Unicorn Bakery - For The World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams podcast

Player FM - Internet Radio Done Right

Vor drei Jahren hinzugefügt

Inhalt bereitgestellt von Fabian Tausch. Alle Podcast-Inhalte, einschließlich Episoden, Grafiken und Podcast-Beschreibungen, werden direkt von Fabian Tausch oder seinem Podcast-Plattformpartner hochgeladen und bereitgestellt. Wenn Sie glauben, dass jemand Ihr urheberrechtlich geschütztes Werk ohne Ihre Erlaubnis nutzt, können Sie dem hier beschriebenen Verfahren folgen https://de.player.fm/legal.

Silver Linings with The Old Gays

1
Our Chosen Family: "The gay community is much bolder today." 33:19

vor 17 Tagen33:19

Später Spielen

Listen

Gefällt mir

Geliked

33:19

What’s the secret to lasting friendships? How does queer community show up through the ebbs and flows of life? And what’s the REAL story behind the “YMCA” song? In the first episode of Silver Linings, The Old Gays dive into an essential part of queer life: chosen family. They discuss the vital love, support, and sense of belonging that community provides, especially during life's toughest moments. They open up about what “queer” means to them, how chosen family has impacted their lives, and how to maintain close bonds over time–including their love for each other! “We’ve come a long way, baby.” Family isn’t just what you’re born with; it’s the people who show up, shape you, and stick around. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

Serie-Home•Feed

Welcome to Unicorn Bakery: The podcast for the most ambitious founders & teams. Learn the tactics and lessons learned from the world's best founders and their teams to find out what it takes to start your startup, successfully scale, or support a founder turning their vision into reality. Unicorn Bakery is the founder's podcast about the essential questions and topics when starting a startup. We interview founders to cover every phase of the startup process, from idea generation and strategy to technical, legal, and financial issues.

74 Episoden

#Business #Fabian Tausch #Entrepreneur #Trading #Billion Dollar

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

updated vor 5 Stunden

Serie-Home•Feed

74 Episoden

#Business #Fabian Tausch #Entrepreneur #Trading #Billion Dollar

همه قسمت ها

1
Building a €20 Billion Banking-as-a-Service Platform – Insights from Swan’s CEO Nicolas Benady 1:13:29

vor 5 hours1:13:29

1:13:29

In this episode of Unicorn Bakery, Nicolas Benady, co-founder and CEO of Swan, shares the journey of building one of Europe’s leading Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms. Nicolas takes us behind the scenes of how Swan started in 2019, spent two years building its infrastructure, and has now grown to process over €20 billion in payments annually. Nicolas discusses the challenges of creating a BaaS platform from scratch, the importance of conviction and timing, and how Swan is helping companies embed banking services, such as accounts, cards, and payments, into their own products. He also shares insights into fundraising, team building, and expanding into new markets, such as Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. What you’ll learn in this episode: The Journey of Building Swan: How Nicolas leveraged 13 years of fintech experience to identify the need for a better BaaS platform Why conviction and a clear vision were critical during the two years it took to build Swan’s infrastructure and obtain its e-money license Fundraising and Growth: How Swan raised over €100 million, including a €42 million Series B extension, to scale its operations Lessons from fundraising, including why the first round was the hardest and how traction and reputation made later rounds easier Product and Market Fit: Why Swan focuses on small and medium businesses (SMBs) and how it partners with accounting and expense management software to deliver seamless banking services The importance of building a product that’s easy for developers to integrate, inspired by the simplicity of platforms like Stripe International Expansion: How Swan approached launching in new markets like Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands The challenges of adapting to different regulatory environments and market dynamics while maintaining a centralized team in Paris Leadership and Team Building: How Nicolas built trust with his co-founders and scaled the team to over 300 employees The importance of hiring for both skills and cultural fit, and why Nicolas brought on a deputy CEO to help scale the company ALLES ZU UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Mehr zu Nicolas Benady: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolasbenady Website: https://www.swan.io/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) What was the first time seeing traction since 2019? (00:04:26) How is Nicolas validating ideas? (00:08:48) Defining the exact problem before SWAN (00:12:16) Finding Co-Founders first vs. validating the idea first (00:18:19) Red flags in hiring interviews (00:30:12) Nicolas' framework for making decisions (00:34:41) Biggest failures in hiring (00:42:59) Numbers you need to know about SWAN (00:47:46) Use-Cases of SWAN (00:51:36) How to pick the first partner (00:58:43) Did Nicolas' self-confidence change through the years? (01:01:26) The right time to bring on a COO (01:05:36) Doubts and clarity about former hired employees (01:16:06) Country-specific functions vs. central functions when expanding…

1
Nir Eyal: How to Build Products People Love Without Losing Focus 54:02

vor 5 weeks54:02

54:02

In this episode of Unicorn Bakery, Nir Eyal, bestselling author of "Hooked" and "Indistractable", joins Fabian Tausch to discuss how to design habit-forming products, balance personal focus, and build a life free from distractions. Nir shares his unique insights on the psychology of habits, why most people misunderstand distraction, and how founders can create meaningful, ethical products that improve users' lives. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How to Build Habit-Forming Products: The Hook Model and how it helps create products that build healthy customer habits Why ethical design is critical when building products that people use frequently Becoming Indistractable: The difference between traction and distraction and why intent is everything How to master internal triggers—the root cause of most distractions—and take control of your time Time Management and Productivity: Why to-do lists often fail and how time-boxing can completely change how you work Practical strategies to prioritize reflective work over reactive tasks like emails and meetings Balancing Responsibility as a Founder: How to define your responsibility when building habit-forming products Why founders should consider a use and abuse policy to address overuse of their products Nir’s Approach to Angel Investing: How Nir chooses to invest in startups using the Hook Model to create positive, habit-forming products Examples of impactful companies Nir has supported, like Calm and Sunnyside, and how they create value ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Nir: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/ Website: https://www.nirandfar.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) Who did you write your books for and what is the message? (00:04:11) As a founder, what responsibility do I have to the user-terms of consuming my product? (00:09:18) How much can I leave users to their own responsibility to use my product and should I include safety elements in my product? (00:17:07) How do you feel about the fact that too often overconsumption (e.g. alcohol) is laughed at rather than criticized because it is "normal"? (00:21:16) Is too much self-optimization unhealthy, even if you are happy with your situation? (00:23:49) What levers can I move if I feel too much outside influence is affecting my focus on my own projects? (00:29:09) How important is repetition when you want to tackle things and make them happen, and how do you get rid of external triggers that distract you? (00:38:32) What is your perspective on the topic of To Do - Lists? (00:44:42) How does your knowledge of focus and productivity influence your work as an angel investor?…

