Exploring the journey of a startup, the chapter discusses the struggles of finding product-market fit, experimenting with various strategies, and eventually achieving success through the right value proposition and scaling efforts. It also reflects on a significant growth moment triggered by changes in approach, the evolution of buying behavior, insights from an investor, and the CEO's experience in scaling people management.
Max Rhodes is the cofounder and CEO of Faire. Faire helps retailers find and buy unique wholesale merchandise for their stores. They were in the Winter 2017 batch of YC.
Anu Hariharan is a Partner at YC.
Max is on Twitter @MaxRhodesOK and Anu is @AnuHariharan.
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Topics
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Max's intro
01:06 - Leaving Square and coming up with the idea for Faire
7:37 - Changes to SMBs in the past five years
9:37 - What is Faire?
11:57 - Max’s vision for Faire
15:12 - Finding product/market fit
18:12 - Switching to try before you buy
21:22 - What separates the great companies
22:32 - Scaling as a CEO
26:32 - Calming down
29:42 - Faire's first hires
33:42 - Faire's first executive hire
38:27 - Fundraising and fundraising advice
43:32 - Ryan McCarthy asks - Why did Max study history at Yale?
44:32 - Why does Max think Square Cash became a successful app?