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LinkedIn promised networking. What we got instead were cold DMs, spam, and fake connections In this episode of Funds & Founders, I sit down with Krishna Dosapati, Founder & CEO of Clockout—the fastest-growing networking platform for Gen Z. Clockout crossed 350,000+ downloads, hit #19 on the App Store, and is on track to reach $1M ARR in under 10 months, all by rethinking what real networking should look like. We break down: - Why LinkedIn doesn't work for Gen Z - Why cold DMs fail at building real relationships - What authentic networking actually means - How Clockout blends communities, events, and AI-driven intros - The founder's journey from side project to venture-backed startup - What product-market fit really looks like (and why most founders get it wrong) - The biggest mistakes founders make chasing growth and virality This is a conversation about building relationships, not connections—and why the future of networking looks very different from LinkedIn. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Connect with Krishna Dosapati LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishna-dosapati-39319986/ Clockout: https://clockoutapp.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders—a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations, and sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer 01:10 – Intro 02:36 – What Is Networking? 03:37 – Better Networking Than Cold DMs 06:55 – Building Non-Transactional Relationships 09:40 – Founder Journey Begins 13:40 – Team vs Contractors 18:32 – Going Live & Raising the First Round 21:24 – Why Raise $1.3M If You're Profitable? 22:39 – Solo Founder Team Structure 24:33 – Early Startup Challenges 35:44 – Why iOS First? 36:49 – Approval-Only App Strategy 39:01 – Onboarding Friction vs Activation 40:40 – Referral vs Approval User Engagement 55:10 – Biggest Mistake in Going Viral 56:57 – Biggest Lie About Product-Market Fit 1:02:57 – Outro ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #GenZ #Networking #Startup #Entrepreneurship #ProductMarketFit #AppGrowth #FounderJourney #AustinStartups #FundsAndFounders #ConsumerApp.
Newsletters are not dead Dylan from Growth in Reverse breaks down how indie founders and B2B operators are building 5-figure audiences and monetizing with just email. He shares the underrated metric every newsletter creator should track, how to launch a newsletter from scratch, and why owning your distribution is your biggest unfair advantage. We also go deep on: - Sponsorships - Paid ads - Personal vs Company branding - How to stay consistent even when life gets in the way Whether you're just starting or scaling, this episode is a must-listen. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Connect with Dylan Newsletter: https://www.growthinreverse.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanredekop/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders—a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations, and sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Quick intro & Dylan plugs 01:30 – The most overlooked truth about newsletters 02:55 – One North Star metric every founder should track 05:00 – Why owning your distribution is non-negotiable 06:45 – How to start a newsletter from zero 08:30 – Educate, Inform, Entertain: The content trifecta 09:40 – How to sell through newsletters without annoying your readers 11:55 – When to start thinking about sponsorships 13:45 – Monetizing early: ads, partnerships & paid growth 17:00 – Newsletter commitment: Why 10+ editions matter 20:05 – Favorite growth channels: Paid, organic, lead magnets 24:00 – Facebook ad hack that landed 20+ subscribers before launch 27:10 – Building your system: SOPs, templates & content blocks 30:00 – Should you steal playbooks? How to filter growth tactics 33:00 – Writing vs Talking: Choosing the right medium 36:00 – Guest posts, collaborations & ownership issues 38:05 – Smart ways to collect feedback from your audience 42:10 – Building brand: Personal vs Company vs Thematic 45:30 – When personal branding blocks startup acquisitions 47:00 – Behind the scenes at Growth in Reverse 50:00 – Final tips for founders building in public ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #Newsletter #EmailMarketing #CreatorEconomy #Distribution #B2B #IndieFounder #ContentStrategy #FundsAndFounders #AustinStartups #GrowthHacking.
