rapid Fire 5: Coolest podcast stories to a central question for every guest
1:37:45: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
75 Hard: https://andyfrisella.com/pages/75hard-info
Happiness is Learned by Naval Ravikant: https://www.navalmanack.com/almanack-of-naval-ravikant/happiness-is-learned
Feeling Good by Justin Kan: https://justinkan.com/feed/feeling-good-justins-program
Andy Frisella: https://andyfrisella.com/pages/about-andy-frisella
Gary Vee: https://garyvaynerchuk.com/
Country Music Artist Michael Cosner: https://www.michaelcosner.com/
Candice Burt - 200 ultramarathons in 200 days: https://www.candiceburt.com/
The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd: https://think-boundless.com/
Adam Draper, Boost VC: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/22

👉🏼 Where to find Danny Miranda:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/dannymiranda
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heydannymiranda
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannymiranda
The Danny Miranda Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-danny-miranda-podcast/id1532160275

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Neil Patel - Give First philosophy, SEO tactics, how to leverage AI in marketing and brand building!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:37:40 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Neil Patel is a New York Times Bestselling author. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Neil Patel discuss digital marketing in 2023, AI in marketing, and building a brand!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:23: Shoutout to Acquire.com
02:51: Introduction to Neil Patel
03:45: How Neil started his marketing journey
04:46: Early marketing rookie mistakes
06:40: Marketing advice for 15-year-old Neil
08:10: Best marketing channels in 2023
08:55: Tactics to hit 4M+ blog hits per month
09:55: Learnings from podcasting for Neil
12:04: How a Give-First philosophy helps your business
14:22: How to leverage personalized marketing in 2023
15:53: Roles of influencers in marketing
18:22: Key trends in digital marketing
20:04: How to utilize data in marketing
21:12: Neil's Scrappy Marketing Strategy™
22:50: How to become a trustworthy brand
24:29: Neil's blunt advice for public speaking
24:57: The philosophies of Dad-Neil vs Marketing-Neil
26:59: Neil's work-life balance routine
27:30: Challenges marketing for large companies
28:33: Growing your consultancy gig from scratch
29:55: Stealing Marketing 101
31:11: Using AI in marketing
32:45: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Neil Patel:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/neilpatel
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/neilpatel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neilpatel/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/
Website: https://neilpatel.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Amanda Goetz - On facing fear, choosing abundance, and how to standout as a creator!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:06:15 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Amanda Goetz is a 2x founder, 3x CMO, brand builder, and content creator on personal and professional growth and brand building, inspiring over 150,000 people every week through her social insights and weekly newsletter, 🧩 Life's A Game.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Amanda discuss conquering fear, living life by your rules, and finding your why.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com
04:07: Introduction to Amanda Goetz
05:22: How Amanda became a full-time creator
12:31: How to do an "Energy Audit" of your life
17:08: How to get the courage to make Big Decisions
25:18: Founding story of "House of Wise" - CBD products for women
31:41: AI-based marketing vs Human-based marketing
38:06: How to market to the majority: brand, content, messaging
41:17: Brands with great marketing
45:11: Lessons from the Big Three: Being an operator, founder, creator
52:34: How Amanda's "Life's a Game" newsletter started
59:51: How to get tactical in vague areas
1:01:15: How Amanda writes each issue of "Life's a Game"
1:03:11: Dealing with fear during growing seasons
1:08:07: How to stimulate your own creativity on an empty tank
1:11:50: Balancing parenting as a founder and creator
1:17:18: How to overcome "Perfect Parent" syndrome
1:24:30: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Amanda Goetz:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaMGoetz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goetzam/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandagoetz/
Website: https://www.amandagoetz.com/
"Life's a Game" Newsletter: https://amandagoetz.ck.page/signup

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Matthew Kobach - A masterclass on how to do marketing, branding and social media in 2023!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:08:58 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

In 2007, Matthew Kobach became one of the first to ever pursue a PhD predicting how people use social media. This led to an opportunity with a social media analytics firm where he was required to accurately code social media sentiment and spot cultural trends. While working for the New York Stock Exchange, Matthew used the NYSE’s social media profiles in never-before-seen ways, resulting in millions of followers, multiple speaking opportunities, and recognition from several media outlets (e.g. Mashable, Digiday, Adweek, Cheddar, Vox).

Previously, Matthew led marketing efforts at Fast and led the successful social media launch of the cryptocurrency ecosystem Bakkt, resulting in hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of organic impressions. Currently, Matthew leads marketing, branding, and social for Slice, a mobile app that allows you to order pizza from any local pizzeria!

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Matthew discuss going viral, social media trends, the future of brands, and more

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:28: Shoutout to Acquire.com
04:07: Introduction to Matthew Kobach
05:10: Matthew's life at Slice - building innovative tech to empower America’s independent pizzerias
07:18: Social media lessons from 2007 that are still true
11:26: Making your brand a real person
15:55: The various stages of brand marketing
18:14: How to close a deal and make someone buy your product
23:05: Why does content go viral?
27:40: Idea stealing is ethical
29:37: Fuelling your creativity
36:16: Where does the "execute quickly" philosophy come from?
41:02: Creating your social media portfolio
45:22: Advice for marketers building in public
50:32: Matthew on being a dad
52:04: Work-life balance and mental health for social media marketers
57:16: The future of Twitter
1:00:19: How does celebrity culture impact Matthew's daily life
1:05:05: Matthew's next ambitious goal

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Slice: https://slicelife.com/pages/about-us

👉🏼 Where to find Matthew Kobach:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkobach
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mkobach/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kobach-92a63178/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Sarah Peck - Lessons startup founders should learn from parents!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:28:12 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Sarah K Peck (The New York Times, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, 99U, Psychology Today, Life Hacker, Thought Catalog, and more) is an author, startup advisor, and yoga teacher based in New York City. She’s the founder and executive director of Startup Parent, a media company documenting untold stories of what it looks like to be a woman in leadership, life, and work. The Startup Parent Podcast shares long-form stories of parenting, business, entrepreneurship, and growth.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Sarah discuss parenting as founders, building a life with your kids, work-life balance, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
1:01: Shoutout to Acquire.com
5:19: Introduction to Sarah Peck
07:03: How Startup Parent began
23:58: How to transition from being an employee to a founder
27:44: Preparing your finances for a child
32:15: Advice for parent-founders
35:40: Work-life balance as a parent
44:29: The importance of setting expectations
47:24: The need for support systems in parenting
50:23: Living your best life with kids
54:00: Tips for balancing kids and career
58:40: Best communication practices for founders
1:05:45: Lessons for growing your work on the internet
1:10:24: Parent-founders that inspire Sarah
1:15:39: Sarah's next ambitious goal
1:18:50: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Sarah Peck:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/agazdecki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startup_parent/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkpeck
Personal Website: https://www.sarahkpeck.com/
Startup Parent Website: https://startupparent.com/
Substack: https://startupparent.substack.com/
Podcast: https://www.sarahkpeck.com/podcast/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Andrew Gazdecki - From living on food stamps to being a reason for many founders’ living!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 11:20:15 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Andrew Gazdecki is a four-time startup founder with three-time exits, former CRO, and founder of Acquire.com. Gazdecki has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as prominent industry blogs such as Mashable, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Andrew discuss building resilience as founders, making predictions about the next big thing, creative marketing strategies, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:29: Shoutout to Acquire.com
3:42: Introduction to Andrew Gazdecki
5:40: Andrew's entrepreneurship journey as a four-time startup founder with three-time exits
18:23: Mentorship for entrepreneurs and how to get it
24:49: How to get out of a slump
34:15: Developing strength as a founder
44:21: Staying calm in emergencies as a founder
54:33: Predicting the next big thing
58:05: 2023 - What's the next big explosion?
1:01:53: Founders as the love of Andrew's career
1:04:20: Livetweeting 101 - how to form a tweeting strategy
1:07:40: Getting creative with building businesses
1:12:38: BTS - the creative process behind Acquire.com
1:21:42: Qualities to look out for when building a team
1:28:03: The first 100 Acquire.com deals
1:31:16: Startup acquisition patterns - the why and how
1:34:29: New features from Acquire.com
1:36:03: Reaching Product-Market Fit for Acquire.com
1:40:10: Rapid Fire 5: Life-changing founder stories to shoutouts to creators

