Just Go Grind

Keith Putnam-Delaney is the founder and CEO of Primer, an intelligence layer for B2B marketing which enriches leads, matches them cross-platform, and orchestrates workflows. First Primer pulls in rich information about your target customers and gives you the ability to easily construct multi-channel campaigns, seamlessly moving data between ad networks, social platforms, sales tools, and more. Then they layer in intent data – which signals that an account is interested in your product. Machine learning will help you constantly refine your efforts. Primer unites your marketing and sales teams making it easier than ever to fill your top of funnel. Keith geeks out about B2B marketing/sales and is trying to make sense out of the incredibly fragmented tools and data companies have to deal with these days. His background is in customer acquisition. He started his career in brand and marketing strategy for Fortune 500 companies (Harley Davidson, Cigna, JPMorgan, etc.), before helping build out the Dropbox for Business marketing team. Then he led growth at Eden Technologies (YC15) where he helped 4x revenue in 24 months running sales and marketing. Connect with Keith Putnam-Delaney Primer LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Keith Putnam-Delaney in this Episode What Primer is Keith's experience working in marketing for DropBox and building the brand for their enterprise product DropBox's shifting sales and customer acquisition strategies Owned versus paid marketing channels Brand and content marketing Transitioning from DropBox to early-stage startup Eden Keith's experience as Head of Growth at Eden Navigating different marketing channels and determining which is best for your business The marketing expertise Keith has developed over the years How Keith views working at early-stage startups How Keith developed the idea for and started Primer "Dating" to find his co-founder Keith's tool recommendations Links from the Episode Zapier Hubspot Outreach DropBox Reforge Rand Fishkin on the Marketing Flywheel Amplitude Analytics Meero Figma SparkToro Moz Bomboro RICE Model SEM Eden ACV (Annual Contract Value) Notion Missive Battlecard Lemlist Purple Sonar Outbound Matters Dashblock Wiza Apollo ZoomInfo Clearbit Clerky Product Hunt browser extension

Stephanie Lampkin is the founder and CEO of Blendoor, an AI and people analytics platform that helps companies hire and retain a diverse workforce by mitigating unconscious bias and leveraging big data and analytics to drive more meritocratic decision-making. Candidates are sourced from hundreds of strategic partners & universities and presented to recruiters without name, photo or dates. Then, Blendoor integrates with a company's HR systems to track candidates based on demographics to identify where & how bias happens; this transparency drives accountability within orgs, teams, and even individual hiring managers. In addition to measuring bias, Blendoor provides metrics that demonstrate the ROI of diversity & inclusion initiatives. With data & AI, they aim to move the discussion from social good to business intelligent. Stephanie has had a 15 year career in the tech industry founding two startups and working in technical roles at Lockheed, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor. She holds a BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from MIT. Connect with Stephanie Lampkin Blendoor YouTube Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn slampkin@blendoor.com Some of the Topics Covered by Stephanie Lampkin in this Episode How Stephanie taught herself coding at age 13 What Blendoor is and what led Stephanie to found it Stephanie's original vision for Blendoor and how it has pivoted and evolved into what it is today How Stephanie created the idea at a hackathon How Stephanie approaches customer acquisition The early fundraising process for Blendoor and what she learned from it The importance of relationship building Product development as an AI SaaS B2B company How Stephanie has defined her ideal customers and approached sales Stephanie's move to Silicon Valley Leveraging press and PR for sales Building out the team for Blendoor How Blendoor sources diverse talent How Stephanie approaches partnerships for Blendoor Identifying and onboarding clients that are ready to work with Blendoor The importance of DE&I and getting companies to prioritize it The challenge of fundraising as a black woman The business model for Blendoor The big vision for Blendoor Stephanie's advice for entrepreneurs How Stephanie recharges away from work Stephanie's book recommendations Stephanie's entrepreneurial experience founding Hoowenware prior to Blendoor Deciding to get an MBA How to get involved with Blendoor Links from the Episode Black Data Processing Associates Hackathon Blendoor on Fast Company Blendoor on Forbes Tech Inclusion Conference Blendoor's BlendScore tool National Black MBA Association Society of Women Engineers Anita Borg Institute Grace Hopper Celebration National Society of Black Engineers Mellody Hobson on Corporate Diversity #131: Olivia Owens, Creator and General Manager of IFundWomen of Color and Head of Partnerships at IFundWomen, a Platform for Female Entrepreneurs to Raise Capital Through Crowdfunding IFundWomen of Color Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Caste by Isabel Wilkerson #143: Lillian Rafson, Founder and CEO of Pack Up + Go, a Travel Agency with Surprise Destinations, on Bootstrapping the Business, Planning 10,000+ Trips, and Running a Travel Company During the COVID Crisis #121: Samantha Patil, Founder and CEO of Well Traveled, a Members Only Review Platform for Millennial Travelers

