The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten
By Steli Efti & Hiten Shah: Serial Entrepreneurs, Sales & Marketing Experts, Startup Investors & Advisors, CEOs running multi million dollar SaaS Startups
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Description
Unfiltered insights and actionable advice straight from the trenches of startup and business life. The show hosts, Steli Efti and Hiten Shah, are both serial entrepreneurs who have founded multi-million dollar SaaS startups. Being busy CEOs of fast-growing companies, they know the value of your time and make sure you get the most out of each 22 minute episode. Tune in for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
Explicit211: How to Distribute Equity in the Early Days of Your Startup | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the tricky aspect of giving equity. While there is no standard way to give equity as companies follow their own rules, there are norms that you can choose to follow—especially if you are just starting. | 6/2/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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2 |
Explicit210: How to Grow Your Startup With Referral Sales & Marketing | Does affiliate and referral marketing really work? In this episode, Steli and Hiten share their thoughts, tips, and experiences using this strategy and how it’s impacted their customer acquisition. You’ll find out the importance of asking for that one | 5/30/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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3 |
Explicit209: How We Chose the People We Surround Ourselves With | In this episode, Steli and Hiten share how they choose the people they surround themselves with. They discuss the difference between being a maker and a manager as it relates to either starting a company vs. scaling a company. | 5/26/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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4 |
Explicit208: What to Do When Your First Customer Cancels / Churns? | When a frog is placed in boiling water, it quickly jumps out because it has felt the heat. But, when it is placed in the water before it is boiling, the frog adjusts to the heat and it is too late before it realizes that it is boiling. | 5/23/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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5 |
Explicit207: Why We Keep Doing This Podcast | The Startup Chat has evolved since 2 years ago, when Steli and Hiten first began this project. They’ve tweaked their structure, hit highs and lows, and have even received crazy encouragement and feedback from listeners in-person! In today’s episode, | 5/19/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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6 |
Explicit206: How to Move Faster (and Make More Things Happen in Less Time) | If you have ever felt like your life is a blur, do not worry as you are in good company. In today’s episode, Hiten shares why the “blur feeling” is a GOOD thing and the experiences and ideas that have led him to think this way. | 5/16/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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7 |
Explicit205: How to Increase CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value) | Now that you have started your business, it is now time to grow it. Growing your business is dependent on how much money you are making from your current customer base. Listen in as Steli and Hiten talk about how to increase your customer lifetime valu... | 5/12/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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8 |
Explicit204: How to Cultivate a Bias Towards Action | Do you ever feel that things aren’t moving forward or aren’t moving fast enough? If so, this episode is for you. In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how to cultivate a bias towards ACTION. Accomplishing your tasks and learning how to take | 5/9/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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9 |
Explicit203: Productivity Tips for Remote Workers | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how to be productive when you are working on a remote team. Steli and Hiten share their thoughts about the importance of discipline and motivation for individuals working in remote teams as well as the imp. | 5/5/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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10 |
Explicit202: How to Generate Customer Insights | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about generating customer insights. Customer feedback is what you need to be able to build a better product and adjust for the objections that you get from customers—both those who have purchased from you and t | 5/2/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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11 |
Explicit201: How to Kill Features in Your Product | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the process of killing features in your product. Steli and Hiten discuss the difficulty tied to killing a feature, but how it can be necessary to simplify your product. | 4/28/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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12 |
Explicit200: The Art of the Follow Up | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about one of the dilemmas almost all entrepreneurs experience – the art of following up. All our business dealings are in need of that constant follow through; but surprisingly enough, | 4/25/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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13 |
Explicit199: How to Fly a Fighter Jet | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about an unusual event that happened to Steli, but spoke volumes about making that first impression—that is his experience learning how to fly a fighter jet. Steli shares how he ended up flying a fighter jet in | 4/21/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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14 |
Explicit198: How to Build a Board of Directors | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about building your board of directors. Steli and Hiten share their thoughts on the right time to create a board and what to look for in those who want to be a part of your board. | 4/18/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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15 |
Explicit197: Top Tier College: Does It Help as an Entrepreneur? | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the value of going to an elite college as a prerequisite to becoming an entrepreneur. Tune in as Steli and Hiten weigh the pros and cons of going to an elite college, | 4/14/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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16 |
Explicit196: Fundraising: How to Raise Your Series A | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about raising a series A round. Tune in as Steli and Hiten lay the groundwork for what your company should already have in place prior to doing a series A round. They discuss what is expected of you from an inve. | 4/11/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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17 |
Explicit195: Stop Treating Service Workers Like Servants | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the growing tech divide in Silicon Valley and the negative treatment of those in technology towards those who are not. Steli and Hiten are worried and saddened by the aggression shown by tech people toward. | 4/7/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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18 |
Explicit194: How to Successfully Manage Customer Objections | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten discuss why they consider objections to be a gift. Listen as they explain the benefits of addressing objections, how to deal with the emotions you feel when dealing with criticism, | 4/4/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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19 |
Explicit193: Top 5 Fundraising Mistakes Founders Make | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the top fundraising mistakes founders make. From copying and pasting templates to just blindly following the trends, Steli and Hiten address each mistake and how it can work against you. | 3/31/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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20 |
Explicit192: How to use scripts to empower your sales team | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the importance of having scripts and templates in your sales process. While it may not be needed during the early days of a startup, documents and scripts are crucial in helping your salespeople communicat. | 3/28/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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21 |
Explicit191: How to Overcome a Plateau in Business | Everybody goes through a time where they feel unmotivated with their business. In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss two types of plateaus that can get you down and not moving—the business plateau and the emotional plateau. | 3/24/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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22 |
Explicit190: How to Crush it on Demo Day | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how you can crush it on demo day. While Hiten thinks that demo day events need improvement, he also shares valuable tips on how you can make yourself stand out and land that next meeting with a potential inve... | 3/21/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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23 |
Explicit189: How to Infuse a Human Touch in Inside Sales | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the importance of infusing a human touch in inside sales. Field sales have paved the practices we use in inside sales, so it is important to know the benefits of field sales. Personal connection, | 3/17/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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24 |
Explicit188: How to Create a Killer Pitch Deck | In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the bones of what makes a great pitch deck and how to use it to wow possible investors. Steli and Hiten give you tips based on real life stories and pitches that got their attention. | 3/14/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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25 |
