Startup Growth Podcast
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Fresh Blood in Old Insurance: How Vouch Built a $100M Business Revolutionizing Startup Coverage
Travis Hedge is the co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Vouch, an insurance platform purpose-built for high-growth technology companies. After growing up around a family-owned insurance agency in Columbus, Ohio, Travis spent his early career at Nationwide Insurance and SVB Capital, where he saw firsthand the gaps in insurance for startups. He co-founded Vouch in 2018, and in just a few years, the company has scaled to nearly 6,000 customers and is on track to cross $100 million in revenue. In our conversation, we dive into:
How Travis’s third-grade dream of becoming an insurance agent turned into a mission-driven startupThe cr...Amazon's New Nemesis: How a 21-Year-Old Hit $1M ARR By Gaming Big Tech Engineering Interviews
Roy Lee is the 21-year-old founder and CEO of Interview Coder a breakout startup that has taken the internet by storm. In one year, Roy went from having his Harvard acceptance rescinded to building an AI tool used by thousands of aspiring developers to land jobs at companies like Amazon, Meta, and TikTok. His story — marked by risk-taking, resilience, and relentless building — has captivated millions on social media and sparked a firestorm of controversy in academia and Big Tech alike.
In this episode, we cover:
Why Roy's Harvard acceptance was rescinded, and how he bounced backHow a ye...Three Startups, $70M Raised, and One Successful Exit
Jay Reno is the founder and CEO of PointHound, a free platform helping hundreds of thousands of people earn and redeem credit card points for maximum value—often unlocking free business class flights. But Jay’s journey started long before PointHound. He previously founded Feather, a furniture subscription startup that redefined how millennials furnish their homes. Under Jay’s leadership, Feather scaled to $15M in annual recurring revenue, raised over $70M in funding, and was ultimately acquired in 2022.
In this conversation, Jay and David dive deep into the full founder arc—from early failures to scaling a venture...
He Bought a College to Fix Higher Ed — Tade Oyerinde’s $100M Vision
Tade Oyerinde is the founder and chancellor of Campus, a revolutionary online community college reimagining access to higher education. Starting with viral dorm-room startups, Tade’s journey took him from building UniRoulette and CampusWire to acquiring an accredited college and launching Campus. Today, Campus serves over 2,000 students, employs 240+ staff, and has raised $100M+ in venture capital, all while helping students graduate debt-free.
In this conversation, Tade shares the winding path to building Campus, including:
Building viral products from a college dormPivoting away from unsustainable growth and recognizing false signalsLearning the limitations of synchronous social platformsDiscovering the ad...From Data Engineer to Meme King: How MEMES Make MILLIONS
In this episode of the Startup Growth Podcast, I sit down with Jason Levin, the founder and CEO of Memelord Technologies. Jason shares his unconventional path—from creating YouTube videos as a kid and ghostwriting for founders to authoring Memes Make Millions and launching a software that empowers companies like HubSpot and Coinbase to create viral memes. Discover how he leveraged newsletter hacks, guest posts, and cold DMs to build an organic growth engine and why starting small can lead to massive success.
Timestamps & Key Topics:
(00:00) – Introduction: David introduces the episode and welcomes Jason.
(00:49) – Origin Story...
How Kush Patel Built a $25 Million Business from Scratch—And How You Can Too
Kush Patel is the co-founder of App Academy, a pioneering coding bootcamp that introduced the income share agreement (ISA) model to tech education. With a background in finance and a deep passion for unlocking access to opportunity, Kush helped scale App Academy from a modest, bootstrapped startup into a $25 million revenue business with global reach. In this episode, we dive into Kush's entrepreneurial journey, from launching the first free cohort on Hacker News to transforming lives through coding education. We discuss:
How growing up with an entrepreneurial father shaped Kush’s mindsetHis transition from hedge fund finance to te...From $0 to $165M: How Harsh Patel Built and Sold 3 Companies (and What He’d Do Differently)
Harsh Patel is a repeat founder, investor, and board member who has built and sold multiple companies, including MakerSquare, Hack Reactor, and Galvanize, which had a $165 million exit. With experience scaling businesses from zero to one, finding product-market fit, and navigating M&A, Harsh has seen it all.
In this conversation, we discuss:
The hardest part of startup growth: Going from nothing to product-market fitHow Harsh hacked early distribution to get first customersThe rapid scale and exit of MakerSquare in under a yearWhat made Hack Reactor grow from $1M to $8M in revenue so quicklyHow to...From cold email to his 2 startups getting acquired for $100M+
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Fondo: Your all-in-one accounting platform for startups. Get your books closed, taxes filed, and cash back from the IRS. - https://www.tryfondo.com/
In this podcast episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Bakke, who shared his journey from working in private equity to finding success in the tech startup world. He described how his experience in private equity was challenging and often felt like a grind, which led him to seek a more fulfilling career in technology. This transition taught him the importance of hard work...
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