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		<title>Founder Stories: Bradford Cross Of Prismatic On Running His Startup</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/qWgIHFg58E8/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/07/founder-stories-bradford-cross-of-prismatic-on-running-his-startup/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:04:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jon Orlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bradford cross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prismatic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael abbott]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=693328</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/founder-stories_-bradford-cross-of-prismatic-on-running-his-startup-techcrunch.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Founder Stories_ Bradford Cross Of Prismatic On Running His Startup | TechCrunch" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><em>Our TCTV show, Founder Stories, returns with a new West Coast host, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/michael-abbott">Michael Abbott</a>  <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mabb0tt">@mabb0tt</a>. Mike is a general partner at KPCB and was previously Twitter's VP of Engineering and a founder himself.</em>

<a target="_blank" href="http://getprismatic.com/">Prismatic</a> is an app that creates a custom newsfeed based on your interests.  Its news discovery iPhone app <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/23/prismatic-iphone/">launched in August</a> to positive reviews. For our West Coast premier episode of Founder Stories, we invited co-founder <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/bradford-cross">Bradford Cross</a> back to our studios to learn how he is managing the business.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/founder-stories_-bradford-cross-of-prismatic-on-running-his-startup-techcrunch.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Founder Stories_ Bradford Cross Of Prismatic On Running His Startup | TechCrunch" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517529592&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><em>Our TCTV show, Founder Stories, returns with a new West Coast host, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/michael-abbott">Michael Abbott</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mabb0tt">@mabb0tt</a>. We are really excited Mike will be joining East Coast host Chris Dixon on this show. Mike is a general partner at KPCB and was previously Twitter&#8217;s VP of Engineering and a founder himself. His conversations with founders will focus exclusively on some of the key technical challenges they face in the creation of their products and businesses.</em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://getprismatic.com/">Prismatic</a> is an app that creates a custom newsfeed based on your interests. Its news discovery iPhone app <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/23/prismatic-iphone/">launched in August</a> to positive reviews. For our West Coast premier episode of Founder Stories, we invited co-founder <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/bradford-cross">Bradford Cross</a> back to our studios to learn how he is managing the business.</p>
<p>Cross tells our host Mike Abbott how it&#8217;s important to set the DNA right early. Also he says if founders want to get to the core of their product, they have to pay their dues and learn a lot, rather than try to outsource their problems. Cross also describes how he is working to get the right balance between engineers who want to ship and measure versus designers who are a force for slowing down and thinking about the product and users.</p>
<p>Cross discusses how product managers fit into the startup as the business grows.</p>
<p>Cross was interviewed by Semil Shah for an episode of &#8220;In The Studio&#8221; before the app launched.  You can watch that interview <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/07/in-the-studio-prismatics-bradford-cross-wants-to-reinvent-social-news/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Since this is Mike&#8217;s first show, I want to share some of his words on his vision and plans for Founder Stories:</p>
<blockquote><p>I&#8217;m personally excited for this new opportunity because it gives me yet another excuse to do what I love most &#8212; talk directly with technical founders and learn to understand the inner workings of the technical issues they&#8217;ve faced. The beauty of making it into a show is that these conversations become &#8220;open-sourced,&#8221; in a way, and will hopefully help transfer and spread knowledge within the community through a conversational format.</p></blockquote>
<p>Read more on Mike&#8217;s blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://uncapitalized.com/">uncapitalized</a>, about the show <a target="_blank" href="http://uncapitalized.com/2012/11/08/announcing-a-new-kind-of-technology-show/">here</a>.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>(Founder Stories) Angie's List: Angie Hicks On Jumping Into The Startup World, Tackling Big Markets &amp; More</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/iLNlK4AJVL4/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/25/founder-stories-angies-list-angie-hicks-on-jumping-into-the-startup-world-tackling-big-markets-more/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:30:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angie\'s list]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angie Hicks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=658055</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/angies-list-out-mpge-sept-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="ANGIES LIST out mpge sept.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.angiehicksbowman.com/">Angie Hicks</a> is the co-founder and Chief Marking Officer of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/angies-list">Angie's List</a> - the customer review service she helped found in Columbus, Ohio. At Angie's List, subscribers find services and submit non-anonymous reviews on everything from medical care to home fix-up.

Angie's List has exploded since the mid-90's when Hicks was going door-to-door to solicit business. Last year the company went public on <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/25/local-reviews-site-angies-list-files-for-75-million-ipo/">the NASDAQ</a>. Angie's List has listings in more than 200 US cities (along with parts of Canada) and more than 1.5 million households pay roughly $45 a year to access the site, 100,000 of them in New York City alone.

Recently Angie Hicks passed though Manhattan, and when she did, <a target="_blank" href="http://cdixon.org/">Chris Dixon</a> sat down with her to tape an episode of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/"><em>Founder Stories</em></a>.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/angies-list-out-mpge-sept-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="ANGIES LIST out mpge sept.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517488335&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.angiehicksbowman.com/">Angie Hicks</a> is the co-founder and Chief Marking Officer of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/angies-list">Angie&#8217;s List</a> &#8211; the customer review service she helped found in Columbus, Ohio. At Angie&#8217;s List, subscribers find services and submit non-anonymous reviews on everything from medical care to home fix-up.</p>
<p>Angie&#8217;s List has exploded since the mid-90&#8242;s when Hicks was going door-to-door to solicit business. Last year the company went public on <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/25/local-reviews-site-angies-list-files-for-75-million-ipo/">the NASDAQ</a>. Angie&#8217;s List has listings in more than 200 US cities (along with parts of Canada) and more than 1.5 million households pay roughly $45 a year to access the site, 100,000 of them in New York City alone.</p>
<p>Recently Angie Hicks passed though Manhattan, and when she did, <a target="_blank" href="http://cdixon.org/">Chris Dixon</a> sat down with her to tape an episode of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/"><em>Founder Stories</em></a>.</p>
<p>Hicks tells Dixon the idea to create a national service for people to &#8221;share information with one another, to find out who are the best providers in town&#8221; occurred after her co-founder had trouble locating help for home repairs. Surveying the landscape they found an Indianapolis-based company running a newsletter/call-in service that offered something along the lines of what they were seeking. They launched their own version and a year later acquired the company.</p>
<p>Hicks says the Internet is now &#8220;the driving force behind the service&#8221; but points out Angie&#8217;s List still sends out a magazine and fields calls, with Hicks personally answering some of those calls. Hicks credits the phone-in service as being particularly helpful to customers who need quick answers.</p>
<p>Reflecting upon lessons learned, Hicks mentions the strategic importance of rolling out early in big cities. Had Angie&#8217;s List not &#8220;danced around&#8221; opening in Chicago for example, Hicks says the company could have learned more, quicker.</p>
<p>Before wrapping, Hicks shares some advice her grandfather shared with her when she was debating joining the young startup. &#8220;He is like, Angie, what’s the difference between being 22 and looking for a job and being 23 and looking for a job? There’s nothing.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire interview for additional insights and be sure to check out past episodes of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">Founder Stories</a>. Previous guests include the founders of Aereo, Kayak and TripAdvisor.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">joshzelman</media:title>
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	<feedburner:origLink>http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/25/founder-stories-angies-list-angie-hicks-on-jumping-into-the-startup-world-tackling-big-markets-more/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>(Founder Stories) Aereo's Chet Kanojia Urges Entrepreneurs To “Go For The Difficult Problems” [TCTV]</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/exoTjN49Ln4/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/09/founder-stories-aereos-chet-kanojia-urges-entrepreneurs-to-go-for-the-difficult-problems-tctv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:41:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aereo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chet kanojia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=621835</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/aereo-part-i-out-tc_upload-mp41.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Aereo Part I out-tc_upload.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />In the latest installment of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon's</a> <em>Founder Stories</em>, the Hunch co-founder sits down with <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/press">Chet Kanojia</a>, the founder and CEO of the controversial startup, <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/home">Aereo</a>. In attempting to bring together over-the-air television with the Internet, the company has drawn the ire of the big broadcast networks, like NBC, ABC, CBS, all of whom are convinced that Aereo is violating copyright law.

