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Billion Dollar Tech

Billion Dollar Tech

By: Brendan Dell
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 Advice & growth frameworks from three comma founders, VCs, and executives (and those on their way there.) Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • The Secret To Achieving Product-Market Fit - With Lama.ai Founder

    The Secret To Achieving Product-Market Fit - With Lama.ai Founder
    Apr 11 2023
    “Something that doesn't slice the pie differently or steal someone else's breakfast, but something with a potential to grow the overall pie,” is Omri Yacubovich’s description of Lama.ai, of which he is co-founder and CEO. Lama.ai provides business lending to banks, credit unions, SaaS companies, fintech and B2B brands. Through his research, Omri found that 80 percent of businesses that applied for a loan through their primary banking relationship were declined. Alternative methods included exorbitant APRs that could reach as much as 400%, as well as a very high cost of acquisition and capital. Lama. ai offers to lower these expenses to nearly zero while also offering a more specialized strategy to fit varying needs of businesses versus a cookie cutter plan. Omri offers insights into the number of entrepreneurs who have emerged from Israel. He speculates that it has something to do with having to perform mandatory service at 18, having major responsibilities and decisions to make. He and Brendan discuss the myth of the young Ivy league-educated entrepreneur success story–the vast majority of majorly successful business people had years of experience–even whole careers under their belts before founding their first big business. There is a balance between the bravery of youth where you have very little to lose and the experience and wisdom that come with being older. Omri shares his unpopular opinion on the concept of work/life balance. He talks about what he might have done differently if he had the process to do all over again. Quotes: “There are 1000s, or tens of 1000s, or hundreds of 1000s of startups that fail.. the validation was an important piece.” (15:13-15:27 | Omri) “What we've done, which I think is also important for the first time founders that are listening to this episode, is we left some room for strategic investors...including my previous CEO.” (24:32-25:26 | Omri)  “The Northern Lights or where you want to go and what you want to sell is way more important than the actual technology and features that you're building and you're probably very proud and excited about. So, my recommendation is to talk about the problem and why you and your team are the right ones to solve that problem.” (27:31-27:52 | Omri)  “If you're not running fast enough, if you're in the right or wrong direction, you're never going to get to the finish line. So I think it's crucial for startups to have the ability to move fast. And unfortunately, moving fast requires a lot of dedication and working hours. So, it's not popular, but that's my opinion." (35:47-36:13 | Omri) Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandell TikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926    Connect with Omri: Omri.y@lama.ai lama.ai Check out Omri’s recommended books: Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer https://bookshop.org/p/books/start-up-nation-the-story-of-israel-s-economic-miracle-dan-senor/16646834?ean=9780446541473   The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-building-a-business-when-there-are-no-easy-answers-ben-horowitz/6432758?ean=9780062273208 Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters https://bookshop.org/p/books/zero-to-one-notes-on-startups-or-how-to-build-the-future-peter-thiel/9402001?ean=9780804139298   The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries  https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lean-startup-how-today-s-entrepreneurs-use-continuous-innovation-to-create-radically-successful-businesses-eric-ries/9422262?ean=9780307887894 Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Use code Brendan30 for 30% off your annual membership with RiverSide.fm  Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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    46 mins
  • How to Develop Emotional Intelligence - Public Company CEO Shares

