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Your Family Is Your #1 Investor | Cory O'Daniel (Dad of 2, co-founder and CEO, Massdriver)

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Jan 23, 2025

Guest

Cory O’Daniel

Cory O'Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Massdriver, shares his journey of balancing entrepreneurship and fatherhood. He humorously compares enterprise sales to parenting challenges, highlighting the need for patience. Cory discusses how his family has shifted towards anti-tech practices to boost creativity and presence at home. He emphasizes the importance of individual time with family and the imaginative play that nurtures kids' brains. Through engaging anecdotes, he reflects on the chaos and joy of parenting while building a startup.

01:18:51

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Episode notes

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ANECDOTE

Family Investment

Cory O'Daniel borrowed from his retirement to fund Massdriver, informing his wife he'd stop if it wasn't successful in three months.
This transparency and shared risk-taking demonstrate the importance of family support in startups.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Poop and Sales Analogy

Cory O'Daniel compared enterprise sales to his daughter pooping in the bathtub in a LinkedIn post.
He drew parallels between the unexpectedness, stress, and reactions in both situations.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Childhood and Motivation

Cory O'Daniel grew up on a farm, later moving to Cincinnati and Florida.
His upbringing motivated him to excel in school to escape his small town.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Balancing Parenthood and Entrepreneurship

01:43 • 8min

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The Balancing Act: Family and Entrepreneurship

10:10 • 26min

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Reflections on Fatherhood

35:56 • 5min

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Joyful Reading Adventures with Children's Books

41:11 • 3min

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Parenting and Leadership: A Balancing Act

43:59 • 5min

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Navigating Parenting and Technology

48:40 • 22min

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Parenting Adventures: Biking, Chaos, and Reflections

In this picture book, a little blue truck drives through the countryside, greeting various farm animals. When a big dump truck gets stuck in the mud, the little blue truck tries to help but also gets stuck. The farm animals then come together to rescue both trucks, demonstrating the power of teamwork and the importance of helping others. The story is enhanced by Jill McElmurry's vibrant illustrations and Alice Schertle's rhythmic text.

In 'Jitterbug Perfume,' Tom Robbins crafts a narrative that spans centuries, intertwining the lives of various characters across different time periods. The story follows King Alobar, a medieval king seeking immortality, and his journey with his beloved Kudra, as well as modern characters like Priscilla, a waitress and amateur perfumer in Seattle, and Madame Devalier, who runs a perfume shop in New Orleans. The novel explores themes of immortality, humor, individuality, and love, using the scent of perfume as a metaphor for deeper life philosophies and connections to the past. The narrative is characterized by Robbins' unique blend of humor, philosophy, and vivid descriptions, making it a wild and intellectually challenging read.

The Book with No Pictures

B.J. Novak

Baby University Complete "for Babies" Board Book Set

Ada Twist, Scientist, is a celebration of STEM, perseverance, and passion. Ada, a character of color, is endlessly curious and uses the scientific method to investigate a terrible stink in her house. Inspired by real-life scientists like Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, the book champions girl power and women in science, emphasizing the importance of asking 'Why? ' and never giving up. The story is part of the Questioneers series and is illustrated by David Roberts.

Toot Toot Beep Beep

Emma Garcia

In this book, colorful cars beep-beep, toot-toot, vroom-vroom, and whoosh across collage-like pages, inviting kids along on an entertaining trip. Little ones will love joining in with the sounds, reading them aloud as they watch a little red jeep, big blue van, and big yellow taxi pass by. The book captures the childish wonder and fascination for vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and sounds.

Iggy Peck, Architect

David Roberts

Andrea Beaty

Iggy Peck is a young boy with a passion for architecture. Since he was two, he has been constructing anything he can find. In elementary school, Iggy faces a teacher who has no appreciation for architecture due to a traumatic incident from her childhood. However, when a calamity strikes the class, Iggy uses his architectural knowledge to save the day, ultimately changing his teacher's perspective. The book is illustrated by David Roberts and features detailed and imaginative drawings that complement the story's themes of creativity, persistence, and the importance of STEM education.

