Alex MacCaw (Clearbit & Reflect): Everything I’ve Learned as Startup Founder

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach—raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF. 

In 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic.

And now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach —building a fully remote & asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup. 

Alex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all.

Blake and Alex talk through:

(7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design

(09:01) Why Alex doesn’t believe in remote work for large companies

(10:11) Remote work pitfalls

(14:21) When to replace yourself as CEO

(15:52) How to find your zone of genius

(18:31) When do startups hire a CFO or COO?

(21:14) #1 piece of advice for founders

(24:14) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C)

(27:27) Why not raise venture capital

(28:28) When startups should (or shouldn’t) raise venture capital

(29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding

(39:14) What AI and ChatGPT is good for

(44:13) Best time to start a company

(46:20) Not all startups need VC funding

(47:16) Advice for VCs from a founder