On this episode Abadesi talks to Josh Howarth , co-founder of Exploding Topics . In this episode they talk about... His early days as a maker and what he would change if he could do things over again “It’s not the case that you build it and they will come. It took me two months to build and then I was like, now what? I hadn’t thought at all about marketing channels.” Josh talks about one of the projects that he created at the start of his journey to becoming a maker. He worked on a website plugi...
Apr 22, 2020•49 min•Ep. 215
On this episode Abadesi talks to Matthew Paul , software product designer, researcher, and front-end engineer. He’s a former product designer at InVision, he’s worked on software and design systems at IBM, and has designed prototypes at Apple. In this episode they talk about... The open-source design project he’s working on, and how to make good design more accessible “As a designer you always have to bring the customer back to the conversation, and you have to invite the engineers, product dire...
Apr 15, 2020•43 min•Ep. 214
On this episode Abadesi talks to Pieter Levels, founder of Nomad List , a global community of international travellers working around the world, RemoteOK , a job board for remote jobs, and Hoodmaps , a unique neighborhood map app. In this episode they talk about... Bootstrapping versus VC, and why he doesn’t want to build a team around his products “I don’t want to lose my skills. If I stop making stuff and become a manger, I’m going to learn a new skills but I’m not a business guy. I’m a creati...
Apr 08, 2020•39 min•Ep. 213
On this episode Abadesi talks to Waseem Daher , founder and CEO of Pilot . Pilot is bringing bookkeeping into the modern age. He has started (and sold!) two other companies prior to Pilot. In this episode they talk about... The story of starting Pilot and what Waseem learned from his two previous companies “The end-to-end solution is really what made the business work. We are going to be your bookkeeper, your finance team, rather than sell you software.” The story of Pilot goes back to his first...
Apr 01, 2020•44 min•Ep. 212
On this episode Abadesi talks to Ethan Eismann , VP of Design at Slack. He has previously worked on flagship products at Google, Uber, and Airbnb, as well as at Adobe back when Flash was still a thing! In this episode they talk about... The consumerization of the enterprise and bringing personality to software “You need somebody who is really able to think of your customers first and who can translate your customers’ perspective into your own unique tone and personality.” Ethan talks about the t...
Mar 25, 2020•56 min•Ep. 211
On this episode Abadesi talks to Michelle Bacharach , founder and CEO of FINDMINE , a retail technology company that uses machine learning to scale the currently manual and tedious process of product curation. They are a fast-growing company with clients like Adidas, Perry Ellis, and Callaway. In this episode they talk about... What led Michelle to found FINDMINE, and how they’re changing the buying experience “We’re trying to close the information gap between the customer, who isn’t an expert o...
Mar 18, 2020•29 min•Ep. 210
On this episode Abadesi talks to Ryan Simonetti , co-founder and CEO of Convene . They call themselves commercial real estate’s first workplace-as-a-service platform. He co-founded the company in 2009 and have raised $260M in funding to date. He is also an investor in and advisor to tech startups. In this episode they talk about... The story of founding Convene and his advice for finding a co-founder “Partnerships evolve over time. You have to be open-minded enough to go on that journey together...
Mar 11, 2020•40 min•Ep. 209
On this episode Abadesi talks to Jill Salzman , founder of The Founding Moms , a “global collective of offline masterminds and online resources for mom entrepreneurs.” She was formerly the founder of a music management firm and was also the creator of a line of baby jewelry. In this episode they talk about... The story of the creation of The Founding Moms and how it’s helping mom entrepreneurs around the globe “No one wants to say that they’re a mom entrepreneur. They’re an entrepreneur. They do...
Mar 04, 2020•44 min•Ep. 208
On this episode Abadesi talks to Brianne Kimmel , founder of Work Life , an early stage venture firm in Silicon Valley that invests in tools and services for the modern workplace. She was formerly head of product and GTM strategy at Zendesk. In this episode they talk about... Why she started Work Life and what she learned while fundraising “There are a lot of non-traditional folks who are breaking into venture, many of which are solo GPs.” Brianne started angel investing on the side when she was...
Feb 26, 2020•41 min•Ep. 207
On this episode Abadesi talks to John Henry , venture partner at Harlem Capital and host of Hustle on VICELAND . In this episode they talk about... How he got into entrepreneurship and how the expectations for today’s entrepreneurs have changed “I think the world of business and entrepreneurship can seem pretty scary these days. There's so much at stake, you got to get it right, you got to raise money, you got to go public.“ John got his start as an entrepreneur through trying to help out his fa...
