This Ivy League Dropout Can Predict How You Might Die
E130 • Sep 3, 2024 • 39 minsKian Sadeghi shares his journey, beginning with a personal tragedy that inspired the creation of Nucleus. He explains the decreasing cost and increasing value of genome sequencing and his decision to drop out of UPenn to focus on build a biotech company. Kian shares the challenges he faced and the strategies he used to raise $18 Million from investors such as Alexis Ohanian. He highlights the advantages of being a young founder and demystifies genome sequencing. The conversation explores the future of genome data, its integration with personal hardware, and the hurdles in building consumer trust. Kian also reflects on the role of PhDs, the long-term vision for Nucleus, the lessons learned from failures, and how he manages stress.
The Secret Behind Creating Viral Apps & Becoming The Youngest Intern at Tesla
E129 • Aug 20, 2024 • 42 minsDylan Diamond shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with making websites in 4th grade to becoming Tesla's youngest intern at 17 to dropping out of UPenn to pursue building a company. He discusses his engineering background, early projects, and the creation and adoption of the Saturn app. Dylan balances his Tesla work with app development, meets co-founder Max, and reflects on early startup lessons. The conversation covers Saturn's growth, strategies, and challenges faced, as well as critiques of social media models and monetization strategies. Dylan concludes with key lessons from building Saturn, reflections on past failures, and personal advice.
Meet The Founder Who Built The Uber of Lawncare
E128 • Jul 23, 2024 • 51 minsBryan Clayton joins Shamus Madan to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, starting with his early experiences and scaling a lawn mowing business to $10M. Bryan shares insights from selling that business and transitioning to Greenpal, tackling early challenges and learning from failures. He details his journey into software development, building a tech platform, and forming a development team. Bryan also discusses the challenges of creating a new marketplace, monetizing Greenpal, and effective content marketing strategies. The episode concludes with a quick fire round, advice to his younger self, and final thoughts on personal growth and compound interest.
How This 20-Year-Old Built A $100k/Month Business With $0
E127 • Jun 25, 2024 • 49 minsJacob Klug, a 20-year-old entrepreneur, embarked on a remarkable journey when he co-founded Creme Digital. At Creme, they specialize in creating beautiful software products at a fraction of the traditional cost and time. Their portfolio ranges from MVPs for startups to internal tools for Fortune 500 companies. What’s even more impressive? All their software is built using no-code tools like Bubble. This is the story of how he did it.
Meet The Marketing Genius Behind Duolingo's Viral Growth
E127 • Jun 4, 2024 • 64 minsShamus Madan interviews Gina Gotthilf, covering her pivotal career decision with Tumblr, an unexpected experience with a former boss, and she grew Duolingo to 200M users with PR. They discuss trust and risk in startups, PR misconceptions, meeting President Obama, and her work with Latin American startups at Latitude.
Erik Allebest: How I Bootstrapped Chess.com To $100M in Revenue
E126 • May 7, 2024 • 47 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan interviews Chess.com's Erik Allebest about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of running a $100 million business, and maintaining balance. They delve into building company culture in a remote setting, growth strategies, and the impact of AI on online chess.
Casper Founder: How I Built A $575 Million Business At 31
E125 • Apr 9, 2024 • 52 minsWhen Neil Parikh was in medical school, he called his parents to say he was taking a year off to move to NYC. At the time, they were furious, but little did he know that would be one of the best decisions of his life. He partnered with his friend, whom he met at a coworking space, to build a DTC mattress company. Their most recent valuation was at over $1 Billion. This is the story of Casper and the secret behind their viral growth.
Sequoia Just Backed This Founder To Replace Advertising Forever
E124 • Mar 26, 2024 • 51 minsAt just 12 years old, Sam Obletz decided to put his studies on the back burner and start a computer integration company with his friend. Today, he has come a long way from building computers and is now on a mission to change advertising forever. This is his multi-billion dollar plan.
Meet The $29 Million Founder Creating The Future of Education
E124 • Mar 12, 2024 • 58 minsThe education system is broken, but Tade Oyerinde is on a mission to save it with his startup Campus. He raised tens of millions from Sam Altman, Dr. Shaquille O'Neal, and many others. This is his multi-billion dollar plan.
Joe Lemay: How We Went From -$400k To A $50 Million Exit Selling Reusable Notebooks
E123 • Feb 27, 2024 • 52 minsIn 2016, Joe Lemay's balance sheet for Rocketbook was -$400k, and no VC would touch him. Bootstrapping was his only option. After four years of sweat and tears, he and his co-founder, Jake, built the company to a +$50M exit. This is the story of Rocketbook.
