Finding The Right Idea, Co-Founder, and Early Employees with Sean Linehan

Today’s episode of Request for Startups features

* Sean Linehan: CEO at Exec and Squad. @seanlinehan on X

* Erik Torenberg: Investor, Founder of Turpentine.co. @eriktorenberg on X

A Request for Startups throwback! In this week’s episode, Sean Linehan, CEO at Exec and Squad, then-founder of Placement, joined Erik Torenberg for a live On Deck talk back in 2021 to discuss his journey from Flexport to navigating the idea maze and founding Placement. Sean shares valuable insights about burnout, taking strategic breaks, the critical importance of finding the right co-founder, and advice on hiring at the earliest stages.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:49) Navigating the Idea Maze: From Flexport to Placement

(07:18) Evaluating startup ideas and early-stage hiring

(11:40) Building Placement

(14:52) Co-founder compatibility and skills

(18:11) Sponsor: Brave

(21:03) Early-stage startup hiring strategies

(26:29) Compensation philosophy in startups

(30:47) Decoding product-market fit

(34:03) Challenges and opportunities amid COVID-19

(37:38) Acquiring customers in competitive markets

(39:33) Entrepreneurial strategies for uncertain times

(43:33) Framework on business defensibility

(47:08) Labor market trends and predictions

(50:42) Future of remote work

(53:21) Local politics and the impact on San Francisco's future

(56:33) TLDR: Healthcare, education, and housing

(58:36) Wrap