
Blitzscaling a Startup
Julien and Chris interview world class experts on startup building
We're trying to unlearn what we've learned. And learn the new skills we need to blitzscale Julien's next startup together
We analyze learnings using frameworks from the #1 New York Times Bestselling book Blitzscaling which Chris co-authored with Reid Hoffman, founder/CEO of LinkedIn
Subscribe if you're trying to blitzscale your own startups :)
Latest episodes

Mar 15, 2024 • 53min
3-person $1B startup
****This podcast is sponsored by Stream. Stream helps developers build engaging apps that scale to millions with performant and flexible Chat, Video, Voice, and Feeds APIs and SDKs
Julien is using Stream to build his next startup. Startups can get Stream's "Maker plan" which is free and specifically designed for startups
Try Stream's Chat SDK
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Try Stream's Video & Audio SDK
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Mar 12, 2024 • 45min
Phone habits
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Mar 8, 2024 • 34min
Should I have a side job?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Feb 15, 2024 • 44min
Who do CEOs not hire?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Jan 21, 2024 • 45min
Should work be your only priority?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Jan 15, 2024 • 39min
Picking who to serve for your marketplace
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Jan 8, 2024 • 38min
Is vertical SaaS a lie?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Jan 5, 2024 • 35min
Do you need to build for US users?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Jan 1, 2024 • 46min
Should entrepreneurs lie?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup

Dec 29, 2023 • 45min
Hack value? Or figure out distribution?
Follow Julien’s journey building his next startup with the help of Chris, author of Blitzscaling
We apply an approach which is the opposite of what you’ll hear from Y Combinator
The approach we apply is the PayPal mafia approach
It’s the approach of Reid Hoffman who after PayPal founded LinkedIn and was the first investor in Airbnb
It’s the approach of Peter Thiel who after PayPal founded Palantir and was the first investor in Facebook
It’s the approach of the people who win over and over again
What’s the Blitzscaling approach?
It’s about being thoughtful and deliberate. Having deep insight instead of just hustling. Reid calls it “contrarian and right”. Peter says “startups are built on secrets”
It’s about getting more done than everyone else and moving faster than everyone else, but doing that in a manner which is comfortable and looks easy. Or as Chris says “be quick but don’t hurry”
Subscribe if you want to understand the actual way to win. Share with one of your friends who is launching a startup
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