As the two continue their conversation in the video above, topics flow away from the controversy. Kanojia talks to Dixon about how he has grown as a leader, what he was doing before Aereo and wraps the interview by urging entrepreneurs to "go for the difficult problems.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/aereo-part-i-out-tc_upload-mp41.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Aereo Part I out-tc_upload.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517435591&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script></div>
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<p>In the latest installment of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon&#8217;s</a> <em>Founder Stories</em>, the Hunch co-founder sits down with <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/press">Chet Kanojia</a>, the founder and CEO of the controversial startup, <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/home">Aereo</a>. In attempting to bring together over-the-air television with the Internet, the company has drawn the ire of the big broadcast networks, like NBC, ABC, CBS, all of whom are convinced that Aereo is violating copyright law.</p>
<p>Aereo takes content beamed over the free airwaves and redistributes the broadcasters&#8217; signals to Internet-connected devices using mini-antennae stored in data centers. Unlike cable companies, Aereo doesn&#8217;t pay retransmission fees for the copyrighted content, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/11/aereo-wins-injuction/">arguing</a> it doesn&#8217;t have to.</p>
<p>As the two continue their conversation in the video above, topics flow away from the controversy. Kanojia talks to Dixon about how he has grown as a leader, what he was doing before Aereo and wraps the interview by urging entrepreneurs to &#8220;go for the difficult problems.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the clip for additional insights and watch part I of this interview <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/08/founder-stories-aereos-chet-kanojia-on-how-his-company-is-putting-a-wedge-in-video-delivery-tctv/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Past episodes of Founder Stories featuring the founders of TripAdvisor, Kayak, Warby Parker, Kickstarter, ZocDoc and many other companies are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
</div>
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			<media:title type="html">joshzelman</media:title>
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	<feedburner:origLink>http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/09/founder-stories-aereos-chet-kanojia-urges-entrepreneurs-to-go-for-the-difficult-problems-tctv/</feedburner:origLink></item>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Aereo's Chet Kanojia On How His Company Is “Putting A Wedge” In Video Delivery [TCTV]</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/4J3DtYfVrQs/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/08/founder-stories-aereos-chet-kanojia-on-how-his-company-is-putting-a-wedge-in-video-delivery-tctv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:25:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aereo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chet kanojia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=621087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/aereo-part-i-out-tc_upload-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Aereo Part I out-tc_upload.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />Founded by <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/press">Chet Kanojia</a> and backed by Barry Diller's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.iac.com/About-IAC/">IAC</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/home">Aereo</a> has been drawing a lot of attention lately. The startup uses mini-antennae to capture video content from ABC, CBS, NBC (and other public broadcasting networks), and streams that content to its subscribers' web-connected devices. A <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/02/aereo-pricin/">yearly subscription</a> costs 17-cents a day.

Public broadcasters, who receive retransmission fees from cable providers in exchange for their copyrighted material, are crying foul. Claiming that the startup is making a mockery of copyright laws, the broadcast networks have taken the startup to court with the goal of shutting it down. As the battle <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/11/aereo-wins-injuction/">continues</a>, Founder Stories host <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> caught up with Kanojia at the NASDAQ to get his insights on issues surrounding the controversy. ]]></description>
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<p>Founded by <a target="_blank" href="https://aereo.com/press">Chet Kanojia</a> and backed by Barry Diller&#8217;s <a target="_blank" href="http://www.iac.com/About-IAC/">IAC</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/search?query=aereo">Aereo</a> has been drawing a lot of attention lately. The startup uses mini-antennae to capture video content from ABC, CBS, NBC (and other public broadcasting networks), and streams that content to its subscribers&#8217; web-connected devices. A <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/02/aereo-pricin/">yearly subscription</a> costs 17-cents a day.</p>
<p>Public broadcasters, who receive retransmission fees from cable providers in exchange for their copyrighted material, are crying foul. Claiming that the startup is making a mockery of copyright laws, the broadcast networks have taken the startup to court with the goal of shutting it down. Aereo&#8217;s CEO argues his company is actually just &#8220;putting a wedge&#8221; in video delivery by providing viewers with “free-to-air broadcast television” and is not in fact violating any copyright laws.</p>
<p>As the battle <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/11/aereo-wins-injuction/">continues</a>, Founder Stories host <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> caught up with Kanojia at the NASDAQ to get his insights on issues surrounding the controversy. Check out the video to hear their conversation and for more on the Aereo backstory, check out TechCrunch&#8217;s <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/aereo/">coverage here</a> which includes Rip&#8217;s take on <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/05/aereo-for-the-win/">why Aereo has a shot at winning the battle</a>.</p>
<p>Past episodes of <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring David Karp, Fred Wilson, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Stephen Kaufer and many other leaders are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Part II of this interview is coming up.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Send The Trend's Gugnani &amp; Chris Dixon Discuss M&amp;A</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/5KUIn9wq4JY/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/27/founder-stories-send-the-trends-gugnani-chris-dixon-discuss-ma/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Divya Gugnani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SendtheTrend]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=542052</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/founder-stories-send-trend-episode-2-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="(Founder Stories) Send Trend Episode 2.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />In episode II of <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/about-us">Divya Gugnani's</a> <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host Chris Dixon, the two dive into M&#38;A, a topic that both founders know well. Dixon's company <a href="http://hunch.com/">Hunch</a>, was <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/ebayshunch/">recently acquired by eBay</a> and Gugnani's company, <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/main">Send The Trend</a> was recently <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/qvc-acquires-personalized-e-commerce-site-for-fashion-accessories-send-the-trend/">acquired by QVC</a>.

