How To Survive As A StartUp Founder - David Politis - GTM Unfiltered - Episode # 018

There’s a lot going on when you’re the Founder of a startup, so how do you keep yourself from going insane? Lucky for you, we’ve brought on someone who has not only survived founding multiple startups but has been able to thrive. Our special guest is David Politis, the Founder and Executive Chairman of BetterCloud. David joins Craig Rosenberg in the first half of the episode to share the most important advice from the 63-page paper he published titled, The StartUp Founder Survival Guide. In the second half of the episode (34:49), Judd Borakove and Matt Amundson hop on with Craig to dig into an awesome LinkedIn post from Jon Miller that’s all about how the new B2B Growth playbook differs from the old. Your favorite three hosts discuss innovative ways of investing in brand, which types of companies should build their own communities, and how to approach the “anonymous” portions of the buyer journey.

Also, Craig admits his technological limitations, Judd starts out of order, and Matt shares a UPS Corner update.

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Introducing Special Guest David Politis
• 04:40 - Don’t Get Derailed by a Whale
• 08:34 - Narrow in on Your ICP
• 15:16 - Talking to Your Customers
• 19:28 - The Value of Staying Focused On What’s Working
• 24:29 - Early-Stage Startups need to Hire for Grit
• 29:16 - The Impact of Hiring Force Multipliers
• 34:49 - Transition
• 35:06 - Dissecting Jon Miller’s LinkedIn Post
• 35:46 - Getting Buy-In to Invest in Brand
• 47:06 - Matt’s UPS Corner Update
• 48:26 - Redefining Marketing Metrics and Shifting to a Team-based Approach
• 55:20 - Making the Buyer Journey Increasingly Self-Service
• 1:03:46 - How & When to Use Community
• 1:16:43 - Matt Argues for More Time to be Spent Discussing UPS

Quote of the Show:

• “I literally did 100 customer meetings, one hour each, one-on-one with whoever our buyer was at that particular company. 100 customers in a hundred days. It was one of the best experiences in my career” - David Politis

Sponsor:

• Ringmaster Conversational Marketing - GTM Unfiltered is sponsored and produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Connect with David:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpolitis/ 
• Read The StartUp Founder Survival Guide: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidpolitis_startup-founder-survival-guide-david-politis-activity-7158455968194875393-QVdh? 
• BetterCloud Website: https://www.bettercloud.com/ 

Shoutouts:

• John Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmiller2/ 
• John’s LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonmiller2_b2bmarketing-growthstrategy-brandbuilding-activity-7156344978548346880-a5eZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop 
• Andy Raskin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyraskin/ 
• Andy Raskin's Interview with Craig: https://www.gtmunfiltered.com/episodes/sparking-a-movement-with-a-strategic-narrative-andy-raskin-gtm-unfiltered-episode-014#t=18m41s 
• Anna Baird: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-baird-38966513/ 
• Anna Baird’s Interview with Craig: https://www.gtmunfiltered.com/episodes/2023-takeaways-getting-maniacally-focused-with-anna-baird-gtm-unfiltered-episode-012#t=23m45s 
• Marc Benioff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/ 
• Ted Purcell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedpurcell/ 
• Ted Purcell’s Episode of GTM Unfiltered: https://www.gtmunfiltered.com/episodes/building-trust-through-grit-based-authenticity-ted-purcell-gtm-unfiltered-episode-006 
• Angela Duckworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeladuckworth/ 

Follow the Show:

• Judd’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juddborakove/ 
• Craig’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigrosenberg/ 
• Matt’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-amundson-91657236/ 
• GTM Unfiltered LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtm-unfiltered/
• GTM Unfiltered Website: https://www.gtmunfiltered.com/

Ways to tune in:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6n6ElND3FF2wjf11gWGjFn
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gtm-unfiltered/id1708470602
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gtm-unfiltered-5480709
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcjySadNUx9DS6RsHJaEWjg
• Transistor: https://www.gtmunfiltered.com/episodes/welcome-to-gtm-unfiltered
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a4ac6781-0f62-40c7-bef3-40e37c1e824f/gtm-unfiltered

GTM Unfiltered is sponsored and produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/