Startup Dad

Eben Pingree is a serial startup founder who is currently building the startup Kinsome -- a product focused on helping grandkids better connect with their grandparents. He has founded and sold multiple companies over the past 10 years. He's also a husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:  * Growing up in the same house (or apartment) you were raised in * What it'...

Stew Bradley is a former linebacker in the National Football League and played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos. Following a successful NFL career he joined Goldman Sachs and then found his way into co-founding the early stage venture firm El Cap Holdings. He's also a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed:  * His unique career...

Brian Rothenberg is a general partner at Defy, an early-stage venture firm. He was the former Head of Growth at Eventbrite and has been a serial marketplace founder; starting a services marketplace that was acquired by TaskRabbit in 2011. He's also a husband and the father of four kids. In today's conversation we discussed: * Pivoting your plans to follow your future spouse * How to divide and con...

Tye DeGrange is the founder and CEO of Round Barn Labs, a performance and affiliate marketing company that has worked with companies like Oculus, thredUp, ModCloth and Nextdoor. Prior to that he had career stints at Amazon, eBay and Commission Junction. He grew up on a horse ranch in Northern California!  He's also a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed: * What...

Casey Handmer is the founder of Terraform Industries, a company that is turning CO2 into natural gas through solar electricity. He's an astrophysicist with a PhD from Caltech who has worked on frontier technologies at NASA and Hyperloop. He's also a husband and the father of three kids. Including a newborn! In today's conversation we discussed: * Productivity and priorities * How to make it work w...

Patrick Moran is the Head of Growth Marketing at Robinhood, a fintech platform helping to democratize finance. Prior to that he had an illustrious career at Houzz, Spotify, YikYak, Netflix and more. He is a loving husband and the father of two kids (and one Golden Retriever). In today's conversation we discussed: * His childhood moving back and forth from the Philippines to the US * The value syst...

Mike Smith  is General Partner and co-founder at Footwork, an early stage venture capital firm. Previously, Mike was President, COO, and interim CFO at Stitch Fix, the online personal styling service where he oversaw operations, styling, client experience, merchandise, and finance. Prior to Stitch Fix, Mike was COO at Walmart.com, overseeing all operations for a $5 billion division, including one...

Chris Miller is the VP of Product at Hubspot focused on Growth and AI where he has worked for nearly 8 years. I consider Chris to be one of the most forward thinking leaders on AI, monetization and growth. Prior to Hubspot he built product at companies like Runkeeper and Roam. Chris is a loving husband and the father of a two-year-old son. In our conversation today we discussed: * His personal and...

Darin Swanson  has been a technical advisor to founders and CEOs for the last 7 years at companies like Pipefy, Outreach, Kite, Edify, and Gatsby. Prior to that he was the VP of Engineering for New Relic and led engineering teams there for 6+ years. In many ways, Darin is a glimpse into the future for a lot of listeners to this show. He is a father of two kids (now adults) and a loving husband to...

Matt Ragland focuses on the intersection of productivity and the creator economy. He started an online community for creative Dads called Digital Dads. Matt was the 5th employee at ConvertKit, ran Creator Success at Podia, and has built an audience of over 100,000 fans across his newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media channels. He lives in Nashville with his wife of 17 years and 3 (almost 4...

Welcome to the last Startup Dad episode of 2023! It has been one hell of a year. Starting in June I released a show a week for the entire rest of the year; 27 episodes in total. Talking parenthood with dozens of startup dads and a few startup moms blew away all of my expectations. For this episode I pulled together the best of over two dozen conversations covering everything from mistakes made to...

Welcome to another special Holiday Edition of Startup Dad! I went back and talked to many of my guests about their most memorable holiday traditions, the best and most secret family recipes, and most disastrous holiday memories as parents. No matter who you are or what you celebrate my hope is that hearing this helps to normalize just how different and hectic everyone's holidays can be. You'll hea...

Lloyed Lobo is the co-founder of Boast.ai and the author of Wall Street Journal best-selling book From Grassroots to Greatness. After escaping the Gulf War as a child and seeing the power of community in helping navigate impossible situations he ended up on a path of entrepreneurship and community building. He is a husband and the father of three kids. In this episode we discuss: * His childhood a...