👉🏼 Resources:

Your specific link for Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
Nike's Marketing Strategies: https://hbr.org/1992/07/high-performance-marketing-an-interview-with-nikes-phil-knight

👉🏼 Where to find Andrew Gazdecki:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/agazdecki
Website: https://www.andrewgazdecki.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Sarah Stockdale - Lessons from building a diverse community of ambitious marketers!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:47:34 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Sarah is the Founder and CEO of Growclass, an online growth marketing training company. She is also a copywriting expert, the host of The Growth Effect, and the author of We Need To Talk About This, a popular blog and newsletter for millennial women.

Sarah has spent her career working on early-stage technology startups, including Wave and Tilt, and now coaches businesses and individuals to achieve incredible growth.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community +Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Sarah discuss the ins and outs of marketing, copywriting, and creating a community for underrepresented underdogs.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
2:02: Introduction to Sarah Stockdale
2:58: How did Sarah start her marketing journey?
5:09: What makes Growclass stand out as a marketing course?
7:55: How is Growclass making the startup space more diverse?
13:27: How to grow a community in its beginning stages
15:45: The most needed qualities in marketing superstars
19:13: The niches of marketing to attack first
22:55: #1 tactical skill every marketer should master
24:50: Founder mistakes in copywriting
29:54: Writing copy as a marketing hire
34:09: The stopping point in editing copy
35:57: Community building vs marketing
38:30: Inviting and rewarding "givers" in a community
44:20: How to scout podcast guests
46:24: How to write a great cold email
48:00: Sarah's #1 ambition right now
49:50: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Tilt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt.com
Community Decoded: https://communitydecoded.threado.com
Emily Lonetto: https://communitydecoded.threado.com/3

👉🏼 Where to find Sarah Stockdale:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/skstock
Website: https://sarahstockdale.ca/
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sarahstockdale
Growclass: https://www.growclass.co/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Ana Lorena Fabrega - How to raise the next generation kids in an unconventional way!

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 11:06:03 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Ana Lorena Fábrega is an edupreneur, writer, and Chief Evangelist at Synthesis. Growing up, she attended ten schools in seven different countries. She then earned her BS in Childhood Education and Special Education from New York University and taught elementary school in New York, Boston, and Panama. Today, Ana Lorena writes online to over 200,000 readers about the promise of alternative education. You can follow her on Twitter at @anafabrega11.

Order Ana's book, "The Learning Game"

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community +Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune into this newest episode of the Undefeated Underdogs podcast where Ana and Sharath discuss the origins of education, its future, and Ana's newest book, "The Learning Game."

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
2:16: Introduction to Ana Lorena Fabrega
3:01: Ana's experience of studying in 10 different schools across 7 countries
10:40: Why Ana had to leave the education system to make an impact on education
12:49: The history and origins of the modern-day school system
20:57: The future of the school system
31:29: How Synthesis brings its tutors to life
34:28: The journey of going from teacher to edupreneur
36:40: Ana's inspirations behind being an edupreneur
40:24: Ana's work with David Perell
47:31: The creative habits for writing
55:41: Why do adults stop learning?
1:03:22: Intro to "The Learning Game", Ana's new book
1:10:26: How does the book emotionally connect to Ana?
1:13:44: Advice to parents who are unsure of the best education for their children
1:19:33: Highlights of "The Learning Game"
1:25:58: Post-book release euphoria
1:29:10: Advice for Ana from 2019 and her playbook for self-belief
1:34:00: Highs and lows of writing a full-fledged book
1:39:54: Ana's best support system while writing "The Learning Game"
1:42:18: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Graphic on Learning: https://twitter.com/5harath/status/1673492670209990660?s=20
Polina Marinova: https://twitter.com/polina_marinova?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
David Perell: https://perell.com/
Seth Godin: https://seths.blog/
"Creative Schools" by Ken Robinson: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Schools-Grassroots-Revolution-Transforming/dp/0143108069
Synthesis Math Tutor: synthesis.com/math

👉🏼 Where to find Ana Lorena Fabrega:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anafabrega11
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ICCL5l_5iT8yDzSoYLUzQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msfab_learninglab/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-lorena-fabrega-32775768/
Website: https://afabrega.com/
Synthesis: https://go.synthesis.is/ana

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://ycfounderstories.substack.com/

Steve Schlafman - This VC/founder believes being fluid in life is the ultimate ambition!

Sharath Kuruganty — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 10:46:54 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Schlaf is a Professional Transition Coach based in New York. He helps high performers in midlife manifest their next calling. He is also the creator of Where the Road Bends, a newsletter and podcast exploring personal evolutions and life transitions. In addition to being a girl dad, this is his life’s work.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Schlaf discuss how to stay present as a founder, stepping away from social media, and forming writing habits.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
2:14: Introduction to Steve Schlafman
3:18: Why Schlaf is taking a break from social media
7:28: Achieving success and goals while being online
12:21: How social media affects your work as a founder
22:13: How to build a life without social media
26:33: How to live in the present
30:00: The scariness of being present
32:15: How being present affects work and business
35:23: What success and ambition mean
48:30: What was Schlaf's experience like as a founder? What are his future plans?
53:05: How and when did Schlaf shift from Tactical Schlaf to Philosophical Schlaf
55:25: How did Schlaf start writing and what are his habits?
1:02:25: Where do founders struggle - early-stage, scaling, or other?
1:07:40: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Where to find Steve Schlafman:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/schlaf
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/schlaf
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schlaf/
Website: https://www.schlaf.co/
Newsletter and Podcast: https://wheretheroadbends.substack.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Erica Schneider - Why editing your content is as important as creating!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 16:51:52 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Erica shares lessons on content writing & editing leading B2C and B2B companies towards engagement & conversions. She's edited 3M+ words and is an amazing thought leader on Twitter and Linkedin with 70K+ followers. She's currently a Head of Content at @getgrizzle and founder at Power Your Platform.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Erica discuss the process of writing, editing, creating, and becoming a consistent thought leader.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
1:43: Introduction to Erica Schneider
2:49: How did being an English teacher help with being a creator?
5:47: Different personas required as a writer vs an editor
9:49: How can writers become editors?
11:51: Does editing stifle creativity?
13:23: Where do writers stumble in editing?
15:06: Where do you stop editing?
16:07: How to write with authority
19:10: Social media writing vs brand writing
21:44: Best types of writing types for social media
24:10: Best types of writing types for long-form content
25:03: How to become a thought leader
28:21: Day-to-day as a Head of Content
31:05: How does data help as a writer?
32:57: Why did Erica start a Twitter following?
35:26: How to make it work on social
36:40: How to manage idea blasts as a writer
39:10: How to manage envy and competition
42:35: Balance between consuming and creating content
45:38: Day-to-day as a mom
48:15: Editing and writing habits
50:25: Becoming an authentic person online
52:56: Rapid Fire 5: From favorite creator to favorite book
1:00:00: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Amanda Natividad: https://amandanat.com/
Best Book for Kids: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/283676.The_Story_of_the_Little_Mole_Who_Went_in_Search_of_Whodunit
Kaitlyn Arford: https://kaitlynarford.com/
Kasey Jones: https://twitter.com/ABetterJones