On being acquired, Gugnani tells Dixon that she was approached much earlier than she had anticipated and it was a "really intimidating and scary" experience. She adds, "there were really two directions; do I go down this route and potentially distract myself from the base business that is growing ... or do I just keep focusing on my business and have that kind of bravado that you know what, it is going to be worth so much more later?"]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/founder-stories-send-trend-episode-2-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="(Founder Stories) Send Trend Episode 2.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517348042&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>In episode II of <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/about-us">Divya Gugnani&#8217;s</a> <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host Chris Dixon, the two dive into M&amp;A, a topic that both founders know well. Dixon&#8217;s company <a href="http://hunch.com/">Hunch</a>, was <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/ebayshunch/">recently acquired by eBay</a> and Gugnani&#8217;s company, <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/main">Send The Trend</a> was recently <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/qvc-acquires-personalized-e-commerce-site-for-fashion-accessories-send-the-trend/">acquired by QVC</a>.</p>
<p>On being acquired, Gugnani tells Dixon that she was approached much earlier than she had anticipated and it was a &#8220;really intimidating and scary&#8221; experience. She adds, &#8220;there were really two directions; do I go down this route and potentially distract myself from the base business that is growing &#8230; or do I just keep focusing on my business and have that kind of bravado that you know what, it is going to be worth so much more later?&#8221;</p>
<p>Gugnani came to the realization that the opportunity &#8220;to build a big business&#8221; within a larger organization was too much to pass up and says when &#8220;I was convinced it would work, I started putting the time and energy into that process.&#8221;</p>
<p>She says during the process &#8221;we took every single meeting with every single decision maker as an opportunity to sell them on our opportunity and why they wanted to work with us and that ended up creating multiple champions at multiple levels for us &#8211; which I think had a network effect of how our transaction got done rapidly, efficiently and well.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Gugnani was fortunate enough to experience smooth sailing, Dixon notes he&#8217;s seen instances where lawyers get hung up on matters deep into negotiations and &#8220;people just fall apart in that process.&#8221; He adds &#8220;that&#8217;s scary because at that point you&#8217;ve probably spent months, spending almost all your time on this, you’ve disclosed everything about your business to them literally, every document.&#8221;</p>
<p>Gugnani agrees saying &#8220;a deal is not a deal until the wire goes though&#8221; and compares this situation to &#8220;standing naked in Times Square.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire video to hear more, including Gugnani&#8217;s and Dixon&#8217;s take on keeping things close to the vest during these deliberations.</p>
<p>Episode I of this interview is <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/founder-stories-send-the-trends-gugnani-on-seizing-an-idea-surviving-a-crash-being-acquired-by-qvc/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Past episodes of Founder Stories featuring leaders from Tumblr, KickStarter, BirchBox, ZocDoc, Charity: Water and many other startups are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Send The Trend's Gugnani On Seizing An Idea, Surviving A Crash &amp; Being Acquired By QVC</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/Qs3Vzhs4dKE/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/founder-stories-send-the-trends-gugnani-on-seizing-an-idea-surviving-a-crash-being-acquired-by-qvc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Divya Gugnani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SendtheTrend]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=541874</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/founder-stories-send-the-trend-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="(Founder Stories) Send The Trend.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/about-us">Divya Gugnani</a> is the co-founder of <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/main">Send the Trend</a>, a New York based startup that was recently <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/qvc-acquires-personalized-e-commerce-site-for-fashion-accessories-send-the-trend/">acquired by QVC</a>, just a year-and-a half after launching in 2010.

Gugnani, whose founding team includes Project Runway winner <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/christian-siriano">Christian Siriano</a>, describes Send the Trend as "an online destination that offers curated and customized woman's fashion accessories and beauty." Items are priced at $29.95, and every month users have the option to purchase everything from earrings to bracelets specifically tailored to their taste.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/founder-stories-send-the-trend-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="(Founder Stories) Send The Trend.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517348041&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/about-us">Divya Gugnani</a> is the co-founder of <a href="http://www.sendthetrend.com/main">Send the Trend</a>, a New York based startup that was recently <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/qvc-acquires-personalized-e-commerce-site-for-fashion-accessories-send-the-trend/">acquired by QVC</a>, just a year-and-a half after launching in 2010.</p>
<p>Gugnani, whose founding team includes Project Runway winner <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/christian-siriano">Christian Siriano</a>, describes Send the Trend as &#8220;an online destination that offers curated and customized woman&#8217;s fashion accessories and beauty.&#8221; Items are priced at $29.95, and every month users have the option to purchase everything from earrings to bracelets specifically tailored to their taste.</p>
<p>Gugnani tells <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">Founder Stories</a> host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, that the idea for Send the Trend struck her after she left a career in finance to become an entrepreneur. No longer armed with a budget to shop at high end retail stores and receive the personalized assistance that goes with it, Gugnani wanted to &#8220;create the Saks like experience, but have it be done online.&#8221;</p>
<p>She adds, &#8220;the reason I chose accessories is that accessories are light to ship, have a very low return rate and they are pretty much size agnostic so a woman who is 300 pounds can wear the same earrings that a woman who is 90 pounds can, and so the whole model works very cost efficiently because you don&#8217;t have very high returns and sizing is not a real issue.&#8221;</p>
<p>After wrapping the topic, the two go on to discuss issues surrounding the subscription commerce space at large, before Gugnani tells Dixon lessons she&#8217;s learned while building her business.</p>
<p>She says of paramount importance is having a strong technology infrastructure. Noting that had Send The Trend positioned itself correctly, the site may not have crashed coast-to-coast after being featured on the Today Show.</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire video to hear additional insights and be sure to catch past episodes of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">Founder Stories</a> featuring founders of ZocDoc, TripAdvisor, Kayak, Tumblr and Instagram.</p>
<p>Part II of this interview is coming up.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Kayak.com's Paul English: On Hiring Athletes, Design Simplicity &amp; Angel Investing [TCTV]</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/yWTbkmF7A20/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/31/founder-stories-kayak-coms-paul-english-on-hiring-athletes-design-simplicity-angel-investing-tctv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:59:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kayak.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul English]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=527497</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kayak-video-2-out-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Kayak Video 2 Out.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />In part II of his <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/about">Kayak.com’s</a> co-founder <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Paul English</a> discusses why job applicants will be hard pressed to find job postings on Kayak.com, relays the lessons he learned from Kayak’s mobile app and tells Dixon the traits founding teams need to possess in order to impress him as an angel investor.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kayak-video-2-out-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Kayak Video 2 Out.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517320903&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>In part II of his <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/about">Kayak.com’s</a> co-founder <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Paul English</a> discusses why job applicants will be hard pressed to find job postings on Kayak.com, relays the lessons he learned from Kayak’s mobile app and tells Dixon the traits founding teams need to possess in order to impress him as an angel investor.</p>
<p>Having helped grow the company to roughly 150 employees, English says Kayak is somewhat unorthodox when it comes to hiring talent. &#8220;We don’t hire for open positions but we are looking for athletes, we are looking for star performers and then when we find someone great, we make a spot for them.&#8221; He adds, &#8220;I am always recruiting.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to beefing up staff, Kayak has expanded into mobile, which accounts for “almost 20-percent of our traffic” says English. Initially weary that its mobile platform would be a watered-down version of its website, English’s fears have been swept aside. “The team that we hired to build our iPhone product actually found a way to build the version of Kayak that has all the same power of Kayak but is expressed in way that was actually more simple than our website.&#8221; He adds, “I think the design experience we have learned on the iPhone, which is to force simplicity, because you have less real estate, has caused us to rethink how we do design on the web.&#8221;</p>
<p>English wraps the interview by telling Dixon key lessons he&#8217;s learned as an entrepreneur and offers what he looks for when investing in startups.</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire video to hear all his insights, and watch episode I of this interview <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/30/founder-stories-kayaks-paul-english-discusses-big-wins-important-strategic-alliances-tctv/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Past episodes of Founder Stories featuring founders ZocDoc, Charity: Water, Turntable.fm, Bump, Birchbox and many other companies are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Kayak's Paul English Discusses Big Wins &amp; Important Strategic Alliances [TCTV]</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/yYb2gOp-8oQ/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/30/founder-stories-kayaks-paul-english-discusses-big-wins-important-strategic-alliances-tctv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:38:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kayak.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul English]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=523971</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kayak-video-1-out-tc_upload-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Kayak Video 1 Out -tc_upload.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />Having <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/eyeing-an-ipo-kayak-2011-revenue-up-32-percent-to-225m-net-income-up-21-percent/">recently posted</a> its 2011 revenue numbers, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/about">Kayak.com's</a> co-founder, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Paul English</a> stopped by TCTV to tape an episode of <em>Founder Stories</em> with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>.

