Episode 267: Dan Manian - Co-Founder & CEO, Donut

Market timing. It can destroy a business or it can be the greatest gift and the launchpad to massive scale and adoption. For Dan and the team at Donut, it was the latter. While some companies saw an uptick over the past couple of years, the real challenge has been maintaining that growth when the tide changes. The good news for Donut, is that remote and hybrid work are not going away anytime soon (if ever) and it’s this shift in terms of how we work that has kept up Donut’s momentum. The company’s Slack extension has ultimately replaced the watercooler chatter that would happen in the office and has been a key part for helping keep a company’s culture intact by connecting people internally no matter the working environment. Based on Dan’s background, it is not a surprise that the company has built a product that creates value for users and can withstand market conditions. His background in product leadership and as a lecturer on lean startup methodologies are the perfect foundational blocks for building a market leading company. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Dan’s framework for naming a company which includes customer feedback and how they landed on Donut, plus how they secured the single word .com. * A journey through Dan’s career in academia and product leadership roles at startups. * Working with Steve Blank and how Dan got involved in the lean startup methodology. * The full background story on Donut which includes lots of key decisions (like building on top of Slack), lessons learned along the way, and the explosive growth during the pandemic. * His experience as a professional musician for Mobile Steam Unit which writes songs with a business theme. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.