The Unsexy Startup

“Testing and Reiterating” with founder and CEO of Unacast, Thomas Walle Nov 27, 2018

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The balance of Ego and Humility as an entrepreneur w/ Founder & CEO of Electric.ai, Ryan Denehy Oct 15, 2018

This was a very special episode as we brought on 3x founder, Ryan Denehy to talk about all his challenges, mistakes, and successes of starting his first company to his third.

Stay tuned for an amazing ride, as Ryan takes you through some of his worst times as a founder and some of his best. We focus on the topic of humility and how the ego can tear a company and its founder down.

Ryan's current company is backed by the likes of, Primary Ventures, Bowery Capital, BVP, and many more.

A huge thank you to our sponsors, BREX. BREX is the worlds first corporate credit card for startups. For any listeners that have raised up to 100k, please click this link and use the code "unsexy" to receive a discount on your startup credit card.

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Cracking into Unsexy industries w/ Co Founder & CEO of Fabric Technologies, Adam Erlebacher Sep 27, 2018

On this episode of The Unsexy Startup, we interview Adam Erlebacher, Co Founder & CEO of Fabric Technologies.

Unfortunately, the current system of agents and brokers can make what should be a straightforward process complex, time-consuming, and expensive. Fabric was built to make life insurance for new parents easy by automating this process and simplifying the steps.

Backed by the likes of BVP, Box group and many more, Fabric continues to help more new parents.

We dive into Adam's journey cracking into Unsexy Industries such as Insurtech. Tune into this episode if you are building a company that is focus on innovating an old and stodgy industries.

A huge thank you to our sponsors, BREX. BREX is the worlds first corporate credit card for startups. For any listeners that have raised up to 100k, please click this link and use the code "unsexy" to receive a discount on your startup credit card.

Follow The Unsexy Startup:

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VC and Founder fires w / GP of UpSlope Ventures, Kate Shillo Beardsley Sep 13, 2018

On this episode of The Unsexy Startup, we interviewed the General Partner of UpSlope Ventures, Kate Shillo.

Kate talks about her transition as the Chief of Staff at Huff Post to going into a scrappy environment building out Lerer Hippeau. LH is one of the biggest VCs based out of NY with investments such as Venmo, Buzzfeed, Casper, and the list goes on.

After seeing many deals and working with many founders, Kate goes over some of the most common fires she sees founders make from an investor viewpoint.

A huge thank you to our sponsors, BREX. BREX is the worlds first corporate credit card for startups. For any listeners that have raised up to 100k, please click this link and use the code "unsexy" to receive a discount on your startup credit card.

Follow The Unsexy Startup:

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Mistakes Young Founders Make w/ Brex Co Founder & CEO, Henrique Dubugras Sep 05, 2018

After taking a few months off we are back with another season! We wanted to make sure we had our branding down and strategy together to create the best show possible.

In our first episode back, we have Co-Founder & CEO of Brex, Henrique Dubugras.

Henrique sits down with us to talk about common mistakes young founders make when scaling a company.

Here are a few of the points he went over:

PR doesn't really mean you've gotten anywhere, the work still has to be done.
Don't discount the boring stuff like HR, Admin, or Accounting. Focusing on these tasks early on will be a huge pay off down the road.
Just because you raise funding doesn't mean you are anywhere. If the business isn't break even or profitable, you still have a way to go.

Brex is the world's first corporate credit card for startups, backed by the likes of Y Combinator, Peter Thiel, and many more.

For any founders interested in signing up for Brex, please click here, and use the discount code "unsexy"!

To keep up with The Unsexy Startup, follow us on social media @TheUnsexyStartup !

