Bootstrapping A Billion Dollar Company From A Dorm Room With Austin McChord

Austin McChord is the CEO of Casana, a healthcare technology start-up dedicated to improving the health and wellness of patients via at-home health monitoring. Austin was previously the founder and CEO of Datto incorporated, exited that company in a $1.5 Billion acquisition, and is the Founder of Norwalk Havoc Combat Robotics. 

 

In this episode, explore Austin’s incredible journey from getting terrible grades at Rochester Institute of Technology, to founding and exiting a company valued at $1.5 Billion. Learn about incrementally building a new company, what selling your business really feels like, why every interaction that a leader has is meaningful, and why having fun is always the most important goal.

 

OUTLINE:

Here's the timestamps for the episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (03:15) - Getting a bad GPA at Rochester Institute of Technology
• (12:45) - Being told not to start a company by an advisor
• (15:25) - What is Datto? 
• (17:10) - Losing a million dollars from a small mistake
• (22:01) - Where confidence comes from
• (25:55) - Building Datto and taking it public
• (31:20) - What it’s like to sell a company
• (34:29) - Evolving into a leader of over 700 employees
• (37:20) - Learning how to evolve and delegating tasks
• (47:35) - Becoming a different version of myself
• (49:30) - Founding Havoc Robotics
• (54:45) - Founding Casana
• (1:00:12) - Learning to have fun in life

 

EPISODE LINKS:

• Datto: https://www.datto.com/
• Casana: https://casanacare.com/
• Norwalk Havoc Robotics League: https://nhrl.io/
• Outsiders Fund: https://outsidersfund.com/
• Austin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/austinmcchord

 

PODCAST INFO:

• Podcast website: https://forwardobsessed.com/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/forward-obsessed/id1615760781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2TrkOZ7xL7WSlzc2mrwXuC?si=aa5e7790aca64e05
• YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ldUUGxQZ5b9WPqVXz_qlfXgK3hHPs4z
• YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ldUUGxQZ5Yt0LiPml0y6pNUSrqHzWql

 

SUPPORT & CONNECT:

• Digital Surgeons Website: https://digitalsurgeons.com
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/digitalsurgeons
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digitalsurgeons
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/210497/