The Unsexy Startup

Back for our second season! 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/

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!

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!

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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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.com 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!

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!

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!

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!