Just Go Grind

Jelani is the Co-Founder and CEO at A Kids Book About ( https://akidsbookabout.com/ ) and Co-Founder at Circle and Narrative. He's a bit obsessed with making things that matter.  At A Kids Book About, they make kids books that matter. There are no dragons, silly bears, or cute tales about princesses. Only the challenging, empowering, and important topics that kids experience every day. Kids' lives are complicated, and their mission is to help kids and their grownups have honest conversations about things that matter. Some of the Topics Covered by Jelani Memory in this Episode How A Kids Book About got started from a book Jelani wrote for his kids How Jelani decided on the content for his first book The response Jelani's kids had to his first book How Jelani decides on the topics for his books Publishing 27 different books in the last year Founder-market fit What goes into the creation and launch of a new book How Jelani and his team are able to essentially create a book in one workshop Selling 150,000 books and the business model behind A Kids Book About Jelani's experience with his last company, Circle, and how it impacted A Kids Book About Changing the book development process from 18 months to 30-45 days Why Jelani raised money for his company even though on the surface he didn't need to Projecting $4M - $5M in revenue in 2020 as a profitable business The 5-year plan for A Kids Book About and why audio and video is next Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Mubashar Iqbal, who goes by Mubs, loves making things. He's been making things since he was about 8 years old. He made so many things he was selected as ProductHunt's maker of the year for 2016, runner up in 2015 and 2017. Some of Mubs' recent projects include Founderpath, One Hour SaaS, Indiehackers.tv, and Pod Hunt, but he's created many more. About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. Some of the Topics Covered by Mubs in this Episode What Mubs is working on now How Mubs decided to work on Founderpath Why Mubs works on the projects he chooses to work on Ideas are everywhere How little Mubs sleeps Things that make Mubs say no to an idea to work on The number of products Mubs is still maintaining How Mubs' previous products help him grow his personal brand The importance of putting your ideas out into the world A day in the life for Mubs How Mubs approaches distribution for new products Making money from side projects vs. creating products for fun Selling your product and why if you've already tried to monetize your product it'll be more unattractive to buyers The No-Code movement Tips Mubs has for other people who are working remotely Ideas from Mubs' Trello board that he wants people to work on Mubs' advice for other makers Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Dr. Sophia Yen is Board Certified in Adolescent Medicine with 20+ years of experience in medicine. She graduated from MIT, UCSF Medical School, and UC Berkeley with an MPH in Maternal Child Health. She serves as a clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford Medical School. Dr. Yen co-founded Pandia Health https://www.pandiahealth.com/ and enjoys educating the public and other physicians about birth control, acne, weight management, and other adolescent health issues. She has been featured in many publications for her work in reproductive health and as CEO of Pandia Health. About Pandia Health: #SkipTheTrip to the pharmacy each month! Avoid unnecessary infectious exposure! Never run out of birth control again!  If you are on the birth control pill/patch/ring, try Pandia Health. Pandia Health delivers a year’s supply of birth control, free delivery to your mailbox, automatic renewal. They take almost all private insurances except for Kaiser. If you have an active prescription (at a pharmacy or have your doctor send it in), the delivery service is FREE.  If you need a prescription, For AZ/CA/FL/TX/WY peeps,they can provide a doctor consult for $20. Enter code JustGoGrind for $5 off your telemedicine visit. If you have insurance, the medications are "Free" = no copay, no deductible. If you do not have insurance, most pills are $15/pack. About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. Some of the Topics Covered by Dr. Sophia Yen in this Episode What Pandia Health is and how it got started How Dr. Sophia Yen tested the idea for Pandia Health initially What Dr. Sophia did to make Pandia Health into a real business early on The importance of content in the growth strategy behind Panida Health The business model behind Pandia Health Fundraising for Pandia Health and the use of funds The content strategy Pandia Health uses How COVID has impacted Pandia Health and what people need to know about telehealth and telemedicine How Dr. Sophia went about building partnerships for Pandia Health Culture-fit at Pandia Health Keeping advertising in-house vs. outsourcing What Pandia Health is focused on today What women should know about their health and how technology now allows women to "turn off" their period How Dr. Sophia Yen decided to get into medicine in the first place How Dr. Sophia Yen's past experiences influenced how she runs Pandia Health (And how her accounting background proved to be important) What other entrepreneurs interested in starting a health startup should think about How Dr. Sophia Yen recharges outside of work Why it's important to build your support team as an entrepreneur Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Gooroo ( https://www.gooroo.com/ ) founder and CEO Scott Lee is on a mission to reimagine education, unlock every student’s potential, and promote lifelong learning for all. