Startup Growth Podcast

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  1. Julian Weisser | The Solo Flippening: How 1-in-3 Startups Broke the Co-Founder Myth

    12/20/2025

    Julian Weisser | The Solo Flippening: How 1-in-3 Startups Broke the Co-Founder Myth

    The script has been the same for decades: find a co-founder Investors demanded it. Accelerators screened for it. The narrative became so entrenched that founders started pairing up out of obligation, not alignment. Julian Weisser, founder of SOLO and ODF, has a name for this phenomenon: co-founders of convenience And he's proving they're not just unnecessary-they're often the reason companies fail. This week, Julian released 'The State of Solo Founding' report: "Today, solo founding is considered odd. Soon it will be the default. This report features exclusive Carta data alongside commentary from solo founders who have raised over $250M and the investors who backed them." The comprehensive tracks solo founder rates across thousands of startups, the headline finding is historic: for the first time, over one-third of new startups are solo-founded (That's 36% in 2025, up from under 25% in 2019) 👉 Download the report here: https://solofounders.com/report 👉 Apply to the Solo Founders Program today. A three-month, in-person residency for 6 ambitious solo founders. Next cohort starts Jan. 23, 2026: solofounders.com/program(00:44) Why the report matters now(02:17) The data: 24% → 36%, first year over 1-in-3(04:32) 3 forces: AI, visible wins, collapsing narrative(06:00) Investor POV(07:30) Org design insight: cutting the middle layer(09:47) Download report: http://solofounders.com/report(11:01) ODF26: half the cohort flipped to solo(12:33) Inside SOLO(14:30) Why coworking doesn't work for startups(16:37) Outcomes: $1M ARR in 2 months & more(17:19) Follow @solofounding & @joinodf Where to find Julian Weisser:‍X: https://x.com/julianweisserLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianweisserWebsite: https://weisser.io‍ Where to find SOLO: ‍X: https://x.com/solofoundingLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solo-foundersWebsite: https://solofounders.com Where to find ODF:‍X: https://x.com/joinodfLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solo-foundersWebsite: https://joinodf.com‍ Newsletters: ‍Texts with Founders: https://textswithfounders.comMultitudes: https://multitudes.weisser.io‍ Where to find David Phillips:X: https://x.com/davjLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davjphillips‍ Brought to you by:‍ Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups @ fondo.com

    18 min
  2. Nate Matherson | Set It, Forget It—Scaling to 2,000+ Customers at Numeral

    12/19/2025

    Nate Matherson | Set It, Forget It—Scaling to 2,000+ Customers at Numeral

    Nate Matherson has spent 10+ years as a founder. He's built companies and even exited. After that first exit, he started angel investing in dozens of companies, then launched a fund. Numeral was one of his early bets. He sent Numeral's CEO Sam an email. By the end of the day, he was working there as Head of Growth. Now he's helping scale the YC-backed sales tax platform serving over 2,000 customers. Nate's seen what happens when founders don't think about sales tax. "They actually found out that they owed about a half million dollars in sales tax… the buyer subtracted that off what would have gone to the founders." When Nate was a founder, he'd log into Stripe and that sales tax dashboard was lit up like a Christmas tree. Numeral does free nexus studies and monitoring — takes five minutes to set up, plugs into Stripe and Rippling, then runs itself. They launched their SaaS product recently, and their whole concept is set it and forget it. They actually love it when customers don't log in. Some of Nate's new learnings? "When I was a founder, I was always pretty good at marketing. I was just marketing not-so-great products, which made marketing a lot harder." At Numeral, with the right product at the right time, everything clicked. And he knows: great products make marketing easy. Timing makes it effortless. ‍ Key Topics Covered [00:10] $500K sales tax bill found during due diligence[01:10] What is nexus and how it triggers[01:51] From founder to angel to fund manager to operator[04:02] 10+ years building, angel investments, vc fund[05:27] Numeral: e-commerce to SaaS journey[08:12] States that tax SaaS + global VAT complexity[08:40] "Set it and forget it"[10:37] Free nexus study + monitoring in 5 minutes[11:24] What's working in growth [13:28] Great products make marketing easy, timing makes it effortless[14:25] Nate's investing rule per batchFollow Nate Matherson:X: @NateMathersonLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/natematherson ‍ Follow Numeral:X: @numeralYouTube: youtube.com/@numeraltaxWebsite: numeral.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/numeralhq ‍ ‍FollowDavid Phillips: ‍X: https://x.com/davj ‍LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davjphillips ‍ Brought to you by: Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    15 min
  3. 🎧 Startup Growth Podcast, Ep. 32 Jayden Clark | Moments to Flywheels: Founders Engineering Repeatable Reach

