👉🏼 About the Guests:Prakash and Lionello are the co-founders of Defang, a radically simpler way to develop, deploy, and debug production-ready cloud apps. Lionello is CTO at Defang, as well as an engineering lead and community organizer with EE and CS background and 20 years of international industry experience doing software and hardware. He has lived in Eindhoven, Bucharest, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and recently moved to Vancouver BC. In 1997, he founded a virtual-reality software company, acquired by a multinational company for their real-time 3D rendering technology. In 2019, Workday acquired Trusted Key, the blockchain digital identity startup he helped found. Lio is active in the local maker communities, having been a staff member in China's first makerspace Xinchejian since its founding. Prakash serves as CEO at Defang. He co-founded & served as Chief Technology Officer, President & Board Member at Trusted Key Solutions. He brings experience from previous roles at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Workday, and Trusted Key. 👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath, Prakash, and Lio discuss building for builders, how frustration helped them create Defang, growth tactics, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:44: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:10: Intro to Lio and Prakash - co-founders of Defang, a radically simpler way to develop, deploy, and debug production-ready cloud apps. 05:29: Why Defang's mission is to help builders move faster09:19: How frustration led to building Defang15:01: Why big brands like AWS don't focus on builders17:02: How to go from idea to MVP for a complex product23:09: How Defang launched in the market and iterated using feedback28:40: Defang's growth tactics to reach users32:33: What made Prakash go from being a technical and engineering lead to a CEO?34:55: Defang's Product Hunt launch38:10: How Defang harnesses the power of AI44:22: How to differentiate yourself from the competition48:00: Important lessons from corporate and startups50:56: Where is the app-creating environment going?53:55: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/Defang's Product Hunt Launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/defang👉🏼 Where to find Defang:Product Hunt Launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/defangWebsite: https://defang.ioLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/defanglabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/DefangLabsYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@DefangLabsDiscord: https://discord.com/invite/nNjaJcJ25vReddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DefangLabs/Github: https://github.com/DefangLabs👉🏼 Where to find Prakash:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakashsundaresan/👉🏼 Where to find Lio:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionello/Twitter: https://x.com/LioLunesu👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Brett Goldstein is the founder of Micro, an email-CRM blend so you can stay on top of your communications. He is also the co-founder of Launch House, which is a community built to connect and support the world's most ambitious entrepreneurs and creators. Launch House brings together emerging leaders in the startup and entertainment worlds to live in illustrious mansions around the world. Previously, he worked at Clearbit, Google, and Accenture, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Brett discuss building in a crowded market, the origin of Launch House, blending ambition and relationships, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:42: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:09: Intro to Brett Goldstein - founder of Micro, an email-CRM blend so you can stay on top of your communications.04:33: Where Brett found his passion for startups08:40: What inspires Brett to create?10:10: Brett's first projects before Google12:14: Why Brett chose startups and not music as a career16:22: How Launch House turned from a reality show to a hacker house20:28: How Brett went from a random tweet to building a network of founders at Launch House22:43: How Brett pushes founders towards ambition AND relationship-building25:20: How Brett took advantage of the crypto wave27:59: What do most founders miss really easily?33:02: Why Brett is choosing to reinvent email40:12: How to avoid the downsides of a crowded market43:01: Why Micro is creating an email-CRM blend48:30: The problem-solving frameworks Brett used to build Micro50:15: Brett's criteria for finding cofounders52:43: Brett's cheatsheet to building a network in tech54:30: How will AI impact the rise of startups and creative projects?58:30: What Brett would build if not Micro1:00:03: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Where to find Brett:Micro: https://www.micro.so/Launch House: https://www.launchhouse.com/Twitter: https://x.com/thatguybgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgoldstein3/Website: brettgoldstein.comNewsletter: https://socialstudies.substack.com/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Chrys is the co-founder at Rosebud, an AI-powered personal growth journal. He is a 6-time founder, founding Curio NFT Intelligence, Ikaria (social wellness), and Secret (social media). Prior to Secret, Chrys was a Product Manager at Google where he launched the photo-sharing community Photovine and contributed to Google+ and YouTube. He has built and launched several mobile social products such as Fliggo, TwitVid, Vidly and Treehouse. Chrys was born and raised near Boston and is a Y Combinator alumni.👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Chrys discuss building in a saturated market, using AI as a thought partner, designing original apps, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:45: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:11: Intro to Chrys Bader - co-founder at Rosebud, an AI-powered personal growth journal07:07: The experience of building a consumer app in mental health11:14: How is Rosebud different from other AI companionship apps?15:43: Where Chrys' love for mobile apps comes from21:45: Why Chrys prefers building for consumers25:43: Chrys' design inspiration for Rosebud30:16: Building Rosebud as a designer and as a founder33:10: How Chrys refuels himself after hard times in startup world47:43: Chrys' advice for founders building consumer ideas and consumer apps56:12: Fundraising vs bootstrapping in 20241:01:49: How Y Combinator changed Chrys as a founder and why he didn't go back1:05:45: How Chrys went from social wellness to photo sharing to mental health apps as a founder1:08:12: Rosebud's AI origin story1:10:35: Where Rosebud is going next1:14:42: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/Tyson Rosage: https://teamtreehouse.com/library/how-to-make-design-decisions-tyson-rosage👉🏼 Where to find Chrys:Rosebud: https://help.rosebud.app/Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrysbLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrysbWebsite: https://chrysbader.com/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Charlie Clark is a software engineer, creative coder, & bootstrapped founder who has grown his short links product, Liinks, to $25K MRR just 3 years after it officially launched.👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Charlie discuss being a bootstrapped founder, building in a saturated market, making your side project a full time job, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:35: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:01: Intro to Charlie Clark - founder of Liinks, a beautiful link-in-bio page to gather your socials, music, videos, and more04:52: Why is Liinks spelled with two ii's?05:28: Why short links are better07:35: Why Charlie set $25K MRR as a target to quit his full-time job11:07: How Charlie designed Liinks to be clean, yet fun15:41: How to convince people to buy your product20:35: Learnings as a second-time founder22:45: Why Liinks: Building in a saturated market27:20: How to know if you want to commit to your project full-time30:51: How to market in a saturated market36:25: How to make creator-led products profitable40:20: How Charlie made Liinks aesthetically pleasing 43:45: How working at Squarespace helped Liinks grow48:45: Frameworks Charlie uses for growth, design, and user retention50:10: How to balance user requests vs your own roadmap?53:51: How will AI impact the future of Liinks?58:08: Why Charlie chose the solo founder route1:00:55: Why Charlie bootstrapped Liinks vs raising venture capital1:02:53: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Where to find Charlie:Liinks: https://www.liinks.co/Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarkcharlie03Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarkcharlie03vsual: https://www.vsual.co/closingEmoji Book: http://emojibook.club/Colors of Motion: https://thecolorsofmotion.com/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Zach Hamed is a design-focused engineer who enjoys designing, building, and selling software. He is currently co-founder and co-CEO of Clay, a beautiful and private home for your personal and professional relationships. Previously, he helped build the product team at Goldman Sachs, co-founded a startup in the enterprise developer tools space, and writes blog posts.👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Zach discuss going from a startup to corporate and back to startups, identifying A players, design thinking, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:30: Shoutout to Acquire.com02:56: Intro to Zachary Hamed - co-founder at Clay, a beautiful personal CRM, contact manager, and rolodex for people across industries who want to be more thoughtful with the people they know05:35: Why Zach is building a startup in NYC vs Silicon Valley10:38: Zach's experience going through the Thiel Fellowship13:29: Going from building a startup to working at a large corporate19:51: A process at Goldman Sachs that serves Zachary well today25:15: Growth frameworks for Clay33:53: How to spot and hire talent smarter than you40:40: How to find A players46:30: Why does Clay use .earth for their domain?49:55: Why Zachary pursued a consumer-first approach57:50: How AI is revolutionizing Clay's people-first approach1:03:45: Using AI in Clay to catch up and schedule follow-ups1:09:25: How Zach is building Clay using design thinking1:17:35: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/Sparrow: https://sparrow.en.softonic.com/macMailbox: https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/8/9873268/why-dropbox-mailbox-shutdownThiel Fellowship: https://thielfellowship.org/👉🏼 Where to find Zachary:Website: https://zmh.org/Twitter: https://twitter.com/zmhLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyhamedClay: https://clay.earth/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Brendan Mahony is the founder of Sunset, a company that helps tech companies shut down, saving founders thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. He is also the ex-founder of Toybox (YC S18, acquired) and Contrast (shut down). From this experience, he built Sunset! 👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Brendan