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee relocated to the United States with his family at the age of 16 without knowing a word of English. Through constant support from his parents, and with the help of tutors and mentors, he worked hard and constantly challenged himself to succeed. About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. Some of the Topics Covered by Scott Lee in this Episode What Gooroo is and how it got started Scott's experience in the Korean army for two years and how it impacted him How Scott started his past company, Mud Cafe What the initial version of Gooroo looked like How Scott found the technical talent to build Gooroo early on What Scott did to acquire his first customers How the business model for Gooroo evolved into a membership model Why Scott and his team are launching Gooroo courses How Scott prioritizes which content his team creates at Gooroo How Gooroo has acquired instructors for their platform and why transparency is so important How Scott uses feedback from students to impact which products and services Gooroo provides Why Scott partnered with the Department of Education Scott's approach to partnerships with Gooroo The biggest challenge of growing Gooroo How Gooroo has been impacted by COVID How Scott's time is spent day-to-day now at Gooroo Innovation in education The impact of Scott's father on his life The big vision for Gooroo moving forward Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Matt Lombardi is a Co-Founder of Beam ( https://beamtlc.com/ ). He's on a mission to reimagine health and wellness, is a former professional hockey player, entrepreneur, and avid CrossFitter.  Kevin Moran is also a Co-Founder of Beam. He's on a mission to humanize CBD with education first. He's a former professional baseball player with the Chicago White Sox organization, CrossFitter, Ironman, and marathon runner.  Beam is a Massachusetts-based wellness company founded by Matt Lombardi and Kevin Moran, both former professional athletes, offering THC-free, phytocannabinoid-rich CBD products, made from naturally grown hemp in Colorado. Noticing a lack of transparency in the CBD wellness market, Beam offers consumers a line of rigorously tested CBD products with high-quality natural ingredients. Built with an entrepreneurial spirit in mind, Beam marries the concepts of health, wellness, and an active lifestyle free of any physical or mental barriers. Beam believes that all-natural cannabinoids have the ability to unlock significant health benefits, which will ultimately aid customers on their journey to “find their better.” About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. Some of the Topics Covered by Matt and Kevin in this Episode How Matt and Kevin decided to start a company together Some of the questions they asked their potential customers initially What Matt and Kevin did to get customers in the early days How they sourced their product initially The angle they took to sell their product in the beginning How Matt and Kevin thought through branding at Beam from the early days Customer acquisition for Beam Working with a digital marketing agency vs. handling marketing in-house How Matt and Kevin have gone about building an influencer program for Beam Getting the initial $700K from a family and friends round How they go about obtaining the highest quality product possible What Matt and Kevin have done to grow their team at Beam How Matt and Kevin's role as Co-Founders has evolved What communication is like between Matt and Kevin What Matt and Kevin have enjoyed most about the experience of building Beam How Matt and Kevin recharge outside of work The importance of pushing yourself physically to perform well mentally Matt and Kevin's book recommendations Listen to all episodes: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/

Andrew Parker is the Co-Founder & CEO of Papa, a company that's raised $30M+ in venture capital from top investors to build and grow their family-on-demand platform. Andrew has spent his career focusing on healthcare technology and service. In late 2017, Andrew founded Papa, a company that offers “Family On-Demand!” by connecting older adults and families to college students for companionship, assistance, and transportation. He started the company to support his own grandfather, whom he endearingly addressed as “Papa”. Andrew has a passion for healthcare, technology, and people. This combination drove him to build Papa, an ongoing endeavor to support older adults and families. Papa has grown to 120 employees and over 5,000 students on the platform in 20 states working with 15+ health plans as a benefit to older adults and families. Prior to Papa, Andrew ran Health System Sales and Strategy for MDLIVE.com, a large telehealth provider. Andrew was one of the first 15 employees of MDLIVE which has grown to over 300 employees and 30M members. In this role, Andrew helped to facilitate multi-year relationships with some of the nation’s largest health systems and employers as well as design virtual care products, which has now become a ubiquitous part of healthcare. Andrew received his Bachelor’s in Finance from Florida State University and his Certified Employee Benefit Specialist certification from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Andrew and Papa are alumni of the prestigious incubator Y Combinator. Andrew resides in Miami, FL with his dog Chewie. About Our Partner, Pivot CMO This episode is brought to you by Pivot CMO. Whether you’re a startup and you’ve just launched your product or a larger business, accelerate your growth with performance marketing solutions from our partner, Pivot CMO. Pivot specializes in performance marketing solutions that have helped countless companies double or even triple in the first few months of working with them. They’re boutique, extremely data-driven, and launch and iterate quickly. 