The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Manuel Mueller started his first mattress company when he was 19 years old, and since then, he has never stopped iterating to create the perfect mattress. In 2013, he launched sleepwear company Emma, one of Europe’s fastest-growing sleep innovation companies, with mattresses, beds, and pillows sold in over 30 countries to 4 million customers. Learn the marketing strategies and mindset that allowed Emma to endure the DTC mattresses boom and continually have 30% year-over-year growth. Listen to Nathan and Manuel discuss:  Starting his first mattress company at 19 years old  Finding product market fit by doing customer service  Standing out in the competitive DTC mattress boom Approaching product development research as a startup Why you shouldn’t raise money to raise money Advice on entering a new national market  Marketing attribution hacks for small businesses How your mindset can overcome your competition And much more DTC marketing advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

Ali Ghosdi was a reluctant founder. He planned to become an academic researcher and professor, not lead a successful tech startup. In 2013, alongside six other co-founders, Ghosdi helped build an open-source data product called Apache Spark, a best-of-breed future predicting code. The research project eventually became a business called Databricks. In 2016, he was picked as CEO and helped transform the open-source startup into a technology enterprise with a $38 billion valuation. Databricks boasts investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Microsoft, and Amazon. Nathan and Ali discuss: Being a reluctant startup co-founder Partnering with Andreessen Horowitz as their first investor The pros and cons of having co-founders The pressure of living up to early success Transforming an open-source startup into a revenue enterprise  The difference between professional and founder CEOs How startups and small businesses can use AI tools right now. Why product market fit is an art How to work backward in your business  Why you shouldn’t listen to the consensus  And much more data, AI, and product advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

If your business or brand has a podcast, listen up. In this episode, we’re diving into the current state of podcasting with Max Cutler, Parcast founder, Spotify’s former head of talk creator content, and The Hollywood Reporter’s most powerful people in podcasting. Cutler became a podcast pioneer when he bootstrapped his true crime network, which sold to Spotify in 2019 for $100 million according to the Financial Times. As a Spotify executive, he signed and produced the most popular podcasting personalities, including Alexandra Cooper, Joe Rogan, and Brené Brown. In the Spring of 2023, Cutler announced he was leaving Spotify to jump back into his first love–entrepreneurship. In this exclusive interview, Cutler reveals what it takes to create a successful podcast and what founders should focus on. Listen to Nathan and Max discuss:  Launching and growing Parcast on simplicity  How the Spotify deal come about  Identifying and working with talent Knowing when it’s right to sell your business  Why he chose to leave Spotify  What differentiates a successful podcast? Pathways to building a business around podcasting What type of podcast he’d start in 2023 And much more podcasting and entrepreneur advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

Michelle Zatlyn, a Silicon Valley outsider, talks about launching Cloudflare during a recession, using visceral feedback, and being a female founder. The podcast covers starting with a freemium product, challenges of being an outsider, and evolving pricing models for global growth.

Since 2006, Immad Akhund has been investing in and building startups. But he always struggled with working with traditional banks to run his startups, especially as a non-US resident. He figured someone else would solve it, but the issue was still on the table by the time he exited his fourth startup in 2017. So, he launched Mercury, a bank for startups that now is a fintech unicorn valued at $1.62 billion. On the side, Akhund also is an angel investor of 240-plus startups, many of which are unicorns. Listen to Nathan and Immad discuss:  How failure hooked him onto entrepreneurship  The origins of Mercury as a fix for startup banking How he used Twitter to earn customers Why the journey is better than the end result  Where he invests in future-state startups What makes a strong entrepreneur  Why your small customers matter  Common mistakes startups make with banks And much more fintech advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

Your first product won’t always be your best seller. Jessica Rolph’s organic baby food business Happy Family Organics failed twice before finding product market fit and scaling from $0 to $63M in sales. After exiting HappyFamily in 2016, Rolph launched Lovevery, a subscription brand that sells early-childhood development play kits and solutions. Lovevery has 300,000+ active subscribers and has been named one of Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies.” Listen to Nathan and Jessica discuss:  How she discovered a market for Lovevery and Happy Family Why Happy Family failed twice before they even launched The bootstrapped early days living in New York City  Exiting to Danone and dreaming about Lovevery  Why ugly prototypes are the way to go How Happy Family’s best-seller came about by accident How to find product market fit for retail and DTC If you need a subscription product How to retain customers  And much more product advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