Explicit187: How to Be Confident | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the art of confidence. Steli shares an event he observed in a coworking space, one day, that really frustrated him. It showed the importance of having confidence in one’s self. | 3/10/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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26 |
Explicit186: Website Teardowns (with conversion tips & tricks) part 3 | In this episode, Steli and Hiten go through more website teardowns. Steli and Hiten comment on five different websites and give their take on what they are doing right and what needs to be improved. Tune in to find out the importance of being clear in ... | 3/7/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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27 |
Explicit185: Website Teardowns (with conversion tips & tricks) part 2 | This is Part Two of Website Tear Down. In this episode, Steli and Hiten look at websites and provide important feedback to listeners. Steli and Hiten give their thoughts about two particular websites and how they can improve and build upon what they al... | 3/3/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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28 |
Explicit184: What to Do When Your Mind and Gut Are at Odds with Each Other | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss what it means to trust your intuition and follow those gut feelings. Steli shares a story of how he followed his intuition when it came to a potential hire. Steli wasn’t feeling very great about this particular . | 2/28/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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29 |
Explicit183: Website Teardowns (with conversion tips & tricks) part 1 | In this episode, Steli and Hiten look at 3 websites and provide important, specific feedback. Steli and Hiten give their thoughts regarding the home pages and share their overall experience. Some of the key lessons to be learned in this episode is that... | 2/24/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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30 |
Explicit182: What to Do When Your Financing Falls Through in the Last Minute | In this episode, Steli and Hiten teach you what to do when your financing falls through in the last minute. Every business plan includes a heavily researched and projected financial plan. However, there are a lot of internal and external factors that c... | 2/21/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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31 |
Explicit181: How to Manage Remote Teams | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the challenges faced with managing and building remote teams. Listen as they list several key issues every mobile team encounters—from selecting the right members to dealing with miscommunication. | 2/17/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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32 |
Explicit180: B2B Customer Acquisition Q&A (Part 2) | In this episode, Steli and Hiten answers questions they received from readers of their ebook, From 0 to 1,000 Customers and Beyond. This is Part 2 of Steli and Hiten addressing questions as readers get the opportunity to ask for specific feedback and a... | 2/14/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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33 |
Explicit179: B2B Customer Acquisition Q&A (Part 1) | In this episode, Steli and Hiten answer the questions they received from the readers of their ebook From 0 to 1,000 Customers and Beyond. Steli and Hiten give practical advice about marketing, engagement, and how to prioritize feedback from your custom... | 2/10/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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34 |
Explicit178: Sales Hiring for Startups | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about sales hiring. Salespeople require a specific skillset that may be difficult to quantify and assess from a hiring perspective. Sometimes, it’s best to just see them perform. But, | 2/7/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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35 |
Explicit177: Hiring First 10 Team Members for Your Startup | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about making the crucial step from hiring the first person to join your team to scaling it up to 10 people. They talk candidly about the hiring process and the importance of knowing—as best as you can—who you’re | 2/3/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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36 |
Explicit176: How to Hire Your First Startup Team Member | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the challenges that come with hiring that first full-time employee for your startup. They share their views regarding salary, equity, and giving out titles as well as the key attributes that make a GREAT firs... | 1/31/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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37 |
Explicit175: How to Hire Marketers for Your Startup | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the process of hiring marketing people. They are two things they look for in potential marketers and Steli and Hiten show you how to assess for both traits. They also share a few tips from the marketer’s side. | 1/27/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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38 |
Explicit174: Self-Service vs Human-Touch in SaaS | In this episode, Steli and Hiten debate which is best: self serve or non self serve SaaS applications. Technology has evolved the business transaction to a point where salespeople have become redundant, but is automated sales the best way or do consume... | 1/24/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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39 |
Explicit173: Startup Work Ethic: Match Yours and Your Team Members Work Ethic for Maximum Results | In this episode, Steli and Hiten tackle the topic of work ethic and how your team needs to be aligned. Having a collective team ethic results in an ability to get things done and establishes a smooth workflow, but misalignments can be disruptive. | 1/20/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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40 |
Explicit172: Your Startup Isn’t Your Baby | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the reasons why startups shouldn’t be treated like a baby. People tend to treat their startup or business as their baby and end up growing an unhealthy attachment to it. According to Steli and Hiten, | 1/17/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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41 |
Explicit171: Founders Dilemma: How to Make Decisions When All Options Suck | In this episode, Steli and Hiten share a story of an anonymous founder who was in a sticky situation with his investors. Landing investors can be very encouraging for a startup; however, it is knowing the RIGHT deal for your company that makes the all ... | 1/13/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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42 |
Explicit170: What You Don’t Know About Angel Investors | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the topic of angel investors. Not all entrepreneurs are able to bootstrap a business and may need the help of outside investors. Listen as Steli and Hiten discuss both sides of the relationship—how you can find . | 1/10/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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43 |
Explicit169: The Lazy Hustle | In this episode, Steli and Hiten spend some time discussing the overused art of the “lazy hustle.” Steli talks in-detail about an annoying email he received from a lazy hustler, and Hiten shares why he never likes to use the word hustle. | 1/6/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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44 |
Explicit168: How to Build Your Personal Network… Without Networking | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the content of our personal network. People around us in our network have an effect on us—they can drain us or give us energy. There are times where we find ourselves surrounded by a negative network and Steli a. | 1/3/2017 | Free | View in iTunes |
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45 |
Explicit167: Not How But Yes | In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the book The Answer to How is Yes. Steli is currently reading the book and believes it has a powerful message that can impact one’s decision making. Listen as Steli and Hiten discuss the question “how” and | 12/23/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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46 |
Explicit166: How to Think About Hot Trends in Business & Technology | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the pros and cons of following technology business trends. Startups tend to just go with the flow in regards to these trends without considering if the concept fits their company and is even doable. | 12/20/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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47 |
Explicit165: Sales & Marketing Tactics that Died in 2016 | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the truth behind the sales and marketing tactics that have supposedly “died” in 2016. Steli and Hiten will provide a more balanced approach to understanding how to interpret the surge of advice that comes at th | 12/16/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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48 |
Explicit164: Email Marketing for SaaS Startups | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the strategies and knowledge needed to utilize email marketing in the most effective way possible for your business campaign. Listen and learn as Steli and Hiten discuss the advantages of email marketing, | 12/13/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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49 |
Explicit163: How to Announce Product Updates | In this episode, Steli and Hiten share tips and tactics that keep your customers up-to-date with your products or services. Listen and learn from Steli and Hiten’s own personal experience of what works, what doesn’t work, and the feasible, | 12/9/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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50 |
