On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Patrick Lor, Managing Partner at Panache Ventures.   Patrick joins us to share the top themes driving startup funding and how founders should think about fundraising in this market.   Specifically, Patrick discusses:   1:17- A walk through Patrick's journey  4:12 -  How should founders think about fundraising and valuations? 13:08 - How should founders approach their funding round and relationships? 19:39 - How do startup founders provide value to VCs? 30:42 - Patrick's reaction to FOMO tactics 33:59 - The most common way to raise seed 44:28- How do you define pre-seed vs seed? 46:23 - How do you estimate your pre-revenue valuation? 51:20 - Investor communication and the fundraising process 55:34 - The best and worst things a VC has done for Patrick 58:46 - What Patrick wishes he did less and more of in his career Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Patrick Lor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricklor/?originalSubdomain=ca   Learn more about Panache Ventures at https://www.panache.vc/  Panache Ventures VC 101: https://panache.docsend.com/view/9aj5e3j8zjmkj9uj This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com    

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Kipp Bodnar, CMO at HubSpot.   Today’s most innovative companies will have a media company embedded in them - that’s what Kipp believes. HubSpot, Salesforce, Amex, and Adobe are a few companies that have leveraged this strategy to drive multibillion-dollar outcomes.   Kipp oversees all demand generation activity worldwide, building out the EMEA and APAC marketing teams, and managing HubSpot’s field marketing, localization, strategic partnerships, and social media efforts. He also serves as a marketing advisor for SaaS companies and is the co-author of The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More.   Kipp tells us about HubSpot's experience building a media arm by leveraging education, content, and advocacy to not only drive awareness but also exponential growth and revenue.   Specifically, Kipp discusses:   3:08 - Kipp's backstory 5:05 - Benefits to becoming a media company 10:53 - How a podcast network ties into the bigger picture 12:49 - Driving traffic to new marketing sources 15:43 - What's needed to build a media company? 19:43 - Ensuring your content stays relevant 26:37 - The effort behind building a massive community 30:19 -  Deciding which marketing channel to prioritize 36:19 - Common business models outside of ads 40:51 - How to keep growing your audience 45:49 - Where is the media company strategy headed? 51:13 - How do you prioritize the best ideas and find great marketers? Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Kipp Bodnar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kippbodnar/   Learn more about HubSpot at https://www.hubspot.com/   This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Greg Smith, CEO and Co-Founder of Thinkific.   With over 400+ employees and 10M+ students, tech unicorn Thinkific brings the incredible power of education and business to entrepreneurs across the globe.   Greg shares his lessons learned from building Thinkific from 0 to IPO through navigating many hard fought battles.   Specifically, Greg shares: 5:12 - Finding early customers and product-market fit   13:31 - How customer acquisition has evolved from the early days 17:15 - The long-term vision for Thinkific 24:32 - Prioritizing what to build first 29:13 - The early days of raising funding 32:11 - The recommended way to build relationships with investors 40:38 - Why choose IPO over raising more venture dollars 50:32 - Key factors that drive excitement from investors 53:03 - Avoiding burnout and staying on course 59:56 - How to source candidates 106:08 - What he would (& wouldn’t) do again when building a unicorn Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Greg Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregsmith-thinkificceo/?originalSubdomain=ca Learn more about Thinkific at https://www.thinkific.com/     This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Michelle Zatlyn, Co-Founder & COO at Cloudflare, Shawn Abbott, Partner at Inovia Capital, and Mahendra Ramsinghani, Founder at Secure Octane & Author at Startup Boards. Together, they give us a masterclass on building high-performing boards and productive relationships.    Topics covered include:   12:22 - What do investors expect from founders when it comes to their board? 23:52 - Why momentum is the source of all authority you have as a founder 32:49 - Working through imposter syndrome 42:44 - Resolving conflict between board members 50:16 - At what point do you decide to start a board, and how do you pick the right people? 1:00:02 - The most entertaining board member experiences   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Michelle Zatlyn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellezatlyn/ Learn more about Cloudflare at https://www.cloudflare.com/   Connect with Shawn Abbott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnabbott/?originalSubdomain=ca Learn more about Inovia Capital at https://www.inovia.vc/   Connect with Mahendra Ramsinghani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahendraram/ Learn more about Secure Octane Investments at https://www.secureoctane.com/   This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

Rishi Mandal, CEO of Future, discusses winning in saturated markets by out-innovating and outgrowing competition. He shares his journey from astrophysics researcher to disrupting fitness. Topics include acquiring early customers, high customer retention strategies, and the value of planning in entrepreneurship.