1
Cloudflare Growth Playbook Revealed: How Cloudflare scaled to $1 Billion AR | Growth & Go-to-market-strategies | Chris Merritt, Former Cloudflare Chief Revenue Officer 1:30:53

vor 7 weeks1:30:53

1:30:53

Chris Merritt, former CRO of Cloudflare, shares how the company scaled from single-digit millions to $1 billion in ARR and built a foundation for long-term, sustainable growth. Chris unpacks the strategies behind scaling go-to-market teams, aligning product and sales for maximum impact, and creating strong customer relationships based on trust and value delivery. He also discusses the challenges of building a world-class organization, maintaining momentum through different growth phases, and navigating the shifting dynamics of the SaaS landscape, especially with the emergence of AI and its impact on go-to-market strategies. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Scaling to $1 Billion ARR: Why scaling requires a balance between small, fast-growing customers and large enterprise deals How to build repeatable processes for growth while maintaining flexibility for experimentation Building Trust with Customers: Why trust is the foundation of successful customer relationships and large contracts How to align product capabilities with customer needs while being transparent about limitations Aligning Product and Go-To-Market Teams: The importance of creating a tight feedback loop between product and sales teams How joint customer engagements help ensure consistent messaging and better product development Leadership Through Growth Phases: How to move from founder-led sales to a scalable go-to-market organization The challenges of hiring and maintaining company culture during rapid growth Adapting to Changing Markets: The role of AI in reshaping go-to-market strategies and customer expectations Why the current business landscape is moving faster than ever and what that means for startups ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Chris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmerritt99/ Website: https://www.cloudflare.com/de-de/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) How to scale beyond 1 Billion ARR (00:04:39) Value & reasons to buy Cloudflare (00:08:23) The balance between building the best product vs. building a worldclass sales organization (00:15:18) Stages and phases in startups that help navigating through challenges (00:24:55) Chris' tipps for founder-led-sales (00:32:48) Advices to find support for go-to-market (00:43:12) How to ensure that product and go-to-market are not drifting apart while growing (00:52:34) How to bring the team together (00:57:23) Quality expectations at Cloudflare (01:02:55) Building a sustainable company (01:09:03) Chris' best learnings on pricing (01:15:47) How to evaluate whether it is worth undercutting the competitor just to win the customer (01:22:06) Chris' thoughts on the momentum of the AI space…

1
How Clay Scaled from 0 to $30M ARR in 2 years with Product-Led Growth with Co-Founder & CEO Kareem Amin 1:14:22

vor 8 weeks1:14:22

1:14:22

Clay is one of THE success stories of the last years. But in early 2022, after 5 years of building, Clay did close to 0 in revenue. Two years later, Clay did approximately 30 million in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue). Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of Clay, shares the journey of building one of the most innovative AI-powered tools for go-to-market teams. From the early days of experimentation in 2017 to achieving hypergrowth and scaling to over $30 million ARR, Kareem dives deep into the challenges and lessons of building a product-led growth (PLG) company. He explains how Clay helps teams turn ideas into reality by leveraging AI for data enrichment and personalized outreach, and why focusing on customer feedback, community building, and iterative improvements were key to their success. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The Journey to Product-Market Fit: How Clay evolved from a no-code builder to a go-to-market tool for sales and marketing teams Why narrowing down the product’s focus was critical to finding the right customers Building a Product-Led Growth Engine: The importance of removing friction in the user journey to drive adoption How Clay used community-driven growth and partnerships with agencies to scale Iterating Based on Customer Feedback: Why Kareem believes in focusing on the few customers who love your product to build momentum How Clay’s Slack community became a key driver for product improvements and user engagement Lessons in Leadership and Team Building: How to balance flexibility and structure when scaling a team during hypergrowth The importance of hiring people who bring unique perspectives and foster a culture of learning The Future of Go-To-Market Teams: How AI and tools like Clay are reshaping sales and marketing roles Why the rise of GTM engineers is changing how companies approach growth ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Kareem: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kareemamin/ Clay (3.000 free credits): https://clay.com?via=73e581 Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) The early beginnings of Clay (00:08:08) Moving from developers to sales people (00:16:20) Kareem's advice for teams currently building (00:21:36) How Kareem approaches the launch of new features (00:25:39) How close was the team to ending Clay? (00:33:45) How to make momentum stay (00:45:17) Current mayor shift in go to market (00:52:06) The hardest part about hyper growth (00:57:16) How Kareem manages his schedule (01:01:52) The best early-stage team members (01:06:17) The hardest part about building a product-led-growth motion…

1
Vanta CRO on building a $100M+ ARR Revenue Engine – and how you can do, too | Predictable Sales Engine | Hiring Sales Talent | Selling to SMBs with Vanta CRO Stevie Case 1:23:03

vor 11 weeks1:23:03

1:23:03

Stevie Case, CRO at Vanta, explains how the company surpassed $100 million in ARR in just five years by building a predictable and scalable revenue engine. From founder-led sales to structuring a global sales organization, Stevie shares actionable insights for designing a repeatable go-to-market strategy and scaling effectively. She breaks down the importance of discovery, identifying customer pain points, and building trust, along with tips on hiring and incentivizing your first sales team. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Key Elements of a Predictable Revenue Engine Why discovery is the most critical skill for founders and sales teams How to define and scale repeatable metrics for predictable revenue Scaling a Sales Organization When and how to hire your first sales reps The importance of proper incentives and avoiding common hiring mistakes Building Repeatable Sales Processes How Vanta scaled from a single lead source to multiple diversified revenue streams Using frameworks like MedPIC to identify and quantify customer pain points Managing Revenue Growth How to balance short-term wins with long-term scalability The importance of focusing on a single channel or ICP before diversifying ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Stevie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steviecase/ Website: https://www.vanta.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapter: (00:00:00) Similarities between Building a revenue engine & gaming (00:05:38) How to: Scaling after product market fit (00:15:29) First signals of a buyer-to-be (00:21:17) Mutual Sales Plan at Vanta (00:27:34) How to handle too small budgets & approach the follow-up (00:38:22) Setting boundaries vs. making everything happen (00:42:46) What makes a great case study? (00:44:45) What is a predictable revenue engine? (00:48:17) Never change a winning team? How long do I pursue my first lead-channel? (00:52:07) From what time is a revenue engine relevant? (00:55:04) How to avoid the overkill (00:58:06) The first metrics to start with (01:02:50) How to define a ramp-up-period (01:09:53) Behind the scenes of Vanta (01:18:49) The final advice for your revenue-engine…

1
How Strava built a Global Fitness Community with 100M+ users | Expanding a consumer app to 196 Countries | Why Strava never intended to be a Venture Case | Hiring Young Potentials instead of Senior… 1:34:46

vor 12 weeks1:34:46

1:34:46

w Strava started as a "virtual locker room" in 1995 and why it didn’t work The role of timing, technology, and social media in Strava’s eventual success Building a Community-Driven Platform: Why Strava focused on engagement over growth and how this approach led to organic scaling Creating joy and reducing friction for users is important to keep them active and engaged Key Lessons in Scaling: How Strava expanded from cyclists to runners and other sports while staying authentic to each audience The challenges of internationalization and adapting to cultural nuances in markets like Brazil and the UK Navigating Challenges with Investors: How Mark balanced user-first decisions with investor expectations for growth The importance of patience, persistence, and perspective in building a long-term business Advice for Founders: Why does exponential growth start slow, and how do you stay motivated during the early stages? The value of maintaining a life outside of work is to avoid burnout and gain fresh perspectives. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Mark: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gainey-b6536/ Website: https://www.strava.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) The 1995 Origin Story of Strava (00:09:31) Most crucial denominator for the success of Strava (00:16:09) The journey of growth & global ambitions (00:20:51) Defining the critical engagement-metrics (00:29:08) A risky dependency on Garmin (00:44:04) Internationalization: must-have or coincidence? (00:50:06) The layers of product market fit (00:53:45) How to: Build a global community app (00:57:57) Teambuilding & culture at Strava (01:05:38) How to manage growth expectations (01:13:42) Mark's opinion on what makes a great investor (01:17:00) How to: Grow junior staff into new roles and responsibilities (01:21:47) Mark's advice for struggling founders…

