Podcast
Clock Speed with Shamus Madan
Hosted by Shamus Madan · EN
Join Shamus Madan as he interviews industry leaders like Mark Cuban and Tim Draper, sharing insights on building billion-dollar businesses to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.
21episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
I Asked A $1.5 Billion Investor For Advice
Oct 15, 202400:41:44Tap to summarizeSean O'Sullivan shares his entrepreneurial journey, from not being able to afford food to selling his company for $15 Million at 28 years old. He discusses the traits of a great founder and offers advice for young entrepreneurs navigating today's market. Sean reflects on his early programming days and the founding of MapInfo at age 21, detailing the motivations behind the company and the challenges faced in scaling and going public. He explores the role of venture capital and his transition to active investing with SOSV, focusing on deep tech. The conversation delves into risks, the value of investing in first-time founders, and megatrends in manufacturing and climate tech. 🐦 Follow the host: https://x.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About SOSV: https://SOSV.com (0:00) Introduction to Sean O'Sullivan and his journey (0:30) Sean O'Sullivan on making his first million and early life struggles (1:00) Traits of a great founder and advice for young entrepreneurs (1:54) The path to making the first million in the current market (3:30) Sean O'Sullivan on financial prudence and early career experiences (5:16) Sean O'Sullivan's early programming days and founding MapInfo at 21 (9:02) Motivation behind MapInfo and scaling the business (15:07) Overcoming challenges and the decision to go public with MapInfo (18:12) The role of venture capital and life after going public (22:49) Founding SOSV, deep tech focus, and the transition to active investing (24:34) Risks, learning curves, and the value of investing in first-time founders (32:36) Megatrends in manufacturing, climate tech, and key advice received
Transcribe →Anthony Pompliano: Turning $50k/Year Into $100 Million
Sep 17, 202400:55:45Tap to summarizeJoin Anthony Pompliano and Shamus Madan as Anthony shares his journey from military service to entrepreneurship. He reflects on the impact of September 11th, handling pressure, and balancing ambition with practicality. The discussion covers business ideas for students, the book that changed his life, and Facebook frameworks that connect humanity in business. Anthony explores AI, overlooked opportunities, and insights from early Ethereum mining. He highlights common scaling mistakes, traits of successful billionaires, and offers advice to his younger self. Tune in for valuable lessons and insights from Anthony's experiences. (0:00) Introduction and overview of Anthony Pompliano's experiences (0:19) Timeless advice and foundational principles (1:17) Impact of September 11th on Anthony's perspective and military motivation (5:53) Dealing with pressure in military and business (8:54) Early entrepreneurial ventures and lessons learned (10:55) Balancing ambition with practical constraints (14:09) Business ideas for college students and insights from Shamus's data collection (19:45) The book that changed Anthony's life and its continued impact (25:18) Frameworks learned at Facebook and connecting with humanity in business (29:59) The role of line striping businesses in future transportation and challenges in buying traditional businesses (38:26) AI, overlooked business opportunities, and earnings from early Ethereum mining (42:18) Common mistakes entrepreneurs make when scaling (44:40) Traits that separate hyper-successful billionaires from the average person and how to live an extraordinary life (51:14) Best investment ever made and greatest failure with lessons learned (54:17) Advice to 20-year-old self and closing remarks
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This Ivy League Dropout Can Predict How You Might Die
Sep 3, 202400:38:30Tap to summarizeKian Sadeghi shares his journey, beginning with a personal tragedy that inspired the creation of Nucleus. He explains the decreasing cost and increasing value of genome sequencing and his decision to drop out of UPenn to focus on build a biotech company. Kian shares the challenges he faced and the strategies he used to raise $18 Million from investors such as Alexis Ohanian. He highlights the advantages of being a young founder and demystifies genome sequencing. The conversation explores the future of genome data, its integration with personal hardware, and the hurdles in building consumer trust. Kian also reflects on the role of PhDs, the long-term vision for Nucleus, the lessons learned from failures, and how he manages stress. 🐦 Follow the host: https://x.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About Nucleus Genomics: https://mynucleus.com/ Huge shout out to Savraj Singh for making this episode possible! (0:00) Kian Sadeghi's personal tragedy and the inspiration behind Nucleus (2:54) The decreasing cost and value of genome sequencing (6:10) Learning about human biology and the decision to drop out (10:49) Overcoming challenges and raising funds for Nucleus (14:57) Advantages of being a young founder and explaining genome sequencing (19:19) The future of genome data and integration with personal hardware (23:13) Building Nucleus: Challenges, consumer trust, and prioritizing tasks (31:12) The role of PhDs and the long-term vision for Nucleus (33:29) Learning from failures, current fears, and handling stress (36:09) Best and worst advice and reflections for the younger self