Building a startup can feel lonely. You make decisions with incomplete information, learn things the hard way, and hope you're moving in the right direction. In this episode, I spoke with Chelsea Cooper, Founder & CEO of Approvely, about the lessons that only come from actually building—not from books or Twitter threads. We talked about: Learning the hard way why distribution matters Building in tough, regulated industries like payments and gaming Growing a company without VC money or a technical co-founder Staying focused on revenue, customers, and real problems Trusting the process when things don't go as planned Chelsea's journey is honest, grounded, and incredibly real. If you're building something of your own—or thinking about starting—this conversation will remind you that you're not alone, and that progress comes from showing up every day. Hope this one helps you. 🔗 Connect with Chelsea Cooper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsiemcooper/ Website: https://approvely.com About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders—a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations, and sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer / Hook 00:40 – Intro 01:40 – Where did your entrepreneurial journey begin? 04:19 – Did you ever have a traditional 9–5 job? 06:45 – Why onboarding felt like a problem worth solving 09:30 – Realizing distribution matters more than the product 12:17 – Building a network early & learning from mentors 14:18 – Being a woman in a traditional payments industry 16:18 – Lessons from partnerships: what worked & what didn't 18:35 – Why most founders misunderstand distribution today 20:47 – Starting Approvely (2020): the turning point 25:35 – Validating gaming as a high-risk market 30:05 – From scrappy beginnings to a full ecosystem 36:03 – Why overplanning too early hurts startups 40:01 – VC money: would it help or slow things down? 46:13 – How decisions get made without a technical co-founder 49:00 – Rapid fire: mindset, risk & habits 52:04 – Outro & final thoughts #startup #entrepreneurship #founder #startuplife #businesspodcast #austinstartups #paymentsindustry #bootstrapped #founderstories #distribution
At 19, he quit college with no safety net. Four months later, he built a $1M business. This isn't a motivational story. It's a step-by-step breakdown of what actually happened—the mistakes, near-bankruptcy moments, brutal trade-offs, and the decisions most people are too scared to make. In this episode, we go deep into: Why starting young gives you an unfair advantage (if you use it right) How a podcast with no listeners turned into real leverage The exact moment everything almost fell apart Why virality doesn't equal revenue How LinkedIn content quietly became a growth engine What scaling a team really feels like when cash is tight The uncomfortable truth about work-life balance early in your career If you're a founder, creator, or someone thinking about betting on yourself, this conversation will either push you forward or make you uncomfortable. No hype. No overnight success myths. Just the real game behind building something from nothing. 🔗 Connect with Shamus Madan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shamusmadan Website: https://dealroompodcast.com/ Twitter: https://x.com/mbitpodcast About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders, a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations. I also sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies and share practical insights. I create an intimate space for guests to share authentic stories, inspiring aspiring founders along their journey. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer 01:02 – Intro & quick guest background 02:38 – Starting a business before content (phone repair story) 04:22 – Launching the podcast during COVID 06:53 – First pivot: why business news didn't work 08:41 – Cold emailing guests with zero credibility 10:28 – Landing big names using social proof 12:53 – How Mark Cuban said yes 15:01 – Why most podcasts fail early 17:36 – Leveraging short-form over long-form 19:10 – Being data-driven with content retention 21:21 – Why cross-posting usually fails 23:06 – Turning a podcast into a business 24:17 – Nearly running out of money 26:35 – Discovering LinkedIn as a growth channel 29:02 – Dropping out of college to go all in 31:36 – First real revenue breakthrough 33:42 – The role of community in rapid growth 36:12 – Scaling from solo founder to a team 38:53 – Avoiding churn as an agency 41:02 – What actually drives LinkedIn pipeline 43:37 – Virality vs revenue (why small posts win) 46:01 – Hiring mistakes & team-building lessons 48:50 – Onshore vs offshore hiring (controversial take) 50:13 – Why most founders are "too soft" 52:06 – Networking vs real partnerships 54:03 – Rapid-fire lessons & closing thoughts #Entrepreneurship #YoungFounder #BetOnYourself #CollegeDropout #StartupFounder #EntrepreneurMindset #LinkedInGrowth #PodcastBusiness #BuildInPublic #FundsAndFounders
