Startup Dad

This special episode looks back at the most powerful moments from Startup Dad in 2025. Host Adam Fishman reflects on a year of raw, honest conversations with 46 founders, operators, and leaders who are also Dads (and sometimes, Moms) navigating the chaos of startup life while raising families.

From redefining balance and sharing mental load to leading through crises and building parenting systems that actually work, this episode captures the hard-earned wisdom from a community trying to do both: build companies and raise kids without losing their minds. We discussed: 

Daniel Borok is a Managing Partner at nvp capital, an early-stage venture firm investing in founders building the next generation of vertical AI companies. With a focus on B2B applications, Dan spends his days meeting visionary entrepreneurs, making high-conviction bets at the pre-seed and seed stages, and helping early teams build durable companies. Before nvp, he held operating and investing roles across finance and tech, giving him a sharp eye for both product-market fit and founder grit.

But Dan’s most demanding portfolio companies might be his two young kids. He and his wife, Abby, a re...

Oji Udezue is an AI Product Expert at ProductMind, and a veteran product leader with more than 25 years of experience across Typeform, Twitter, Calendly, Atlassian, Bridgewater, and Microsoft. He’s known for his deep thinking on product craft, leadership, and the future of work. He’s also the co-author (with his wife, Ezinne Udezue)  of Building Rocket Ships, a guide for builders and operators navigating high-stakes decision-making in fast-moving environments.

In this episode, we explore Oji’s philosophy on parenting through the lens of resilience, how it’s shaped, why it matters, and the role adversity plays in prepar...

Allison Daminger is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she specializes in gender, family dynamics, and social inequality. She’s also the author of What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life, which explores the often invisible cognitive labor that drives the daily operations of households.

In this episode, we talk about the concept of cognitive labor, how it’s defined, why it’s disproportionately placed on women in heterosexual partnerships, and the emotional and mental toll it takes. Allison shares insights from her years of research, including interviews with ove...

Jamie Nacht is the co-founder and CEO of Havium, a company he built from the ground up with his wife and co-founder, Cristin. Together, they’re raising two young kids while juggling the nonstop realities of startup life, marriage, and modern parenting, all as a fully integrated team.

In this episode, Jamie shares his honest and often hilarious take on building a company with your spouse, creating parenting systems that actually work, and why sometimes the best way to help your kid process big emotions is to scream right along with them. We discussed: 

Dave Simnick is the founder and CEO of Soapbox, a company with a mission to provide personal care products while donating soap to those in need. He's also a husband and the father of a one-year-old son, Noah.

Listen to the whole episode for an amazing discount code at Soapbox! 

In this episode, Dave shares insights about the changes he faced when becoming a parent and how he’s adjusted his role as a CEO to manage his new responsibilities at home. We talked about the systems he and his wife have in place, the cha...

In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Chet Kittleson, serial founder and co-founder of Tin Can, an analog phone for kids that helps families stay connected without screens. He’s also a dad of three, building a hardware company from his kitchen table while raising a young family in Seattle.

Chet opens up about the inspiration behind Tin Can, how his childhood landline shaped the idea, and why he believes kids need more analog connections in a digital world. He talks candidly about the challenge of being “distracted dad” while building something he’s intens...

In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Colin Anawaty, technologist and founder of Flying A Capital. He’s also a single dad of two boys, navigating the challenges of fatherhood and entrepreneurship after divorce.

Colin opens up about how his kids have become his greatest teachers, why he believes accountability and independence should start young, and how joining a men’s group helped him prioritize relationships, including the one with himself. From Montessori principles to Mario Kart lessons, Colin shares how parenting frameworks and founder mindsets overlap in surprising ways. We discussed: 

Chad Pytel is the founder and CEO of thoughtbot, a product development consultancy, and co-founder of 12 Sided Studios, a gaming and production company. He’s also the longtime host of the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, a husband, and the father of two teenagers.

In this episode, Chad and I talk about raising kids while running companies, blending family life with creative projects, and the importance of designing systems at home, just as you would at work. He shares stories about parenting teenagers, shaping company culture around sustainable pace, and why even the smallest ri...

Jonathan Jamil, founder and CEO of Springboard, shares his story of growing up in a two-bedroom apartment with six family members, building a business powered by stay-at-home moms, and raising two daughters while redefining what success means.

In this episode, Jonathan opens up about his entrepreneurial journey, the lessons he has carried from his upbringing, and the realities of being a dad and founder at the same time. We discussed:

In this episode of Startup Dad, I sit  down with Adam Lieb, the founder and CEO of Gamesight, a marketing technology company that helps video game studios connect with players and launch their biggest titles. Adam started his first gaming business at just 11 years old and has spent his entire career building in the industry ever since.

As a dad of 11-year-old twins and husband to Camille, a lawyer who now leads the legal team at Gamesight, Adam shares what it’s like to grow a company and a family at the same time. From the challenges of...

In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Rishabh Jain, the CEO of FERMÀT Commerce, a company he launched when his oldest daughter was just a few weeks old. He’s also a husband and father of two kids under the age of four.

In this conversation, Rishabh shares why he believes parenthood actually makes entrepreneurship easier, how he manages family life alongside scaling startups, and the frameworks that help him stay focused and balanced. We discussed:

Zach Teutsch is the founder of Values Added Financial, and a former leader at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He’s also a husband, father of two, and a master of weaving big-picture life principles into day-to-day parenting.

