Dear First-Time Founders

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In “Dear First-Time Founders,” our hosts Stacey Lawson and Maria Sipka sit down with our incredible founders to talk about their journey of navigating the other “F” word in Silicon Valley - Fear & Failure. How did they overcome them? How did they navigate and get back up?  The podcast “Dear First-Time Founders” is produced by Second Time Founders, a community founded on the belief that when founders create their second company, they choose to do things differently based on what they learned. New episodes coming out bi-weekly on Friday. For inquiries and feedback on the podcast, please contact us at kwiri@secondtimefounders.com. We are always happy to chat!

Second Time Founders


    • Aug 28, 2021 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 37m AVG DURATION
    • 12 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Dear First-Time Founders

    10. Patrick Lee (Co-Founder @Rotten Tomatoes): The importance of founder focus

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2021 58:42


    An entrepreneur, a startup advisor, a mentor, and a movie producer, Patrick is one of the most seasoned multiple-time founders, and he is best known for co-founding the leading entertainment website focused on movie reviews, Rotten Tomatoes. Dive in to learn about the founder journey of Patrick, from finishing college in 10 years, building the big collaboration with Disney, explaining the meaning of the name ‘Rotten Tomatoes', and exploring his aspirations of creating a better future. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT PATRICK & MARIA > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    9. Robert Bent (Co-Founder @Othership): Inspirations Seeking & the Mental Health Revolution

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2021 44:02


    A firm believer in conscious leadership, Robert Bent is currently the CEO of Othership (previously Inward Breathwork), a company he has co-founded to solve the problem of loneliness. By creating the breathwork platform, Robert hopes to build a community that can onboard people into a happier and healthier life. Besides Inward Breathwork, Robert has also been a passionate mentor at Ethereum for the past four years, and has previously helped co-found companies INVI Energy in 2014 and Roamly in 2010. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT ROBERT & MARIA > MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

    8. Jochen Boeykens (Founder @Torus.vc): What Investors Wish Founders Knew

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2021 27:45


    Jochen Boeykens is a multiple-time entrepreneur and investor. He is currently the founder of Torus Capital, a fund bringing together entrepreneurs to invest in early-stage technology companies. Throughout his career, Jochen has been involved in numerous startup ventures. He is currently co-CEO at Skindr, a healthcare startup connecting people to dermatologists. Moreover, he has previously helped startups like KeyConcepts BVBA and TapCrowd achieve success, both of which were eventually acquired. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    7. Barry Stamos (Co-Founder @1heart): Love as the Human Accelerator

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2021 49:43


    As a Conscious Capitalist Barry currently operates as the CMO of 1Heart, a company he co-founded to foster a new generation of companies and leaders who create from their heart, aligned to their purpose, and collectively elevate the consciousness of the planet. Prior to 1Heart, Barry founded a marketing company ‘INBOX' in 2001, which was acquired by Responsys, and later by Oracle. Barry has also been recognized by Techweek as one of the top 100 Most Influential Leaders in Technology. He also currently serves as interim CMO, advisor, board member, angel investor and philanthropist -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT BARRY & STACEY > MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    6. Diana Hu (Director of Engineering @Niantic, Inc.): Building relationships in the Augmented Reality field

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2021 42:22


    Diana is starting a new (stealth) company. Previously she was the founder and CTO of Escher Reality, a YC startup acquired by Niantic. At Niantic, she was the head of the AR platform and led all AR initiatives in engineering and product. In the past, she built and led data science teams to bring research projects into production for "OnCue", a cloud television platform spun off from Intel and acquired by Verizon Labs. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME

    5. Diego Saez-Gil (Co-founder @Pachama): AI & the Mission to Restoring Nature

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2021 40:59


    Diego Saez-Gil is the Co-Founder & CEO of Pachama, a company aiming to restore nature by creating a marketplace for forest carbon offsets. Pachama is Diego's third startup following WeHostels (2011), the first mobile-only travel booking app (acquired by StudentUniverse) and Bluesmart (2015), the world's first smart luggage with GPS tracking (acquired by Travelpro). Dive in to hear Diego's stories of following his passions of saving Mother Earth. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME

    4. Maria Sipka (Co-Founder @Linqia): Connecting the Dots of Creativity and Consciousness

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2021 44:27


    Maria Sipka was amongst the first to pioneer influencer marketing in early 2000 and the co-founder at Linqia - a leading enterprise technology company headquartered in San Francisco. At the age of 19, she founded her first company - a content marketing agency that grew to be one of Australia's most respected consultancies and from there she was part of the founding team at XING - today a $1.4B publicly traded company. Additionally, Maria has been recognized as one of the leading women in technology by Forbes and is a contributor to the Forbes Agency Council. Maria is passionate about Social Impact Storytelling based on the belief that all ideas start with two things, emotional connection, and inspired action. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT MARIA & STACEY > MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    3. Willem Bult (Co-Founder @Cloud Sangha): Self-development and community-building through meditation

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2021 43:56


    Building on his passion for helping people live healthier, happier, and more conscious lives, Willem co-founded Cloud Sangha — an inclusive community of meditators. Willem also advises companies and founders on topics such as technical and product strategy, leadership development, and organizational development. Outside of work you'll find him riding his road bike or DJing deep house parties, preferably in the desert. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT WILLEM & STACEY > MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    2. Stacey Lawson (Vice Chairman @Ygrene Energy Fund): Timeless wisdom traditions in the business world (part 1)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2021 31:41


    With a burning desire to “get out into the world” and a growing passion for entrepreneurship, Stacey became an “accidental entrepreneur” at the age of 25, with a startup born out of her Harvard Business School assignment. After her first company raised millions of dollars, was acquired, and she went on to build several tech ventures, she felt that she was burning the candle at both ends. Stacey took a trip to India, where she immersed in the realm of wisdom traditions, collective wholeness, and the inner landscape. Ever since then, Stacey has integrated the notion of conscious leadership and authenticity into the world of business to co-found the Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology at UC Berkeley, run for U.S. Congress, and build her latest venture Ygrene Energy Fund. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT STACEY and MARIA > MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE> CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    2. Stacey Lawson (Vice Chairman @Ygrene Energy Fund): Timeless wisdom traditions in the business world (part 2)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2021 16:54


    With a burning desire to “get out into the world” and a growing passion for entrepreneurship, Stacey became an “accidental entrepreneur” at the age of 25, with a startup born out of her Harvard Business School assignment. After her first company raised millions of dollars, was acquired, and she went on to build several tech ventures, she felt that she was burning the candle at both ends. Stacey took a trip to India, where she immersed in the realm of wisdom traditions, collective wholeness, and the inner landscape. Ever since then, Stacey has integrated the notion of conscious leadership and authenticity into the world of business to co-found the Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology at UC Berkeley, run for U.S. Congress, and build her latest venture Ygrene Energy Fund. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT STACEY and MARIA > MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE> CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    1. Marko Gargenta (Founder @Plusplus.co): Re-writing the definition of success

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2021 31:05


    Marko dropped out of college to start his first company in Silicon Valley, only to see it bomb during the dot com crash. Shifting from fast, rapid growth to slow and steady development, he built Marakana, an IT training service which was acquired by Twitter in 2013. With his new definition of success that focuses on "impact," Marko is now the founder of Plusplus.co with the aim to share tribal knowledge within an organization. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> ABOUT MARKO and MARIA > MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

    0. Dear First-Time Founders, we are here for you!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2021 14:15


    It can be a struggle to find the right solutions, inspiration, and purpose for you and your company. But you push through the struggle and, ‘Wallah!', you're a founder. But that's just the beginning. A founder's journey is filled with self-doubts, obstacles, or just simply... “What have I gotten myself into?” In ep 0, have a listen on how our two hosts, Stacey and Maria, navigate their journeys as founders through uncertainties. Have a glance at who we are, what stories we will tell in “Dear First-Time Founders,” and most importantly, why we choose to do this podcast in this episode. -------------------------- >>TIME FRAME> LISTEN TO NEW EPISODES ON > CONNECT WITH OUR HOSTS > CONNECTED WITH 2TF > MUSIC

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