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In this episode, James Evans, co-founder of Command AI (acq by Amplitude), shares his entrepreneurial journey- from childhood ambitions to launching a startup in college and scaling it through YC. He talks about turning a side project into a venture-backed company, navigating the startup grind, and eventually getting acquired by Amplitude. James breaks down the realities of startup life, including hiring, sales vs. product-led growth, and the psychological weight of being a founder. He also walks through the acquisition process, post-acquisition integration, and how he’s continuing to grow in a new role. This episode is packed with candid insight into early-stage building, decision-making, and what comes after the “win.”

00:00 Starting a Company: The Myth vs. Reality
00:08 Interview with James Evans: Early Life and Entrepreneurial Aspirations
01:41 College Days: The Birth of Command AI
02:50 From Side Project to Startup
04:31 Entering Private Equity After Graduation
05:34 The YC Experience and Why Speed Matters
13:26 Marketing and Growth: What Actually Works
16:32 Conserving Innovation and Picking the Right Bets
16:54 Remote Work as a Strategic Choice
17:48 Marketing: From Popups to Planes
19:17 Avoiding Overthinking and Moving Fast
20:30 Angel Investing and Operating Insights
22:38 Hiring, Firing, and Early Team Building
26:02 The Amplitude Acquisition: How It Happened
30:14 After the Exit: Integration and Personal Growth

Connect with Paige 🌱💜

Behind Genius Ventures blog | https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/

Personal Blog | https://paigefinndoherty.com/

Twitter | https://x.com/paigefinnn

Links
🔗 James Evans – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbevans/
🔗 CommandBar – https://www.commandbar.com/
🔗 Y Combinator – https://www.ycombinator.com/
🔗 Amplitude – https://amplitude.com/

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Hi everyone! In this episode, I’m doing something a little different — walking you through the three phases of self-publishing my first book, Seed to Harvest, a children’s book about venture capital. I’ll share the full behind-the-scenes: how I came up with the idea, what the writing and publishing process looked like, how much money I made (real numbers!), and how this book helped launch Behind Genius Ventures.
In this episode, I cover:

• How to validate book ideas like a startup
• What it actually costs to publish a book (and how I crowdfunded it)
• How writing Seed to Harvest helped me raise a $5M venture fund
• How being online (especially on Twitter) played a major role in all of this
• What I’d do differently next time

Whether you’re curious about writing a book, starting a fund, or just love a good build-in-public story, I hope this helps you take the leap on your own creative project.

📍Follow me:
Twitter (X): @paigefinnn
Email: paige@behindgeniusventures.com
Website: behindgeniusventures.com
Book: Seed to Harvest: A Simple Explanation of Venture Capital available on Amazon

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Tom McLeod isn’t your typical founder or investor.
He bootstrapped a SaaS to 100k users, built a League of Legends app used by millions, sold it to Tencent, and now backs businesses at the intersection of identity, community, and cashflow. Think: car clubs, not cloud infra.
In this episode of Seed to Harvest, Tom breaks down:
• The 3 founder archetypes he’s seen across cycles
• Why he hires founders (even though they always leave)
• What he learned going from bootstrapped to venture-backed
• How he thinks about underwriting non-venture-scale returns
It’s a fresh take for anyone rethinking capital models or scouting overlooked operator talent.

Connect with Paige 🌱💜
Behind Genius Ventures blog - https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/
Personal Blog - https://paigefinndoherty.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/paigefinnn
Connect with Tom 🌱💜
Email- Tom@saltwater.com
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/tmcleod/?hl=en
Twitter- https://x.com/tmcleod3?lang=en

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