In today's episode, Tyler and Sterling sit down with Spenser Skates, Founder and CEO of Amplitude Analytics, the digital Analytics platform that helps thousand of businesses find ways to grow and improve.

Spenser shares how he got his first investors, how to have the best relationships with VCs, his mindset around product and employees, and everything he's learned from over a decade growing his company, taking it public, and beyond!

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:09:36) Why Eric Vishria from Benchmark is the top investor of this generation

(00:17:05) How great investors actually help massively

(00:25:45) how do you stay motivated during the second decade?

(00:33:57) how does Spenser judge whether he's successful as a ceo?

(00:40:16) why he's more vocal on x

(00:45:00) who is his favorite operator?

(00:47:25) recap

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Check out Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

This podcast was brought to you by PELION. Learn more about them here: https://pelionvc.com/

A question every startup founder has is, "When do I know when to keep going or throw in the towel?"

Today, Tyler and Sterling sit down with ex Navy Seal and Olympian, Larsen Jensen, to talk about just that.

Larsen is the founder of Harpoon Ventures, an investment firm focused on building companies that assist the armed forces. He is also the founder and CEO of Vector, a tech company focused on building products to assist the armed forces.

Larsen talks about how he got into the Olympics, became a Navy Seal, and then started Harpoon, even when everyone thought he was crazy for going into military investing! He shares his lessons on perseverance, and what it takes to succeed.

If you're a founder, you won't want to miss this!

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:08:53) Becoming an Olympian

(00:11:29) Meeting the President

(00:15:34) Becoming a Navy SEAL

(00:19:00) Survival Rates in BUD/S Training

(00:22:28) How to know when to Quit

(00:25:40) Navigating Startup Challenges

(00:30:03) Why Larsen Started Harpoon Ventures

(00:34:56) Government Sales Cycle Mentorship Program

(00:37:48) Andreessen Horowitz

(00:40:41) What Drives Larsen?

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Check out Harpoon Ventures: www.harpoon.vc

This episode was brought to you by Pelion. Check them out here: pelionvp.com

Usually small startups fail when trying to take on big companies.

Rainforest, however, is a different story. In the payments space dominated by Stripe and PayPal, founder Joshua Silver saw a gap no one was paying attention to.

The result? Over $1 Billion in transactions in their first year!

In this convo, Joshua explains how he found the opportunity, the steps he took to dominate it, and his mindset when it comes to nailing product-market-fit in a crowded space.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:56) Payment Processing's Role in SaaS Revenue

(00:02:07) How Rainforest Succeeded So Quickly

(00:05:42) Strategy For Breaking Into The Market

(00:15:17) How They Beat The Competition

(00:17:50) The 1 Metric To Focus On

(00:21:49) The Best Thing He Did While Fundraising

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Check out Rainforest: https://www.rainforestpay.com/

Check out PELION: https://pelionvp.com/