In this episode, Nomiki Petrolla, founder of Theanna—a groundbreaking platform empowering women tech founders—unpacks the realities of startup success few talk about. She reveals why crossing major business milestones remains elusive for most founders and how a combination of grit, knowing your product inside out, and embracing rejection can transform your journey What's inside: - The systemic challenges and gaps women founders face in tech and funding - How to own your product vision without losing control - "Rejection therapy"—why being comfortable with failure is a superpower - The obsession and rapid experimentation mindset every entrepreneur needs - Building a supportive community that fuels growth and accountability - How to validate ideas efficiently and avoid costly missteps - Balancing cutting-edge AI tools with genuine human connection - Practical wisdom from someone leading a women-first startup revolution If you're on the path to scaling your business, breaking barriers, or fueling unstoppable growth, this episode offers a raw yet hopeful blueprint for owning your vision and reaching new heights. 📌 Perfect for: Entrepreneurs, women founders, startup enthusiasts, and changemakers committed to making an impact. 🔗 Connect with Nomiki Petrolla LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nomikipetrolla/ Website: https://theanna.io/v2 About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders—a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations, and sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ ⏱️ Timestamps 0:00 - Trailer 0:58 - Intro 1:23 - Why do only 2% of VC funds go to women? What's Ana's mission to change that? 1:42 - What inspired you to build Ana? What was the defining moment? 5:00 - Why does a business fundamentals skill gap exist for women founders? 7:40 - What top 2–3 skills should women focus on when starting a business? 12:30 - What did day one of building Ana look like, from idea to first revenue? 17:35 - What goals or KPIs drive Ana's growth journey? 18:22 - How do you measure the real impact—are members actually launching? 20:11 - What key skills do founders need at each stage: launch, grow, scale? 23:08 - Why do so many founders overbuild before validating their idea? 26:20 - How do you decide when to ship or scrap an idea within 48 hours? 27:54 - What's the 60-second version of your six-step founder framework? 28:43 - How easily can founders turn your framework into action? 30:28 - Why do most productivity or milestone tools fail to feel personalized? 34:13 - What tool or system gives you back the most focus hours each week? 35:36 - What are your most-used tools for productivity and growth? 38:05 - What happens when everyone uses AI for cold outreach? 39:21 - Will authentic voices get drowned out in the AI outreach era? 40:07 - What kind of merch should Theanna create for its community? 44:20 - Beyond funding, what hidden barrier slows women founders the most? 45:41 - What mindset cues reveal if a founder will stay the course or quit early? 46:16 - How important is a risk-taking attitude in overcoming rejection and failure? 48:24 - What was your experience hitting 10K MRR and dealing with investors? 49:40 - How do you approach fundraising: safe notes, valuation, or waiting it out? 50:21 - What should founders understand about investor incentives and FOMO? 53:12 - If you could send a 60-second voice note to your past self, what would it say? 53:39 - What's the first validation step for someone with an idea in their notes app? 53:57 - Fast forward 3 years—what headline do you want to read about yourself and Theanna? 54:21 - Who's your dream podcast guest to interview next? #WomenInTech #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #StartupJourney #ProductLeadership #WomenWhoBuild #Entrepreneurship #TechInnovation #AustinStartups #FundsAndFounders.
In this episode of Funds & Founders, we sit down with Harry Morton, founder of Lower Street and host of Moneywise, to uncover the emotional reality behind wealth, success, and the often-overlooked emptiness that follows an exit Harry's company produces podcasts for some of the world's top brands. But his journey started with waiting tables at Buckingham Palace while bootstrapping his agency from zero. From sound engineering to building a multimillion-dollar podcast business, Harry shares his honest take on: - How to build a real podcast brand in an oversaturated space - What billionaires and millionaires really feel after success - The biggest mistake founders make after an exit - Why 70% of second startups fail—and how to avoid the trap - What founders should know before starting a podcast - The power of differentiation and authenticity in podcasting If you've ever wondered how to use podcasting strategically, or what success actually feels like once you've achieved it, this episode is a must-watch. 🔗 Connect with Harry Morton Website: https://lowerstreet.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrymorton/ About the Host I'm Abhinav Sinha, host of Funds & Founders—a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations, and sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ ⏱️ Timestamps 0:00 - Trailer 0:40 - Intro 1:47 - The Hidden Truth About High Net-Worth Founders 5:19 - The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship Nobody Talks About 8:02 - Redefining Success: Why a Chill Life Might Be Better Than a Billion-Dollar Company 12:55 - From Idea to First Client: The Real Startup Timeline 15:36 - Moving from Small Clients to Enterprise Deals 16:44 - Building a Face for Enterprise Podcasts 18:12 - Why Big Brands Are Turning Into Media Companies 20:28 - Rethinking Podcast Sponsorships 22:34 - The Harsh Reality of Podcast Growth 26:34 - Getting Real with Guests Without Alienating Them 29:07 - Should SaaS Founders Start a Podcast? 35:17 - Why 80/20 Episodes Perform Better 37:16 - Evergreen vs. Topical Content: What Works Better? 38:23 - What's Missing in the Podcasting Industry 42:56 - The Future of Podcast Distribution & Authentic Content #Podcasting #StartupPodcast #Entrepreneurship #FounderJourney #PodcastGrowth #ContentStrategy #MediaCompany #AustinStartups #FundsAndFounders #PodcastTips.