    How to Develop Emotional Intelligence - Public Company CEO Shares
    Apr 4 2023
    “You probably can’t overemphasize the importance of your co-founder relationship,” says Noah Abelson-Gertler, founder coach and former public company CEO, explaining that 50% of startups and scaleups that fail do so due to co-founder relationships. Co-founders have an intimacy that is like marriage without the romance—you experience highs and lows, make major decisions together, you’re dependent on each other, and can often spend more time together than you do with your actual spouse. That is why it is so important to be as thorough as possible in getting to know your potential co-founder, asking them every possible question, their strengths and weaknesses, references, how they would respond to every possible scenario, and if you can really see yourself working side-by-side with this person for the next ten years. It is just as important to be honest with yourself, about your motivations, shortcomings, etc.  This is something that Noah wishes he had done more of with his own co-founder before entering into business with each other. But, as he mentions, the only other difference between marriage and co-founder partnerships is that co-founders aren’t given the tools and resources couples are given. That’s why he encourages all founders to find a coach because you really can’t know what it’s like until you’re in it, and as you scale and succeed, your role constantly changes.  Noah and Brendan also touch upon feelings of imposter syndrome, spurred in part by what Brendan calls “success porn.” Founders feel like they are the only ones who feel the increasing pressure that builds commensurate with success. No one has it all figured out, they agree. And if they think they do, they’re likely a sociopath.  Quotes “You probably can't overemphasize the importance of your co-founder relationship. So from the moment that you start looking into becoming a co-founder with somebody, you want to focus as much resource on it as, as you logistically can, you're not going to be able to spend 100% of your time on it, never will. But it's wildly important to the success of your business.” (27:43-28:06 | Noah)  “The most similar relationship that you're going to have in your life to a co-founder relationship is a romantic relationship, bar none. It is wildly intimate, you are dependent upon each other, you spend an immense amount of time with each other, and you're making hard decisions constantly. Now, the difference between these two relationships is, and I talk about this a lot in co-founder coaching, a romantic relationship has a bunch of tools to it, the co-founder relationship does not.” (31:26-31:59 | Noah)  “A common thing that comes up is founders who enter into a co-founder relationship is thinking that they don't need to both better get to know themselves, and constantly work on themselves. So that's an understanding you have to have from the jump. If we're going into this together, we both have to have the humility to look at our shortcomings and look at ways that we can improve.” (35:00-35:21 | Noah)  “If you think about what really moves the needle as… it's the inner person, the soft skills that really often make the difference. Can you organize people well, and you're not going to organize and direct a team. It's like when the parents are fighting at home:..If you're not getting along, and you guys are constantly at odds, and there's tension there, the team's going to sense that in there, as you're creating a divide in your business.” (36:26-Brendan | 37:12 | Brendan) Connect with Brendan Dell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell Instagram: @thebrendandell TikTok: @brendandell39 Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926    Connect with Noah: Foundersjourney.io Check out Noah’s recommended books:   Radical Candor: How to be a Kick-ass Boss without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott https://bookshop.org/p/books/radical-candor-be-a-kick-ass-boss-without-losing-your-humanity-kim-scott/8486942?ean=9781250235374   Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman  https://bookshop.org/p/books/multipliers-how-the-best-leaders-make-everyone-smarter-liz-wiseman/7213241?ean=9780062663078   The Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle https://bookshop.org/p/books/el-coach-de-sillicon-valley-lecciones-de-liderazgo-del-legendario-coach-de-negocios-bill-campbell-trillion-dollar-coach-eric-schmidt/7976170?ean=9780062839268 Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Use code Brendan30 for 30% off your annual membership with RiverSide.fm  Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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    52 mins
  • Top Hostage Negotiator Teaches You How to Be a World-Class Communicator

    Top Hostage Negotiator Teaches You How to Be a World-Class Communicator
    Mar 24 2023

    “We're emotional beings that think, not thinking beings that feel,” says Scott Walker, leadership coach, former Scotland Yard detective and one of the world’s most experienced kidnap for ransom negotiators. Scott joins the podcast today to share what engaging in covert counterterrorism and kidnapping operations has taught him about communicating in life and in the corporate world. The process, Scott explains, is a matter of taking your emotions—as well as your ego—out of the equation. At the same time, you must be very aware of the other person’s emotions, what they want and need including what Scott calls “the bunch of fives.” Force, subjugation and domineering approaches rarely work if at all. Negotiation is very much about collaboration. It is far less about a set script of things to say and more about showing up and being curious about another person.

    For most people, talking about money is the most uncomfortable thing they do at work. When asking for a raise, focus on what you can do to provide value to your employer, on your long-term commitment. Negotiations should have a single clear message. Don’t lose sight of the outcome. Hear Scott talk about the “three Ms” that are invaluable to his daily practice. 

    Scott and Brendan discuss the success of Chris Voss—also a former hostage negotiator, and his ability to, in the TikTok era where most people can only stay present for a thirty second video, hold people’s attention for three hours. Scott credits JP Sears for infusing discourse with humor and nuance in a world where people hardly listen to or empathize with each other. They also discuss Diego Perez and Andrew Huberman. 

    Quotes:

    • “I'd say that emotional self mastery, which is ultimately what having a right mindset is about, is probably one of the number one skills of an effective negotiating communicator…So you don't become swayed from pillar to post by people's challenges, really.” (20:04-20:45 | Scott) 

    • “People make decisions based on emotion…if I can uncover what your real needs are, then I'm a step closer to helping you meet them.” (28:02-28:35 | Scott) 

    • “Sometimes people ask me, ‘Are you just trying to manipulate people?...I just want you to walk away happy thinking, ‘Hey, I've got a good deal here.’” (33:41-34:19 | Scott)



    Connect with Brendan Dell:
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell
    Instagram: @thebrendandell
    TikTok: @brendandell39


    Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926 

     

    Connect with Scott Walker:

    scottwalkerbooks.co.uk


    Buy a copy of Scott Walker's book, Order Out of Chaos:
    https://www.scottwalkerbooks.co.uk/


    Check out Scott Walker recommended books:

     

    Tools of TItans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers     by Tim Ferris

    https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781328683786

     

    Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement by Tony Robbins

    https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780684845777



    Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!


    Use code Brendan30 for 30% off your annual membership with RiverSide.fm 


    Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
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