The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 14, 2021

The Startup Magazine continues our Founder Interview series with entrepreneur Richard Lavina, Co-Founder and CEO of accounting services platform, Taxfyle. Richard Lavina, CPA, Co-Founder and CEO of Taxfyle. Hiring is a problem because when you become successful, people want your talent. Quality control?

CPA 141

CPA Founder Vertical Cofounder 141

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

Our industry just took one big step towards legitimacy with the hiring of renowned media exec Ynon Kreiz to run Maker Studios. The founders had been responsible for gaining staggering scale in the past 3 years, having been trail-blazers in building a network of talent and an unrivaled understanding of the YouTube ecosystem.

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Video Los Angeles Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 320

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Corey is also the author of ‘Anyone, Not Everyone,’ a comprehensive guide for agency founders looking to move beyond founder-led sales. He is currently on a mission to empower 1,000 agencies to become vertical-market specialists, leveraging his extensive experience and insights. Not everyone.

Vertical 65

Vertical Marketing Cofounder Campaign 65

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I would discover that there was a more effective alternative in building a marketing department than hiring traditional marketers with MBA’s. I chose to hire engineers from within each of our target markets and set up “Steve’s one month MBA course for engineers.” These hires were definitely not your standard marketing types.

Engineer 221

Engineer Silicon Valley Part-Time VPE Advisory Board 221

Version One Ventures

AUGUST 26, 2016

There’s a lot of debate surrounding the right time to bring executive level hires into your start-up. First, your hiring/team building strategy should follow two key rules. Founders should focus their time and efforts on the areas that create the most value. 2 nd hire: VP of Finance. 2 nd hire: VP of Finance.

Part-Time VPE 60

Part-Time VPE Management Finance Vertical 60

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Having recently addressed founders in my chapter “Be Coachable,” allow me please in this essay to address this matter to you providers of help. As you probably know, I prefer advising founders in long, immersive engagements. If you want to share your wisdom to founders, you have many avenues that do not require prior Freudian training.

Incubator 48

Incubator Vertical Deal Flow Technical Review 48

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

The demand for top talent is monumental, and the process of finding and hiring the best workers can be excruciating. Toptal , founded in 2010, aims to relieve the difficulties of hiring freelancers. We hire the best talent no matter where they want to work from. And we’ll be expanding into more business verticals soon.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 115

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 115

Cracking the Code

MARCH 24, 2015

. - HT: don''t outsource communication b/c part of core UX even though APIs available - healthy dev environment around APIs, very important to get confidence you can build your platformon on top of them - APIs give you freedom, don''t have to invest both people and tech in maintain internal platforms - HT had to totally revamp their infra, to manage (..)

API 48

API Fractional CTO CTO Hire San Francisco 48

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

grow into international markets, other industry verticals, and other product lines). My co-founders and I wanted a name that would reflect the incredible ambition of our mission: “to build the most meaningful, collaborative, and abundant data resource in the world”. As CEO, I stuck to my guns and, as co-founder, Brant did too.

Naming 48

Naming Cofounder CTO Hire Vertical 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

David Cohen

AUGUST 29, 2013

It’s not our first rodeo, as we’d graduated from [name of an unrelated accelerator] but we wanted and needed some support around our vertical. We paused because it was an inaugural cohort but being that it was vertical-specific and the managing director worked for a highly lauded startup in our vertical, we decided to go for it. ([a

Cofounder 134

Cofounder Technical Review Vertical Programming 134

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business. So my advice to CTO / Founders?

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

ReadWriteStart

MAY 24, 2018

Eighteen months later, I’m keynoting at conferences and serving clients in London, Sydney, Singapore, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Vancouver, and 50 other cities,” says Logan Young, the co-founder of BlitzMetrics, a Facebook dashboard and advertising company. Learn, Do, Teach: Build Your Expertise First.

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Technology Louisville Los Angeles 115

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

I usually don’t back a business unless there are founders that can build, sell, and service the new solution that is being brought to market. In this case, they could build and service it but they needed a third co-founder to sell it. one that got us into a new vertical or geography or product line.

Bootstrapping 52

Bootstrapping IPO Business Model Software Review 52

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

As an investor (who was also once a first-time entrepreneur), I have noticed several key areas where founders either overestimate or underestimate the value to their company. 5 things founders often underestimate. The value of a great hiring process. Founders should stay involved in every hiring decision for as long as possible.

Founder 60

Founder Due Diligence Vertical Early Stage 60

techcrunch.com

AUGUST 12, 2012

Founders Den co-founder and angel investor Zachary Bogue has joined forces with seasoned big data VC Matt Ocko , Metamarkets founder Michael Driscoll and Prismatic CEO Bradford Cross to launch Data Collective , the world’s first Big Data-only early stage investment fund. → Learn More. More on TechCrunch TV.

Early Stage 70

Early Stage San Francisco Los Angeles Southern California 70

Ben's Blog

MARCH 1, 2011

Some firms hire pure investors, some firms hire operators, some Wall Street analysts, some firms hire sales people, some firms hire lawyers, and others hire reporters. Two aspects of the original vision that deeply depend on the kind of general partners that we hire are: We will help develop founders into CEOs.

Partner 71

Partner Technical Review Venture Capital Cofounder 71

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

If you’ve tried to slog your way through my book on Customer Development you know that I’m insistent that the founders need to be the ones getting outside the building (physically or virtually) to validate all the initial hypotheses of the business model and product. Hiring a VP of Sales in customer discovery typically sets a startup back.

