The Startup Chat With Steli And Hiten

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about what startups should do once they launch a product. For many Startups, launching and selling a product can seem like the end of a long journey. However, it’s really only just the beginning. It’s great to have a strong product launch, but if the launch of the product is not managed properly, sales can fall flat. So what should you do to make sure that you keep sales in your product alive? In this episode, Steli and Hiten share their thoughts on what startups should do once they launch a product, the emotional side of launching a product and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:22 Why this topic was chosen. 01:17 Why Hiten is the best person to talk about this topic. 01:51 What to do on day two of a product launch. 02:40 The right question to ask once you launch. 02:40 How to figure out what people think of your product once you launch. 04:31 Why it’s important to figure out what users think of your product once you launch. 05:33 Why you shoul

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about what startups should and shouldn’t do before launching a product. The startup world is very competitive. Everyday, new products and services are launched. A great way to ensure that your launch goes successfully is to conduct a pre-launch marketing campaign. In this episode, Steli and Hiten share their thoughts on what pre-launch is, how to do it the right way and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:22 Why this topic was chosen. 01:03 An example of a wrong way to launch a product. 01:12 What you need to understand before launching a big PR campaign. 01:54 The right thing to do pre-launch. 02:40 Why the pre-launch process is super critical. 03:26 Why you shouldn’t rely on your own website or advertising. 03:46 About ProductHunt’s ship feature and how it can be helpful. 04:50 How there’s a lot less focus on the marketing side of launching a product. 05:40 Why it’s important to learn about the value proposition of a product. 06:17 How conducti

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the benefits of in-person meetings and relationships. In the startup world, it’s very common for salespeople to sell their products through virtual meetings. While these can be useful in certain circumstances, there are other situations when in-person meetings can be much more effective for your businesses. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on when it’s appropriate for you to have business meetings in person,  the benefits of doing so, how to utilize such meeting in the best possible way and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:32 Why this topic was chosen. 02:03 Why in-person meetings are good. 02:49 When in-person meetings can be much more effective. 03:41 How in-person meetings can differ from virtual ones. 04:08 How meeting in person can help teams understand each other. 05:26 How meeting someone in person is a more context-rich interaction. 05:55 Why in-person meetings are much less distracting than virtual

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about a really important piece of career advice, which is, never making compromises when it comes to people. This comes after a talk Steli gave recently to a bunch of students at a career advice seminar. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten share their thoughts on what kinds of people to surround yourself with, what to do to meet more great people, how to avoid meeting bad people, what to do when you meet amazing people and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 Steli introduces today’s episode. 01:33 What kinds of people to surround yourself with. 02:02 How to avoid meeting bad people. 02:44 What to do when you meet amazing people. 05:54 Why you shouldn’t invest in a shitty relationship. 06:24 How to figure out what is important to you. 07:11 Why it’s important for a relationship to be mutually beneficial. 07:38 Why you shouldn’t have shitty relationships. 09:15 A big ‘AHA’ moment of Steli’s. 07:23  Why it’s important to define

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about consistency in execution. Consistency is something very important to Steli and Hiten and it is what makes the difference between good teams and great ones. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on how teams execute consistently, why it's important to do so, tips to help you and your team become more consistent and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 Steli introduces today’s episode. 01:41 Why it’s important to have values as an organization and be consistent at living them. 02:08 Why you need rules and guidelines to be consistent. 02:24 Why clarity is important to achieve consistency. 03:33 You should be able to demonstrate that every team member is committed to the guidelines. 03:30 Why it’s important to have your values written down. 04:11 The definition of consistency. 04:49 Some reasons why teams are not consistent. 05:46 How you can be consistent. 07:23  Steli has an “aha” moment. 3 Key Points: If you hav

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about what it takes to launch a new product or company. Launching a new company or product can be intense and stressful. However, when planned properly, you can reduce any launch headache and give your team a solid plan to help manage the intensity. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on how to launch a product, lessons that can be learned from their experiences launching a product, tips and tricks on how to launch a product and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:43 Why this topic was chosen. 01:17 Hiten talks about his new product Usefyi.com. 02:26 Some interesting statistics about the launch. 05:20 What counts as a successful launch. 06:33 Typical launch goals for startups. 07:26 What people tend to focus on when they launch a product. 08:12 The biggest thing to think about when you launch a product. 09:50 How they were able to get a ton of feedback for FYI. 11:04 How Hiten created a lot of value on Product Hunt bef