    12/18/2025

    🎧 Startup Growth Podcast, Ep. 32 Jayden Clark | Moments to Flywheels: Founders Engineering Repeatable Reach

    Jayden Clark didn’t abandon music. He re-scored it for distribution.  After music school, a hedge fund tour, and a B2B SaaS sprint, he launched MOTS—short, sharp episodes designed to be both of the moment and built to last a quarter.  His north star isn’t “go viral.” It’s “be clear.” The insight is disarmingly pragmatic: structure is not the enemy of creativity—it’s the amplifier. Lists compress cognition.  A beginning–build–end gives every clip a runway and a landing.  When a five-replies-deep roast on X unexpectedly detonated, MOTS podcast already had the scaffolding to catch the surge. That’s the signature move: follow a consistent weekly cadence, then publish “emergency episodes” when the culture pops.  The result is a feed that feels alive without feeling random. ‍ Key Topics Covered Career path: SF Conservatory → hedge fund → B2B SaaS → MOTS + Atlas Media LabsJazz formulas = content formulas: two-five-one progressions, building blocks, beginning-middle-endWhy lists work: digestibility, structure, pattern-matching"Neither timely nor timeless": weekly SF tech culture + emergency current-thing episodesEmergency episode #1: Brian Chesky's bench press The viral ratio: Meta Ray-Bans clip → five-tweets-deep → Theo's reply → Seth's "roast" GIF"16 hours of screen time": the competitive advantageDistribution strategy across Twitter, YouTube, Apple, Spotify‍ Timestamps: 00:20) "neither timely nor timeless" (00:51) Keeping the music alive (02:10) SF Music → hedge fund → SaaS → pod (03:20) Jazz improvisation: a content strategy (03:42) Building blocks & two-five-one progressions (04:35) How to make content easily digestible (04:53) The @theo ratio backstory (06:46) @sethsetse viral quote-tweet (07:17) Emergency pods vs. weekly episodes (07:22) Emergency Pod #1: @bchesky's bench press (09:42) Where to find @mots_pod‍ Where to find Jayden Clark: X: @creatine_cycleLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jayden-clark-75991a1aa ‍ Where to find MOTS Podcast: X: @mots_podYouTube: @motspodLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mots-pod Where to find Atlas Media Labs: Website: atlasmedialabs.com ‍ Where to find David Phillips: ‍X: https://x.com/davj ‍LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davjphillips ‍ Brought to you by: Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    11 min
  4. Sky Yang & Neo Lee | Content-Market Fit > Product-Market Fit: Why B2B Founders Are Getting Cloned

    12/16/2025

    Sky Yang & Neo Lee | Content-Market Fit > Product-Market Fit: Why B2B Founders Are Getting Cloned