Adrian Grenier was a rebellious artist before he was known for his acting roles in Entourage, Devil Wears Prada, and Clickbait. Now he’s a rebellious entrepreneur, investor, and activist. Learn how Grenier’s disenchantment with fame and wealth led him to start and support social impact businesses through DuContra Ventures and Earth Speed Media with co-founder and co-CEO Bia Carminati. Listen to Nathan and Adrian discuss: His trajectory from punk rebel artist to movie star How mortality drives our need to keep achieving  How to let go of your business to let it grow  Ba Minuzz, the business mind behind DuContra Ventures  Building trust with business partners  What he learned from his failed beer company Why sometimes you need to let go of a dream The mission of Earth Speed Media And much more social impact business advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

For ten years, we've interviewed hundreds of elite entrepreneurs who’ve started and grown the world's most successful businesses. The reason we connect with these dynamic founders is to break down their wisdom, experience, and inspirational stories to help accelerate your growth as an entrepreneur. In this episode of The Foundr Podcast, we're instead sharing the stories of everyday founders like you who are students in our foundr+ community. Foundr+ is our comprehensive platform designed to equip founders with everything they need to start and grow successful businesses.Listen to these student stories to learn:  How Maddison Danforth left her full-time job to start a social media agency servicing small businesses. How Mia Dickson used TikTok organically to build a loyal and diverse customer community.  How Mark Boxer's camera rig hack became a coveted product by content creators worldwide.  About Nicole Gaviria, the winner of the 2022 foundr startup challenge. And what Nathan Chan’s learned from a decade of student success stories at foundr. Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

Partnerships can be tricky, especially when you’re starting a business. For ​​Jean Oelwang, creating meaningful partnerships has been her focus for nearly 30 years. Oelwang is the founding CEO and President of Virgin Unite, an entrepreneurial foundation that builds collectives, incubates ideas, and re-invents systems for a better world. She’s worked with partners like Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel, Archbishop Desmond and Leah Tutu, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Ben and Jerry, and the co-founders of AirBnB. In her new book Partnering: Forge the Deep Connections That Make Great Things Happen, she shares six principles that have forged 60 extraordinary partnerships and collaborations.Listen to Nathan and Jean discuss:  Pitching Richard Branson on the concept of Virgin Unite What’s it like to work with Richard Branson Why business partnerships fail How she chooses partners to invest into Why co-founders can provide joy  How to set up a board of advisors  The six principles of meaningful partnerships The fear of a partnership not working  Examples of meaningful partnerships And much more partnership advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine

David Lester learned a lot from his first venture. After spending a decade in the beverage marketing industry, he teamed up with his co-founder Ben Goodwin to work on formulating a soda that’s good for you. After three years, they sold their first business but didn’t feel they’d gotten the product correct. So, they returned to their research for two years and discovered the right product market fit. In 2016, Lester and Goodwin launched OLIPOP PBC–a new kind of soda with the benefits of plant-based fiber and prebiotics. OLIPOP started in 24 independent stores in Northern California and now is stocked in 20,000 stores nationally and endorsed by celebrities like Camilla Cabello, Gweynth Paltrow, Nick Jonas, and Priyanka Chopra.Listen to Nathan and David discuss:  What he learned from his first venture Obi Probiotic Soda Starting over to make a better product in OLIPOP How humility can give you confidence as a founder Spending two years perfecting the formula with academic research The manufacturing process for beverage startups  Why you should start with independent retailers first The break one rule and break it hard method  Authentic connection with celebrity partnerships   Why product market fit is more important than marketing And much more beverage startup advice… Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.Wait, there's more… If you enjoy the Foundr podcast, check out our free trainings. Get exclusive, actionable advice from some of the world's best entrepreneurs. Speak with our friendly course experts to get clarity on the next steps for your idea, business or career. You will get tailored insights from results achieved by our proven practitioners as well as thousands of students. Book a call now... For more Foundr content, follow us on your favorite platform:  Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Magazine