Explicit162: How to Do Team Retreats | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the importance of company retreats. A retreat is a valuable part of a company and should be planned and executed well—start to finish. Listen as Steli and Hiten share their own company retreat experiences. | 12/6/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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51 |
Explicit161: The Power of Gratitude | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the true meaning of the season, Thanksgiving. Listen as Steli and Hiten go deep into our emotions to reveal what giving thanks is really about, how to show gratefulness and the importance of showing others we ar... | 12/2/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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52 |
Explicit160: Closing – the Art of Creating a Decision | In this episode, Steli and Hiten are talk about closing especially in sales. Closing is involved in any relationship you have and there’s a foundation that you need to build. Listen as Steli answers questions on how closing doesn’t start with a closin | 11/29/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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53 |
Explicit159: What to Do When Someone Screwed You Over | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss “what to do when people screw you over.” Partners, investors, clients—there is always an opportunity for misunderstandings and conflict. The important question to ask is: how do you respond when you feel li | 11/25/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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54 |
Explicit158: The Content Marketing Playbook | Today Steli and Hiten are talking about Hiten’s new book The Content Marketing Playbook. This is a very specific deep dive into the years of experience Hiten has gained from building content marketing programs at Kissmetrics, | 11/22/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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55 |
Explicit157: Stop Worrying About the Bad News, and Start Creating Good News | In this episode, Steli and Hiten discuss Steli's posts on Facebook which address the topic of worrying. In this current season of presidential elections, a lot of people have been openly posting their thoughts, concerns, and fears online. | 11/18/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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56 |
Explicit156: How to Grow From 100 to 1000 B2B Customers | - In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how to go from 100 customers to 1000—how to focus, what to zero-in on, and how to intelligently approach the next phase of scale and growth. Listen as they highlight the power of grouping and segmentatio. | 11/15/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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57 |
Explicit155: Thinking Small & Intimate in Business | On today’s episode we’re going to talk about the value of thinking small. Recently we had a session at the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco, and it turned out to be a rather intimate affair. We don’t mind small crowds, | 11/11/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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58 |
Explicit154: How to Manage Your Fear of Failure | In business the number one reason people don’t pull their triggers is fear. Everyone has fear of failure, even people who have lots of successes in their businesses. Nobody ever really gets over it. On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss how to move p | 11/8/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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59 |
Explicit153: Is Customer Success BS? (And how to really help your customers win) | On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss customer success. This market has become saturated with SaaS tools that are useless and a waste of money. During today’s episode we discuss why customer success is really simpler than the industry would have you | 11/4/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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60 |
Explicit152: How to Conduct Great Customer Development Interviews | Customer development is crucial to any startup business. Customer development tells a founder what their customer base really needs. The best tool to get this information is customer interviews. - On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss how to conduct .. | 11/1/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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61 |
Explicit151: How to Create a Winning Startup Culture | Today we talk about one of Hiten’s favorite topics, company culture. Business culture is a key factor to keeping your employees invested in your company. So many companies miss the mark on what makes a company culture good. - | 10/28/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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62 |
Explicit150: Cold Calling 101 for Founders | On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss cold calling. We’ll tell you what cold calling is, why you should do it, and how to do it effectively. Steli is the rock star of cold calling between the two of us. He’ll tell us how he has made cold calling wo | 10/25/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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63 |
Explicit149: What Founders Should Know About Working With Lawyers | On today’s episode of The Startup Chat we discuss the legal side of owning a business. So many founders depend upon their lawyers to “do the thinking” for them. During today’s episode we discuss why you need to be proactive with a lawyer and how t | 10/21/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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64 |
Explicit148: Parallel Entrepreneurship: Want to run multiple startups? | We get asked about Parallel Entrepreneurship a lot. Parallel Entrepreneurship is the practice of running multiple companies at the same time. We have both practiced this model at one time or another. So we have practical real-world experience to share ... | 10/18/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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65 |
Explicit147: How to Transform Limiting Beliefs Into a Winning Mindset | 99% of success in life is all about how you think about it. On today’s The Startup Chat we talk about the beliefs and “stories” people tell themselves that change their success. We have talked a lot about storytelling in the past, | 10/14/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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66 |
Explicit146: Stop Trying to Control People | Many businesses and managers fall into the trap of trying to controlling their teams and employees. On today’s episode we discuss why trying to exercise control is a bad move. We will explain what is actually at the heart of a need to control others an. | 10/11/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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67 |
Explicit145: Overcoming Laziness – How to Stop Avoiding Crucial Tasks | Laziness is a word that is thrown around quite a bit. But is it really laziness? On today’s episode we discuss what is laziness and is it a bad thing? The answer might surprise you. We also discuss what causes or perpetuates laziness. - | 10/7/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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68 |
Explicit144: How to Become More Thoughtful | On today’s The Startup Chat, we discuss being thoughtful in business. The word thoughtfulness brings to mind being considerate to employees and clients, but our main point is the thoroughness of thoughtfulness. - | 10/4/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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69 |
Explicit143: The Slow & Stressful Way to Kill Your Startup: Lack of Urgency | Our topic today is why a company needs a sense of urgency. Before you start calculating your production time or revising your marketing strategy; the point we want to make today is do you know your customer and what they need? - | 9/30/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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70 |
Explicit142: Why We Love to Read | We discuss the importance of reading in business today. Both of us are heavy readers and we find a lot of value in it. During today’s episode we discuss our background in reading and how we use it in our day to day lives. | 9/27/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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71 |
Explicit141: The Importance of Teaching | There is this idea that teaching is the edge a company has over its competitors. On today’s The Startup Chat we talk about teaching your audience and how that helps your company. We talk about what is teaching and how to use it. - | 9/23/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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72 |
Explicit140: The Power of Writing | On our last episode we discussed the benefits and importance of writing postmortems. So on today’s episode we discuss the benefits of writing in business in general. Writing things down has become crucial in modern business. | 9/20/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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73 |
Explicit139: How to Do Effective Postmortems | On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss postmortems. We tell you what they are, how to use them, and if you’re new to the process how to start the practice. - For those who don’t know what a postmortem is, it is a document that outlines a failed situ | 9/16/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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74 |
Explicit138: Building Products in Hyper-Competitive Markets | SaaS is a competitive business. On today’s episode we discuss how to survive in this current competitive market. SaaS is a fast pace business that is full of copycats and people who are just quicker on the draw. - | 9/13/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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75 |
Explicit137: What We Learned From 1000 Minutes of Interviewing Founders About Fundraising | Hiten has spent 1000 minutes interviewing founders about fundraising and today he tells us what he learned. Hiten and his team asked founders questions over the course of a 20 minute phone call. They asked about the tools and resources they used to get... | 9/9/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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76 |