In this episode, Zach and I talk about building independence in kids, creating household shortcuts to reduce decision fatigue, and why boredom is one of the best gifts you can give your children. He shares his unique frameworks for parenting, money, relationships, and emotional resilience. We discussed:

Jeremy King, co-founder and CEO of Ocean Orchestra and former CEO of Attest, shares his journey as a founder, ocean advocate, and father of two daughters.

In this episode, Jeremy opens up about building systems for both his family and his startups, why ocean conservation is personal to him, and how parenting has informed his leadership style. We discussed:

In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Jeff Selingo, a bestselling author, journalist and education expert, to discuss the complexities of college admissions and how parents can help their kids find their "Dream School." Jeff has spent over two decades researching higher education and is the author of Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You, Who Gets in and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, There Is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow, and College Unbound:  The Future of Higher E...

Peter Kazanjy is the best-selling author of Founding Sales and co-founder of Atrium. He’s also a dad to a seven-year-old son, Michael, and husband to Tracy, a designer and entrepreneur.

In this episode, Pete reflects on building companies, building capabilities, and building a family. He talks about the grit and perseverance behind their seven-round IVF journey, delivery room chaos, and how he now teaches his son to embrace responsibility, reduce entropy, and take pride in doing things well. We talked about: 

James Currier is a serial entrepreneur, founding partner at NFX, and a father of 4 boys. Known for his sharp insights into human behavior and startup dynamics, James brings that same clarity and intention to his parenting. He’s not just raising kids, he’s cultivating creators, adventurers, and independent thinkers.

In this episode, James shares how he designed his family life with the same care and foresight as he would a startup. From helping his son sail solo across the Atlantic at 16, to building secret passageways in their home, James offers a deeply personal and practical look...

Mike Malloy is the founder of Malloy Industries, a firm that connects scaling entrepreneurs with vetted fractional executives. He's also a Georgetown professor, a husband, and the father of Max, the company's self-declared Chief Cuteness Officer. Mike’s life is an intersection of serious business systems and silly dad jokes, all woven together by an intentional approach to work-life integration.

In this episode, Mike shares how building a business around his family values helped him show up better both as a parent and as a professional. We discussed:

Michael Leibovich is the Head of Growth at Adobe, but at home, he’s dad to a curious two-and-a-half-year-old and husband to a full-time working partner. With a previous career as a touring musician and a current career in creative tech leadership at companies like Vimeo and Abstract, Michael brings an emotionally grounded, inventive lens to fatherhood.

In this episode, Michael shares how parenting has reshaped his worldview from his leadership style at work to his daily routines at home. 

Lauren Dugan and Neil Vidyarthi are the husband-and-wife co-founders of Feel Good Games, creators of Little Magic Stories, an AI storytelling platform designed to spark creativity and independence in kids. They’re also parents of two boys (ages 3 and 8), longtime partners in both life and work, and startup veterans bringing a playful, grounded perspective to the founder-parent journey.

In this episode, Neil and Lauren talk about how parenting fuels their creativity, how they’ve evolved their marriage while running a company together, and why their son insists he’s the real CEO. We discussed:

Aaron White, founder of six companies including Appy People, Profitwell, Boundless and Blissfully discusses the intersection of startup life and fatherhood. 

In this episode, he shares how the challenges of becoming a parent have reshaped his approach to leadership, the unexpected lessons he's learned, and his evolving perspective on success. We discussed:

Olav Sindre Kriken is a four-time founder, husband, and father of three who’s currently leading Tana, an AI-powered productivity startup. Originally from a small town in Norway, Olav now lives in Palo Alto, and splits his time between scaling a company and staying deeply present for his family. He believes his family is the most important startup he’ll ever build.

In this episode, Olav reflects on what it means to raise resilient, independent kids in a tech-saturated world, how parenting frameworks shape his decisions as a founder, and why being a dad made him reth...

Roger Einstoss is the founder of Braintly, a software development company specializing in helping U.S.-based companies build and scale their engineering teams in Latin America. He's also a husband, father of two young kids, and passionate about balancing work and family while maintaining emotional intelligence in his parenting.

In this episode, Roger shares his unique perspective on parenting in Argentina, how he approaches fatherhood as a team effort with his wife, and how his entrepreneurial journey allowed him the flexibility to be present for his family. We discussed:

Dan Fishman is a husband, a lawyer, and a relatively new parent. He’s also Adam’s brother, and the very special guest for the 100th episode of Startup Dad. By day, Dan is Associate General Counsel at Redwood Trust, but at home, he’s going through fatherhood for the first time by navigating toddler teething, sleep deprivation, and the occasional lemon tree massacre. He’s still  figuring out what kind of dad he actually wants to be.

In this episode, Dan reflects on the surprises of new parenthood, what he’s borrowing from how he was raised, and...

Alex Egeler is a former engineering executive turned parent career coach. He’s also a father of four boys, a husband, and a stay-at-home dad who helps other working parents navigate meaningful careers that support, not strain their families. 

In this episode, Alex opens up about the unpredictable reality of parenting, the generational mental health patterns he’s determined to break, and how becoming a dad transformed how he views success. We discussed:

Ben Erez is a former founder and product leader turned solopreneur and instructor. He teaches a popular Maven course for aspiring product managers, hosts the podcast Supra Insider, and is a proud girl dad living in Brooklyn. 

