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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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Now displaying: Category: general
Sep 13, 2016

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

 

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

 

Follow Eli at twitter.com/elikbronner

 

Follow Tim at twitter.com/tdevane

 

Follow NextView at twitter.com/nextviewvc

Aug 11, 2016

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

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

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

Check out the Reboot podcast: reboot.io/podcast

Subscribe to the NextView blog: nextviewvc.com/blog

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

Aug 2, 2016

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

 

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

 

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

 

Check out the Reboot podcast: reboot.io/podcast

 

Subscribe to the NextView blog: nextviewvc.com/blog

 

Follow the guys on Twitter @danputt or @jayacunzo

Jun 29, 2016

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

Jun 8, 2016

In the second episode of our NYC Tech-focused series, NextView principal Tim Devane and VP of platform Jay Acunzo talk about the tech companies most likely to ascend to the status of "pillar" tech company. They also explore why many we consider pillars may not be, and what makes such a company in the first place.

 

At the end, the name of our NYC tech podcast is revealed.

 

Say hi on Twitter: @tdevane and @jayacunzo.

 

Subscribe at nextviewvc.com/blog

May 3, 2016

Go inside the thinking behind a $16B startup -- worth more than Twitter, Pinterest or Dropbox as of this recording. Today's guest, Jesse Middleton, is a co-founder of WeWork Labs, the company's global startup incubator, and currently the head of WeWork X, which includes Labs and also the new WeWork investing and M&A activities. Jesse was also among the first to join the co-founders of WeWork when it started. 

 

Jesse shares insights on everything from mission and hiring to community development to the scrappy and clever tactics they used early on at WeWork. We also peer ahead to the future of what WeWork could be doing globally.

 

Follow Jesse at twitter.com/srcasm and visit wework.com to learn more.

 

Follow Jay at twitter.com/jayacunzo and check out his new weekly show for creatives and makers, Unthinkable, at Unthinkable.fm, soundcloud.com/unthinkablepod, or on iTunes at bit.ly/unthinkablefm

 

Lastly, you can subscribe to the NextView weekly newsletter about startup traction at bit.ly/nvsubscribe

Apr 19, 2016

In the first episode of our NYC Tech-focused miniseries, NextView principal Tim Devane and VP of platform Jay Acunzo talk about the biggest problem and opportunity facing NYC Tech -- namely, successful and liquid entrepreneurs fleeing tech for other industries.

 

Follow @tdevane and @jayacunzo on Twitter and help us give this miniseries a name - tweet #NextViewNYC

 

Subscribe at nextviewvc.com/blog

Apr 13, 2016

Oli Gardner is the co-founder of Unbounce, a platform that helps you build, test, and optimize landing pages to convert customers. Today, he spends most of his time writing and speaking and is arguably the best source on the planet for learning about how startups can create landing pages that convert, whether you're drumming up pre-launch demand or trying to keep growing meaningful revenue.

 

Oli also shares FIVE specific elements that all well-optimized landing pages contain, and he shares some hilarious stories and examples from his life and career -- including why he almost legally changed his name to help build Unbounce.

 

Follow Oli at twitter.com/oligardner and visit unbounce.com to learn more.

 

Follow Jay at twitter.com/jayacunzo and check out his new weekly show for creatives and makers, Unthinkable, at Unthinkable.fm, soundcloud.com/unthinkablepod, or on iTunes at bit.ly/unthinkablefm

 

Lastly, you can subscribe to the NextView weekly newsletter about startup traction at bit.ly/nvsubscribe

Mar 23, 2016

Last time, we heard from a CEO about how startups can sell to big brands and enterprises. This time, Angus Davis, the founder and CEO of Upserve (fka Swipely) shares stories and tactics around selling to Main Street businesses. As a startup that sells to later adopters of technology or very small businesses, how do you think about product, marketing, and sales?

 

Angus also shares some lessons learned from an impressive entrepreneurial career that spans Netscape, TellMe (which he co-founded and sold to MSFT), and Swipely/Upserve.

 

We also go inside his management meetings, which are impressive and amazingly collaborative.

 

Follow Angus at twitter.com/angusdav and visit upserve.com to learn more.

 

Follow Jay at twitter.com/jayacunzo and check out his new weekly show for creatives and makers in business, Unthinkable, at Unthinkable.fm, soundcloud.com/unthinkablepod, or on iTunes at bit.ly/unthinkablefm

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

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

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