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Episode 15: The challenges of being a founder from both sides of the table w/ Former VC @ GV, and CEO/ Founder of Modsy, Shanna Tellerman May 17, 2018

Shanna Tellerman sold her company, transitioned in VC when she was an investor @ GV. She quickly transitioned back into being a founder and scaled her second company, Modsy. Tune in to hear the challenges Shanna faced when transitioning from VC back to Founder! Would really appreciate the feedback so I can build a better podcast for our listeners. Shoot me an email here, I would love to hear what you have to say :) (sumaytoo@gmail.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below). www.quakecapital.com/ www.gomoment.com/ www.strtupboost.com/ www.rothemedia.audio/ Subscribe and leave a review! Sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/

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Episode 14: What is feels like currently to be a seed stage founder and the challenges of rapidly growing W/ Co Founder of Abraxas, Joshua Lawton Apr 24, 2018

Josh and Justin are the co founders of an amazing company called Abraxas. Abraxas is disrupting the $29b OOH market. Josh and Justin are one of Quakes investments, and through their time with Quake, we've seen tremendous month over month growth. But with growth at such an early stage, challenges arise.Tune in to see how Josh handles demands at an early stage while bootstrapping and making sure there is enough cash flow to execute.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.com/www.rothemedia.audio/Please Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 13: The Challenges of Sales and Marketing as a seed stage company w/ Founder & CEO of UpShow, Adam Hirsen Mar 29, 2018

From Private Equity to Founder, Adam had to take a leap of faith to start UpShow. Tune in to hear some of the sales and marketing challenges Adam had a early stage, and what founders can take away from his experience in scaling a company from scratch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.com/www.rothemedia.audio/Please Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 12: Overcoming some challenges women face within business w/ CEO of Ellevate Network, Kristy Wallace Mar 14, 2018

In this episode of The Unsexy Startup, Kristy gives us a deep dive on her transition as a CEO of women first company, and some of the challenges female founders may face as they take on their start up. Here are some key topics Kristy dives into - How can women rise to the top, even through the challenges the startup world can bring? - What are some current challenges female founders have? - The Unsexiest moment as a female founder that Kristy has faced, leading a large company. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.com/www.rothemedia.audio/Please Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 11: The challenges of building out a product at seed stage, and what to focus on w/ Co Founder & CTO of Buildout, Jason Tillery Feb 26, 2018

In this episode, Jason talks about being a CTO at a rapidly growing seed company. Although, this is an exciting phase to roll your product out, there are many challenges any product person will face. Jason goes over several points: - Relying only on existing customer feedback, but having a hard time getting external feedback to build a better product. - Lack of good developers, as a founder and CTO, your job turns into recruiting for a good amount of time. - Learning a completely new market, and building a product around an area you are not familiar with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 10: Why the real magic is in the Unsexy, w / Co Founder & CEO of Kin, Sean Harper Feb 14, 2018

We are back with more episodes of the Unsexy Startup! In this episode, we have founder and CEO of Kin, Sean Harper on to talk about the embracing the Unsexy. Most people are excited about the sexy things in the business, but the real growth comes from the grunt work and the heavy lifting. Few founders are willing to do some of these unsexy things due to many reasons: The real drive to scale their startup, their pride, and the list goes on. Sean also shares his story about Kin, and where the idea came from. In fact, this was one of our first recordings we've ever done.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 9: How to overcome the challenges of fundraising at a seed stage w/ CEO & Founder of Parsely, Sachin Kamdar Jan 18, 2018

One of the core challenges founders go through, especially at an early stage is the process of getting funding. Sachin Kamdar, CEO & Founder of Parsely, knows first hand how challenging funding can be. Sachin will take you through his journey of funding at an early stage. He also shares his challenges he experienced, and gives our listeners some tips on how to overcome these challenges.Here are some valuable points Sachin brings up: - Funding is similar to the sales pipeline - Getting use to rejection is key, your startup will look like an ugly baby! - Making sure investors are the right match for your company, otherwise it can mean trouble.For any companies interesting in using Parsely platform, I have provided the link here: http://bit.ly/2DmR4By___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 8: Moving into a new territory to start a company w / Co Founder of Blue Smart, Alejo Verlini Jan 11, 2018

Ever had to move into a new territory just to start a business? Alejo and his team has. When starting Blue Smart, Alejo and his co founders were challenged with moving to China to manufacture their product. This was completely unknown to them. They didn't know the native language, they had to understand the culture fast, and they had to adapt to living conditions outside of their own comfort. Tune in to hear how Alejo and his team were able to crowdfund and build a kick ass brand in another country while attracting the eyes of many people including celebrities such as Tony Hawk, and Usain Bolt. For anyone that is interested in Blue Smarts Luggage the link is provided here: http://www.bluesmart.com/Tech forward luggage with USB ports, GPS locators for the bag, and weight technology. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.comThank you for your support!