In this episode, Ben shares what it’s like raising a daughter while building a portfolio career on his own terms. We discussed:

Jamie Lee is the Founder of JME Labs, a consulting business supporting startups and small businesses. Her husband, Jeff Okita, is the VP of Product at Tilt, a leave management platform. Together, they’re raising their 14-month-old daughter while managing demanding careers and a shared vision of parenting. We talked about:

David Apple is the Founder of Shark Tooth Biotech, a company focused on developing treatments for CMT 1A, a rare genetic disease affecting his oldest son. Previously an executive at Typeform, Notion, and Zingtree, David stepped away from startup life to become his son’s full-time advocate. 

He’s also a father of two, a board member of the CMTA, and a first-time children’s book author. We talked about:

Alex Medick is the Director of Marketing at TensorWave, an AI infrastructure company. Prior to this role, he served as the President and Chief Marketing Officer of Inside.com.

He’s also a single dad to two kids, a son and a daughter, navigating the challenges of parenting while leading in the startup world. 

We discussed:
- Balancing parenting with startup demands: How Alex manages being the primary parent while navigating the challenges of working at a fast-paced startup.
- Communicating with kids during a separation: The approach Alex took to talk to his...

Jordan Gal is the CEO of Rosie, an AI answering service for small businesses. He’s also a five-time founder, husband, and dad to three daughters.

Born in Israel and raised in an immigrant entrepreneur household, Jordan shares how that upbringing shapes his parenting and how he and his wife work to combine their very different childhood experiences.

We discussed:

Sol Kennedyi is the founder of BestInterest which helps co-parents navigate the messiness of that complex relationship. He is a serial founder who has built and sold multiple companies and has been the head of product at Dropcam, a PM at Google and an angel investor in companies like Coinbase, Gitlab and Instacart. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur he’s also a single, half-time dad of two kids and a co-parent. We discussed:

* Navigating divorce and co-parenting

* Important lessons he’s learned from his co-parenting role

* The adversarial system that exists in f...

Nikunj Kothari is a former investor with Khosla Ventures and a product and growth leader from companies like Opendoor, Shyp, and LinkedIn. He’s now out on his own advising, investing and spending time as a husband and a father of two, including a brand new son! We discussed:

* The false dichotomy between ambition and parenting and the support structures needed to achieve it

* The work it takes to prioritize your partner after the arrival of a new baby

* How execution as a Dad is only part of the problem set

* Bi...

Brian Holt is Staff Product Manager at Neon and has been a VP of Product and product leader at companies like SQLite Cloud, Snowflake, Stripe and Microsoft. He was also an engineer at both Netflix and Reddit where he was one of the earliest employees. He’s a husband and the father of one son and brand new daughter. We discussed:

* Preparing for the arrival of your 2nd kid

* The importance of being a “whole person” and why that makes you a better parent and partner

* Living a nomadic lifestyle with a toddler and th...

Robert Wolfe is the co-founder of Zeck a company designed to make managing board meetings easier for everyone. He’s also founded and sold both Crowdrise (to GoFundMe) and Moosejaw Mountaineering (to Wal-Mart). He’s a husband and the father of 2 sons. We discussed:

* The journey from founding Moosejaw to today

* Founding multiple companies with a celebrity and your brother

* Raising a family while building those companies

* The modern-day process for helping your kids apply to college

* How kids can find the right college fit

* Stories about buil...

Greg Laughlin is the founder of Campwing, a product designed to take the headache out of summer camp planning. Parents use detailed filters to search through every summer camp in their area in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Prior to Campwing, Greg was the co-founder of Statwing, a statistical analysis product he sold to Qualtrics that became their Stats IQ product. He’s also a husband and the father of 2 daughters. We discussed:

* Why equitable access to summer activities are so important

* The pain of summer camp planning and why it’s brok...

Jeff Fritz is principal program manager at Microsoft where he leads production for one oftheir largest developer events. He’s also active in the developer community as a live-coding Twitch streamer, Youtuber, and podcast host. He’s a lifelong developer who got his start working on the family’s Commodore 64. In addition to his work as program manager and developer he’s a husband and the father of two daughters. We discussed:

* Making the most of your time with your kids when they’re young

* Preparing your kids and yourself for the big changes that come with...

Aaron Francis is the co-founder of Try Hard Studios, a company he started with Steve Tenuto that makes amazing videos for developers and teaches companies how to do it too. He started Try Hard Studios after being laid off from PlanetScale… while on paternity leave with his second set of twins (!). Prior to that he was a data analyst and a developer. He started his career as an an accountant at a Big 4 accounting firm. In addition to his work at Try Hard Studios he’s also a husband and the father of two sets of twins. We discussed:

Jeremy Howard is a leader in the data science and AI communities. Along with his partner, Dr. Rachel Thomas, he is the co-founder of Fast.ai - a research lab studying how to make deep learning more accessible and widely applicable and the founder of AI R&D lab Answer.ai. He is a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, a digital fellow at Stanford, founded Fastmail and sold it to Opera Software, was the president and chief scientist of Kaggle, the founder and CEO of Enlitic and has been chief scientist at multiple AI companies. Jeremy...

Mike Yan is the co-founder and CEO of Manychat, a chat automation tool for social platforms with over 250 employees, 1 million customers and growing 2x year over year. With his team, Mike has built the fastest growing platform on Whatsapp and the largest on Instagram. He’s also a husband and a new dad. We discussed:

* How he thought he was going to become a magician rather than a founder

* Starting a family as the founder of a fast-growing, 250+ person company

* How he prepared himself, his team and his board for paternity leave

...

