2832: How StartupOS is Empowering Tech Startups for Success

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, are you an entrepreneur with a brilliant idea but unsure where to start or how

[00:00:08] to scale?

[00:00:10] Well in today's rapidly evolving business world the journey from concept to market leader

[00:00:15] is fraught with challenges but it is filled with tremendous opportunity too.

[00:00:20] And I recently discovered a company called Startup OS they set off my tech spidey sensors

[00:00:26] because they are a platform that is designed to, turbo charge start up growth through AI

[00:00:30] tools, tail of guidance and a robust network of mentors, investors and partners.

[00:00:37] And one of the reasons that they appeared on my radar is because they tick all the boxes

[00:00:42] for me.

[00:00:43] Because the theme of this show is technology works best when it brings people together

[00:00:47] and that is exactly what they're doing by leveraging AI technology but not forgetting

[00:00:51] the human factor and using it.

[00:00:55] And using it to unite mentors, investors, partners and start up founders themselves feels incredibly

[00:01:00] special.

[00:01:02] So today here on Tech Talks Daily I want to take a deep dive into the Startup ecosystem's

[00:01:06] future with none other than Paul Prushkel, the civil entrepreneur investor and technology

[00:01:12] who is on a mission to reimagine the support system for early stage start ups.

[00:01:17] Now Paul is the mastermind behind Startup OS, he also brings a wealth of experience and

[00:01:22] insights from his journey as a recovering former founder himself and he's someone that

[00:01:27] knows all too well the importance of having a comprehensive ecosystem of resources at your

[00:01:33] disposal.

[00:01:34] From refining investor pitch decks and fine-tuning product market features assembling a powerhouse

[00:01:40] team, there's no denying Startup's require multi facet of support to thrive and survive.

[00:01:47] So with Startup OS and its launchpad platform Paul is offering a solution for building and

[00:01:52] launching the companies of tomorrow.

[00:01:54] So today we'll explore with Paul how AI powered technology is revolutionising the start up

[00:01:59] landscape, the critical role of ecosystems in nurturing business growth bringing a village

[00:02:05] of founders together and resources together and also maybe we'll get a few predictions

[00:02:10] for the venture landscape over the next six to 12 months too.

[00:02:13] Well before we get today's guest on it's time for a quick shout out to the sponsors

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[00:03:09] So once again, Kiteworks.com and now let's get today's guest on.

[00:03:15] Book a look and hold on tight as I beam your ears all the way to California where Paul

[00:03:20] is waiting to join me today.

[00:03:24] So a massive warm welcome to the show Paul can you tell everyone listening a little

[00:03:29] about who you are and what you do?

[00:03:32] Yes, thanks Neil.

[00:03:33] We're excited to be here and thank you for hosting us.

[00:03:36] My name is Paul Plesschel with serial entrepreneur, meaning I understand the pain and I still

[00:03:41] go back in and it was super excited about this new company that we built.

[00:03:46] It's called Startup OS and the OS refers to an operating system that supports the entire

[00:03:51] aspects of the startup ecosystem.

[00:03:53] I think we're in a new kind of world with super ditch companies from horizontal sides

[00:03:58] and it's so important to have 360 degrees of support.

[00:04:02] So let me give you a few examples.

[00:04:04] I'm a startup.

[00:04:05] I'd love to create a pitch deck.

[00:04:06] Well, we have a great recipe for that an AI guy.

[00:04:08] One by the way, it's like you have a personal coach or a personal body flashup right next

[00:04:13] to you.

[00:04:14] You might be a startup looking for mentors and advice.

[00:04:16] Well, we built a network for you that they're already on with matching algorithms that

[00:04:20] connect with people that might be able to answer the type of issues you're having.

[00:04:24] Maybe you're a great CTO and you don't understand product distribution or you're a CEO

[00:04:28] visionary and you might have a question on a financial aspect of how you report.

[00:04:33] We can help you with all those things.

