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20VC: Hiten Shah on The Right Way To Think About Depression, Control and Burnout, Why Nobody Really Knows What They Are Doing and How One Should Receive Advice As A Result & How To Gain Self-Awareness As A Leader

Aug 9, 2019

Hiten Shah, co-founder of notable startups FYI, QuickSprout, KISSmetrics, and Crazy Egg, shares profound insights on entrepreneurship and mental health. He candidly discusses the reality that 'nobody really knows what they are doing' in the startup world. Hiten emphasizes the importance of building authentic relationships with investors and understanding mutual incentives. He also addresses burnout and stress management, offering strategies for self-awareness and effective leadership. Plus, he shares thoughts on embracing authenticity and the challenges of remote teamwork.

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INSIGHT

Nobody Knows

Nobody knows what they're doing, including experienced individuals.
People seek advice because they only know what's right for themselves, not others.

ADVICE

Seeking Truth

Seek truth by observing others and adapting their methods to your context, not by imitation.
Focus on your unique approach and learn by doing, rather than blindly following advice.

INSIGHT

Serial Entrepreneurship

Serial entrepreneurship is overrated because market conditions and best practices constantly evolve.
Prior experience can hinder adaptation to change.

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Hiten Shah is the Co-Founder @ FYI, the startup that allows you to find your documents in 3 clicks or less. Before FYI, Hiten co-founded QuickSprout alongside Neil Patel, together they scaled the platform to over 500,000 readers every month. Before QuickSprout, Hiten was the Co-Founder and CEO of KISSmetrics, raising over $19m in the process for the company from the likes of True Ventures, Uncork Capital and Felicis Ventures just to name a few. Finally, Hiten is also the Co-Founder @ Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool used by thousands to improve the effectiveness of their websites. Finally, Hiten is also an angel investor with a portfolio including Buffer, Clearbit, Front, Gusto and more incredible companies.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Hiten made his way into the world of startups, growth market and SaaS and how that led to his co-founding FYI today? Having founded multiple startups, does Hiten agree with Joe Fernandez @ JoyMode that "serial entrepreneurship is overrated"? Why does Hiten believe that fundamentally, nobody knows what they are doing?

2.) How does Hiten feel about the compression of fundraising timelines today? How does Hiten advise founders on building authentic relationships with investors? What is it crucial that founders understand about the investing class? How does Chetan advise founders on building hype and urgency within their fundraising? What works? What does not?

3.) Why does Hiten believe that we have seen the eradication of the friends and family round? What other large trends has Hiten observed in the early stage over the last few years? How does Hiten advise founders on how to approach which seed investors they take on board? Does Hiten think founders and investors can be friends?

4.) How has Hiten seen himself change and evolve as a leader over the last decade? What have been the biggest learnings on what great leadership really means? What are the 5 core elements that all great leaders must focus on? How does he split his time across these 5 disciplines? Where do founders often not spend adequate time among the 5?

5.) How does Hiten think about the element of "burnout" and depression today? Has Hiten ever felt burned out himself? How does this stress manifest itself? How does Hiten think that burnout and control are correlated? What can one do to change their relationship to control? What has worked for Hiten? What has not?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Hiten’s Fave Book: The Courage To Be Disliked

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