84% of their clients double their revenue. Pivot CMO is focused on digital marketing channels like Facebook/Instagram, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok. Their founders are involved with every account so you don’t get a low-level account manager, but instead a highly skilled and experienced, outsourced CMO.  They’ve helped a number of Y Combinator and venture-backed companies along with fortune 500 companies, so no matter the size or stage of your company, use Pivot to help with all of your marketing and growth needs.  To book a free consultation visit pivotcmo.com. Connect with Andrew Parker and Papa Papa LinkedIn Instagram Twitter Facebook Some of the Topics Covered by Andrew Parker in this Episode What Papa is and why Andrew decided to start it How Andrew signed up the first few people on Papa and what his pitch was initially How Andrew decided to quit his job How Andrew found his Co-Founder, Alfredo Equity splits Raising an initial $500K then $2.4M led by Initialized Capital and Sound Ventures Not taking a salary for almost two years The differences in raising different rounds of funding How Andrew scaled Papa from the initial few customers Going from one health plan to ten What Andrew is looking for in Pals on the Papa Platform Adding virtual visits to Papa The support Andrew has gotten from his investors Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and the impact that had on Andrew What Andrew's day-to-day looks like today How Andrew thinks about culture for Papa Andrew's book suggestion What Andrew does to recharge Links from the Episode Garry Tan Initialized Capital Y Combinator Alfredo Vaamonde Sound Ventures Zubin Bhettay Fuzzy Pet Health MDLive Karl Alomar Meditations The Lean Startup 1984 Devil in the White City Shoe Dog The Daily Stoic

Karl Alomar is a Managing Partner at M13, a serial entrepreneur, and he's built and/or sold high growth businesses in various market segments. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London. He has a strong technology pedigree and over 20 years experience in executive management roles in institutionally funded businesses.  M13 is a Venture Engine, a full-service venture firm that provides the platform for founding teams to create and develop high-growth businesses. M13 injects capital to fuel high growth while helping founding teams fill gaps in their businesses through their Propulsion Team, which provides strategic counsel, operational expertise, and a constellation of talent, experts, and resources to accelerate growth. Where they see whitespace in an industry, their Launchpad develops the right founding teams, products, and practices to incubate and launch an idea from inception. About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work"​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. Connect with Karl Alomar and M13 M13 LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Karl@m13.co Some of the Topics Covered by Karl Alomar in this Episode M13 Details: $190M Venture Fund based out of LA and NY Focused on consumer technology businesses Invest in Series A and late seed $2M-$7M $500K check for their feeder program A team of former operators Built a team of executives and platform at M13 How M13 works with their portfolio founders How M13 operates week to week What the dealflow for M13 looks like Why Karl decided to get into VC "Build what you love" and how Karl decided which businesses he wanted to start throughout his career Some of the first things Karl did to help Digital Ocean grow to $250M+ ARR The growth levers Karl used to scale Digital Ocean to hundreds of millions in revenue Scaling the team at Digital Ocean and one of the biggest mistakes they made early on Going through a culture crisis, losing 30-40% of their engineering team at Digital Ocean in a year, and the massive undertaking of resetting an entire culture of a company The importance of trust and leadership in a culture Karl's advice around decision making and the importance of being decisive What Karl looks for at M13 in the companies they invest in The characteristics of founders that grab Karl's attention What people interested in getting into Venture Capital should think about and why getting some operating experience is very important How Karl is building his team at M13 How Karl recharges outside of work What Karl's day-to-day looks like today Links from the Episode Ben Uretsky Digital Ocean Matt Hoffman Marie Sokolovsky

Matthew Loper is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wellth, a company that uses behavioral economics to drastically improve care plan adherence in patients with chronic conditions. This improvement to adherence allows risk-bearing providers to reduce readmissions, health insurers to reduce the total cost of care, and life insurers to confidently underwrite underserved customer populations like type 2 diabetics. About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work"​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. Connect with Matthew Loper and Wellth Wellth Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Matthew Loper in this Episode What Wellth is and how it got started How Matthew transitioned from healthcare investing to entrepreneurship Aligning the incentives of payers, providers, and patients in healthcare The first thing Matthew did to validate the idea for Wellth How Matthew made an educated bet on product-market fit for Wellth Why it consistently takes 5 years for healthcare companies to get to a Series A Conversations with Matthew and his family when he decided to quit his nice job to start a company Why Matthew didn't want to raise too much money early on with Wellth Why Matthew didn't take a salary for 3 years