Explicit136: Are You Too Old (or Too Young) for Entrepreneurship? | Today we talk about a very polarizing aspect of business: Age. Some businesses favor youth others snub youth. During today’s episode we express our opinion on the subject. - Although age can play a factor in culture or feedback it isn’t a sign of capa | 9/6/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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77 |
Explicit135: What You Should Know About Startup Accelerators & Incubators | Accelerators and Incubators… what’s the difference? We answer that question today on the podcast. - For reference, an accelerator is a group of investors who will take your idea and company and guide it and speed things along. - | 9/2/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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78 |
Explicit134: How to Do Due Diligence on People | After last episode about how to deal with investors we decided this episode should be about how to do due diligence in your company. Due diligence is basically just doing your homework on anyone you are potentially letting into the company. | 8/30/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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79 |
Explicit133: How to Cultivate Great Relationships With Your Investors | On today’s The Startup Chat we talk about how to manage a relationship with your investors. This part of business isn’t really talked about. There are tons of resources for how to get investors into your business, but not how to deal with them. | 8/26/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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80 |
Explicit132: How to Relaunch Your Website | On this episode, we talk about how to go about redesigning your company website so you can present a current and polished product to your customers. Close.io is in the middle of planning a website redesign, | 8/23/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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81 |
Explicit131: PR for Startups | We talk about PR (Public Relations) today. This is an interesting topic because it’s subjective. PR is only worth the time and energy you’re willing to put into it. Too many agencies or con artists claim they can meet a startup’s need. | 8/19/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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82 |
Explicit130: How to Think About SEO for Your Startup | Today Steli picks Hiten’s brain about SEO (Search Engine Optimization.) Hiten is an expert on this topic and has a lot to say about content creation and site linking. Google is the ultimate search engine to use for exposure. | 8/16/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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83 |
Explicit129: How to Shut Down Your Startup | Sometimes in business there comes a point when the only option is to shut down. It is a difficult situation, it is stressful, and it can be hard to do right. On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss the right way to shut down a company. - | 8/12/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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84 |
Explicit128: Crisis Management for Startups | Our topic today is how to deal with a crisis. So many people hit a wall when a crisis rears its ugly head. There are right ways and wrongs ways to deal with a crisis. - During today’s episode we’re going to share some of our experiences with crises an | 8/9/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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85 |
Explicit127: How to Provide Great Customer Support | Customer support is essential to any successful business. It can be frustrating and it be eye-opening. On today’s episode we discuss how we handle customer support We also discuss what you can learn from a support team and when to move to a larger tea | 8/5/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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86 |
Explicit126: How to Start a Side Business | Many people want to start a side business, but don’t know how to do it. It’s really easy to start a business nowadays, but it’s tough to keep it going.We’re going to tell you how to establish your own side business today. - | 8/2/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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87 |
Explicit125: How to Deal With First World Problems | So many times we get caught up in first world problems. A first world problem is a minor issue or problem that really irritates us. It’s something that is small and won’t matter the next day. Nevertheless, people allow these problems to paralyze or to | 7/29/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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88 |
Explicit124: The Dangers of Being Transactional With Others | We talk about how in business you meet transactional people. Today we talk about what a transactional person is and how to deal with them. Business is a transactional experience. However some people think that approaching people with a false sense of f... | 7/26/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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89 |
Explicit123: How to Learn New Things | Learning is a lifetime thing. On today’s episode we discuss how we learn things and how other people can learn new things. We as people are always learning something. We start as children and we keep the same method our whole life. | 7/22/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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90 |
Explicit122: How to Run Experiments | On today’s episode we talk about how to experiment in sales and find the best channel for your business’ success. Experimentation is an important thing in both sales and marketing. Many founders make the mistake of putting their eggs in one basket. | 7/19/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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91 |
Explicit121: How to Come Up With Great Business Ideas | On today’s The Startup Chat we talk about how to come up with good business ideas. Ideas come from all sorts of places. People get ideas by: Coming up with solutions to a problem Bringing an idea from one medium (or place) to another | 7/15/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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92 |
Explicit120: MicroConf 2016 Q&A with Hiten & Steli | On today’s episode we share the Q & A session we did at MicroConf 2016. We jump right to it, so give this episode a listen to hear our answers for these questions. What onboarding advice can we give How to find an ideal 3rd party integration | 7/12/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit119: You launched your product, and no one bought. What now? | Steli received an email from a listener a while back and asked him to offer some guidance on her situation. The listener has launched a product with her team, but nobody is buying it. On today’s The Startup Chat we’re going to answer this listener’s | 7/8/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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94 |
Explicit118: How to Onboard New Team Members | In light of Steli and close.io hiring a varitey of product team members; we want to talk about company onboarding. Onboarding new employees is totally different for a startup. On today’s episode we talk about our methods of onboarding and why how you o. | 7/5/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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95 |
Explicit117: How to Leave Your Corporate Job | Being in a startup has become “the cool thing” to do, but lots of corporate people are hesitant to make a move. On today’s The Startup Chat we discuss how to deal with people or potential employees who have had a corporate background. | 7/1/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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96 |
Explicit116: Minimum Viable Products: How to find out fast if your idea is legit | On this episode we take a close look at the concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and what it means and how to apply it to your business. The concept sprang up during the early startup movement and has become a bit muddled in definition over time. | 6/28/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit115: Startup partnerships: What to do and what to avoid | Partnerships can be amazing things, but the problem is the good ones are often the exception to the rule. On today’s episode we share our views on partnerships and when, why, and how to develop them. - Too many people rely on the idea of a partnership.. | 6/23/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit114: How to Design an Org-Chart for Your Startup | It happens to every startup, eventually there needs to be an organization sheet. Many founders resist an org-chart because “it’s corporate.” However, making a visual representation of your company is essential if you want to move forward. - | 6/21/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit113: How to Choose the Right Startup Advisors | Today we talk about if building an advisor board is for you. We share our experiences with finding advisors and why we chose them. We will tell you what we have seen work well in advisory boards and what doesn’t. | 6/17/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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100 |
Explicit112: How to Help Your Team Scale | On today’s episode we talk about how to deal with “scaling up” in your business and how to handle someone who isn’t quite getting it. By “scaling up” we mean that situation where a senior member or founding member of a team is promoted up to a | 6/14/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit111: Stop Making Excuses and Start Shipping | On today’s episode we talk about the problems that excuses and inaction cause in teams and projects. Both of us have been “blocked” and have felt the frustration of team members making excuses for not getting the work done. | 6/10/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit110: How to Get a Job at a Startup | Many people who listen to us like to know how they can find a job in a startup. On today’s episode we tell you what we look for when we hire. We also give you some tips on how to put yourself into the running for a startup company position. | 6/7/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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103 |
Explicit109: Startups That Grow “Without Marketing” | Today we take on a common misleading tactic that startups use thinking it sounds impressive. That is the lie that you built your business with no marketing. - The most common reason for this lie is simple, | 6/3/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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104 |