    Sky Yang (CEO) & Neo Lee (CTO) are Co-founders of Imagine AI, an AI-powered content engine that clones B2B founders—replicating their voice, context, and backstory to create scalable personal brands. Before Imagine AI, Sky was elected student body president at UCSD by 32,000 students at age 19, then secured $150 million in state funding for university housing through coalition-building and advocacy in DC, Sacramento and at the UC Board of Regents. He co-founded "Break the Outbreak," a nonprofit that delivered PPE across 18 states and 53 cities during COVID, earning commendations from Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Eric Swalwell. Neo transferred from UCSD to Berkeley, then dropped out to build. He met Sky freshman year at a beach event—asking "Are you Skygodkingdom?"—before they went skydiving together and Neo cut Sky's hair in the woods after COVID. Their catalyst was realizing founders were building in public on X but deals were happening on LinkedIn. After meeting advisor Gustaf, they pivoted distribution strategy to focus on where B2B founders actually live and transact. Sky calls this "content-market fit"—a state where your content hits your target customer every single time, creating scalable, repeatable inbound motion. They were fully booked from their first week post-YC launch, landing Series B customers. One founder messaged urgently, jumped on a 15-minute call, and paid on Stripe immediately. They recruited over Halloween weekend instead of partying. They hosted a yacht party with $10 billion in collective GDP (320 capacity, 750+ on waitlist). Neo's philosophy: "The product is just amplifying what we already are. Just be authentic." Sky's vision references Westworld: "Your agents will interact with each other instead of humans." Key Topics Covered: · What Imagine AI is: a chat-first AI clone with high-fidelity persona creation, subject matter expert interviews, and content engineering to hit content-market fit · From X to LinkedIn: pivoting distribution to where B2B deals actually happen; Gustaf's advice on market selection · Sky's origin arc: Chengdu → LA → Bay Area → UCSD student body president → $150M state funding advocacy → Break the Outbreak nonprofit · Neo's journey: UCSD → Berkeley dropout → "Skygodkingdom" beach encounter → haircut in the woods → building startups pre-Imagine AI · Content-market fit framework: when your content hits your customer every single time—scalable, repeatable motion with high-intent top-of-funnel inbound · Week-one hypergrowth: fully booked post-YC launch, Series B customers, 15-minute Stripe close during conference, recruiting over Halloween · Authenticity over algorithm: amplification not fabrication; the product shapes around you, not the other way around · Building clones that replicate voice, context, backstory, heuristics, and cognition · The $10B GDPyacht party: 320 founders, 3 DJs, 750 waitlist—building community as cultural moment · The 'Westworld' thesis: AI agents interacting on your behalf · Building in public as 2025 narrative: why founders do great work but nobody knows; solving discovery through personal brand at scale · Design philosophy: one infinite content motion thread vs. scattered posts; AI handles artifacts, humans make strategic decisions ‍ Chapters:‍01:21 - The origin story: "Are you Skygodkingdom?"02:00 - Neo cuts Sky's hair in the woods02:36 - Sky's journey: Youngest student body president at UCSD04:20 - Securing $150M in state funding for student housing06:28 - The nonprofit during COVID06:40 - How Imagine AI started: solving their own problem07:15 - Launching on YC and getting booked solid08:00 - Using their own product for personal branding09:08 - What is "content-market fit"?10:08 - The future: AI clones11:09 - The $10 billion GDP yacht party in SF12:11 - Where to find Sky, Neo, and Imagine AI Where to find Sky Yang: ‍LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skyyang ‍X: https://x.com/skygodkingdom ‍ Where to find Neo Lee: ‍LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neo-lky ‍X: https://x.com/neo_lky ‍ Where to find Imagine AI: ‍Website: https://www.imagineai.me ‍X: https://x.com/imagineagi‍ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ai-imagine ‍ Where to find David Phillips: ‍X: https://x.com/davj ‍LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davjphillips ‍ Brought to you by:Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    13 min
  5. Rebecca Medina & Jeff Phillips | How Talent Cheetah Cut PM Hiring from 90 Days to 5 Minutes with Transparent Pricing

    12/11/2025

    Rebecca Medina & Jeff Phillips | How Talent Cheetah Cut PM Hiring from 90 Days to 5 Minutes with Transparent Pricing

