The Startup Chat With Steli And Hiten

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about hobbies for founders. The life of a founder, and entrepreneurship, in general, can be very stressful. In order to avoid burnout and stress-related illness, it’s important for founders to disconnect from work and do other non-work related activities, and picking up a hobby is a great way to do this. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about whether having a hobby is a good idea, why you should decide if you’re a marathon runner and a sprinter, the benefits of hobbies and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:23 Why this topic was chosen. 03:06 Whether having a hobby is a good idea. 04:11 Why you should decide if you’re a marathon runner and a sprinter. 06:20 How most people go through different phases. 07:03 What Hiten hobbies are. 08:00 Why Hiten’s hobbies are not seen as traditional hobbies. 09:52 What Steli’s hobbies are. 10:29 The benefits of martial arts to Steli. 11:23 How Steli views his hobby.  3 Ke

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to set up successful partner programs. Creating a partner program for your company is a great way to grow your customer base without spending too much on marketing and customer acquisition. However, like most things in business, you have to do it the right way for it to be successful. In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten what partner programs are, how to create one for your startup, mistakes to avoid when creating them and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:19 What partner programs are. 03:00 Why you should create an ideal partner profile before creating a partner program. 04:22 The importance of finding the right places to promote your partner program. 05:10 How to determine who could make a good partner for you. 05:46 How the team at Close created their own partner program. 07:10 Tools to manage partner programs with. 08:39 When to start a partner program. 09:31 Mistakes companies make when creating partner

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the role entrepreneurship plays in your childhood. Things that happen in our childhood play a big role in shaping our adulthood, and becoming an entrepreneur is no different. Most founders would agree that there were things that happened to them when they were kids that influenced their decisions to become entrepreneurs.  In today’s episode of the show, Steli and Hiten talk about events that influenced them to become entrepreneurs, how your past is not your future, how our natural tendencies can affect us becoming entrepreneurs and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic 00:14 Why this topic was chosen. 01:15 Things that influenced Hiten to become an entrepreneur. 03:03 Why Hiten’s father gave him some early advice. 03:42 The effect this advice had on Hiten. 04:31 How you get a better understanding of your childhood as you grow up. 05:54 Why how you respond to what happens to you is super important. 07:05 How your past is not your fut

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about whether entrepreneurs are made or born. Is being an entrepreneur something that comes naturally to some people and not to others, or can they can anyone, through education, experience and mentorship, develop the skills needed to become an entrepreneur? This is a question that comes up all the time and one that is not easy to answer. So in this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how entrepreneurs and founders come from all works of life, the intent behind this question, why no one is born to be an entrepreneur and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About the topic of today’s episode 00:17 Why this topic was chosen. 01:14 How entrepreneurs and founders come from all works of life. 01:14 How It’s the hard work that comes after you’ve started that matters. 02:43 The intent behind this question 03:47 How hard work plays a big role in being successful.  04:45 Why this question might matter to some people. 05:57 Why no one is born to be an en

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how Zoom became the best web conferencing product in a decade. Zoom is a popular video conferencing tool used by a lot of companies around the world, from small startups to big enterprises. However, the story of how Zoom became so popular is quite remarkable, as they were going into a very competitive niche when they started. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how Zoom got started, what makes it so competitive in a crowded market, Steli’s initial thoughts on Zoom and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:25 Why this topic was chosen. 01:15 Steli’s initial thoughts on Zoom. 03:11 How Zoom just works. 04:48 Some not so obvious things that Zoom did. 05:58 How Zoom got started. 06:20 What Hiten learned while researching Zoom. 06:37 What made Zoom succeed in a crowded market. 09:00 How difficult it must have been for the founders to make Zoom a success. 09:59 What makes Zoom competitive.  3 Key Points: O

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about Product Hunt do's and don'ts. Product Hunt has become the ultimate place where founders go to launch their products to an audience that’s passionate about technology. While launching on Product Hunt can be great for your product, there are some do’s and dont’s you should be aware of if you decide to launch your product on Product Hunt In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten how Product Hunt is a strong community to push something out, the importance of finding a way to engage with the community, how to launch your product properly and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:17 Why this topic was chosen. 01:53 How Product Hunt is a strong community to push something out. 02:25 The importance of finding a way to engage the Product Hunt community. 02:59 Various ways to engage the community. 03:03 How to present your product on Product Hunt. 03:24 The importance of timing on Product Hunt. 05:43 How to launch your product pro