Explicit108: How to Work With Engineers | When you are a non-engineer founder communicating with engineers is essential, but it can also be tricky. On this episode we talk about each of our backgrounds in working with engineers in the early days of our businesses, | 5/31/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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105 |
Explicit107: How to Manage Startup Stress | Many of our listeners ask us lots of questions. One of the common questions we get is how to cope with stress in terms of business. So on today’s episode we try to give you some perspective on stress. - No matter how hard you think something is, | 5/27/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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106 |
Explicit106: How to Deal With Churn in SaaS | Today we talk about the importance of keeping an eye on your company’s churn numbers. Churn is a term used for the loss of something. There are different types of churn, but today we are going to focus on customer churn. Every business has churn, | 5/24/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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107 |
Explicit105: How to Grow a Distributed Startup Team & Travel (A Lot) | A lot of startups use travel as a means to team build or as an incentive to sales teams. Today we discuss how travel is beneficial to your business. We also discuss the pros and cons of planning a business retreat for remote teams meet-ups. | 5/20/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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108 |
Explicit104: How to Take Action | We have noticed that when we speak with listeners of the podcast, there are some who expect us to give them a kick. That has made us consider what we need to do to give you a kick through the podcast. - During today’s episodes we trade ideas and possi.. | 5/17/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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109 |
Explicit103: Public Speaking Tips to Wow Your Audience | We share and compare our public speaking styles in this episode as we help each other dissect our styles and look at the good and the bad. So many people think a presentation has to be polished, however maybe we’ll be able to change some minds on that.. | 5/13/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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110 |
Explicit102: Trusting Others to Do the Work / When to Hire People to Scale Yourself | Part of growing a business is hiring people to take over and continue work that is already being done. We are often asked when a founder should train someone else to do work they were previously doing. Our answer is collectively “Trust your people to d. | 5/10/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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111 |
Explicit101: What to Do When Someone Leaves | Sometimes a person from a work team will leave the company. Today we tell you how we deal with employees who want to leave or are just considering it. Adjusting to an employee change has its process. - Today we talk about the emotions involved, | 5/6/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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112 |
Explicit100: How to Make Meetings More Meaningful | Today’s topic is how to make meetings more meaningful. Hiten has, on average, 25 meetings a week. We both have many requests for our time and advice. As we take a look at the role meetings play in our lives, | 5/3/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit099: The State of Self-Funded Startups | We just came back from MicroConf. We had a great time and we met and reconnected with some awesome people. - For those who don’t know, MicroConf is a conference for self-funded startup companies to come together for a few days and share their succes. | 4/29/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit098: Startup Q&A Session With Steli & Hiten | This episode is a Q & A session. When we did the live chat last month we had a number of unanswered questions. We got a ton of questions online and we’ll do our best to answer as many as we can. - We answered questions on several topics including: | 4/26/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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115 |
Explicit097: How to Worry in Business | Today on The Startup Chat we talk about worry. We get lots of questions about things that are rooted in worry. Worry is a useless emotion that just paralyzes action and problem solving. There are 2 different problems people worry about. - | 4/22/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit096: How to grow your business doing FREE work | We often talk about the importance of charging what you’re worth, but today we are going to tell you about instances where free work is ideal. To begin with let’s make it clear that this method of marketing only works well for service based business | 4/19/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit095: Mental Toughness | Today we talk about mental toughness. Many people understand the concept of mental toughness, but they have a hard time using it in their everyday business practice. Many sports, especially boxing, are metaphors for what we are discussing today. | 4/15/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit094: What to Do When Moving to Silicon Valley | Today we are going to talk about what to do when moving to Silicon Valley. Steli received an email from a listener who had heard that Steli sold everything and bought a one-way ticket to the Bay Area. The listener was looking for guidance on what he sh... | 4/12/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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119 |
Explicit093: Hypnosis 101 – How to Become a More Effective Communicator | Some years back Steli signed up for a series of workshops. One of these workshops taught the audience about hypnosis and Neurological Linguistic Programming. Steli has mentioned this on and off during the podcast and our listeners have shown an interes... | 4/8/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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120 |
Explicit092: How to Build Kickass Remote Teams | There is a statistic that says 40% of the work force is going to be freelance by 2020. Or something like that. Today on the show we discuss the pros and cons of remote teams. Steli says he is slowly easing into this culture shift, | 4/5/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit091: Leadership vs Management | We compare the terms leadership and management today on the episode. Both roles leader and manager are necessary to keeping a business going. We discuss our own definitions of leadership and management. - | 4/1/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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122 |
Explicit090: How to Give Product Demos That Sell | There is nothing more time wasting than a bad product demo. On today’s episode we tell you how to give a great product demo. So many times companies waste the time of the potential customers as well as their own. | 3/29/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit089: Brainwashing Entrepreneurs | We are going to cover a subject today that really gets both of us mad. Brainwashing. What we mean are the startups who mindless follow a model because “that’s the way it is done.” Too many entrepreneurs take a success story and try to “re-live” | 3/25/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit088: Beyond 1000 Customers – How to Expand in New Industries and Countries | So we’ve covered what to do when you reach 10 customers, and what to do when you reach 100 customers. Today we tell you what to do when you reach 1000 customers. If you haven’t heard our last two podcasts about getting customers, | 3/22/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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125 |
Explicit087: The Power of Momentum | We define what momentum is today. Many people have their own definitions of momentum in business. Momentum is that moment when your business has struggled and then doors begin to open and the business takes on a life of its own. | 3/18/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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126 |
Explicit086: Dealing with Economic Downturns | Nothing puts an business on edge like an economic downturn. Today we’re going to give you some advice on how to keep your business going through a rough time. Every business has to find it’s own way to survive, whether that be returning money, | 3/15/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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127 |
Explicit085: Startups Are Hard? Here’s How to Do Hard Things! | We talk about one of the topics that just irritates us on today’s episode. How to get past the hard things in start-ups. What is irritating about the “but it’s hard” mentality is people often let the challenge beat them down. | 3/11/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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128 |
Explicit084: Firefighting in Business—Dealing with the Urgent & Unexpected | We talk about the analogy of fire fighting in business today. Fire fighting refers to the unseen or devastating problems that come up during a project or even in your company’s public relations. The analogy we are discussing is the idea that your busi | 3/8/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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129 |
Explicit083: How to Grow and Deepen Friendships (Even When You Work Together) | Friendship is an important part of life. We make friends throughout our lives in all sorts of places, but as we get older friendships change and what we need in a friend changes. Today we are going to discuss how to have friends in a business environme... | 3/4/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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130 |
Explicit082: SaaS Pricing | Today we are going to talk about SaaS pricing. This is a popular topic, and we get a lot of requests to talk about pricing. Hiten was adding up his pricing related emails, and he gets about 12 a day in one form or another. | 3/1/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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131 |
