Nolan Church

Lemme vent for a second about how value of this platform is dimishing thanks to: - #recycled #content - #propoganda and #bots - retirees using this platform as a substitute for Facebook - #Utah tech bros bearing their religious testimonials (I lived in Utah off/on for nearly 30 years and this does not get any less cringe) Folks are sharing the same videos from Telegram and news articles (even those written by AI). Some of y’all are even paying to promote your posts (yes, looking at you Skydio.) That’s real SMFH vibes. Anyway - the next few weeks are going to be massive for the #West and related #industrialbase for #drones: - we just had Anduril Industries and PDW win #MRR (I would have loved to have seen Edge Autonomy and Quantum Systems on there but I digress) - #SRR announce is IMMINENT - between Skydio and Teal Drones (Utah LFG!) - this is one of the largest contracts and programs of record in our industry. It would be nice to see both companies awarded, tbh, as it really helps the industrial base and more so, creates a massive black eye for the loser. I’m long #RCAT btw and would love to see these jobs brought to my hometown of #SLC. - #BlueUAS Refresh applicants get notified this week if their solutions were accepted for the first round of vetting. Curious to see who makes it and who doesn’t. - lots of #FPV stuff coming out of the woodwork, I’ve got eyes on #Europe 👀 - #SkydioAscend24 will unveil the #dock for X10 - it’s better than the predecessor, but larger and more expensive. Plus, lots of #software features like better #autonomy. (tbh, I’m always stoked on what Charles Wood and his crew are doing - the guy has had me eating my words like cereal on a few occasions about their products and despite the posts I relish being wrong and coming to a different conclusion - whether re: drones or something else). Word on the street is that they’re raising $$, again. (Quick take: if Skydio loses SRR, I believe the company will double-down on #DFR to alleviate any #investor concerns.) - Zipline (presumably) taking the wraps off of their P2 #dronedelivery platform. Keenan Wyrobek you’ve got everyone’s attention, as per usual. Photo of my dog, because Churro is cute and real (TRL-9) - unlike the render of that prototype product that needs multiple revisions and won’t be available for months.

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🐸 Paraform x ContactOut Unlike in sales, in recruiting, personal emails matter a lot more than corporate emails - most outreach happens there. We're also aware that some independent/freelance recruiters, especially those who are just starting out, don't have the budget to pay for expensive sourcing tools. Now, using our chrome extension, you can get candidate's personal emails, powered by ContactOut (we hear from our recruiters it's the best in the industry!) and reach out to candidates. Want to give it a try and start making placements on Paraform? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gMRXGncp

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YC founders: here's a harsh truth that might help you when hiring. Great people want to work with great people. But...A-players hire A-players. B-players hire C-players. Keeping the hiring bar relentlessly high is critical, especially early on. A single person that isn’t great can drag the quality down of the entire team. Folks will look around and realize the standards are lower than they thought. They’ll realize that they don’t need to be as good. They’ll realize they can learn less from their colleagues. People make the organization, not the other way around. And that if you don’t have great people, you won’t have a great organization.

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I went to a stranger’s house by myself to learn about podcasting. 🎧 Here’s what I learned. ↓ It was a pretty cool event in Mesa, Arizona with a mega podcaster/content creator named Jaeden Schafer He’s the host of the "AI Chat" podcast, which has garnered over 3M downloads and helped raise $600K for his software company. The meetup was specifically to help new podcasters discover the tactics used to achieve the first 1 million downloads. I didn’t know what to expect, and it was in a house which Jaeden turned into a podcast studio. 🤯 It was an awesome event. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: → News content wins if you’re fast. Shorter episodes specifically on that news story is key. → SEO is underrated when it comes to podcasts. At one point Jaeden hired a team of VAs and created 100 different podcasts just targeting keywords in AI and repurposed the content to all of them. He had a podcast titled “ChatGPT” and then as it grew and he was able to interview higher profile people, he changed the title to AI Chat. <- Killer → Getting out of the credibility phase is important, so building social proof should be the main priority. Once you have it you can leverage it. → Podcast covers should always have your face in it, it adds a memorable touch point to the possible viewer/ listener. Even if they don’t consume your content the first time, there’s a good chance they will remember your face and click to listen/ watch the second or third time they see your podcast pop up in search. → Higher volume matters for podcasting especially around heavy news topics. What’s interesting… I learned that most people forget the basics are what works. And they’re always shooting for virality and metrics that don’t matter. But basic things, like your face in a podcast cover, building social proof, and targeting keywords with your podcast really work. Keep up the basics. And as you do, ask yourself how to become more efficient on a daily basis. You’ve got this. 

