How I Fixed It Madhav Malhotra

Jesse is the cofounder of CodeLingo, a startup building tools to help developers collaborate THROUGHOUT their work. I talk to Jesse about his unexpected path in entrepreneurship and lessons selling to developers instead of ordinary consumers!  

To learn more about CodeLingo, visit https://codelingo.io 

P.S. Some fancy words Jesse used:
- Codebase: All of the code used in an application.
- Pull Request: a process after a small piece of code has been written and tested, where it is added to all the existing code in an application.
- Technical debt: the cost of choosing an easy solution now vs. a harder solution that is more efficient in the long run.
- Devtools: developer tools. These are softwares that help programmers while they code.
- Github: A website that lets programmers store and share their code with others, who can copy and modify this code.
- API: Application Programming Interface. Fancy term for a tool others can use to interact with your code, even from different computers.
- Principles: the guiding 'rules' of a company.
- Vision: what the future world looks like if a company achieves its goals.
- ToFu: Top of funnel (ex: a customer visits a website). MoFu: Middle of Funnel (ex: a customer asks for product specifications). BoFu: Bottom of funnel (ex: a customer adds a product to their cart).
- The funnel: the sales funnel. A model where a lot of customers hear about a company, a few try the product, fewer still end up buying, and so on. Fewer customers at the end of the sales process are like the narrowing neck of a real-life funnel.
- Funnel activities: At each step, a business does 'activities' to keep customers going to the next step, like making an engaging website to keep customers from clicking away before seeing the product.
- Stickyness: Just a word to describe how well something retains customers. Ex: If the business' newsletter doesn't have readers unsubscribing, it is 'sticky'.
- Churn: The % of customers a business loses over time. Ex: Subscribers that cancel their subscription each month.  
- Boilerplate: Repetitive code that follows a template, without any unique parts. Ex: Code to login to a website.  

Timeline
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Solving Problems for Yourself
05:54 How the Product Works
07:28 Differentiating the Product
09:41 Marketing 101
12:38 Pitching to Developers
15:12 Pitching to Commercial Buyers
17:26 Authentic Entrepreneurship

Dr. Mead has decades of experience working on biotechnology, patenting a method called TA Cloning which has sold over a billion dollars! And now, he's working on another company that could help discover drugs from nature 10x more quickly.  

To learn more about Varigen, visit http://varigenbiosciences.com/ 

P.S. Dr. Mead used a LOT of technical terms. I defined them all here: https://cutt.ly/VWMHMJ2 

Timeline
00:00 Introduction
01:23 Dr. Mead's career path
06:31 Mini-science brief
08:32 Upside of academic setting
09:32 Following your interest
10:56 Challenges in academia + biotech
12:17 How to find biotech problems
13:23 Upside of industrial setting
14:24 Lessons learned the hard way
18:21 Dr. Mead's latest work
22:15 What's next for Dr. Mead

Paige is the cofounder of Nyoka Design Labs, a biotechnology startup that uses microbes to replace harsh chemicals. I talk to Paige about her unexpected path in entrepreneurship as she learned to lead on the job!  

These are some books Paige recommends to learn about leadership and self-awareness:
- Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Secret Life of Your Mind by Mariano Sigman
- Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand
- The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene
- 419 by Will Ferguson  

To learn more about Nyoka, visit https://www.lightbynyoka.com/

P.S. Some fancy words Paige used:
- Bioluminescence: when living organisms create light
- UVic: the University of Victoria in Canada
- Kickstarter: a fundraising platform where anyone can contribute or start a project
- IndieBio: a startup accelerator that helps biotechnology companies grow  

Timeline
00:00 Introduction
01:10 How did you start?
03:16 Transition to entrepreneurship
05:11 Curiousity behind leadership
08:20 Complementary team strengths
09:54 How to identify strengths
12:16 Building confidence to lead
15:00 Just do it
17:44 Making contrarian decisions
20:16 Recommended Resources

Julie is one of the cofounders of Mabel's Labels, a company that makes durable labels for lunchboxes, and many other things! I talk to Julie about her initial beginning, teamwork, and how she navigated her company's expansion.



You can visit Mabel's Label's here:  https://mabelslabels.com/en_US/



Chapters:



Chapters:

0:00 Intro

1:06 Who is Julie Cole?

5:35 Origin of Mabel's Labels

8:11 The mom market

9:03 Romanticized entrepreneurship and building community

12:22 Educating your market

14:00 Making the original product to streamlining

15:38 What to do when feeling discouraged

18:04 You're not alone

18:53 Meeting the team

20:40 Don't close yourself to one thing

22:00 Work on the business, not in the business

27:16 The importance of attitude

30:00 Delegation

31:00 What would you do differently?

Javier is the cofounder of Afino, a startup that helps employees better engage with remote work. I talk to Javier about his experience with understanding users' needs and growing his own self-awareness!  

These are some books Javier recommends to learn about building products:
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Inspired by Marty Cagan
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin  
To learn more about Afino, visit www.afino.io  

P.S. Some fancy words Javier used:
- QICSI: The Queens Innovation Centre Summer Initiative. An entrepreneurship accelerator that Javier attended at his university.
- 5 Whys: A process where you ask why five times to find the root cause of a problem. More information here: www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/5-whys
- MVP: Minimum viable product. The most basic version of a product that entrepreneurs can create to check their ideas.
- Product Hunt: A platform that compiles new startup products from around the world.  

Timeline
00:00 Introduction
01:20 How did you start?
02:58 Pivots in the Pandemic
04:25 Finding the root cause
10:31 Real problems vs. user ideas
13:45 Hard lessons learned
16:03 Testing prototypes
17:25 Measuring progress
20:55 Reading recommendations
22:35 How to read   
24:02 Life routines

Alessandra is the cofounder of Algi, a company that makes energy bars with algae! I talk to Alessandra about her company, how she's navigating sustainability, and how we as consumers can navigate those same issues.  

You can visit Algi at:   http://algifoods.com



Chapters:

0:00 Intro

1:25 What does the bar taste like?

3:17 Getting people to try something new

4:30 Sustainability

9:07 Target demographics

14:55 Reflecting progress

15:27 Organizing/action plans

21:49 What to do when you feel like you aren't making progress

25:42 Celebrating