Transcribe →The Secret Behind Creating Viral Apps & Becoming The Youngest Intern at Tesla
Aug 20, 202400:41:43Tap to summarizeDylan Diamond shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with making websites in 4th grade to becoming Tesla's youngest intern at 17 to dropping out of UPenn to pursue building a company. He discusses his engineering background, early projects, and the creation and adoption of the Saturn app. Dylan balances his Tesla work with app development, meets co-founder Max, and reflects on early startup lessons. The conversation covers Saturn's growth, strategies, and challenges faced, as well as critiques of social media models and monetization strategies. Dylan concludes with key lessons from building Saturn, reflections on past failures, and personal advice. 🐦 Follow the host: https://x.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About Saturn: https://www.joinsaturn.com/ (0:00) Introduction and early success of Dylan Diamond (1:00) Dylan's journey from Tesla intern to dropping out (2:00) Dylan's background in engineering and early projects (5:04) The creation and adoption of the Saturn app (11:20) Balancing Tesla work with app development (16:32) Meeting co-founder Max and early startup lessons (19:30) The growth of Saturn and decision to pursue it full-time (23:19) Strategies for Saturn's growth and overcoming challenges (27:55) Critiquing social media models and Saturn's monetization (35:01) Key lessons from building Saturn and staying focused (38:47) Reflections on past failures and personal advice
Transcribe →Meet The Founder Who Built The Uber of Lawncare
Jul 23, 202400:50:55Tap to summarizeBryan Clayton joins Shamus Madan to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, starting with his early experiences and scaling a lawn mowing business to $10M. Bryan shares insights from selling that business and transitioning to Greenpal, tackling early challenges and learning from failures. He details his journey into software development, building a tech platform, and forming a development team. Bryan also discusses the challenges of creating a new marketplace, monetizing Greenpal, and effective content marketing strategies. The episode concludes with a quick fire round, advice to his younger self, and final thoughts on personal growth and compound interest. 🐦 Follow the host: https://twitter.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About GreenPal: https://www.yourgreenpal.com/ (0:00) Introduction and early entrepreneurial experiences (2:45) Growth and scaling of the lawn mowing business to $10M (8:50) Lessons learned from selling the business (10:31) Transition to Green Powell and overcoming early challenges (15:57) Learning from failures and validating the business idea (21:03) Journey of learning software development (25:08) Transitioning to a tech platform and building a development team (29:29) Challenges and strategies in building a new marketplace (34:28) Monetizing Greenpal and content marketing strategies (43:55) Quick fire round and advice to younger self (50:14) Final thoughts on personal growth and compound interest (50:52) Sponsor: Green Powell
Transcribe →How This 20-Year-Old Built A $100k/Month Business With $0
Jun 25, 202400:48:31Tap to summarizeJacob Klug, a 20-year-old entrepreneur, embarked on a remarkable journey when he co-founded Creme Digital. At Creme, they specialize in creating beautiful software products at a fraction of the traditional cost and time. Their portfolio ranges from MVPs for startups to internal tools for Fortune 500 companies. What’s even more impressive? All their software is built using no-code tools like Bubble. This is the story of how he did it. 🐦 Follow the host: https://twitter.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About Creme Digital: https://www.creme.digital/ (0:00) Jacob Klug: Early inspiration and first steps (1:12) Jacob Klug: Early entrepreneurial ventures (4:23) Jacob Klug: COVID-19 as a catalyst for business growth (10:11) Shamus Madan: College perspectives and decisions (16:30) Jacob Klug: Starting the no code agency with no capital (18:15) Jacob Klug: Strategies for acquiring initial clients (24:39) Shamus Madan: Managing a successful business at twenty (29:50) Shamus Madan: Future goals for the company (33:11) Jacob Klug: Learnings from building an agency (47:16) Jacob Klug: Advice to his sixteen-year-old self
Transcribe →Meet The Marketing Genius Behind Duolingo's Viral Growth