    Rebecca Medina and Jeff Phillips built an AI-powered talent marketplace that's disrupting recruitment with transparent pricing, direct negotiation, and same-day PM hires for SMBs. Rebecca Medina had the network. She had decades of Big Tech experience. She had the credibility. But when she needed project management help on a client engagement as an independent consultant, none of it mattered. "Even with my network of project managers, I couldn't find the right person fast enough," Rebecca recalls. "And it created a big problem for the company because we weren't able to scale as quickly as we wanted." That pain point became Talent Cheetah. Five years later, Rebecca and her co-founder Jeff Phillips have built an AI-powered talent marketplace connecting pre-vetted project managers with SMBs. They've scaled to 300 PMs across 34 US states. They've even partnered with the Project Management Institute. But the metric that matters most: the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it takes 90 days to hire a technical project manager. Talent Cheetah does it in minutes—with same-day hiring possible. In this episode, Medina and Phillips break down the recruitment model that turns recruiting on its head: transparent pricing that exposes hidden markups, lower take rates than traditional agencies, direct PM-to-company negotiation, and real-time hiring through AI matching. Their core unlocks: many traditional staffing firms charge companies a significantly higher rate than what PMs actually earn—often without disclosing the difference to either side; cultural fit matters just as much as credentials (project management exists on a broad spectrum — the skills needed vary widely across industries, company sizes, and stages of growth.); and past execution remains the strongest predictor of future performance. Their 25-point vetting process includes one pivotal test: candidates must be able to produce legitimate professional references—if you can't find even one after years in the field, you're not ready for the platform.‍ In this conversation, they reveal just how much AI is automating routine PM artifacts (like meeting notes, risk logs, and timelines) while increasing the premium on leadership and communication; how their intentional U.S.-based strategy competes on quality and transparency in an industry racing to the bottom on cost; and how Talent Cheetah is opening doors for underrepresented groups in project management; why fractional engagements (such as part-time PM support for short durations) are suddenly viable when traditional agencies can't deliver them well. Key Topics Covered The pain point origin: Rebecca's consulting crisis when her network couldn't deliver PM talent fast enough The 90-day problem: Bureau of Labor Statistics average vs. Talent Cheetah's minutes-to-same-day matching Exposing the hidden markup: traditional agencies bill $x/hour, pay PMs $x/hour, keep $x secret from both parties No posting fees: free to post unlimited jobs (vs. ZipRecruiter/Indeed/LinkedIn pay-per-post), no sign-up fees for PMs The 25-point vetting process: professional references, credential validation, and candidates who wait years The reference test: some applicants can't find anyone to vouch for them after 12-24 months Four-year minimum: experience requirement (not just title) focused on herding cats and managing projectsUS-based strategy: competing on quality, transparency, and credential familiarity instead of global price competition PMP vs. experience: why certification proves framework knowledge but not execution capability Direct negotiation: PMs and companies set rates transparently, eliminating hidden recruiter markups AI-powered matching: real-time algorithm surfaces top 3 PMs, with 297 more to browse Cultural fit dynamics: startup PMs vs. Big Tech PMs require different personalitiesExpanding beyond PMs: network architects, developers, product managers using same vetting framework PMI partnership: hiring bonanzas and visibility programs in San Francisco White glove service: helping first-time contractors negotiate rates and structure engagements AI's impact on PMing: automating artifacts while amplifying leadership and communication needs Fractional engagements: 10-hour/week arrangements that traditional agencies can't serveTransparent pricing model: complete visibility vs. hidden markups, lower take rates than Robert Half/Adecco/Tech Systems Chapters: (01:55) Origin story: Talent Cheetah (03:16) What makes Talent Cheetah different: Speed as the #1 differentiator, same-day hiring possible (04:05) US-based strategy: competing on quality and credential familiarity (06:08) Supporting underrepresented groups: veterans (logistics → PM transitions) and women in tech (07:33) Serving both sides: job search help for PMs, FAANG-quality talent for clients (08:43) White glove service: flexible involvement based on needs, negotiation help included (09:16) How it works: 30-second account creation, under-5-minute posting, real-time AI matching (10:15) Platform scale: 300 PMs across 34 US states, discipline-specific but industry-agnostic (11:04) The 25-point vetting process: four-year minimum, references, credentials, interviews (14:09) PMP certification vs. hands-on experience: gold standard plus practical execution (16:02) Exposing the hidden markup: how traditional agencies work (17:08) AI's impact on PM work: automating artifacts, amplifying leadership and communication (20:40) Expanding beyond PMs: network architects, developers, product managers (23:02) PMI partnership: 'hiring bonanzas' and visibility programs in SF (25:12) Ideal clients (26:47) Transparent pricing model: no posting fees for companies, no sign-up fees for PMs (27:36) Getting started: talentcheetah.com, instant talent matching (30:48) Internal messaging and AI matching: top 3 matches with direct communication (32:00) Where to find them on LinkedIn, YouTube, talentcheetah.com Where to Find Rebecca Medina:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccarmWebsite: https://www.talentcheetah.com Jeff Phillips:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyjphillipspmpWebsite: https://www.talentcheetah.com Talent Cheetah:X: https://x.com/talentcheetahLinkedIn: ht...