Explicit081: How to Deal With Impostor Syndrome | Today on The Startup Chat we are talking about impostor syndrome. The idea came from a gif on our Facebook group page that show a baby beginning life with the thought that he doesn’t know what he’s doing and that continues through all stages of life w | 2/26/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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132 |
Explicit080: 20 Ways to Start a Business Without Funding | Starting a business is not a one size fits all course. There are many of ways to get your foot in the door of an industry or service. Today we give you some tips on how to raise or conserve money in your business without investors. | 2/23/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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133 |
Explicit079: How Our Parents Shaped Us | In recent interviews we have mentioned our parents and how they influenced our lives. We decided that today’s episode would be about our parents and just how much they’ve done for us. Now we could go on for hours on this subject and there will pro | 2/19/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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134 |
Explicit078: The Power of a Plan | Today we’re going to talk about a part of business that really throws some people. We’re going to talk about having a plan. So many times in business people get stuck on a problem and can’t figure out how to get passed it. | 2/16/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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135 |
Explicit077: Startup Team Hacks: Working Well With “Difficult People” | Today we are focusing on the relationships between co-founders and teams and some basic principles to guide the way we look at others. Human beings are flawed and how we accept others and understand their differences has great impact. - | 2/12/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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136 |
Explicit076: Startup Team Alignment | The word for today is Alignment. Today we discuss what alignment is and why it is important to your team and company. Alignment is a near synonym of disagreement. The difference is a disagreement puts up barriers in a relationship and alignment is a sl... | 2/9/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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137 |
Explicit075: What We Learned About Podcasting | We’ve been doing the podcast for a while now, and during that time we have learned some things from each other and about podcasting. So many listeners ask us about the podcast and how we really feel about it. | 2/5/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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138 |
Explicit074: Common Problems Early Stage Startups Have | Today we take a look at some common mistakes that startups face in the early stages. In reality because they are just starting out they face every problem. Those problems range from starting the company, to finding co-founders to deciding exactly what.. | 2/2/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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139 |
Explicit073: The Power of Words | Here at The Start-Up Chat we place a very high value on words and how those words are used. Our topic today is how the power of words affects your business. The words you choose not only affects the perception of your company, | 1/29/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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140 |
Explicit072: Rapid-Fire Tips for Effective Landing Pages | We’re changing things up today. On today’s episode we are going to give basic tips on how to create an effective landing page. So many people create beautiful landing pages, but don’t have any clue how to use them. | 1/26/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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141 |
Explicit071: Content Curation & Aggregation | We have been noticing a trend in our Facebook group that points to startups trying to share their experience and advice with each other. We think that’s great, but it made us realize that we’re not that involved in the group. | 1/22/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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142 |
Explicit070: The Most Common Decision-Making Mistake Entrepreneurs Make | Today we are sharing what we think is the biggest mistake a business owner can make. It involves wasting time trying to find the perfect business solution. Many newcomers want a magic wand answer to get to a certain outcome. | 1/19/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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143 |
Explicit069: Fitness for Founders | Building a business and spending a lot of time working at a computer can make it easy to neglect your health. Today we are going to talk about fitness for founders. We have both discovered a fitness practice that we are excited about. - Steli - | 1/15/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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144 |
Explicit068: Blogging for SaaS Startups | Today’s episode is about how to get started blogging your SaaS product. Blogging is one of the most innovative ways of making money and driving traffic that we know of. Think about how many pages there are on your website. | 1/12/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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145 |
Explicit067: The Ups & Downs of Cofounder Relationships | Today we’re diving head first into co-founder relationships. We discuss our own journeys with our co-founders, our Batman and Robin framework and how it all relates back to trust and honesty. - A co-founder relationship is a lot like Batman and Robin.. | 1/7/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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146 |
Explicit066: Investors Are People Too | Steli and Hiten have a lot of thoughts on fundraising, and they thought they’d talk about it from the perspective of entrepreneurs understanding investors better. - The most common thing that founders forget is that investing is an investor’s busine | 1/7/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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147 |
Explicit065: How to Become More Self-Aware | Today Hiten and Steli discuss the importance of being self-aware. Self-awareness is knowing how you make others around you feel. Individuals can be self-aware as well as companies. Examples of good self-awareness in companies are HubSpot and Facebook. | 1/1/2016 | Free | View in iTunes |
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148 |
Explicit064: Marketing vs Sales | Today’s topics are so closely intertwined that people often don't realize the differences between the two: sales and marketing. Steli and Hiten will be building a few much needed bridges between them, so let’s dive in. - | 12/29/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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149 |
Explicit063: Reality Distortion Fields | The term Reality Distortion Field (RDF) refers to somebody’s ability to distort reality around them and impact those who come in contact with them. According to Wikipedia’s entry about RDF, in 1981 Bud Tribble at Apple Computer borrowed the term fro | 12/25/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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150 |
Explicit062: Uncommon Fundraising Advice | Steli and Hiten share some uncommon nuggets of wisdom about fundraising for your company. These practical tips will help you approach fundraising in a smart and professional way. Tune in and take notes as Steli and Hiten hit the following topics: - | 12/22/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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151 |
Explicit061: Trust in Startup Teams | Trust is a fundamentally important thing in any team and sometimes it’s something we don’t give enough thought to. Today we are talking about trust among your co-founders and team members and how we think about evaluating people in regard to trust. | 12/18/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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152 |
Explicit060: Storytelling for Entrepreneurs | Today Hiten and Steli discuss the importance of telling a good story. Storytelling is a part of everyday life. It is a core skill that is used to educate and entertain audiences and business connections. Hiten and Steli share how they use storytelling ... | 12/14/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 153 | ExplicitVideo059: Website Teardown Screencast | http://traffic.libsyn.com/startup/TheStartupChat059.mp4 Welcome to the Startup Chat’s first Website Teardown Edition. Steli and Hiten will be going through all of the websites posted on the Facebook group, and giving their feedback and advice, | 12/11/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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154 |
Explicit058: How and When to Pivot | There seems to be a lot of confusion on what a business pivot really is. Today we are going to clear up what the term means, what really constitutes a pivot, and give some advice on how to approach a pivot in your business. - | 12/8/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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155 |
Explicit057: Discover and Embrace Your Authentic Self | Steli inspired today’s episode. One of his biggest business tips is always being yourself, but being able to recognize your strengths, your weaknesses, your quirks, and all of the things that make up who you are is not necessarily an easy thing. | 12/4/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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156 |
Explicit056: Work-Life Balance for Founders | Today we dive into Steli and Hiten’s top tactics and strategies for work-life balance and life happiness. It boils down to measuring your own time, and whether you feel productive, and whether you’re working on things that recharge you and make you ha | 12/1/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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157 |
Explicit055: Steli and Hiten Talk About Patrick McKenzie (patio11) | We’re trying out something different today on The Startup Chat as we talk about a mutual friend of ours who is somebody we think we can all learn a lot from. Patrick McKenzie, an engineer known as patio11 on Hacker News, | 11/27/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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158 |
