Forward Thinking Founders

In this episode, I interview Kevin Sun, who is the founder of Dex. Dex is a personal CRM. In this episode, we dive into:What is Dex?What's the inspiration behind Dex?How does someone use Dex?Why didn't our parent's address books transfer to the digital age for us?How do you know what features to build with Dex?What features do you plan on building in the next decade to make Dex better?What are your tips on relationship management?How do you think about getting users?How should I manage my 10,000 LinkedIn connections?What are the coolest products you use?How can the forward thinking founder community help you?Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, I talked to Peer Richelsen of Mage, which is a Magic The Gathering card marketplace. In this wide-ranging episode, we dive into:What is Mage?What is Magic The Gathering?If I wanted to play, where would I get my starting Magic cards?Does Mage allow its users to get more valuable cards?Have you ultimately built a stock market for Magic The Gathering cards?What made you fall in love with Magic The Gathering Do you have any competition up in SF?How did you explain this to investors?How are there cards worth six figures?How do you get users?What's the big vision for Mage?How can the Forward Thinking Founders community help you?Join the Forward Thinking Founders community via our email list here. If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

Jijo Sunny, Founder of Buy Me A Coffee, talks about empowering creators in the passion economy. They discuss features like thanks, rewards, and coffee links. The conversation covers the shift from freelancers to creators using no-code tools. Buy Me A Coffee aims to be a central platform for creators to engage with their audience and generate income. Insights on market understanding and the balance between urgency and patience for founders are also shared.

In this episode, we talk to Daryna Kulya, Cofounder of Openphone. Openphone is building the world's best business phone number. We dive into these questions:What is Openphone?What did people do before Openphone? What was the market like?Where did the inspiration for Openphone come from?Can you walk through the logistics of Openphone? How does it work?What's your vision for Openphone?Are you building Zapier for phone calls?Who are some of the personas that are the best fit for Openphone users?What do you spend your time thinking about when you're not working on your company?How do you think about operations for scaling? What's growth mode like?What have been some of your biggest learnings you've had since you started Openphone?How can our community help you?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this conversation with Chandan Lodha, the cofounder of Cointracker, we dive deep into the world of cryptocurrency. Cointracker is a product that helps you track your crypto portfolio and makes sure you stay compliant within the IRS. In this conversation, Chandan answers some of these questions:What is Cointracker?How does your portfolio tracker product work?Is cryptocurrency taxed by the government?Why did you decide to start Cointracker?Were you working on this during the 2017 hype cycle? What was that like?Did you know the market was about to blow up before it did when you first started?What is the state of cryptocurrency in 2019?Is being a first-mover in the cryptocurrency domain a good idea? Are there good apps being built on blockchain tech right now?How should someone think about opportunities to build in the crypto space?What's your vision for Cointracker?What do you think of Libra?What are tips you have for aspiring founders?How can the Forward Thinking Founders community help you?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with Andy Sparks, CEO of Holloway, we dive into:What is Holloway?How does the publishing process go from ideation to publication to promotion?Will you allow others to write book on Holloway?What is it like to read a book on Holloway?What do you think about the advertising model, and why didn't you go with it for Holloway?Are you building for the Passion Economy? Who is your ideal author on Holloway?How have you worked on your public speaking in the past? How so?What's the biggest vision you can think of for Holloway?What is your favorite book(s)?What tips do you have for aspiring founders?Find Andy on Twitter here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with Mark Thomas, CEO of Zensports, we talk about:What is Zensports?How do people bet on sports today?How could I use Zensports to bet with someone else?How do you use cryptocurrency within Zensports?Why did you decide to use cryptocurrency vs. the US Dollar?Is your currency a utility that can be used outside of just speculation?How do you plan to get your token to reach critical mass?Were you an early adopter to cryptocurrency?What do you spend time thinking about when you're not working on Zensports?If humans could live to 150, what would you do with your extra time?How have you liked the LAUNCH Accelerator?Find Mark on Twitter here. Thanks for tuning into #55!If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with the Cofounder and CEO of Goodly, Greg Poulin, we dive deep into these questions:What is Goodly?How does Goodly exactly work?How do employees and employers react to Goodly when they hear about it?What is the cost of not offering great benefits to their employees?How do you think about distribution channels for Goodly?What are some of the similarities or differences between being an early hire at a company and a founder of a company?How should a new employee take advantage of working at an early stage company to learn?What do you spend time thinking about when not working on Goodly?What advice do you have for someone listening but doesn't know the first step to do itFind Greg on LinkedIn here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, I interview Spencer Burleigh from Rent The Backyard, the company that lets you set up a house in your backyard and make money off of it for no cost. In this episode we talk about questions like:What is Rent The Backyard?What got you interested in this market?How does it work for homeowners who want to rent their backyard?Why did you start in SF?Can someone have more than one home in their backyard?How do you know when housing laws are changing in SF?How do you use Twitter as an asset for your brand or business?Are there social interactions between the renters and the rentees?Are you also a construction company as well?What's your vision for SF in 20 years?What do you think about building a personal brand via a newsletter?What tips do you have for aspiring founders?If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode with CEO of Demodesk, Veronika Riederle, we dive into these questions:What is Demodesk?How does it work for an SDR or AE?What type of analytics do you track in the meeting?What was the inspiration behind DemoDesk?What's the product vision for the next decade?Can you give us insight into the fundraising process?How do you think about picking the right VC partner?What do you think about when you're not thinking about your company?Why is videochat tech so hard to build? Is it getting easier?What advice do you have for aspiring founders?Find Veronika on Twitter here.If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee. It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. ★ Support this podcast ★