Published July 2015 on Spotfiy
Founders Friday 004: Life As A Non-Technical Co-Founder with Will Sacks, The Fertility King @ Kindara
Chapters
1. Legendary Founder On 20 Minutes VC2. Reproductive Health Innovations3. Learning to Code vs Building a Company4. How to Write a Wireframe5. Male CEO, Female Product6. Building a Engaged Community7. Startups: The Hardest Part8. How to Raise a Round of Funding9. Going From App to Connected Device10. Empowering Women11. Quick Fire Round12. Are You Ready for a Lean Startup?13. The Infertility King1. Legendary Founder On 20 Minutes VC
Will Sacks, founder of Kindara, shares his inspiring journey as a nontechnical founder creating a startup focused on fertility awareness. Learn how Kindara achieved phenomenal success and gained recognition in major publications like BuzzFeed and Forbes. Discover the tools and insights Kindara provides to help individuals understand their fertility and take control of their own bodies.+
2. Reproductive Health Innovations
Will Sacks discusses Kindara, a reproductive health platform for women that offers an app and connected fertility device. He explains how Kindara can help women track fertility signs to increase their chances of getting pregnant or use it as a natural form of contraception. Will also shares his background and journey in building companies, including his interest in fertility and reproductive health.+
3. Learning to Code vs Building a Company
Will Sacks shares his decision to hire a developer instead of learning to code himself when starting his company. He discusses the challenges of finding a CTO and the importance of focusing on building a team and raising money. Will reflects on his own preference for building a company rather than coding, but acknowledges that the choice depends on individual interests and strengths.+
4. How to Write a Wireframe
Will Sacks shares his expertise in wireframing, recommending Balsamiq and pencil and paper as effective tools. He emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing a product and understanding user flow before handing it off to a designer and CTO for implementation.+
5. Male CEO, Female Product
Will Sacks, the male CEO of a female fertility tool, discusses the challenges and importance of addressing a taboo topic. He shares his journey of learning about fertility charting and the scientific evidence behind it, as well as the personal experience of using it as a method of birth control. With a 70% female team, the company is committed to equality and empowering women in reproductive health.+
6. Building a Engaged Community
Will Sacks shares his insights on building a phenomenally engaged user base by fostering a community and being attentive to user feedback. He emphasizes the importance of listening to users and building a product that serves their needs, leading to organic word-of-mouth growth.Show transcript +
7. Startups: The Hardest Part
Will shares his experience with fundraising, highlighting the difficulties he faced due to lack of knowledge and the balancing act between growing the company and raising funds. He also discusses how having a dedicated team made the process easier for their latest funding round.+
8. How to Raise a Round of Funding
Learn valuable advice on fundraising for founders and new startups. Educate yourself on the process, understand what makes a startup fundable, and ensure your team is strong before seeking funding.+
9. Going From App to Connected Device
Will shares insights on the challenges of transitioning from an app to a connected device company, emphasizing the need for more capital and longer turnaround times. He highlights the competitive advantage of hardware and the importance of finding experienced individuals with the necessary skill sets.+
10. Empowering Women
Will shares his inspiring vision for Kindara, a company that aims to create beautiful technology for women to empower them around their bodies and health. He emphasizes the importance of treating women and men as equals and creating a world that works better for everyone, especially women.+
11. Quick Fire Round
Will Sacks shares his favorite business books, including "Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steve Blank and "Lean Startup" by Eric Reese, which he considers to be similar but one is condensed and the other is longer.+
12. Are You Ready for a Lean Startup?
Will discusses the difficulties of determining viability in the lean startup approach, highlighting the challenge of knowing when an MVP is truly viable and how a little more polish can make all the difference in achieving success.+
13. The Infertility King
Will Sacks shares his insights on the challenges of being a founder, his admiration for Steve Jobs as a successful founder, and his favorite blog, Brad Feld's "Feld Thoughts," which offers valuable insights on the inner game of entrepreneurship.+