Startup Hypeman: The GOAT to Market Show

8-figure revenue. $123 million raise. A community of 100,000+ members.The buzzword in Silicon Valley is 'Product-Led Growth', but is PLG really the future?Lloyed Lobo Lobo thinks its CLG -- COMMUNITY-Led Growth. Building COMMUNITY is a low-cost, high-growth option that can become your ultimate moat. Lloyed would know — building up the Tractionconf.io community allowed his company Boast to bootstrap to that 8-figure revenue and pull in that massive raise. In the season finale episode of Startup Hypeman: The Podcast, I had the honor of interviewing Lloyed. He shares:-What you need to start a community-How to master CLG for your startup-How to make sure it isn't a massive failureHe also shares how his initial exposure to community came early in life as a Gulf War refugee, and how that's shaped his point of view.Find Lloyed online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/Find Boast and Traction online:Boast Website: https://boast.ai/Traction: https://www.tractionconf.io/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we think of raising capital we usually default to VCs, Angels, Friends & Family, and maybe Family Offices. But there are a whole host of other funding instruments that can put you on the map, like alumni groups, sovereign wealth funds, and more. Randall Crowder raised over $100 million for Phunware, then took the company public via a SPAC and raised another $100 million. He's experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly behind every possible funding path. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to break it all down so that you can be more educated in your capital pursuit. He also shares how fighting in Iraq prepared him for entrepreneurship.Find Randall online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randallcrowder/Website: http://www.randallcrowder.com/Find Phunware online:Website: https://www.phunware.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we work on investor pitch decks, one of our questions to founders is, "What's your G2M / distribution strategy?" Too often we hear, "Social media", "buying ads", or "SEO". Now, it's not that these channels don't work, it's that it usually requires a ton of upfront capital to even start to figure out what's working and what's not. Capital that you don't have yet, for CAC that won't pay you back for a long time (potentially ever). On top of that, once you do have the keyword or targeting figured out, the platform could change its algorithm overnight, leaving you back at square one. Hadi Radwan's insuretech startup, Asteya, has successfully raised $15 million, processed over $20M in Premiums, and achieved $5M ARR. At the core of their success is a B2B2C distribution flywheel. This model has significantly lower CAC than the aforementioned paths, with higher LTV, and way more control over the outcome. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how they've done it. We also learn how his experience from Lebanon, to Boston, to London has shaped his communication style.Find Hadi online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hadiradwan/Find Asteya online:Website: https://www.asteya.world/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've seen it in the news, in your Linkedin feeds, and from industry experts. Y-Combinator sent out their doomsday letter. All the classic characteristics have started to show themselves already. I'm talking of course about 'The R Word'. What does a potential recession mean for you as a founder, both in running your company and raising capital? Who better to ask than a VC. Navin Goyal is a physician turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. I've gotten to know him well over the years first through networking, and even more so as LOUD Capital invested in multiple Startup Hypeman portfolio companies. With such a broad experience and true empathy for the founder journey, I wanted to bring Navin on to share his take on a potential recession. Spoiler alert: like me, he's an optimist! He steps to the mic in this week's episode giving his assessment on the market and advice to founders.Find Navin online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navingoyalmd/Find LOUD Capital online:Website: https://loud.vc/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm a firm believer that the majority if not all, problems that exist are ultimately a communication problem.And as your company scales, how you communicate sets the precedent for your leadership style.Aviva Rosman and her Cofounder Alex Niemczewski have scaled BallotReady to 100 employees with 300+ customers including names like Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Levis.But they were on the verge of this never happening because they didn't have the right model to communicate with each other.Enter Conscious Leadership.Once they adopted this model of leadership and communication they were able to be 100% open and honest with one another, which allowed the company to grow.Aviva steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how both of their pent-up frustration led to a 3-hour conversation at a bar, which changed the face of their relationship for the better and paved the way for healthy company culture.Find Aviva online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivarosman/Find Ballot Ready online:Website: https://www.ballotready.org/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If there's one emoji you never want to describe your product, it's the cricket emoji 🦗. Yet every day, hundreds of startups launch to crickets — no interest, no adoption, no future. Rishabh Jain successfully brought hundreds of creators and dozens of brands to Fermat, securing agreements to billing terms or down payments, before ever building the product. Fermat's ability to generate pre-sales not only created a quicker path to revenue but helped ensure higher product adoption and stickiness after launching. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share their 3-step approach and more. Rishabh also explains what growing up in 2 different countries taught him about people, and why he got out of investment banking.Find Rishabh online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishabhmjain/Find Fermat online:Website: https://www.fermatcommerce.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever notice how whenever you watch a sports game on TV that the name of the arena is sponsored by a brand, there are decals and signs along the field featuring additional sponsors, the pre-game show is sponsored, the highlight reel, the halftime show, the postgame show are all sponsored, I think you get the idea...What these teams, venues, and networks all realize is that there is room for added value beyond the functional use of their 'product', and that added value is worth money.You don't have to own a football stadium to have added value. In fact, whether you're an app, a SaaS, or a service, you can deliver value and generate revenue streams beyond your core offering.No one knows this better than Michael Donnelly, who has scaled companies through sponsorships and is building her own company, FWD Collective, with sponsors as a core growth strategy.She steps to the mic this week to share how you can make it a part of your core strategy.Find Michael online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltdonnelly/Find FWD Collective online:Website: https://www.fwdcollective.io/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine this: Your company accidentally prints the "C" word onto thousands of diaper packages for the largest diaper brand in the world.What do you do?Several years ago, as General Counsel of ePrize, Gabe Karp found himself in this exact situation.It taught him a valuable lesson on how to approach conflict.But not only that, as a former litigator, advisor, and active VC, Gabe has seen conflict from every angle.His new book, "Don't Get Mad At Penguins", unpacks what he's learned over the years on how to embrace healthy conflict, and rid your company of toxic conflict.I had the honor of being Gabe's coworker at ePrize, and saw firsthand how good he was at dealing with difficult situations.He steps to the mic this week to give us an inside look at why we shouldn't be getting mad at penguins.I also get him to tell the story of the time he worked literally elbow-to-elbow with Vince McMahon for 3 weeks and appeared on global television for WWE Monday Night Raw (which you know I love).Find Gabe online:Website: www.gabekarp.comLink to his book: https://www.gabekarp.com/bookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-karp-1b772a1b/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amidst all the ways you can grow a startup, there's one truth everyone can agree on: Bad hires can tank a company.So how do you position your company as attractive to a talent pool?And not just any talent pool, but the pool that's driving the future of work — young talent?At just 25 years old, Keyona Meeks has made waves in the startup world, going from Investment Strategist at Bronze Valley VC to becoming General Partner at Black Tech Capital.She's advised dozens of companies on their talent acquisition strategies and believes that posting up at a college job fair might not be the best use of your time and money.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the ecosystem-based approach that innovative companies use to source, hire, and retain top young talent.Find Keyona online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keyona-meeks/Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/keyona_meeksThis episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We're looking for a CTO, so if you know anyone please let me know!"Does that sentence sound familiar?Whether it's getting the initial product built, or taking an MVP and turning it into a scalable product, "I need a CTO!" is something I hear founders say all the time.Nelly Yusupova is a seasoned CTO with 18 years of experience.As Founder of TechSpeak, she trains startups on how to effectively create and run their product development strategy.She knows exactly what to look for in a CTO, and can tell you if what you need is truly a CTO or just a developer.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how to find the right person for the job.She also shares her powerful personal story of coming to the U.S. as a war refugee, not knowing any English, and signing up for a computer science class thinking it would teach her how to USE a computer!Find Nelly online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalwoman/Find TechSpeak online:Website: https://www.techspeakforentrepreneurs.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could not only have a great pitch but a lineup of investors eager to get time on your calendar?? It's not only possible but there's a completely practical way to make it happen. Nathan Beckord's company, FounderSuite, brings structure, speed, and efficiency to capital raising with its funding tech stack to over 2500 startups worldwide. He's personally supported hundreds of founders through the capital raise journey and knows how to line 'em up and knock 'em down. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how to accelerate your fundraising timeline by filling up your calendar with investor meetings. He also shares how climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas is just like running a startup.Find Nathan online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbeckordFind Foundersuite online: Website: https://foundersuite.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast is officially back for Season 18! What are we talking about in this week's episode? ICP! ICP! ICP! These 3 letters are the refrain for any startup breaking into the market — find your Ideal Customer Persona/Profile. But what happens once you do find that ICP, and how do you a) know if there are enough of them to keep pursuing, and b) if yes, keep finding more of them? David Fink has grown Postie to 5 consecutive years of profitability, with customers ranging from midsize to publicly traded, across multiple industries. He's figured out firsthand the channels that make the most sense to target, segment, and expand based on where your company is today, and how you're trying to grow it. He steps to the mic in our season premiere to share his journey in scaling up Postie. He also shares how starting his career as a social worker prepared him to lead a company.Find David online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlfink/Find Postie online:Website: https://postie.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you think about sales you typically think about generating your own leads, you and your team selling directly to the customer, and your entire sales operation being an in-house effort. Jen Dye has a different approach. She believes selling can and should be a team effort. Not just with your internal team members, but alongside external partners. The Peak Beyond's founding team has been able to reach nearly $1 million in ARR — without a single dedicated sales hire — by building a Partner-Sales ecosystem that helps ensure the majority of their leads come through warm referrals or as part of a larger sale alongside other companies' products. All season long we're talking exclusively with clients from the Startup Hypeman portfolio, and we had the honor of working alongside The Peak Beyond for their Series A round. In our season finale, Jen shows us how partnerships have helped them grow inside the budding Cannabis retail industry.Find Jen online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferldye/Find MORE online:Website: https://www.thepeakbeyond.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off.Want no to NOT suck at pitching your startup? Subscribe to our Point-of-View Letter at startuphypeman.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trish Stratus. Kurt Angle. Lita. Larry Zbysko. Jeff Jarrett. The Steiner Brothers. Penta El Cero Miedo. These are LEGENDARY names in pro wrestling with accomplishments like headlining stadiums around the world, performing on national television, appearing at Wrestlemania in front of 75,000 fans, and getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. So what would make them even take a phone call from a startup independent wrestling league? That's what Bambi Weavil, Founder of MORE Wrestling (Masters of Ring Entertainment), has figured out in her years in the business. Similar to trying to get on the radar of a VC, or crack into an enterprise account, pro wrestling is historically a closed-door industry where oftentimes you have to be 'born in the business' to even hold someone's sweat towel. If you think that Silicon Valley investor is hard-to-reach, try getting in touch with someone who literally has Vince McMahon on speed dial. In this week's episode, Bambi steps to the mic to share how she's not only broken into the business and gotten on people's radars but built RELATIONSHIPS with some of the hardest-to-reach people there are.Find Bambi online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bambiweavil/Find MORE online:Website: https://mastersofringentertainment.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastersofringentertainment/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mastersofring1This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off.Want no to NOT suck at pitching your startup? Subscribe to our Point-of-View Letter at startuphypeman.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The hardest thing to do during the capital raise journey is convince investors that your startup is a risk worth taking.It's even harder to do if you don't have any revenue behind your name but you're still saying, "Just trust me."Sustainable meat company, New Age Meats hasn't generated a dollar in revenue yet, but they've raised $32 million to date across Seed, Bridge, and Series A rounds.All season we're talking exclusively with clients from the Startup Hypeman portfolio, and we had the honor of working with New Age Meats on their pitch as they ultimately raised $25 million for their Series A.Their COO Derin Alemli steps to the mic this week to dish out what you need to know at each phase of the investment journey, and how to make bank when you're not yet making bank.Find Derin online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalemli/Find New Age Meats online:Website: https://newagemeats.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off.Want no to NOT suck at pitching your startup? Subscribe to our Point-of-View Letter at startuphypeman.