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Want to help set every candidate up for success in an interview? SET AN AGENDA AT THE START OF THE CONVO 📋 It's a simple but impactful step for a better candidate experience. So how consistently do companies do this today? We looked at 175k interviews to find out... TLDR - The range is massive! Some orgs do it in just 4% of interviews, others do it in 95%! 🤯 The avg & median org sets an agenda in 61% of their interviews. 70% of orgs set an agenda between 45% - 75% of the time Only 20% of orgs set an agenda in >75% of their interviews Here’s how agenda-setting varies across different scenarios: 🔍 BY INTERVIEW STAGE - Recruiters set agendas in 68% of interviews vs. 59% for HMs 🔍 BY FUNCTION - Eng interviews include an agenda 67% of the time vs. 44% for sales 🔍 BY GENDER: - Female set an agenda 69% of the time vs. 63% for Male recruiters - Oddly, a smaller diff for HMs, with FM HMs at 61% vs. 58% for M HMs - Agenda-setting is most common w/ F candidates paired w/ F interviewers We think setting an agenda is a small step that makes a big difference. ❓ What do you think? ❓ PS: This is one of the metrics we track in BrightHire!

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Bootstrapping doesn't mean your long term vision product is profitable on day 1. It means you have found a scrappy way to make money, and then find smart ways to reinvest into something bigger. Most people don't know that we essentially funded Stacker in first couple years by syndicating to MSN on their rev share program, and then slowly built out Stacker as you see it today on top of that business line. Similarly, Tiny started as a design agency, now owns dozens of businesses from Aeropress to Dribbble. Ikea started with the founder buying pens in bulk, then reselling them at a profit. He literally raised $500 loan to do that, then kept reinvesting profits to build IKEA. Worry less about "is this the product." Get in the game, find something that can turn a profit, and see where the road takes you.

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A YC company was quoted $43k for an employee HR copilot They built it in 1 hour instead of hiring additional headcount With VectorShift, employees now receive answers to questions about: 1. Onboarding and offboarding procedures 2. Benefits and HR policies 3. Number of remaining PTO / sick days

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The power of incentives never ceases to amaze me. We are seeing >30X ROI in 2024-YTD on Partner SPIFF 💰 In today's climate, you MUST pay your partner employees cold hard cash commensurate with the lift required to execute on the things you ask them to do Regardless of how big or small the lift was, there should be an incentive attached: ▶ did a partner CSM pitch your solution during a Customer QBR? ▶ did a partner AE send an email to a prospect they just closed suggesting the take a demo with you/ ▶ did a partner influence help you close a big deal? ▶ did a partner CSM review their portfolio and flag the ones that might be a good fit for your solution? All of it (+ more) should come with an appropriate SPIFF that threads the needle on rewarding and incentivizing that behavior whilst maintaining basic unit economic principles (hint: work with finance UP FRONT on this) Most Partner Programs offer some type of bounty program, but IMO they miss the mark because: ❌ it's all or nothing on ONE thing (closed-referred deals) ❌ doesn't include micro-incentives for small things that lead to big things ❌ the unit economics are wack ($1K bounty for a $3K deal lol!) ❌ infrequent (batched) payouts (e.g., quarterly); this should ALWAYS be as in-real-time as possible to train the behaviour Would love to hear from my #partnerships network on their best practices when it comes to Incentives 🤔

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Founders: your investor pitch is not your hiring pitch. And conflating the two hurts the hiring funnel. Here's why: Top engineers, marketers, and sales people aren't gravitating towards the outward facing metrics that investors salivate over. You raised your last round from Sequoia? That's a great signal to investors. To candidates weaned off ZIRP era hype, that's a signal that stack ranks quite low for them. Instead, they care about things such as: ➡️ Actual leadership skills of the founding team (not just how many Stanford and MIT degrees there are). This is where repeat founders get a bit boost. ➡️ Whether the work is interesting. This matters a ton of engineers, but also for other roles. Great candidates want to know that the day-to-day is going to be challenging, intellectualy rewarding, and fosters their own curiosity and growth. ➡️ Sustainability of the business model. This is where the smart candidates want to know the investor pitch, but also want the candid take on challenges. Companies who spend too much time explaining "here's why we'll be worth billions in five years" but show little thought on navigating the medium term have lost candidates. This is why we coach so many founders to speak during the hiring process to the role itself, and less about the company. Paint a picture of the purpose of the role. The impact. The learnings. Go beyond the surface level selling points and seek to connect in a 1:1 manner!

