Startup Dad

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...

Ryan Johson is the Chief Product Officer at CallRail a marketing and AI technology company. He was an early pioneer in the AI industry doing fascinating work on computer vision for anomaly detection in videos and images. Ryan is a husband and father of two kids and a fellow Midwesterner. In this episode we discuss: His Midwestern upbringing and the work ethic that instilled in him The challenges o...

Ben Wiliams is a product and engineering executive and was most recently the VP Product at Snyk; an $8B developer tools company. He is currently a Product and Growth advisor and owner of PLGeek.com as well as The Product Led Geek Newsletter. Ben is a husband and father of two kids and my first international interview (he hails from the UK). In this episode we discuss: The importance of therapy in...

In this special, 10th episode I interviewed husband and wife team Josh Herzig-Marx and Carla Naumburg, PhD. Josh is a product executive and coach, a former VP of Product, founder and ex-Googler. He is also the "default" parent to two teenagers having chosen to step back as Carla leaned more into the workforce as a best-selling parenting book author. Carla is a clinical social worker and mother. Sh...

Matt Greenberg is a product and engineering executive and was most recently the CTO at Reforge. He was previously the VP of Engineering at Credit Karma. Matt is a husband and father of three boys and one dog. In this episode we discuss: Matt's father being his hero and the wisdom he gained from him The work required in raising three boys The decision to have a third kid What to do when you get a p...

Mike Duboe is a General Partner at Greylock, one of the most well-known venture firms in Silicon Valley. Prior to that he was a Growth leader at Stitch Fix through their IPO and Tilt which was acquired by AirBnB. He is a husband and the father of two kids. In this episode we discuss: Cultural influences from his grandparents and parents Getting into alignment on the right time to have kids Having...

Darius Contractor is the Chief Growth Officer at Otter.ai , prior to that he was Chief Product and Technology Officer at Vendr, a Growth and Product leader at Airtable and Facebook, and an Engineering leader at Dropbox. He is also a fantastic angel investor and advisor, a husband and the father of two kids. In this episode we discuss: His parents influence on his career His earliest memories of be...

Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge, former VP of Growth at Hubspot, and a venture partner at Long Journey Ventures. He is one of the foremost experts on Growth and also a husband and the father of two young kids. In this episode we discuss: His parents opinion of his profession Other family members' influence on his entrepreneurial spirit His decision to start a family and whether he...

Fareed Mosavat is Chief Development Officer at Reforge, former Director of Product at Slack, Instacart, Zynga and more. He's a husband and father of two teenagers (!). In this episode we discuss: Lessons from being raised by his Mom His decision to start a family Earliest memories of being a Dad Regrets he's had as a father Tweens vs. Teens and which is worse Establishing family guard rails What h...

Buster Benson is Principle Product Manager at Medium, the platform creating a new model for digital publishing. He a published author of the book Why Are We Yelling? The Art of Productive Disagreements, the founder of 750Words, and most importantly the father of two boys. In this episode we discuss: Joining and leaving companies in pursuit of being a better father Starting a family while being bro...

Alex Cohen is Sr. Director of Product at Carbon Health, a modern health clinic that provides urgent and primary care for easier everyday health. He is also a serial entrepreneur, investor, and one of the most prolific "shitposters" on Twitter. He's a loving husband and the father of 1 kid, born during the peak of the pandemic. In this episode we discuss: Getting fired from Office Depot Marrying hi...

Adam Grenier is VP of Growth at Eventbrite, a ticketing company that is bringing the world together through live experiences. Prior to that he led growth for Masterclass and Lambda School, was an EIR at Reforge and was Head of Growth Marketing at Uber. He's also a loving husband and the father of 3 kids, including an autistic son. In this episode we discuss: Adam's humble upbringing in the Midwest...

Nick Soman is the founder and CEO of Decent, a healthcare company that helps small businesses band together to get more affordable health insurance for their employees. Prior to that he led growth for Gusto, was a product manager on the Kindle at Amazon, and started a company that he sold to Napster! In this episode we discuss: How Nick's parents influenced his own parenting The challenging early...

Welcome to the very first episode of Startup Dad! Every week, Adam Fishman will interview entrepreneurs, leaders, founders, and many people you may have heard advice from before. This time it's different because they're also all fathers. Instead of talking about product development, the latest growth strategies, or fundraising we talk about balancing work with family life, parenting strategies, an...