I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving an in depth and specific example of how I would go about building a mobile golf application allowing golfers to find partners to play with at their handicap, in their region and/or club, with the same availability.
For your reference I am including the do’s and don’ts slide I used during the episode and embedding links to the PowerPoint presentation I used as well as the PDF output of the Balsamiq flow.
If you prefer, you can listen to the episode in the embedded podcast player.
In addition to the above Youtube video and embedded podcast player, you can also listen to the podcast on:
Given that it’s episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this show before covering everything there is to know in terms of fundraising for venture backed startups:
Common mistakes when fundraising
The unwritten rules of venture capital
How and when to approach venture capitalists
Much more!
For your reference I am including the two slides I used during the episode.
If you prefer, you can listen to the episode in the embedded podcast player.
In addition to the above Youtube video and embedded podcast player, you can also listen to the podcast on:
Playing with unicorns is a new weekly live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I will be streaming every Thursday at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. I will post the video to YouTube after each episode and the audio to the podcast section of Spotify and iTunes. I will also post every episode on my blog.
I was asked to create a live streaming show and podcast many times over the last few years, but I was not inspired. Almost every show has a host interviewing amazing guests, with the same guests making the rounds on every show in their category. I did not want to be redundant with those efforts. On top of that, running FJ Labs is all encompassing. I did not feel I would have the time to put together an amazing roster and do a great job.
Instead, as readers of my blog probably noticed, I became a guest on a wide range of podcasts and live streaming shows. It was fun and interesting, but with enough experience I realized that what was missing was a distilled version of the content. This was reinforced by the fact that most entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs I meet have a common set of questions that I find myself answering repeatedly: how to fundraise, how VCs evaluate startups, how to come up with a good startup idea etc.
As a result, I thought it would be most valuable to cover a specific topic every week. I will share my perspective before opening it up to questions from the audience. This is not to say I will not have guests on the show, but when I do, it will mostly be for them to present something practical (e.g. how to test customer acquisition channels for a pre-launch idea to estimate customer acquisition cost), rather than a traditional interview where they share their story.
The objective of this show is not to be mass market, but to help Internet entrepreneurs understand how to build scalable venture backed startups. I will try to be educational, even for those with limited experience in the startup world, when covering broader concepts like fundraising. However, I will also be more technical and detail oriented when doing deep dives on specific topics like “the future of food”, “how to match supply and demand in marketplaces” or “how to decide which business model to pick.”
To have diversity in the content offering, I imagine that some weeks I will host “ask me anything” sessions, organize quick pitches that I react to, or just comment on happenings in the tech sector. I will also cover topics and ideas suggested by viewers. If some entrepreneurs are up for it, I would love to stream a company evaluation where I assess one of the startups pitching FJ Labs for funding.
I expect the show duration to vary between 10 minutes and 1 hour. Note that this is unscripted, unedited, and self-produced, so do not expect high production values with jazzy effects. Instead, I will focus on providing valuable information to startup founders.
I do not know how many episodes I will end up creating, but this should be a fun experiment and I cannot wait to see what comes of it. The first episode is Thursday, September 17 at 12 pm EST. I will cover fundraising.
In the meantime, enjoy in introduction video for the show.
A few years ago, for my 40th birthday, they put this fantastic video together to celebrate our love and friendship. It was one of my favorite gifts ever.
This year, I thought no one could top the present I bought myself of a padel court in Turks given my love of padel.
But my friends are not to be underestimated. A few hours later they surprised me with this touching tribute video.
Then they presented me with this huge, loving birthday card.
I was felt so loved I had tears of joy. Thank you I love you all!
