Best of Panic: Howard Lindzon - The Wolf of Wallstrip (EP.269) This Episode was 1st published on January 12th, 2023

Aug 31, 2023

Guest Howard Lindzon, Founder of Wallstrip and Stocktw, is the star of this episode. He talks about the challenges and funny moments while building Wallstrip, the importance of finding the right mentor, and the key ingredients for a successful venture. Lindzon also shares his thoughts on whether he would do it all again.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

From Investment to Technology: A Journey of Transition

02:02 • 22min

Creating the First Show: Apple, Religious Garb, and Editing

24:20 • 11min

Building a Team, Finding Success, and Unexpected Acquisition

35:21 • 2min

Creating a Jim Kramer spoof show and the acquisition by CBS

36:58 • 5min

Factors for Success and Lessons Learned in Startup Ventures

41:29 • 5min

No, you haven’t entered the Twilight Zone. Yes, I’m the host of Panic with Friends, but in today’s special episode, I’m the guest. My producer Knut Jensen has turned the tables and put me in the hot seat. With so many questions about how and why I started Wallstrip, I felt it was time to lay it all out. And hopefully this answers a lot of those questions.

We cover the good, the bad, and the funny times building my first internet company – and how those lessons carried over when I started Stocktwits – lessons like finding the right mentor and having domain experience around an idea, and the three key ingredients: product, team and timing. It’s a different spin on Panic with Friends where we’re going back and telling these types of stories with our best founders, so you’ll be seeing more episodes like this in the future. And of course, the big question on Wallstrip, would I do it again? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast

Co-host - Knut Jensen

howardlindzon.com, socialleverage.com, stocktwits.com

youtube.com/channel/UCGEU5Xa_5HKMb6gEFfGYdTw/videos

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon

linkedin.com/company/socialleverage

linkedin.com/in/knutejensen

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Show Notes:

Introduction (00:27)
Coming up with Wallstrip (01:42)
Starting with GolfNow (07:55)
YouTube becomes a thing (10:27)
Cold pitching Fred Wilson (11:59)
Raising funds (15:08)
Finding the team (18:34)
The formula (22:36)
Gaining traction (25:13)
Would I do it again? (27:09)
My ‘growth hack’ (30:24)
The ‘moment’ it’s successful (31:10)
Now the pressure is on (32:36)
The right kind of attention (31:54)
Dealing with haters (33:56)
Sell or grow (38:14)
The Jim Cramer spoof (39:21)
My Costanza moment (41:04)
CBS acquires Wallstrip (41:30)
The right people domain experience (44:29)
Wrapping up (46:35)
Closing thoughts (46:56)