Acquiring users is challenge for any startup, but can particularly tough for companies selling high trust, high priced products like embedded SaaS tools, fintech services, infrastructure & more. The good news is — there’s a tried and true playbook startups can leverage: build a community. Think Salesforce’s Dreamforce, YC’s in-person events Startup School, OpenAI’s hackathons, etc. — they’re all designed to provide value and leverage a community to distribute their offering (in this case CRM software, capital and AI APIs). We’re thrilled to have spoken with @lloyedlobo , who bootstrapped and grew Boast.ai — an R&D tax credits fintech company — to over $10M ARR without no marketing team. In this episode, Lloyed walks @zanes and I through the playbook he used to build a community and covered everything you need to know to build one too, including: - How to get started small - How to leverage outbound email like a pro - The critical components of a successful community - How to expand your community into a movement & more! Lloyed is a master of building community to the extent he just published a book studying the world most successful communities: From Grassroots To Greatness: 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growth which is out now. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! Links: - YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=qf2dCfSs… - Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6W5trT… - Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… - More: buzzsprout.com/1753569/13593…

Two years ago, and @zanes and I decided to start our podcast side project over a night of drinks in the Castro. If you had told me back then the incredibly interesting and impressive people we’d get to speak with my mind would be absolutely blown. And today’s guest is no exception... We're thrilled to announce our episode with investor and entrepreneur @eladgil (founder of Color, investor in Airbnb, Rippling, Stripe, etc.) focused on AI as the next platform shift and investing in emerging technologies. Elad is one of the most interesting people we’ve spoken to because he’s also one of the most *interested*. In this convo we got a sense of how he sees things in the technology world right now, including: - Technology optimism, why it’s important (and also been challenged in public opinion), the role of Maslow’s hierarchy and tech’s PR problem - How to pick winners early by focusing on product markets and business models (vs. focusing on founder quality to the exclusion of other signals) - Why great companies like Google think about unit economics and business models early - Crypto and the ways in which it has exceeded (and not met) expectations, and why - AI as the next big computational shift, the underlying reasons why it’s a major change, how to interpret the rapid success of products like Jasper, ChatGPT and more, why defensibility is overstated in the early stages and understated later on, and more. We hope you enjoy this convo as much as we did! Find it on: - YouTube — youtube.com/watch?v=JT9Q1KY-… - Spotify — open.spotify.com/show/6W5trT… - Apple — podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… - More — buzzsprout.com/1753569/13140…

Raising capital can mean the difference between stalling & reaching escape velocity. However, raising money can also be counterproductive & a liability. Which option is best for you? This is what we discussed with @swagup CEO @MichaelMartocci who bootstrapped SwagUp to $100M