Just Go Grind

Nicholas Hinrichsen is the co-founder of Clutch, a SaaS company working to turn credit unions into FinTechs, while helping you to refinance your auto loan and save thousands in minutes. Nicholas used to be an avid golfer, playing on Germany’s national team for four years. After finishing his master’s degree in Germany, he worked at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch before he moved to the U.S. in 2011. Nicholas and his co-founder Chris Coleman met at Stanford Business School, and after graduating in 2013 they started Carlypso, the Amazon for used cars. They eventually sold to Carvana in 2017, and stayed on board until 2020, when they started the original iteration of Clutch. Topics Covered by Nicholas Hinrichsen in this Episode The pivot Clutch is making and how it came about How they're turning credit unions into FinTech companies Creating a self-serve product Why loan origination systems are archaic and how Clutch is implementing technology to make credit unions more efficient The current business model for Clutch The challenge of competing for talent in Silicon Valley and Clutch’s unique approach to new hiring How they came to the decision to hire internationally and the complexities of doing so Their most recent round of fundraising with Andreessen Horowitz What's next for Clutch and the ultimate vision for their consumer experience Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212

Vitalize Angels offers "angel investing for everyone" and in this special episode of the Just Go Grind podcast, Gale Wilkinson and Justin Gordon take you behind the scenes to tell you how they, and the Vitalize team, did it. Learn more about Vitalize Angels and join here: https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/ The Vitalize Angels deal close process for founders: https://vitalize.notion.site/Deal-Close-Process-c95157c58dc3447fa8537b8447e9db79 More about Vitalize: Vitalize was formed in 2017 as a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund investing in the future of work + learning. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The Vitalize Team: Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC​ Caroline - https://twitter.com/caroline_yeager​ Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212​ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/

Zach Evans, my best friend since high school, is a pianist, producer, and kick-ass entrepreneur who turned his passion for piano into a business that’s done more than $1 million in revenue in 3 years. He’s been featured on CBS, Yahoo, USA Today, and has amassed more than 10 million views on YouTube. Zach now lives in Los Angeles and, with the extra time his lifestyle business gives him, is focusing his time and effort on breaking into the music industry – this time as an artist. Zach is our first three-time guest! In this episode, we discuss where both of our entrepreneurial journeys started and reflect where they have taken us as well as how we've grown ourselves and our online businesses, how we view work, and what's next for each of us. Some of the Topics Covered by Zach and Justin in this Episode Being the first three-time guest on the Just Go Grind Podcast Zach's piano course and how it has grown, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic The changing world of online course creating How Zach views growth and how he learns for his business Zach's approach to stress management as an entrepreneur Going daily with the Just Go Grind Podcast Where to get quality advice for building your business How the Just Go Grind Podcast evolved--from sourcing guests to interview prep, technical issues, monetization, and finding a flow Justin's entrepreneurial journey and how he got into venture capital The key to hiring A-players Justin's view on the lottery ticket approach of putting your work out there and making connections Learning by doing How Justin scaled his network through the Just Go Grind Podcast The power of podcasting Leveraging content and community in VC How equity and ownership are changing for employees Evan and Justin's reflections on their entrepreneurial journeys thus far Sign up for The 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/

Naomi Shah is the Founder and CEO of Meet Cute, a venture-backed media company that has produced over 300 original light-hearted romantic comedies in podcast form. The company celebrates human connection and the full spectrum of love with a core mission -- having every person feel like they are reflected in Meet Cute stories. Since inception (Feb 2020), the podcast already has over 2 million listens across over 150 countries and has been featured in the top 10 of Fiction on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before starting Meet Cute, Naomi was a member of the investment team at Union Square Ventures, a technology venture capital firm in New York, where she spent most of her time talking to companies in the consumer and well-being space. Prior to that, she was a macro equities trader at Goldman Sachs and studied Mechanical Engineering (with a minor in Human Biology) at Stanford University. Some of the Topics Covered by Naomi Shah in this Episode What Meet Cute is Deciding to start a VC backed startup after working at Union Square Ventures The early Meet Cute team Why their concept is unique and pushing past early noes Getting traction to validate their format Changing listening behavior with scripted content in audio Meet Cute's business model The creation process at Meet Cute Distribution and discoverability Strategy around changing formats Naomi's experience fundraising for Meet Cute and what was helpful during the process The importance of developing a relationship with your investors How Naomi built out the team for Meet Cute and COVID's impact Their unique approach to sourcing talent and maintaining a large pool of creative contributors Navigating building a startup as a first-time, solo founder during a global pandemic Sign up for The 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/  