👉🏼 Where to find Erica Schneider:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericasmyname
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-schneider66/
Website: https://www.ericaschneider.me/
Power Your Platform: https://poweryourplatform.carrd.co/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Jared Kleinert - This TED speaker is changing the way startup retreats happen!

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 11:40:21 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Jared Kleinert is the Founder/CEO of Offsite, the author of NETWORKING, a TED speaker, a 3-time award-winning author, and USA Today's "Most Connected Millennial". He was also a delegate to President Obama's 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Malaysia, author of multiple books including the "#1 Entrepreneurship Book of 2015", 2 Billion Under 20: How Millennials are Breaking Down Age Barriers and Changing The World (2015), 3 Billion Under 30 (2017), and "Networking: How To Meet Influential People, Deepen Relationships, and Become A Super-Connector" (2022), and TED@IBM speaker.

If you're planning a team retreat, Offsite can save you time, money, and stress. Visit www.offsite.com to learn more!

Offsite is on Product Hunt. Check the launch here: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/offsite

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Jared discuss becoming an entrepreneur at a young age, the power of cold emailing, the advantages of being young today, and growing Offsite.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:28: Introduction to Jared Kleinert, founder at Offsite and TED Speaker before the age of 20
2:13: How Jared's journey to becoming an entrepreneur started at 16
7:30: The influence and background of being a young entrepreneur - the why and the how
10:46: How to cold email for success
12:30: Cold outreach: annoying or ambitious?
16:32: Advice for Gen Z on building their careers
18:53: Founding a consulting business at 18
23:28: How has working with role models at an early age impacted Jared's life?
27:06: How to build peer and mentor networks?
29:27: Lessons from community building
31:56: Inspiration for writing 3 books before the age of 25
33:48: Why young people hold more power than ever
37:41: The advantage of being young in 2023
42:41: Managing comparison as a founder
47:13: The story of building Offsite
55:47: Difficulties of building Offsite
59:41: Transitioning from a service business to a software business
1:00:26: Next steps for Offsite
1:03:18: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Offsite: www.offsite.com
Offsite Product Hunt Launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/offsite
Jared's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/jared_kleinert_why_millennials_today_hold_more_power_than_ever_before
Jared's Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jared-Kleinert/author/B00OH47AIA?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

👉🏼 Where to find Jared Kleinert:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaredkleinert
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredkleinert/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.kleinert/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Michelle Marceline - How to build an unfair advantage from a disadvantage!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:15:56 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Michelle Marceline is a co-founder at Typedream (W20), a no-code site, blog, and form builder, and a previous cofounder at Cotter. She's been featured on Forbes 30U30 2022, Build In Public with KP, and more!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Michelle discuss founding Typedream (YC W20) with a co-founding team of 5, immigrant hunger, pivoting their startup repeatedly, and growing Typedream from 0 to N.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
2:40: Introduction to Michelle, co-founder at Typedream (YC W20)
3:46: Michelle's journey from immigrant to Green Card holder
7:50: Typedream's founding story: 5 founders, from fintech to no-code builder
15:38: Pivoting a company during Y Combinator: The ups and downs
19:30: Starting up again as a team post-acquisition
20:55: Typedream's Zero -> One Go-To-Market strategy
23:08: Product Hunt's impact on growing Typedream
27:28: Typedream's Build in Public Strategy
30:02: Michelle's day-to-day as a non-technical founder
33:14: The toughest part of being a founder
34:54: Lessons learned as Typedream grows from One -> N
36:43: Typedream's Creator Community and how it helps the company grow
37:23: Does Building in Public help One -> N growth?
39:02: Battle-tested Go-To-Market lessons
42:42: Typedream's soft pivot into a content creator setup
47:01: Outreach to Typedream's ideal creators: the how, why, and impacts
49:07: Typedream's craziest creation stories
50:35: Typedream's darkest hours
52:07: Michelle's role models
53:21: The importance of immigrant hunger in building
56:50: Closing thoughts for founders
58:13: Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

Shaan Puri: https://www.shaanpuri.com/
Sam Parr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parrsam
My First Million Podcast: https://www.mfmpod.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Michelle Marceline:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michwirantono
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-marcelline
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michwirantono/
Typedream (YC W20): https://typedream.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Abhishek Kankani - Getting into YC, $11.6M seed funding, building Dyte, a dev-friendly video SDK!

Sharath Kuruganty — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 13:01:44 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Abhishek Kankani is the founder of Dyte (YC W21), building the future of real-time communication. He is on the Forbes 30 Under 30 and has been featured on GQ, Cup Noodles To Career, and Sequoia! Listen to his founder and career journey here.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Abhishek discuss founding Dyte (YC W21) during the pandemic, communication in a remote world, and building conviction in yourself as a newbie founder.

Dyte (YC W21) is building the future of real-time communication. Integrate programmable, and easily customizable live video and voice into your web, mobile, and desktop applications with just a few lines of code.

Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
2:10: Introduction to Abhishek, founder at Dyte (YC W21)
3:14: Dyte's backstory: founding, first customers, cofounders
7:46: Creating Dyte: Drive and conviction as first-time founders
15:02: Quitting full-time jobs for Dyte - pre-YC!
18:50: Dyte's first MVP and finding the very first customer
21:54: Dyte's journey: Zero -> YC -> One
25:53: How to apply for YC pre-PMF
35:08: Learnings from YC
41:25: Dyte's mission and pivots from YC
44:10: Prioritizing long-term product vision vs immediate customer needs
48:15: Different methods of reaching PMF
1:00:03: $12M in funding: Goals, targets, methods
1:05:43: Ryan Hoover as a board member
1:08:10: Handling competition in a crowded market
1:12:58: Next steps and a pivot at Dyte
1:14:47: Using Dyte as a non-technical builder
1:16:37: Closing thoughts for founders
1:19:24: Outro

