Jesse is the cofounder of CodeLingo, a startup building tools to help developers collaborate THROUGHOUT their work. I talk to Jesse about his unexpected path in entrepreneurship and lessons selling to developers instead of ordinary consumers!   To learn more about CodeLingo, visit https://codelingo.io  P.S. Some fancy words Jesse used: - Codebase: All of the code used in an application. - Pull Request: a process after a small piece of code has been written and tested, where it is added to all the existing code in an application. - Technical debt: the cost of choosing an easy solution now vs. a harder solution that is more efficient in the long run. - Devtools: developer tools. These are softwares that help programmers while they code. - Github: A website that lets programmers store and share their code with others, who can copy and modify this code. - API: Application Programming Interface. Fancy term for a tool others can use to interact with your code, even from different computers. - Principles: the guiding 'rules' of a company. - Vision: what the future world looks like if a company achieves its goals. - ToFu: Top of funnel (ex: a customer visits a website). MoFu: Middle of Funnel (ex: a customer asks for product specifications). BoFu: Bottom of funnel (ex: a customer adds a product to their cart). - The funnel: the sales funnel. A model where a lot of customers hear about a company, a few try the product, fewer still end up buying, and so on. Fewer customers at the end of the sales process are like the narrowing neck of a real-life funnel. - Funnel activities: At each step, a business does 'activities' to keep customers going to the next step, like making an engaging website to keep customers from clicking away before seeing the product. - Stickyness: Just a word to describe how well something retains customers. Ex: If the business' newsletter doesn't have readers unsubscribing, it is 'sticky'. - Churn: The % of customers a business loses over time. Ex: Subscribers that cancel their subscription each month.   - Boilerplate: Repetitive code that follows a template, without any unique parts. Ex: Code to login to a website.   Timeline 00:00 Introduction 02:30 Solving Problems for Yourself 05:54 How the Product Works 07:28 Differentiating the Product 09:41 Marketing 101 12:38 Pitching to Developers 15:12 Pitching to Commercial Buyers 17:26 Authentic Entrepreneurship

Dr. Mead has decades of experience working on biotechnology, patenting a method called TA Cloning which has sold over a billion dollars! And now, he's working on another company that could help discover drugs from nature 10x more quickly.   To learn more about Varigen, visit http://varigenbiosciences.com/  P.S. Dr. Mead used a LOT of technical terms. I defined them all here: https://cutt.ly/VWMHMJ2  Timeline 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Dr. Mead's career path 06:31 Mini-science brief 08:32 Upside of academic setting 09:32 Following your interest 10:56 Challenges in academia + biotech 12:17 How to find biotech problems 13:23 Upside of industrial setting 14:24 Lessons learned the hard way 18:21 Dr. Mead's latest work 22:15 What's next for Dr. Mead

Paige is the cofounder of Nyoka Design Labs, a biotechnology startup that uses microbes to replace harsh chemicals. I talk to Paige about her unexpected path in entrepreneurship as she learned to lead on the job!   These are some books Paige recommends to learn about leadership and self-awareness: - Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris - The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - The Secret Life of Your Mind by Mariano Sigman - Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand - The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene - 419 by Will Ferguson   To learn more about Nyoka, visit https://www.lightbynyoka.com/ P.S. Some fancy words Paige used: - Bioluminescence: when living organisms create light - UVic: the University of Victoria in Canada - Kickstarter: a fundraising platform where anyone can contribute or start a project - IndieBio: a startup accelerator that helps biotechnology companies grow   Timeline 00:00 Introduction 01:10 How did you start? 03:16 Transition to entrepreneurship 05:11 Curiousity behind leadership 08:20 Complementary team strengths 09:54 How to identify strengths 12:16 Building confidence to lead 15:00 Just do it 17:44 Making contrarian decisions 20:16 Recommended Resources

