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Startup Ignition Podcast

Startup Ignition Podcast

By: John & Tyler Richards
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 Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.Startup Ignition Academy, Inc. Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • The Truth About Product Market Fit, PMF, Customer Interviews, Lean Startup

    The Truth About Product Market Fit, PMF, Customer Interviews, Lean Startup
    Feb 26 2026
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts Tyler and John Richards dive into a special Q&A session to answer the most pressing questions from their community of founders. Before getting into the startup advice, they celebrate a recent Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory and play a fun venture capital game called "Invest, Pass, or Instantly Dead." The duo then tackles critical topics like when to raise venture capital, how to truly validate a business idea, the real definition of product-market fit, when to actually build your MVP, and the shifting expectations around Total Addressable Market (TAM) for modern startups.

    (00:00:00) Episode introduction and the danger of building products too early

    (00:01:58) Celebrating the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory

    (00:02:45) Playing the Invest, Pass, or Instantly Dead investor game

    (00:11:00) Transitioning to audience Q&A on common startup issues

    (00:11:57) When should I raise venture capital and am I venture backable

    (00:14:10) Understanding the ladder of proof and startup traction

    (00:15:54) How to know if your business idea is actually a good one

    (00:17:39) How many customer interviews are enough for real validation

    (00:20:10) What does product market fit really mean for your startup

    (00:24:17) When should I build a Minimum Viable Product for my customers

    (00:28:12) How big does my Total Addressable Market really need to be

    (00:30:35) Why a massive TAM is not always required for pre-seed funding

    (00:33:15) Episode wrap-up and final thoughts for ambitious founders

    Learn more about us:
    https://startupignition.com/links

    Apply to be a guest on the pod:
    https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/

    Follow John & Tyler:
    https://x.com/trich_
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/

    Subscribe on YouTube:
    https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition

    Follow on X:
    https://x.com/startupignition

    Follow on Instagram:
    https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/

    Follow on TikTok:
    https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignition

    Follow on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/

    Follow on Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/startupignition/

    #StartupIgnition
    #VentureCapital
    #Entrepreneurship
    #StartupFounders
    #ProductMarketFit
    #LeanStartup
    #MinimumViableProduct
    #TotalAddressableMarket
    #BusinessValidation
    #StartupAdvice
    #PreSeedFunding
    #AngelInvesting
    #FounderMarketFit
    #BusinessModelCanvas
    #TechStartups
    #CustomerDiscovery
    #RaisingCapital
    #VentureBackable
    #StartupPodcast
    #EntrepreneurLife
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Dan Caffey: Sold to WeWork for$100M, Teem, Startup Mistakes, Personal Family Tragedy

    Dan Caffey: Sold to WeWork for$100M, Teem, Startup Mistakes, Personal Family Tragedy
    Feb 12 2026
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John sit down with Dan Caffee, a veteran entrepreneur, investor, and the current CEO of Voiso. Dan shares his incredible journey through the Utah tech scene, from his early days bootstrapping companies to the massive success of Teem, a conference room scheduling platform he sold to WeWork for over $100 million in an all-cash deal. Beyond the business wins, Dan challenges the "startup as a baby" mentality, discusses the importance of solving problems for industrial sectors rather than just other "tech bros," and opens up in a deeply moving segment about the tragic loss of his wife, Elise, offering profound insights on grief, resilience, and the vital importance of living life without delay.


    (00:00:00) Teaser: Selling to WeWork and the reality of loss

    (00:02:06) Introduction to Dan Caffey: The Swiss Army Knife of startups

    (00:05:14) Founder’s Firsts: The worst pitch that still got funded

    (00:08:22) The first "Oh Crap" moment: Layoffs and near-bankruptcy

    (00:10:24) Validation: Discovering Twitter was using their side project

    (00:13:33) Learning the hard lesson of firing a friend too late

    (00:23:09) Dan’s origin story: From industrial recycling to tech

    (00:29:01) Driver Careers and the pivot to Neutron Interactive

    (00:35:44) The birth of Teem: Turning a skunkworks project into a company

    (00:37:46) The Entice Labs story: Failure, acquisition, and meeting John

    (00:47:42) The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Why your company is not your baby