Bobby Brannigan: How I Went From $250k In Debt To Bootstrapping A $100M Business
E122 • Feb 13, 2024 • 51 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan chats with Bobby Brannigan about his entrepreneurial journey, from his father's grocery store to stock trading and textbook business. They discuss Bobby's innovative strategies, business financing, handling lawsuits, and market competition. Bobby shares his personal journey, including a life-changing backpacking trip and the influence of mentorship. The discussion ends with insights into scaling a business and Bobby's decision to sell his venture.
Lucie Basch: How I Co-Founded A Mobile App That Saved 300 Million Meals
E121 • Jan 30, 2024 • 29 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan chats with Lucie Basch about her fight against food waste, the creation and scaling of her platform, Too Good To Go. They discuss the economic and environmental impacts, onboarding challenges, international expansion, and the importance of a company's story. Lucie also shares advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Noah Kagan: Revealing The Marketing Strategy I Used To Build A $100M Business
E120 • Jan 16, 2024 • 40 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan converses with Noah Kagan about his journey from his early marketing experiences to his time at Facebook and Mint. They discuss 'Test and Invest', a strategy used by AppSumo, and Noah shares advice he'd give to his younger self.
Ben Van Leeuwen: How I Founded A $300k/Day Business Selling Ice Cream At 24-Years-Old
E119 • Dec 12, 2023 • 25 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan talks with Ben Van Leeuwen about his journey in the ice cream industry, starting a business with limited capital, and building a positive culture. They discuss hiring strategies, finding capital for growth, overcoming challenges, and the reality of overnight success.
Matt Chan: How I Bootstrapped a $40k/Month Lead Generation Agency In Six Months
E118 • Nov 30, 2023 • 39 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan converses with Matt Chan about his entrepreneurial journey. They discuss Matt's transition to entrepreneurship with Alpine Media, his experiences in agency work, and how he ventured into the pool building industry. Matt shares his encounters with personal challenges, including a robbery in Greece, and how he overcame initial failures. The episode concludes with his insights on goal setting, team building, and refining the sales process.
Dori Yona: How I Grew An App To 3.5 Million Users & Raised $1.5 Million To Help Companies Shut Down
E117 • Nov 9, 2023 • 37 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan speaks with Dori Yona about his entrepreneurial journey, from his early ventures to the founding of Ernie. They discuss the challenges of shutting down a company, leading to the creation of Simple Closure, a solution that simplifies this process. Yona shares insights on customer acquisition, growth, and securing venture capital for Simple Closure.
The Truth Behind The Housing Crisis & How This Founder Aims To Solve It w/ Ritwik Pavan (CEO of Krava)
E116 • Oct 26, 2023 • 22 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan talks to Ritwik Pavan about his journey from creating his first app, Flappy Yeeke, to establishing Linker Logic Technologies. They discuss Ritwik's transition to Vade, the inception of Krava, its role in addressing the housing crisis, and future goals. Ritwik shares his long-term vision and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Kat Cole: How I Went From Living on $10/Week To The President of Cinnabon
E115 • Oct 12, 2023 • 30 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan interviews Kat Cole, discussing her early life, work experiences, and decision to drop out of college. They delve into overcoming stereotypes, imposter syndrome, and the challenges of being a young executive. The importance of financial education and self-love are also discussed, with Cole offering advice on independence and personal growth.
How Uber Beat Lyft And Reached A $100B Valuation w/ Emil Michael (Former Chief Business Officer @ Uber)
E114 • Sep 26, 2023 • 35 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan talks with Emil Michael about the importance of mentors, his career journey post-Harvard, and his transition to the public sector. They discuss the shifting honor from public to private sector and Emil's experience at Uber, including its growth, international expansion challenges, and evolution into a 'SuperApp'. They also explore the future of payment services and the impact of self-driving cars on ride-sharing. Emil offers advice for startups and shares about his personal life and political involvement.
Hussein Fazal: How I Got Backed By Steph Curry & Raised $150+ Million To Create A Super Savings App
E113 • Aug 24, 2023 • 44 minsIn this episode, Shamus Madan interviews Hussein Fazal, discussing his entrepreneurial journey, the transition from bootstrapping to VC funding, and breaking into a duopolistic market. They also talk about Steph Curry's investment, remote work culture, and traits of successful entrepreneurs.