Episodes

Founders need to stop paying landlords for access to the tenants. In other words, Facebook is the latest gatekeeper founders need to figure out.

Things are getting crazy out there and a letter from Y Combinator is circulating.

Paul and Ed are diving into equity stakes for entrepreneurs, negotiating in public and returning to the office.

Maybe it's a recession, maybe not. But, founders, employees and investors should be prepared

We're digging into a new fund that's focused on "boring businesses". Is this the next phase?

The news has been fast and furious. Elon Musk buying Twitter, Netflix Stumbles, Google Ad Revenue on the fly.

Fast.com fell over and Better.com hit some pretty rough waters. They're not the first and won't be last in the current cycle.

We discuss some bread crumbs on the future of work and travel and then break down what the heck is going on with Uber and NYC taxis.

Most founders are looking to disrupt incumbents. What about those companies that buck the trend? And, what about those founders who didn't realize the length of calls for a free Zoom account?

Walmart is notorious at cost-cutting. So, what are they up to with their latest move? And, why don't our phones protect us?

We're are discussing must reading this week from Fabrice Grinda. Titled "The Great Unknown", it's worth 10 minutes of your time. Paul shares why he's optimistic even if the short-term market conditions look rocky. Culture matters in every company. We take issue with a tweet from a prominent CEO. How you build your company and your culture will be some of the most critical thinking that you do. The nature of work is changing, but leaders are still responsible for looking to the future to determi...

Asymmetric bets might sound like buzz words and hand wavy stuff, but it's critical thinking. We're talking about why the devastation in Ukraine will have profound effects on your business (and where your attention should be focused). Bitcoin seems to be a part of so many conversations but the buzz may not match the engagement level. Here's a few time stamps to tune-in: 5:15 - How Bump reacted to the original pandemic lockdowns. How that reaction is even more relevant to the Russia/Ukraine sit...

The Russian invasion is front and center. There's plenty of heartache for the people of Ukraine. To a much lesser degree, there are also difficult decisions for founders in regards to fundraising, inventory and logistics. Paul provides feedback from his single opt-in test on his mailing list. If you missed our discussion on whether the gold standard of double opt-in is no longer the standard, you can check it out here. Oh, and Paul is looking for sweatpants. Or, boot pants. Or something. If y...

A discussion about one of the largest food delivery services in India leads Paul and Ed down the road of identifying the five key languages that divide the world markets. Paul tries to quantify the time lost by GDPR. Ed and Paul discuss Facebook's whitewashing of privacy regulation. Paul is annoyed by the logo on his TV. Paul raises the point that VC-backed startups may never unseat incumbents. If you've got a comment or question for the show, you can e-mail us at show@resultsjunkies.com. You...

Google announced plans for some major changes on cross-app ad tracking, a topic Paul and Ed have discussed ad nauseum on the pod. On this, they don't quite see eye-to-eye on Google's intentions. They're also digging into why speed and aggression are such key traits to succeed as a founder. If you've got a comment or question for the show, you can e-mail us at show@resultsjunkies.com. You can find Paul and Ed online @paulsingh and @pizzainmotion.

Paul starts the episode with the question of when it's okay for founders to take money out of a company. This is a complicated question, especially since you have outside investors. It doesn't happen often and we're discussing when it might make sense. It's also a great reminder of why it's so important for founders to stay connected to investors. Ed asks the question of whether double opt-in, the gold standard of mailing lists is no longer the gold standard. If you've got a comment or questio...

A lot to cover this week. Paul and Ed start with a discussion on Cana. This 3D beverage printer has the ability to cause serious disruption in a number of industries. The product itself is intriguing and brings up so many questions. The unique capital structure that enabled Cana to progress is also up for discussion. Peloton is on the docket. The current state of the company raises the question of how much capital to raise. Both founders and investors have strong opinions on the topic. Paul and...

Paul and Ed loop back on a listener question and follow-up on the concept of turning something your company does well into an API for others. The Theranos verdict teaches important lessons for both founders and investors. Paul talks about the fact that every fundraise has a public and a private story and why they frequently don’t match. Big box retailers look at e-commerce as a channel. E-commerce thinks traditional retail is going away. They’re both wrong. If you've got a comment or questio...

Paul and Ed are still discussing companies that are trying to pivot but may not be equipped to do so. This dates back to their Walmart discussion in Ep 14. Ed digs into the wayback machine to talk about Independence Air and Paul introduces the concept of "Start, Build Grow". When your company needs to pivot, it's natural that part of your team may not be ready/equipped to do so. Leadership has to be bought into the mission for the team to embrace a pivot. Paul breaks down how personal connecti...

Paul and Ed debate whether it makes more sense for a DTC company to handle logistics and shipping from one center or if a “micro-center” strategy might work better. Here's a reference to the map Paul discusses. Thanks to our listener Eric for the question. They also dig into the different models that Y Combinator and Tech Stars chose Paul also has an announcement about some changes coming up for him and his current venture. Lastly, Ed manages to weave his fascination with Costco into a discus...

Paul is back from the islands and we're diving back into the world. Hot topics this week involve COVID wildfires, travel, technology and DTC. Ed details how his restaurants had to adopt 3rd party delivery platforms essentially overnight to keep restaurants afloat at the beginning of the pandemic. That ultimately meant half of their customer relationships are now controlled by someone else. Paul is amazed that restaurants surrendered 50% of their customers to 3rd party delivery providers essentia...

There is a ton of money on the sidelines waiting to invest right now. Paul and Ed are looking at a new Angel List fund and wondering if this is a byproduct of investors needing to adopt new models to find the returns they're seeking. With recent changes to CAC founders are likely going to feel the squeeze when it comes to fundraising. Paul describes why the far ends of the barbel (very early and very late stage companies) will still be able to raise cash. However, the mid-stage companies will b...

Paul and Ed dive right into why this time of year is the best time to recruit. Paul is busy talking to new candidates every day and Ed is busy recruiting his existing employees. This leads to Paul's assertion that most CEO's wouldn't be proud of their culture if they stopped to figure out what their employees thought it was. We also discuss Paul's first public appearance on a podcast since we launched the show. He was on the popular DTC podcast recently. If you haven't already listened, you ca...

Some founders are built to start companies and some are built to bring their companies to a new level. Most aren't built to do both. Paul and Ed dive into that this week. Paul talks about how deep his company is into Black Friday when it comes to e-commerce and making sure all the trucks are leaving on time. Ed pokes a bit of fun at Paul for jumping shoulder deep into the world of physical products from the SaaS world he lived in the last decade.