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Episode 7: The Unsexy Challenges That Come With Disrupting a Huge Industry w/ CEO & Founder of Solera Health, Brenda Schmidt Dec 30, 2017

We sat down with Brenda Schmidt, the CEO and Founder of Solera Health. Brenda has been apart of the health care industry for more than 13 years, and knew the ins and out before disrupting such a tough industry. We focused on the Unsexy challenges that come with disrupting an age old industry, and how to come overcome some of those challenges if you are a new founder looking to disrupt a massive industry. Here are a few points Brenda covered: - Collaboration is key when you are disrupting a large industry. Many people have ecosystems you can help. - Too many founders focus on the solutions, but focusing on the problem, along with who the Decision maker is, will get you in the door. - Pilot issues can lead to a burnout. People will love to pilot because they aren't paying much. Attempt to get a financial commitment.Interested in preventive care coverage, or know any family that is, I have linked Solera's website here: http://bit.ly/2CdwH95___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 6: How to calculate small wins while having long term goals w/ CEO & Co Founder of Open Listings, Judd Schoenholtz Dec 21, 2017

In this episode of the The Unsexy Startup, we sat down with Judd Schoenholtz, CEO & Co Founder of Open Listings, to talk about how enjoy the small wins during the long term process of building a start up.Here is what Judd had to say: - It can be easy to get lost in the process of growing a company. This can lead to burnout. - Even though the goal is at the end, you have to develop a mindset of counting small wins to maintain optimism. - The best businesses are long term schlep businesses.For anyone interested in using Open Listings listing their house for a flat fee please click here: http://bit.ly/2nKGsnI-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 5: How to have a healthier approach to your startup w/Jesse Horwitz, CEO & Co Founder of Hubble Contacts Dec 12, 2017

We sat down with Jesse for an eye opening interview on what the media portrays about startups vs. the reality, and what is a healthier approach to you startup compared to what you might see online. Jesse was extremely humble. He went through his mistakes of jumping from Bridgewater Associates too early, to the trial and error period where each startup he tried building didn't go anywhere before Hubble Contacts. " The Unsexiest time was the trial and error period, where projects didn't go anywhere. This was before we started Hubble Contacts."Here are a few bullet points Jesse goes over: - Look at your startup as if you are starting another job. Not some glorified path. - Make sure you have a cushion and don't take the leap of faith too early, where you can have a risk of running out of cash to survive. - Don't be in love with your own image and how the world can cater to you. Make sure you can build a product the world actually cares about.If you are interested in a higher quality of contacts at a great price click here ----> http://bit.ly/2z30CgY to get Hubble Contacts delivered to your doorstep. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 4: The importance of creativity when there is a lack of funding w/CEO & Co Founder of Heartbeat, Brian Freeman Dec 05, 2017

Brian’s company had to make a pivot, due to the market response from their current product and lack of runway. This is what really brought out what was needed to create Heartbeat.We brought Brian Freeman on the podcast to talk about the power of creativity, when you are boot strapping your company. Often this push through in creativity helps develop more grit to overcome future hurdles.Here is what we learned from Brian’s experience with bootstrapping early on:-When you are tight on funding, it forces you to be creative. Instead of looking at this as an issue, it turns into a gift. -Creativity is a rare skill, and is often the moat that founders overlook when making a competitive advantage. -Too many founders lean on funding to make things happen, and often handicap themselves too early on. For any of our listeners that are millennial women, we've linked heartbeat here: getheartbeat.co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A huge thanks to Go Moment, Quake VC, Strtupboost for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).www.quakecapital.com/www.gomoment.com/www.strtupboost.comPlease Subscribe and leave a review! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 2: How to handle your team's optimism during Unsexy times w/ CEO & Founder of Insticator Zack Dugow Nov 29, 2017

