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Traction: How Startups Start | NextView Ventures

In this story-driven show from seed-stage VC NextView, tech startup founders, executives, journalists, and investors share how they gained initial traction against the odds. Every startup hears that they should do things that don't scale -- scrappy, atypical, whatever-it-takes things. Traction asks a simple question: What ARE those things? With a unique sound that avoids the boring, typical talking head format, Traction features some of the most interesting early-stage stories, tactics, and theories from some of the best entrepreneurs today. For all episodes plus exclusive resources for early-stage startups, subscribe at nextviewvc.com/blog.
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Traction: How Startups Start | NextView Ventures
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Now displaying: 2015
Dec 10, 2015

Hilary Mason, founder at Fast Forward Labs and Data Scientist in Residence at Accel Partners, debunks some of the myths around startups being "data-driven." In addition, she tackles some complex but critical topics and translates them for the rest of us. This episodes includes...

1) A clear definition of what data science actually is (and should be)

2) Hard truth about how much a startup should actually value its data

3) The evolution of the field of data science, who should use it, and where it's going and why

Follow Hilary @hmason and visit fastforwardlabs.com to learn more.

And let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @jayacunzo.

You can also subscribe to receive every episode plus weekly insights and resources about gaining startup traction: goo.gl/4eP9Ch

Nov 24, 2015

Ben Einstein, Founder/Partner of BOLT, an early-stage VC investing in hardware startups, shares the stories of several connected devices and hardware companies and their tricks and challenges. We compare and contrast software to hardware in this episode, examining three core aspects of building any company:

1) Building early products (customer dev, prototypes, etc.)

2) Acquiring initial customers (including one "magic" number Ben proposes for a hardware startup to reach)

3) Raising seed capital. (In a fun rant, Ben addresses his fellow investors and tells them how they need to change their approaches to hardware startups and their founders.)

Follow Ben @beneinstein and visit bolt.io to learn more.

And let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @jayacunzo

You can also subscribe to receive all NextView projects focused on helping startups gain initial traction, as well as episodes of the show. Click here: goo.gl/4eP9Ch

Nov 12, 2015

Sandi MacPherson, Founder of Quibb, a private community of tech tastemakers sharing professional content and discussions, tells the story of creating an application-only social network. She also shares her vision for an important project helping address the lack of women in tech: the 50/50 Pledge. In this episode, you'll hear...

1) The mission behind the great 50/50 Pledge (visit 5050pledge.com to learn more)

2) How an application-only model for a social network affects your model and early traction (and why it's CRUCIAL that Quibb use this model).

3) How Sandi has been able to build a social network where thoughtful, meaningful, and human conversations actually happen in the comments. (Are we sure this is the internet?)

Follow Sandi @sandimac and apply to join Quibb at quibb.com.

And let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @jayacunzo.

You can also subscribe to receive all NextView projects focused on helping startups gain initial traction, as well as episodes of the show. Click here: goo.gl/4eP9Ch

Oct 29, 2015

In this episode, Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of Duck Duck Go and author of Traction, the book (no connection to this show), shares the story of building a search engine to compete with Google, battle privacy concerns, and gain initial traction with an atypical product. You'll also hear...

1) The framework behind the popular book, Traction: How to get traction and seek explosive growth for your startup ... with an actual plan and purpose. The framework is called "Bullseye."

2) Common pitfalls to avoid when testing various channels and moving through this traction framework, including what timeframe and dollar amount to focus on while testing.

Follow Gabriel @yegg and learn more about the second edition of the book, Traction at tractionbook.com

And let me know what you think of the show -- tweet me (Jay Acunzo) @jayacunzo.

*NEW: Check out the NextView platform of resources for startup traction. Visit nextviewventures.com/platform or subscribe

Oct 9, 2015

Exciting times ahead! Just a quick preview. Send us feedback anytime by tweeting me @jayacunzo

Sep 23, 2015

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

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

2) The domino effect of thinking and operating that way at first and how this led to the SaaS startup success that is Mattermark today.

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

 

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

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

Sep 2, 2015

NYC's Vin Vacanti of Yipit -- In this episode of Traction, we tell the story of Vin Vacanti, co-founder/CEO of Yipit (daily deals aggregator) and YipitData (analyzes web data for institutional investors). This episode features a really great story with some very tangible lessons and tactics that Vin willingly shares, including...

