BUILD with Blake Bartlett

Alex MacCaw (Clearbit & Reflect): Everything I’ve Learned as Startup Founder

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach—raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF. In 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic. And now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach —building a fully remote & asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup. Alex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all. Blake and Alex talk through: (7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design (09:01) Why Alex doesn’t believe in remote work for large companies (10:11) Remote work pitfalls (14:21) When to replace yourself as CEO (15:52) How to find your zone of genius (18:31) When do startups hire a CFO or COO? (21:14) #1 piece of advice for founders (24:14) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C) (27:27) Why not raise venture capital (28:28) When startups should (or shouldn’t) raise venture capital (29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding (39:14) What AI and ChatGPT is good for (44:13) Best time to start a company (46:20) Not all startups need VC funding (47:16) Advice for VCs from a founder

Alex MacCaw (Clearbit & Reflect): Everything I’ve Learned as Startup Founder

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach — raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF. In 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic. And now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach — building a fully remote & asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup. Alex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all. Blake and Alex talk through: (7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design (09:01) Why Alex doesn’t believe in remote work for large companies (10:11) Remote work pitfalls (14:24) When to replace yourself as CEO (15:41) How to find your zone of genius (18:32) When do startups hire a CFO or COO? (21:16) #1 piece of advice for founders (24:15) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C) (27:29) Why build an indie software company (28:28) When startups should (or shouldn’t) raise venture capital (29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding (39:15) What AI and ChatGPT is good for (44:09) Best time to start a company (51:45) Not all startups need VC funding (52:51) Advice for VCs from a founder Mentioned in this episode: Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter [https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU] Alex MacCaw, CEO and Founder of Reflect LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-maccaw-ab592978/] Twitter [https://twitter.com/maccaw?lang=en] Subscribe toBlake Bartlett on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg]. Podcast produced byOpenView [https://openviewpartners.com/]. View ourblog [https://openviewpartners.com/blog]for more context/inspiration. OpenView on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/] OpenView on Twitter [https://twitter.com/openviewventure] OpenView on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/] OpenView on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/]

Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell): Work-Life Balance for Founders

Patrick says work-life balance is the wrong framework. It’s more about work-life fit and finding what suits you best. This is especially true for startup founders, where your work is often all-consuming. Episode Highlights * [00:32 - 02:30] Thoughts on work/life balance Mentioned in this episode: Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter [https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU] Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/] Follow Patrick on Twitter [https://twitter.com/Patticus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] Subscribe toBlake Bartlett on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg]. Podcast produced byOpenView [https://openviewpartners.com/]. View ourblog [https://openviewpartners.com/blog]for more context/inspiration. OpenView on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/] OpenView on Twitter [https://twitter.com/openviewventure] OpenView on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/] OpenView on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/]

Ryan Carlson (ex-Wiz, Okta): Company Values = Marketing Message

Okta’s CMO for 5+ years, Ryan Carlson, says marketing’s guiding light should be the company mission and values. Marketing’s job is to tell the story of the company, not to merely promote the product or drive leads into the top of a funnel. Authentic marketing is rooted in the BIG questions. Why does this company exist? Who should care about that and why?Today’s episode will help you: * Understand this strategic approach to marketing * See the impact strategic marketing has on your audience * How to hire mission/values-aligned marketers * Leverage Ryan’s playbook for company storytelling by working directly with customers Key Takeaways: * [00:19 - 03:37] Introduction to Ryan Carlson, and thoughts on company culture in the world of marketing * [03:44 - 06:53] What should define culture is the mission, values, and vision * [06:54 - 10:00] Imparting importance, and showing why culture mattered at Okta * [10:02 - 13:32] Authenticity, avoiding hyperbole and marketing BS * [13:43 - 16:10] Who do you hire to marketing leadership to operate more authentically? * [16:13 - 18:18] Hiring true believers, and avoiding a "customer's wrong" mentality with product market fit * [19:26 - 22:45] Understanding why people like the product and the people behind it * [22:48 - 25:40] Combining pen to paper with mission, values, and vision * [25:42 - 28:27] Storytelling and presentations, how they impact retention * [28:30 - 32:26] Story and history of your company is different * [32:32 - 35:37] Figuring out if a company operates by its values as a candidate Mentioned in this episode: Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter [https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU] Ryan Carlson, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Wiz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarlson/] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarlson/] Twitter [https://twitter.com/ryantcarlson?lang=en] Subscribe toBlake Bartlett on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg]. Podcast produced byOpenView [https://openviewpartners.com/]. View ourblog [https://openviewpartners.com/blog]for more context/inspiration. OpenView on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/] OpenView on Twitter [https://twitter.com/openviewventure] OpenView on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/] OpenView on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/]

Raj Sarkar (ex-1Password, Atlassian): PLG Data Infrastructure

Raj says that most of the PLG advice out there today is missing a key foundational point: data. Many PLG companies still rely on traditional sales & marketing software that keeps data in silos. The key to winning in PLG starts with your data infrastructure, and wiring it up early helps you scale later. Mentioned in this episode: Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter [https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU] Raj Sarkar, CMO & Advisor [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajsarkar/] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajsarkar/] Twitter [https://twitter.com/rajsarkar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] Subscribe toBlake Bartlett on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVvQTEaCyt2bbkoAh7wPyg]. Podcast produced byOpenView [https://openviewpartners.com/]. View ourblog [https://openviewpartners.com/blog]for more context/inspiration. OpenView on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/] OpenView on Twitter [https://twitter.com/openviewventure] OpenView on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/] OpenView on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/]