👉🏼 Where to find Abhishek Kankani:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KankaniAbhishek
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishekkankani
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abhishekkankani/
Dyte (YC W21): https://dyte.io/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Adam Draper - Why is storytelling so important in the world of startups and VC!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 13:06:24 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Adam Draper (Managing Director at Boost VC, Board Member at SkyBound) is a legacy in the venture capital world. One of the first VCs to jump into the world of crypto, he has a front-view seat into the future of tech. He's also the author of "Breakfast With Pops", the guide to venture capital for beginners.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in to hear Sharath and Adam talk about the importance of storytelling in startups, building conviction as a founder, and the importance of trust in the world of finance, startups, and VC.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
01:14 | Intro to Adam Draper - the coolest VC in town
7:00 | Boost VC logo - its origin story and meaning
11:33 | Adam's book: "Breakfast with Pops" and why we need an intro to venture capital
14:30 | Adam's adventures outside of his venture capital legacy
21:20 | How Adam's unique venture capital talent helps founders
26:35 | Why is storytelling so important in the world of startups and venture capital?
28:16 | Non-obvious problems founders face
35:05| Founder personality traits Boost VC looks for
43:16 | How founders can build conviction in themselves and their work
50:09 | Why VC is a service job
54:45 | The importance of trust in the startup and VC world
57:17 | Common mistakes by early-stage founders
1:03:34 | What Adam looks for in a founder pitch
1:13:40 | Adam's worst experience in venture capital
1:22:08 | Rapid Fire 5: Crazy founder story, biggest miss by Boost VC, favorite investment, and more
1:39:13 | Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

George Shultz, "Trust is the coin of the realm": https://www.hoover.org/research/trust-coin-realm
Tim Draper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Draper
Bill Draper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Draper_III
Mark Andreessen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen
Shamez Kanji (Devonshire Partners):
Make School: https://makeschool.org/
Chris Dixon: https://cdixon.org/
Brian Armstrong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Armstrong_(businessman)
Fred Wilson: https://avc.com/
Launcher: https://www.launcherspace.com/
Max Haot: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxhaot/
MeasureX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurex
Ben Horowitz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Horowitz
Radiant: https://www.radiantnuclear.com/
Brayton Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/braytonwilliams

👉🏼 Where to find Adam Draper:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdamDraper
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adraper
Email: adam@boost.vc
Boost VC: https://www.boost.vc/
Book, "Breakfast With Pops": https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Dan Westgarth - How to establish yourself as a leader in tech!

Sharath Kuruganty — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 10:16:48 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Dan Westgarth (COO at Deel, ex-Revolut, Expansion Capital) is the COO of Deel, building everything you need to scale a global team. Dan has been building businesses since he was 10 and is now breaking down international borders, allowing companies and workers across the world to come together.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Dan discuss Dan's fintech career journey, the immigrant hustle, and his main customer-forward learnings.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
00:30 | Intro to Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel
1:37 | Schedule of a COO: Priorities, customer support, and more
3:16 | How to prioritize a new project
5:18 | Dan's first business at age 10: PlayStations, cell phones, and beyond
7:28 | The best part about running any business
9:35 | Business lessons from 10-year-old Dan
12:36 | The immigrant hustle: How Dan got his hunger
15:50 | How Deel is changing the world of immigration
18:09 | Dan's journey to tech and COO at Deel
20:10 | How to take care of your customers so they never leave
21:51 | Going from Product Management to COO Learnings from both sides
22:40 | What Product Management and Ops have in common
24:06 | How networking helped Dan become COO at Deel
26:13 | What COOs can learn from General Managers
29:05 | Dan's learning frameworks to get info fast
31:25 | How to shrug off imposter syndrome
33:18 | Exciting updates at Deel: automating HR, reducing admin work
36:00 | Advice for people breaking into tech
38:30 | Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

Deel: http://deel.com/
LegalPad: https://legalpad.io/

👉🏼 Where to find Dan Westgarth:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanWestgarth
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-westgarth-710650a4/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Dr. Julie Gurner - How to unlock your peak performance to achieve success!

Sharath Kuruganty — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 15:30:48 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Julie Gurner (seen in WSJ, Forbes, Vox, and more) is a doctor of psychology and executive performance coach with nearly a decade of experience working with some of the nation's top tech and finance executives and teams.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Dr. Gurner discuss the habits, frameworks, and thought patterns that help founders and startup employees reach their peak performance points!

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:42 | Intro to Dr. Julie Gurner
2:52 | What does peak performance mean?
4:05 | What does being an executive performance coach mean?
5:43 | Dr. Gurner's recommended frameworks to create urgency in anything you do
8:20 | Dr. Gurner's entry into the executive coaching world
11:05 | How Dr. Gurner picked her niche in tech and finance
14:50 | The struggles of VC founders and why they face difficulties
17:48 | Founder struggles: money, thought patterns, and more
19:30 | Why founders fear failure
21:47 | Why founders hire executive coaches
25:50 | The founder-coach relationship
28:46 | First habits to be fixed as founders
32:39 | Best work time to reach max capacity
35:28 | Habits to implement and ones to avoid
40:16 | Balancing positive and negative motivation as a founder
42:30 | Dr. Gurner's #1 Framework
45:30 | How to define and measure peak success
47:56 | Questions to ask yourself to know your goals
52:00 | Role of AI in coaching
55:30 | Maintaining consistent confidence and conviction as a founder
59:15 | Setting expectations in Startups
1:03:10 | RapidFire 5: From worst founder habit to the best meal and more!
1:06:39 | Closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Oprah Winfrey's Stanford Business School Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DlrqeWrczs
Tom House, coach to Tom Brady: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_House

👉🏼 Where to find Dr. Julie Gurner:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drgurner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgurner/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julie-gurner/
Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Julie-Gurner
Website: https://www.drgurner.com/
Ultra Successful Newsletter: https://drgurner.substack.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Aprilynne Alter - How to begin your journey as a YouTube creator!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 11:26:02 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Aprilynne Alter (ex-Wall Street, published in Business Insider, FounderStory, The Tilt) is a content creator and YouTuber with 19K+ Twitter followers and 23K+ Youtube followers. She's an NFT maker and course maker, with courses teaching people how to create and popularize their YouTube channels according to their expertise.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Aprilynne discuss pivoting from Wall Street to creating content, the building in public lifestyle, and the various YouTube tips and tricks that shot Aprilynne into popularity!