Emad Hasan is the co-founder and CEO of Retina, the customer intelligence partner that empowers businesses to maximize customer-level profitability and boost revenue with the earliest and most accurate customer lifetime value metrics. They use machine learning and data science to pinpoint your highest-value customers using the data you already collect — and deliver the insights you need to reach more just like them. Retina helps optimize businesses and increase valuation with action plans from their strategy consultants. Using deep analytics, they turn enterprise data into timely, actionable insights delivered to decision makers in a natural language narrative. Retina is a venture-backed startup located near the beach and third street promenade in beautiful Santa Monica. Their customers include Nestle, Capital One, Madison Reed, Backcountry.com, Brickell, and many others. Emad possesses an extensive knowledge of entrepreneurship, data science, artificial intelligence, social media, and marketing. First and foremost, he is a technologist who likes solving people problems using data science, machine learning and software algorithms. He aligns with companies and causes that empower people, democratizes technology, and makes the world more of a meritocracy. He currently wears several leadership hats at Retina across the operations, product, and data science teams. Prior to joining Retina, Emad built and ran analytics teams at Facebook and PayPal. In addition to his work at Retina.AI, he is a blogger, speaker, startup advisor, and an outdoor adventurist. He enjoys spending time with his wife and son, as well as playing pickup beach volleyball in Santa Monica. Connect with Emad Hasan Retina Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Emad's blog Some of the Topics Covered by Emad Hasan in this Episode What Retina does How Emad started Retina and how the business idea has evolved Emad's background and experience working at Booz Allen Hamilton, Boeing, Facebook and PayPal Adjusting from the context of resource-rich major companies to bootstrapping a startup and transitioning into entrepreneurship Emad's experience failing and the lessons he has learned Customer acquisition for Retina Their approach to fundraising for Retina Customer lifetime value and how Retina approaches it Leveraging user data Retina's target customers The biggest challenges Emad has faced in building Retina and how he has tackled them Educating the market about customer lifetime value Retina's approach to talent acquisition Product development from a data-driven approach and the importance of foresight How Emad recharges away from work Emad's book recommendations Emad's advice for entrepreneurs Links from the Episode Dollar Shave Club CoEfficient Labs Naval Ravikant on Twitter DARPA Grand Challenge Crosscut Luma Capital Partners Comcast Ventures Emad Hasan's tips for fundraising Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker Joe Rogan Podcast The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz What You Do is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz

Daniel Zakowski is the CEO of Ready, Set, Food!, a daily supplement that gently introduces your baby to peanut, egg, and milk, the three most common childhood food allergens. Studies have shown that this approach helps reduce the risk of developing allergies by up to 80%. Their system is simple: a pre-measured, allergist-developed daily packet that mixes in with breast milk, formula, or baby's first solid food, containing just three organic, non-GMO ingredients. Ready Set, Food!'s team is a group of physicians, scientists, and parents who are passionate about ending the food allergy epidemic. Motivated by their own experiences, they set out to make it easy and safe for families to prepare their babies for food. The science is clear: early and sustained exposure to allergenic foods is needed, and the timing and amount matters! Ready, Set, Food! developed their system of early and sustained consumption of allergenic foods to allow busy families to give their infants the best chance to avoid developing food allergies. Connect with Daniel Zakowski Ready, Set, Food! Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Ready, Set, Food! on Amazon LinkedIn daniel@readysetfood.com Some of the Topics Covered by Daniel Zakowski in this Episode What Ready, Set, Food! is and why Daniel started it The first steps Daniel took to get Ready, Set, Food! off the ground Onboarding allergists Raising awareness around the issue of allergy prevention Cultivating credibility Their experience on Shark Tank and the sustained growth that came from that Having Mark Cuban as an investor The unique challenges for Ready, Set, Food! going through the fundraising process The structure of their original friends and family round of fundraising How Daniel views, manages, and prioritizes partnerships How they've developed and adapted their product over time How they've approached marketing and customer acquisition The biggest challenges in growing Ready, Set, Food! Creating educational content Ready, Set, Food!'s current traction How Daniel's prior entrepreneurial experience has been helpful in running Ready, Set, Food! How COVID has affected their business Daniel's book recommendations How Daniel recharges away from work The story behind Ready, Set, Food!'s name Links from the Episode Advocate Aurora Health Mark Cuban on Shark Tank Shark Tank Ready, Set, Food! on Shark Tank #91: Jiake Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of Outer, on Building the Casper of Outdoor Furniture Ready, Set, Food!'s donation program PLG Ventures Amplify.LA Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health Y Combinator Safe Financing Documents Danone GIBLIB Osmosis #158: Zubin Bhettay, Co-Founder and CEO of Fuzzy Pet Health, a Subscription-Based Pet Health Company, on the Challenges of Fundraising, Building a Mission-Driven Business, and Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months Strategic Intuition by William Duggan Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

