Ep050: Followups, learnings and deep dive from the last 10 months

The Startup Playbook Podcast

In Episode 50 of The Startup Playbook Podcast, I did followup interviews with 6 previous guests on the show to checkin on their progress and learnings over the last 10 months.

The first guest is Tom Ellis, the Investment Director of Mai Capital, a VC fund that invests in opportunities looking to expand into the Chinese market. I first interviewed Tom in episode 17 where we spoke about his experience from both sides of the table and what he looks for in investment opportunities. In this follow up interview we talk about; finding your strengths, the need to ask for help and the importance of listening
The 2nd returning guest is Matt Allen. I interviewed Matt in episode 28 where we spoke about his experience as a tech recruiter and his advice on how to find and attract tech cofounders. Matt has recently taken on a new role as the Startup Business Development Manager at AWS and in this follow up, we chat about the startup ecosystem, building networks and being authentic.
The 3rd of our follow up interviews is with Adir Shiffman. In episode 12 I spoke with Adir about his change in career path from medicine to business, his experience in starting and selling multiple business and his role as the Chairman of Catapult Sports which he took to an IPO in 2014. In this follow up interview, we discuss Adir’s new model for startup structuring and some of the common pitfalls and the fallout from founder breakups.
Next up we have Paul Naphtali. Paul is the Cofounder and Managing Partner at Rampersand, a $50M venture capital fund for early stage technology startups. Paul was one of the earliest guests on the show and in episode 5 we spoke about the investment process at Rampersand and the common ingredients of successful startup founders. In this interview we talk about the things that attract and turnoff investors.
Our 5th guest is Justin Dry the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Vinomofo. In episode 3 Justin shared his and Andre's journey of 4 pivots over 4 years before turning to the current model. When we last spoke with Justin, they had recently closed their $25M investment round and were about to start expanding globally. In this interview we checkin with Vinomofo's global expansion, their learnings over the last year and the need to discuss failure.
Our 6th and final guest is Tim Mundy. Tim is the Cofounder and Director of Digital Affair, an HR branding company that has gone through incredible growth since launching 3 years ago. In this follow up, we talk about retention, over delivering to customers and getting by giving.
SHOW NOTES:

Tom Ellis: (1:17 - 19:04)
- Episode 17 w/ Tom Ellis on opportunities in China
- Dave McClure
- Mai capital website
- Mai capital Twitter
Matt Allen: (19:05 - 33:20)
- Episode 28 w/ Matt Allen on how to attract tech cofounders
- Nick Crocker
- Nick Crocker Podcast interview (Ep39) on people, culture and values
- Kyall Walker (Audience question)
- Matt Allen Twitter
- Matt email
Adir Shiffman: (33:21 - 41:11)
- Episode 12 w/ Adir Shiffman on the challenges of scale and the characteristics of fast growing startups
- Michael Dodge
- Arnold Bloch Leibler
- Catapult Sports
Paul Naphtali: (41:12 - 58:48)
- Episode 5 w/ Paul Napthali on how to contact VC's, ingredients of successful founders & the Rampersand investment process
- Patrick Poke (Audience question)
- Simon Sinek
- Star with Why
- Rampersand
Justin Dry: (58:49 - 1:18:41)
- Episode 3 w/ Justin Dry on building communities, deciding when to pivot and choosing between multiple options
- F'Up Nights
- Pathways Podcast
- Jesse Wilson (Audience question)
- Justin Dry (Twitter)
- Justin Dry (Facebook)
- Justin Dry (Instagram)
Tim Mundy: (1:18:42 - 1:37:49)
- Episode 1 w/ Tim Mundy on how to get clients,