Jarrid Tingle is Managing Partner of Harlem Capital where he focuses on deal sourcing, organizational strategy, and due diligence efforts. Jarrid was featured on the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2019 Inc. 30 under 30 list, and the 2018 Ebony Power 100 list. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2019 where he was a Baker Scholar (top 5% of class). During HBS, Jarrid was a fellow in the Robert Toigo Foundation and Management Leadership for Tomorrow MBA Programs. Previously, Jarrid was a Private Equity Investment Professional at ICV Partners. Prior to ICV, Jarrid was an Investment Banker in the Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group at Barclays. Jarrid graduated cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Concentration in Finance. Jarrid was an active member of Friars Senior Society, Onyx Senior Honor Society, and The Lantern Senior Society. Upon graduation, Jarrid received the Wharton Undergraduate Dean’s Award for Excellence (Wharton’s highest honor). Jarrid’s favorite activities include reading, weight training, traveling, and attending concerts.   Sign up for The 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/  

Jon Dahl is the Co-Founder and CEO at Mux, where he builds software to help online video get better. Before that, he was Co-Founder of Zencoder, and then VP of Technology at Brightcove, two pioneering companies in the world of online video. Mux is building the future of online video infrastructure. They started off by building Mux Data, a best-in-class performance analytics tool that’s trusted by developers at companies like Vimeo, Robinhood, CBS Interactive, Discovery, PBS, and TED. Billions of monitored streams later, they launched Mux Video, a simple API for video hosting, encoding, and streaming. Take any video file or live stream and make it play beautifully at scale on any device, powered by magical-feeling features like automatic thumbnails, animated GIFs, and data-driven encoding decisions. Some of the Topics Covered by Jon Dahl in this Episode What Mux is How Jon got interested in video Jon's experience building his previous startup, Zencoder How Zencoder got acquired and how they made the decision to sell Leaving Brightcove and why Jon started Mux The video industry landscape and building Mux Early consumer research and customer feedback Why they started with data analytics and then added the video streaming layer How they approached early customer acquisition and growth Growing and strengthening their reputation and expanding sales How the COVID-19 pandemic led to unexpected accelerated growth Video as a part of the creator economy How they scaled up the team during COVID and accidentally becoming a hyper growth startup Recruiting as a function of growth and in-house versus external recruiters Mux's hiring process Fundraising for Mux and why they ended up raising more than they originally planned How the video industry has changed, where it's going, and the role Mux hopes to play What's next for Mux and opportunities in the landscape of the video industry What fuels Jon today What keeps Jon sane as a founder The importance of finding meaning outside of your startup and work Jon's advice for early stage founders The importance of scaling yourself and having a growth mindset Sign up for The 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/

Jessica Chu is the Co-Founder and COO at DIG Labs, advancing daily pet healthcare through science and technology. In 2019, Jessica co-founded DIG Labs with Tara Zedayko out of a shared mission to finally conquer unexplained digestive issues with each of their rescue dogs, Sammy and Kali. Armed with decades of experience in health technology, business management, and dog rescue, they set out to give all pet parents a better way to listen to their pets. DIG labs is re-imagining personalized pet wellness. They believe that pets are the family members who love us unconditionally. The best way to love them back is by proactively caring for their health and wellness, especially because they can’t tell us what’s wrong. DIG Lab's mission is to deliver custom insights and solutions that are convenient, accessible, and continuously advancing, enabled by the power of technology and science. They strive to give pets a voice and create a two-way dialogue of insights and actions, so they can live healthy, beautiful lives. A female-founded, NY-based venture-backed startup, DIG Labs is developing patent-pending, tech-enabled insights, and personalized products, including supplements. Founded by former CPG and R&D, brand management execs and pet lovers whose vision is to translate the benefits of personalized human healthcare to pets, DIG Labs launched its proprietary real-time health platform, powered by patent-pending computer vision and machine learning.  Some of the Topics Covered by Jessica Chu in this Episode What DIG Labs is doing today and how they've pivoted and evolved How the DIG labs digestive health check app works The computer vision and image analysis side of developing the app Incorporating early customer feedback What's next for DIG Labs How they've approached customer acquisition and growth From bootstrapping to fundraising Why consulting wasn't the right fit for Jessica Why Jessica decided to work together with her co-founder Tara and in the pet health industry Bringing on a third co-founder and expanding their team How they've adapted into being a technology company How Jessica spends her days as COO and how her role as evolved as the team has grown How they’ve approached building a go to market strategy Narrative and brand building The role of content creation Jessica’s journey as a pet parent and foster Founder market fit How Jessica unwinds and tools she uses to find balance The big vision for DIG Labs Sign up for The 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/

