Startup Hypeman: The GOAT to Market Show

When we work on investor pitch decks, one of our questions to founders is, "What's your G2M / distribution strategy?" Too often we hear, "Social media", "buying ads", or "SEO". Now, it's not that these channels don't work, it's that it usually requires a ton of upfront capital to even start to figure out what's working and what's not. Capital that you don't have yet, for CAC that won't pay you back for a long time (potentially ever). On top of that, once you do have the keyword or targeting figured out, the platform could change its algorithm overnight, leaving you back at square one. Hadi Radwan's insuretech startup, Asteya, has successfully raised $15 million, processed over $20M in Premiums, and achieved $5M ARR. At the core of their success is a B2B2C distribution flywheel. This model has significantly lower CAC than the aforementioned paths, with higher LTV, and way more control over the outcome. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how they've done it. We also learn how his experience from Lebanon, to Boston, to London has shaped his communication style.Find Hadi online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hadiradwan/Find Asteya online:Website: https://www.asteya.world/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've seen it in the news, in your Linkedin feeds, and from industry experts. Y-Combinator sent out their doomsday letter. All the classic characteristics have started to show themselves already. I'm talking of course about 'The R Word'. What does a potential recession mean for you as a founder, both in running your company and raising capital? Who better to ask than a VC. Navin Goyal is a physician turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. I've gotten to know him well over the years first through networking, and even more so as LOUD Capital invested in multiple Startup Hypeman portfolio companies. With such a broad experience and true empathy for the founder journey, I wanted to bring Navin on to share his take on a potential recession. Spoiler alert: like me, he's an optimist! He steps to the mic in this week's episode giving his assessment on the market and advice to founders.Find Navin online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navingoyalmd/Find LOUD Capital online:Website: https://loud.vc/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm a firm believer that the majority if not all, problems that exist are ultimately a communication problem.And as your company scales, how you communicate sets the precedent for your leadership style.Aviva Rosman and her Cofounder Alex Niemczewski have scaled BallotReady to 100 employees with 300+ customers including names like Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Levis.But they were on the verge of this never happening because they didn't have the right model to communicate with each other.Enter Conscious Leadership.Once they adopted this model of leadership and communication they were able to be 100% open and honest with one another, which allowed the company to grow.Aviva steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how both of their pent-up frustration led to a 3-hour conversation at a bar, which changed the face of their relationship for the better and paved the way for healthy company culture.Find Aviva online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivarosman/Find Ballot Ready online:Website: https://www.ballotready.org/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If there's one emoji you never want to describe your product, it's the cricket emoji 🦗. Yet every day, hundreds of startups launch to crickets — no interest, no adoption, no future. Rishabh Jain successfully brought hundreds of creators and dozens of brands to Fermat, securing agreements to billing terms or down payments, before ever building the product. Fermat's ability to generate pre-sales not only created a quicker path to revenue but helped ensure higher product adoption and stickiness after launching. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share their 3-step approach and more. Rishabh also explains what growing up in 2 different countries taught him about people, and why he got out of investment banking.Find Rishabh online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishabhmjain/Find Fermat online:Website: https://www.fermatcommerce.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever notice how whenever you watch a sports game on TV that the name of the arena is sponsored by a brand, there are decals and signs along the field featuring additional sponsors, the pre-game show is sponsored, the highlight reel, the halftime show, the postgame show are all sponsored, I think you get the idea...What these teams, venues, and networks all realize is that there is room for added value beyond the functional use of their 'product', and that added value is worth money.You don't have to own a football stadium to have added value. In fact, whether you're an app, a SaaS, or a service, you can deliver value and generate revenue streams beyond your core offering.No one knows this better than Michael Donnelly, who has scaled companies through sponsorships and is building her own company, FWD Collective, with sponsors as a core growth strategy.She steps to the mic this week to share how you can make it a part of your core strategy.Find Michael online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltdonnelly/Find FWD Collective online:Website: https://www.fwdcollective.io/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine this: Your company accidentally prints the "C" word onto thousands of diaper packages for the largest diaper brand in the world.What do you do?Several years ago, as General Counsel of ePrize, Gabe Karp found himself in this exact situation.It taught him a valuable lesson on how to approach conflict.But not only that, as a former litigator, advisor, and active VC, Gabe has seen conflict from every angle.His new book, "Don't Get Mad At Penguins", unpacks what he's learned over the years on how to embrace healthy conflict, and rid your company of toxic conflict.I had the honor of being Gabe's coworker at ePrize, and saw firsthand how good he was at dealing with difficult situations.He steps to the mic this week to give us an inside look at why we shouldn't be getting mad at penguins.I also get him to tell the story of the time he worked literally elbow-to-elbow with Vince McMahon for 3 weeks and appeared on global television for WWE Monday Night Raw (which you know I love).Find Gabe online:Website: www.gabekarp.comLink to his book: https://www.gabekarp.com/bookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-karp-1b772a1b/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amidst all the ways you can grow a startup, there's one truth everyone can agree on: Bad hires can tank a company.So how do you position your company as attractive to a talent pool?And not just any talent pool, but the pool that's driving the future of work — young talent?At just 25 years old, Keyona Meeks has made waves in the startup world, going from Investment Strategist at Bronze Valley VC to becoming General Partner at Black Tech Capital.She's advised dozens of companies on their talent acquisition strategies and believes that posting up at a college job fair might not be the best use of your time and money.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the ecosystem-based approach that innovative companies use to source, hire, and retain top young talent.Find Keyona online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keyona-meeks/Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/keyona_meeksThis episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We're looking for a CTO, so if you know anyone please let me know!"Does that sentence sound familiar?Whether it's getting the initial product built, or taking an MVP and turning it into a scalable product, "I need a CTO!" is something I hear founders say all the time.Nelly Yusupova is a seasoned CTO with 18 years of experience.As Founder of TechSpeak, she trains startups on how to effectively create and run their product development strategy.She knows exactly what to look for in a CTO, and can tell you if what you need is truly a CTO or just a developer.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how to find the right person for the job.She also shares her powerful personal story of coming to the U.S. as a war refugee, not knowing any English, and signing up for a computer science class thinking it would teach her how to USE a computer!Find Nelly online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalwoman/Find TechSpeak online:Website: https://www.techspeakforentrepreneurs.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could not only have a great pitch but a lineup of investors eager to get time on your calendar?? It's not only possible but there's a completely practical way to make it happen. Nathan Beckord's company, FounderSuite, brings structure, speed, and efficiency to capital raising with its funding tech stack to over 2500 startups worldwide. He's personally supported hundreds of founders through the capital raise journey and knows how to line 'em up and knock 'em down. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how to accelerate your fundraising timeline by filling up your calendar with investor meetings. He also shares how climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas is just like running a startup.Find Nathan online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbeckordFind Foundersuite online: Website: https://foundersuite.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast is officially back for Season 18! What are we talking about in this week's episode? ICP! ICP! ICP! These 3 letters are the refrain for any startup breaking into the market — find your Ideal Customer Persona/Profile. But what happens once you do find that ICP, and how do you a) know if there are enough of them to keep pursuing, and b) if yes, keep finding more of them? David Fink has grown Postie to 5 consecutive years of profitability, with customers ranging from midsize to publicly traded, across multiple industries. He's figured out firsthand the channels that make the most sense to target, segment, and expand based on where your company is today, and how you're trying to grow it. He steps to the mic in our season premiere to share his journey in scaling up Postie. He also shares how starting his career as a social worker prepared him to lead a company.Find David online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlfink/Find Postie online:Website: https://postie.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.