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about something that has affected a lot of companies out there, and that is GDPR. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into effect on May 25, 2018. It was designed by the EU to modernize existing laws that protect the personal data of individuals and it has been causing a lot of uncertainty in the business world. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on what GDPR is, how it affects startups, how to small startups can deal with it and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:43 Why this topic was chosen. 01:29 Why dealing with privacy is so complicated. 02:26 How Europe is very conservative when it comes to privacy and data collection. 04:50 Hiten’s thoughts on how smaller companies can deal with GDPR. 06:33 One theory about GDPR that you should know. 07:00 A theory on why GDPR was introduced. 08:50 How Hiten’s company is dealing with GDPR. 09:35 Why context is super important when you deal with

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about changing your mind about something. A lot of people see changing your mind as a sign of weakness, however, this is not always the case. Often times decisions are made in the startup world, however, there are times when you may want to change your mind about something. Doing so in the right way and at the right time can be the difference between failure and success. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on when and how to change your mind on something and how to do this the right way. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 How founders not changing their minds about something is a major reason why a lot of startups fail. 01:41 Why strong opinions are not loosely held. 02:42 How to loosely hold strong opinions. 03:24 One of Steli’s main drivers of personal happiness. 04:33 Examples of a good way to change your mind. 06:07 One of Steli’s favorite experiences. 07:06 How being open-minded about certain things can sometimes be diff

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about startup handicaps. According to Steli, a startup handicap is anything that you believe gives you a disadvantage in succeeding with your startup or as an entrepreneur. And this is something that a lot of founders struggle with and prevents them from being successful with their business. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear Steli and Hiten thoughts on what a startup handicap is, why it shouldn’t hold you back and how to overcome it. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 The meaning of startup handicaps. 01:23 Some examples of startup handicaps. 02:58 Why having a handicap is a mindset problem. 04:20 A way to overcome your handicap. 06:05 How having a handicap is something most people are not conscious of. 06:53 Why as a manager, your number one job is to make sure that the people you’re working with are unblocked. 07:20 Something Steli hates about the whole idea of having a handicap. 08:55 How having this kind of mindset can be detrimental. 11:20 How

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten share some tips on how to optimize the time to respond to inquiries. In the startup world, it is important to not only respond to customer's inquiry in a positive way but quickly as this will start the communication that should lead to a successful sale. However, this can be a tricky thing to pull off, especially if you’re very busy. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about why it’s important to respond to customer inquiries quickly and they share some tips, tricks, and tools that founders can use to get better at shortening their turnaround time. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:39 Why it’s important to have a quick turnaround time in today’s world. 01:55 How to deal with inquiries on the personal side of things. 02:58 How a quick turnaround time can be a good thing for your brand. 03:45 Factors that can affect your response time. 04:42 Times when responding quickly can be a negative thing. 05:53 Two major factors that affect your response time. 0

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about competitor research and how you can do it without talking to another human being. Understanding the competition and how they do business is a crucial business activity for any startup or business executive. Unfortunately, most startups don’t do this because it can be very complicated and time-consuming. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about a very simple and effective way to conduct research on your competition and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:39 Why this topic was chosen. 01:24 A simple way to do competitor research without talking to another human being. 02:58 Why review sites are a great way to do competitor research. 04:41 How to do competitor research with review sites. 07:13 When to do competitor research. 09:07 Who should do it and how much time to spend on it. 09:50 The benefits of competitor research. 11:10 One great thing about Hiten. 11:57  Why you should do competi

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about why some entrepreneurs treat some of their worst customers the best. This comes after Steli’s observation that oftentimes, large startups give special treatment to demanding and unreasonable customers while ignoring customers that don't complain. In this week’s episode of The Startup Chat Steli and Hiten talk about why you shouldn't give in to demanding customers and what a fair system for customers looks like. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:32 Why this topic was chosen. 03:25 Hiten’s thoughts on the issue. 05:27 One way to better approach this situation. 05:59 Why you shouldn’t always give in to loud and aggressive customers. 06:50 How Basecamp approaches this issue. 07:07 How employees that negotiate better get better pay packages. 08:21 How to design a fairer system for customers. 10:04 Why you should address customer issues according to outcome you’re trying to achieve. 3 Key Points: I think it’s important to treat customers equally, regar

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about optimizing your funnel no matter what type of funnel it is. When it comes to acquiring new customers online, your funnels are a crucial part of the process. Therefore, optimization is essential if you want to increase conversions and sales. In this week’s episode of The Startup Chat Steli and Hiten talk about what a funnel is, how to optimize it to increase conversions and sales and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:32 What is a funnel. 02:09 How a funnel works. 02:38 Why every business has a funnel. 04:00 Why you should measure every step of your funnel. 05:01 How most founders look at their funnels. 06:07 How to analyze a funnel. 07:21 One thing that isn’t measured enough. 07:40 Why time is one of the key components in improving a funnel an entire business. 11:02 Why it’s important to figure out what percentage of people are signing up and dropping out. 3 Key Points: No matter what stage of business you are, you do have a funnel.