Eric Colbert, Jay Chandrasekhar and Eli Szasz are the co-founders of VouchVault, a new platform that helps you get trusted recommendations for products and services you need. Eric and Eli have worked together for years at creative agency, Spark6. Jay is a comedian, writer and actor best known for his movies Super Troopers and Beerfest. Collectively they’re the dads of 9 different kids along with being loving and supportive husbands (or so they told me). We discussed:

* How they all met and decided to start VouchVault

* How their new company helps busy parents

* Ge...

Tyler Moore aka TidyDad is a school teacher turned internet sensation and best-selling author. Pushed to the brink of a breakdown after the birth of his second daughter, Tyler went on to tidy up his mind, his life and his household. In the process he built a massive following as Tidy Dad and recently published a USA Today best-selling book called Tidy Up Your Life. He has been featured on Good Morning America, The Washington Post, NYTimes, NYPost, Better Homes & Gardens, Apartment Therapy and the HGTV Podcast (among many others). In addition to his role as Tidy Dad he...

Pouyan Salehi is the co-founder and CEO of Scratchpad—a company trying to take the busy work out of sales. He has founded three other companies, including PersistIQ (acquired by Wishpond) and Stackmob (acquired by PayPal). In addition to being a serial founder and entrepreneur he is also a husband and a Dad to three kids. We discussed:

* Coming to America from Iran and restarting his life with his parents

* Why there’s no perfect time to start a family

* How each kid is different and requires different parenting strategies

* Advice he’d...

Alex Lloyd Hunter is co-founder of The Dad Shift—a group of men, dads and co-parents campaigning for better paternity leave in the UK. He has been a founder, a non-profit leader, and an organizer for the Labour Party. In addition to being an advocate for better paternity leave policies he’s also a husband and the father of a young son. We discussed:

* Just how bad paternity leave is in the UK

* What The Dad Shift is trying to achieve

* The biggest obstacles to better paternity leave policies

* How we can...

Paul Sullivan is the founder of Company of Dads—a community for Lead Dads which he created to provide more support for Dads who are also the primary caregivers at home. He is also the best-selling author of two books: Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don’t and The Thin Green Line: The Money Secrets of The Super Wealthy. He has been a journalist for over 25 years and wrote the Wealth Matters column for the NY Times, the Money Game column in GOLF Magazine and has appeared in Fortune, Money, Barron’s, The Boston Globe and Fo...

Cory 'O’Daniel is the co-founder and CEO of Massdriver, a platform designed to simplify and streamline the management of cloud infrastructure and DevOps processes. Cory had been a software architect and engineer for 20 years leading up to the founding of MassDriver. In addition to being an incredible founder he’s also a husband and the father of two young kids. We discussed:

* Conversations he and his wife had had as he was borrowing from retirement to start Massdriver

* Why enterprise sales is like your kid pooping in the bathtub

* Time dedication - to y...

Ben Lauzier is the co-founder and CEO of Nurra – an AI-powered health assistant that helps you navigate your healthcare and gives you a health advocate for your complex needs. Prior to that he was the VP of Product at Thumbtack and a long-time product leader at Lyft, where we first met. In addition to being an incredible founder he’s also a husband and the father of one daughter. We discussed:

* Leaning into fatherhood when your spouse has health challenges

* How his wife’s health issues led him to start his company

* Differences in par...

Matt Martin is the co-founder and CEO of Clockwise – an amazing product that optimizes your team’s schedules to create more time in everyone’s day. Prior to that he was an engineer and a lawyer. In addition to being an incredible founder he’s also a husband and the father of three kids, including a set of identical twins! We discussed:

* Changes in working style required when you become a parent

* The importance of clear communication - both at work and with your partner

* The most important aspects of communication to get right Duration: 00:56:46

Today I’m releasing the best of Startup Dad from 2024! Across over 50 hours of conversations, hundreds of topics, and approaching 100 Dads (and Moms) I’ve covered a lot. In this episode you’ll hear from dozens of executives and founders like Scott Belsky of Adobe, Immad Akhund from Mercury, Siqi Chen from Runway, Chris Miller from Hubspot, Lane Shackleton from Coda and Adam Nash from Daffy. You’ll also hear best-selling authors and experts like Sean Ellis, Nir Eyal, Linda Flanagan and “Dad Brain” expert Darby Saxby alongside some lesser-known founders and solopreneurs who are making it work or sometimes ju...

Chip Leighton is a comic and the creator and host of The Leighton Show, a social media platform with more than 1.5 million followers and 250 million views. His comedy focuses on funny relationship and parenting moments with teenagers and he’s recently published a book based on them called What Time Is Noon? For several decades he was a marketing leader in the corporate world and then left that life to focus his time on The Leighton Show. His work has been featured in the NY Times, national television and various other print outlets. He’s a husband and the fath...

Ryan Bozarth is the co-founder and CEO of Dakota, a business bank powered by crypto. Prior to that he was the CEO of Coinbase Custody, a Product Manager at AirBnB and a GM at Square. In addition to all that he’s also a husband and the father of two kids. We discussed:

* Using work as a way to teach your kids about important subjects

* Demonstrating hard work, discipline and staying true to yourself and your values

* Calendar blocking and other successful methods to be intentional about your time

* The future of...