1
From Building Products that Create Billions in Revenue to Running a Selffunded Venture Firm - Hunter Walk, Homebrew 51:16

vor 12 weeks51:16

51:16

In this episode of Unicorn Bakery, Hunter Walk, co-founder of Homebrew, joins Fabian Tausch for an in-depth conversation about his journey from product management at Google and YouTube to building one of the most respected early-stage venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. Hunter shares the story behind Homebrew’s evolution, why he and his co-founder Satya Patel decided to rethink the traditional VC model after nearly a decade, and how they now operate as a self-funded evergreen fund. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The Transition from Builder to Investor: Why Hunter left YouTube and Google after a decade to explore what truly mattered to him in his career. How Hunter and Satya Patel created Homebrew out of a shared desire to work together and support founders authentically. The Philosophy Behind Homebrew: Why Homebrew recently transitioned into a self-funded evergreen model after a decade of operating traditional VC funds. How this shift allows Hunter and Satya to focus on what they love: helping founders succeed without the constraints of managing external LP capital. How to Evaluate Investors as a Founder: The importance of speaking to other portfolio founders to understand how investors behave in both good and tough times. Why do the best investors focus on backing founders, not just companies, and how do you identify those who align with your needs? Key Traits for Long-Term Success: Why joy and purpose are critical for sustainable professional success. How to avoid being trapped in "good enough" situations and make bold career decisions that align with your values and ambitions. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Hunter: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk/ Website: https://homebrew.co/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapter: (00:00:00) Why did Hunter decide on the identity-change? (00:08:50) How to make bigger decisions (00:14:24) Hunter's advice for potential founders (00:20:15) The hardest part about building a venture firm (00:24:14) Hunter's advice on finding an excellent investor (00:27:51) Longterm-Building vs. Short-term-Building: Not to be the loudest (00:32:47) "The Homebrew 2.0" (00:37:07) The journey to more self-fulfillment (00:40:50) What would set me apart from the mediocre when building a venture? (00:46:50) On top of the world and NOT crazy: What are the characteristics of these people?…

1
Master Educational Short Form Content: How HarperCarrollAI won 400k Instagram Followers in 13 Months without losing content depth 59:48

vor 12 weeks59:48

59:48

In this episode, Harper Carroll, one of the most prominent voices in AI education, joins for a deep dive into the art of creating educational content, and how she built an impressive following of over 400,000 people in just one year. She reveals the behind-the-scenes strategies that helped her viral content stand out in a world dominated by flashy, fast-paced trends and why staying true to her calm, research-based teaching style has resonated with so many. What you’ll learn: The Art of Educational Content Creation: How Harper transitioned from technical guides to short-form Instagram content while maintaining depth and clarity. Why creating for yourself—not the audience—leads to the most authentic and impactful content. The strategies behind her viral “10 Days of AI Basics” series and why it brought her 250,000 followers from a single video. AI in Everyday Life: Harper’s favorite AI tools, including Claude, Perplexity, Gamma, and Descript, and how they simplify her workflows. Surprising ways AI can enhance productivity, from crafting emails to creating slide decks and streamlining content production. How AI tools can revolutionize learning for children and adults alike by fostering curiosity and enabling personalized education. Building a Unique Content Style: Why Harper avoids flashy editing and relies on calm, ASMR-like presentation to stand out. The importance of hooks, intros, and storytelling in short-form videos - and how a single intro can transform growth. The balance between producing content for audience growth and retaining existing followers. The Rise of AI Education: How Harper’s fine-tuning guides became the number one resource for developers, helping thousands of people train AI models for personal and professional use. Her thoughts on AI’s potential to empower entrepreneurs and enable people to follow their passions. Why Harper believes AI will create a new generation of gifted children who can pursue their interests with expert-level guidance. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Harper: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harpercarroll/ Website: https://www.harpercarroll.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) How is Harper thinking about content? (00:08:58) Is a viral post recreatable? (00:18:39) How important is the hook for video success? (00:28:20) How to create the perfect video (00:32:48) All about the script (00:41:55) Reasons not to publish a video (00:45:00) Content to grow the audience vs. content to retain them (00:49:56) Harper's AI-Tool-Stack (01:01:48) What's the best start to learn about AI?…

1
Investor in 1000+ Marketplaces: Fabrice Grinda (FJ Labs) on 2025 Trends for B2B and B2C Marketplaces 37:51

vor 18 weeks37:51

37:51

Fabrice Grinda, co-founder of FJ Labs and one of the world’s most prolific marketplace investors, joins the Unicorn Bakery podcast again to share his marketplace outlook for 2025. With more than 1,100 investments and 355 exits, Fabrice is uniquely positioned to discuss the trends shaping the future of startups, marketplaces, and venture capital. In this episode, he dives into the state of venture markets, the rise of B2B marketplaces, the impact of AI on startups, and why IPOs remain elusive for many companies. Fabrice provides detailed insights into the hottest marketplace trends, which include B2B and B2C marketplaces with different verticals and USPs. What you’ll learn: Why the venture market is starting to recover in 2025 after years of stagnation. How B2B marketplaces transform industries and why they’re still in their early stages. The role of AI in improving marketplace efficiency and redefining business models. Why IPOs remain challenging and what needs to change for companies to go public. How founders can build defensibility and create network effects in their marketplaces. Key 2025 trends include live commerce, cross-border marketplaces, and SMB digitization. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Where to find Fabrice: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabricegrinda/ FJ Labs: https://www.fjlabs.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: Twice a week you get the tactics of the world's best founders straight to your inbox: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Chapters: (00:00:00) Which timeframes does Fabrice look at while building thesis? (00:02:20) The "Look-Back-Sentiment" of 2024 & the "Look-Out" for 2025 (00:07:11) What has to change to make IPO markets attractive again? (00:10:38) How does the market dynamic change the venture industry? (00:16:23) Current trends in new businesses (00:29:52) The AI-impact on defensibility (00:35:06) Hurdles to encounter when starting a marketplace today…

1
From University Project to Billion-Dollar Exit: SIGNAVIO - Together As One – with Signavio Co-Founder & CEO Gero Decker 1:33:03

vor 23 weeks1:33:03

1:33:03

On March 5th, 2021, SAP acquired Signavio for a billion dollars – this marks one of the largest Tech Exits in the German market to date. How does a university side project become a billion-dollar acquisition? In this episode, Gero Decker, co-founder of Signavio, shares the incredible journey of building the company – from its roots as an open-source project to bootstrapping, scaling, and eventually being acquired by SAP for over a billion dollars. Learn about the pivotal moments, the role of timing, and how a strong team culture propelled Signavio to success, even when the odds were against them. What you’ll learn: How a university project turned into a profitable company Why customer feedback and bootstrapping were critical in the early days How creative lead generation methods (like the "Hare Krishna Method") made a difference Why team culture and timing played a vital role in success How the billion-dollar SAP acquisition unfolded and the dynamics of negotiation MORE UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery More about Gero Decker: LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/gerodecker Website: https://www.signavio.com/de/ Where to get the Book: Amazon: https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio Spotify Audio Book: https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio-audio-book Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: Twice a week, you’ll get the tactics of the world’s best founders delivered straight to your inbox. https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Marker: (00:00:00) Why were so many coincidences necessary for Signavio to even be founded? (00:05:00) How did the Signavio story unfold? (00:12:10) From open source to profitable company: The milestones (00:21:22) Equity & founding team: The starting point for Signavio (00:27:54) Prioritization & team spirit in a small team (00:31:11) Product & growth in 2010 (00:34:46) Lead generation & the failure of conversion (00:42:02) First Go-to-market motion at Signavio (00:46:52) First customers: The challenges with Customer Success (00:52:42) From bootstrapped to VC case – why now & what changed? (00:59:13) Fast-growing company: How do you maintain focus? (01:07:54) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Signavio (01:13:04) The Path & Negotiation to the SAP Acquisition (01:17:14) The Future of SAP Signavio (01:21:37) The Lesson: Lifting Up Each Other…

