heyfounded: Recent Episodes
Justin DiRaddo
heyfounded is a podcast for young entrepreneurs, founders, and startups. Dedicated to delivering top stories, news, and insights on the greater Boston startup/venture capital space. Stay in the loop and understand the critical first steps to building a company through our interviews with Boston entrepreneurs that are creating industry-shaping startups.
In this podcast episode, meet Connor Harbison, the founder of Atlas Urban Farms. Connor is an entrepreneur with a passion for revolutionizing the culinary world by helping chefs grow their own ingredients cost-effectively (and hydroponically). With an MBA from Babson College and a history of launching startups, including 2bird Mask, his journey is a testament to resilience and community impact. From leading a pandemic-era startup accelerator to serving for AmeriCorps VISTA, his story reflects a dedication to business and community.
In this podcast episode, meet Justin McAfee, an engineer with a passion for innovation. Discover how he's pioneering a highly-efficient cooling solution for energy-hungry data centers with Wright One. Justin has also created HyperConnector to, well, connect us entrepreneurs and augment meaningful interpersonal relationships (www.hyperconnectme.com). He’s also an emerging fund manager with an exciting outlook on investing. Join us for a conversation filled with inspiration and innovation!
Join us for a conversation with Sol Clarity's head of finance, Malav Sukhadia, to hear about how the Boston-based venture is changing the solar panel industry forever.
Join us for an inside discussion with Stanley Rameau about the recent launch of his community app focused on the financial industry - Renavest. Renavest is a marketplace that helps new & experienced investors find any chat community, influencer or vetted professional best suited for them.
Overview: Innovation never stops. Learn how large companies continue to build value with the CEO of one of Canada's largest transportation companies.Time stamps:4:30' - Customers should steer your roadmap7:30' - Tell your team "why"9:10' - Prioritizing your roadmap11:40' - How transportation is changing19:00' - How to lead a disruptive company in 2023
Overview: Learn how SaaS startups can deliver value and win their earliest customers with Chris Combs, co-founder of the AI-enabled contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform - LinkSquares. Time stamps:1:00' - Why Boston is a great place to build a startup 4:00' - The Origins of LinkSquares 10:12' - Learning from your customers first 17:00' - Building product customers want (and how to know what they want) 24:35' - Sourcing and contacting your first leads 27:10' - Structuring & negotiating early contracts 35:00' - Always having an outcome
Join us for a conversation about using data to drive decisions at your startup with the Co-founder & CEO of Humanyze - Ben WaberTime stamps:3:10' - Choosing the right metrics 6:40' - Embracing that outcomes are random 13:10' - Controlling what you can25:00' - Recognizing risk in startups35:00' - The future of people analytics
Join us for a conversation about funding your venture with Rich Palmer, Managing Director at Launchpad Venture Group
Time stamps:
2:28' - Types of funding available
9:10' - Why you should look for funding
14:10' - How to approach investors
23:00' - How investors assess founders
33:30' - How much should you raise
Join us for a conversation about launching your first MVP and everything that went into developing CompSciLib!
Time stamps:
10:00' - Fail as quickly as possible
14:20' - Find the easy problems first
27:00' - The first build process
33:00' - Prepare customers for launch
39:00' - Collect feedback & iterate quickly
Join us for a discussion with Kendra Bostick about building a venture to address a problem you are already passionate about!
Timestamps:
02:00' - Solving a problem for yourself
14:10' - Becoming a domain expert
20:06' - Industry expert to entrepreneur
24:00' - Leaning on resources
26:30' - Look at problems like experiments
Join us for a discussion with Maria Vasco about how to grow your brick-and-mortar business on your own. Maria Vasco (UMass Boston) is the Founder & CEO of Uvida Shop, Boston's first zero-waste store.
Timestamps:
09:00' - Getting Started
14:05' - Opening a storefront
19:50 - When to open your first store
24:20' - Transitioning from online
30:40' - Building leanly and hiring employees
Talking to users is critical to building something that people want. Join us for a discussion with Anj Fayemi from Rivet about how talking to users helped him launch his venture. Rivet is a community-based CRM that empowers musicians to connect with their audiences and also participated in TechStars Boston 22'.
Time Stamps:
03:20' - Talking to users before building
07:28' - The impacts of user interviews
11:00 - When users are wrong
16:18' - Validating and iterating product
20:49' - The vision for Rivet
Oftentimes, founders are burdened by how to appropriately manage their finances. Join us for conversation with Dan Starr about how he has been able to support himself while running his startup. Dan is the co-founder and CEO of Locale, a location based dating app that is designed to facilitate more in-person interactions.
Time stamps:
08:37' - Preparing for the future after graduation
11:27' - Utilizing part-time jobs
15:45' - Breaking down living expenses
18:06' - Resources that save you money
26:22' - Having control over your spending
Finding a co-founder is one of the most challenging steps for early entrepreneurs. Join us with Boston University Alumni, Kevin Tang, for a discussion about how he was able to build the technical team needed to support his venture and successfully raise over $400k from investors during his Junior year of college.
Time Stamps:
03:40' - When to hire a co-founder
06:00' - Deciding what skillset to look for
10:14' - Locating and contacting co-founders
18:13' - How to approach initial meetings
23:24' - How to integrate you co-founders