    (00:52:51) Handing over the CEO reins to co-founder Sean Ritchie

    (00:57:12) Monetization strategies: From free downloads to SaaS

    (01:00:27) The Exit: Selling Teem to WeWork for $100M all cash

    (01:06:42) Starting Voiso: Why tech ignores the industrial sector

    (01:14:59) Addressing tragedy: The accident in Mexico and losing Elise

    (01:19:05) The most important lesson: "Don't wait" to live your life

    (01:23:25) Choosing resilience: Taking the family trip to Egypt

    (01:29:49) Dan’s final advice: It always comes down to the people

    Learn more about us:
    https://startupignition.com/links

    Apply to be a guest on the pod:
    https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/

    Follow John & Tyler:
    https://x.com/trich_
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/

    Subscribe on YouTube:
    https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition

    Follow on X:
    https://x.com/startupignition

    Follow on Instagram:
    https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/

    Follow on TikTok:
    https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignition

    Follow on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/

    Follow on Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/startupignition/

    #StartupIgnition
    #DanCaffey
    #Teem
    #WeWorkExit
    #Entrepreneurship
    #Voiso
    #IndustrialTech
    #GriefAndResilience
    #StartupFunding
    #Bootstrapping
    #TechFounders
    #BusinessStrategy
    #UtahTech
    #Leadership
    #AngelInvesting
    #FounderAdvice
    #MentalHealth
    #FamilyFirst
    #SaaS
    #ExitStrategy
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 32 mins
  • Sam Stoddard: TurboTax for Immigration, YC, VC, Exits

    Sam Stoddard: TurboTax for Immigration, YC, VC, Exits
    Feb 5 2026
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Sam Stoddard, the co-founder and CEO of Simple Citizen—a platform often described as "TurboTax for immigration." Sam shares his journey from an accounting student at BYU to navigating the complex US immigration system for his wife, which sparked the idea for his startup. We dive into his unique path of raising venture capital before joining Y Combinator, the crisis that almost sank the company during their YC batch, and the eventual acquisition of Simple Citizen by the world's largest immigration law firm.


    (00:00:00) Introduction and the power of student entrepreneurship

    (00:04:07) Sam Stoddard’s bio: Building the "TurboTax for immigration"

    (00:07:32) Icebreaker: Equity vs. salary and night owls vs. early birds

    (00:12:12) Debating the leadership styles of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates

    (00:21:42) Growing up in Portland as the youngest of eight adopted siblings

    (00:28:37) Lessons learned serving a mission in Seoul, South Korea

    (00:35:45) Interning at Money Desktop (MX) under Ryan Caldwell

    (00:40:05) The "Lightbulb Moment": Navigating the green card process

    (00:46:27) The $500 lawyer meeting that validated the business idea

    (00:49:42) Winning $250k in non-dilutive capital through startup competitions

    (00:53:20) Building the MVP and finding a technical co-founder

    (00:56:03) Finding the first customer and the viral loop of immigration

    (00:59:55) Pricing mistakes: Charging $250 vs. thousands for a lawyer

    (01:01:53) Applying to Y Combinator after already raising a seed round

    (01:06:52) The immense value of the YC alumni network

    (01:08:47) Managing valuation conflicts between VCs and Y Combinator

    (01:11:00) Moving to Mountain View and ignoring investors to focus on product

    (01:14:18) How a Google Ads ban almost killed the company—and the angel who saved it

    (01:18:05) Pivoting from B2C to B2B and winning enterprise contracts

    (01:20:00) The acquisition by Fragomen and the decision to sell

    (01:23:04) Sam’s #1 piece of advice: Revenue is the only thing that makes it real

    Learn more about us:
    https://startupignition.com/links

    Apply to be a guest on the pod:
    https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/

    Follow John & Tyler:
    https://x.com/trich_
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/

    Subscribe on YouTube:
    https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition

    Follow on X:
    https://x.com/startupignition

    Follow on Instagram:
    https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/

    Follow on TikTok:
    https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignition

    Follow on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/

    Follow on Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/startupignition/

    #SimpleCitizen
    #ImmigrationTech
    #YCombinator
    #StartupJourney
    #VentureCapital
    #StudentEntrepreneur
    #BYU
    #LegalTech
    #ExitStrategy
    #FounderStories
    #SiliconSlopes
    #BusinessAcquisition
    #RevenueGrowth
    #Fragomen
    #TechStartup
    #Entrepreneurship
    #StartupAdvice
    #ProductMarketFit
    #AngelInvesting
    #StartupIgnition
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 26 mins
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