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20VC: How Roam Research Analyse Product Design, Team-Building, The Future of Collaboration Tools & Applying Tesla Go-To-Market To Roam with Conor White-Sullivan, Founder & CEO @ Roam Research

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May 8, 2020

Conor White-Sullivan, Founder & CEO of Roam Research, shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, highlighting how high school wrestling shaped his resilience. He discusses Roam's unique product philosophy, emphasizing that it’s not just about taking better notes but fostering deeper connections. Conor also reveals his hiring criteria centered on grit and self-directed learning, explaining the benefits of living with his team. Finally, he analyzes the trends in collaboration tools, pondering whether the future lies in bundling or unbundling these essential resources.

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ANECDOTE

Wrestling Persistence

Conor White-Sullivan didn't win a wrestling match for 2.5 years, but he persisted.
Through dedicated practice and developing a unique move, he eventually succeeded.

ADVICE

Balancing Vision and Adaptability

Maintain a long-term vision and believe in your ability to solve problems.
Stay adaptable and willing to change strategies to achieve your goals.

INSIGHT

Origins of Roam

Roam Research stems from White-Sullivan's long-standing interest in collective intelligence and group wisdom.
His initial venture aimed to crowdsource policy proposals for local governments.

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Conor White-Sullivan is the Founder & CEO @ Roam Research, the tool taking over our industry providing a seamless note-taking tool for networked thought. Prior to founding Roam, Conor founded 2 prior businesses and also worked at HuffPost as a Co-Founder of HuffPost Labs where he reported directly to Arianna Huffington and HuffPost CTO.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Conor's high school wrestling career taught him "how to win"? What was the founding story with Roam? How does Conor think about when to stay true to the vision and persist vs when to give up?

2.) How does Conor think about the product design philosophy they have @ Roam? Conor has said before, "Roam is not about taking better notes", what is Roam about then? How does Conor think about the importance of adding challenge to a product? What does he mean when he discusses the importance of "low floors and high ceilings" with regards to product design?

3.) How would Conor analyse his own hiring and team-building philosophy? Why are the two most important traits, "girt and autodidacts"?How does Conor really stress these two characteristics in an interview process? Why does Conor choose to live with the team? What are the benefits of this?

4.) Does Conor believe we are in a phase of bundling or unbundling when it comes to collaboration tools? Does Conor believe we will see large players acquire and consolidate over the coming months? Why does Conor compare Roam more to Google than other collaboration tools?

5.) How does Conor think about go-to-market today? What were some of Conor's biggest takeaways for bootstrapping for years with revenue from customers? Why is Conor borrowing from the Tesla GTM? What does that really mean in practice?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Conor’s Fave Book: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

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