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:28 | Intro to Aprilynne Alter
2:45 | How Ali Abdaal inspired Aprilynne to start on YouTube
6:45 | The barriers to creating on YouTube: How Aprilynne overcame camera shyness, lack of editing skills, and no equipment
10:45 | YouTube 101: Aprilynne's playbook
17:00 | Aprilynne's favorite (free!) YouTube resources
19:00 | How to become a creator with a full-time job
23:30 | The important parts of YouTube: Editing, tools, and more
28:06 | How becoming a creator changed Aprilynne's life
32:31 | Downsides of ownership as a creator
33:40 | Aprilynne's Creator Routine: How to plan, ideate, and record videos
36:30 | How to get over creative blocks
40:15 | Balancing creation and popularity statistics as a creator
42:50 | Youtube 201: Setting prices, monetizing your channel, and more
46:55 | How to get over limiting beliefs as a creator
50:00 | The truth of YouTube shorts in the algorithm
52:39 | Aprilynne's Building in Public secrets and methodology
57:49 | The power of community as an indie maker
1:01:10 | The unconventional way of growing on YouTube
1:03:09 | Why YouTube wins out over other channels to grow a following
1:06:40 | How to storyboard a YouTube video to make it super clear
1:08:40 | Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

Ali Abdaal: https://aliabdaal.com/
Cathrin Manning: https://cathrinmanning.com/
Daniel Vassallo's Small Bets Community: https://dvassallo.gumroad.com/l/small-bets
Edius Net - Editing videos: https://www.edius.net/info.html

👉🏼 Where to find Aprilynne Alter:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AprilynneAlter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilynnealter
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aprilynnealter
NFT Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NFTsSimplified/videos
Personal Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AprilynneAlter
Website: https://www.aprilynnealter.com/
Why Aprilynne Alter Stopped NFT Content Even Though She Was Making Good Money: https://www.thetilt.com/content-entrepreneur/aprilynne-alter-nft-content
I launched an NFT collection with no experience and made 3 big mistakes. Here's what I should've done instead: https://www.businessinsider.com/launched-nft-no-experience-3-mistakes-not-to-make-2022-3?IR=T
Aprilynne Alter on Tenderfoot - a startup connecting students with internships: https://www.founderstory.io/aprilynne-alter-tenderfoot/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Brian Swartz - On a mission to make remote work actually work!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 25 May 2023 14:48:10 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Brian Swartz (ex-Startup Chile, NeighborSchools) is a 2x venture-backed founder who sold his last company NeighborSchools. He is currently working on a stealth startup improving remote work and the way we show up as teams. They are on a mission to improve connectivity & real-time collaboration among remote teams. Brian is all about building startups, teams, and software products to solve big hairy real-world problems.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Brian discuss pivoting from international development to the startup world, what it takes to be a good CEO, remote work, and more!

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
0:29 | Intro to Brian Swartz
1:54 | Brian's journey creating and navigating NeighborSchools through covid
12:02 | How Brian's experience in Uganda international development impacted his journey as a founder
15:00 | Creating a product with empathy - even if it has nothing to do with your personal experience
20:32 | Brian's failed startup ideas
23:50 | Brian's newest startup: Remote work and connectivity
29:50 | Swivel's platform for impactful work: What does productivity mean?
39:50 | Why did Brian choose to work in stealth instead of building in public?
41:15 | Brian's transition from international development to working in startups on remote work
46:20 | Swivel's next steps: Beta testing, team building, and coming out of stealth!
50:00 | Brian's important lessons for next-gen founders

👉🏼 Where to find Brian Swartz:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bswartzzz
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianswartz

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Mindaugas Petrutis - How to become a design expert without having a design degree.

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 10:17:26 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Mindaugas Petrutis (ex-InVision, ex-On Deck) is the founder of Coho, leading community-based cohorts in learning data science, design, marketing, and more. He founded On Deck's Design Fellowship and was the Head of EMEA Community at InVision. He loves building relationships, connecting the dots between humans, systems, and problems and simplifying complex ideas. Mindaugus is currently based in Lisbon 🇵🇹 with his rescue dogs, Rina and Mya.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Mindaugus discuss starting a design recruitment agency with no experience in design, his childhood in Soviet Lithuania, cool initiatives at Coho, and more!

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:45 | Intro to Mindaugas Petrutis
2:28 | Mindaugas' journey from bartender to tech and design
10:21 | Mindaugas' childhood in Soviet Lithuania
16:18 | How was it starting a design recruitment agency with no design experience?
22:03 | The biggest phone call of Mindaugas' life
24:22 | What was the process of learning design while being a design recruiter?
26:19 | How did Mindaugas land up at InVision after being an entrepreneur?
35:38 | 5 things Mindaugas is proud of building at InVision
41:26 | Transitioning from InVision to On Deck
47:20 | What are Mindaugas' tips for community-based businesses?
53:33 | The journey building out Coho
56:08 | Cool initiatives at Coho
1:02:38 | What is it like living in Europe's hottest startup hub?
1:05:54 | How has Mindaugas' leadership evolved over the years?
1:08:16 | How is each team-building experience different?
1:10:13 | The deal with cheesecakes
1:11:58 | Outro

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

On Deck: https://www.beondeck.com/
InVision: https://www.invisionapp.com/
Coho: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joincoho/

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Clair Byrd: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/clair-byrd
Erika Batista: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikabatista
Erik Torenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriktorenberg/

👉🏼 Where to find Mindaugas Petrutis:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindaugas_petrutis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindaugasLT
Linkedin: https://pt.linkedin.com/in/mindaugaspetrutis

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Justin Welsh - Learn the art of solopreneurship from a mastermind!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 12:25:15 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Justin Welsh is the writer of the Saturday Solopreneur, a weekly newsletter with 90K+ subscribers, as well as the founder of a boutique advisory firm for entrepreneurs and creator of digital products for creators. He is also an angel investor, a mentor to entrepreneurs in LATAM with 500 Startups, and an LP at GTM Fund, a rolling fund investing $4 million per year into early-stage B2B SaaS companies.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Justin discuss burnout, building alone, and the journey of being transparent as you build.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:33 | Intro to Justin Welsh
3:05 | Why become a solo entrepreneur, when building a team is possible?
5:48 | How burnout impacted Justin's life design
8:17 | What does freedom mean to Justin?
10:40 | What triggered Justin into his current path as a writer and product builder?
14:01 | What has Justin tried, failed at, and what has he learned?
17:30 | Blueprint on pricing yourself as a consultant or freelancer
21:15 | The balance between building a niche and building various products
24:26 | When was the Saturday Solopreneur born?
26:52 | If Justin could begin his entrepreneurial journey all over again, what would he do?
30:46 | How Justin built his "publish everything" mindset
33:28 | What is the best way of building systems as a solopreneur?
35:36 | How do you know you need to hire a virtual assistant?
38:36 | How Justin deals with being anxious for the next day
42:12 | Justin's method for dealing with self-doubt
46:15 | How does one access cutting-edge ideas from remote areas?
48:55 | What is Justin's source of inspiration?
51:21 | Justin's tips on the journey of being transparent
53:55 | Advice for people beginning their career journeys
57:23 | Rapid Fire 5: Favorite product, best recent book, and more!
1:03:23 | Outro

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Starbucks Method: https://www.oreilly.com/content/the-eight-rules-of-good-documentation/
The Saturday Solopreneur: https://www.justinwelsh.me/blog/
Virtual Assistant Site: https://academy.surgedigital.agency/
"How to Get Rich" thread: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936
Growth in Reverse: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/growth-in-reverse
Ooni Koda 16 - Gas Powered Portable Pizza Oven: https://eu.ooni.com/pages/explore-koda-16
Die With Zero: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52950915
4,000 Weeks: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54785515

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Chenell Basilio: https://twitter.com/chenellco
Dan Koe: https://thedankoe.com/
Jack Butcher: https://twitter.com/jackbutcher
Daniel Vassado: https://dvassallo.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Justin Welsh:

Website: https://www.justinwelsh.me/
The Saturday Solopreneur: https://www.justinwelsh.me/blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thejustinwelsh
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwelsh

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Ben Putano - Writing is a meta-skill every founder should focus on!