1
Investing in 10+ Unicorns: Kevin Hartz on Finding and Crafting Winning Founding Teams 1:12:06

vor 47 weeks1:12:06

1:12:06

Kevin Hartz is not only one of the most influential seed investors in Silicon Valley, but also a successful founder. In addition to early-stage investments in PayPal, Uber, AirBnB and SpaceX, he founded Xoom (exit to PayPal for approx. 1 billion dollars) and Eventbrite (IPO). With his current startup Sauron, Kevin is in the process of developing new technologies for the home security market. Kevin talks about how he identifies outstanding founders and thinks about team building in young startups. Kevin also elaborates on how he adapts to new technologies, evaluates them and draws conclusions for new companies and investments. Finally, he discusses his hypotheses on the future of value creation in AI startups and provides insights into the future of Sauron. What you learn: How does Kevin identify successful founders? What is the importance of flexibility and adaptability in building a company? What makes a good early-stage investor? Where will the value creation in AI startups take place? Building a founding team Further links: ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Kevin Hartz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hartz/ A*: https://www.a-star.co/ Unicorn Bakery WhatsApp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) Importance of having a flexible mindset (00:02:31) Did the characteristics of great founding teams change over the last 20 years? (00:04:57) Great team & market opportunity: is it always working hand in hand? (00:07:14) Assessing potential in founder (00:20:25) First hires in Kevin’s new venture Sauron (00:23:10) Why incubations are often bad ventures? (00:28:22) Kevin Hartz thoughts on Fundraising (00:34:22) Inhouse creation vs. outsourcing?(00:37:19) Is the Go To Market Motion creating enough defensibility ? (00:39:50) Evaluating new trends and opportunities (00:43:38) Where will value creation happen in the future of AI? (00:51:34) What do you think about the lifecycle of companies? (00:56:51) The impact of AI on Startup Complexity: Will people focus on more complex problems or focus on building “easier” companies faster? (00:59:32) What are your takes on other ecosystems compared to Silicon Valley?…

1
The AI Playbook: Former Salesforce Chief Scientist Richard Socher’s Guide to Building a Successful AI Company (Founder of you.com) 1:10:23

vor 48 weeks1:10:23

1:10:23

Richard Socher, most recently Chief Scientist at Salesforce under Marc Benioff and one of the most renowned AI researchers in the world, has now founded you.com instead of joining one of the big AI companies. Richard believes that he can have a more positive impact on humanity. you.com now reaches millions of users and gives you as a user the opportunity to work based on the latest models. Richard talks about building an AI company that always has to work on the edge of innovation, how he would manage research teams today, how you as a founder find out which AI tools really help you and how he himself thinks about prioritization privately and in the product. The conversation was particularly impressive for me, as Richard grew up in Dresden and moved to Silicon Valley at an early age and (not only) became an absolute luminary for artificial intelligence from there. What you learn: How do you evaluate which AI tools will really help you and your company? When does it make sense to develop your own services in-house vs. outsourcing or buying in services? As a founder, how can I find out how much money I really want/should raise? How can I optimize my energy management as a founder? What qualities should a good mentor have? Further links: ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Richard Socher: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardsocher/ Website: https://www.socher.org/ you.com: https://you.com/ Unicorn Bakery WhatsApp Broadcast: Here you can find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) How to evaluate AI tools (00:22:01) Will AI and LLM wrappers be valid businesses? (00:25:48) Product decisions: Building things inhouse vs. implementing things (00:29:23) How to size funding rounds (00:34:24) you.com team setup & how to run high performing AI research teams (00:38:59) Why is it more impactful to build you.com than joining OpenAI? (00:43:44) Energy management as a founder (00:52:58) Prioritization for founders (00:56:19) What makes a great mentor? (01:00:57) What is the easiest way to try you.com?…

1
Misconceptions of first-time founders: How to avoid Hiring-Red Flags & the Biggest Fallacies about Finding Product Market Fit - Dan Siroker, Limitless 1:11:43

vor 48 weeks1:11:43

1:11:43

Dan Siroker built Optimizely to more than 120 million ARR before leaving the company. The company was sold and merged, and then launched, rewind.ai-now limitless.ai, a consumer product that, unlike Dan's previous company, has a software and hardware component. Dan gives deep insights into the transition from software to hardware development and the use of AI in modern startups. He explains how empathy and user research can improve the product development process and the strategies he uses to build an efficient team. He also shares his experience in fundraising and gives tips on how to choose the right investors. You'll also learn how to identify the biggest red flags in the hiring process and save yourself hassle and money. Basically, Dan shares many things that he now looks at differently as a serial founder: How do you find the right investor? What mistakes lurk in fundraising? & Which founder misconceptions are simply based on bullshit? What you will learn: The challenges and opportunities of transitioning from software to hardware How AI can be used as a superpower to increase productivity The importance of empathy and user research in product development Strategies to avoid classic hiring mistakes How to attract investors and choose the right partners What you can learn for your energy management from a father of three and founder of two ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Dan Siroker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsiroker/ Limitless: https://www.limitless.ai/ Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com/ Unicorn Bakery WhatsApp Broadcast: Here you can find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) Company Building in the era of AI (00:06:35) What do you use GPT4 for, and what about old habits that block us from using new tools like AI? (00:10:48) Building the founding team - what people are you looking for and how is your leadership-style? (00:19:59) How to do Backchannel References? (00:23:36) How do you find out if former founders are recruitable? (00:26:45) How do you describe the journey of Limitless to Product-Market-Fit? (00:32:13) What are the biggest fallacies about finding PMF? (00:35:01) Round Sizing: How do you evaluate how much money you want/need from investors? (00:39:22) Why founders need to have empathy for investors (00:45:47) How do you know if the investor you are talking to is the right investor for you? (00:49:45) What unusual decision did you make in your fundraising? (00:53:30) How do you think about burn management? (00:56:16) To what extent can you test your hardware for product market fit? (01:01:03) How do you think about energy management now as a 3-times-dad and a 2nd time founder? (01:06:02) What is one of the biggest misconceptions that founders have?…