Technology 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

Version One Ventures

MARCH 4, 2014

The right investor should help a founder with all three of those questions: 1. The best investors are instrumental in helping founders recruit the perfect team. Secondly, investors should spend enough time discussing hiring priorities with the CEO, as well as help craft target profiles for senior-level hires.

Portfolio 154

Portfolio Vertical Hiring Operations 154

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Blame it On Marketing In the next 3-6 months, a new VP of Sales is hired. Moreover, since the first CEO was likely to have been one of the founders, the trauma of CEO removal begins. The rest of the organization (product development, marketing, support) has been burning cash, all according to plan, expecting Sales to make its numbers.

Customer Development 232

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 232

Software By Rob

JULY 1, 2010

This means that the easier your process is to teach, the easier it is to find employees who can do the work, the more employees you can hire, and the more profit you will make per sale. In a startup you have a few avenues: hire employees or use virtual assistants (VAs). The lesson: stick to vertical niches.

Software Review 54

Software Review RSS Startup Vertical 54

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

The Austin Technology Incubator is hiring for these positions, so make sure to apply now. ATI has served the entrepreneur community for over twenty years and focuses on the IT, Wireless, Clean Energy and Bioscience verticals. Here are two awesome-sounding jobs that will remain posted till Wednesday, so please check them out promptly.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Intellectual Property Incubator Due Diligence 70

OnlyOnce

JANUARY 23, 2020

I wrote a post in 2013 entitled Debunking the Myth of Hiring for Domain Expertise vs. Functional Expertise. When I first started at LRN and started talking about hiring new senior executives, I had a conversation with our founder and chairman Dov Seidman about this topic, and he added that Context is an important vector to consider as well.

Vertical 62

Vertical Hiring Employee Conversion 62

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

I strongly believe that the first few hires of a startup should belong to the growth department, whether they’re marketers, community managers, or salespeople (selling your product is the best way to learn how to improve it). Get used to monitoring Twitter conversations around your vertical and try to engage with as many as you can.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Hire a virtual assistant to find your targets’ emails and other information. Day 1: Post hiring ad for lead generation VA. The good news: hiring a lead gen VA is low-cost (we’re talking as low as $20 per week for a very limited campaign). Step 1: Create Upwork hiring account. Hire fast, fire fast. Click rates.

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Curation Lead Generation Technical Review Email 42

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Supercomputers get Personal Back in Sunnyvale my friend had not only been hired but had convinced the team that we should be building hardware – making a new class of computers not a software application. A few days later Gordon became a founder. We’re building a supercomputer.” We were going to be guessing.

North Carolina 131

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 131

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 20, 2020

the Connectors, Angels, Venture Capitalists, Founders, Professors, Hackers, Press… and the Legends. Find the Connectors , the Angels , the Venture Capitalists , the Founders , the Professors , the Hackers , and the Legends you need to meet and get some hints about the best ways to meet them. Here is your COVID-friendly cheat sheet.

Austin 110

Austin Texas Cofounder Los Angeles 110

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 17, 2023

Also, they are investors, startup advisors, and co-founders of Agency18, a firm that helps mission-driven companies adopt their Unsold Mindset. 20:57] When talking about hiring, how do I look for somebody who naturally has that gift, whether they have a sales resume or not? [22:29] So let's go to hiring. Like this show?

Sales 90

Sales Technical Review Minnesota Conversion 90

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

As Paul Graham said , “startups take off because the founders make them take off. The most successful start-ups and founders are those that limit themselves to being very good at the right things. I’ve seen many start-ups rush to hire new staff and tackle brand new verticals or international markets when it’s just not time yet.

Guerilla 158

Guerilla Seed Money Vertical Early Stage 158

Hunter Walker

JUNE 14, 2018

“Vertical Expertise” – More hands and minds around the industry maze they’re traversing. Founders articulate a certain support they’d like in figuring out operational decisions and growth challenges. Hiring, org structure, product development philosophies and so on. ” via email.

Cap Table 81

Cap Table Portfolio Vertical Reputation 81

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

For startup founders, it’s never too early to start thinking about putting together a target market advisory board. This is useful for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is to help you navigate the right channels in your vertical and open doors to potential customers. Never discount the power of a warm intro.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

Hunter Walker

MARCH 7, 2019

There’s an increased belief (maybe reality for some), that seed VCs want to see revenue before investing in verticals like SaaS, marketplaces, commerce. In those cases, yeah, you’re just going to be stressed by hiring and keeping the service live, but you still need to start investing in a bit of stability/scale alongside.

Startup 96

Startup Revenue Vertical Retention 96

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

The department had hired a recruiter and was interviewing candidates from other chip companies. On a more serious note, any tips on attracting founders? BTW, I personally would _never_ “find&# a founder over the web. It’s a two-fer: you’ll learn about selling AND get to find some founder candidates.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 7, 2017

Deep learning goes commodity – main reason: the number of grad students with deep learning skills has mushroomed and the premium paid for deep learning acqui-hires will fall because companies now other options for bringing in talent. Moreover, all the mania often causes founders and investors to lose their focus on use cases.

Artificial Inteligence 80

Artificial Inteligence API Vertical Algorithm 80

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 24, 2018

Wondery’s founder and CEO, Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, focused the platform’s programming on entertainment, true crime, audio drama, personal growth, business, and the home/family verticals. Spend more time in hiring than you think it’s needed. What is your favorite business quote and why?

Entrepreneur 53

Entrepreneur Advertising Curation Vertical 53