In part I of this conversation, English describes serendipitously meeting co-founder <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Steve Hafner</a> (who previously co-founded Orbitz), speaks to the importance of striking the right business partnerships and offers insights into how Kayak tests its products.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kayak-video-1-out-tc_upload-mp4.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Kayak Video 1 Out -tc_upload.mp4" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517320337&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>Having <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/eyeing-an-ipo-kayak-2011-revenue-up-32-percent-to-225m-net-income-up-21-percent/">recently posted</a> its 2011 revenue numbers, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/about">Kayak.com&#8217;s</a> co-founder, <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Paul English</a> stopped by TCTV to tape an episode of <em>Founder Stories</em> with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>.</p>
<p>In part I of this conversation, English describes serendipitously meeting co-founder <a href="http://www.kayak.com/team">Steve Hafner</a> (who previously co-founded Orbitz), speaks to the importance of striking the right business partnerships and offers insights into how Kayak tests its products.</p>
<p>English says Kayak&#8217;s origins date back to 2003 when he was introduced to his co-founder Steve Hafner through a mutual contact. He tells Dixon the two immediately hit it off, went to a bar and &#8220;an hour later decided each to throw a bunch of money in&#8221; to start Kayak. English and Hafner then put together a board that included &#8221;the original founders of Expedia and Travelocity.&#8221; English notes this leadership offered Kayak additional legitimacy in the eyes of the industry, as did the opportunity to &#8220;take over travel search for the AOL portal.&#8221; And says the AOL deal &#8220;got us a lot of attention because &#8230; we had an anchor tenant with a lot of traffic.&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking further to the AOL partnership, English tells Dixon, &#8220;It is hard to get those deals but it is a huge emotional win and PR win for the industry. I think to tell people that you are an unknown startup, but you are powering &#8230; travel management for some big company, it gives you cred that allows you to then ask for other things, so I think it was really key to us in 2004.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire interview to hear additional insights, and be on the lookout for part II of this interview which is coming up.</p>
<p>Past episodes of <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring leaders of FindTheBest, Kiva Systems, TripAdvisor, Warby Parker, ZocDoc and many other companies are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) RunKeeper: Striving To Becoming The Facebook For Health</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/Paf-SQaxT7s/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/02/founder-stories-runkeeper-striving-to-becoming-the-facebook-for-health/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:44:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RunKeeper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Jacobs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=508097</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/runkeeper-video-2-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Runkeeper Video #2.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />Having launched Runkeeper in 2008 with the help of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/01/founder-stories-runkeepers-jacobs-on-his-strategy-for-playing-the-fundraising-chessboard/">"moonlighting engineers"</a> before closing a <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/runkeeper-raises-10-million-spark-steve-case/">$10 million Series B round</a> in late 2011, RunKeeper's co-founder, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/jjacobs22">Jason Jacobs</a> speaks from experience when describing the whiplash entrepreneurs face when stepping out on their own.

In episode II of his <em>Founder Stories</em> conversation with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, Jacobs characterizes the adventure this way. "The day you leave your job and the hourglass starts turning upside down in your savings that is a really scary, awful, stressful, exhilarating, tremendously exciting feeling. And then that basically doesn’t stop."]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/runkeeper-video-2-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Runkeeper Video #2.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517288079&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>Having launched Runkeeper in 2008 with the help of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/01/founder-stories-runkeepers-jacobs-on-his-strategy-for-playing-the-fundraising-chessboard/">&#8220;moonlighting engineers&#8221;</a> before closing a <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/runkeeper-raises-10-million-spark-steve-case/">$10 million Series B round</a> in late 2011, RunKeeper&#8217;s co-founder, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/jjacobs22">Jason Jacobs</a> speaks from experience when describing the whiplash entrepreneurs face when stepping out on their own.</p>
<p>In episode II of his <em>Founder Stories</em> conversation with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, Jacobs characterizes the adventure this way. &#8220;The day you leave your job and the hourglass starts turning upside down in your savings that is a really scary, awful, stressful, exhilarating, tremendously exciting feeling. And then that basically doesn’t stop.&#8221;</p>
<p>Emotions expressed, Jacobs describes his vision for RunKeeper.</p>
<p>&#8220;There needs to be this kind of central console that ties all this [health] stuff together &#8230; the way that Facebook did that in social networking.&#8221; Aiming to be this central console, Jacobs adds &#8220;we opened up our API six months ago and &#8230; we have seen 50 completed integrations so far, and several hundred others in development.&#8221;</p>
<p>Before the interview wraps, Jacobs extends this piece of advice to the next generation of founders. &#8220;Figure out what you really want because following the decision path to build a big game changing next billion dollar company is totally different than building a highly successful small company that either gets acquired quickly or can see you to a sustaining pace.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire video to hear additional insights.</p>
<p>Past <em>Founder Stories</em> episodes featuring ZocDoc, Reddit, Tumblr, TripAdvisor, Birchbox, Warby Parker and many other startups are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/video/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Episode I of this interview is <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/01/founder-stories-runkeepers-jacobs-on-his-strategy-for-playing-the-fundraising-chessboard/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) RunKeeper: Jacobs' Strategy For Raising Capital</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/okNYxebcqWI/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/01/founder-stories-runkeepers-jacobs-on-his-strategy-for-playing-the-fundraising-chessboard/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:30:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RunKeeper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Jacobs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=507341</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/runnkeeper-1-mov-1-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Runnkeeper #1.mov-1-1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/jjacobs22">Jason Jacobs</a> is the co-founder and CEO of <a href="http://runkeeper.com/home">RunKeeper</a>, one of the initial 200 apps sold in the iPhone app store. The app allows users to record their jogging distances and times, and in partnership with other fitness focused apps/devices, manage a host of additional health related activity, such as weight loss and strength training.

Having recently raised a <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/runkeeper-raises-10-million-spark-steve-case/">$10 million Series B round</a>, the Boston based Jacobs dropped by our New York studio to tell <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, how it all began.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/runnkeeper-1-mov-1-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Runnkeeper #1.mov-1-1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517287111&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/jjacobs22">Jason Jacobs</a> is the co-founder and CEO of <a href="http://runkeeper.com/home">RunKeeper</a>, one of the initial 200 apps sold in the iPhone app store. The app allows users to record their jogging distances and times, and in partnership with other fitness focused apps/devices, manage a host of additional health related activity, such as weight loss and strength training.</p>
<p>Having recently raised a <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/21/runkeeper-raises-10-million-spark-steve-case/">$10 million Series B round</a>, the Boston based Jacobs dropped by our New York studio to tell <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, how it all began.</p>
<p>Jacobs says RunKeeper&#8217;s genesis dates back to 2007 when he was training for a marathon. At the time he was searching for a &#8220;big important problem to solve.&#8221; Influenced by what he describes as Nike&#8217;s user friendly <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/">Nike + iPod</a>, he wondered, &#8220;why are these guys the only one doing this?&#8221;</p>
<p>He jumped in the game.</p>
<p>Initially operating on a shoestring budget, Jacobs built RunKeeper with the help of &#8220;moonlighting engineers that were working for equity.&#8221; Using his savings as a safety net while generating a bit of revenue, Jacobs intentionally fended off investors for about 18 months, saying the more time Runkeeper could focus on building the product &#8220;the higher the caliber of investors we would be able to attract and the less of the company we would have to give up in the process.&#8221;</p>
<p>Jacobs shares plenty more insights, so be sure to watch the entire video to hear more. Episode II of this interview is coming up.</p>
<p>Past episodes of <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring leaders of FindTheBest, KickStarter, Flipboard and many other statups are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/show/founder-stories">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Warby Parker: “Less Than 1% Of Eyeglasses Were Sold Online”</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/9_8Be6vscrA/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/24/founder-stories-warby-parker-less-than-1-of-eyeglasses-were-sold-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[david gilboa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warby Parker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neil blumenthal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=506185</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/wb-2-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="WB #2.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />In episode II of Chris Dixon's <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/">Warby Parker's</a> co-founders, <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">David Gilboa</a> and <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">Neil Blumenthal</a>, the trio discuss topics spanning Warby Parker's social responsibility efforts to the state of e-commerce.

