Embracing Adversity and Finding Strength Through Loss

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Alex Friedman is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence for Techstars Music. She is also an angel investor and a 3x startup founder who has developed CPG products that have been sold in over 3,000 stores across the nation. She is well-known for building Founder Gigs((part-time gigs for startup founders) using no-code tools and selling it to Hirerunner after 6 months with over 5k MRR!

Along with her experience as Program Manager for Techstars Austin and Techstars Impact, she has worked with thousands of startup founders. As a content creator, she has a following of over 150k across various platforms at @heyalexfriedman.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab, and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for being the first sponsor of The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Sharath and Alex discuss authenticity while building content, building microprojects for acquisition, entering the founder community, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:42: Shoutout to Acquire.com
• 03:07: Introduction to Alex Friedman, 3x founder and influencer
• 06:08: Why is there a cowboy hat on Alex's Twitter?
• 09:24: How to be optimistic in writing
• 13:47: Next 3 steps after you've run out of stories
• 15:34: Breaking into founder communities as an introvert
• 26:00: Developing a thick skin as a founder
• 30:32: The journey from microprojects to acquisition
• 38:23: Building better marketplaces
• 41:50: What makes a content piece go viral?
• 49:17: The importance of highlighting the failures of business-building
• 54:10: How dealing with personal losses impacts all aspects of your life
• 1:06:16: Recovering from loss
• 1:10:12: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

• Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
• FounderGigs: https://www.foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Alex:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/heyalexfriedman
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyalexfriedman/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heyalexfriedman
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyalexfriedman/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
• Website: https://5harath.com/
• Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/