Most founders don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they run out of money, energy, or clarity in the first six months. In this brutally honest episode, Albert Behr, Founder of Behr & Associates and a veteran with over 30 years experience in corporate strategy, strategic partner development and technology commercialization, Albert Behr brings the expertise to ensure funding, early adoption and swift market penetration for your technology. Albert Behr has helped launch and scale dozens of technology ventures across North America and Asia, driving partnerships, licensing deals, and multi-million-dollar exits. Whether you’re in your first startup cycle or planning your exit, this episode will challenge how you think about money, risk, and success. 00:00 Intro 02:00 Leaving corporate life for entrepreneurship 05:00 The 6-month deal with his wife 08:00 Why the first 6 months define everything 14:00 “Go f***ing make money” — how Albert learned his core rule 20:00 VC vs. licensing: what actually creates wealth 30:00 Healthy paranoia and staying in the game 45:00 Why America breeds fearless entrepreneurs 55:00 The #1 mistake founders keep repeating Follow Albert Behr: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-behr-3ab460/ 🔗 behrassociates.com Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/
# 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: - The Unseen Sacrifices and Hard Realities of Entrepreneurship - Christian Facey & AudioMob: Pioneering Non-Intrusive Audio Ads and the 10-Year Sacrifice - Navigating Startup Launch (2020) through a Pandemic: Extreme Adaptability & Growth - The Founder's Mindset: Relentless Focus, Personal Sacrifice, and Risk-Taking - Beyond the Hype: Personal Hardships and Financial Struggles on the Entrepreneurial Journey - Mastering Investor Negotiations: Due Diligence, Term Sheets, and Strategic Thinking - Why Founders Must Understand Legal, Finance, HR, and Every Business Aspect - The Emotional Detachment Needed: Letting Go of Features and Client-Specific Revenue - AudioMob's Pivotal Growth: Product Pivot, Major Deals (P&G), and a Competitive Series A - Revamping Company Culture: From Early Perks to High-Performance Meritocracy - Strategic Hiring, Investor Pitching, and Leveraging Market Trends for Growth - Christian's Investment Philosophy: The "Struggle-Ometer" for Identifying Resilient Founders - The Transformative Mindset: Relentless Pursuit of Self-Improvement - 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/
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Welcome to "Funds & Founders: Untold Journeys Behind Their Breakthroughs," where we dig deep into the stories of successful Austin founders. Instead of focusing on their successes though, we dive into their journeys, particularly the struggles and obstacles they had to overcome.This weekly podcast is tailored for Austin founders navigating the early stages of their entrepreneurial journey and hosted by fellow Austinite Abhinav Sinha. Here’s what to expect by tuning into Funds & Founders:🚀 Embark on a Journey to SuccessJoin Abhinav as he takes you behind the scenes, exploring the highs and lows of building a company. This isn't your typical success story – we dive into the failures, the struggles, and those pivotal breakthrough moments that define a founder's path.🌟 Real Conversations, Real InsightsAbhinav's approach is refreshingly different. Rather than dwelling on success, he crafts casual conversations that unravel the untold stories. Identify the setbacks that helped them grow
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