Inspired with Alexa von Tobel

Latest Episodes:

How to Learn What Motivates You, with Daniel Gross of Pioneer Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

When Daniel Gross was 18, he traveled from Jerusalem to Silicon Valley to join Y Combinator as the youngest founder ever accepted at the time. In just a few short years, his search engine startup, Cue, was acquired by Apple. Now, he's at the helm of Pioneer, a fully remote accelerator that backs unconventional startups from around the world—no matter the founder's zip code. Daniel shares why community is critical for business-building, what it means to be a company born online, and why he thinks space will fuel the next decade of innovation.

How to Quantify Product Market Fit, with Rahul Vohra of Superhuman Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

Why is it so hard to stay on top of your email? After building Rapportive, the first Gmail plugin to scale to millions of users, Rahul Vohra was ready to tackle the problem of email itself. In 2014, he started Superhuman with the goal of building the fastest email experience in the world. If his waitlist of over 300,000 people is any indication, he's done just that. Rahul shares why domain expertise matters, how he learned to choose a strategy and stick with it, and why you have to figure out positioning before pricing.

Why Creators Matter, with Jack Conte of Patreon Jul 22, 2020

Show notes

At his core, Jack is a creator. While his musical group Pomplamoose had taken off on YouTube, he realized that the mechanism for turning his fans' attention into dollars was broken. So, he built Patreon, a membership platform that makes it easy for creators to earn salaries directly from their biggest fans. Since its launch in 2013, Patreon has paid out more than $1 billion to creators on its platform. Jack shares why the myth of the starving artist is over, why he's willing to work harder than the competition, and how all creators should think about engaging their fans.

How to be Tenacious, with Blake Hall of ID.me Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

Why isn't it easy to securely prove your identity online? That's the big question Blake Hall is working to solve with ID.me, the next-generation digital identity network, that is now used by government agencies, healthcare organizations, and retailers alike. A third-generation soldier, Blake started his post-college life leading a reconnaissance platoon in Iraq, for which he was awarded two Bronze Stars. With a Harvard MBA in hand, he set out to build ID.me and has scaled it to over 24 million users. Blake shares the big pivots he took in his early startup years, what his military career taught him about leadership, and why ID.me has credentialed 30% of all nurses in the country to give back during Covid-19.

How to Know You're Ready to Launch, with Julie Bornstein of The Yes Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

Julie Bornstein is a seasoned e-commerce executive, who has spent her career building major retailers online, including Nordstrom, Sephora, and Urban Outfitters. After scaling Stitch Fix to over $1 billion in revenue as COO, Julie has launched The Yes - the digital department store of the future. Julie shares what it's been like to launch during COVID, how she has gained the confidence to set out on her own, and why she believes shopping should be more like browsing on Spotify.

How to Build a Company Remotely, with Wade Foster of Zapier Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

After their day jobs wrapped, Wade and his co-founders spent their nights building what would eventually become Zapier, the workflow automation tool. Originally based in Missouri, they decided to put their full focus onto their budding startup by joining the Y Combinator accelerator. Zapier is now one of the highest valued companies to come out of the program. Today, it has millions of users and connects to more than 2,000 apps. Wade shares how he got his first beta customer from a cold email, how the company's formula for scaling is a blend of data and intuition, and the surprising upsides of having relied on a fully remote team from the earliest days.

How to Pursue Audacious Goals, with Marcelo Claure of SoftBank Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

When he was a child, he set up a stand in front of his house to sell his mom's clothes. In college, he ran an airline miles business with 17 friends working out of his apartment. And post-college, he started Brightstar, which became the world's largest global wireless distribution company, with over $10 billion in revenue. Marcelo Claure's career accomplishments run deep. He led Sprint through its historic merger with T-Mobile and now serves as COO of SoftBank and executive chairman of WeWork. Marcelo shares how he picks new pursuits (like doubling down on WeWork), why his current goal is to set the world record for being the oldest soccer player in a professional match, and why his latest venture is leading SoftBank's new Opportunity Fund, which will invest $100 million in companies led by people of color.

How to Be Your Customer's First Call, with Zach Reitano of Ro Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

When each member of his family grappled with a life-threatening illness—himself included—Zach Reitano found his mission as an entrepreneur: to provide personalized health care to everyone on the planet. In 2017, Zach and his co-founders started Ro. With offerings that span Roman (for men's health) to Rory (for women's health), Ro quickly took off and, in 2019, it was named one of the world's most innovative companies by Fast Company. Zach shares how Covid has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, why building trust with patients is so critical, and why putting his dad in Ro's commercial was one of his best decisions to date.

How to Be a Present Parent and a CEO, with Jessica Rolph of Lovevery Jun 10, 2020

Show notes

After co-founding the top organic baby food brand in the country, Jessica Rolph got her second startup idea from an unlikely source: a doctoral thesis on child development. Jessica launched Lovevery in 2015 to offer products to help parents feel confident they're delivering the tools their children need. The company has taken off, with backers like Maveron and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Jessica shares why becoming a serial entrepreneur is scarier than it looks, why she chose to build Lovevery in Boise, Idaho, and what tips she swears by to help us all parent better during COVID and beyond.

How to Trust Your Gut, with Adam Nathan of Almanac Jun 03, 2020

Show notes

When you sit down to work, do you often find yourself starting at a blank page? Adam and his team at Almanac are trying to fix that. Just as Github has allowed engineers to access a database of code, Almanac is doing the same for knowledge workers and documents. With user growth doubling month over month and a roster of investors that includes 100 expert startup operators, Almanac is on a mission to democratize access to knowledge. Adam shares why we're at an inflection point of businesses going fully digital, why he measures success by users outside of silicon valley, and how an internship at Apple made him realize he wanted to be a founder.