[00:04:34] So 55% of our startups will come here from one main reason and that's, you know, they

[00:04:39] need funding.

[00:04:40] They need that first customer.

[00:04:41] So we built the platform and that's why I say it's an operating system across the entire

[00:04:45] startup ecosystem.

[00:04:47] This platform will showcase the startups on our network to the right parties, whether

[00:04:51] those parties be enterprises, whether those parties be investors or angels, VCs or angels,

[00:04:57] we're built and power the entire ecosystem.

[00:04:59] So the more work you do on the platform, the more we get to know you, the more exposure

[00:05:03] we give you because we understand where you're at and that we can connect you to the right

[00:05:06] parties.

[00:05:07] So I wish when I started companies in the late early 90s, I would have had a tool like

[00:05:12] this and we've democratized access.

[00:05:14] So we're not saying to a few that we're not gatekeepers, we're on ramps and we're saying

[00:05:19] to everybody come on in at the time you want the location you are and we're going to

[00:05:23] help you.

[00:05:24] So I think that's going to take 10% or 5% of your equity to do that.

[00:05:27] One of the things that stood out to me before you came on the podcast was when I was reading

[00:05:31] about how startup OS is actually reimagining the startup ecosystem and I've got a list.

[00:05:38] What specific challenges are you addressing for early stage startups through this launchpad

[00:05:42] platform?

[00:05:43] And also it is down to your own experience as well.

[00:05:47] Did you encounter some of these challenges first hand?

[00:05:49] You know, it's funny.

[00:05:51] I tell people, I'll start with the last question first that I've had 200 meetings on

[00:05:55] Sand Hill Road.

[00:05:56] These are the old day in person meetings where you go to a meeting if you get your way,

[00:05:59] you find a partner office and you get to go.

[00:06:03] And I keep looking back and there's one answer that sticks with me the most is early

[00:06:08] on you would get asked a question and this is a problem for a lot of startups.

[00:06:12] So what kicks you up at night?

[00:06:14] What competition could take your business away?

[00:06:16] And like the stock answer was always, well Google could come into space or Microsoft and

[00:06:21] that's not what VCs want.

[00:06:23] You know, we have to have perseverance grit.

[00:06:24] We have to understand how to navigate these niches and what they're really looking for in

[00:06:28] the right answer is if I'm not listening to the feedback of the market and my customers

[00:06:33] and I'm not iterating fast enough.

[00:06:35] So as we sit there, we start to coach these startups were able to actually give really great

[00:06:40] examples.

[00:06:41] Hey, I'm an early stage startup.

[00:06:42] Do you think that my pitch deck is great?

[00:06:44] Well, you didn't mention the team and your pre-seed.

[00:06:47] That's all they're betting on right now is the team.

[00:06:49] So you have to really get that.

[00:06:50] Hey, I'm a seed.

[00:06:51] I've really how delighted the team what I want to do with the use of proceeds.

[00:06:55] Yes, but they want to understand the traction of your, they want to send the products

[00:06:58] you're in.

[00:06:59] And then the next stage for series A, they want to understand the traction that you're

[00:07:01] having and series B is the revenue and series C is unique economics.

[00:07:05] And so if you understand what stage you're in and you know, you don't understand this

[00:07:09] as your first time founder and as a multiple time founder, we don't have all the answers

[00:07:13] either.

[00:07:14] We haven't needed one area and expertise in another.

[00:07:16] And things are changing.

[00:07:17] I can't tell you how many things have changed.

[00:07:19] I mean, look at how AI's impacted it.

[00:07:21] So as a startup, you need 360 degrees of support.

[00:07:24] That's what startup always is.

[00:07:26] And kind of going to your first question, yeah, we do know why they fell.

[00:07:29] We did, we took 400 interviews.

[00:07:31] We were incubated within a bank and they had 20 years of startup experience.

[00:07:35] We've onboarded 5000 startups and there's four primary reasons.