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 11:25:45 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Ben Putano is a CEO and book publisher for entrepreneurs and innovators at damngravity.com and a writing coach at Great Founders Write - a 5-week, cohort-based course that helps entrepreneurs build a consistent and confident writing habit. He is also the author of 'Great Founders Write' and merchant of big ideas.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Ben discuss building a writing habit, the process of making a book happen, and the trademarks of being a writer.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:08 | Intro to Ben Putano
2:44 | The process of writing a book
5:20 | How Ben figured out writing was his path forward
6:58 | How to identify as a writer
10:00 | Finding your niche as a writer
12:53 | Ben's entry into publishing
14:48 | How to turn a book into reality
18:04 | How Ben's cohort and Damn Gravity helps founders write
21:06 | What are the variables that make a book successful?
25:28 | Ben's Writing Framework: ABC-123
29:18 | Examples of great copywriting for founders
32:04 | Copywriting vs book writing
36:07 | Reasons to join a writing cohort for founders
40:00 | The focus of Ben's writing cohort, "Great Founders Write"
46:50 | Tips for founders to make writing a part of their daily routine
53:16 | Why is writing important for founders?
55:20 | Closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so
Great Founders Write: https://www.damngravity.com/books/greatfounderswrite
Damn Gravity Media: https://www.damngravity.com/books/greatfounderswrite

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

William Zinsser: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Zinsser
Justin Moore: https://twitter.com/justinmooretfam
Grant Nissly: https://twitter.com/grant_nissly

👉🏼 Where to find Ben Putano:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenjaminPutano
Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-putano
Great Founders Write: https://www.damngravity.com/books/greatfounderswrite-cohort
Damn Gravity: https://www.damngravity.com

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Tibo & Tom - How to take a SaaS startup from idea to a $1M exit!

Sharath Kuruganty — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 00:53:12 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guests:

Tibo and Tom are the cofounders of Tweethunter.io, a product that helps you up your Twitter game. After meeting at graduate school, they went on to team up across several startups (Taplio, Tweethunter.io, PonyExpress), finally creating Tweethunter.io and scaling it from $0 to a $1M exit.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath, Tom, and Tibo discuss building trust in your cofounders, coming back after failure, and building a large empire in the business world.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
1:40 | Intro to Tom Jacquesson & Tibo Louis-Lucas
2:57 | How Tibo sold his first product
4:06 | Meeting your cofounder: How Tom & Tibo met
9:58 | When to give up on your product
13:50 | Signals to stop working on your startup
18:40 | Life post first failed startup
25:00 | Teachings from the first failure
31:19 | How to establish trust as cofounders
37:36 | Setting goals while building Tweethunter.io
42:40 | Defining a startup's "aha!" moment
45:25 | The risks founders take
50:13 | Bringing on a third cofounder - the hows, whys, and whats
53:37 | Tips to scale your business
1:00:02 | Tom & Tibo's startup mistakes
1:04:26 | Can you build a $1M company by being part-time?
1:07:46 | Bootstrapping vs Venture Capital: thoughts from founders that have done both
1:11:43 | Emotions on Tweethunter.io's sale
1:16:41 | Closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so
Tweethunter.io: https://tweethunter.io/
Pistache App: http://www.pistache-app.com/
PonyExpress: https://ponyexpress.studio/

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

JK Molina: https://jkmolina.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Tom Jacquesson:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomjacquesson
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasjacquesson/
Tweethunter.io: https://tweethunter.io/
Taplio: https://taplio.com/
Pistache App: http://www.pistache-app.com/
PonyExpress: https://ponyexpress.studio/

👉🏼 Where to find Tibo Louis-Lucas:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tibo_maker
Linkedin: https://fr.linkedin.com/in/thibaultll/
Taplio: https://taplio.com/
Pistache App: http://www.pistache-app.com/
PonyExpress: https://ponyexpress.studio/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Rand Fishkin - How anyone can be legendary at marketing!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 10:36:39 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, makers of fine audience research software. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, videos, speaking, and his book, Lost and Founder. When Rand’s not working, he’s usually cooking a fancy meal for the love of his life, author Geraldine DeRuiter. If you bribe him with great pasta or fancy cocktails, he’ll pull back the curtain on big tech’s dark secrets.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
0:48 | Intro to Rand Fishkin
2:56 | What drew Rand to a career in marketing?
6:20 | Rand's SEO mentors
10:09 | What made Rand bet on SEO?
16:01 | Moving from consulting to software
19:41 | The non-scalability of consulting vs the omnipresence of tech
28:47 | Rand's experience with depression as a founder
37:03 | Rand's 3-Step Framework for startup founders
43:08 | The mistakes founders make while marketing
46:43 | Community's role in marketing
52:42 | The secret to an uber-profitable 3-person startup team
59:48 | Building the 'contentment' muscle
1:07:11 | Marketing trends from 2023
1:11:01 | Rapid Fire 5: Rand's favorite marketing person to meeting Oprah for the first time
1:19:31 | Wrapping up

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so
SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/
"Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World": https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Founder-Painfully-Honest-Startup/dp/0735213321
Moz: https://moz.com
FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Noncompete Clauses, Which Hurt Workers and Harm Competition: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-proposes-rule-ban-noncompete-clauses-which-hurt-workers-harm-competition

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Amanda Natividad: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/8
Aaron Wall: http://www.seobook.com/about.shtml
Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin of Check My Ads: https://twitter.com/CheckMyAdsHQ
Nathan of ConvertKit: https://nathanbarry.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Rand Fishkin:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/randfish
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@randfish
SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/
"Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World": https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Founder-Painfully-Honest-Startup/dp/0735213321

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Peter Yang - Why creators should think like product founders!

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 12:16:46 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Peter Yang (Roblox, ex-Reddit, ex-Credit Karma, ex-Twitter, ex-Twitch, ex-Facebook, ex-Microsoft) is the creator of several product management courses, from Odyssey in Web3 to Launching Your Product Management Career with Maven. He is also the author of two awesome books The Art of Writing and Principles of Product Management, where he shares learnings on communication, leadership, and customer obsession. He is also a writer for 35,000+ subscribers at his newsletter, Creator Economy and a teacher to creators at Build For Creators.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Episode highlight
0:18 | Intro to Peter Yang
2:35 | Melding product and community
4:08 | When should founders begin building a community?
5:47 | Balancing building a product and a community for founders
8:47 | Founder's intuition vs. Product Manager's process: what's better for building?
10:54 | Revisiting processes within a company
12:47 | Peter's favorite product market framework
15:29 | Peter's Product Tips: Adoption, acquisition, activation, retention
18:29 | How to build a mission-centric community
21:02 | How to measure Community-Market Fit
25:22 | Audience vs. Community
26:54 | Creators as product managers
31:04 | The best metric for Creator-Market Fit
32:33 | S**tposting on Twitter: Pros and Cons
37:30 | Boundaries and s**tposting
40:42 | Lessons for early-stage founders from large companies
43:34 | What early-stage founders should avoid from large companies
47:53 | Rapid Fire 5: Superpower for product folks to Peter's favorite recent read

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so
Odyssey: https://www.odysseydao.com/ - 1 Million in Web3
Launching Your Product Management Career - https://maven.com/peter-yang/launch-your-product-management-career
The Art of Writing - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/49206261
Principles of Product Management - https://medium.com/@peteryang/my-book-principles-of-product-management-is-now-available-572014b13b7a
Creator Economy - http://creatoreconomy.so/
Build For Creators - https://buildforcreators.com/
"Build" by Tony Faddell - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59696349

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Ankur Nagpal - https://twitter.com/ankurnagpal/
Alexander Cohen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-cohen/
Shreyas Doshi - https://twitter.com/shreyas/
Chris Hadfield - https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/

👉🏼 Where to find Peter Yang:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/petergyang/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yangpeter/
Odyssey: https://www.odysseydao.com/ - 1 Million in Web3
Launching Your Product Management Career - https://maven.com/peter-yang/launch-your-product-management-career
The Art of Writing - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/49206261
Principles of Product Management - https://medium.com/@peteryang/my-book-principles-of-product-management-is-now-available-572014b13b7a
Creator Economy - http://creatoreconomy.so/
Build For Creators - https://buildforcreators.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Zehra Naqvi - How to enter into VC without any prior experience.

