Customer-Driven Products: How Brett Kopf built “Slack for Schools” and launched Omella

Smart Friends Podcast

Topics:

(7:11) - Brett’s earliest memories of his strengths

(9:58) - Understanding different skills and abilities

(13:36) - Brett’s early career

(18:08) - What was the moment of conception for Remind?

(26:03) - What were some pivotal moments early on?

(30:08) - How much did Twilio aid your growth?

(31:18) - What role did investor selection play into the success of Remind?

(35:00) - Transitioning into Omella

(44:18) - How many customers did you talk to before building the product?

(45:11) - What’s the process of building conviction in your product?

(50:38) - How much wider is the purview of Omella than Remind in terms of the market it helps?

(55:11) - Thoughts on distribution, engagement and retention

(1:01:15) - How has the founder experience compared with your second company vs. the first?

(1:03:38) - How does leverage fit into structuring Omella?

(1:08:23) - What are the most common mental models you use to make decisions?

(1:12:50) - Do you find people to be overthinking while building a product?

(1:14:13) - Where would you like Omella to be in the next 5-10 years?

(1:15:09) - How do you ensure you can keep a small high-performance team rather than solve problems via headcount?

(1:16:16) - How often do customers that you interact with become evangelists for Omella?

Links:

BrettKopf.com

Brett Kopf on Twitter and LinkedIn

Omella

Remind

Acton academy

The Theory of Constraints

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