[00:07:39] It's a lack of product market fit.

[00:07:41] They run out of funding or they never got funding.

[00:07:43] So they run ways too short.

[00:07:45] They have poor execution.

[00:07:46] They don't know what to do next.

[00:07:47] What are the three things that should focus my team's energy on today?

[00:07:50] And you don't want to go down a rat hole and find out six months later that was all

[00:07:54] a waste of time because that makes your run way away.

[00:07:57] And then one of the most important ones we found was to go to market failure.

[00:08:01] People might have the greatest thing.

[00:08:02] They just don't understand how they're going to get it in the hands of the people.

[00:08:05] You know, they haven't really thought through the go-to market distribution and they were

[00:08:09] unwilling to test it early.

[00:08:11] That's a big one we find.

[00:08:12] You know, people don't want to hear no so they tend to hold it off.

[00:08:15] Get to the nose fast so you know how to navigate and we all get nose.

[00:08:19] And those are your first yes just get it used to it.

[00:08:21] You mentioned AI in your answer there and as we record this episode today, open AI,

[00:08:27] the people behind chat GPT have just announced text to video.

[00:08:30] It just blows my mind that you can literally just type in a few words and generate a one

[00:08:34] minute video on your text literally bringing your words to life.

[00:08:37] AI is transforming everything.

[00:08:39] However, in your world, how do AI tools within the startup OS ecosystem?

[00:08:45] How do they specifically contribute to accelerating startup growth and maybe look beyond the hype

[00:08:51] and provide a few examples of how AI has actually been a game changer for startups using your

[00:08:55] platform because this stuff is no longer it might happen one day.

[00:08:59] He's happening right now.

[00:09:00] I really could talk for days about this and I love the fact that you mentioned open AI's

[00:09:05] video today because I looked at every one of them and they are incredible.

[00:09:09] And when you pay for a creative agency, it is it's not it's not inexpensive right?

[00:09:15] You can get you can get kind of filler videos cheap but if you want to pay for a creative

[00:09:18] agency, these videos to me were of stylistic X X ones similar to a creative industry.

[00:09:24] So AI as you said, we could take a whole day on it is revolution in the end.

[00:09:30] Revolutionizing everything in the same aspect and think about these big domains.

[00:09:34] Remember before the internet, how you got information.

[00:09:36] Remember before SaaS software, how you have to pay for a product and service.

[00:09:40] Remember before we had a mobile phone.

[00:09:42] AI is we're at the very beginning.

[00:09:44] We're at the very beginning where we're trying to understand what a use case for AI is

[00:09:47] and we think it's so evolved.

[00:09:49] It's a 20 year pattern if you look at those other big waves in the market.

[00:09:53] So this is a 20 year wave.

[00:09:54] Think about that we're going to be the Jetsons in 20 years.

[00:09:57] This is finally unlocked the potential of what we've been thinking our lives would be like

[00:10:01] when 2000, 2020 rolled around.

[00:10:04] So I couldn't be more excited.

[00:10:06] When we do something, we both start up on our own platform and how is it saving our

[00:10:12] own startup?

[00:10:13] Now let's say how we're allowing others to benefit from it.

[00:10:15] And we used to have teams of people to create content for our websites, for proposals,

[00:10:19] for our debts, for our videos.

[00:10:22] That's been greatly reduced with the help of AI.

[00:10:24] I actually look like a really good writer on email.

[00:10:26] Like I have it correcting all my emails and I love it.

[00:10:29] It's fantastic.

[00:10:30] It helps you with pricing.

[00:10:31] It helps you with the cost of digital ads and customer engagement and support and legal.

[00:10:34] And there's AI services for all that now.

[00:10:36] There's still has to be some curation and some higher level performance.

[00:10:39] So we've built this marketplace of the 125 vendors and a lot of them have AI tools.

[00:10:43] So our startup scheme access to those tools and get them at a discount.

[00:10:47] They can try them.

