#208 with Steph Smith - Why You Need a Chief Automation Officer

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) today go over some of YC's best startups to come out of its recent demo day. Want to make your first million with your mobile app? You have to prioritize your user experience first. And HeadSpin is here to help. With HeadSpin’s mobile app benchmark reports, know where you stand against your peers and get deep insights into your mobile experience and app performance. Get your custom HeadSpin benchmark report at headspin.io/benchmark. Topics for today: Sam's good luck and bad luck (3:26), Teachable selling (7:30), Can Airbnb withstand a recession? (12:48), Cron - Superhuman for your calendar (21:40), Superhumans for x - Pitch and Casuel (29:51), Art in res - fine art installment plans (32:00), Line of credit to influencers (38:53), Freezing eggs (44:34), $100K and pick one to invest in (50:17), Campus delivery startups - Duffle and Puff (53:31) and Unsexy great new businesses like BuildPlane.com and Truenorth Fleet (55:19)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

25 Mars 202058min

Shaan (@shaanvp) is joined by producer Ishan (@ishanhaq) to talk Corona virus and where they think it's at, where it's headed and what you can do to prepare for the worst. We also announced we started a new podcast! 9 Minute Morning Routine should be your daily listen on the way to work in the morning. Feel relaxed, calm and focused on how you're going to kick ass today. Subscribe here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9-minute-morning-routine/id1504340799  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

24 Mars 202050min

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) are chatting over the internet about Corona virus and all things business, markets and life impact it's having. Come hang: www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Want to make your first million with your mobile app? You have to prioritize your user experience first.HeadSpin is here to help. With HeadSpin’s new all-in-one platform, you can now test, monitor, and analyze mobile applications across devices, locations and networks. With state-of-the-art Global Device Cloud can help you obtain unique carrier network, device, and OS level insights for your app in more than 150 locations around the world. No SDK required. Learn more at headspin.io.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

20 Mars 202056min

Sam (@thesamparr) is by himself today without Shaan (@shaanvp) to tell you about what he thinks are 4 essential skill sets that will withstand a recession. Questions about any of these? Ask the hosts directly on www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

15 Mars 202040min

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) talk ideas, news, trends and businesses. Why aren't you in our Facebook group yet? www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. For detailed show notes: https://bit.ly/3aOxEBz. Topics for today: Sequoia Memo (5:00), Virality in startups and viruses (8:51), Lead Gen Businesses (14:39), Islamic Finance (30:06) & Rebranding actions & lifestyles (42:18).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

7 Mars 202048min

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) talk ideas, news, trends and businesses. We've partnered with Rippling! The startup that gives you back your time from payroll to employee compliance, making it unbelievably easy to manage your company’s HR and IT – in one system. If you want to try it out, visit www.rippling.com. Also, we had a listener actually start building an idea mentioned in our last podcast with turning tithing digital. He's documenting his journey and uploaded a video to share with you all in our private FB group -- which you are free to join: www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Here's Paul Graham's awesome essay on Do Things That Don't Scale: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html For detailed show-notes Topics for today: Greetings in the corona world & viral trigger content (0:14), Our run the world event is canceled (1:09), Henry has a mic now... but he's leaving the pod (1:49), A listener is building the tithing app (3:47), Cursing in meetings (5:55), Curly girl hair (8:27), Workout app making $100m/year (12:45), Mixed race shampoo (14:13), Atrium closing down and what Justin said to Sam at Hustlecon (16:24), Paul Graham's Do Things That Don't Scale (22:45), Trader Joe's founder passing away and it's fantastic business (29:25), Hotel franchising (33:49), B2B Gifting (36:14), CEO's discussed actually listen to the pod (42:30), Q&A: What's your best SEO hack for a new website? (43:53), Q&A: How to make your podcast profitable? (46:47) and Best interview questions featuring Henry (49:02).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

6 Mars 202055min

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) talk ideas, news, trends and businesses. Sign up for our Run The World conference: https://organizer.runtheworld.today/invitation/313. We've partnered once again with the online business broker Quiet Light Brokerage, they want to give you guys a FREE 25-point checklist to see how sellable your online business is. To receive this free guide, visit quietlightbrokerage.com/myfirstmillion. oin our private FB group if you haven't already: www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. It's free to join yet provides so much value through meeting other hyperactive business people and having discussions around the type of stuff discussed in the podcast. Topics for today: Bernie Sanders proposed tax on vested shares (2:17), Biggest regrets in structuring companies (9:08), Internet conferences like Run The World (14:25), Book clubs (19:12), Copy masters and publishing giants like Agora (26:34), Online services for older people (32:13), Which single digit unicorn will become the next $100B behemoth? (37:53), Turnkey bathroom renovations (47:38) and Sam's angel investment in Nicotine Gum is working (49:10)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

3 Mars 202053min

Sam (@thesamparr) and Shaan (@shaanvp) talk ideas, trends and businesses. We're joined by Zak Kukoff (@ZCK), a 25 year old VC of $500M Emergence Capital (emcap.com) who's home runs have been Zoom, Salesforce, Veeva, Yammer and more. Topics for today: Introducing our guest Zak Kukoff (1:22), Equity vs Cash comp debate (3:40), Zak leaving school at 16 to raise money (6:49), Does investing in young people work? Should they be building businesses or partying? (11:12), Deskless workforce (17:49), The passion economy (23:43), How and when to build a sales team to accelerate growth (33:07), Buying engineering-led businesses and raising the prices (36:22), AI teachers in sales & language (38:35) & Optimizng your copy (46:39).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

1 Mars 202055min