Feb 19, 2020•45 min•Ep. 206
On this episode Abadesi talks to Kathryn Duryea Wyndowe , founder and CEO of Year & Day. They make beautiful tableware that they sell direct-to-consumer online via their website. In this episode they talk about... How she came up with the idea for Year & Day “I felt very empowered by this idea of buying a new set of plates outside of this proposition of getting married and a wedding registry.” Kathryn graduated from Stanford GSB and started working at Tiffany & Co., helping to bring them online....
Feb 12, 2020•45 min•Ep. 205
On this episode Abadesi talks to Bill Loundy and Jeff Camera , co-founders of Readup . Jeff is the sole developer on the team, and Bill handles everything else. Readup is a social reading platform designed to help you track and improve your online reading habits. In this episode they talk about... How they came up with the idea for Readup and how it has evolved over time “Pick a problem that’s personal for you, because otherwise how can you care and keep working on it?” Bill and Jeff are longtim...
Feb 05, 2020•48 min•Ep. 204
On this episode Abadesi talks to Cat Noone , CEO and designer at Stark , a suite of integrated accessibility compliance tools for teams. She is also co-founder of Iris , a modern-day emergency alert system. In this episode they talk about... The story behind Stark Cat was raised by her grandma and says that that experience ingrained in her the drive to create things for people who are otherwise “put aside.” She is a designer by trade and turned out to be an accidental founder. She explains how t...
Jan 29, 2020•48 min•Ep. 203
On this episode Abadesi talks to Sylvain Kalache , co-founder of Holberton School , a project-based alternative to college where you can become a software engineer in two years. They have campuses in the United States and Colombia. Sylvain formerly worked at Slideshare and LinkedIn. In this episode they talk about... The story of founding Holberton and why a new type of school is needed “Some companies are tech and the ones who are not, are either becoming a tech company or they are going to die...
Jan 22, 2020•48 min•Ep. 201
On this episode Abadesi talks to Yassmin Abdel-Magied , a mechanical engineer, social advocate, writer, and broadcaster. She is the author of multiple books and is the founder of Youth Without Borders . In this episode they talk about... Her aspirations to work in Formula 1 “I remember it was the best half-day of my life. I walk past two McLaren F1s on my way into the office and I’m working with all these people with English accents and then I get a call from the admin lady at lunch and she’s li...
Jan 15, 2020•55 min•Ep. 200
On this episode Abadesi talks to Ruben Harris , founder and CEO of Career Karma . They help match you to the best coding bootcamp for you and publish a directory of over 450 bootcamps . In this episode they talk about... How he broke into tech and how Career Karma is helping people get into the industry “There are currently about 50,000 people graduating from four year universities every year [in software engineering] and about 40,000 people graduating from bootcamps. There are about half a mill...
Jan 08, 2020•48 min•Ep. 199
In today's episode we have collected the very best from the interviews we've done with founders in 2019. Mathilde Collin , CEO of Front , shared lessons on building a strong company culture and talked about the questions she asks when hiring. Sahil Lavingia , founder and CEO of Gumroad , told the story of founding the company and explained some of the challenges that come with taking venture capital. Sharmadean Reid , founder of Beautystack , talked about the unique way she ran her fundraising p...
Dec 18, 2019•46 min•Ep. 198
On this episode Abadesi talks to Thomas Kutzman , co-founder and co-CEO of Prevu . Prevu is a real estate technology platform that saves homebuyers money. In this episode they talk about... How he decided to leave his finance job to start Prevu “I think we got to the point where we were talking about the idea too much and you hit a moment as an entrepreneur and you think to yourself, if i don’t do this, will I kick myself if someone else does, and we hit that point.” Thomas and his co-founder wo...
Dec 11, 2019•43 min•Ep. 197
On this episode Abadesi talks to Dave Charest, Director of Content Marketing at Constant Contact. He’s here to walk us through all the common mistakes that makers make when marketing their products, and how you can avoid them. In this episode they talk about... How to contribute to an online community as a marketer “Don’t approach it as an opportunity to get your message in front of people, approach it as an opportunity to participate. You can go there and say, ‘hey, check out our stuff,” or you...
Dec 04, 2019•45 min•Ep. 196
On this episode Abadesi talks to Tige Savage , co-founder with Steve Case of Revolution, and managing partner of Revolution Ventures. He was formerly VP of Time Warner Ventures and got his start at age fourteen working at a computer store, where he helped create a community for customers before there was a commercially available internet. In this episode they talk about... How to think about whether to raise capital “Work on product-market fit, identity what you’re good at, be willing to back aw...