Ed Vincent is the founder and CEO of Festival Pass, the world's first festival and live events subscription marketplace providing access to thousands of experiences around the globe across music, film, food and wine, art, sports, theater, lifestyle, and tech & innovation experiences. Enjoy thousands of events & festivals locally and globally for one monthly fee. Festival Pass is a story about community and creating experiences that change you. We as humans need connection - it's in our DNA, as strong a need as food, water and warmth. The team at Festival Pass, that spans the globe from Bali to NY to Detroit to Lisbon, is bringing its members the only place to make accessing, discovering and attending festivals the most user friendly, frictionless, affordable and valuable member experience possible. Ed Vincent is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of business, technology and management experience including 6 years banking and valuation experience. He founded an e-commerce business in 1999 which was sold to a competitor in 2001, and is a repeat founder including SimplyEngage, myProducer, & Predict Ventures. Ed's passion for festivals, and the interpersonal connectivity fostered at festivals led him to found Festival Pass. Connect with Ed Vincent Festival Pass Facebook Instagram Twitter Snapchat Invest in Festival Pass on Wefunder LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Ed Vinecent in this Episode What Festival Pass is and how Ed's 20 years as an entrepreneur led to him founding it Ed's experience at Movie Pass and where he thinks their model went wrong and how it could have succeeded The credit-based model of marketplace businesses Determining the pricing model for Festival Pass The value of data Ed's vision for Festival Pass How Ed raised capital early on and why Ed eventually decided to crowdfund for Festival Pass through Wefunder The virtual Festival Pass team How Ed views growth for Festival Pass moving forward The business model for Festival Pass Evaluating partnerships versus paid media What makes Festival Pass unique and why it hasn't been done before How COVID has affected Festival Pass and how they're approaching the return to live events Links from the Episode Airbnb ClassPass Uber Wefunder Townsquare Media SeedInvest Republic StartEngine Ticketmaster StubHub Live Nation HomeAway Vrbo

Dejan Pralica is the co-founder and CEO of SoleSavy, an exclusive community that brings together sneaker enthusiasts and collectors and helps them acquire limited-edition sneakers directly from retailers. A SoleSavy membership provides you the tools and resources you need to successfully purchase the products you want for retail. SoleSavy's co-founders have over 20 years of experience in the sneaker industry, both in retail and online. Their connections and experience in the sneaker industry allow them to provide members with unparalleled knowledge and access you won't find anywhere else. Connect with Dejan Pralica SoleSavy Instagram Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Dejan on Instagram Dejan on Twitter Some of the Topics Covered by Dejan Pralica in this Episode What SoleSavy is and why Dejan founded it The first steps Dejan took to get SoleSavy off the ground Going to NBA All-Star Weekend Early reaction to the company and feedback SoleSavy's business model Customer acquisition and growth Their 500-person first-day signup How SoleSavy's product system works Building an authentic community The team behind SoleSavy Being scrappy and resourceful Dejan's experience going through the LAUNCH Accelerator The fundraising battle Dejan's thoughts on expansion into other niche communities Dejan's personal sneaker collection How Dejan got interested in sneakers Dejan's first experience as a founder, starting and building Kicks Deals How Dejan approaches content creation Why Dejan started a podcast and the benefits of podcasting What's next for SoleSavy Dejan's book recommendations How Dejan recharges and how he views the work-life balance Links from the Episode NBA All-Star Weekend Nike Foot Locker Kith V.One #126: Christian Peverelli, CEO & Co-Founder of WeAreNoCode, an Educational Platform Empowering Non-Technical Founders Through No-Code Technology Webflow Slack LAUNCH Accelerator Bevy Kicks Deals Complex #59: Austin Rief, Co-Founder and COO of Morning Brew, on Growing to Over 1 Million Newsletter Subscribers Tim Ferriss Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Alec Thomson is the co-founder and CEO of Riskcast Solutions, a productivity and forecasting tool for the construction industry. They provide a way for project managers to track labor, material, and equipment, without the need to maintain multiple fancy spreadsheets. Riskcast Solution's mission is to enable the construction industry by unleashing the power of data to reduce risk in all areas of performance while putting project teams first in all that we do. Alec has twenty years of experience in the construction industry, working in various capacities. He started out as a field engineer and eventually worked in procurement before moving to Skanska's corporate office in New York. His final position on a business strategy team made it evident that he needed to find a way to pursue his passion for helping project teams solve the job site related problems. Connect with Alec Thomson Riskcast Solutions Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Alec Thomson in this Episode What Riskcast Solutions is and how Alec and his co-founder Reggie Arichabala got started Early customer acquisition for Riskcast Leaving their corporate jobs Making sacrifices to bootstrap Riskcast and determining when it was time to fund raise Product development and the technical aspect of Riskcast The business model for Riskcast and navigating different iterations for pricing Participating in Newark Venture Partners' Lab Program Focusing on the sales engine of a B2B SaaS company How Riskcast finds interns and using a draft board to manage hiring How Alec views competition Where Riskcast stands today in terms of traction and how they've been affected by and adapted to COVID The big vision for Riskcast Solutions Digitizing an archaic industry Alec's book recommendations Links from the Episode Newark Venture Partners NVP Labs Rutgers University New Jersey Institute of Technology Y Combinator Online Classes How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman

