Podcast appearances and mentions of theron mccollough

We recently hosted a conversation between fiifi Founder & CEO, Theron McCollough, and Lean Startup Co. Advisor, Chris Guest, focused on Theron’s experiences working in the world of startups and his recent return to the role of an entrepreneur as he launches his new venture.  In Chris and Theron’s conversation, they discuss: - Given Theron’s background advising and investing in hundreds of startups, what insights has he taken with him as he re-enters the world of entrepreneurship? - And now that he is a player again, does he follow the advice he would have given when he was a coach? And much, much more… For more than a decade, Theron McCollough has been working in the world of startups. Fairly early on in his career — when he was working with Pivotal Software — he began to notice how Lean Startup techniques could help a business scale. And while he took note of the usefulness of testing, iterating, and failing, one of the biggest things he learned was the importance of asking customers what they think. The simple act of reaching out to the customer can be incredibly helpful and enlightening. “You would be amazed at what you find out,” Theron says. It’s one of the things that is easy to understand in theory, but Theron cautions, entrepreneurs have to put it into practice to see how it works. “Until you actually do it, you don’t understand what the struggles are,” he says, adding, “once you get in there, you realize how much information every single customer or potential customer can give you to save you from wasting time and energy.” As an added bonus, it’s also a great way to develop a customer base. If you adopt their feedback and apply it to your product or business, “they’re going to be a customer for life.” Because they’ll not only feel heard, but you’ll have created something that made their business (or life) better. Email us: education@leanstartup.co Follow Lean Startup Co. @leanstartup https://leanstartup.co/education

For this episode of the Startup of the Year Podcast, hosts Frank Gruber, Lori Thiel, and Rich Maloy of the Established team are joined by Silicon Valley Bank’s Theron McCollough to share some insights about SVB’s Startup Outlook Report for 2019, which details how technology and life science founders and executives in the U.S., the UK, China and Canada are growing their companies, and planning for future growth, amid our current state of economic uncertainty. Touching on everything from demographic shifts, to the doubling-downs by microfunds, to the loud ringing of IPO bells, Theron helped lead an illuminating discussion on the latest industry trends and what signals to keep an eye out for in the near future. Then, as always, the team highlights a handful of their favorite startups. This episode, they examine Knack, out of Tampa Bay; Rent Check, from New Orleans; Atlanta’s Qoins; and WattBuy, from Washington, D.C. Remember to come say hi to us on Instagram and Twitter at @startupofyear, and pretty please let us know how you like the show by dropping us a review on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. We’d love to hear how you feel about the Startup of the Year Podcast and what you’d like to hear more of.

We recently hosted the first episode of a six-part webcast series we’re doing with Silicon Valley Bank. In episode one, Elliot Susel, Lean Startup Co. Faculty Member, spoke with Theron McCollough, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank’s Early Stage Practice about the 2019 Startup Outlook US Report they just released. You can read the report here: https://bit.svb.com/2GzYO4e In Theron and Elliot’s conversation, they discuss: - The challenges that companies are facing in finding and hiring talent - The growing number of women in leadership positions - Why some startups are finding it easier to raise funds - The most promising new technology sectors And much, much more… In 2004, Theron McCollough joined a startup and never looked back. He has remained in the startup space ever since. Now, as the Managing Director of the Early Stage Practice at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), his main job is “just helping startups.” He gets to connect companies and people together and help make the introductions that specifically match with what startup founders are building. “It’s what makes me wake up every day,” Theron says, “and I’m excited to come to work.” In his role at Silicon Valley Bank, one of the things Theron gets to work on is the Startup Outlook Report they release every year. The 2019 report was just released, and Theron was able to share some insights about what the report says about the startup world right now. Email us: education@leanstartup.co Follow Lean Startup Co. @leanstartup https://leanstartup.co/education

Join the Acquired Limited Parter program! (works best on mobile)   In a world ravaged by late fees and lack of rewinding, one man two men from a sleepy California beach town make a stand against tyranny, daringly dethrone an evil empire and… oh who are we kidding, they just copied Amazon’s business plan for books and applied it to movie rentals. But as always there is much more to the story than that! We dive into the fascinating, true, and oft-untold history of Netflix in our first two-part special on Acquired. Part 1 covers Netflix’s original DVD rental business from founding to 2009, and next time on Part 2 we’ll cover the (rocky) transition to streaming from 2010 to present. Buckle up for a wild ride!   Links: Netflix’s original logo   Carve Outs: Ben: The Good Place on… Netflix! David: The Broken Earth Series by N. K. Jemisin   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 3. You can get in touch with Theron McCollough, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here.