Explicit054: How to Run a Service and Consulting Business | Today’s topic is consultancy (services) businesses. The show kicks off with Hiten and Steli talking about their wins and losses when starting up their first consultancies. Steli had started off with his company called Elastic Sales, | 11/24/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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159 |
Explicit053: What We Do for Fun | What do you do for fun? It’s a fairly simple question, but one we struggle to answer. Today we talk about the things that give us enjoyment and help to make us more rounded individuals. - We both agree that learning is our favorite thing to do fo | 11/20/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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160 |
Explicit052: How to Conduct a Great Job Interview | Today we’re going to talk about hiring and the interview process. There are a few things that hold true regardless of what type of employee you’re hiring and a few that are more specific to the type of employee you’re trying to bring on board. - | 11/17/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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161 |
Explicit051: What Kids Can Teach You about Business | Today we are talking about the things we’ve learned from our children. Steli has two sons and Hiten has a son and daughter. Our children have taught us many things and today we will break down how some of those things have helped us in our business an | 11/13/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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162 |
Explicit050: How to negotiate with friendly strength | Everything in life is a negotiation, in one way or another. Or at least, that’s how Steli and Hiten want you to look at it. Today we’re talking about negotiating broadly in life. Stepping out of your typical mind frame, remembering your value, | 11/10/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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163 |
Explicit049: Advice for Entrepreneurial Millennials | Today we’re featuring Hiten and Steli’s advice for the younger and experiential generation. Steli goes in depth and tells us how he evolved from being bad at giving advice to being Hiten’s role model, what the advice was he gave (he actually reads t | 11/6/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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164 |
Explicit048: How to Get from 10 to 100 Customers for your Startup | In an earlier episode of The Startup Chat we talked about getting your first 10 customers. Today we talk about getting your next 10 to 100 customers and even moving beyond that number. Adding customers at any stage is a difficult process, | 11/3/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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165 |
Explicit047: Batman and Robin – Founder Dynamics | Superheroes; more specifically, Batman and Robin, are the stars of today’s episode. Batman is always choosing his rivals, going out, and fighting crime… But he’s stubborn. And when faced with adversity, Robin jumps in as his backup and saves the day | 10/30/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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166 |
Explicit046: How To Build a Great Reputation | In this episode we’ll be discussing the importance of reputation. Though there’s a slight minority of people that work better alone, you pretty much can’t win without people. Your reputation is all you have, | 10/27/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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167 |
Explicit045: Founder Self Awareness – The Weight of Your Words | Being a founder makes you an authority figure to other people. We think it’s important to be aware of how your words impact others. While some people may feel intimidated around you, there are likely some ways you can lower the nervousness they feel | 10/23/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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168 |
Explicit044: Outbound Recruiting Tips for Startups | The star of today’s episode is recruitment. Anyone that’s ever had to hire or recruit knows just how hard it can be. Steli has probably hired over 100 people in his life, and is still struggling to this moment. | 10/20/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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169 |
Explicit043: Impulse Driven Communication | Today we’re going to be talking about one of the most popular habits among founders and busy managers like Steli and Hiten. We’re talking about impulse driven conversations. So what are they, why do we have them, and how can we stop? - | 10/16/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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170 |
Explicit042: Need Advice? Google it with Hiten Shah’s Search Hacks | In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about how to develop your search tactics to find exactly what you’re after. We’ll also be talking about the different aspects of content consumption and the changes you should be making to increase productivity | 10/13/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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171 |
Explicit041: Religion | Today we’re talking all about Religion. Strange topic for a startup focused show? Maybe not. It’s funny how the intersection of passion, dedication, and principles are common to both religious beliefs and your actions in a startup atmosphere. - | 10/9/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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172 |
Explicit040: Your Startup is Surviving, but not Thriving. Quit or keep pushing? | Big shoutout to James Lewis from The Startup Chat Facebook group for the suggestion for today’s topic. James wanted to hear how to know when to push forward and when to call it quits in your startup. - | 10/5/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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173 |
Explicit039: How to Always be Valuable to Anyone You Interact With | Today on The Startup Chat Steli and Hiten take a look at how to add value to those you interact with and how to be prepared to be helpful to those who seek you out for assistance. The topic stems from a conversation Hiten had with somebody who recentl.. | 10/2/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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174 |
Explicit038: How To Say No | Saying no the right way is an art form. A prospect asks you for a discount? A customer asks you to build another feature? A fellow entrepreneur asks you for a coffee meeting? A job candidate asks you for a contract? - | 9/29/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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175 |
Explicit037: How to Make Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Information | Dealing with doubt and making decisions when you don’t have all the information you’d like aren’t easy things for entrepreneurs. Today we discuss ways we think about doubt and how we push through that to make decisions even in the times where we m | 9/25/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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176 |
Explicit036: Lead Nurturing for B2B Startups | In this episode we talk about nurturing leads. Both cold and warm leads are important in your sales and marketing efforts. Today we’re going to consider cold leads as a sales effort and warm leads as a marketing effort where people have opted in. | 9/22/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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177 |
Explicit035: Criticizing Team Members Effectively | The right feedback to team members is necessary to move your business forward. Today we talk about how to criticize and provide feedback to your team in a way that is most productive and advances you and the team toward your common goals. - | 9/18/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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178 |
Explicit034: How to Build a Brand | Building a brand is one of the most important things you can do as an entrepreneur, and as a business. A brand is how you and your company are seen by your peers, competition, and teammates. Today we’re talking about how to build a brand that will l | 9/15/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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179 |
Explicit033: Wasting Other People’s Time | Today on The Startup Chat we talk about Wasting Other People’s Time. Too often today people seem to go out of their way to be disrespectful of your time and take away that valuable, nonrenewable resource. - | 9/11/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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180 |
Explicit032: What to do if you have a product with no customers? | Build it and they will come. This assumption may be the biggest mistake a new company can make. It has crippled even veteran entrepreneurs, not to mention the counts of first time entrepreneurs that fail before they even get started each year. - | 9/8/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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181 |
Explicit031: (Very) Long-Term Thinking in Business and the Power of Cumulative Momentum | The highly successful entrepreneurs are able think think in longer term cycles than the average person. Today we discuss long-term thinking, processes, habits, fundamentals and momentum and what role these things play in moving a business and entrepren... | 9/3/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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182 |
Explicit030: How to Get Your First 10 Customers | Today Steli and Hiten talk about how to get those first few customers when your business is just getting off the ground. The key to that initial traction is to connect with potential customers as soon as possible. - | 9/1/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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183 |
Explicit029: Entrepreneurial Mindset: Attachment vs Commitment | Today Steli and Hiten talk about the importance of not being attached to your business. There are so many things founders can become attached to including team members, or as Steli points out founders can be obsessed with their business. - | 8/28/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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184 |