How Matthew convinced his Co-Founder to leave a great company to join him at Wellth The initial product for Wellth and why they've made lots of adjustments along the way How Matthew got the first people enrolled in Wellth The growth of Wellth and what's fueled it over the past few years How Matt has gone about growing the team at Wellth The process of fundraising for Wellth The challenges other entrepreneurs in healthcare should think about The standard patient journey when working with Wellth How most of Matt's time is spent now at Wellth How Matt prioritizes which partners he wants to work with What Matt does to invest in his own mental health and performance as a Founder and CEO How Matt lost 15lbs during the pandemic utilizing fasting Matt's favorite book Links from the Episode Livongo Teladoc AbleTo United Healthcare Axa Venture Partners Richard Thaler Iman Abuzeid Strava Shoe Dog

Ruben is the Co-Founder at Swoop, where he is responsible for operations, marketing, people & hiring, and fundraising efforts. Prior to joining Swoop, he spent four years working for Google and Facebook, helping scale new programs such as Workplace by Facebook globally and Google’s Agency Landscape in Europe. Ruben was born in Germany, spending his childhood years there, prior to moving to the US. He holds a BSc in Finance from Maastricht University and graduated as Valedictorian from the Rotterdam School of Management. About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work"​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. Connect with Ruben Schultz and Swoop Swoop Facebook Twitter Instagram Some of the Topics Covered by Ruben Schultz in this Episode What Swoop is, what the industry looks like today, and the problem Ruben and his team is solving How Ruben got people on the Swoop platform initially The challenge Ruben and his team are focused on right now How Ruben prioritizes product development Why Ruben decided to leave Facebook to start a company The conversation with Ruben and his parents when he wanted to leave Facebook How Swoop was funded initially Choosing a career path based not just on the short-term money you'll make, but the connections and upside you'll have in the future The thinking Ruben and his co-founders had around splitting equity Moving from tier 3 to tier 2 to tier 1 investors when fundraising The business models behind Swoop How COVID impacted Swoop and how they shifted to moving goods as well as people How Ruben and his team are evaluating which markets to get into Roles and responsibilities with Ruben and his co-founders What the big vision is for Swoop Why Swoop is so obsessed with their customers The biggest challenge Ruben faces as a first-time founder How Ruben manages the stress of running a startup Links from the Episode Crossing the Chasm Swupnil Sahai Stripe Twilio SendGrid Brian Conyer Notion Shopify Superhuman

Taylor Nieman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Toucan, ( https://jointoucan.com/ ) the free Chrome extension that helps you learn a language without even trying. Previously, she worked on business development and strategic partnerships at Headspace, Science, and Fair. Toucan is a new, immersive way to learn while you go about your daily life. Learning a new language is challenging, fun, and rewarding. It also takes time, practice, and dedication - finding a few extra minutes in the day can feel impossible. At Toucan, they know creating a new habit is one of the most difficult things to do. Their Founding team has a deep understanding and appreciation for human habits, behavior, and the science of learning. Their free Chrome extension helps you learn without having to put aside time to create a new habit. Toucan works by immersing you in the language while you’re browsing the web. What’s even better is that you’ll see those words in the context of sentences - helping your brain connect the word to its useful meaning. Taylor and her team created Toucan to help people make more use of their time, without missing out on the fun and satisfaction of learning a new language. About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models. Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work"​, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI. Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast. This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. Connect with Taylor Nieman and Toucan Toucan Twitter LinkedIn taylor.nieman@jointoucan.com Some of the Topics Covered by Taylor Nieman in this Episode How Taylor decided to start Toucan and go with a browser extension as their first vertical Founder-market fit and how Taylor chose to work in this particular space How Taylor met her two Co-Founders, Brandon Dietz and Shaun Merritt How Taylor has gone about scaling Toucan without paid acquisition The "Own the Word" campaign Taylor and her team created at Toucan The impact of being a top product on Product Hunt How Taylor iterates on the Toucan product itself The fundraising experience for Taylor and Toucan The business model behind Toucan How Taylor prioritizes strategic partnerships What Taylor has looked for in people as she's grown her team The challenges Taylor is working through now after raising $3M How COVID impacted what Taylor is doing at Toucan How Taylor recharges outside fo work Where Taylor's interest in technology comes from and how she taught herself how to code The conversations around equity with Taylor and her Co-Founders Taylor's advice around fundraising Taylor's biggest takeaway from the last year of growing Toucan The grand vision of Toucan The strategy behind the name of Taylor's company Links from the Episode Pray Science Incubator Fair Product Hunt Own the Word Rand Fishkin SparkToro Headspace Venture Deals