Speaking to setting up shop in Manhattan, Gilboa (who previously lived in San Francisco) says, "I was sort of brainwashed into thinking that if you wanted to launch a startup, particularly anything Internet based, you had to do it in the Bay area." His views have since changed. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/wb-2-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="WB #2.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517280881&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>In episode II of Chris Dixon&#8217;s <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/">Warby Parker&#8217;s</a> co-founders, <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">David Gilboa</a> and <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">Neil Blumenthal</a>, the trio discuss topics spanning Warby Parker&#8217;s social responsibility efforts to the state of e-commerce.</p>
<p>Off the bat, Gilboa tells Dixon that Warby Parker strives to be an environmentally friendly organization focused on giving back to the community. In addition to being &#8220;100% carbon neutral&#8221; Gilboa highlights Warby Parker&#8217;s &#8220;Buy a Pair, Give a Pair&#8221; initiative where Warby Parker donates a set of glasses for every set it sells.</p>
<p>Speaking to setting up shop in Manhattan, Gilboa (who previously lived in San Francisco) says, &#8220;I was sort of brainwashed into thinking that if you wanted to launch a startup, particularly anything Internet based, you had to do it in the Bay area.&#8221; His views have since changed and Gilboa is now in lockstep with co-founder Blumenthal who says, &#8220;New York was the right place to be because we are a fashion brand, and New York is the fashion capital of the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>As other New York e-commerce brands like <a href="http://birchbox.com">Birchbox</a> and <a href="http://fab.com/about-fab/">Fab</a> gain popularity, Galboa is bullish on Warby Parker&#8217;s future. He tells Dixon, &#8220;When we started looking at the eyewear industry, less than 1 percent of eyeglasses were sold online, but we are huge believers in the fact that eyeglasses are going to follow all these other consumer product categories and more and more of that spend is going to go online.&#8221;</p>
<p>Before the interview wraps, Gilboa take a moment to offer advice to budding entrepreneurs<em>. </em>Make sure to watch the entire interview to hear everything the pair has to say.</p>
<p>Episode I of Warby Parker&#8217;s <em>Founder Stories</em> interview is <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/22/founder-stories-warby-parker-why-should-a-pair-of-glasses-cost-more-than-an-iphone/">here</a>. Links to <em>Founder Stories</em> episodes featuring BirchBox are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/10/founder-stories-birchbox-ecommerce/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Past episodes of <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring leaders from Reddit, KickStarter, Tumblr, TripAdvisor, ZocDoc, Charity: Water and may other startups are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/video/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Warby Parker: “Why Should A Pair Of Glasses Cost More Than An iPhone?”</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/781_8L6Tvdo/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/22/founder-stories-warby-parker-why-should-a-pair-of-glasses-cost-more-than-an-iphone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[david gilboa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warby Parker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neil blumenthal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=505240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/warby-parker-video-1-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Warby Parker Video #1.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />If you've ever shopped for a pair of prescription glasses, you've probably seen first hand how expensive a set can be. <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/">Warby Parker's</a> co-founders are right there with you.

Both fed-up and puzzled over paying hundreds of dollars for a product that's been around for hundreds of years, the Warby Parker team is shaking up the eyewear industry by selling prescription glasses online, at a price tag of just $95 a pair. 

