Technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we experience the world, and leveraging our community and platform to connect companies with talent and generate revenue is the best way to get off the ground.

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  00:00

  Leveraging our community and platform to connect companies with talent and generate revenue, we are shifting our focus towards monetization.

  • To get accepted into YC, I lied about being a solo founder and had proof of traction with 50% month-over-month growth in user visits.
  • In 20 minutes, a non-technical founder was able to validate their idea by building an email list and getting a few hundred subscribers.
  • People can use tools like Typeform and Stripe to quickly create and test products and collect feedback before launching.
  • We are shifting our focus towards monetization and Ship is the first thing we've charged for outside of initial tests.
  • We are working on leveraging our community and platform to connect companies with talent and generate revenue.
  • Email is a great channel for testing ideas and re-engagement, as it is malleable and people use it all the time.
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  07:38

  As a kid, I made money by buying and reselling items online, and as an adult, I learned to communicate confidence and remain clear and succinct when interviewing, which helped me get accepted into YC with my podcast discovery company, Breaker.

  • As a kid, I successfully hacked a computer system to my advantage.
  • I made money by buying items at discounted prices and reselling them on eBay.
  • I enjoyed finding and reselling items on Amazon to make money in high school and college.
  • Selling the vision of creating a place to discover the best products and communicating confidence were the main points of Phil's YC application and interview.
  • When interviewing, remain clear and succinct and don't let interruptions ruin your flow or energy.
  • Breaker is a YC company that is leveraging community to enable people to discover podcasts in a new and different way.
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  13:54

  Holding yourself accountable and doing a lot of work is the best way to get off the ground with a distributed team of 17 people across 8-9 time zones, with advantages and challenges.

  • At YC, you are held accountable and your results show whether you learned the thing or not.
  • Holding yourself accountable and doing a lot of work is the best way to get off the ground, and processes may need to be changed as the team grows.
  • YC instilled a data-driven and customer-focused culture which changed things in ways that were hard to realize.
  • We have a distributed team of 17 people across 8-9 time zones from Bulgaria to London to Denver.
  • Organically formed out of necessity, a distributed team was built with a combination of community and engineering, with a focus on Europe and Asia.
  • Distributed teams have many advantages, such as global perspective, cost savings, and access to talent, but come with challenges like communication and workflow.
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  19:53

  Leveraging relationships, press, and Product Hunt, we used manual and automated outreach to grow our product and create a global community.

  • I wrote a lot and explored products before Prada, which helped me build a following and create a community quickly.
  • Having an initial few hundred people to sign up, combined with relationships with other founders and investors, allowed for a successful launch of the product.
  • We used press and guest publishing to get our first 2,000 users, and leveraged Product Hunt to get makers and founders to join the conversation.
  • I manually invited makers to join and discuss our product, which led to natural growth and the use of Twitter bots to further increase our reach.
  • We productized and scaled the process of tagging makers and recruiting them, and we make sure they are notified when their product is posted.
  • Paris is design-centric, but growth is distributed across startup hubs around the world.
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  25:33

  Startups take time and engaging with an audience is key to success - use tools like TweetDeck to explore and get feedback.

  • People are exploring new ideas and platforms, such as voice-based applications, to create products that could potentially change the world.
  • Fake news is a frightening reality, and it's difficult to create products to prevent people from believing it.
  • Startups take a long time to take off, and success on Product Hunt doesn't necessarily mean success in the real world.
  • Engage with an audience and get feedback from them early on to ensure success when launching a product.
  • I use TweetDeck to interact with people, explore new products, and don't try to see everything, but don't let my inbox get too full.
  • We offer a weekly digest newsletter to appeal to both user types, those who love to consume the firehose and those who want to know one or two things a week.
• 🤝
  34:13

  AngelList has released a new angel fund platform to make investing in early-stage companies easier and more cost-effective.

  • It's challenging to learn early on as a product manager that it's not helpful to do more of the work.
  • Giving up work to hire the right people and giving them autonomy to build is a high leverage way to manage people well.
  • AngelList has not invested in top featured products on Product Hunt, but may do so in the future with the AngelList fundraising team.
  • AngelList has released a new angel fund platform to facilitate ongoing investments for people getting into investing or doing SPVs.
  • Nevada Fund helps set up VC funds for a fraction of the cost, taking a piece of the carry and allowing investors to invest in early-stage companies.
• 🤖
  39:21

  Technology has the potential to provide us with a better life than our own, and should be embraced responsibly.

  • Weekend Fun is a meaningful name for me, representing both my side projects and the potential for small projects to grow into something big.
  • Investing in companies where help can be provided, with a focus on community-based products.
  • I'm interested in remote and distributed teams, voice technology, and community-focused investments.
  • Technology is ultimately beneficial to the world, despite its downsides, and will lead to a future similar to what is seen in sci-fi books and movies.
  • VR and AR technology can provide people with a better life than their own, and should be embraced responsibly.
• 🤔
  44:24

  Blockchain and crypto have the potential to revolutionize the way we experience the world, from concerts to coffee shops.

  • It's only a matter of time before anything imaginable can be experienced, even if it's just for a short period of time.
  • VR technology is becoming increasingly accessible and affordable, and Ryan believes that this trend will continue in the future with crypto assets.
  • Blockchain and crypto have the potential to open up new pathways and create new experiences that may dramatically change people's behavior.
  • I enjoy going to concerts and spending my alone time at coffee shops, getting up early to work and drink coffee.