Explicit028: How To Build a Content Marketing Machine | Consistently producing high quality content that is applicable to your ideal audience is hands down the best way to build branding for your startup. - But doing this is a lot easier than it sounds. - | 8/25/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit027: Quit Going Through The Motions, Do Things That Matter | Motion versus progress is today’s topic on The Startup Chat. Motion and progress can actually look similar, but there’s a big difference. You may have a long list of things to do and you feel very busy, but are you actually making progress? | 8/21/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit026: How to Hire and Work with Freelancers | Today on The Startup Chat we are discussing how to hire and work with freelancers. Hiten has hired close to one thousand freelancers in the last twelve years. Steli’s company also hires freelancers. Steli does not personally do the hiring, | 8/18/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit025: Stop grinfucking! Why noob entrepreneurs need to be more critical | Today on The Startup Chat we are talking about having cynicism (or criticism) in startups. - Steli believes when he started out he had a certain beautiful level of ignorance about being an entrepreneur or developing a product or service. | 8/14/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit024: How To Think About Competition | Before we get started on talking about competition, we celebrate Hiten’s birthday! If you want to send him birthday wishes and see some pictures from the day, please join our Facebook group. - Today we are talking about how we think about our compet | 8/11/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit023: Your Heroes Are Human | Today we talk about the expectations people have with the people the want to learn from, work with and idolize as heroes. - Hiten avoids idolizing people who are alive. He says if you have heroes who are alive, | 8/7/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit022: How to Manage Other People’s Mistakes | Everybody makes mistakes in both their personal and professional lives, the types of mistakes and how we handle them...on this episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. We agree that an important trait in the people you work with is their will.. | 8/4/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit021: How To Simplify Complexity in Startups | Welcome to Episode 21 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today we're talking about how to simplify topics and situations that on the surface appear to be very complex. A lot of times it takes this simplification to come to the real essence of . | 7/31/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit020: What Motivates Founders | Today on The Startup Chat we are taking a look at the things that motivate founders and startups. Steli says he used to think we are intrinsically motivated, but now he thinks more in terms of we all have certain strategies to motivate ourselves and t.. | 7/28/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit019: What Founders Can Learn From Death | We explore how the death of a parent can shape our business and personal lives on this episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Hiten’s mother died when he was 8 and Steli’s father passed away when Steli was 6. | 7/24/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit018: Firing for Founders: Shitting People Out of your Startup | The difficult subject of firing employees is the topic on this episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Both guys acknowledge that it isn’t easy to fire somebody. Hiten compares a company to a living organism and as a body processes food an | 7/21/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit017: The Art of Quitting | Welcome to today’s episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today the topic is quitting. We both love the model of success influenced by the action films of the 80's where the hero goes through awful things and at the end finds success. | 7/17/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit016: How To Master Product | Today on The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten we’re talking about the philosophy, building and improving of product. - Hiten says at the end of the day what truly matters is your product. Steli asks what makes people good product developers and Hite. | 7/14/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit015: Entrepreneurial Origin Stories | This time on The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten the topic is childhood and the impact early events have on our lives, our origin stories. Recently Hiten and Steli were both interviewed separately on the ZenFounder podcast with successful founder Ro.. | 7/10/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit014: Cold Email | On this episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten we are discussing the value of cold emails and when to send them, who to send them to and the all-important subject line. Cold emails sometime cause the sender to dread the fear of rejection if .. | 7/7/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit013: My First Time | Welcome to today’s episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today we're talking about My First Time. A friend of Hiten’s is working on his first startup and talks about the uncertainty he faces with it being his first time. Actually, | 7/2/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit012: Managing Time | In today’s episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten the topic is managing time, specifically how can founders better manage their time. - Hiten thinks the best way to manage time is to do it in a way that gives you energy. | 6/30/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit011: Hard Times | Welcome to Episode 11 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today they talk about some of the hardest times they've faced in their entrepreneurial lives. They hope the stories they share offer you insight into knowing that we all go through toug | 6/25/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit010: Launching a Mobile App | Thanks for joining us for Episode 10 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today’s we're talking about effectively launching a mobile app. - Hiten and Steli received a listener email (which they love, | 6/23/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit009: Feedback on Feedback | Welcome to Episode 9 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. This week’s topic is Feedback - how to ask for it, how to give it, and what to do with it once you’ve received it. - Feedback is a vital part of any creative endeavour, | 6/18/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit008: The Modern Salesperson | Welcome to Episode 8 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today’s topic is sales. - Hiten calls Steli the modern salesman and asks what advice he would have for somebody who has never done sales. - | 6/15/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit007: Predictable Content Marketing | Welcome to Episode 7 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. This week the focus is on content marketing, specifically repurposing content. Content marketing is extremely important to both Hiten and Steli. - | 6/11/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit006: The Power of Thinking Small | Welcome to Episode 6 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. This week we talk about the Power of Thinking Small. This comes out of Steli’s most recent blog post on Close.io, which was featured on Hiten’s weekly SAAS email newsletter. | 6/8/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit005: Overwhelmed | Welcome to Episode 5 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today we’re talking about a problem that a lot of startup founders face: Being Overwhelmed. - Hiten’s main hack to keeping a calm mind is to Be In The Moment. | 6/4/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit004: Advice on Advice | Welcome to Episode 4 of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. Today we’re talking all about giving and receiving advice. Both of us get a lot of advice and give a lot of advice in business. - First, remember that advice is a 2 way street - | 6/1/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit003: Freemium | Welcome to another episode of The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten. This week we're talking about the pros and cons of the Freemium pricing model in startups. - This Week’s Updates: - Steli is getting ready to go on a 6 week trip to Europe. | 5/28/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit002: Our Experiences at MicroConf 2015 | Steli & Hiten talk about what impressed them the most about MicroConf: the attendees and the ratio of advice takers vs action takers. - How much really valuable advice and great strategies have you received in the past year... without acting on it? | 5/9/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Explicit001: Introduction to The Startup Chat | In this first ever podcast of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten chat about why they are starting the podcast and they unsuccessfully try to come up with a name for it. This ones all entertainment so get ready to laugh. | 4/27/2015 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 211 Items |
Customer Reviews
No holds barred business conversations with 2 brilliant minds
The only podcast where I never miss a single episode. Two successful SaaS entrepreneurs who openly share their hard-won wisdom, while keeping it fun with just the right amount of foolish shenanigans.
Want to build a growth machine, while keeping it simple, efficient and smart?
Take in their hard-won wisdom, put it to work for your own life and watch the magic unfold. They both have interesting things to say, and they’re interested in hearing each other’s viewpoint - which makes for a great exchange of practical ideas.
Refreshing, candid conversation!
These guys are awesome! Unparalleled, refreshing, candid conversation about sales, marketing, business and entrepreneurship. It’s like having full access to their mastermind sessions. You can tell these two are passionate and well-traveled on the road of "how to hustle and make it happen". Great anecdotal advice with practical take-aways. Looking forward to more 20 minute virtual coffee dates with these gentlemen!
How am I not paying for this?
After going to MicroConf 2015 and hearing both Steli and Hiten give amazing talks, I couldn’t believe it when I heard they were teaming up for a podcast. I’ve never been more motivated to hustle and embrace sales than when I was listening to Steli talk. Also, I know of no other marketing mind that is as experienced, successful, and generous as Hiten. As for the podcast, they get right to it with 20 minute episodes. Highly recommended.
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