1
Why startups fail with Dave Hersh, Founder & Author 1:09:21

vor 49 weeks1:09:21

1:09:21

Only 10% of start-ups are successful and yet 82% of founders think they will be successful. 78% of start-ups don't even manage to pay back their investors. Dave Hersh scaled a company with Jive to more than 10 million dollars in turnover, took a growth investor on board and Jive later went public. Through his other positions as a coach, board partner at a16z and also as a buyer of start-ups, he has a 360-degree perspective on the things that go wrong in the venture ecosystem. His book Reignition is all about dealing with the 90% of startups that don't achieve outlier success. As a founder, how can you prevent your startup from getting stuck halfway through, or pull the cart out of the mud if that has already happened. What you learn: The evolution of the venture capital ecosystem and its current challenges The importance of intuition versus data-driven decisions in company building When and how to raise capital and the risks of funding too early or too much The role of market access and operational efficiency in the success of startups How to choose the right investor and the importance of deep personal connection and trust ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Dave Hersh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davehersh/ Reignition - Transforming Stuck Startups: https://amzn.eu/d/3ZHnrUK Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Here you can find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) To what degree do you think the venture ecosystem is broken? (00:04:67) What questions must be answered before building a company? (00:11:33) Where do I position myself to set the guidance for the last few years? (00:16:23) When is the right time to raise money, and do you differentiate between private and institutional investors? (00:22:49) What do you tell founders that are scared of not reaching sales targets fast enough? (00:25:36) How do I find the right investor, and what should I look for? (00:29:26) How can founders see if they are on the right track and the company is moving in the right direction? (00:34:27) What is the flywheel that leads to being stuck as a company? (00:35:39) Trying to do my best hiring vs. putting persons in the position that hire better than me (00:38:33) How do I unstuck my company, and how do I realize my own mistakes? (00:49:01) What about overthinking in the early founder stage? (00:52:39) What do you have to think about to become the best performer, and where do I start? (00:59:20) Is it even possible to be successful in the early 20s?…

1
Deeptech: The hurdles of making the first Quantum Computer accessible as a B2B Cloud Product - Alexander Keesling, QuEra 1:09:28

vor 1 year1:09:28

1:09:28

Alexander Keesling researched quantum computers at Harvard and, together with a team, decided to found a company based on his research. Today, QuEra generates tens of millions in revenue, licenses its quantum computer via AWS and is building a new quantum computer in Japan for around 41 million dollars. In the podcast, we talk about the status quo of quantum computing, when quantum computers will be available to the general public, and also how difficult it is to go from researcher to CEO of a fast-growing startup & where the parallels lie. What you will learn: What are the challenges of building a great technical team? When will quantum computing become interesting for the general public and in which industries can it be usefully applied? What do you need to set up a company as a researcher and how do you find your first customers? Technical sales: How do you set up a sales organization for a technically sophisticated product? What difficulties do you encounter when you want to export a new quantum technology to Japan? ALL ABOUT THE UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Alexander Keesling LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-keesling-66229730/ QuEra: https://www.quera.com/ https://aws.amazon.com/de/braket/quantum-computers/quera/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp broadcast keeps you up to date Marker: (00:00:00) Researcher turning CEO: Job Similarities and differences (00:07:14) Why is it still complex to deliver quantum computers? (00:15:24) How would you explain what a quantum computer is? (00:26:41) What is the ChatGPT-moment of quantum computing - when will it be accessible to the public? (00:34:47) What circumstances made you build a business out of your research? (00:45:25) How do you build your sales motion for a complex technical product? (00:54:41) Why Quantum Computing will change the world and how you can try it today…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
1100+ investments, 40% Annual Realized Return for 26 years: How Fabrice Grinda built FJ Labs, one of the most successful Venture Capital Funds globally 1:26:10

vor 1 year1:26:10

1:26:10

Fabrice Grinda, founder of FJ Labs and extreme athlete, explains how he has made over 1100 investments, primarily in marketplace and network-effect startups, generating an average 40% return over 26 years. Fabrice also likes to simplify a lot in his life by outsourcing things. Find out his recipe for a fulfilling life and managing virtual assistants in the podcast. What you will learn: Outsourcing: How to outsource more professionally and privately to increase your quality of life and output Marketplaces: What are the difficulties in scaling marketplace companies, the most important KPIs and current valuations? FOMO: How do you manage not to be pushed by others? Senior hiring: Is it typically European to hire senior rather than young and motivated? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Fabrice Grinda LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabricegrinda/ FJ Labs: https://www.fjlabs.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) What does a successful life look like to you and what role does money play in your life? (00:05:50) How do you decide what things you outsource vs. what you do by yourself and how do you delegate successful? (00:12:56) Managing lessons to become a relaxed manager/avoiding things you don't like (00:16:38) Is hiring seniors instead of young ambitious people an European problem? (00:20:27) FJ Labs’ Investing Strategy that leads to 1100+ Investments and 40% realized IRR over 26 years (00:36:13) What fascinates you about marketplaces and why did you stay focused? (00:43:28) What is needed to scale a marketplace successfully (00:56:18) How do you manage and resist FOMO? (00:59:39) Fabrice Grinda’s view on the macroeconomics and their influence on the venture ecosystem (01:06:37) As an extreme sports-fanatic: what are the biggest parallels between extreme sports and investing/building a company? (01:09:37) What did you learn about yourself through your extreme adventures and how do you manage stress? (01:13:49) Was it as easy as it appears for you to reach everything you want and how much do you need other people's opinions?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Consolidation as Strategy: Razor Group's Path to Market Leadership - Razor Group Founder Tushar Ahluwalia 1:05:58

vor 1 year1:05:58

1:05:58

Tushar Ahluwalia founded the Razor Group together with his founding team in 2020. Since then, the Razor Group has received more than one billion dollars in investment and credit, acquired and consolidated many Amazon FBA businesses and most recently some Amazon aggregators, such as Perch. Today, the Razor Group is the largest remaining player on the market in terms of sales and serves a product catalog of around 40,000 SKUs. The vision: to revolutionize e-commerce and shine in front of consumers with outstanding products. A concept that shone during Corona, but is now more of an anti-hype. Nevertheless, Tushar and his team have managed to scale extremely quickly. In this interview, he reveals to Fabian what his tricks and learnings are and what makes his business model so special. What you learn: Fast scaling: What do you need to be prepared for when hyperscaling? What are the stumbling blocks? What was the Razor Group's A-Team? How was the founding team put together? Is a company ever "too big to fail"? Why do so many of the Buy & Build models from the Amazon FBA space fail? Why is it attractive for Razor to consolidate these faltering players? Where should the Razor Group develop in the future? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Tushar Ahluwalia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tushar-ahluwalia/ Razor Group: https://www.razor-group.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) What are the good and the hard things about hyperscaling? (00:04:09) What made the perfect founding team for Razor, and what were the first steps to create momentum? (00:16:34) What must we know about the aggregators (like Perch, Stryze and others) you bought and why they sold to you? (00:27:58) How exposed is Razor to leverage? (00:34:06) Is the Razor Group too big to fail after consolidating with Perch? (00:36:59) What is the vision for the next few years for the Razor Group…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Misconceptions about pitching early stage investors - with Sequoia Capital Partner George Robson 30:22

vor 1 year30:22

30:22

Is the European climate for early-stage start-ups improving again? After the European fundraising ecosystem was somewhat more cautious in the years following the corona boom, the question is: how is it currently developing? Fabian meets George Robson, Partner at Sequoia Capital, probably the best-known venture capital fund in the world. Together they talk about financing start-ups with high capital requirements, the fine line between optimistic vision and realism when pitching and the right approach to investors like Sequoia Capital. What you learn: Which investor should you seek for your startup if you're building more of a cash-heavy business? Market assessment: Are consumer products making a comeback? Sequoia Capital: How does Sequoia invest and what does the company value in founders? How much storytelling in the pitch is good and when does it become too much? How important is the warm intro really and what chances do you have with cold outreach to investors? Here you can find tickets for MERGE: https://merge.berlin Don't forget to use the code UNICORN for 30% off. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery George Robson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgerobson Sequoia: https://www.sequoiacap.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) Is the European fundraising ecosystem waking up again? (00:04:21) How do I approach investors if I'm building a startup that combines hardware and software instead of the usual b2b SaaS startup? (00:07:12) What investor am I looking for if I'm a cash-heavy business? (00:11:40) How does investing at Sequoia work? (00:14:20) Are consumer products experiencing a comeback? (00:18:15) When it comes to pitching, where is the fine line between storytelling and "being too much"? (00:23:45) How to get in touch with Sequoia?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Blitzscaling vs. Bootstrapping: How to choose your founder journey - Casper Rasmussen, Monta 47:45

