Traction: How Startups Start | NextView Ventures

Rob's recent Shape of Traction blog post explores a big problem in gaining initial traction. You can find the post below, as well as David Beisel's Part 2. In this episode, Jay Acunzo talks with Rob about how to make heads or tails of this "traction" stuff.   SHAPE OF TRACTION, Part 1: robgo.org/2016/09/07/the-shape-of-traction/   Part 2: HOW MUCH TRACTION DO I NEED TO RAISE VC? genuinevc.com/2016...

In this episode of Gotham Alpha, AngelList's Eli Bronner joins NextView principal Tim Devane to discuss NYC Tech's growth and energy, why he chose to start a company in New York, how TechStars started in town, and what founders should know about building early teams through AngelList.   Gotham Alpha is the NYC-focused podcast from NextView. You can find it within the same feed as the firm's flagsh...

In Part 2 of our series of episodes with Reboot, Jay plays skeptic to Dan Putt's insistence that you should actively work on communication and the "softer stuff" at your startup. Don't miss Dan's response. Then, the guys talk about the biggest reason startups fail (based on a study of 10,000 founders) and how you can avoid that same fate. Once again, Dan Putt, Chief Product Officer of Reboot, join...

What happens when you and your co-founder experience conflict or strife but don't address it up front? When something festers and is ready to boil over, how do you bring it back down to a good place?   This is Part 1 in a series of Traction episodes about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Specifically, we'll tackle issues of communication, leadership, and mental well-being.   Dan Putt of...

NextView's Rob Go talks with Yoav Shapira, a longtime tech leader in the Boston startup community. Yoav was first employee at CarGurus, a founding executive of HubSpot, CTO at Happier, CTO at Jana, and more. Today, he shares the evolution of what it means to lead a startup from the technical side.

In the second episode of our NYC Tech-focused series, NextView principal Tim Devane and VP of platform Jay Acunzo talk about the tech companies most likely to ascend to the status of "pillar" tech company. They also explore why many we consider pillars may not be, and what makes such a company in the first place.   At the end, the name of our NYC tech podcast is revealed.   Say hi on Twitter:  @td...

Startups are exciting for any number of reasons, not least of which are all the fresh new ideas for products and various approaches to doing the work. But we forget that building successful startups is not actually about coming up with ideas. Instead, it's about finding problems, figuring out whether they truly matter (and to how many people), and working hard to solve them.   So what happens when...

Go inside the thinking behind a $16B startup -- worth more than Twitter, Pinterest or Dropbox as of this recording. Today's guest, Jesse Middleton, is a co-founder of WeWork Labs, the company's global startup incubator, and currently the head of WeWork X, which includes Labs and also the new WeWork investing and M&A activities. Jesse was also among the first to join the co-founders of WeWork when...

In the first episode of our NYC Tech-focused miniseries, NextView principal Tim Devane and VP of platform Jay Acunzo talk about the biggest problem and opportunity facing NYC Tech -- namely, successful and liquid entrepreneurs fleeing tech for other industries.   Follow @tdevane and @jayacunzo on Twitter and help us give this miniseries a name - tweet #NextViewNYC   Subscribe at nextviewvc.com/blo...

Oli Gardner is the co-founder of Unbounce, a platform that helps you build, test, and optimize landing pages to convert customers. Today, he spends most of his time writing and speaking and is arguably the best source on the planet for learning about how startups can create landing pages that convert, whether you're drumming up pre-launch demand or trying to keep growing meaningful revenue.   Oli ...

Last time, we heard from a CEO about how startups can sell to big brands and enterprises. This time, Angus Davis, the founder and CEO of Upserve (fka Swipely) shares stories and tactics around selling to Main Street businesses. As a startup that sells to later adopters of technology or very small businesses, how do you think about product, marketing, and sales?   Angus also shares some lessons lea...

The prospect of selling a new product from an "unproven" business into a large corporation can seem daunting. But startups launch all the time as enterprise-focused entities. Still, that doesn't make the situation any easier, so in this episode, Joe Coleman, cofounder and CEO of Contently, gets way into the weeds of selling into the enterprise. We also hear some valuable lessons around marketplace...