Pete the Cat

I Love My White Shoes

Eric Litwin

James Dean

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is the first book in the Pete the Cat series. It tells the story of Pete, a blue cat who wears white shoes and encounters various stains such as strawberries, blueberries, and mud. The book is accompanied by a catchy song and emphasizes themes of adaptability and positivity. The collaboration between James Dean’s illustrations and Eric Litwin’s storytelling and music has made Pete the Cat a beloved character in children’s literature.

Cory 'O’Daniel is the co-founder and CEO of Massdriver, a platform designed to simplify and streamline the management of cloud infrastructure and DevOps processes. Cory had been a software architect and engineer for 20 years leading up to the founding of MassDriver. In addition to being an incredible founder he’s also a husband and the father of two young kids. We discussed:

* Conversations he and his wife had had as he was borrowing from retirement to start Massdriver

* Why enterprise sales is like your kid pooping in the bathtub

* Time dedication - to yourself, your spouse and your kids, individually

* Why kids brains are much bigger than we typically think

* How he and his wife have become more anti-tech in their household

* The benefits of being present

* Practicing “over-the-top” play and fostering imagination

Where to Cory O’Daniel

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coryodaniel/

* X: https://x.com/coryodaniel

Where to find Adam Fishman

* FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

In this episode, we cover:

[1:43] Welcome

[2:54] Cory’s Professional background

[4:13] How old is MassDriver?

[4:33] Kids poop & enterprise sales

[6:57] Cory’s Childhood

[10:33] Family

[12:38] Nickname Coconut for daughter

[15:35] Wife’s career

[16:36] Conversation about having kids and starting a company

[21:58] How he prioritizes his time

[23:38] Conferences for MassDriver

[27:38] Most surprising thing discovered as a dad

[33:29] Over the top play

[36:20] Advice for younger Cory

[39:08] Advice to ignore

[41:12] Favorite book to read to your kids

[44:54] Connecting parenthood to being a company leader

[46:15] Area where you don’t align with your spouse

[50:57] Kid’s relationship to tech

[58:55] Mistake as a dad

[1:01:36] Follow along

[1:03:27] Lightning round

[1:17:50] Thank you

—

Show references:

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/massdriver/

Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/coryodaniel.com

MassDriver: https://www.massdriver.cloud/

KubeCon: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/about/calendar/?_sft_lfevent-category=kubecon-cloudnativecon-cncf-events

re: Invent: https://reinvent.awsevents.com/

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-blue-truck-board-book-alice-schertle/1120880415

Ada Twist, Scientists by Andrea Beaty: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ada-twist-scientist-andrea-beaty/1123236059

Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/iggy-peck-architect-andrea-beaty/1103278969

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dragons-love-tacos-adam-rubin/1107389326

The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak: https://www.amazon.com/Book-No-Pictures-B-Novak/dp/0803741715

Pete The Cat by Eric Litwin: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-love-my-white-shoes-eric-litwin/1104911441

Baby University Complete "for Babies" Board Book Set by Chris Ferrie (Author), whurley (Author), Cara Florance (Author), Julia Kregenow (Author), Marco Tomamichel (Author), Sarah Kaiser (Author): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1728232309

Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/toot-toot-beep-beep-emma-garcia/1009185692

Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tap-tap-bang-bang-emma-garcia/1018125516Ignition by R. Kelly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCPdtMbw7zg

The Grinch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2709692/

Coco Melon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12427840/

Blippi: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6594882/

Caillou: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262153/

Tumble Leaf: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2948562/

Puffin Rock: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3590338/

Daniel Tiger: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2014553/

Lego Batman: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4116284/

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jitterbug-perfume-tom-robbins/1100623043

Cozy couch: https://www.cozey.com/

Evil Knievel: https://evelknievel.com/

The Weekend: https://www.theweeknd.com/

Marine Layer joggers: https://www.marinelayer.com/

Toy Story: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/

Paw Patrol Movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11832046/

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/

Back To The Future: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/

Model Y: https://www.tesla.com/modely

For sponsorship inquiries email: podcast@fishmana.com.

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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/

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