Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge, former VP of Growth at Hubspot, and a venture partner at Long Journey Ventures. He is one of the foremost experts on Growth and also a husband and the father of two young kids. In this episode we discuss:
- His parents opinion of his profession
- Other family members' influence on his entrepreneurial spirit
- His decision to start a family and whether he took to fatherhood right away
- The tragedy of losing his first child at birth and challenges of conceiving
- How to protect your time as a CEO and a father
- Brian's frameworks for parenting
- How to align with your partner
- Life during the pandemic with a partner who is a nurse, young kids and a fast-growing startup
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Where to find Brian Balfour
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bbalfour
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/
- Personal Website: https://www.brianbalfour.com
Where to find Adam Fishman:
- Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@fishmanaf
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In this episode, we cover:
[1:40] Intros
[2:06] Professional background
[3:28] Personal background
[6:38] Parents' opinion of his career
[9:33] Uncle’s influence on his entrepreneurial spirit
[11:59] About his family
[14:39] Decision to start a family
[18:07] Whether or not he took to Fatherhood right away
[18:30] Losing a child at birth
[21:29] The “Instagramification” of parenting
[22:52] Parenting reality check
[25:26] Most surprising thing about Fatherhood?
[28:08] How to protect your time as a parent and a CEO
[30:21] More discussion of losing a child and Brian's coping strategies
[37:09] Parenting frameworks
[41:34] Aligning as a couple
[45:11] Life during pandemic
[48:58] Rapid fire round
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Show references
- www.reforge.com
- H.A.N.D. - Helping After Neonatal Death
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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/
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