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about mistakes to avoid when trying to sell your startup. In the startup world, it’s very common for founders to sell their startups at some stage. While this can be an exciting time for the founders, it’s important that you avoid certain mistakes so that things go as smooth as possible. In today’s episode of the show, Steli and Hiten talk about common mistakes to avoid when selling your startup, why companies buy other companies, how not to negotiate a deal and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic 00:14 Why this topic was chosen. 01:18 On really big mistake to avoid. 01:33 Why you should think about the reason people buy companies. 02:54 Why you need to know what you’re bring to the table. 03:31 How not to negotiate a deal. 05:29 Why you need to know what you want to optimise for and what position you’re are in. 06:00 The importance of prioritising. 06:45 How emotions can get in the way of getting a deal. 08:15 Why you should learn to d

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the perfect onboarding plan for a new hire. Making a new hire is an exciting time for a team, however, it’s really to get onboarding right, as the experience that a new hire gets at the early stages determines if he’s going to succeed in the team or not. So in this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how Hiten handles onboarding of new team members, why you want to make new team members feel like they’re in the right place, How some onboarding plans set up new team members for failure and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About the topic of today’s episode 00:26 Why this topic was chosen. 01:14 How Hiten handles onboarding of new team members. 02:11 What Hiten’s onboarding process looks like. 02:45 Why you want to make new team members feel like they’re in the right place. 03:33 Why you should make sure that they can get to work as soon as possible.  04:35 How isolating it can be for new team members. 05:28 Why getting onboarding right

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about remote work worries? Are people working hard enough? Remote teams are relatively a new thing in the startup world, and deciding whether to allow your staff to work remotely can be a challenge. Questions about managing team members while they are working remotely are inevitably going to come up and how you address these issues is important. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about founders concerns about implementing remote teams, how some people are better at working remotely than others, why hiring the right people is very important for remote teams and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:35 Why this topic was chosen. 01:10 Hiten’s thoughts on how to handle remote working. 02:36 How some people are better at working remotely than others. 02:58 Qualities a good remote worker needs to have. 03:15 The number one challenge of remote working. 03:34 How managing a remote team is ultimately the same as managi

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about “not your typical advice”. Tweeter and Instagram are platforms that have made it so much easier for people to express their opinions and give advice about any topic. While this is a great thing for freedom of expression, it means that anybody, even if unqualified can give advice, and this dilutes the quality of advice that is out there. In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how there’s a lot of startup advice out there in the world, how all advice is diluted to the point where it’s pretty much meaningless, how reading a book can be the best place to get the advice you need right now and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:33 Why this topic was chosen. 00:47 How’s there’s a lot of startup advice out there in the world. 01:29 How we can get caught up in our ego on social media. 02:11 A typical scenario on Tweeter. 03:07 How Tweeter has made it easier for people to share their advice. 03:24 How all advice i

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how startups grow you as you grow them. Being part of a startup, whether you own it or you work at one, changes you as a person. There are a lot of opportunities to learn and improve yourself. It is safe to say that who you were at the early stages of your startup journey changes after you’ve been involved in it for a while or after you’ve left it - and this is a good thing. In today’s episode of the show, Steli and Hiten talk about how there’s a huge opportunity for personal development at startups, how you stop growing when you don’t care anymore, how people struggle with creating an identity for themselves and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:05 About today’s topic 01:14 Why this topic was chosen. 03:49 How there’s a huge opportunity for personal development at startups. 05:33 How there are a lot of people who get into venture capitalism but truly don’t know the job. 08:16 How you stop growing when you don’t care anymore. 10:33 How Hiten approache

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about what founders should do after their startup has failed. We hear a lot about startups that succeed and do very well, however, what is not talked about very much is the number of startups that fail and how these failures can affect a founder negatively. So in this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about what you should do after your startup has failed, why letting go is super important, why you shouldn’t make instantly massive life decisions on that day your startup fails and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About the topic of today’s episode 00:16 Why this topic was chosen. 02:24 Hiten’s thoughts on what you should do after your startup has failed. 03:13 Why you should write stuff down. 04:02 How we’re supposed to fail. 04:55 Why letting go is super important.  06:30 Why you should talk to people that were involved in the startup and ask them what they think went wrong. 08:19 Why you shouldn’t make instantly massive life decisions on that

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to reflect and plan ahead at this time of year. At this time of year, it is very common for founders to go into reflection mode and reflect on the progress of their business. This could be thinking about what they’ve achieved in the year, what went well in that year and what didn’t go so well. This is a good thing, and while it is recommended that some founders do it, some other founders might decide to use this time of year to plan for the coming year. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how you could use this time of very productively, two key things people do this time of year, why you should do what works for you and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:38 Why this topic was chosen. 01:10 How you could use this time of year very productively. 01:44 Two key things people do at this time of year. 02:40 How this time of year is the easiest time to get somebody to reflect on the past. 03:07 Why

