The Hard Truth About Building a $100M Startup ft. Christian Facey (Audiomob)

# Christian Facey Christian Facey shares Master resilience, focus, and practical strategies for building a successful, high-performance startup. ## What you'll learn: 1. How to cultivate relentless dedication: Be prepared to sacrifice everything for 10 years, even reaching a zero bank account, to build something great. 2. How to develop extreme founder resilience: Embrace inevitable obstacles as opportunities for growth, understanding that the journey is long and not always glamorous. 3. How to be a comprehensive founder: Dedicate 5-10% of your time to learning finance, legal, and HR, as these are critical areas where founders often get screwed. 4. Framework for investor and co-founder negotiations: Always assume the worst of the other party, approach emotionlessly and logically to secure the best deal, and thoroughly understand all legal documents. 5. How to build a high-performance culture: Prioritize meritocracy and clear expectations over early perks, attracting dedicated individuals focused on company growth rather than comfort. 6. How to attract investment and scale: Build an analytical interview process, establish an early investor newsletter, and strategically align your product roadmap with current market trends. ## Where to find Christian Facey: - Website: https://audiomob.com/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-facey/ ## Where to find Abhinav Sinha: - Website: https://www.abhinavsinha.com/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ ## In this episode, we cover: - (00:00) The Unseen Sacrifices and Hard Realities of Entrepreneurship - (02:10) Christian Facey & AudioMob: Pioneering Non-Intrusive Audio Ads and the 10-Year Sacrifice - (03:15) Navigating Startup Launch (2020) through a Pandemic: Extreme Adaptability & Growth - (06:50) The Founder's Mindset: Relentless Focus, Personal Sacrifice, and Risk-Taking - (11:45) Beyond the Hype: Personal Hardships and Financial Struggles on the Entrepreneurial Journey - (16:41) Mastering Investor Negotiations: Due Diligence, Term Sheets, and Strategic Thinking - (21:02) Why Founders Must Understand Legal, Finance, HR, and Every Business Aspect - (29:02) The Emotional Detachment Needed: Letting Go of Features and Client-Specific Revenue - (33:52) AudioMob's Pivotal Growth: Product Pivot, Major Deals (P&G), and a Competitive Series A - (37:20) Revamping Company Culture: From Early Perks to High-Performance Meritocracy - (47:19) Strategic Hiring, Investor Pitching, and Leveraging Market Trends for Growth - (51:26) Christian's Investment Philosophy: The "Struggle-Ometer" for Identifying Resilient Founders - (54:57) The Transformative Mindset: Relentless Pursuit of Self-Improvement - (58:45) Current Challenges: The Constant Demand and Supply Problem in Ad Networks ## Tools referenced: - Seed Legals: https://www.seedlegals.com/ - ChatGPT: https://openai.com/chatgpt - Luminous Spark: https://theluminouscompany.com/ ## Other references: Jordan Peterson: https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/ Russell Buckley (Founder of AdMob): https://uk.linkedin.com/in/russellbuckley Wilfrid (AudioMob Co-founder): https://uk.linkedin.com/in/wilfridobeng Harvey (Christian's friend) Ruth Porat (CFO of Google): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-porat/ Nas Adrian (Founder Christian invested in): https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-ruiz-langan/ Supernode Global: https://supernodeglobal.com/ Makers Fund: https://makersfund.com/ AppLovin: https://www.applovin.com/ Lightspeed Ventures: https://lsvp.com/ Music Business Worldwide: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ Procter & Gamble: https://us.pg.com/ The Obstacle Is The Way (Book by Ryan Holiday): https://ryanholiday.com/books/the-obstacle-is-the-way/