Welcome to a special episode of Startup Dad! It’s the holiday time again when the list of responsibilities, performances, potlucks and gifts goes through the roof for already busy parents. To help you navigate the chaos I’ve asked many of my past guests to share with me their favorite books from the past year – those they’d gift to another person and those they’d tell parents to get for their kids. I’ve also highlighted parent’s favorite meals to make with and for their kids.

I'm joined by Alex Cohen, Andrew Capland, Brian Balfour, Adam...

Martin Glover is an IT professional by day and the founder of cooking Website Dad What Cooks by night. He turned a love of bread baking, barbecuing and being the primary cook in the family into a fantastic Website and recipe guide for Dads everywhere. He’s on a mission to help Dads learn cooking skills and be more involved in the kitchen starting with making it less intimidating. In addition to his cooking pursuits and work in IT he’s also a husband and the father of one daughter (who also loves to cook). We discussed:

* The...

Bianca Schulze is the founder and editor of The Children's Book Review—a resource devoted to children's literature and literacy—and the host of The Growing Readers Podcast. Bianca is also the author of DON'T WAKE THE DRAGON which has been translated into 20 languages and is now a six-book series, as well as 101 BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP which is an Amazon Editors' pick for Best Nonfiction for Kids. She also a wife and the mother of three kids! In our conversation today we discussed:

* How to raise readers in your household

* How to f...

Carlo Navarro is a former marketing leader turned fractional executive and the owner of the @StartupDad instagram handle (I’m jealous!). He’s been a mentor in the Chicago startup scene via 1871 and a marketing director and sales leader at companies like Blueleaf, Carrum Health, Pandora and more. He’s also a husband and the father of five (!) kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Helping your kids discover their passions and dreams

* Avoiding the temptation to push your kids to live your idealized version of life

* Navigating complex health issues in a large...

Nathan Jefferson is an entrepreneur, turned tech recruiter, turned entrepreneur (again). His latest company, Dadversity, is focused on helping Dads improve their personal, professional and parenting skills. It’s rooted in his own lived experience with two abusive stepfathers and a biological father who left him at a young age. He’s on a mission to help Dads be better so they don’t repeat the mistakes he experienced in his childhood. Nathan is also a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* The origin story of Dadversity

* What it’s l...

Phil Carter is a consumer subscription growth expert and advisor. He has built a popular Reforge course on consumer subscriptions and advises companies on their growth strategy. Prior to that he led growth and product functions at Faire, Quizlet and Ibotta. Phil is also a husband and the father of two kids.

Phil’s wife, Ashley, founded a non-profit called Daring Girls that comes up in today’s episode and has helped over 20,000 Tanzanian women further their education. Donate today!

In our conversation today we discussed:

* Raising kids during the pandemic

* Trav...

Rob Taylor is a growth and sales advisor and the founder of the Dads in Business community. Dads in Business is a supportive network of content, resources and community to help busy dads better manage themselves, their family and their business. Rob is also a husband and the father of four children. In our conversation today we discussed:

* What to do when they don’t teach Dad in school

* Robs journey to create Dads in Business

* The feeling of loneliness that Rob experienced after becoming a Dad for the first time

* Ho...

Michael Perry is a serial founder and entrepreneur. He is currently the founder and CEO of Maple, an all-in-one app that helps parents get and stay organized. Prior to Maple he founded Live For Fame, Giving and Kit which he led for 6 years before selling to Shopify and then continuing with them for another four years. He was early in the leveraging AI to transform marketing for small businesses. Michael is also a husband and the father of two children. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Remote work as a founder and parent

* His thoughts...

Sean Ellis is a growth legend and the creator of the term “growth hacker.” He has built a legendary framework (the “Sean Ellis test”) for determining product/market fit, wrote the original book on Growth (“Hacking Growth), and has founded several companies along with working at or advising companies like LogMeIn, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Bounce and more. In addition to his role as the Godfather of Growth he’s also a husband and the father of two adult children.

* Maintaining strong relationships with your daughters during the tumultuous teenage years and into their 20’s

* Sean’s philosophy on no...

Dan Doty is the founder of Fatherhood Unlocked – a company that is helping Dads win at work, build deeper family connections and thrive in relationships. He’s also a writer, wilderness guide and has been an inner city high school teacher. Through his work Dan is at the forefront of the global men’s movement to help Dads be better at all aspects of life. His most recent project, Fatherhood Ready, is a course and community that helps prepare men for fatherhood. He’s also a husband and the father of three kids! In our conversation today we discussed:

* T...

Carla Naumburg, PhD is a clinical social worker and the best-selling author of five parenting books. These include her international bestseller, How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids (Workman, 2019), as well as You Are Not a Sh*tty Parent; Ready, Set, Breath and Parenting in the Present Moment.. Her latest, which is recently published and the topic of this podcast is How to Stop Freaking Out, the (completely swear-free) middle-grade adaptation of How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids. She’s also a wife (making her second appearance on the pod) and the mot...

Kyle Lacy is the Chief Marketing Officer of Jellyfish—a platform that helps developers make data-backed decisions on resource investments. Across two decades he has built companies like Lessonly, Openview, Salesforce and ExactTarget. He’s also a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Managing work, life and parenting appropriately

* Handling stress across the different facets of your life

* Dispelling the myth about separation of ‘church and state’ between family and work

* Learning how to put your kids before yourself

* The role of nature v...