    33 min
  6. Julian Weisser | 'The Flippening': Why Solo Founders Are Becoming the Default

    12/04/2025

    Julian Weisser | 'The Flippening': Why Solo Founders Are Becoming the Default

    Julian Weisser is the Founder and CEO of Solo Founders, a three-month residency program in San Francisco where founders live and work together while maintaining full authorship of their companies. He's also the CEO of On Deck Founders (ODF), a program that over seven years and 26 cohorts has helped over 1,000 people start companies that have collectively raised more than $2 billion.  As an angel investor with more than 150 portfolio companies including Levels, Astroforge, and MagicSchool, he's seen patterns in what actually predicts startup success versus what investors claim they're looking for. He writes the Texts with Founders newsletter sharing bite-sized practical wisdom for entrepreneurs and publishes Multitudes, a newsletter exploring founder psychology and startup strategy. In this episode, Weisser breaks down the denominator delusion: solo-founded companies were more likely to succeed than co-founded ones, but nobody talked about it because when you look at the total number of successful companies, co-founded businesses eclipse solo successes—while hiding how many unsuccessful co-founded companies exist in the denominator.  His core unlocks: two-thirds of startups die from co-founder disputes before reaching product-market fit or running out of money, being solo is far better than 99% of potential co-founders, and authorship (the desire to express yourself and put your vision into the world) matters more than contortionism (twisting your company to match what investors want to see).  The flippening already happened in ODF 26—over half chose solo. In this conversation, he breaks down why MagicSchool's Adil Khan (a former high school principal with no startup experience) succeeded solo, how "co-founders of convenience" kill companies before they reach potential, what makes the Solo Founders residency feel like having "five co-founders while building your own company," and why mimicking trends accrues value to memes instead of founders. Key Topics Covered: The denominator delusion: why solo success rates are higher but invisible in the narrative.Two-thirds die early: co-founder disputes kill startups before product-market fit or funding issues.Co-founders of convenience: rushing into partnerships because investors demand it.Invalid constraints: questioning beliefs (like needing school/work co-founders) that prevent great companies.ODF's evolution: expanding who can start companies and who they can start them with.The flippening moment: over 50% of ODF 26 chose solo after the program.Authorship vs. contortionism: building authentically vs. pattern-matching for investors.Solo Founders residency: six to seven founders per cohort, living/working together for three months.Chapters: (00:11) The denominator delusion: why solo-founded companies are more likely to succeed(02:53) How ODF expanded the co-founder search beyond school and work connections(07:05) The flippening: when solo becomes the default instead of the exception(09:27) Why two-thirds of startups die from irreconcilable co-founder disputes, not lack of product-market fit(10:02) Best practices for co-founding: avoiding assumptions and pre-mortems(14:03) How early founders decide to go solo (most don't even consider it initially)(17:42) ODF 26 results: over half chose to build solo(18:48) Founder characteristics across boom cycles: more mimicry and trend-chasing than ever(20:21) Mimicry vs. authorship(22:33) The growth narrative trap: why $100B outcome fixation from massive funds limits great companies(25:09) The Solo Founders residency: three months, "five co-founders"(30:13) The space: own rooms, common areas, office on ground floor, 6am-3am usage(33:27) Who applies: half bootstrapped and sold companies(36:46) Authorship as the defining trait‍ Where to find Julian Weisser: ‍X: https://x.com/julianweisserLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianweisserWebsite: https://weisser.io ‍ Where to find SOLO: ‍ X: https://x.com/solofoundingLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solo-foundersWebsite: https://solofounders.com ‍ Where to find ODF:‍ X: https://x.com/joinodfLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/'odf'Website: https://joinodf.com ‍ Newsletters:  ‍Texts with Founders: https://textswithfounders.comNewsletter (Multitudes): https://multitudes.weisser.io ‍ Where to find David Phillips:X: https://x.com/davjLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davjphillips ‍ Brought to you by:‍ Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    43 min
  7. Allen Naliath | Sam Altman + Garry Tan Cold Asks, Win Conditions You Control & Why Friday Stops at 99%