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Anu Bharadwaj, Chief Operating Officer at Atlassian.   Anu shares how to start a movement in your organization to encourage, inspire, and motivate your employees to drive transformational change and exponential growth.   The most successful companies of the last decade, from Amazon to Netflix and Microsoft, have been through transformational changes. Great companies must develop the muscle to transform if they want to last — and movements make those changes possible.   In this session, Anu discusses:   13:06 - The lessons learned going from engineering to product to COO 17:03 - What are some of the big transformations from the past decade that you can take inspiration from? 20:47 - What are the key traits of a movement? 28:32 - One concrete example of leading with love and showing empathy 36:44 - Middle management's role in organizational change 45:56 - Building an ideal product team 52:18 - How the team prioritizes what features to build 1:00:51 - Unconventional advice people ignore, but shouldn't Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Anu Bharadwaj: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anutthara/ Learn more about Atlassian at https://www.atlassian.com/     This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Jason Lemkin, Trusted Advisor at SaaStr.   Jason, who is often regarded as the godfather of SaaS, shares 10 things you can do to grow 10x faster in 2022.   Jason runs SaaStr, the world's largest SaaS community and $100M+ SaaS venture fund. Previously, Jason founded the web's most popular electronic signature service, EchoSign, which he grew to over $100M in revenue and sold to Adobe.    Prior to EchoSign and SaaStr, he co-founded one of the only successes in nanotechnology, NanoGram Devices, which was acquired for $50M just 13 months after founding.   Specifically, Jason covers:   7:53 - Jason's backstory 19:37 - Top things founders miss that can help them grow faster 32:38 - In what order do you hire execs between zero to $10M and $10M to $100M? 41:02 - How to navigate challenges in hiring and recruiting in 2022 with so many well-funded SaaS startups 51:12 - Key mistakes seen en-route going from $10M to $100M ARR 55:59 - When to add a second product and when to become a platform company 1:07:30 - How to raise funding faster in 2022 Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Jason Lemkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin/ Learn more about SaaStr at  https://www.saastr.com/     This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com    

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer at Gainsight.   The goal of every startup is to exit via IPO, and if not, then by way of acquisition. But what should founders know about the process of getting there? Everything — from turning an idea into a scalable business to seeking potential buyers to what the reality of being owned by a larger company entails.   Nick's first CEO role, at LiveOffice, led to the sale of the company in 2012 by Symantec for $115 million. More recently, Gainsight was acquired by Vista for a reported $1.1 billion.   In this session, Nick discusses:   4:11 - Key traits and the route to becoming an entrepreneur 13:57 - Early Gainsight milestones 18:11 - Key learnings from the 'category creation' playbook 27:10 - Ensuring your community building is generating sales 35:36 - The types of people to hire to build out a team 42:27 - Training the organization to make decisions when he's not in the room 46: 22- The exit process and lessons for startups thinking of selling 56:19 - Mental health hacks Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Nick Mehta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmehta/ Learn more about Gainsight at https://www.gainsight.com/   This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Rahul Vohra, Founder and CEO at Superhuman.   How do you build products that are 10X better than the competition? It almost always starts with a counterintuitive approach to the conventional.   Rahul is one of the rare founders and product builders with this conviction, building the fastest email experience in the world. Rahul was previously the founder of Rapportive, acquired by LinkedIn in 2014.   Rahul shares his frameworks on game design, customer onboarding, product development, positioning, and pricing to retain and delight users.   Specifically, Rahul covers:   3:23 - Brief intro to Superhuman 11:48 - Questions asked in the early interviews 18:03 - The new way to launch: most product launches are inherently flawed. Rahul breaks down how to do a far superior, measured launch in four distinct phases. 33:31 - The Superhuman onboarding process 40:31 - Superhuman's 6-step onboarding plan: Rahul's clever technique for getting user feedback, catching bugs, and building customer loyalty. 46:31 - To 10x your product, study game design: the five key product design factors that built Superhuman. Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Rahul Vohra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/ Superhuman’s Product-Market Fit Engine: https://coda.io/@rahulvohra/superhuman-product-market-fit-engine  Learn more about Superhuman at https://superhuman.com/     This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Eren Bali, Co-Founder and CEO at Carbon Health.   Eren previously founded Udemy and helped pioneer the online learning industry. Now, he's disrupting healthcare with Carbon Health and has grown the company 7x since January 2020, increasing its clinic footprint from 7 to 27 clinics, introducing virtual care to 16 states, and facilitating over 500K Covid-19 tests.   Specifically, Eren covers:   4:05 - The decision to start Carbon Health after pioneering a whole new industry 12:35 - Key learnings from Udemy 19:36 - Beginning milestones set at Carbon Health 25:51 - Key levers to prioritize when scaling a company 37:31 - Combining AI and machine-learning with humans to build delightful customer  experiences that keep them coming back 42:41 - The first few people to bring onto your team 51:00 - Keeping everyone on your team aligned with company goals 56: 16- Key skills all entrepreneurs need to have Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Eren Bali: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erenbali/ Learn more about Carbon Health at https://carbonhealth.com/careers   This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses, but the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 Billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline their podcast production. Learn more at ContentAllies.com