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You’d think thanksgiving week would be a slow hiring week. Not for my clients. I’m recruiting for sales and products roles for some seed through series B saas, energy, and healthcare startups. Many of my clients are taking time off but having me interview so that they have a strong pipeline of candidates when they get back. It’s fun helping clients headhunt top talent while their competitors go on vacation ;) #startup #hiring #holidays

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This is a really bad take from someone I assume is an otherwise smart, dedicated founder. In reality, it’s sacrifice, grit, determination, and a legitimate business that make a true founder, regardless of tech involvement. Not your zip code. In my 2024 fireside chats with exited founders, I’ve met with successful founders who’ve built big tech and non-tech companies in NYC, LA, Austin, and Boulder. Yes, SF is the best at tech. We know this. But New York, LA, and plenty of other cities will close the gap between SF and the rest. Give it a decade: More risk-friendly investors will pop up in first-rate cities as homegrown companies get their exits. Besides, there is no one right way to build a company. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. Good luck to all of you building things, even if the cool kids aren’t there.

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Team Offsites for remote startups are HARD. But - we just had a 9.7 out of 10 🔥 (I know b/c everyone submits feedback & ratings!) As the CEO of Hampton, here’s what I chose to focus on: - Connection over everything: 80% of the 3 night offsite was built around the team connecting with each other. - Understanding our customer: we focused a lot on doing things that our members do - so our team walks away with a much better grasp on what our members go through. - Confidence: I do everything I can to build the team up, give them confidence, try to bring down the negative self-talk and the doubt. - Laughter: bringing levity to most of the programming makes people so happy. Life's short man, have fun. - Environment: we spend enough time inside, sedentary, behind screens. 80% of the offsite was outside, in nature, moving around. - Doing Epic S***: Hampton’s company motto is to do epic s***. So, we had to incorporate this ethos. If you’ve ever done holotropic breathwork & experienced hand/arm paralysis, you know what we mean. I’ll be sharing more about our team offsite this week, since it’s still super fresh in my mind. Follow along if you’re the founder or CEO of a startup - I'll also be including real exercises we did & things I need to improve next time.

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Throwback Thursday! Feeling nostalgic after just donating some of our old swag. Before Go Fractional became a platform connecting companies with any type of fractional it was called "Gotta Go Fast" where we had just a marketing site and a cool turtle in a jetpack focusing on placing fractional CTOs and amazing engineers. If you're wondering, yes it was inspired by Sonic. A little over 3 years ago I was wearing a Sonic t-shirt and thought "Of course! People want to go fast", who wishes they could go fast? That's right turtles 🐢 That's how Torty was born in collaboration with the amazing Oliver Lisher (who also did Interseller's space bear) I don't have that sonic tshirt anymore but I still have the old site up on Vercel for anyone that wants to check out Torty in all his glory: https://lnkd.in/da9fXdfk The forms probably don't work, but if anyone is looking for or looking to become a fractional CTOs, engineers or anything else. Check out Go Fractional! Would love to bring back Torty in some way! Let me know if anyone has any ideas! Here's some ideas to get started: - Torty the game - Torty the AI startup coach - Have Torty be the 500 page (similar homage for Slack)

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Cara's first integration launch plan: Step 1: Launch End. But luckily, before I went ahead and executed this "plan" I figured I'd ask our angel investor, Andrew Johnston, whose done a lot of partnerships and knows way more about launching an integration than I do. When Andrew read my first draft of the Bear App integration post, his first question was "What's the main value that Bear users get from the integration?" It's the ability to collaborate from a note they've drafted in Bear. But I hadn't made that clear. I also hadn't written step-by-step instructions to get started from the perspective of someone who already has Bear open and has never heard of us. Andrew gave me the blueprint and as a result, we've gotten thousands of new users from the integration (including some of our happiest and stickiest users). As founders, we get the advice all the time to leverage our network. I'm lucky to have amazing mentors like Andrew that are ready to jump in and have the expertise to be helpful. When I ask targeted questions like this, I've been amazed at what I can learn. Thanks, Andrew 🙌🏻

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The "Holy War" (BYU vs Utah football game) is just around the corner. As fun as the rivalry is, let's be serious, the negativity from both fan bases gets a little out of hand. So, in the spirit of being a little bit better to our rivals, I thought it might be fun to start in thread in which we say something nice about a personal or professional rival. Bonus points if you tag them (even though I don't have the guts to). I'll start... Get The Referral is a group that Snoball often times comes up against when it comes to referral generation. They have an awesome ROI calculator tool that makes it easy for companies to get a general idea of how a systematized referral platform could increase revenue.