vor 1 year47:45

47:45

Monta has raised more than 120 million euros for its software platform for electric vehicles to improve the accessibility of charging infrastructure. Within 3 years, Monta has scaled to around 300 employees, is currently hiring 10-20 employees per month and is multiplying revenue annually. Previously, Monta founder Casper Rasmussen built 500+ mobile apps with his agency and bootstrapped the agency to 20 million in revenue. We talk about the differences between bootstrapping as an agency and the blitzscaling approach that Monta is currently taking. Casper has also made a role change from CTO to CEO - what has been particularly challenging for him in this role? He also gives you an all-round view on validating ideas quickly and avoiding tropical mistakes: what are the biggest challenges early stage founders face? Spoiler: Burnout and negative stress are only part of the picture. What you will learn: What are the major differences between founding a bootstrapped case and a venture-backed company? What mistakes can you make in hiring and how do you avoid them? How can you tell whether a business idea and a decision are good enough or not? What challenges await you when you switch from a specific role (in this case that of technical leader) to a generalized role (in this case CEO)? How can you prevent stress and burnout and how can you prevent your startup from undermining your private life? EVERYTHING ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Casper Rasmussen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casper-h-rasmussen-63b13922/ Monta: https://monta.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) What are the main differences between building a bootstrapped case like the agency and a venture case like Monta? (00:02:24) How does the venture case challenge your growth - is it less focused than in the bootstrapping-experience? (00:04:32) Your most important learnings and mistakes in Hiring and Onboarding? (00:07:48) How do you evaluate if you bring in someone from the outside or promote from inside your own team? (00:09:40) What makes a decision good enough to take it? (00:11:21) How do you evaluate your ideas? (00:15:02) What are the biggest mistakes for early stage founders? (00:23:54) What are the hardest parts of switching roles from "only" being a CTO to CEO? (00:28:45) Would you say your personal life suffers from being a founder? (00:34:03) Who would you recommend becoming an entrepreneur and raising venture money? (00:40:58) Your tips for early stage founders that are struggling?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
How does it feel to make a 100 million dollars with an exit? with GitHub and Gitbutler Founder Scott Chacon 1:17:31

vor 1 year1:17:31

1:17:31

Scott Chachon is one of the co-founders of GitHub, a developer platform that was sold to Microsoft for around 7.5 billion dollars. We talk about the moment he found out about the sale to Microsoft, how much money he made from the sale and whether it made him happy. He is now founding his third startup, Gitbutler, after investing 12 million of his own money in Chatterbug and has now decided to grow the company profitably without investment. We talk about founding in Germany and Europe as opposed to the US and Scott explains why he is now founding in Germany for the second time. What you learn: Milestone exit: How desirable is exit as a goal really? Customer retention: How hard is it to retain customers and what options, such as experiential approaches, are there? Team composition: What makes a high-performance team? Made in Germany: What are the pros and cons of setting up in Germany vs. the USA? Looking for 100.000€ in Cloud Credits, then apply for the OVHcloud Startup Program: https://startup.ovhcloud.com EVERYTHING ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Scott Chacon LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schacon/ Gitbutler: https://gitbutler.com/ Merge: https://merge.berlin Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) What changes when you finally get the 100 million dollar exit? ? (00:06:20) Did you experience an exit-depression? (00:11:03) 12 million personal investment in Chatterbug? (00:15:04) What is your advice for founders to get to the "zero-to-one-effect"? (00:23:01) Gitbutler: Product & Vision (00:29:04) How did you build your third venture with all your experience? (00:32:55) What does it take to make a developer tool successful? (00:36:11) Was your product ready for a lot of attention when you got thousands of signups? (00:39:03) What do non-technical-founders forget about that makes it harder for tech people to succeed in the company? (00:42:26) Why is building from Germany great in some parts? (00:55:44) Investors vs. Bootstrapping: What are your thoughts? (01:00:14) How did you plan your runway? (01:03:44) The Merge: The developers conference…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Cost-Traps that Cost Your Company Millions David Heinemeier-Hansson, 37signals 1:09:14

vor 1 year1:09:14

1:09:14

David Heinemeier Hansson is the inventor of Ruby on Rails and founder of 37signals, a company that has developed products such as Basecamp, Hey.com and more over the last 20 years. However, apart from Jeff Bezos, David and his co-founder Jason Friedman didn't take any money and bootstrapped the company. We talk about the biggest cost drivers for companies, how 37signals managed to develop multiple products in parallel and how David thinks about the differences between Europe and the US when it comes to starting a company. What you learn: When might it make sense to move away from the usual cloud services and choose your own hardware resources instead? What advantages does the USA offer compared to Europe if you want to set up a start-up? Who should raise money from venture capital investors and who shouldn't? How do you learn to correctly assess which topics (e.g. marketing or hiring) it makes sense to spend money on? Here you can find tickets for MERGE: Https://merge.berlin Don’t forget to use the code UNICORN for 30% off. Here you can setup your tech with Codesphere: https://codesphere.com EVERYTHING ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery David Heinemeier Hansson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-heinemeier-hansson-374b18221/ 37signals: https://37signals.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) How do you resist raising venture capital? Why was it not relevant to you? To whom would you recommend raising venture capital? (00:10:51) Would AI make it possible for me, as a non-technical founder, to build a technical company these days? (00:16:22) What are the biggest cost traps that founders run into? (00:23:16) How do you assess new costs like hiring or marketing? (00:29:08) The 37signals setup: team size and product variety (00:33:31) How did you and Jason find out what company you want to build? (00:43:23) How much money did you save by leaving the cloud? (00:51:41) US vs. Europe - what are the differences in living and working? (00:57:54) What would be the reasons to build out of Europe?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
How AI changes creativity forever, with Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer Scott Belsky 38:14

vor 1 year38:14

38:14

What role does creativity play for entrepreneurs? And how is the understanding of creativity changing as a result of artificial intelligence? Scott Belsky founded Behance, sold the start-up to Adobe and is now Chief Product and Chief Strategy Officer there. Adobe is one of the 50 most valuable companies in the world. At Adobe, Scott oversees all new products and is deeply involved in what the future looks like for creatives. In this podcast episode of Unicorn Bakery, Scott Belsky and Fabian Tausch talk about the impact of artificial intelligence on entrepreneurship, creativity and product development in companies. What you'll learn: -What impact is AI having on work at large corporations like Adobe? -How are product teams changing due to AI? -How did Scott feel as a founder after selling his company to Adobe? -What do investors like Scott want when looking for new talent? -When is it worth launching a new product and when is it worth developing the existing one? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Scott Belsky LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbelsky/ Adobe: https://www.adobe.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) How does creativity influence entrepreneurship? (00:06:28) How does AI impact such large organizations like Adobe? (00:10:21) How do you decide if you want to launch a new product vs. improve a "good old" one and what are your thoughts on a good launch? (00:18:37) How did you feel after selling to Adobe? (00:23:33) What are you looking for when you want to invest in a business?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Why Your Product Launch is Overrated with Superhuman Founder Rahul Vohra 1:05:41

