Lessons from 2,000+ Startup Founder Interviews with Entrepreneur Andrew Warner of Mixergy

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

E40: What would you learn if you had the chance to speak to over 2,000 startup entrepreneurs including the founders of Airbnb, Reddit, and Zapier?
We are talking to Andrew Warner, the serial entrepreneur, storyteller, podcast host, and author extraordinaire. After conducting over 2,000 interviews from startup founders, Andrew recently published a book called "Stop Asking Questions!" which I read from cover to cover. I invited him on the podcast so I could… ask him a LOT of questions.
During our conversation, Andrew and I spoke about his life as an entrepreneur and went into some amazing details about:

• All his past ventures - including the one that failed
• Why he thinks the current startup ecosystem has matured too much
• His current partial-hiatus and what he plans to do next
• His secret to conducting great interviews

This is an inspiring conversation that you won't want to miss!
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SPONSOR:

Big thanks to Swell AI for sponsoring this episode. Swell AI is like having a production assistant 24/7. If you're a content creator, do yourself a favor and try Swell AI.
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EXCERPTS:
Affiliate Marketing Growth: "What if we pay people 10¢ every time someone sends out their website?" — Andrew Warner (14:12)
How to Succeed as a Founder: "If you could live your contradiction fully and still be aware of the world around you, you win." — Andrew Warner (27:28)
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TOPICS:
[00:06:31] How Andrew Hacked J. Crew's Return Policy to Launch His Startup
[00:07:35] Spending $2-3k on Envelopes for Software-on-a-Disc Business
[00:11:04] Building a 'Jokes and Trivia' Newsletter to $30M
[00:14:12] How Andrew Boosted Growth via Affiliates
[00:20:40] How Andrew Lost $300,000 From His Business
[00:22:30] How Andrew Pivoted Mixergy
[00:26:54] Lessons Learned From Interviewing Founders
[00:29:14] Embrace Your Weirdness to Stand Out
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LINKS:
Andrew's Mixergy Podcast
Andrew's Book: Stop Asking Questions
Andrew on Twitter

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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.
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