Jun 4, 202401:03:49Tap to summarizeShamus Madan interviews Gina Gotthilf, covering her pivotal career decision with Tumblr, an unexpected experience with a former boss, and she grew Duolingo to 200M users with PR. They discuss trust and risk in startups, PR misconceptions, meeting President Obama, and her work with Latin American startups at Latitude. (0:00) Introduction (0:23) Gina's pivotal career decision with Tumblr (1:14) Introduction of Gina Gotthilf (4:09) Gina's experience with a former boss who was a heroin addict (8:27) How Gina got the opportunity at Tumblr (12:17) The importance of networking for career growth (15:52) Trust and risk in startups (19:21) Common misconceptions about PR (34:52) Meeting President Obama: The White House demo day experience (45:56) Working with startup founders in Latin America: The story behind Latitude (53:45) Closing questions with Gina Gotthilf
Transcribe →Erik Allebest: How I Bootstrapped Chess.com To $100M in Revenue
May 7, 202400:47:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Shamus Madan interviews Chess.com's Erik Allebest about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of running a $100 million business, and maintaining balance. They delve into building company culture in a remote setting, growth strategies, and the impact of AI on online chess. 🐦 Follow the host: https://twitter.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn More About Chess.com: https://chess.com (0:00) Introduction to Eric Allebest and Chess.com (1:07) Early life and entrepreneurial journey of Erik Allebest (9:53) The realities of entrepreneurship and challenges of running a $100 million business (14:15) Erik Allebest on maintaining balance in entrepreneurship (20:12) Building a strong company culture in a remote setting and the founding story of Chess.com (26:20) Erik Allebest's growth strategies for Chess.com (34:27) Discussion on AI and cheating in online chess (39:17) The stresses of managing a growing company and reaching $100 million in revenue (43:31) Erik Allebest discusses his perspective on wealth and its impact on life choices (46:10) Erik Allebest shares what advice he would give to his younger self (47:08) Conclusion of the episode
Transcribe →Casper Founder: How I Built A $575 Million Business At 31
Apr 9, 202400:52:02Tap to summarizeWhen Neil Parikh was in medical school, he called his parents to say he was taking a year off to move to NYC. At the time, they were furious, but little did he know that would be one of the best decisions of his life. He partnered with his friend, whom he met at a coworking space, to build a DTC mattress company. Their most recent valuation was at over $1 Billion. This is the story of Casper and the secret behind their viral growth. Follow the host: https://twitter.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn more about Casper here: https://casper.com/ (0:00) Introduction and Neil Parikh's early years (2:57) Foundation of Casper and disrupting the mattress industry (11:11) Lessons learned from investor rejections and evolution of Casper's story (18:00) Achieving $1,000,000 in revenue in 30 days and creative marketing strategies (28:53) Overcoming traditional business barriers in the mattress industry and innovating customer service (32:16) Dealing with challenges and problems in business and importance of feedback (38:05) Mistakes made during Casper's scaling process and maintaining focus (40:09) Decision to go public and challenges faced (46:41) Future focus: Consumer applications of healthcare and AI (49:13) Best piece of advice: Relentlessly invest in yourself and words to 18-year-old self (51:53) Wrapping up the episode and future plans
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Sequoia Just Backed This Founder To Replace Advertising Forever
Mar 26, 202400:50:54Tap to summarizeAt just 12 years old, Sam Obletz decided to put his studies on the back burner and start a computer integration company with his friend. Today, he has come a long way from building computers and is now on a mission to change advertising forever. This is his multi-billion dollar plan. Follow the host: https://twitter.com/shamusmadan 📩 Join The Dealroom: https://dealroompodcast.com/subscribe Learn more about Claim here: https://claim.co/ (0:00) Introduction to Sam Obletz and his journey into entrepreneurship (3:21) The rise of Sam's computer integration company, Hailstorm PC (6:36) Discussion on the challenges and issues with modern advertising (12:34) Unveiling Claim: Sam's new venture aimed at revolutionizing consumer interactions (18:12) The Ideation of Claim (21:09) Claim's mission to humanize digital consumer interactions (25:54) Strategies and challenges in growing Claim's user base (33:12) How Claim is persuading brands to switch from traditional platforms (37:00) Understanding Claim's business model and growth strategy (41:11) Sam's fundraising experiences and lessons learned (44:49) The art of investor targeting and secrets to successful fundraising (48:47) Sam's advice for budding entrepreneurs and his younger self (50:37) Conclusion
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