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Half of LinkedIn has already weighed in on Paul Graham's recent essay Founder Mode, which criticized the approach of running large companies with "efficient managers." The discussion was sparked by Brian Chesky, who, during an event at YC, lamented that hired management nearly destroyed his company. Everyone in attendance nodded in agreement. Let’s set aside the fact that guys in Patagonia vests may not be the best sample for assessing the success of "Founder Mode." The success of some of these individuals is hard to replicate, not just in other countries, but even in the U.S. under high-interest-rate conditions. Survivorship bias in action. The key question here is: are motivation and accountability for the company’s mission the critical factors for a startup's success? In my opinion, they come second, right after the ability to continuously learn and adapt to changes in the company. For example, the founders of Instagram stepped aside at the right time (maybe unwillingly), allowing efficient managers to build the second-largest social network in the world and a huge cash cow for Meta. An efficient manager, Imran Khan, came to Snapchat from Alibaba, helping the company make a great IPO and improving a lot as a CSO. Bill Gates handed over management to one of his early employees, Steve Ballmer, who in turn passed it to Satya Nadella, allowing Microsoft to become one of the world’s largest companies. Steve Jobs long resisted the necessity of releasing the iPhone and was ultimately convinced by multiple managers, who saved the company, which at the time was relying on a single product line. My conclusion from the stories above: one must constantly learn and evolve to align with the product's tempo. If you fall short due to a lack of skills, motivation, or health, it's better to let more flexible and competent people handle these challenges. You can't blame failure in people management on an inherent flaw in the hired management system.

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Imagine this… You build a company, scale it from $1.5M to $20M in revenue You sell the company for $51M and walk away with $13M We had Ryan Begelman on Moneywise, and that’s what he did. But here’s where it gets wild: He starts spending a lot. $15,000 on Burning Man, $25,000 on property insurance for his $5.5M townhome, 3k per night on hotels, stuff like that. He hit a peak of $800,000 in spending one year. $67K a month. And even worse, he has most of it in cash and misses out on stock gains. He starts to feel a ton of anxiety. Eventually burns out completely. Took time and learning to see there were issues behind how he was spending. So, he starts tracking everything he’s spending on. Took him over 4 years after his big exit to start feeling secure. Now, his spending is down to ~$360k/yr. Basically has cut it in half. One of his biggest expenses is his personal coaching and development, which is about $105k/yr. So, what’s the lesson here? Making millions is great. But learning how to manage it is a whole other game. You’d be shocked at how many people are great at money but not necessarily great at investing, spending, saving it. Check out the recap w/the pod linked here: https://lnkd.in/g_Br8wSn

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Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech, and Live Events "I will never feel guilty if this works." Part Two In ten days, work has taken me to: LAFC Playoffs in the Directors box Intuit Dome floor seats Nobu dinner with clients Thursday Night Football: Eagles vs Commanders in the Eagles suite UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden Palm Desert for a Big Horn Golf Outing This is not normal. At all. That's a few months of events in a very short period of time. Most of what I do is pretty boring stuff to many. But everything just came at once. And I felt guilty, and still do, about all of it, as detailed in the #18 thing I learned in 2024. What I learned during a hectic two weeks. 1. Priorities change fast When I was younger, all I wanted to do was get to a point where my job was to play golf at nice courses, go to fancy dinners, and, of course, go to all the games. Now that the invites come in, much of it is a distraction. Even when it is my job to be there. It is so easy to get hung up in the excitement, but my guilt hasn’t gone away. I love the events and the fun. But I miss my kids. A lot. I have work to do. And there are so many events anyone can get caught up in being a “professional CEO” instead of actually running the business. All that to say, it’s not really what it seems. The stakes just go higher while at the events and I’m still riddled with guilt. 2. It is all about friendships. Life on the road can get lonely. When we first started, I didn’t have many friends in other cities, and I traveled a ton. I’d go city to city where I didn’t know anyone. I’d go on educational tours, visit museums, just about anything to pass the time until the next city (back then, we didn’t have any money, so I wouldn’t fly home.). But that has changed. Over the years I’ve made incredible friends with the people who work with us. The teams, the vendors, and the customers. I can’t wait to get to certain cities. And when my team goes instead of me, I look at the pictures with a hint of jealousy. The events are fun. The friendships? The highlight of the trip. I’m still bummed I got to Philly late and missed my buddy Nick’s tailgate with his buddy in their Eagles bus. Those are the memories that last the longest. 3. Eventually, it all blends to together. Work-life balance is a must. But when you do what you love, they blend together. Like when I go to the Eagles game and get to spend the last quarter with friends at the team. Or when customers turn out to be big UFC fans who want to come to the fights. It is so rewarding and fantastic. I’m so thankful for the sales side of the business. I keep a personal CRM of all my contacts. One of the fields is the source of the contact. I don’t bother between “business referral” and “personal” anymore. It’s all the same thing. An extra one: Thank You to the team at TicketManager for earning us a Bronze Medal in the Best Places to Work in Sports from the Sports Business Journal!

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