vor 1 year1:05:41

1:05:41

Rahul Vohra sold his first company Rapportive to LinkedIn and then founded Superhuman. Superhuman is a premium email provider that is significantly faster to use than Gmail and other alternatives. Today, Superhuman has raised more than 100 million dollars and has tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of users. But how do you develop a premium product in an area where there is a lot of competition and, above all, free alternatives? In addition to Superhuman, Rahul has co-invested with Todd Goldberg in more than 100 startups and we talk about Rahul's framework for investing and building an angel fund. In addition to background info on Superhuman, in this episode you'll also get helpful tips on the most common pitfalls in product launches, a look at the pros and cons of a personal brand as a founder, and the impact of AI in product building. What you will learn: What are the pros and cons of personal branding as a founder? How does Superhuman use AI in product development? Why are product launches overrated? When should founders use feedback in product development and when should they trust their gut feeling? Rahul's Angel Fund: https://www.toddandrahulangelfund.com/ ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery Rahul Vohra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/ Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/ Unicorn Bakery Whatsapp Broadcast: Find out everything you need to know as a founder: https://drp.li/jrq5S Our WhatsApp Broadcast keeps you up to date with insights into the scene, news and top content. Marker: (00:00:00) How did you test the market for a premium email service? (00:07:34) Minimum Viable Product vs. Minimum Lovable Product: How long did the first version of Superhuman take? ? (00:12:25) How does the product market fit the engine of the growing company? (00:18:28) Why Superhuman has maintained a 1:1 onboarding process over the years (00:21:48) What are the most common misconceptions about THE product launch? (00:23:53) What is the difference between game design and gamification in product development? (00:31:08) When to focus on improving the product and when to focus on increasing sales in product development? (00:35:46) Superhuman's AI strategy (00:38:37) Rahul's favorite AI use cases and tools? (00:44:12) What are the positives/negatives of becoming a personal brand as a founder? (00:49:28) What are your favorite questions to find out the characteristics of a potential employee? (00:53:47) What is your framework for investing in startups?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
This investor cold walks into offices to invest in a startup & why he doesn’t build a personal brand – Alex Finkelstein, Spark Capital 35:33

vor 2 years35:33

35:33

Alex Finkelstein is a general partner at Spark Capital and has names like Twitter (X), Discord, Snap and Slack in his funds portfolio. But how does a fund like Spark Capital, and Alex in particular, invest? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: Why is it sometimes useful as a founder:in to not just look at everything rationally? How far does Alex go to win deals and invest with founders? How does Alex shape his way of working and living to achieve as much success as possible in all areas? How do you build a successful venture company when all the world is focused on brand and reach? Alex Finkelstein, Spark Capital LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkelsteinalex/ Spark Capital: https://www.sparkcapital.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: 1-2x a week get a personalized voice note or content from me that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) What should newbies who just joined in the heyday of startups know about building companies? (00:04:54) What do you guys look for in good investments? (00:09:59) How do you convince companies (like Get Your Guide, for example) that you really want to work with you? (00:15:21) What's it like behind the scenes - how do you structure your work/life time? (00:18:32) How do you go about convincing executives to join the founders you think are a good fit for the company? (00:20:27) How senior/junior should you hire in the seed stage? (00:25:35) Building a successful venture capital firm: what does it really take?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
“A Hybrid Setup is the worst” | How to get new hires up to speed during hyper-growth | How to not be the bottle neck of growth as a founder | - Job van der Voort, remote.com 49:01

vor 2 years49:01

49:01

In the last 4 years Job van der Voort has founded remote.com, raised about $500 million from investors like Sequoia, Accel, Index and General Catalyst, reached a valuation of $3 billion and turned the company profitable last year. Fabian talks to Job about structures that make hyper-growth possible, how remote.com managed to scale without a fixed HQ & what it took to do so, and personal growth as a founder. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: What frameworks are needed to enable hyper growth? What characteristics do employees need to enable rapid growth? How does remote.com ensure new employees integrate quickly and are productive? Office culture, remote or hybrid - what is the best culture? Job van der Voort LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jobvo/ Remote.com: https://remote.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: 1-2x weekly get a personalized voice note or content from me that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) Hyper-growth of remote.com & efficient onboarding of new employees. (00:24:46) What went wrong in the hyper-growth year? (00:28:56) How do you delegate so employees can make quick decisions and take responsibility? (00:31:39) What has changed at remote.com compared to the Pandemic & the Hype Cycle? (00:35:01) Growth at any cost vs. efficient growth - what did you have to decide and plan differently as a founder? (00:42:39) What structures help fully remote companies scale? (00:48:41) Hiring other people if you want to make them exclusively remote? (00:58:10) Hybrid vs. remote vs. office culture. (01:02:14) What are currently your biggest challenges at remote.com?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Why VCs shouldn't try to tick boxes & focus too much on pattern recognition | Seedcamp's Investment Process after receiving a Pitchdeck - Reshma Sohoni & Kate McGinn, Seedcamp 50:44

vor 2 years50:44

50:44

Why VCs shouldn't try to tick boxes & focus too much on pattern recognition | How to choose your Fund-Strategy | Importance of the German Market | Seedcamp's Investment Process after receiving a Pitchdeck - Reshma Sohoni & Kate McGinn, Seedcamp Seedcamp has been investing in startups for more than 15 years. A few of the investments include companies like Wise, UiPath, Revolut, Ramp and many more. Recently, Seedcamp announced their 6th fund and will increase their presence in Germany with this fund. Together with Founding Partner Reshma Sohoni and Associate Kate McGinn, Fabian talks about Seedcamp’s Investment strategy, opening a new market and their investment process from a founder perspective. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: How did Seedcamp become one of the most renowned European (Pre-)Seed Funds? Why did Seedcamp never change strategy and raise significantly larger funds? Why shouldn't VCs rely too much on pattern recognition? Reshma Sohoni LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reshmasohoni/ Seedcamp: https://seedcamp.com/ Kate McGinn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemcginn/ Seedcamp: https://seedcamp.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: 1-2x a week get a personal voice note or content from me that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) Why did Seedcamp switch their fund vehicle from accelerator to solely venture capital? (00:07:53) Seedcamp's new 160 million fund. (00:12:14) What does the collaboration between Seedcamp and Angel investors look like? (00:17:43) How do you think about fund strategy and why did you choose your strategy? (00:24:50) What dynamics does it take for the fund to perform well despite the many small tickets? (00:28:54) Who is Seedcamp talking to in order to arrive and establish itself in the German market? (00:31:17 As an investor, is it dangerous to only look at pattern recognition? (00:42:32) What is your typical process after getting a deck?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
Danger of Optimising for Valuation | The problem with large VC funds | Startups stay a high risk business at later stages | New Definition for Unicorns - Micah Rosenbloom, Founder Collective 59:48

