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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

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.

28:56

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Episode guests

Conor White-Sullivan

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Persistence and adapting strategies are crucial for success

Roam Research facilitates collaboration and efficient problem-solving through interconnected thoughts

Deep dives

The Power of Persistence and Vision

Conner White Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of Rome Research, shares his personal story of persistence and how it shaped his mindset. He recounts his experience as a high school wrestler and the challenges he faced before finally winning his first match after two and a half years. This story emphasizes the importance of perseverance and not giving up, even when faced with self-doubt. Conner also highlights the significance of maintaining a long-term vision while being open to adapting strategies and paths along the way.

Intro

3min

From Wrestling to Entrepreneurship: A Journey of Resilience

13min

Building a Grit-Driven Team

6min

Exploring Bundling and Unbundling in Collaboration Tools

2min

Strengths and Struggles in Innovation

3min

Exploring Innovations in Startup Management and Remote Team Building

2min

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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