ITT 187: How to Launch and Scale a Startup with Max Kolysh

Max Kolysh is a serial entrepreneur and investor. After graduating early from MIT with a degree in Computer Science, Max co-founded Zinc.io, a 15 person startup in San Francisco, California, which now powers tens of thousands of e-commerce companies around the world.

 

During today’s conversation with Max, we zoom in on his entrepreneurial journey and how he grew his startup to $6 million in revenue. We also dive into what being a part of a startup incubator environment is really like. My big takeaway from today’s conversation is specifically on the aspect of user acquisition and customer acquisition. We discuss how Max thinks about acquiring new customers by leveraging their existing customer base to grow their platform through influencer marketing.

 

In this broadcast, Max and I talk about:

 

• What is Max’s founder story
• How did Max learn about Y Combinator and what was that process like
• Did Max’s startup idea change while going through Y Combinator
• How did Max define the metrics their team wanted to focus on
• What constitutes as metrics for a successful startup
• Why you should be using non-revenue metrics
• How is Max’s business at a point of organic sustainability
• What was it like for Max as he was bootstrapping his business
• Why you should look into pre-selling first
• How do you decide what is worth your time and energy
• In what ways has Max grown his business
• Why are referrals a good way to increase exposure
• What is Max looking at now in terms of improving his business

 

How to Connect with Max:

 

• zinc.io

 

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