Two of Warby Parker's co-founders, <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">David Gilboa</a> and <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">Neil Blumenthal</a> recently stopped by TCTV to give <em>Founder Stories</em> host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> the backstory on how the company got started.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/warby-parker-video-1-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Warby Parker Video #1.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517278951&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>If you&#8217;ve ever shopped for a pair of prescription glasses, you&#8217;ve probably seen first hand how expensive a set can be. <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/">Warby Parker&#8217;s</a> co-founders are right there with you.</p>
<p>Both fed-up and puzzled over paying hundreds of dollars for a product that&#8217;s been around for hundreds of years, the Warby Parker team is shaking up the eyewear industry by selling prescription glasses online, at a price tag of just $95 a pair.</p>
<p>Having crafted their plan during business school, the foursome launched the company two years ago this month. Three weeks after the initial pair went on sale, co-founder, <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">Neil Blumenthal</a> says Warby Parker hit its sales targets for the entire year and adds &#8220;we sold out of our top 15 styles in four weeks&#8221;. The company has since ramped up to 60-employees.</p>
<p>Two of Warby Parker&#8217;s co-founders, <a href="http://www.warbyparker.com/meet-the-founders">David Gilboa</a> and Neil Blumenthal recently stopped by TCTV to give <em>Founder Stories</em> host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> the backstory on how the company got started.</p>
<p>As lifelong eyeglass wearers, Gilboa tells Dixon the group couldn&#8217;t understand why &#8220;glasses cost more than an iPhone.&#8221; After doing some research they realized &#8220;there&#8217;s a handful of companies that control the entire supply chain.&#8221; Not content to roll with the status quo, Gilboa says the team set out to change the landscape by creating &#8220;our own brand of glasses &#8230;. so we could sell the same product that normally costs $500 for $95.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, because their product was only available online, the team had to figure out a way for customers to try on the frames. Blumenthal says their solution was to create a &#8220;first of its kind&#8221; program &#8220;in the US where you select 5 frames, we ship it to you free of cost and you have 5 days to try them on at home, with no obligation to buy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Gilboa adds that this process enables customers to receive feedback from people &#8220;they trust&#8221; (versus paid sales staffers) and as an added benefit, Warby Parker receives &#8220;millions of free impressions&#8221; from users who post tryout pictures to their social networking sites.</p>
<p>As the interview unfolds, Gilboa and Blumenthal share plenty more insights, so sure to watch the entire video to hear more.</p>
<p>Past episodes for <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring Jeff Clavier, Cyrus Massoumi, Stephen Kaufer, Mayor Bloomberg and many other leaders are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/video/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Episode II of this interview is coming up.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Jeff Clavier: On Getting Your Product In Front Of A VC (And Keeping It There)</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/nZR8F2Y-MUs/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/29/founder-stories-jeff-clavier-on-getting-your-product-in-front-of-a-vc-and-keeping-it-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:41:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jeff clavier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[softtech vc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=490176</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/jc-fs-video-4-advice-mov-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="JC FS Video 4 Advice.mov-1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />Because every VC's inbox is overflowing with pitches, and because VC's don't take meetings with just anyone, <a href="http://softtechvc.com/">SoftTech VC's</a> <a href="http://softtechvc.com/team_member/jeff-clavier/">Jeff Clavier</a>, (<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">who just raised $55 million for his third fund</a>) offers advice to founders who hope to cut through the clutter, schedule a meeting, and score some financing from prominent investors.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/jc-fs-video-4-advice-mov-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="JC FS Video 4 Advice.mov-1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517258403&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>Because every VC&#8217;s inbox is overflowing with pitches, and because VC&#8217;s don&#8217;t take meetings with just anyone, <a href="http://softtechvc.com/">SoftTech VC&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://softtechvc.com/team_member/jeff-clavier/">Jeff Clavier</a>, (<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">who just raised $55 million for his third fund</a>) offers advice to founders who hope to cut through the clutter, schedule a meeting, and score some financing from prominent investors.</p>
<p>In his final Founder Stories interview with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, Clavier says when trying to get a VC&#8217;s attention, &#8220;figuring out in the ecosystem, who is the right sort of referral point is super important. It is the difference between being at the top of the funnel and being sort of close to deletion.&#8221;</p>
<p>He continues, if you are lucky enough to get through the door, &#8220;the goal of the first meeting is to get to the second meeting, right, and so pitch the idea. We like to hear stories&#8230; we like founders to tell us how they came up with the idea, what they have done before, why this is a passion of theirs and the passion for us is something that we need to feel.&#8221;</p>
<p>Clavier also advises founders keep a sharp focus on the benchmarks they are trying to nail during seed stage so they are teed up for their A Round. If not, he says you &#8220;will discover three months before you are about to raise money that you are not ready, and you might have actually been able to fix that six months prior, if you sort of knew you were taking the wrong trajectory.&#8221;</p>
<p>To help avoid the issue he adds, &#8220;sync up with your investors or people who have an outside view who can tell you, look dude you are just veering off, this is not relevant.&#8221;</p>
<p>Before the interview ends, Claver offers suggestions on building the best team and above all else, creating the best customer experience.</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the entire interview to hear all his insights and make sure to watch episodes <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/founder-stories-softtech-vc-clavier/">I</a>, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/27/founder-stories-clavier-big-vcs-hurt/">II</a> and <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/founder-stories-softtech-vcs-clavier-how-to-avoid-the-series-a-crunch/">III</a> Clavier&#8217;s Founder Stories videos.</p>
<p>Past episodes of <em>Founder Stories</em> featuring the leaders of ZocDoc, MeetUp, Tumblr, Reddit, TripAdvisor and many more startups are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/show/founder-stories">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) SoftTech VC's Clavier: How To Avoid The Series A Crunch</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/_LVZOGEWI74/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/founder-stories-softtech-vcs-clavier-how-to-avoid-the-series-a-crunch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:32:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jeff clavier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[softtech vc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=489825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-fs3.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier FS3" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />At the top of this <em>Founder Stories</em> episode featuring <a href="http://softtechvc.com/">SoftTech VC's</a> <a href="http://softtechvc.com/team_member/jeff-clavier/">Jeff Clavier</a>, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> mentions much has been written about the "<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/21/dave-mcclure-series-a-crunch/">Series A Crunch</a>." It's the occurrence of seed stage companies hitting the end of their initial funding cycle at roughly the same time and having to compete for big checks from a limited supply of VC. There's just not enough money or VC interest to keep all entrepreneurs afloat for another round.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-fs3.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier FS3" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517257772&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>At the top of this <em>Founder Stories</em> episode featuring <a href="http://softtechvc.com/">SoftTech VC&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://softtechvc.com/team_member/jeff-clavier/">Jeff Clavier</a>, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> mentions much has been written about the &#8220;<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/21/dave-mcclure-series-a-crunch/">Series A Crunch</a>.&#8221; It&#8217;s the occurrence of seed stage companies hitting the end of their initial funding cycle at roughly the same time and having to compete for big checks from a limited supply of VC. There&#8217;s just not enough money or VC interest to keep all entrepreneurs afloat for another round.</p>
<p>In an effort to prevent future founders from colliding into the Series A Crunch, Dixon advises startups set out to initially raise 18 months of funding, adding, &#8220;18 months effectively gives you let&#8217;s say 12 months of real operating, which gives you three iterations instead of one.&#8221; The more time to perfect the product the better.</p>
<p>Clavier agrees that the Crunch &#8220;is absolutely happening&#8221; and backs Dixon&#8217;s longer runway strategy.</p>
<p>Clavier also says consumer internet companies need to demonstrate more than &#8221;just pure user traction&#8221; to whet a VC&#8217;s appetite. He tells Dixon SoftTech VC is moving towards backing &#8220;businesses&#8221; and trots out <a href="http://fab.com/about-fab/">Fab</a> as an example. &#8220;We&#8217;ve made money from Fab the day we launched the service, Why? Because it is transaction based.&#8221;</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the full interview for additional insights and make sure to watch <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/founder-stories-softtech-vc-clavier/">episode I</a> and <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/27/founder-stories-clavier-big-vcs-hurt/">episode II</a> of this interview.</p>
<p>All <em>Founder Stories</em> videos including interviews with David Karp, Lauren Leto, Stephen Kaufer, Christopher Poole, Dennis Crowley and many other founders are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/video/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) Jeff Clavier On How Big VCs Can Hurt Seed Rounds</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/4RlSQPIJioI/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/27/founder-stories-clavier-big-vcs-hurt/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:38:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=489214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-fs-2.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier FS 2" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/jeff-clavier">Jeff Clavier</a> just finished raising <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">$55 million</a> for his third <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/softtech-vc">SoftTech VC</a> fund and after closing it out, stopped by TechCrunch to tape <em>Founder Stories</em> with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>. The two discuss signaling risk, which is basically when a major VC invests in a startup during a seed round and doesn't follow up with more funding. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-fs-2.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier FS 2" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517257154&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/jeff-clavier">Jeff Clavier</a> just finished raising <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">$55 million</a> for his third <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/softtech-vc">SoftTech VC</a> fund and after closing it out, stopped by TechCrunch to tape <em>Founder Stories</em> with host <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>.</p>
<p>In part II of this <em>Founder Stories </em>conversation, Dixon surveys the seed stage landscape and comes away wondering if too many unproven entrepreneurs are running companies with unrealistically high valuations. He believes it gives pause to investors thinking about backing these budding startups.</p>
<p>As a micro-VC, Clavier says he manages this trend by clearly defining what he wants out of any partnership and if there&#8217;s not an agreement on the table he wastes no time analyzing the next opportunity. &#8220;We want a certain level of ownership and if ever we don&#8217;t get the ownership or it is too expensive we&#8217;ll just bid farewell.&#8221;</p>
<p>The two also discuss signaling risk, which is basically when a major VC invests in a startup during a seed round and doesn&#8217;t follow up with more funding. Rightly or wrongly, it signals to other investors to stay away. (If Accel or Greylock isn&#8217;t doubling down on the A and B rounds, something must be wrong with the company). Clavier shields his investments from signaling risk by telling outsiders that just because &#8220;firm x, y, z [is] on the cap table&#8221; it doesn&#8217;t mean they are the bellwether, especially if they only put in a token amount as an option to invest later.</p>
<p>Clavier also believes allowing multiple VC&#8217;s to fund a seed round sets the stage for &#8220;a disaster&#8221; and offers advice to founders who are considering bringing on a &#8220;brand name&#8221; investor. It can be great if there is true commitment, but too often it just raises questions later when they lose interest and drop out of future financing rounds.</p>
<p>Make sure to watch the full video to hear all his insights.</p>
<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/founder-stories-softtech-vc-clavier/">Part I</a> of this interview is here. Episode III is coming up.</p>
<p>Past Founder Stories episodes featuring Mayor Bloomberg, David Karp, Dennis Crowley, Fred Wilson and Alexis Ohanian are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">joshzelman</media:title>
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	<feedburner:origLink>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/27/founder-stories-clavier-big-vcs-hurt/</feedburner:origLink></item>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) SoftTech VC's Clavier: An Investor's Role Isn't To Give Orders</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/4y-5-ZwCxqk/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/founder-stories-softtech-vc-clavier/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:09:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jeff clavier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[softtechvc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=488966</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-founder-stories-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier Founder Stories 1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/softtech-vc">SoftTech VC's</a>, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/jeff-clavier">Jeff Clavier</a> has edged his way from a true Silicon Valley outsider (born and raised in France) to the ultimate insider. Since moving to the valley a decade ago, Clavier has launched three funds and invested in more than 100 companies, the likes of which include Mint, FitBit, and Fab.