Amos Schwartzfarb is the Managing Director of Techstars in Austin. Amos has more than 15 years of sales leadership and strategy experience in software, digital, advertising and entertainment. Before joining Techstars, Amos served as co-founder and Head of Customer Development at Joust. Prior to Joust, Amos served as Vice President of Customer Development for BlackLocus, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2012. Amos was also Co-Founder and served as COO of mySpoonful, which was acquired in 2011. Additionally he served on the Executive team of Business.com, as Vice President of Sales and Client Services, which was acquired by RH Donnelly in 2007. Amos is the author of Sell More Faster - The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Startups and more recently, Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business. Some of the Topics Covered by Amos Schwartzfarb in this Episode How Amos ended up at Techstars Austin Amos' first year as the Managing Director and how the role has evolved How Amos navigated early "failures" in the role How founders should think about The Revenue Formula How Amos' book Sell More Faster can help founders truly understand product market fit How founders and business leaders can use Amos' books as long-term toolkits Amos' insights on customer discovery and why being extremely specific is so important Why Amos doesn't believe in free trials and how to navigate pricing for early stage startups Why Amos recommends underpricing for as long as possible How Amos has grown professionally in his time at Techstars How Amos decides whether to invest in a company and how he proves conviction in founder Amos' perspective on good storytelling as a founder as 3 parts math, 1 part theater Conversations over pitches Why Amos wrote his most recent book, Levers How Amos has approached promoting his books Traditional vs. non-traditional publishers Sign up for The 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/

Zach Sims is the Co-Founder and CEO of Codecademy, the easiest way to learn to code. Since the company started in August of 2011, millions of people have begun learning to program using the site. Codecademy has worked with organizations like The White House, the Government of Colombia, American Express, Rakuten, and more. Zach and his cofounder Ryan Bubinski have grown Codecademy to over 100 employees and have raised nearly $90M in venture capital financing from top tier investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Yuri Milner, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, SV Angel, Richard Branson, Y Combinator, and more. Prior to founding Codecademy, Zach was a student at Columbia University. He has worked in product and business development/strategy capacities at startups including GroupMe (sold to Skype) and drop.io (sold to Facebook). He also has experience in the venture capital industry with AOL Ventures. Zach and Codecademy have been honored by many publications. TIME Magazine called Codecademy one of the "50 Best Websites of 2012," while TechCrunch awarded Codecademy the "Best Education Startup" Crunchie Award in 2013. Zach has been named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list, along with Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 list. The City of New York named him a New York City Venture Fellow in 2013. Some of the Topics Covered by Zach Sims in this Episode What Codecademy is doing today and how it got started The issue of active discouragement of learning technical skills What led to early growth and traction of Codecademy Earning over 200,000 users in the first 3 days How Zach views viral loops Raising capital versus running off revenue Creating a movement versus building a product Creating sustainability first and scaling later The timing of launching a paid version of the product Going from the center of attention the the brink of bankruptcy Creating premium educational content Resource allocation between users who are upscaling and career switching Building an engaged community Zach's views on bootcamps How they cater to different types of Codecademy users and learners Codecademy for business How Zach takes care of himself to be at his best Zach's founder support networks Zach's path to and views on entrepreneurship How Zach sees the future of higher education and learning Sign up for The 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/

Sid Viswanathan is the Co-Founder and President of Truepill. Alongside Co-Founder Umar Afridi, Sid founded Truepill in 2016 to revolutionize the pharmacy and healthcare industry. The company shipped its first prescription less than five years ago and has since expanded its services to deliver an end-to-end, direct-to-patient experience unlike anything else in the healthcare industry. In 2010, Sid founded his first company, CardMunch, a business-card scanning app which was acquired by LinkedIn soon after its founding. After its acquisition, Sid joined LinkedIn as Product Manager and saw CardMunch named one of Time Magazine’s Best Apps of 2012. Sid started his career in Johnson & Johnson’s Global Operations Leadership Development program, working in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. Some of the Topics Covered by Sid Viswanathan in this Episode What Truepill is doing today and how Sid and his co-founder Umar Afridi started it in 2015 How Truepill differentiated themselves in the pharmaceutical industry The role serendipity has played in Sid's career Sid's experience as a first-time founder with CardMunch, how that led to 4 years at LinkedIn and what he learned there The journey of being a multiple-time founder and finding founder-market fit The process of researching and founding in an industry he previously had no experience in How Sid went about understanding the healthcare industry The early days of Truepill and navigating how to scale the operating model Their experience going through Y Combinator and the value of their low friction application process The different challenges Truepill has faced over the years--from scaling to product development in a regulated industry Sid's learnings in the hiring process for Truepill Their "friendly test" that they use to evaluate potential new hires Leveraging Truepill's story to bring on great talent Truepill's vision Balancing building a business and growing a family Learning how to prioritize as a founder and be present as a parent How Sid approaches structuring his time and finding work-life balance What has fueled Truepill's growth How Sid views "founding moments" and expanding Truepill's vision How Sid's relationship with his co-founder developed and enhanced his professional growth Sign up for The 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/