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:35:31 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Zehra Naqvi is a Senior Investment Associate at Republic and the co-founder of GLO, a clothing brand that's all about staying fresh. She is a financial economics major with a concentration in art history and is all about investing in new founders through the power of community.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:
0:17 | Highlight
0:17 | Intro to Zehra Naqvi
1:58 | How Zehra started her journey in venture capital
4:48 | Why founders make good VCs and backing non-venture ideas
10:44 | Zehra's origin story: From Hong Kong to New York
13:17 | Zehra's journey to founding her clothing brand GLO
15:49 | How Republic is handling investments during a downturn
19:31 | Trends in pre-seed funding in 2023
22:38 | Republic's founder and community initiatives
26:16 | Zehra's advice to pre-seed founders on raising money
29:24 | What makes a warm intro work?
35:09 | Zehra's lessons to people entering venture capital
38:10 | Parting thoughts

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so: https://shoutout.so/
Republic: https://republic.com/
GLO: https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/lifestyle/features/article/3067573/sisters-zehra-and-sophia-naqvis-fashion-brand-glo
Bonside: https://bonside.com/
Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Zehra:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zehranaqvi_/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zehranaqvinyc/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Arvid Kahl - Why being kind on the Internet works as a superpower!

Sharath Kuruganty — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 12:02:17 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Arvid Kahl is the founder of FeedbackPanda.com, an online teacher productivity SaaS company. He is also the author of two awesome books Zero to Sold and The Embedded Entrepreneur, where he shares how to build a business, an audience, and a path to financial independence. He is also creating the Bootstrapper’s Bookshelf, the Bootstrapped Founder Podcast, the YouTube channel, and the Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter, all for founders looking to build sustainable businesses in public.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:15 | Intro to Arvid Kahl
5:07 | Arvid's perspective on founding a new business after selling FeedbackPanda
10:52 | Why and how did Arvid move from being a founder to a creator?
15:07 | How Arvid's background impacts the way he helps people
24:46 | What excites Arvid today?
29:28 | What is Arvid's day-to-day like?
36:05 | What is going wrong in today's Build in Public space?
44:01 | Arvid's advice for beginner creators
50:55 | Beginning with passive income
56:19 | Venture funding versus bootstrapping
1:00:30 | Rapid Fire 5: Arvid's favorite creator to his current read
1:03:13 | Arvid's top 3 tips on building a Youtube audience
1:04:42 | Arvid's feedback to his past self on building FeedbackPanda
1:05:32 | Parting thoughts

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

Shoutout.so
FeedbackPanda.com
Zero to Sold
The Embedded Entrepreneur
Bootstrapper’s Bookshelf
Bootstrapped Founder Podcast
Bootstrapped Founder YouTube channel
Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter
RosieLand: Community building for a rosier future.
IndieHacker Community: Sharing the strategies and revenue numbers with other makers.
IndieHacker Podcast
"The Lost Metal", by Brandon Sanderson: Becoming a hero, while struggling with personal beliefs

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

KP: The "Build In Public" Guy (40K+ followers on Twitter)
Rosie Sherry: Community Builder (25K+ followers on Twitter)
Ashlan
Brandon Sanderson: Fantasy author

👉🏼 Where to find Arvid Kahl:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arvidkahl/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvidkahl/
Github: https://github.com/arvidkahl/
FeedbackPanda.com: http://feedbackpanda.com/
Zero to Sold: https://links.zerotosoldbook.com/book
The Embedded Entrepreneur: https://embeddedentrepreneur.com/
Bootstrapper’s Bookshelf: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/bookshelf/
Bootstrapped Founder Podcast: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/podcast/
Bootstrapped Founder YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBootstrappedFounder
Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/newsletter/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Dickie Bush - How to build a writing habit in 30 days!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 11:00:00 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Dickie Bush is the founder of the writing-centered cohort-based course, Ship 30 for 30 (5600+ students) and Typeshare (30K+ MRR), after life as a portfolio manager. He provides writing frameworks at Digital Writing Compass, as well as providing guidance to over 300K+ Twitter followers.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:40 | Intro to Dickie Bush
3:41 | What got Dickie Bush started on to writing
6:47 | Unconventional methods for writing
9:44 | Why a 30-day writing goal works best
11:58 | What was the intent behind starting Ship 30 for 30?
15:49 | How were the initial days of Ship 30 for 30 like?
18:18 | How does Dickie avoid imposter syndrome?
22:19 | Working a 9-5 as well as building a side-hustle
26:43 | Dickie Bush's vision board
30:00 | Key points to include across projects
32:34 | The beginnings of Typeshare and its journey to 30K+ MRR
35:23 | Dickie's methods to avoid procrastination
40:19 | 2022 habit journey: the bad habits given up and new ones begun
44:23 | Forming a small team for startups
47:40 | Pressure to be a social media influencer
50:54 | Rapid Fire 5: From favorite internet writer to the best blog post out there

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Maggie Bush
Jack Butcher
Nicolas Cole (Ship 30 for 30, 122.6K+ Twitter followers)
Sam Shore (Founder of Typeshare)
Derek Sivers (Author of “HOW TO LIVE: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion”, 290K+ Twitter followers)
Daniel Bustamante (15K+ Twitter followers)

👉🏼 Where to find Dickie Bush:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dickiebush
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dickiebush/
Website: https://www.dickiebush.com/
Newsletter: https://dickiebush.substack.com/
Ship 30 for 30: https://www.ship30for30.com/
Typeshare: https://typeshare.co/
Digital Writing Compass: https://digitalwritingcompass.com/
Start Writing Online: https://startwritingonline.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Amanda Natividad - Why you need to rely on first-hand experience in the age of information overload.