Not bad for a guy who claims to have jumped "into venture by accident."

Having just raised <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">$55 million</a> for his third fund, which will invest on average "$400,000" per startup, Clavier sat down with <em>Founder Stories</em> host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> to discuss how he built his business.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/clavier-founder-stories-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Clavier Founder Stories 1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517257155&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/softtech-vc">SoftTech VC&#8217;s</a>, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/jeff-clavier">Jeff Clavier</a> has edged his way from a true Silicon Valley outsider (born and raised in France) to the ultimate insider. Since moving to the valley a decade ago, Clavier has launched three funds and invested in more than 100 companies, the likes of which include Mint, FitBit, and Fab.</p>
<p>Not bad for a guy who claims to have jumped &#8220;into venture by accident.&#8221;</p>
<p>Having just raised <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/jeff-clavier-softtech-vc-raises-55-fund-iii/">$55 million</a> for his third fund, which will invest on average &#8220;$400,000&#8243; per startup, Clavier sat down with <em>Founder Stories</em> host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> to discuss how he built his business.</p>
<p>Clavier tells Dixon by 2004 it had become financially feasible to back &#8220;customer internet companies.&#8221; He says what used to cost $5-million had been reduced to half-a-million. So, &#8220;for three-and-a-half-years I sort of built my dealflow, and sort of my footprint in Silicon Valley by doing angel investments.&#8221;</p>
<p>While not a major player at the time, he notes, &#8220;I was still a VC and I could help entrepreneurs with the financing and figure out how to structure an investment, how to look at term sheets, how to pitch and so on and so forth, and so slowly but surely I sort of built that initial presence in the valley.&#8221;</p>
<p>Having helped guide the growth of scores companies and learning just as many lessons along the way, Clavier tells Dixon &#8220;you can’t have any pride as an investor because you need to be able to help in anything you can.&#8221; He concludes, &#8220;you are not running the company, you are just supporting it, the point of view is you don&#8217;t give orders.&#8221;</p>
<p>Episode II of this interview is coming up. Past <em>Founder Stories</em> episodes featuring leaders of ZocDoc, TripAdvisor, Charity: Water, Turntable.fm, Bump and many other startups are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/">here</a>.</p>
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	<feedburner:origLink>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/founder-stories-softtech-vc-clavier/</feedburner:origLink></item>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) ZocDoc's Massoumi On Hitting The Heart Of Health Care Needs</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/CHnHUswQOJM/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/09/founder-stories-zocdocs-massoumi-on-creating-a-win-win-situation-for-patients-doctors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:30:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zocdoc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cyrus massoumi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=479850</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/zocdoc2.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="ZocDoc2" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />You need a doctor and you need a doctor who takes your insurance. Instead of having to fumble through antiquated lists complied by your provider, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/zocdoc">ZocDoc</a> seeks to expedite the process of locating care by displaying physicians in your area who are available for immediate and long-term appointments.

In part II of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/cyrus-massoumi">Cyrus Massoumi's</a> Founder Stories interview with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, Massoumi tells Dixon why he thinks ZocDoc found a following and offers advice to other entrepreneurs.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/zocdoc2.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="ZocDoc2" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517243111&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>You need a doctor and you need a doctor who takes your insurance. Instead of having to fumble through antiquated lists complied by your provider, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/zocdoc">ZocDoc</a> seeks to expedite the process of locating care by displaying physicians in your area who are available for immediate and long-term appointments.</p>
<p>Doctors pay a fee to join ZocDoc, which has <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/07/founder-stories-zocdocs-massoumi-a-bad-flight-terrible-customer-service-created-zocdoc/">secured $95 million in funding,</a> spread to more than a dozen United States cities and has hired 200+ employees since 2007.</p>
<p>In part II of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/cyrus-massoumi">Cyrus Massoumi&#8217;s</a> Founder Stories interview with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>, Massoumi tells Dixon why he thinks ZocDoc found a following and offers advice to other entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Massoumi attributes ZocDoc&#8217;s success to hitting the nexus of easing friction for both patients and doctors. Patients save time booking appointments and doctors easily fill vacancies, including vacancies in the &#8220;hidden supply of health care&#8221; formed from last minute cancellations.</p>
<p>He calls it a &#8220;win-win&#8221; situation.</p>
<p>While ZocDoc found a recipe for success, getting there wasn&#8217;t easy. Massoumi tells Dixon his team caught a lucky break in 2008 when it won $100,000 for &#8220;the top small business in America&#8221; and continues, &#8221;had we not won that money we didn&#8217;t have enough money to actually expand to our next market.&#8221; He believes the expansion silenced doubters who didn&#8217;t think ZocDoc could flourish outside of New York City.</p>
<p>As the interview winds down, Massoumi offers of several pieces of advice. In particular he recommends entrepreneurs pay attention to &#8220;one of the old adages of fundraising [which] is never raise money when you need it.&#8221; Having previously worked at a company that ran of money, he speaks from first hand experience.</p>
<p>Massoumi shares plenty more insights in this interview, including why he thinks the financial downturn helped ZocDoc. Be sure to view the entire video to see why.</p>
<p>Past episodes of Founder Stories featuring Mayor Bloomberg, Charity: Water&#8217;s Scott Harrison, TripAdvisor&#8217;s Stephen Kaufer and leaders of many other startups are <a href="http://techcrunch.com/video/founder-stories-2/">here</a>.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">ZocDoc2</media:title>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) ZocDoc's Massoumi: A Bad Flight &amp; Terrible Customer Service Created ZocDoc</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/ta0YsWOUSOs/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/07/founder-stories-zocdocs-massoumi-a-bad-flight-terrible-customer-service-created-zocdoc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zocdoc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cyrus massoumi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=479055</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/founder-stories-zoc1-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Founder Stories Zoc1.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />In 2007 <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/cyrus-massoumi">Cyrus Massoumi</a> ruptured his eardrum on a flight to New York and turned his distasteful experience of trying to track down a physician into <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/zocdoc">ZocDoc</a> - a service that enables customers to quickly book appointments with doctors and dentists online. In a relatively short time, his streamlined offering has attracted considerable interest from both consumers and investors. Supported by doctors who pay a fee to be listed on the site, ZocDoc is now available in more than a dozen United States markets, claims 200+ employees and has tallied <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/booking-platform-for-health-professionals-zocdoc-gets-a-25m-infusion-from-goldman-sachs/">$95 million in funding</a>.

