The Early Days Podcast by DULO
Technology:Podcasting
Sharing stories and lessons from two decades of building startups with Diane Tarshis, founder of Startup Distillery (S3E3)
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https://weardulo.com
Diane Tarshis is an experienced startup consultant who started her career in the middle of the dot-com boom and is now the founder of Startup Distillery, where she works with companies to help them navigate the muddy waters of their early days.
With two decades of experience from the entrepreneurial trenches, working with founders from all walks of life and industries, we wanted to talk with Diane about the messy beginnings of small businesses. We covered important lessons around launching a startup, such as the importance of having a roadmap and doing extra homework in preparation, we discussed the pros and cons of self-funding versus raising venture capital and when is it a good time to rely on each. We also touched on the topic of marketing and messaging - a topic near and dear to us, since we are in the middle of figuring out how to talk to our target audience.
Topics we cover in this episode:
01:53 - Who is Diane and what she does
04:56 - How Diane approached her first clients
06:36 - How to figure out what to charge
09:20 - The most common problems startups get stuck on
11:05 - The importance of having a roadmap before launch
12:55 - How to convince a stubborn founder to change direction
16:00 - There's always another way
17:21 - Bootstrapping versus Venture Funding
20:32 - The argument against going all-in on building a business from the start
23:33 - The myth of stress and the blessing of constraints when bootstrapping a side-business
27:20 - The DULO journey so far
33:05 - What to do when your business plateaus
37:41 - Can you apply lessons from one business into a new one
43:27 - The need to appeal to the head and the heart when marketing your business
45:34 - The importance of a clear and succinct message
49:10 - Future plans and project
54:29 - Get in touch with Diane
FULL LIST of Useful Resources and Links: https://weardulo.com/blogs/the-early-days-podcast/startup-lessons
The Best Way to Learn Facebook Ads | The Early Days (S3E6)
Evergreen Marketing Principles | The Early Days (S3E5)
Say "Yes" first, figure it out later | The Early Days by DULO (S3E4)
Bootstrapping vs VC funding #TEDbits (S3E3)
There's always another way #TEDbits (S3E3)
Prepare a roadmap before your launch #TEDbits (S3E3)
Adjusting your prices according to the market #TEDbits (S3E3)
Business lessons from Kanye and co. | #TEDbits (S3E2)
When you accept that everything is your fault | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Working full-time on your business | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Working with a co-founder who is also your brother | #TEDbits (S3E2)
How to create content at scale | The Early Days by DULO (S3E2)
The importance of balance in two-sided marketplaces | #TEDbits (S3E1)
Should you go with your gut when doing user testing? | #TEDbits (S3E1)
What are the negative effects of having too many tools? | #TEDbits (S3E1)
Useful resources for growth marketing #TEDbits (S3E1)
How to grow a SaaS business | The Early Days by DULO (S3E1)
S2E30 - Kitchen confidential with Julian and Marin
S2E29 - How to turn a side-project into a full-time gig - Pat Walls, Starter Story
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