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk the idea of wanting to be an entrepreneur because you don’t want to work for other people. This comes after Steli spoke at an event for students about career hacks. Steli points out that the whole idea of working for yourself is an illusion as being an entrepreneur means that you not only work for your customers, you work for your staff, and even worse, you work for yourself - probably the worst boss in the world. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to hear Steli and Hiten’s point of view on the subject and highlight issues that can come up when you’re an entrepreneur. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:39 Why this topic was chosen. 01:29 One of the questions that Steli asked at the event. 02:33 Why being an entrepreneur means that you're also working for other people. 03:51 Hiten points out that everybody works for themselves. 04:46 Why we are all our own bosses. 05:01 The right mindset to have. 06:50 Why believing that you can’t work for o

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about 1-1 meetings. They highlight how to set them up, the importance of these meetings, their benefits and how to do them efficiently so that your startup and your team get the maximum benefit. Your team is the lifeblood of the company so making sure that they are happy, supported and motivated only helps your startup in the long run. The purpose of a 1-1 is to give dedicated time to a member of your team. This meeting is an opportunity to motivate and support your employee, and to find out what they are experiencing while working at the company. 1-1 meetings must frequently be held and should focus on having open communication. These meetings are not performance reviews, project updates or status meetings. But meetings purely focused on active listening to the challenges, the successes or ideas that your employee has. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to hear clear advice about how to get started with 1-1 meetings. Steli and Hiten

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to take care of yourself when you are not feeling 100%. They look at how to give yourself time to rejuvenate and recharge your batteries so that you can work optimally and get more done. When you have a heavy workload and find that you get sick or have other life challenges, sometimes it can be hard to decide to take a break to recover. But being overworked can create physical symptoms, taking some time to recharge is an essential factor in our health and well-being. If you are feeling under the weather, then your work will be impaired leaving you with an outcome that is disappointing and unsatisfactory. Taking breaks and time off has a considerable impact on our personal and professional productivity. Ensuring the quality of our work remains high, and our relationships with our team remain strong. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about the importance of taking care of yourself and your team. How to take care of y

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to handle working with customers who are dissatisfied and escalate dissatisfaction into abuse. They give you advice as to what you should do and the best attitude to have when facing such a difficult and challenging situation.   Angry customers can erupt with abusive behaviour and become acutely confrontational. ‘The customer is always right’ doesn't mean that you have to take everything they send your way nor do you have to give them everything they ask for. ‘The customer is always right’ is something that we have all heard and try to abide by in an attempt to give fantastic customer service. But setting boundaries and learning to respect each other in the transaction of daily life and business is a much healthier approach. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn how to set your boundaries and communicate them precisely so that those valuable customers that you would like to retain don't cross the line and make your lif

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the power of headlines and the weaknesses of skim reading. They explore why you should be reading more than just the headline of an article and how sharing content without being fully informed can affect your startup. Almost 59% of people only read the headline of an article before sharing it. This phenomenon of not having the time or the attention span to delve deeper into the content that you plan to share has numerous implications. There's no doubt that as a startup it is preferable to be in the 41% who make the commitment to be well informed before sharing content. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about the role that skim reading headlines and content can have on your business and why you should be committed to delving deeper into content. Before assuming that you thoroughly understand a topic. They also discuss the responsibility you have as a content consumer and creator. Also Steli and Hiten, share their top ti

Today on the Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about what user testing is, why it’s important, and some tips on how to do it right. This comes after a series of blog post Hiten and his business partner have been working on around the topic. After user testing products like Duolingo and Grammarly, Hiten shares what he’s learned from the process, including what works so well for those products and what could be done to improve the overall user experience. Hiten also shares some tips on how you can user test your own products the right way and, if you choose to, test those of your competitors as well. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:44 Why this topic was chosen for this episode. 02:36 What user testing means. 03:43 Hiten talks about the user test he carried out on Grammarly. 04:19 How much the study cost. 05:10 Why it’s a good idea to user test your competitor's products. 06:08 Lessons Hiten learned from user testing Grammarly. 10:40 Tips to help you user test your products or those of yo

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about persistence and how it can benefit your life. They introduce us to a persistence technique called HUCA, which is simple, free and can work wonders for you if you follow it. “You can’t beat the person who never gives up”. Persistence in work and life is one of the most important characteristics to have because persistence can open doors when it appears that there are no more doors to open. Persistence is the ability to continue trying to achieve something even when faced with resistance from other people or circumstances. The art, of not taking no for an answer is the key to breaking through to a world of possibilities. Not just to get what you want but also to train your mind to find the way to creatively solve challenges, when it appears to everyone else that there is no hope. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about what is possible when you apply and activate persistence techniques into your life. As well as Steli an