In this episode of Founder Stories, ZocDoc's CEO and co-founder Cyrus Massoumi tells host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> how ZocDoc came together.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/founder-stories-zoc1-mov.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="Founder Stories Zoc1.mov" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517242200&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>In 2007 <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/cyrus-massoumi">Cyrus Massoumi</a> ruptured his eardrum on a flight to New York and turned his distasteful experience of trying to track down a physician into <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/zocdoc">ZocDoc</a> &#8211; a service that enables customers to quickly book appointments with doctors and dentists online. In a relatively short time, his streamlined offering has attracted considerable interest from both consumers and investors. Supported by doctors who pay a fee to be listed on the site, ZocDoc is now available in more than a dozen United States markets, claims 200+ employees and has tallied <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/booking-platform-for-health-professionals-zocdoc-gets-a-25m-infusion-from-goldman-sachs/">$95 million in funding</a>.</p>
<p>In this episode of Founder Stories, ZocDoc&#8217;s CEO and co-founder Cyrus Massoumi tells host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a> how ZocDoc was built.</p>
<p>Rewinding to ZocDoc&#8217;s origins, Massoumi says after landing in Manhattan with one healthy ear, it took him four days to secure the services of a medical professional. He search was hindered by the substandard list of doctors compiled by his insurance company &#8211; so inadequate were the choices that &#8220;one doctor was actually deceased&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>Disgusted with the status quo, Massoumi rounded up two co-founders and went to work building something better, but tells Dixon those early days weren&#8217;t easy. &#8221;We had no website, I was literally taking a power point page and walking into these doctors offices and trying to convince them that online booking was the future of healthcare.&#8221; He continues, &#8221;in one case I literally sat in a waiting room of an office for six hours and then I got three dentists to sign on.&#8221;</p>
<p>After shaking hands and iterating for &#8220;two-and-a-half years&#8221; Massoumi says &#8220;everything clicked and we have been expanding ever since.&#8221;  He tells Dixon patients now have access to &#8220;40 different specialties&#8221; and &#8220;probably north of 6-million maybe even approaching 7-million available [doctor] appointments over the next 90-days.&#8221;</p>
<p>Massoumi shares plenty more insights in this video, so be sure to watch the entire episode to hear them all.</p>
<p>Past Founder Stories episodes featuring leaders of TripAdvisor, Charity: Water, Bump, Redditt, TurnTable.fm and may other start-ups are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/show/founder-stories">here</a>.</p>
<p>Episode II of this interview is coming up.</p>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) TripAdvisor's Kaufer Discusses The Logic Behind Running “404-Tests”</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/0HijMfAO3BU/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-discusses-the-logic-behind-running-404-tests/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:34:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tripadvisor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Kaufer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=473147</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/tripadvisor-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="TripAdvisor 1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />After <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/tripadvisor-spins-off-from-expedia-takes-flight-on-the-nasdaq-as-a-public-company/">notching a spot on the NASDAQ</a>, TripAdvisor's Stephen Kaufer <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-crucial-early-decisions-paved-the-way-for-an-ipo/">carved out a few minutes</a> for <em>Founder Stories,</em> with host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>. In episode II of this interview, the two discuss their mutual disdain for the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/15/sopa-brad-burnham/">Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)</a> and Kaufer offers advice to founders.

Highlighting a piece of advice, Kaufer tells Dixon a good way for "a consumer facing, web-based business" to capture what "your visitors really want" is to run a live test with a non-working link. Calling these "404-tests" he says "before you build the darn thing ... see how many people click it."]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/tripadvisor-1.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="TripAdvisor 1" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?sid=577&#038;width=640&#038;height=390&#038;colorPallet=%230A9600&#038;hasCompanion=false&#038;sequential=0&#038;videoControlDisplayColor=%23000000&#038;playList=517234873&#038;videoGroupID=133503&#038;autoStart=false&#038;playerActions=16439"></script>
<p>After <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/tripadvisor-spins-off-from-expedia-takes-flight-on-the-nasdaq-as-a-public-company/">notching a spot on the NASDAQ</a>, TripAdvisor&#8217;s Stephen Kaufer <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-crucial-early-decisions-paved-the-way-for-an-ipo/">carved out a few minutes</a> for <em>Founder Stories,</em> with host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>. In episode II of this interview, the two discuss their mutual disdain for the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/15/sopa-brad-burnham/">Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)</a> and Kaufer offers advice to founders.</p>
<p>Highlighting a piece of advice, Kaufer tells Dixon a good way for &#8220;a consumer facing, web-based business&#8221; to capture what &#8220;your visitors really want&#8221; is to run a live test with a non-working link. Calling these &#8220;404-tests&#8221; he says &#8220;before you build the darn thing &#8230; see how many people click it. It goes nowhere, it says broken link to the user [but] your log file says how many people&#8221; checked it out.</p>
<p>While the marketing department may not love the practice, Kaufer says it &#8220;solves umpteen meetings worth of powerful debate and logical arguments.&#8221;</p>
<p>More advice follows &#8211; be sure to hear it all by watching the entire interview and watch episode I of this interview <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-crucial-early-decisions-paved-the-way-for-an-ipo/">here</a>.</p>
<p>If you missed a past episode of Founder Stories, you can get caught-up <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/show/founder-stories">here</a>. Guests include leaders from BirchBox, Foodspotting, GroupMe, DropBox, Tumblr and KickStarter.</p>
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	<feedburner:origLink>http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-discusses-the-logic-behind-running-404-tests/</feedburner:origLink></item>
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		<title>(Founder Stories) TripAdvisor's Kaufer: Crucial Early Decisions Paved The Way For An IPO</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechCrunchTV/Founder-Stories/~3/T0IQGARnMt4/</link>
		<comments>http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/founder-stories-tripadvisors-kaufer-crucial-early-decisions-paved-the-way-for-an-ipo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:18:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dixon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Expedia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Founder Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tripadvisor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Kaufer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techcrunch.com/?p=472806</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img width="100" height="70" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/tripadvisor-2.jpg?w=100&amp;h=70&amp;crop=1" class="attachment-tc-carousel-river-thumb wp-post-image" alt="TripAdvisor 2" style="float: left; margin: 0 10px 7px 0;" />Earlier today, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/tripadvisor">TripAdvisor</a> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/tripadvisor-spins-off-from-expedia-takes-flight-on-the-nasdaq-as-a-public-company/">added its name</a> to the list of companies publicly trading on the NASDAQ. After doing so, TripAdvisor's co-founder <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/stephen-kaufer">Stephen Kaufer</a> stopped by TechCrunch for a <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>.

TripAdvisor offers user-generated reviews of everything from hotels to restaurants and claims "50 million monthly unique visitors and 20 million members." Healthy numbers now, but dial back a decade and TripAdvisor was gasping for air. Kaufer says 18-months in "we had no clients, we had no revenue and we were running out of money."
]]></description>
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<p>Earlier today, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/tripadvisor">TripAdvisor</a> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/tripadvisor-spins-off-from-expedia-takes-flight-on-the-nasdaq-as-a-public-company/">added its name</a> to the list of companies publicly trading on the NASDAQ. After doing so, TripAdvisor&#8217;s co-founder <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/stephen-kaufer">Stephen Kaufer</a> stopped by TechCrunch for a <em>Founder Stories</em> interview with host, <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/chris-dixon">Chris Dixon</a>.</p>
<p>TripAdvisor offers user-generated reviews of everything from hotels to restaurants and claims &#8220;50 million monthly unique visitors and 20 million members.&#8221; Healthy numbers now, but dial back a decade and TripAdvisor was gasping for air. Kaufer says 18-months in &#8220;we had no clients, we had no revenue and we were running out of money.&#8221;</p>
<p>Realizing time was short, the team dumped their initial business model after recognizing a demo they released on the side &#8220;to showcase what someone else could do with [our] technology&#8221; was gathering steam. Leadership built a plan around the concept, added a &#8220;write your own review&#8221; button and was off to the races with what we now know as TripAdvisor.</p>
<p>Kaufer dives into additional detail on those early days, discusses Expedia&#8217;s acquisition of his company and voices concerns about Google as the interview unfolds. Make sure to see it all by watching the entire exchange.</p>
<p>Also be sure to check out Chris Dixon&#8217;s thoughts on the interview, the IPO, and issues surrounding it all on his blog, <a href="http://cdixon.org/2011/12/21/the-tripadvisor-ipo/">cdixon.org</a>.</p>
<p>Episode II of Kaufer&#8217;s interview is coming up.</p>
<p>Past Founder Stories interviews featuring Mayor Bloomberg, David Karp, Dennis Crowley and many other leaders are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/show/founder-stories">here</a>.</p>
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