Kevin Hanaford is an engineering leader at popular chat application, Discord where he oversees security, safety, privacy and platform teams. His career has included companies like Microsoft, PayPal, Amazon, Salesforce, and autonomous vehicle company, Cruise. In addition to his roles at some of the most significant technology companies of the last two decades he’s also a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* How his Dad started the local ISP in his home town

* How the world of internet safety and trust has shaped his perspective on parenting

Martin Pannier is a French entrepreneur who started the company Primo to help small and medium-sized businesses get their IT work right for new employees. He’s worked as a product leader at iziwork, Gusto and several others. In addition to being a founder he’s also a husband and the father of one young daughter. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Raising a daughter in a multicultural family

* How to avoid the temptation to view parenting as an accomplishment

* Why not to focus on over-optimization of parenting

* Maintaining relationships outside of t...

Linda Flanagan is a freelance journalist, researcher, and former cross-country and track coach. She is the author of numerous articles on youth sports and the book Take Back The Game - How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids Sports—And Why It Matters. She is a founding board member of the NYC chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance and her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Runner’s World and NPR’s Mindshift. In addition to being a lifelong athlete she’s also the mother of three grown children. In our conversation today we discussed:

* The inspiration behind T...

Rob Schutz is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of multi-billion-dollar online health company, Ro. He has also founded the domain name service company, Snagged. He invests alongside me in the 20Growth fund. In addition to his skill as a founder he’s also a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* How to set a good example for your kids in how you treat others

* Not putting too much pressure on yourself to have hard and fast rules or systems

* Adjusting your life to be more pr...

Adam Nash is a long-time Silicon Valley executive, investor and advisor. He was the President and CEO of Wealthfront, a Product executive at Dropbox and LinkedIn, and teaches a course on personal finance for engineers at Stanford. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Daffy, the donor-advised fund for you and a champion of charitable giving. In addition to his long and successful career he’s also a husband and the father of four kids! In our conversation today we discussed:

* How to raise financially literate kids

* How to think about the question of “am I...

Andrew Capland is the founder of Growth coaching and advisory, Delivering Value. He’s also been the Head of Growth at Postscript and Wistia and was an early employee at Hubspot. He’s a loving husband and the father of two kids, including one who was 6 weeks old during our chat! In our conversation today we discussed:

* Going from one kid to two and thriving with a newborn

* Managing your life and paternity leave as a Solopreneur

* The support structures needed with a second kid

* Bottle washing hacks!

* What do y...

Jordane Giuly is a 3x co-founder having started French Fintech unicorn Spendesk and most recently SMB financing company Defacto. As a French entrepreneur he brings an interesting, international perspective to parenting and company building. He’s a loving husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Comparing California cuisine to French cuisine

* The differences in parenting support between France and the U.S.

* Deciding how many kids to have

* Raising kids internationally while starting a company

* Paternity leave for startup founders

* Doing di...

Dave Boyce is a successful five-time exited founder, a GTM expert and owner of the newsletter ProductLedGTM.com. He sits on the board of Forrester and has just completed the final manuscript for his book on GTM strategy which comes out in 2025. He’s a loving husband and the father of six kids, ages 16 to 28. In our conversation today we discussed:

* How to raise a family of incredibly successful kids

* Competition in the family when you’ve got PhD students, applied math majors, ML scientists and accomplished athletes

* The importance of play-based childhood

Darby Saxbe is a professor at USC and holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Her research includes studying the effects of stress hormones in couples and most importantly the changes that the male brain undergoes after becoming a parent. She has scientifically discovered slight gray matter loss in men following fatherhood and termed it Dad Brain. She is currently writing a book about her research. She’s also a wife, musician in a Mom Band and mother of two kids! In our conversation today we discussed:

* Early influences on her scientific research

* What it was li...

Eric Bahn is the co-founder and a GP at Hustle Fund—a pre-seed venture fund that invests in very early stage founders. He has also been a founder himself as well as a product leader at companies like Intuit and Instagram. Most importantly, he’s a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:

* What it means to feel joy in coming home to your family

* His decision with his wife to have children

* How to prioritize your spouse

* Life integration rather than balance

* Some...

Yousuf Bhaijee is a Growth Gdvisor and interim Head of Growth to companies like Brightwheel, HP, Evernow and Blackbird. Chris Lloyd is an engineer who most recently worked at AI company, Humane, and also Pinterest, Assembly and Opera. Yousuf is the father of three kids and Chris is the father of two.

Chris and his family, Yousuf and his family and five other families live in a town-home complex that they all collectively bought several years ago. There are now a total of fifteen kids at the complex! In today’s conversation we discussed:

* How th...

Scott Belsky is the Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design and Emerging Products at Adobe. He took on this role after being Chief Product Officer for their flagship Creative Cloud products. In 2006 Scott founded a company for creative professionals called Behance which he later sold to Adobe. He is also an active angel investor having invested in companies like Pinterest, Uber, Carta, Warby Parker, Ramp, Airtable and more. He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* How his perspective on building now incorporates his family

* Advice to...

Patrick Thompson is a three-time founder, starting a company right after college and then founding and selling his second company, Iteratively, to Amplitude in 2019. He stayed on as a Director of Product until leaving recently to co-found his third company, Clarify, a next generation CRM platform. He’s a loving husband and the father of one kid. In today's conversation we discussed:

* How to manage a young family with starting a company

* The differences between his last startup when he wasn’t yet a parent and this one

* Having the conversation with your part...

