Adam Renklint - How should founders navigate through VC and grow a startup with intention!

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Adam Renklint is the co-founder, CEO, and prev CTO of Pitch (allowing teams to create compelling stories in the blink of an eye). Adam was previously the founder of Wunderlist, and before that, a senior software engineer at Microsoft, where they led a cross-platform team that developed the task suggestion algorithm that powered Microsoft To-Do. Prior to that, they were a full stack developer at 6Wunderkinder.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for being the first sponsor of The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Adam discuss the AI wave, growing a startup with intention, playing the long game, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:37: Shoutout to Acquire.com
• 03:02: Introduction to Adam Renklint – CEO at Pitch!
• 05:25: Entering 2024 full of intentionality for a startup
• 10:40: What does success look like for Pitch?
• 13:45: How to downsize your goals
• 17:02: Facing fear when finding a path
• 20:00: Shift from CTO in 2018 to CEO in 2024
• 25:15: The philosophy of playing the long game in startups
• 28:27: Setting expectations as a CEO & founder
• 32:58: Creating a company with 8 co-founders
• 41:03: How Pitch started
• 45:34: How much of Pitch comes from Adam's experience at Microsoft?
• 51:12: How does Pitch go from idea > feature > product?
• 1:00:02: Where does the inspiration for Pitch come from?
• 1:04:33: Which products are points of inspiration for Pitch?
• 1:09:49: How to choose your own entrepreneurship path
• 1:16:21: What's next for Pitch
• 1:21:25: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

• Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
• Christian Reber: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianreber/
• Linear: https://linear.app/

👉🏼 Where to find Adam:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamrenklint
• Linkedin: https://de.linkedin.com/in/adam-renklint
• Pitch: https://pitch.com/about

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
• Website: https://5harath.com/
• Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/