Nate D'Anna, Co-Founder of Dumpling, discusses disrupting the gig economy, raising $10M in venture capital, and growing 20X during COVID-19. Topics include customer discovery, bootstrapping, and evolving Dumpling's services. The journey of understanding customer needs, empowering gig workers, and adapting customer acquisition post-pandemic are also highlighted.

Jared Pope is the founder and CEO of Work Shield, the only full-service independent solution to effectively prevent, deal with and solve workplace harassment and discrimination, thus empowering employees, lowering corporate risk and preserving company culture. Work Shield helps companies manage all types of workplace harassment and discrimination from start to finish, providing comprehensive and impartial solutions. Whether it's managing an incident internally or facing litigation, eight out of ten companies will deal with harassment issues every year. Work Shield partners with your company for a better reporting solution and more efficient and effective incident management. Protecting employees and employers from costly legal fees, low morale, bad press and more. The Work Shield team believes that everyone has the right to feel safe and protected at work. Connect with Jared Pope Work Shield hello@workshield.com LinkedIn Reach Jared at (469) 358-7673 Some of the Topics Covered by Jared Pope in this Episode What is Work Shield and why Jared started it The issue with how workplace harassment is currently handled How Jared originally envisioned Work Shield to address some major issues in society Early customer acquisition Failing successfully Figuring out the technical aspects of the business and incorporating the human element How Work Shield has developed and expanded over the years and where they stand today How businesses can ensure safe company culture What resolutions look like through Work Shield Raising capital for Work Shield and what it meant from their team and business How Jared is approaching growth for Work Shield Building out the team for Work Shield Jared's book recommendations Jared's advice for entrepreneurs Links from the Episode Me Too Movement The Plexus Groupe How I Built This with Guy Raz (NPR podcast) Webflow Wix Squarespace Brene Brown The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw

Paul Dashevsky is the co-founder of GreatBuildz, a free service currently operating in Los Angeles that connects homeowners with reliable, pre-screened general contractors. They connect each client with three contractors who are individually selected for their specific project; then provide ongoing support to make sure everything goes smoothly. Paul is a serial entrepreneur, real estate investor, active Angel investor and member of Tech Coast Angels. Connect with Paul Dashevsky GreatBuildz Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Some of the Topics Covered by Paul Dashevsky in this Episode What is GreatBuildz and why Paul founded it How Paul developed the idea after years of flipping homes and how he began to build it with his co-founder and nephew John Grispul GreatBuildz' business model The challenge of customer acquisition and navigating the world of digital marketing Bootstrapping and why Paul hasn't decided to fund-raise yet The big vision for GreatBuildz The process of vetting and onboarding contractors How Paul views growth and expansion Paul's experience flipping over 350 homes with Westcliff Realty and how he knew when it was time for something new Where Paul got his entrepreneurial spirit from and what he has learned from his failures Paul's experience joining the Entrepreneurs' Organization Links from the Episode Entrepreneurs' Organization Entrepreneurs' Organization Accelerator