Ethan Austin is the founder of OutsideVC, where he invests in founders building a more equitable and just financial system. He was the Chief Strategy Officer of Gig Wag, Managing Director of Techstars Denver, and was co-founder and president of GiveForward which was acquired by GoFundMe. He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* The time he picked up his oldest kid from school in a taco costume

* His life with a newborn

* Teaching kids values

* Modeling behaviors with your kids

* Fi...

Lane Shackleton is the Chief Product Officer of Coda, where he has worked for over 8 years. Prior to that he had a 9+ year career at Google and Youtube as a product manager and leader. He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* How to motivate and teach lessons to your kids through “quests”

* Lowering the pressure on high-stakes parenting

* Two actions that can solve most of the challenges you’ll experience with your kids

* The difference in feeling overwhelmed between a parent and a profes...

David Haddad is a health-tech founder and product manager turned creator. He's now on a mission to teach Dads how to cook with his new company Mister Branzino and the Meal Machine operating system. He runs a newsletter and the Dad Cook Crew community. He's a loving husband and the father of 1 son. In today's conversation we discussed:

* How David developed his passion for cooking

* Why Dads often let this important skill go by the wayside

* The PPSCE system for building a weekly meal plan

* Maximizing meals with minimal time

Matt Wensing is the founder and CEO of Summit, a no-code platform for building tools and workflow automation. For nearly 20 years he has been a founder and CEO--starting with a company called Riskpulse which became Everstream Analytics and was acquired in January 2020. He is a loving husband and the father of four teenagers! In today's conversation we discussed:

* Getting married and having kids in your early 20's

* How little you know when you're that young

* How amazing it is to be a young Dad with children now in their teens

* How...

Linus Ekenstam is a designer and serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold several companies. He has also been a design leader at Typeform, Bamboo Blockchain and Flodesk. He's currently building an AI-powered children's story generator at BedtimeStory.ai and a platform to track and improve mental health called Sensive. He is a partner and the father of two daughters. In today's conversation we discussed:

* What it means to be an "AI Gardener"

* Struggles with male infertility

* Time and relativity

* How to navigate the daily grind with two working parents and...

Siqi Chen is co-founder and CEO of Runway, the finance platform you don't hate. He was also the president, chief product officer and CEO of Sandbox VR, the VP of Growth at Postmates and he sold his first company to Zynga in 2010. He is an angel investor who has invested in companies like Touch of Modern, Amplitude, Italic, and Clubhouse. He is a husband and the father of two daughters. In today's conversation we discussed:

* His life moving back-and-forth to China as a kid

* The realities and myth of work-life balance

* Sharing the...

Luke Millar is the SVP of product and engineering at Medium, where you can discover stories, thinking and expertise from writers on just about any topic. He joined there after the company he co-founded was acquired by them in 2021. He has been a technology leader at Shift, Twitter and Microsoft. He is a husband and the father of five kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* How to structure and take paternity leave as a startup founder

* Building individual relationships with each of your kids when you have so many of them

* How he...

Nir Eyal writes, consults and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology and business. He is the best-selling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Earlier in his career he co-founded and sold two tech companies. In addition to his books and his blog his writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Time Magazine, and Psychology Today. He is a husband of 23 years and the father of one teenager. In today's conversation we discussed: 

* Lessons learned from both Hooked and I...

Immad Akhund is the co-founder and CEO of Mercury, a business banking platform that has raised over $160M in funding and has over 100,000 customers. He has also founded two other companies – Clickpass and Heyzap; the latter of which was acquired in 2016. Immad is a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed: 

* Starting a family at a very young age (by San Francisco standards)

* Navigating founding and running several companies, including Mercury

* The difference between finding more time and finding more energy

* How to think about skill bui...

David Lat is a lawyer turned legal writer who created Above The Law and his current, legal newsletter and podcast Original Jurisdiction, which is now his full-time job. Prior to writing he was a practicing attorney and worked as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice under Chris Christie. David is a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed: 

* The transition from an in-house legal career to the world of writing and podcasting and what that has done for his family

* Surrogacy

* Important legal considerations for parents Duration: 00:55:24

Tod Francis is the founder of the world-renowned investment firm Shasta Ventures. He has made early investments in companies like Canva, Tonal, ClassDojo, LiquidSpace, Task Rabbit, Mint and more. About 15 years ago Tod started on a journey to understand why and how great memories and connections are formed between kids and their parents. He surveyed over one thousand young adults, analyzed that data, and developed a framework for memory making and building meaningful connections. He has presented his findings to standing-room-only conferences, parents groups, and more! We talk about his findings on today's episode and what you can do...

Eben Pingree is a serial startup founder who is currently building the startup Kinsome -- a product focused on helping grandkids better connect with their grandparents. He has founded and sold multiple companies over the past 10 years. He's also a husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed: 

* Growing up in the same house (or apartment) you were raised in

* What it's like living in a multi-generational building with your parents and siblings

* The importance of proximity of family

* Eben's earliest memories of fatherhood

* Building m...

Stew Bradley is a former linebacker in the National Football League and played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos. Following a successful NFL career he joined Goldman Sachs and then found his way into co-founding the early stage venture firm El Cap Holdings. He's also a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed: 

* His unique career path in navigating from professional football to finance and investing

* His earliest memories and emotions around becoming a Dad

* The Fallacy of Control as a parent

* Wh...

Brian Rothenberg is a general partner at Defy, an early-stage venture firm. He was the former Head of Growth at Eventbrite and has been a serial marketplace founder; starting a services marketplace that was acquired by TaskRabbit in 2011. He's also a husband and the father of four kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* Pivoting your plans to follow your future spouse

* How to divide and conquer when you've got four kids

* How the family dynamic changes as it grows from one to four kids

* How to prioritize time with your wife...