    12/02/2025

    Allen Naliath | Sam Altman + Garry Tan Cold Asks, Win Conditions You Control & Why Friday Stops at 99%

    Allen Naliath is the Founder and CEO of Friday, a Chrome extension that integrates AI email management directly into Gmail. Two years ago at Stanford, he struggled with the confidence to ask for what he wanted. So he engineered a solution: a 30-day rejection challenge where he had to hear "no" once per day or start to ask for increasingly audacious requests. The problem: people kept saying yes. He escalated strategically—waiting by a golf cart to ask Sam Altman to sign his laptop, and cold-asking Garry Tan to add him on LinkedIn during a Stanford talk. Garry's response: "Is this a Psyop?" He added him anyway. That connection led to YC. Today, Friday processes emails via predicted action buttons—users press enter repeatedly to archive, reply, or unsubscribe. Allen personally onboards every user to inbox zero in 10 minutes, even with 18,000 unread emails. Naliath's catalyst was advice from a founder mentor: "If you want to work on startups when you graduate, don't even apply to Apple and Google. If you have no plan B, plan A has to work." His core insight: most people's win condition depends on the other person saying yes. He reframed it so yes and no are both wins—the win condition is in his control just by asking. That philosophy runs through Friday's design: it doesn't put email on full autopilot (which "induces anxiety"), it gets users 99% of the way. Friday started as a hackathon project, evolved into a mobile text assistant, then became a Chrome extension after realizing Gmail integration was faster than building feature parity. The average person spends two hours per day in email; Friday users get through 30 emails in 60 seconds. ‍ Key Topics Covered: - Rejection challenge: daily "no" requirement, mindset shift from fear to relief - Win condition reframe: "Yes and no are both wins. The win condition is in my control just by asking." - Cold approaches: Sam Altman golf cart ambush, Garry Tan LinkedIn add during Stanford talk - Friday evolution: hackathon project → mobile assistant → Gmail Chrome extension - Anti-autopilot philosophy: "That induces anxiety. It gets you to 99%—you stay in control." - Predicted action buttons: archive, reply, unsubscribe—all one-keystroke approvals - Voice matching: Friday drafts replies that sound like you, including dash preference - 10-minute inbox zero: personal onboarding using auto-archive rules for old emails - Chat feature: "Look him up online, find his email in my inbox, draft an intro." ‍ Chapters: (00:33) The rejection challenge that rewired his confidence(02:08) Sam Altman signed his laptop (03:35) Changing you win-condition to be in your control(04:25) Asking for things that are "hard to get" (05:20) Meeting Silicon Valley Legends (06:05) "Is this a Psyop?" - how a cold LinkedIn ask to Garry Tan led to YC (07:03) Dropping out of Stanford: "If you have no plan B, plan A has to work." (09:23) Friday DEMO: how enter-enter-enter clears 30 emails in 60 seconds (13:45) The inbox zero system: snooze what matters, archive the rest, empty daily (15:13) Why Friday stops at 99%: "Full autopilot induces anxiety—you need control." (17:36) Chat-powered bulk actions: "Look him up online, find his email, draft an intro." (19:21) Make every day feel like Friday ‍ Where to find Allen Naliath: X: https://x.com/AllenNaliathLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allennaliath Where to find Friday: ‍Company X: https://x.com/fridaymailCompany Website: https://www.friday.soCompany LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fridaymail Where to find David Phillips: X: https://x.com/davjLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davjphillips Brought to you by:Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    20 min
  8. Lindsay Amos | Old vs. New Media, Exclusive vs. Embargo & Why Founder Brands Win Early