Julie is one of the cofounders of Mabel's Labels, a company that makes durable labels for lunchboxes, and many other things! I talk to Julie about her initial beginning, teamwork, and how she navigated her company's expansion. You can visit Mabel's Label's here:  https://mabelslabels.com/en_US/ Chapters: Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:06 Who is Julie Cole? 5:35 Origin of Mabel's Labels 8:11 The mom market 9:03 Romanticized entrepreneurship and building community 12:22 Educating your market 14:00 Making the original product to streamlining 15:38 What to do when feeling discouraged 18:04 You're not alone 18:53 Meeting the team 20:40 Don't close yourself to one thing 22:00 Work on the business, not in the business 27:16 The importance of attitude 30:00 Delegation 31:00 What would you do differently?

Javier is the cofounder of Afino, a startup that helps employees better engage with remote work. I talk to Javier about his experience with understanding users' needs and growing his own self-awareness!   These are some books Javier recommends to learn about building products: - The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - Inspired by Marty Cagan - Purple Cow by Seth Godin   To learn more about Afino, visit www.afino.io   P.S. Some fancy words Javier used: - QICSI: The Queens Innovation Centre Summer Initiative. An entrepreneurship accelerator that Javier attended at his university. - 5 Whys: A process where you ask why five times to find the root cause of a problem. More information here: www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/5-whys - MVP: Minimum viable product. The most basic version of a product that entrepreneurs can create to check their ideas. - Product Hunt: A platform that compiles new startup products from around the world.   Timeline 00:00 Introduction 01:20 How did you start? 02:58 Pivots in the Pandemic 04:25 Finding the root cause 10:31 Real problems vs. user ideas 13:45 Hard lessons learned 16:03 Testing prototypes 17:25 Measuring progress 20:55 Reading recommendations 22:35 How to read    24:02 Life routines

Alessandra is the cofounder of Algi, a company that makes energy bars with algae! I talk to Alessandra about her company, how she's navigating sustainability, and how we as consumers can navigate those same issues.   You can visit Algi at:   http://algifoods.com Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:25 What does the bar taste like? 3:17 Getting people to try something new 4:30 Sustainability 9:07 Target demographics 14:55 Reflecting progress 15:27 Organizing/action plans 21:49 What to do when you feel like you aren't making progress 25:42 Celebrating

Kurtis is the cofounder of Maesos Technologies, a startup that builds smart sensors for farmers to manage crops. I talk to Kurtis about his VAST experience with user interviews and user personas today.   These are some books Kurtis recommends to learn about users: - The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick - The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri - The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg   To learn more about Maesos, visit www.maesos.com/   P.S. Some fancy words Kurtis used: - Scouting: When farmers visually inspect their crops to check for signs of damage. - IoT: The Internet of Things. Kurtis uses it to refer to sensors in farms that can send data between each other via wifi / cellular data. - Cash Crops: Crops sold to earn a profit, rather than for personal consumption. For example, corn. - Wind Machine: A tool for farmers that lets them move warm air onto crops to avoid freezing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg2rIiF7VXo - Concept: An entrepreneurship training program for students at the University of Waterloo.   Timeline 0:00 Intro 01:11 How did you start? 02:50 Describe your product 04:30 Finding the problem 09:03 Choosing Exploratory Questions 13:14 Reviewing Interview Data 17:43 Making User Personas 20:46 Choosing Validation Questions 24:08 Importance of Interviews 26:31 Scheduling Interviews 28:51 Recommended Resources