vor 2 years59:48

59:48

Founder Collective is a New York based fund that has invested in Uber, Trade Desk, Stack Overflow and many more top startups. Fabian talks to Managing Partner Micah Rosenbloom about the risk of using money to magnify problems rather than solve them. "Too much capital at early stages quickly leads to bad habits and inefficiencies," says Micah - but why is that? Plus, find out why high valuations often hurt rather than help founders:in and what the thesis is all about. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: Why is a lot of capital sometimes just the wrong approach for founders? Why does fixating on high valuations hurt me as a founder:in? Why are big VC funds part of the problem? What happens when my company doesn't become the perfect VC case - how do I deal with it? Micah Rosenbloom LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-rosenbloom-a0350 FirstMark: https://www.foundercollective.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: 1-2x a week you'll get a personalized voice note or content from me that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) How do VCs in early stages pick their founders and startups? (00:04:54) Why not focus too much on high valuations? (00:20:32) What happens if the dream I sold to everyone, (including myself), bursts and it doesn't become a billion dollar company? (00:26:24) How would you go about restructuring a startup if the original plan is not achievable? (00:38:35) What is the risk of VC funds that are too big? (00:46:15) What is the risk of developments (VC funds that are too big, expectations that cannot be realized) to the startup ecosystem?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
How to win in the AI hype, is Growth Financing back? & European venture ecosystem with Matt Turck, FirstMark Capital 54:39

vor 2 years54:39

54:39

In this episode, I talk with Matt Turck General Partner at the New York based Venture firm Firstmark Capital about succeeding as a VC. Firstmark invests in a very focused way, primarily in Series A rounds. Matt himself has been focused on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Data for more than 10 years. AI Hype: What do companies and founders need to survive the hype? Growth Fundraising: Matt's portfolio companies Pigment and Synthesia just raised large growth roungs. Are growth financing rounds back? European Startup Ecosystem: As a French living in New York for 20 years, how does Matt perceive the European ecosystem? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you learn: What makes a good VC? How should startups choose their investors? What founder qualities are most important to Matt? Matt's take on the European ecosystem comapred to the US Matt Turck LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turck/ FirstMark: https://firstmark.com WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: 1-2x weekly get a personalized voice note or content from me that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) What makes a successful venture investor? (00:06:36) How do you personally manage FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)? (00:12:58) What should founders look for when fundraising and choosing investors? (00:20:51) Why did your opinion change from looking for technical founder to accepting business founders, too? (00:24:52) What are your thoughts on the AI hype? (00:30:24) How do I survive the hype cycle as an AI startup? (00:38:07) How important is defensibility for startups in the (pre-)seed phase? (00:42:39) How is the growth financing dynamic changing at the moment? (00:46:14) How would you compare the European startup ecosystem to the U.S. ecosystem?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
B2B SaaS Company Building: Learnings from two 9-figure exits & How to build a B2B Logo Machine: Learnings from Scaling MOAT, Jonah Goodhart, Montauk Labs 1:09:01

vor 2 years1:09:01

1:09:01

Jonah Goodhart has had two exits with a total volume of more than $1.5 billion. He was a founding investor in Right Media (sold to Yahoo), but according to insiders, he was much more involved. He sold the advertising management platform MOAT to Oracle in 2017 for about $850 million. That's why we're talking about Jonah's company building for B2B SaaS startups. ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery What you'll learn: -Validating ideas: What makes a really good SaaS idea? -How do you develop a B2B logo engine that keeps growing? -How do you find product-market fit as reliably as possible? Jonah Goodhart LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahgoodhart/ Montauk Labs: https://www.mtklabs.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER: Receive a personalized voice message or content from me 1-2x a week that will make you a better founder, sign up now with one click: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter (00:00:00) How did you validate and select ideas at the beginning of your career vs. how has that changed over the years? (00:09:01) How much does your prominence in the scene and your environment influence you in idea implementation? (00:12:58) How would you go about being a First Time Founder when supposedly all the other founders around you have more experience and know what they are doing? (00:16:12) What things are really important when starting my business and what is more "go with the flow"? (00:19:33) As a serial founder, how do you define a good team? (00:23:02) As a founder, how do you decide what type of funding to choose? When do I bootstrap, when do I seek an angel investor, when do I seek a VC? (00:29:08) How much is it underestimated what damage debt financing can do if the founder doesn't know exactly what they're doing? (00:40:30) What does Product Market Fit mean to you and when did you know with your company that you were achieving it/on your way to it? (00:43:37) What does it take to build a Logo Machine in sales? (00:50:58) When can I best tailor products to my customers and when should I focus on scalability? (00:54:19) Have you ever had to turn down a customer because they wanted too much customization and what do VCs prefer - scalable products or customized? (01:04:10) How do you personally cope with the mental and stressful challenges that startups bring?…

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

1
How to scale an organization to >100M ARR: From founder to CEO, Scaling culture, Agile organization - Ronni Zehavi, HiBob 53:02

vor 2 years53:02

53:02

HiBob is now doing more than 100M in annual recurring revenue (ARR). They have cracked the threshold from 10m to 100M ARR in 3 years. But how does the organization need to be set up to withstand hyper growth? What you'll learn: How do I find my culture in early stages? How do I retain culture in hyper growth? What is the path from founder to CEO? Why didn't HiBob raise at a valuation higher than $2.5 billion? ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery (00:00:00) Hibob intro & shortcomings of current leadership levels. (00:06:13) How has your role as CEO changed over the years? (00:10:46) How do you take the whole company with you to achieve goals? (00:18:42) How did you find your company culture at HiBob and how did you know which one was right? (00:27:11) When did you feel with HiBob that you had achieved Product Market Fit? (00:36:56) Do you have imposter syndrome? (00:41:35) How do you build a company that is flexible to change? (00:45:25) What do you think is important about the topic of valuations and investors? Ronni Zehavi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnizehavi/ HiBob: https://www.hibob.com/ This episode is produced in collaboration and paid cooperation with HiBob. Fast-growing companies around the world such as Taxfix, JIMDO and Happy Socks, among others, rely on bob, an innovative, intuitive and agile HR platform, to help recruiters and managers engage, develop and retain top talent for the long term. Bob's diverse features pay dividends for HR and business development, as well as company culture and employee retention. You can find all information about HiBob here: https://www.hibob.com/de/…

Willkommen auf Player FM!

Player FM scannt gerade das Web nach Podcasts mit hoher Qualität, die du genießen kannst. Es ist die beste Podcast-App und funktioniert auf Android, iPhone und im Web. Melde dich an, um Abos geräteübergreifend zu synchronisieren.

Höre 500+ Themen zu

Ähnelt Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

Bounty Paper Towels Quick Size, White, 16 Family Rolls = 40 Regular Rolls (Packaging May Vary)

Mini Mic Pro Wireless Microphone for iPhone, iPad, Android, Lavalier Microphone for Video Recording - 2 Pack iPhone Mic Crystal Clear Recording with USB-C for Podcast, ASMR

Ailun 3 Pack Screen Protector for iPhone 16 Pro [6.3 inch] + 3 Pack Camera Lens Protector with Installation Frame,Case Friendly Tempered Glass Film,[9H Hardness] - HD [6 Pack]

Podcasts, die es wert sind, gehört zu werden

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

Podcasts, die es wert sind, gehört zu werden

Willkommen auf Player FM!

The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About

The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About

Norton 360 Deluxe 2025, Antivirus software for 5 Devices with Auto-Renewal – Includes Advanced AI Scam Protection, VPN, Dark Web Monitoring & PC Cloud Backup [Download]

Amazon eGift Card - Amazon Logo (Animated)

The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About

Ähnelt Unicorn Bakery - For the World's Most Ambitious Founders & Teams

Kurzanleitung