    11/26/2025

    Lindsay Amos | Old vs. New Media, Exclusive vs. Embargo & Why Founder Brands Win Early

    Lindsay Amos is the Founder of Amos Communications, a boutique firm for founder-led marketing and PR. From 2018 to 2024, she ran communications at Y Combinator, where she coached thousands of startups and wrote YC's handbook on startup PR. Before that, she worked in comms at Square and Meta, giving her a 360° view of how stories move from boardrooms to bylines to buyer behavior. Today, she advises founders on landing real news (not ads), building durable founder brands, and operating across a media landscape that's shifted from legacy gatekeepers to creator-led growth channels. She also co-created The To-Do List Summit, a workshop bootcamp teaching early-stage teams the tactical basics of comms, video, events, and community, and she writes a Substack on startup storytelling and strategy. Amos's catalyst was living both media eras: nine months shepherding a single Wired story about Square moving into a new office versus today's "algorithms plus authenticity" environment. Her core unlocks: lead with the what (then earn the why), tie every pitch to a macro trend your audience already cares about, and default to exclusives over embargoes until you're big enough to run a press gauntlet. New media isn't a replacement for traditional outlets; the best founders run both lanes—because audiences follow people first, products second. In this conversation, she breaks down how to pick the right channel, prep for tough interviews, avoid blacklist behaviors, and time transparency (share the "personal hell" after you've won, to teach—not spiral). ‍ Key Topics Covered: - What "news" actually is: a hook plus a macro trend your customer already thinks about. - Founder brand vs. company brand: why audiences follow people first (and how to use it). - Exclusive > embargo (early): how editors green-light stories and why timing matters. - Practical media ops: avoid Friday pitches, follow up once, don't text or Signal reporters. - Content that converts: entertaining, educational, or perspective—never just ads. - Cinematic launches: when video helps, when it's sizzle; why distribution still wins. - New media shift: reporters → Substack/podcasts; find where your audience actually is. - The To-Do List Summit: teaching founder-led marketing when agencies aren't the answer. ‍ Chapters: (01:58) Old media → new media(05:26) Why founder-on-camera works—and when it doesn't.(08:59) Playing the LinkedIn game, Substack, and sustaining the channels you'll keep.(11:10) "Personal hell" as narrative fuel—share it after the win.(21:58) Defining a real news hook; anchoring to macro trends (IRL + wellness example).(25:48) Exclusive vs. embargo: how reporters decide what to cover.(26:53) Pitch etiquette that keeps you off blacklists (days, follow-ups, warm intros).(32:32) Founder brand > company brand (early) and the three content modes.(36:33) The To-Do List Summit: workshops over thought leadership; hands-on playbooks.‍ Where to find Lindsay Amos:X: https://x.com/lindsayaamosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayamos, https://www.linkedin.com/company/amoscommsWebsite: https://www.amoscomms.comSubstack: https://lindsayamos.substack.comTo-Do List Summit: https://x.com/todolistsummit ‍ Where to find David Phillips:X: https://x.com/davjLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davjphillips Brought to you by:Fondo — All-in-one accounting for startups: fondo.com

    39 min
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