Tye DeGrange is the founder and CEO of Round Barn Labs, a performance and affiliate marketing company that has worked with companies like Oculus, thredUp, ModCloth and Nextdoor. Prior to that he had career stints at Amazon, eBay and Commission Junction. He grew up on a horse ranch in Northern California!  He's also a husband and the father of two kids. In today's conversation we discussed:

* What life was like growing up on a ranch and the work ethic that instilled in him

* Tye's parenting philosophies and the books they're rooted in

* His r...

Casey Handmer is the founder of Terraform Industries, a company that is turning CO2 into natural gas through solar electricity. He's an astrophysicist with a PhD from Caltech who has worked on frontier technologies at NASA and Hyperloop. He's also a husband and the father of three kids. Including a newborn! In today's conversation we discussed:

* Productivity and priorities

* How to make it work without a support structure

* How to work on having optimism be the default so you can build a better future

* How he and his wife (also an...

Patrick Moran is the Head of Growth Marketing at Robinhood, a fintech platform helping to democratize finance. Prior to that he had an illustrious career at Houzz, Spotify, YikYak, Netflix and more. He is a loving husband and the father of two kids (and one Golden Retriever). In today's conversation we discussed:

* His childhood moving back and forth from the Philippines to the US

* The value system of families in the Philippines

* What it's like having a 10+ year gap between his children

* How to instill "grit" in your children

...

Mike Smith is General Partner and co-founder at Footwork, an early stage venture capital firm. Previously, Mike was President, COO, and interim CFO at Stitch Fix, the online personal styling service where he oversaw operations, styling, client experience, merchandise, and finance. Prior to Stitch Fix, Mike was COO at Walmart.com, overseeing all operations for a $5 billion division, including one of the most successful multi-channel offerings in the industry. Mike serves on the boards of MillerKnoll and Ulta Beauty. He has been married for 28 years and is the father of one daughter. In today's conversation we discussed:

* T...

Chris Miller is the VP of Product at Hubspot focused on Growth and AI where he has worked for nearly 8 years. I consider Chris to be one of the most forward thinking leaders on AI, monetization and growth. Prior to Hubspot he built product at companies like Runkeeper and Roam. Chris is a loving husband and the father of a two-year-old son. In our conversation today we discussed:

* His personal and professional background, including how he got into AI

* The influence of Chris' upbringing in New York

* Managing a family with culturally diverse...

Darin Swanson has been a technical advisor to founders and CEOs for the last 7 years at companies like Pipefy, Outreach, Kite, Edify, and Gatsby. Prior to that he was the VP of Engineering for New Relic and led engineering teams there for 6+ years. In many ways, Darin is a glimpse into the future for a lot of listeners to this show. He is a father of two kids (now adults) and a loving husband to his wife. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Darin's transition into advisory work after a long, full-time career

* His childhood g...

Matt Ragland focuses on the intersection of productivity and the creator economy. He started an online community for creative Dads called Digital Dads. Matt was the 5th employee at ConvertKit, ran Creator Success at Podia, and has built an audience of over 100,000 fans across his newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media channels. He lives in Nashville with his wife of 17 years and 3 (almost 4) kids.

In our conversation today we discussed:

* Matt's childhood as the son of a pastor

* The importance of community - and building community for fathers

* Homeschooling

* O...

Welcome to the last Startup Dad episode of 2023! It has been one hell of a year. Starting in June I released a show a week for the entire rest of the year; 27 episodes in total. Talking parenthood with dozens of startup dads and a few startup moms blew away all of my expectations. For this episode I pulled together the best of over two dozen conversations covering everything from mistakes made to frameworks for parenting success. At the end I asked many of my guests what they're most looking forward to in 2024.

This episode includes excerpts from...

Welcome to another special Holiday Edition of Startup Dad! I went back and talked to many of my guests about their most memorable holiday traditions, the best and most secret family recipes, and most disastrous holiday memories as parents. No matter who you are or what you celebrate my hope is that hearing this helps to normalize just how different and hectic everyone's holidays can be.

You'll hear from past guests Alex Cohen, Gaurav Vohra, Nick Soman, Ryan Johnson, Trae and Michelle Stephens, Will Rocklin, George Arison, Matt Greenberg, Ben Williams, Lloyed Lobo, and Tobi Emonts-Holley.

Lloyed Lobo is the co-founder of Boast.ai and the author of Wall Street Journal best-selling book From Grassroots to Greatness. After escaping the Gulf War as a child and seeing the power of community in helping navigate impossible situations he ended up on a path of entrepreneurship and community building. He is a husband and the father of three kids.

In this episode we discuss:

* His childhood as a Gulf War refugee

* His mother's influence on his entrepreneurship

* Losing one of his twins

* The power of community in...

Welcome to a special Holiday Edition of Startup Dad! As parents we all need to go easy on ourselves at this time of the year. To bring a little holiday cheer to your lives I went back through 2023's roster of guests and highlighted their best and worst parenting purchases. You'll also hear a series of never-before-shared thoughts on the best and worst holiday presents they've ever given their spouse and the best and worst gifts they've ever received.

You'll hear from past guests: Adam Grenier, Alex Cohen, Casey Woo, Brian Balfour, Buster Benson, Gaurav Vohra, Aaron...