Worth Worth

As a reporter at TechCrunch, Natasha Mascarenhas writes about early stage startups. She joined us to talk the future of media and higher education, asking more thoughtful questions, and telling better stories.

It's always fun to talk to people who love what they do, but are also much more than their work. Enjoy!



[2:43]: A day in the life of a TechCrunch reporter

[5:00]: Her focus on edtech and predictions about the space

[7:54]: Chasing down her dream of writing professionally

[11:45]: How to uncover interesting stories and listen better

[17:11]: Thinking through her own content consumption as a creative

[20:37]: Substack and the future of media

[25:55]: Favorite books



Natasha's Twitter - https://twitter.com/nmasc_

Natasha's Substack - https://natasha.substack.com/

TechCrunch's Equity podcast - https://twitter.com/equitypod

Charlie Feng is the Co-Founder of Clearbanc, the fastest, most affordable way for founders to fund their business and the biggest investor of eCommerce businesses in the world.

Previously, he spent time founding companies in the chatbot and marketing automation space, and even had a short stint as a professional gamer.

In this conversation, he and Asher discuss some of the metrics that Clearbanc's algorithm leans on when determining whether or not to fund a business, lessons learned from building Hemingly - Charlie's first company, and the constant pursuit of adding leverage to the human experience.



[1:04]: Pro gaming and carryover into the world of business

[3:27]: Charlie's first company and why founders need to set a closing date when fundraising

[5:36]: Customers don't know what they want until you actually put it in front of them

[6:59]: The insight that lead to Clearbanc

[9:47]: How Clearbanc helps founders fund their businesses without giving up equity

[13:21]: The metrics Clearbanc looks for when deciding whether or not to invest in a company

[16:01]: Playbook for founders on navigating COVID-19 and the launch of Clearbanc Runway

[20:28]: The Condor and the Bicycle and adding leverage to human beings



Charlie's Twitter - https://twitter.com/charliecfeng

Clearbanc Website - https://clearbanc.com/

Stephanie Bowker is the Head of Marketing at Spendesk, one of the fastest growing Fintech startups in all of Europe.

Previously, she was the first Product Marketer at Gusto and during her time at Intuit, had the opportunity to work closely with Co-Founder Scott Cook.

In this conversation, we talk first principles of effective marketing, how to divide up responsibilities as your team begins to grow, and Stephanie's journey from the Bay Area all the way to Paris, France.



[1:11]: Getting a crash course in Product Marketing & Product Management at Intuit

[3:34]: Learning a customer first approach from Intuit Co-Founder Scott Cook

[4:41]: Joining Gusto to build the company's Product Marketing team from the ground up

[6:53]: Stephanie's advice for product marketers on how to narrow down your target audience

[8:32]: Moving to Paris and joining one of Europe's fastest growing Fintech startups in Spendesk

[10:05]: Scaling Spendesk and matching the marketing team to the funnel

[14:40]: First principles of effective product marketing

[17:46]: Stephanie's favorite books and podcasts



Stephanie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-bowker-b8172717/

Spendesk's Website: https://www.spendesk.com/

"How to Scale Product Marketing": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcV5oJCSvQU&t=2300s

Erika Hairston and Arnelle Ansong are the co-founders of Edlyft (YC W20). While they pieced together their own support systems as CS majors, they're building Edlyft to provide structured mentorship for aspiring engineers, at scale.

On who gets to start a startup, betting on people of different backgrounds, and more.



[2:13]: Leaving jobs at Bain and LinkedIn to go full-time on Edlyft

[14:44]: The 'hair on fire' problem that many CS majors face

[17:14]: Erika and Arnelle's opinion on the durability of American higher ed

[19:26]: Why diverse teams see problems that others can't

[24:48]: On who gets to start a startup

[27:28]: Favorite books and podcasts



Edlyft's website - https://edlyft.com/

Edlyft's Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheEdlyft

Arnelle's Twitter - https://twitter.com/nelly_ans

Erika's Twitter - https://twitter.com/bballerika

Tim Harsch is the CEO and Co-Founder of Owler, a business insights company bringing transparency to private businesses around the world.

After joining the company as an Associate Product Manager out of college, Tim's relentless work ethic and technical expertise lead him to become the CEO of the company all before the age of 30.

We discuss the many use cases of Owler, why Tim never pictured himself leading a company, and keeping perspective on the different tiers of challenges in life.



[1:04]: The first company Tim ever started (Hint: it is not Owler)

[2:02]: A minimum wage job and Tim's first taste of Silicon Valley

[3:47]: How Owler is working to bring transparency to private businesses around the world

[5:50]: The challenges of running a distributed team with 70+ Owler team members based in India

[7:15]: Tim's path from Associate Product Manager to CEO of Owler

[8:58]: Reflecting on 8+ years at Owler, and what's next for the company

[11:12]: Why Tim never imagined in a million years he'd be doing what he does now

[12:59]: Unexpected use cases for Owler (Forestry and PE/VC)

[16:14]: Tim's favorite books and a shout-out to Eric Jorgenson



Tim's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tharsch/

Owler Website: https://corp.owler.com/

Allison Barr Allen is the Co-Founder and COO of Fast, a startup working to bring 1-click, passwordless checkout services to the five billion users of the Internet.

Previously, she served as the Head of Global Product Operations at Uber as the company scaled from 2,000 employees to more than 26,000 worldwide. She's also deeply committed to supporting entrepreneurs through Trail Run Capital, her Angel investment fund.

In this episode, we discuss Fast's recent $20M round lead by Stripe, Allison's love for marathon running, and what she look for in a startup when making an Angel investment.



[1:08]: Allison's initial interest in medicine leads her to PwC

[2:41]: Leaving PwC in 2014 to join Uber and advice for those looking to join a startup

[4:07]: Launching Uber's Driver Instant Pay feature and biggest learnings from scaling the company

[9:10]: How Allison got started with Angel investing and the birth of her Frictionless Finance thesis

[12:22]: The 3 things Allison looks for when investing in a startup

[14:35]: How a simple breakfast meeting to discuss an Angel investment turned into Allison becoming the COO and Co-Founder of Fast

[16:22]: How Fast is building a 1-click checkout for the entire Internet and their GTM strategy

[20:31]: Fast's recent $20M round lead by Stripe and how they plan to use the money

[23:12]: Allison's love for marathon running

[25:52]: Favorite books and podcasts, and a shout-out to Harry Stebbings



Allison's Twitter: https://twitter.com/abarrallen

Fast Website: https://www.fast.co/

Fast Swag Store: https://swag.fast.co/