Oh what's in a name? Your startup's name and branding become objects that represent your passion, pride, and determination. But startups change their names more often than their founders or teams might like, despite all the love for their current incarnation. So ... why? What causes that? What influences should you listen to as a founder? And how the heck do you DO it? That's what we'll explore to...

NextView's Rob Go, Tim Devane, and Jay Acunzo break down the key findings, themes, and stories from the firm's new report, The State of NYC Seed. Find the full report and SlideShare here:  http://nextviewventures.com/blog/state-of-nyc-seed/ Twitter handles from the show: @RobGo , @TDevane , @JayAcunzo Topics discussed: The general climate in early-stage startups and VCs in New York City The tech l...

When looking back at the seed stage of their companies, lots of guests on Traction will cite the same regret: "I wish I started content marketing sooner." Today, we talk to the man who coined the term, Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, an education and training organization serving thousands of customers and millions of readers a year. Joe's latest book, Content Inc, details...

There's no denying the sheer creative power of the internet, but too often, it turns into a race to the bottom -- more clicks (and therefore more clickbait), more pageviews, more impressions, more ads. When Tony Haile first became CEO of Chartbeat, the analytics startup based in New York City, he faced this massive problem of an internet teeming with clickbait headlines and short-term thinking. He...

Justin Robinson, co-founder of mobile startup and liquor delivery app Drizly, talks about some of the ridiculously non-scalable things they had to do just to get their business off the ground in the right way. In addition, he'll share some tactics and stories around being a location-based startup and all the challenges that come with trying to gain traction anew in each market. This episodes inclu...

Hilary Mason, founder at Fast Forward Labs and Data Scientist in Residence at Accel Partners, debunks some of the myths around startups being "data-driven." In addition, she tackles some complex but critical topics and translates them for the rest of us. This episodes includes... 1) A clear definition of what data science actually is (and should be) 2) Hard truth about how much a startup should ac...

Ben Einstein, Founder/Partner of BOLT, an early-stage VC investing in hardware startups, shares the stories of several connected devices and hardware companies and their tricks and challenges. We compare and contrast software to hardware in this episode, examining three core aspects of building any company: 1) Building early products (customer dev, prototypes, etc.) 2) Acquiring initial customers...

Sandi MacPherson, Founder of Quibb, a private community of tech tastemakers sharing professional content and discussions, tells the story of creating an application-only social network. She also shares her vision for an important project helping address the lack of women in tech: the 50/50 Pledge. In this episode, you'll hear... 1) The mission behind the great 50/50 Pledge (visit 5050pledge.com to...

In this episode, Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of Duck Duck Go and author of Traction, the book (no connection to this show), shares the story of building a search engine to compete with Google, battle privacy concerns, and gain initial traction with an atypical product. You'll also hear... 1) The framework behind the popular book, Traction: How to get traction and seek explosive growth for your startup ....

Exciting times ahead! Just a quick preview. Send us feedback anytime by tweeting me  @jayacunzo

Danielle Morrill, CEO of Mattermark -- In this episode, Danielle shares her company's origin story, including how they created an addicting, ubiquitous newsletter read by VCs and entrepreneurs everywhere. You'll also hear... 1) Why a TV show inspired Danielle to launch a media company, not software startup, and why she was disillusioned with Silicon Valley. 2) The domino effect of thinking and ope...

NYC's Vin Vacanti of Yipit -- In this episode of Traction, we tell the story of Vin Vacanti , co-founder/CEO of Yipit  (daily deals aggregator) and YipitData  (analyzes web data for institutional investors). This episode features a really great story with some very tangible lessons and tactics that Vin willingly shares, including... 1) Why Vin and his co-founder taught themselves to code long befo...

Scott Belsky -- co-founder/CEO of Behance. Brand. Mission. Emotion. These are things that, perhaps surprisingly to some, are still not widely preached, taught, accepted, or built around by investors and tech entrepreneurs alike. But in this episode, Scott Belsky talks about their critical importance and exactly how he built the popular creative portfolio platform, Behance. And, really, this is a s...