Founder Episodes

As a startup founder, are you constantly putting out fires and feeling overwhelmed? You may be falling into some common pitfalls without even realizing it. In this episode, Yaniv and Chris are joined by Alexis D’Amecour, Head of Coaching at Mochary Method, to discuss the top founder failure modes that executive coaches see - and how to avoid them. In this episode, you will: Discover why many founders fail to recognize their own power and influence Learn how to delegate effecti...

Disrupt or Digitize? The Art of Breaking the Status Quo Why do some startups revolutionize entire industries while others just digitize legacy processes? Disruption isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a mindset and one that too many founders shy away from. Are you pre-compromising your vision before you even start? In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein break down the essence of first-principles thinking and how startups can challenge legacy constraints to create truly disruptive so...

Do You Really Need a Co-Founder? Here’s What You Must Know. Starting a startup can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re searching for that perfect co-founder to complement your skills. But is having a co-founder truly essential? And if it is, how do you find someone who’s more partner than problem? This episode dives deep into these questions and more. In this remastered episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein explore the intricacies of co-founder dynamics. Drawing from their combi...

In the brutal world of startups, conviction is your greatest weapon. It fuels momentum, sharpens decisions, and separates thriving startups from those that fade away. Conviction isn’t blind faith or passion. It’s clarity of purpose and commitment to a path, even when challenges arise. Without it, you risk losing focus and becoming a "technology-backed services company" or, worse, facing a slow startup death. In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein explore why conviction is vi...

In today's fast-paced digital world, capturing and retaining attention is the most valuable currency for startups. But how can you thrive in a hypercompetitive landscape where rejection is the default response? In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad are joined by Ben Parr, acclaimed author of Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention, to dive deep into the attention economy. In this episode, they explore: Understanding why attention is crucial for turning ...

Is firing a founder CEO ever the right move? Learn about how startup founders and their boards can work together effectively to avoid the worst. In this week's episode of The Startup Podcast, hosts Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein explain: Founder Knows Best: Why removing a founder CEO is usually undesirable, given their deep vision and commitment. All Above Board: Why board accountability is necessary when a leadership change becomes essential. Evolving Ambitions: How founder CEOs mu...

Are you protecting your superpower? 🦸 In this Listener Q&A, Chris and Yaniv discuss: 🧠 Expanding Your Engineering Mindset: How to gain empathy and strengthen your team with diverse skill sets. 🎯 Building Valuable Products: Focus on solving real customer problems with strategic feature prioritization. 🚀 Crafting Ambitious Yet Grounded Pitches: Find the balance between a startup vision that's aspirational and grounded in practical plans. 🔗 Aligning Product and Company Strategy: Develop a clea...

Are you really answering the right question? Do you find that your solutions to the problems you’re facing are not working? Don’t fear, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein are here to steer your startup towards success. Together they discuss the essential strategies of not falling victim to the substitution heuristic. Misguided Priorities: Explore how founders often prioritize fundraising and publicity over solving core customer problems, leading to convoluted results. The Right Sequence: Learn t...

Edu: Founder Time Management - Take Back Control w/ Henry Shapiro Time. It's a founder’s greatest resource. It’s also a founder’s scarcest. Joining Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein this week on The Startup Podcast to help you take back control of your time is Henry Shapiro. Henry is the co-founder and COO of Reclaim AI, a company specializing in creating solutions to enhance productivity. Henry's expertise lies in creating systems and strategies for effective time management, making him a crucial ...

Founders are the linchpin of a startup. They are the central foci, the lifeblood. The buck stops with them. But how can you tell the difference between a good and a bad founder? And how can you avoid being a bad one? Don’t worry, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein are here this week to discuss 9 differences between good and bad founders, based on a recent article Chris wrote. The differences are: 🔍 Good founders focus on solving important problems for customers while bad founders mainly concen...

Today we have a special bonus interview. The tables have turned and Yaniv finds himself being interviewed by Ben Wirtz. Together the duo discuss: 🚀 Early Leadership Lessons: Yaniv's Google journey began with an early leadership role, emphasizing efficiency and effective communication. 🎓 Inspiration from Mentors: Insights from Oliver Heckman instilled high standards and fostered a culture of psychological safety, nurturing Bernstein's leadership skills. 💡 Innovative Problem-Solving: Yaniv's ...

🤔Should founders care about building a personal brand? Isn’t there enough “real work” to be done that posting on LinkedIn is a total waste of time? We don’t think so and neither does Michael Houck, a founder and investor who has built his personal brand to create Houck’s Newsletter, which is read by 75,000+ founders every week. Prior to focusing on his newsletter, Houck founded a startup that raised $15M from a16z, co-founded an early stage venture firm, and was part of the early team at Airb...

It’s one of the first questions people ask when they hear of startups. What makes startups different from usual businesses? Recently Chris found himself in a debate about the differences between traditional businesses and startups. As a result he created a document and shared it with his followers about the similarities and differences. Fortunately, this week on The Startup Podcast he and Yaniv debate the commonalities, differences and how startups drive disruption. Together they discuss: ...

What did Elon say? Leading the Silicon Valley chatter this week are comments Elon Musk made during an interview with Andrew Sorkin. Emil, Chris and Yaniv break it down and the flow-on effects on paid social networks while also exploring: 🚀 Elon Unleashed: Emil, Chris and Yaniv discuss Elon Musk's unfiltered behavior, especially on Twitter. They also explore how his lack of self-censorship and tendency to "troll" impacts his vision of an open platform and its perception. 🔋 EV Demand Dip: The t...

When is it the right time to shut down your startup? Join Chris and Yaniv in this insightful episode featuring Gabor Cselle, the founder of the once-promising T2/Pebble, as he candidly shares the story behind the decision to shut down his startup. Facing the uphill battle of funding challenges and operational struggles, T2/Pebble, a Twitter alternative, ultimately reached a crossroads. Cselle walks us through the tough realization that the opportunity cost of persisting outweighed the benefits...

How do you improve your mental health? Today continues the important discussion we started with Mike Filbey, founder of Pepper and former co-founder of ButcherBox surrounding mental health. To help guide us on the ins and outs of founder mental health is expert coach Georgia Dienst. Georgia has spent her career working with high performance people at Google, Google X and Kernel. In this eye-opening conversation, Georgia sheds light on the formidable challenges founders face in maintaining the...

We’ve received a lot of questions from the last few episodes. It’s time Chris and Yaniv answer them! This Q&A episode they explore: When should you quit your day job to go all in on your startup? When should we raise? We have got advice from VCs to raise early before it gets complicated to show interest in our platform. I’m sitting on the fence whether we should raise it as it takes a bit of agility and liberty away from us but I understand the benefits that the network accelerators/ VCs coul...

Are you lying to yourself? Are you really aiming for greatness? This week Chris and Yaniv dive deep into the psyche of startup founders. Discover the harsh truth that a lack of conviction in your vision can lead to self-sabotage, compromising your business through misalignment, poor decision-making, and lost credibility. Are you settling for "good enough," or are you pursuing greatness with unwavering faith in yourself? In this thought-provoking discussion, learn why being ruthlessly honest ...

Today is a very special episode. This week on The Startup Podcast, Chris and Yaniv are joined by Mike Filbey, founder of Pepper and former co-founder of ButcherBox. Mike's journey is nothing short of extraordinary. He catapulted ButcherBox to soaring heights, amassing over $500 million in revenue. Yet, beneath the glitz and glamour of startup success, lay a harrowing truth. Driven by relentless ambition, Mike pushed himself to the brink, working grueling hours to meet colossal growth targets....