Ayush is the cofounder of Change Room, an app that helps customers find local sustainable fashion stores. But it wasn't always like that. I talk to Ayush about his three-year journey making several pivots to get to where he is today.   To learn more about Ayush's company, visit www.changeroom.io   P.S. Some fancy words Ayush used: - DECA: A highschool business club in North America that teaches students about topics including entrepreneurship.   - MVP: Minimum Viable Product. The simplest version of a product you can use to test your business idea.   - Ontario Summer Program: Also known as the Summer Company program, this is a grant in Ontario, Canada to support students in starting companies. - Parliament Hill: In the capital city of Canada, Ottawa. - Marketplace: an online platform that connects buyers and sellers. Like Ebay or Shopify.   - React Native: A programming tool based on the Javascript language. It is used to create mobile apps.   - Waterloo: Ayush says this referring to the University of Waterloo in Canada. - Velocity: An entrepreneurship pitch competition for students at the University of Waterloo.   - Software as a Service / SaaS: A software product that is delivered over the Internet (ex: a mobile app or an online software).   - Boutique: A small store that usually sells luxury products like clothing.   - Retailer: A store that sells goods from manufacturers to everyday consumers.   Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:14 How did you start? 3:42 Basic Validation 6:01 Finding a cofounder 6:42 Complicated Tech Issues 8:39 Better Validation Tips 12:00 Talking to Customers 14:37 Iterating from Feedback 16:14 Just Apply 18:31 Making Bad Assumptions 21:31 Finding Advisors 22:49 Cold Calling Tips 25:52 Their Current Product 27:57 Picking a Niche 28:53 Reflecting on Pivots

Arda is the Chief Communications Officer of Roll Scooters, an e-scooter company operating in several cities across Canada. We talk about his experiences starting a company as an immigrant to Canada and all the lessons he had to learn along the way.   To learn more about Arda's company, visit www.rollscooters.com/ Arda also recommends these books to learn about entrepreneurship: Venture Deals, Running Lean, Obviously Awesome, and The Lean Startup. And these websites when doing market research: CB Insights, Betakit, Crunchbase, and other companies' blogs.   P.S. Some fancy words Arda used: - Technical cofounder: in startups, the cofounder who creates the product (ex: programming software). Usually, not all cofounders will work on the product. - VC: Venture Capital. Venture capital companies invest directly in individual startups so that startups can access the money they need to build their business. - Angel. Angels are individual investors. They invest in startups at a very early stage (maybe even before a product is built). - Lean Startup Movement. A book called The Lean Startup gives very widely-used advice on how to start a business. The community of entrepreneurs who use the book's lessons are part of the Lean Startup Movement. - Techstars. This is one of the largest startup incubators in the US. Many companies will join a startup incubator, almost like a 'industry association.' They get benefits like access to advisors, funding, and more. - Heuristic Design. A design process where you create a checklist of criteria that your product must fulfill. For example, a criteria that a website takes under 3 seconds to load. Every time you change your design, you go back to this checklist and make sure you're meeting all criteria still.   - User interview. A design process where you invite customers to try out a new product design before it's released to the public. You interview the user to get feedback on what to improve about your product.   Timeline 0:00 Intro 1:01 How did you start? 2:16 What is Roll Scooters? 3:43 Starting entrepreneurship   7:11 Challenges while scaling? 9:00 Lessons from failure? 12:24 How to measure success? 13:35 Doing everything at once 17:25 Value of mentors? 18:03 How to use customer data? 20:48 Dealing with competition 21:52 User interview/design tips

Will is the founder of Zentein Nutrition, an health-focused protein bar brand. We talk about his experiences starting his ecommerce company while being a student at Western University in Canada. Also, how he built such a positive customer base for Zentein!   To learn more about Will's company, visit www.zentein.ca Will also recommends this tool for SEO: www.ahrefs.com   P.S. When Will mentions 'Western' / 'Ivey', he's talking about Western University. And though he said he had to do 300 pages of reading / week, that was his own choice in case anyone's worried :D   Timeline 0:00 Intro 1:06 How did you start? 2:40 How to validate ideas 5:45 Stressful pivot 7:31 Startup Accelerator Benefits 9:26 Maintaining mentors/networks 11:40 Student Founder Pros/Cons 14:17 Amazing Ecommerce Branding 16:48 Ecommerce Resources? 18:03 How to use customer data? 20:21 Managing Interns 24:01 Reflecting on mistakes 26:05 Any big failures?