Career Journey to Family Dynamics: A Story of Growth and Challenges

In this special Startup Dad (and Mom) episode I interviewed husband and wife team Eric and Sara Mauskopf. Sara is the co-founder and CEO of Winnie, a platform that helps parents find much needed childcare and helps childcare providers find parents and run their business. She founded Winnie after a decade-plus career in product at Postmates, Twitter, and Google. Eric is a product leader at Winnie where he joined about 18 months ago after leaning in as a stay-at-home-Dad for 3.5 years. Prior to that he was a long-time product leader at Google and YouTube for over 10 years.

In this episode we discuss:

* Eric and Sara's personal and professional backgrounds including how their parents shaped them and how they met

* Their decision to start a family and whether three kids was the goal

* Eric's cancer diagnosis, treatment, recover and raising a young daughter during this process

* How to prepare for your family's future when you have a serious illness

* Eric's decision to step back from the workforce and why that is so hard for men

* Eric's transition back to work and what it's like to work with your spouse

* How to take your kids on exciting adventures

* Philadelphia sports (if you know Sara this is a requirement)

* Rapid fire!

Listen, watch and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Overcast.

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Where to find Eric Mauskopf:

- LinkedIn: https://twitter.com/mauskopf

- Twitter: https://linkedin.com/in/mauskopf

Where to find Sara Mauskopf

- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/sm

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smausk/

Where to find Adam Fishman

- Newsletter: http://www.startupdadpod.substack.com

- Newsletter: http://fishmanafnewsletter.com

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[2:56] Professional backgrounds

[5:28] Personal backgrounds

[7:52] Their parent’s careers

[11:38] How did you meet?

[13:00] Tell me about the kids?

[15:29] Decision to start a family

[17:52] Was 3 kids ideal?

[18:52] Kids' interaction with each other

[20:26] Eric’s cancer/perspectives 

[24:23] Preparing for the future with cancer

[27:53] Family support 

[32:28] Earliest memory of being a dad

[33:54] Eric’s decision to step back/why is that hard for men?

[40:32] Transition back to work

[42:30] Eric’s Winnie interview

[46:10] Taking kids on adventures

[49:35] What has been the most fun adventure?

[53:10] Sharing your kids online

[56:02] Where Sara and Eric don’t align

[57:56] One mistake you made as a dad?

[59:11] Where can we follow along?

[1:00:01] Detroit Lions VS. Philadelphia Eagles

[1:01:05] Rapid fire round

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Show references:

Winnie - https://winnie.com/

Kobe Bryant - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kobe-Bryant

Google - https://www.google.com/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/

Phil Simms - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Simms

Phillies - https://www.mlb.com/phillies

Giants - https://www.mlb.com/giants

Warriors - https://www.nba.com/warriors

Traveling Wilburys - https://www.travelingwilburys.com/

Bob Dylan - https://www.bobdylan.com/

Seahawks - https://www.seahawks.com/

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Thanks to my sponsor for this episode: unitQ!

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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at

http://www.armaziproductions.com/

Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit startupdadpod.substack.com