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The single greatest customer experience I've ever had is at Swish House. Swish House is the first-ever Basketball Fitness Class.The first time I took a Swish House class I was so in love that immediately after leaving I called 4 friends because I HAD to tell them.Whether you sell fitness classes or software, your customer experience should be so good that people can't help but talk about it in their circles.Swish House didn't get here by accident.Every component from when you walk in the doors all the way to the final whistle is intentionally designed to deliver their specific brand pillars so that the customer leaves with a smile on their face.This attention to detail has driven an 85% retention rate — in the midst of a pandemic.All season on the podcast we're interviewing clients from our portfolio (and it's worth noting that my first Swish House experience was so impactful that I walked right up to the CEO, Jonathon Dues, and said "We need to work together.") Fresh off a $500k raise, Jonathon takes us inside the Swish House customer experience playbook.Find Jonathon online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathon-dues-aa773b4/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swishhousefamily/Find Swish House online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swishhousefit/Website: https://www.swishhouse.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone talks about how startup life is crazy.At any given point you're working on 5 different things.Decisions made an hour ago might change an hour later.What you thought you were doing yesterday might not be what you're doing tomorrow.In a weird way, we're kind of obsessed with the chaos, and we tend to glorify it.But operating from chaos doesn't help you grow a company.As unsexy as it might sounds, you need discipline and structure.This season of the podcast exclusively features guests from the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and this week HonestGame CEO Kim Michelson steps to the mic to shares their EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System), and how that's helped them grow from 2 cofounders to 14 employees, over $2 million in funding, 188% YoY revenue growth, and partnerships with the likes of the Chicago Bulls and others.Find Kim online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmichelsonFind Honest Game online:Website: https://honestgame.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you bring new technology to market or a new approach to the old way of doing things, you face a fundamental problem of trying to educate the market while also having no brand equity or credibility yet. So why should anyone listen to you? That's the fundamental problem experiential rewards platform Blueboard faced when they launched in 2013. But since launch, they've scaled from 2 cofounders all the way 200+ employees, $16 million raised, over $50 million in annual revenue, and a recognized name in their industry. This season of the podcast exclusively features guests from the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and this week Blueboard's Cofounder and COO Kevin Yip steps to the mic to share they've built their brand from nothing to something.Find Kevin online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kvnyp/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyip/Find Blueboard online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueboardinc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blueboard-inc/Website: https://www.blueboard.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plain and simple, one of the best ways to grow a startup is to get the people talking — literally. That's what ultra-fast growing startup Electric.ai has done incredibly well. Through telling the stories of their customers, users, and even their own employees, they've managed to create a groundswell around their product that makes new customers, new users, and new users want to become part of their ecosystem. This strategy has helped them expand from $17 million to $38 million ARR in 2021, and on pace for $80 million ARR in 2022, plus grow from 200 to 500 employees in a year, AND raise $190 million in total. This entire season of the podcast we're featuring the different companies in the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and it is my absolute honor to have Electric's Sr. Comms Director, JoAnn Martin, step to the mic this week to share how they've used people stories as rocket fuel towards their growth.Find JoAnn online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannmmartin/Find Electric online:https://www.electric.ai/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The key to growth for nearly every startup is the ability to unlock distribution at scale. But in this pursuit, most companies don't look beyond the assets and properties they already own. In this week's episode, I have a conversation with a different type of startup doing things a different way. The Elite Amateur Fight League (EAFL) is an MMA league that's grown a fanbase by getting on TV networks NBCSports and Marquee Sports Network (home of the Chicago Cubs), instead of building their own streaming network which many other MMA leagues have tried to do. Their Founder & CEO Jesse steps to the mic to explain the why, how, and what of their distribution strategy.P.S. - EAFL is the league that gave me my start in the professional ring announcing and the reason I've appeared on these TV networks!Find Jesse online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-nunez-37499711/Find EAFL onlineWebsite: https://eliteamateurfightleague.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eaflmma/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-amateur-fight-league/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.