Nov 27, 2019•47 min•Ep. 195
On this episode Abadesi talks to Andrew Mason , founder and CEO of Descript . He was formerly founder of Detour, which Descript emerged within before it was spun out into its own company when Bose bought the technology behind Detour. Andrew was also founder of Groupon. In this episode they talk about... Descript’s origin as part of Detour, and how to know when it’s the right time to pivot from your original idea “We would have been over-investing in Descript if all we were using it for was for D...
Nov 20, 2019•30 min•Ep. 194
On this episode Abadesi talks to Mike Vernal , partner at Sequoia, the legendary venture capital firm. They are celebrating their scout program turning a decade old. Mike shares stories about the early days at Facebook, transitioning to VC, and advice for founders seeking funding. In this episode they talk about... Why the culture at Facebook in the early days was so special “People self-consciously avoided ever saying they managed someone else at Facebook. It was frowned upon for people to try ...
Nov 13, 2019•45 min•Ep. 193
On this episode Abadesi talks to Marcus Taylor , founder of Venture Harbour , a digital product company based in the UK. They’ve launched nine companies in the last few years and have grown them to millions in revenue. He is also the youngest patron of The Prince’s Trust youth charity and has committed £100,000 to support young entrepreneurs across the UK. In this episode they talk about... The business philosophy at Venture Harbour “We built a WYSIWYG form editor for ourselves initially and put...
Nov 06, 2019•42 min•Ep. 192
On this episode Abadesi talks to David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder and CTO of Basecamp , and creator of Ruby on Rails. He is also the author of several bestselling books, including It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work , co-authored with his co-founder at Basecamp, Jason Fried. In this episode they talk about... Why you should think about your company as a product “This idea that the company itself is changeable — the policies of the company, the values of the companies — are things you can twe...
Oct 30, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 191
On this episode Abadesi talks to Elias Torres , co-founder and CTO of Drift . He co-founded the company with David Cancel, a longtime collaborator. They have achieved smashing success so far, and Elias’s personal story of moving to the United States from Nicaragua and working at McDonald’s while simultaneously finishing high school and learning English is one you don’t want to miss. In this episode they talk about... Elias’s longtime partnership with David Cancel “He [David Cancel, co-founder of...
Oct 23, 2019•48 min•Ep. 190
On this episode Abadesi talks to Delane Parnell, founder and CEO of PlayVS . PlayVS is the community for amateur high school esports. He was previously the youngest black venture capitalist in the US and built and sold his own esports team prior to founding PlayVS. He also has an incredible story of overcoming adversity to get to where he is today. In this episode they discuss... His incredible “origin story” “It wasn’t support in the sense that they were able to help me financially, but even en...
Oct 16, 2019•55 min•Ep. 189
Abadesi is joined on this episode by Sarah Paiji Yoo . She is the founder of Blueland , a direct-to-consumer company that sells environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies. She formerly founded and sold Snapette, a mobile platform for local platform shopping. In this episode they talk about... Her extensive entrepreneurial journey “We ended up launching one business per year for the next four years, which was crazy.” Sarah was a successful founder before she started Blueland. When she first switc...
Oct 09, 2019•39 min•Ep. 188
On this episode Abadesi talks to Sharmadean Reid , founder of Beautystack . She’s one of Aba’s favorite people of all time, and is an inspiration to women and people of color everywhere. She recently raised a whopping seed round to grow and scale Beautystack. In this episode they talk about... How she’s helping women start businesses “People always say that the information is out there, but sometimes you don’t know what to Google.” Sharma talks about the importance of networks of women who can h...
Oct 02, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 187
In this special edition of Product Hunt Radio, the community is the guest. Ryan chats with the members of the Product Hunt community about the apps that they love and why they’re so great. People from all around the world called in to let us know what’s on their home screens. This was an experiment, so let us know what you think! If you want to be part of the next session and potentially be featured in the podcast, make sure to follow us on social media . We’ll be back next week so be sure to su...
Sep 25, 2019•42 min•Ep. 186
On this episode Abadesi talks to Ryan Singer, head of Product Strategy at Basecamp, where he’s worked for 16 years, ever since 2003. He is the author of Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work That Matters . You can read the book for free online. In this episode they talk about... How Basecamp cultivates their unique company culture “If you think something is going to work, then go make it and let’s look at what you made in two or three days or a week. If you can’t make anything yet that...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 185