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about why your startup isn't your baby. In the startup world, it’s very common for some founders to compare their businesses to raising a child. And there’s a good reason for this as certain aspects of running a business does feel like raising a child and a founder can develop a level of attachment to that business. But doing so can be quite harmful and should not be encouraged. In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about Hiten’s thought on calling your startup your baby, why a lot of people think of their startup as their baby, the fundamental differences between a startup and a baby and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:34 Why this topic was chosen. 01:24 Hiten’s thought on calling your startup your baby. 01:11 Why a lot of people think of their startup as their baby. 04:22 How a startup is not biological but mechanical. 06:18 How you might have to kill your startup at some stage. 06:41 The fundamental differenc

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to handle private life challenges while running a startup (forgiving yourself). One thing that is inevitable at work is that there’s going to be personal issues that will happen to team members. This could be as a result of health issues, loss of a member of something as simple as relocating to a new place. Managing life challenges at work are crucial as if poorly managed can lead to a lot of stress in the team. In today’s episode of the show, Steli and Hiten talk about what life challenges are, how to handle challenging issues at work, why great communication is key when these issues arise and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:15 About today’s topic 00:42 Why this topic was chosen. 02:00 How to handle challenging issues at work. 02:31 Why great communication is key when issues arise. 03:33 Why you and your family should always come first. 04:25 Why companies should be proactive in helping team members through life challenges. 06:05 Practical ways

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about why founders need to schedule quiet time to think deeply. The world we live in today can be described as noisy. There is too much information and most of the time we’re consuming this information and not making time for ourselves to think or meditate.   So in this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about why you need to schedule quiet time to think deeply, how not scheduling some time for can affects you, the importance of meditation and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About the topic of today’s episode 00:41 Why this topic was chosen. 01:16 Why you need to schedule quiet time to think deeply. 02:27 How not scheduling some time for yourself affects you as a person. 03:39 How there’s a lot of noise in the world.  04:01 The importance of meditation. 06:30 A story about the power of having quiet time. 09:43 What Hiten’s quiet time looks like. 10:55 An activity Steli has recently picked up. 12:00 A big goal Steli would like to hit. 3 Key Poin

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to earn the trust of a team you're taking over as a new manager. Winning over members of a team you just took over is not an easy feat. There’s bound to be resistance from some team members and if you don’t manage the situation well, this can affect how successful you’re going to be as a manager. In this week’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about what to do when you first take over a team, the importance of making a good first impression, what to do with team members you don’t want on your team and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:31 Why this topic was chosen. 00:43 The importance of making a good first impression. 01:05 What to do when you first take over a team. 02:10 The quickest way to fail. 04:07 What to do with team members you don’t want on your team. 05:50 Problems that can arise when you make changes to a team. 06:17 Why it’s important to be upfront with team members. 06:42 How company culture can

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about death. Losing a loved one is a very painful thing to deal with, and can have a huge impact on a person, especially if the loss happened at a very young age. While there’s no right or wrong way to grieve, there are healthy ways to deal with the grieving process. In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about Steli and Hiten’s personal experiences with death, how death has affected Steli’s view on life, how Steli dealt with the death of his mum and much more.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:34 Why this topic was chosen. 01:11 Steli and Hiten’s personal experiences with death. 02:48 How death has affected Steli’s view on life. 05:44 How Hiten thinks about the worst-case scenario first. 06:21 Hiten’s experience with death. 06:57 How expecting the worst can be a good thing. 07:15 How overcoming a tragic situation can strengthen your character. 08:38 How Steli dealt with the death of his mum. 09:43 The impact losing close fam

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how even seasoned founders can feel like first-time founders. Starting a new company can be scary. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first company or you’re started a couple in the past, you never know if your new venture is going to be successful or not, and this can cause us to feel insecure or scared In today’s episode of the show, Steli and Hiten talk about how starting something new can be exciting, Hiten’s experience with starting companies, what to spend your time on when you’re starting something and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:15 About today’s topic 02:45 Why this topic was chosen. 04:29 How starting something new can be exciting. 05:31 Hiten’s experience with starting companies. 06:33 How Hiten handles pressure and insecurities. 07:25 Questions to ask yourself if you’re feeling insecure. 08:31 How starting a new company can be a totally new experience. 10:37 The danger of spending too much time on things that are comfortable. 11:38 Advice

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about not dedicating enough time to your most important customers & team members. As a founder, you have to decide what to spend your time, energy, and money on. This can be from customers, team members to investors. To be a successful founder, you need to decide what’s worth your time and what isn’t, and even more importantly, when to cut your losses. So in this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about why you shouldn’t spend too much energy on people that are not working out, how to decide how much time to invest in something, how to work with challenging customers and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About the topic of today’s episode 00:32 Why this topic was chosen. 03:33 Why you shouldn’t spend too much energy on people that are not working out. 04:00 How to decide how much time to invest in something. 05:10 When to cut your losses with a customer.  06:20 Why you should ensure that you spend most of your time with your most successful custo