discuss raising money, finding customers at an early stage, weird startup ideas, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:22: Shoutout to Acquire.com02:47: Introduction to Brendan Mahony - founder of Sunset, a startup helping you shut down your startup correctly04:33: Why create a startup about shutting down startups10:00: How Brendan raised money as a first-time founder19:05: How to get investors on board for your startup20:50: Finding customers as an early-stage startup25:20: Lessons from the first year of building Sunset27:20: Building a startup at Y Combinator32:34: How to bend the rules when you're in founder mode38:16: How to deal with shutting down your startup - operationally, physically, mentally, emotionally42:12: What would Brendan work on if not Sunset?46:00: Weird startup ideas48:25: Problems startups deal with50:47: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/Andrew Gazdecki: https://www.andrewgazdecki.com/👉🏼 Where to find Brendan:Twitter: https://x.com/bmaho2211Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mahony-72929385Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

👉🏼 About the Guest:Ryan Gilbert is the founder of Workspaces, a newsletter with nearly 14K subscribers, $2K MRR, and 45K subscribers on Twitter, all about the desks of creatives around the world, born during the pandemic. Workspaces was acquired by Loops in 2022, where Ryan was Head of Content, and re-acquired by Ryan for $1 in 2024. He has also worked at Product Hunt and has a new newsletter all about the best headlines across the internet, named H1 Gallery. 👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Ryan discuss side projects, building a personal brand, curation vs creation, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:38: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:06: Introduction to Ryan Gilbert - founder of Workspaces04:41: Curation vs creation and how they're similar06:35: How to develop taste11:00: How to build a narrative around your taste12:02: Current untapped content trends15:58: The beginning of Workspaces21:02: How side projects can change your life22:25: Tactics for growing a newsletter 0 to 124:30: Experiments that didn't work for Workspaces26:47: Improvements that Ryan is planning for Workspaces28:38: Why sponsorships are harder now32:08: Running experiments for sponsors36:52: Ryan's content strategy at Loops - the email platform for SaaS39:16: Low-cost content tips40:47: Building a content strategy in 202443:54: Current trends people should pay attention to44:46: How founders can build a personal brand46:54: Ryan's experience as a new dad49:46: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Where to find Ryan:Twitter: https://twitter.com/rjgilbertWebsite: https://www.workspaces.xyz/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryang1lbert/👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

Yana Welinder, CEO and Founder of Kraftful, shares her journey as a solo founder navigating the startup landscape. She discusses the pivotal shift of her company from connected hardware to AI-driven solutions, highlighting the importance of user feedback. Yana also emphasizes resilience in entrepreneurship, detailing stress management techniques and the impact of programs like Y Combinator. Additionally, she explores the unique challenges of solo entrepreneurship, advocating for effective delegation and user engagement strategies to foster growth.

Chris Hladczuk, a Yale alum and former Goldman Sachs investment banker, shares his journey from finance to founding a fintech startup. He discusses essential hard skills and the unique challenges faced in early-stage companies. The importance of authenticity in content creation and the evolution of personal storytelling are emphasized. Chris also dives into AI's impact on the fintech sector and the significance of resilience, belief in ambitious goals, and the intricate balance of discipline and confidence for successful entrepreneurship.

👉🏼 About the Guest:Derek is the founder of Remote Jobs, the world's repository for remote jobs, and the creator of Daily UI, the #1 design challenge, with a combined total of 650K+ email subscribers. Join him in this episode to learn how he grew his user base from 0 to 650K+!👉🏼 About the Host:Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/👉🏼 Description:Listen in as Sharath and Derek discuss taking lessons from building community, how to curate the perfect service, how to monetize your user list, and more! 👉🏼 Timestamps:00:00: Episode Highlight00:43: Shoutout to Acquire.com03:08: Introduction to Derek - founder at Remote Jobs04:30: Growing your email list when you have 0 internet presence10:23: Derek's lessons from organizing meetups & community15:14: Lessons from 10+ years of building community22:32: How to juggle a side project with a full-time job29:37: Employee mode vs founder mode37:30: How to grow your user base using curation46:20: Breaking the tipping point of users to get to exponential growth48:22: Hacks to grow a user list from 052:10: Common mistakes when building a user list1:01:20: How to monetize your newsletter1:08:07: Derek's new and upcoming projects1:11:43: Outro and closing thoughts👉🏼 Resources:Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/Playbook: https://www.playbook.com/👉🏼 Where to find Derek:Twitter: https://x.com/derkolstadRemote Jobs: https://remotejobs.com/Daily UI: https://x.com/dailyui👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harathYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harathWebsite: https://5harath.com/Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/