Today's interview is with the CEO and Founder of Insticator, Zack Dugow. Zack hops on the podcast to talk about his Unsexiest time scaling Insticator, and how he was able to handle his team's optimism during a cash crunch, in the early stages of a company. Prior to Insticator, Zack was the Founder and CEO of Red Rush Entertainment, a large media agency, which was acquired in 2012. Insticator increases engagement and ad revenue, through interactive content which is gamified and personalized, with the goal of enhancing view ability and purchase intent for brands. Some of Insticator partners include: Warner Bros and Tribune Media. Insticator continues to scale with their recent series A funding. Zack brought up valuable insights based on the following: · The unsexiest experience, being overly optimistic, and what lessons came out of that· Over optimism in first time founders, and how they can correct their approach· When over optimism is a good thing· How to handle your teams optimism during a cash crunch· How founders should handle their starting team, when it is time to scale their company· Advice Zack would give his younger self and why (advice for founders) For any companies interested in using Insticator to increase traffic/revenue to their website, we've attached the link here: http://www.insticator.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A huge thanks to Go Moment and Quake VC, for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).https://www.quakecapital.com/http://www.gomoment.com/ Please Subscribe and leave a comment! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/ Thank you for your support!

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Episode 3: The Story Behind The Unsexy Startup, Interview w/ CEO of UYD Management, Tayo Rockson Nov 28, 2017

In this episode, Tayo Rockson interviews me, the host of The Unsexy Startup, Sumay Parikh. We talk about about how I transitioned into the startup world, and why we came up with The Unsexy Startup.A few topics we go over: - Why I choose entrepreneurship - How I transitioned from owning and operating hotels, to diving into startups - All my failures and the mistakes I made - Who I look up to - What The Unsexy Startup offers_________________________________________________________________________________________________________A huge thanks to Go Moment and Quake VC, for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).https://www.quakecapital.com/http://www.gomoment.com/Please Subscribe and leave a comment! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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Episode 1: The importance of emotional intelligence, and its significance in your company, during uncertain times w/ CEO and Founder of Greenhouse.io, Daniel Chait Nov 26, 2017

Today's interview is with the CEO and Co Founder of Greenhouse.io, Daniel Chait. Daniel takes you through his journey, how he built his previous company, and how he transitioned into starting Greenhouse. We go into why emotional intelligence is crucial, and why its important for your company to learn emotional intelligence through Unsexy times.Greenhouse.io is the first easy to use Applicant Tracking System, that lets you involve your whole team in the hiring process for candidates, leading to a better culture for a company. With customers such as Airbnb and Pintrest, and the Golden State Warriors, Greenhouse is on the trajectory to become a unicorn.We had an informative and eye opening discussion. Daniel spoke on a few topics such as: - The sexiest moment of his entrepreneurial career to date - The unsexiest moment, where he learned to build more emotional intelligence - Why EQ is rarely spoken about in the Tech industry and why that needs to change - How to use Emotional Intelligence to over come the struggles of hiring at an early stage company - Daniel's advice to his younger self, on what he knows now. (Advice for starting founders)If you are interested in using the Greenhouse ATS to attract a better quality of candidates, click here: https://www.greenhouse.io/_________________________________________________________________________________________________________A big thanks to Go Moment and Quake VC, for helping me put this together: For founders who have a seed stage company, looking for funding, please apply to the Quake Accelerator (link below).https://www.quakecapital.com/http://www.gomoment.com/Please Subscribe and leave a comment! We would love the feedback, so we can build a better podcast for Founders:)Please click here to sign up for updates and our newsletter: https://www.theunsexystartup.com/Thank you for your support!

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