1) Why Vin and his co-founder taught themselves to code long before it was common -- and well before any tools existed to shortcut your learning the ropes. As a result, Vin has a great framework for deciding if this is a viable path for your product.

2) Exactly how Vin launched Yipit.com and built his list to the initial 10K and 50K users.

3) Why Vin decided to pivot the business (read: launch a second startup) and what he learned going from B2C to B2B.

Listeners should also check out Vin's blog, ViniciusVacanti.com

BONUS: Subscribe to nextviewvc.com/blog by September 10, 2015, for a special mini-episode with Vin's framework for non-technical founders to decide whether they need a technical co-founder, featuring a special guest!

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

Aug 20, 2015

Scott Belsky -- co-founder/CEO of Behance.

Brand. Mission. Emotion. These are things that, perhaps surprisingly to some, are still not widely preached, taught, accepted, or built around by investors and tech entrepreneurs alike. But in this episode, Scott Belsky talks about their critical importance and exactly how he built the popular creative portfolio platform, Behance. And, really, this is a story about how he sparked a bigger, medium-agnostic movement across the globe among creatives ... all on the backs of those things that some in tech too easily brush aside.

Scott's thought leadership is popular and widely followed, and you'll want to hear some of the things he did to bootstrap Behance and gain initial traction, not least of which was creating and selling a paper notebook as his very first product. From his description of the resulting digital movement, it doesn't seem possible that a notebook is where they could have started. Credit goes to the power of a passionate mission combined with an entrepreneur hellbent on gaining traction.

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Scott's Company: Behance.net

Scott's Twitter: @ScottBelsky

DESIGNER CONTRIBUTORS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

Dan DiGangi (@dandigangi, http://dandigangi.com/)

Tyler Littwin (@tblittwin, https://dribbble.com/TBLittwin)

Kyle Mitchell (@jaggedlines, http://jaggedlines.com)

Renessa Ciampa (http://ciampacreative.com/)

Bobby Kane (@bobbyjkane, http://www.bobbyjkane.com/)

Ariel Simon (@arielsimonsays, http://arielsimon.com/)

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

 

Aug 3, 2015

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

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

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN:

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

- Tactics for fundraising when being met with some resistance.

- How young startups can partner with massive brands.

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

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

STORIES YOU'LL HEAR:

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

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

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

LINKS MENTIONED:

- Jason's company: DraftKings.com

- Jason's Twitter: @JasonDRobins

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

Jul 22, 2015

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

 

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN:

- Tactics to build audience for a startup

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

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

 

GREAT STORIES YOU'LL HEAR:

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

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

 

LINKS MENTIONED:

- Kathryn's company: TheMuse.com

- Kathryn's Twitter: @kmin

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

 

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM:

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

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

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

 

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

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

Jul 6, 2015

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

STARTUP LESSONS YOU'LL LEARN


  • What tradeoffs a bootstrapped startup's CEO must make
  • How to price a software product correctly to maximize revenue and avoid leaving money on the table early on
  • A definition of content marketing that actually makes sense
  • Tactics to build an audience using limited resources and content, which you can then use to validate your product idea, get feedback, and convert

GREAT STORIES YOU'LL HEAR


  • Patrick and team validated the market and built their initial business around one educational ebook written for their customers
  • The lunacy of Patrick and host Jay Acunzo leaving Google and staying in Boston tech (crazy at that time)
  • The moving story of Patrick beating cancer and the surprising way that changed him as a founder


LINKS MENTIONED:


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

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

Jun 22, 2015

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

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

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

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

Jun 9, 2015

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

Also on the show:

  • Horrible improv comedy
  • When students walk out.
  • A centuries-old industry tells Brad to operate one way while a handful of potential customers tells him another. (What would you do?)
  • In a credibility-driven business, Brad finds a clever way to make GA credible from Day One.
  • The toughest city for GA to land and build (as well as the only place where they couldn’t)
  • And our closing segment for all episodes, Alpha-Beta-Scale — three questions about the entrepreneur, from their early life to today to something unusual they think about the future.

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

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

May 26, 2015

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

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

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

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

May 26, 2015

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

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

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

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

May 25, 2015

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

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

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

Apr 23, 2015

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

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

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

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