Welcome to a special Holiday Edition of Startup Dad! As parents we all need to go easy on ourselves at this time of the year. To bring a little holiday cheer to your lives I went back through 2023's roster of guests and highlighted their best and worst parenting purchases. You'll also hear a series of never-before-shared thoughts on the best and worst holiday presents they've ever given their spou...

In this special Startup Dad (and Mom) episode I interviewed husband and wife team Eric and  Sara Mauskopf. Sara is the co-founder and CEO of Winnie, a platform that helps parents find much needed childcare and helps childcare providers find parents and run their business. She founded Winnie after a decade-plus career in product at Postmates, Twitter, and Google. Eric is a product leader at Winnie...

Guy Yalif is the co-founder and CEO of Intellimize, a platform that helps optimize web experiences through testing, personalization and AI. He has been an ad tech and product leader at companies like Brightroll, Twitter and Yahoo. He is a husband and father of two teenagers.  In this episode we discuss: * His mother's career as a banker in the 70's * The unique experience of founding a company wit...

Jake Wood is a decorated Marine Veteran, the founder of Team Rubicon, and currently the founder and CEO of Groundswell. Jake served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine sniper, was the subject of the book "Charlie Mike" and also wrote a memoir called "Once a Warrior" about his experience founding Team Rubicon, one of America's leading nonprofits, after returning home from war. He is a husband...

Gaurav Vohra is the Head of Growth at Superhuman, where he created the fastest email experience ever with his brother as part of the founding team nearly 9 years ago. Gaurav is the child of immigrant parents and decided not to follow in their footsteps at a young age. He is a husband and a father of one toddler! In this episode we discuss: * The influence of immigrant parents on his own work ethic...

Tobi Emonts-Holley is the CEO of Tiphereth where he started as a volunteer nearly 18 years ago. Tiphereth is an Edinburgh-based community for adults with learning disabilities and other support needs. He also holds a PhD in Economics. Most importantly (and impressively) Tobi and his wife are the parents of six children! In this episode we discuss: * Tobi's early journey leaving his home and moving...

George Arison is the CEO of Grindr and the former co-founder and CEO of Shift. George grew up in Republic of Georgia when it was still part of the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. George knew he always wanted to be a Dad and he got that wish about 4 years ago. He's a husband and father of two kids. In this episode we discuss: * Growing up (and leaving) Georgia * The su...

Casey Woo is the founder of Operators Guild, a community of engaged ops professionals who help each other navigate the issues that arise when scaling a company. He is a reformed Finance leader who found his passion growing a community. He's a husband and father of three kids. In this episode we discuss: * How I discovered Casey through a LinkedIn post * His wife's career and their decision to star...

In this special Startup Dad (and Mom) episode I interviewed husband and wife team Trae Stephens and  Dr. Michelle Stephens. Trae is a partner at Founders Fund, and is also co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems and a co-founder of Sol, a wearable e-reader. Prior to that he was an early employee at Palantir and was an adju...

Aaron Huey is an award-winning National Geographic photographer, a three time Stanford Fellow and the founder and chief creative officer of Amplifier.org . He has broken crowdfunding records when he raised $3 million in a few weeks for projects like We the People and We the Future. Before he had kids he did a 3,349 mile solo walk across America with his dog Cosmo over 154 days. Most importantly Fa...

Will Rocklin is a product advisor, the former Head of Product at Safara and former product leader at Square and Google. He is also an aspiring standup comic, having performed in New York and Los Angeles. He now helps climate tech startups go from zero to one. When he's not doing that he's busy gentrifying Los Angeles as a new father. In this episode we discuss: * A hilarious story about how he met...

Tom Willerer is the Chief Operating Officer at Reforge. Prior to that he was the Chief Product Officer at Opendoor, Coursera and a VP of Product at Netflix. Tom is a husband, father of two teenagers and a fellow Michigander. In this episode we discuss: * Tom's early years as a college baseball player * How Tom got into tech * The decision to start a family * A hilarious story about burritos in the...