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 13:20:44 -0500

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Amanda Natividad is the VP of Marketing at audience research startup, SparkToro (100K+ ARR), after being a tech journalist and a test kitchen cook. While pioneering the concept of Zero-Click Content, she teaches an intermediate-level content marketing course and writes at The Menu, a weekly newsletter with 8000+ subscribers on marketing and food recipes!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:13 | Intro to Amanda Natividad
3:28 | Amanda's mindset when beginning her new career journey
7:04 | How founders can differentiate themselves with marketing and design
10:43 | Trends Amanda is seeing in marketing and content
14:05 | The best ways for creators to reach their audience directly
17:12 | How Amanda started building her fanbase for 120k+ Twitter followers
21:28 | Amanda's Twitter growth tips for 2022
30:55 | Amanda's journey to SparkToro
34:10 | Why getting comfortable with your dreams is essential
40:46 | How 3 people manage a 100K+ ARR business at SparkToro
44:25 | SparkToro's tips on acquiring customers
47:42 | Differences between working on a small vs. large team
52:32 | Amanda's tips for people in the business of grabbing attention
54:24 | Amanda's take on Zero Click Content
58:28 | How Amanda gained 4000+ subscriptions for a healthy snack subscription
1:05:04 | Amanda's day-to-day as a mom, creator, and startup operator
1:08:45 | Rapid Fire 5: From Amanda's favorite snack to the best marketing book out there

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt
Rand Fishkin of SparkToro (467K+ followers)

👉🏼 Where to find Amanda Natividad:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandanat
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandanat/
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@amandanat
Website: https://amandanat.com/
SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/
The Menu: https://amandanat.substack.com/
Content Marketing Course: https://maven.com/amandanat/content-marketing
Zero-Click Content: https://sparktoro.com/blog/zero-click-content-the-counterintuitive-way-to-succeed-in-a-platform-native-world/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Jay Clouse - How to be an all-rounder creator!

Sharath Kuruganty — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 11:00:00 -0500

About the Guest:
👉🏼 Jay Clouse is a creator and entrepreneur, producing the popular newsletter, Creator Science, and the podcast Creative Elements (1M+ downloads!), exploring all the ways you can make a living with your art and creativity. He has sold two companies he has co-founded and has led the Community Experience team for Pat Flynn and Smart Passive Income, designing their paid membership community and cohort-based course programs.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Timestamps:

0:44 | Intro to Jay Clouse
2:18 | What is a creator?
3:32 | Creators vs Artists: What is the difference?
6:26 | Is creating a science or an art?
8:07 | How Jay treats Creator Science and data
9:49 | What inspired Jay to start looking at data for creators?
12:46 | Can looking at data be too tiring for creators?
17:47 | How does Jay format his experiments?
22:37 | How does Jay balance experimentation, iteration, and creation?
26:24 | What are the best KPIs to measure as a creator?
29:38 | What YouTube trends are popular in the industry?
33:30 | Expert tips for beginner podcasters!
36:17 | Building an affiliate program as a content creator
39:06 | What are the qualities of a successful creator?
40:47 | How does competition emerge between creators?
44:04 | Jay's tips for balancing full-time work and creating
46:19 | Jay's Rapid Fire 5: From the best YouTube channels to his perspective on standing out from the crowd
50:46 | Jay's shoutout to someone awesome!
52:05 | Conclusion and where to find Jay

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

Chris McAlister of SightShift

👉🏼 Where to find Jay Clouse:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayclouse
Website: https://jayclouse.com/
Creator Science: https://creatorscience.com/
Podcast: https://www.creativeelements.fm/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Justin Jackson - A conversation with the zen-minded bootstrapper!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:39:40 -0500

Show Notes

👉🏼 About the Guest:
Justin Jackson is a veteran entrepreneur, founder, podcaster, writer, and community builder. He is the co-founder of Transistor.fm, a platform that helps you distribute your podcast to multiple platforms seamlessly. He runs a private community for bootstrappers called MegaMaker, hosts a podcast Build your SaaS, and writes at bootstrap a SaaS. Some of Justin's posts immediately inspire you and puts you on the path to take action. In short, Justin is a jack of all trades.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

Thinking of starting a podcast? Justin shared a step by step guide: https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/

👉🏼 Where to find Justin Jackson:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mijustin
MegaMaker: https://megamaker.co/
Build your SaaS: https://saas.transistor.fm/
Newsletter: https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Warren Shaeffer - How to think and act like a venture-backed founder!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:19:25 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:
Warren Shaeffer is a seasoned entrepreneur, 3x founder, dad, writer, and 1st gen immigrant. He built three companies in the past and sold them to giants like Giphy. Notably, his latest startup Knowably was sold to Medium. Overall he raised more than $12M from some of the world's best investors, including Andreesen Horowitz, Initialized Capital, and First Round Capital. He preaches and practices transparency, vulnerability, and authenticity. Currently, he serves as a VP at Medium and shares his tips of raising venture capital.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Resources mentioned in the pod:

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

👉🏼 Where to find Warren Shaeffer:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwshaef
Medium: https://medium.com/@warrenshaeffer

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/

Anne-Laure Le Cunff - The story of a Philomath who never stops creating!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 11:00:00 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:
Anne-Laure is a writer, founder, serial maker, and neuroeducation Ph.D. researcher. She founded Ness Labs, a collective that provides content, coaching, courses, and community to help makers put their minds to work. She also runs Maker Mind a weekly newsletter packed with neuroscience-based insights to be more productive and more creative. Currently, it serves around 30k subscribers. She also gathered and built an audience of close to 60k on Twitter.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Resources Mentioned in the pod:

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

👉🏼 Important Links for Anne-Laure:

Follow her on Twitter @anthilemoon
Ness Labs
Maker Mind
YouTube

👉🏼 Important Links for Sharath:

Shriya Nevatia - How to make a career in the community space!

Sharath Kuruganty — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:16:54 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:
Shriya Nevatia is a founder, community builder, angel investor, and mentor. She is currently a General Manager at Sylva and previously led On Deck Catalyst, a remote program for young tech leaders dubbed as one of the most successful programs in On Deck's history. Shriya comes with a ton of experience in the community space with over 10yrs building in-person and online communities. She is also a Founder & CEO of The Violet Society, a community for ambitious female & non-binary people in tech.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Shoutouts to awesome people:

👉🏼 Important Links (Shriya Nevatia):

👉🏼 Important Links (Sharath):

David Perell - Unpacking the mind of The Writing Guy!

Sharath Kuruganty — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:56:11 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:
David is a founder, writer, podcaster, and educator. His course Write of Passage helped thousands of people break writer’s blocks and turned them into amazing writers. David accumulated a community of 350K+ Twitter audience and frequently hosts The Northstar podcast where he interviews interesting founders, creators, artists, and more. He is a big proponent of the Internet and firmly believes everyone should be a citizen of it.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.

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👉🏼 Important Links (David Perell):

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Jack Butcher - From couch-surfing to building a million-dollar business!

Sharath Kuruganty — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 13:54:08 -0400

👉🏼 About the Guest:
Jack Butcher is a designer, founder, and creator of many things. He is famously recognized for the courses he created where he teaches how to productize yourself and build leverage on top of it. His minimalistic posters are iconic and inspire you to take action. His two successful courses - How to Visualize Value, a playbook for creating meaningful visual communication; Build Once Sell Twice, where he teaches his process for creating digital products and taking VV's revenue to over $100K/month; and Compound Content, where you will learn everything about handling SEO and building an organic strategy for your online business.

👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20K using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's Shelf alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Resources Mentioned:

👉🏼 Important Links (Jack Butcher):

👉🏼 Important Links (Sharath):