[00:10:48] There's a both for a hundred different vendors, something network that offer services and free

[00:10:52] services for early stage startups.

[00:10:55] So that's a great way.

[00:10:56] We built our own tools with AI when our first generation, re MVP came out.

[00:11:00] We did not like our tool.

[00:11:02] An AI open AI came out.

[00:11:04] We programmed to their APIs and it changed everything suddenly.

[00:11:08] If you go to our tool set, you want to build a business model and you want to say I want

[00:11:12] to create Uber, it will give you a full canvas complete with how good your customers are,

[00:11:17] what your revenue streams are, what your problem is, what your solutions.

[00:11:20] And this is for everything.

[00:11:21] This is how do I price my product?

[00:11:22] This is what is my competition?

[00:11:24] What is my mode?

[00:11:25] What is my value proposition?

[00:11:26] What is my founder story?

[00:11:27] So these are all tools that we built into a platform.

[00:11:29] And this is not just a tool with you in printing data.

[00:11:32] This is a tool that's taking 400 interviews, 20 years of startup experience, 5,000 onwards.

[00:11:36] So we took our own, we call it a niche LLM.

[00:11:40] I think other people are calling it a small language model and we built it because what

[00:11:44] generally happens?

[00:11:45] If you use ChatGbT or these other services and out the same thing, you're going to get

[00:11:49] some really quality data until you have to get very deep then it's going to use the

[00:11:52] same data again and again.

[00:11:54] And think about it if you ever made a copy, made a copy of a copy and then a copy of

[00:11:58] it.

[00:11:59] It degrades over time.

[00:12:00] We have new data coming into our platform all the time, hence we built our own LLM on

[00:12:05] top of it with over 5,000 startups.

[00:12:07] So as these startups are finding you may have had one of those four things like a product

[00:12:11] funding runway, exclusion navigation and market value.

[00:12:14] But this year it might be very different.

[00:12:16] Maybe this year it is funding is number one clearly and dominantly because the market

[00:12:20] has changed.

[00:12:21] So you need to take these real-time attributes into account with every analysis you

[00:12:24] do.

[00:12:25] But the fresher the set of data, the more data that you're collecting, the newer the

[00:12:29] data, the better the result.

[00:12:30] So I mean, I use AI every day.

[00:12:33] I think every startup in the world is going to.

[00:12:36] It's going to be transformational.

[00:12:37] You used to have to build your own tech staff.

[00:12:39] Now you go to AWS.

[00:12:40] AI is going to take half of the functions of your company and be able to let you do things

[00:12:44] much faster which is going to shorten how much time it takes you to get your product

[00:12:48] to market fit and the amount of funding or runway that you might require.

[00:12:52] So it's massive.

[00:12:53] We're at the very, very beginning and we're just starting to see the experience of what

[00:12:57] it's doing and I can't wait over 20% of the startups on our 5500 person platform are

[00:13:03] AI.

[00:13:04] If I was to look at that six months ago, it would have probably been 2%.

[00:13:07] And I would imagine by the end of the year, it's over 50%.

[00:13:10] So the markets here, it's coming and companies are coming up fast.

[00:13:14] 100% with you.

[00:13:15] And you mentioned the Jetsons life in 20 years.

[00:13:18] I need to hold you to that because I have been waiting for a jetpack since the 1984 Los

[00:13:22] Angeles Olympics.

[00:13:23] You know, you were me both Neil and it was my favorite show and so inspirational.

[00:13:28] And sometimes it's so sad to me with how many great things we can do that we're not

[00:13:33] doing but what I think it's here and it's starting to happen.

[00:13:35] So I'm loving it.

[00:13:36] Me too.

[00:13:37] And giving your experience as a former founder, what do you believe are the most critical

[00:13:43] resources that early stage startups are lacking now and how are you helping fill that gap?

[00:13:48] As you said, you should this but you walked about in these shoes many times.

[00:13:52] So I'm interested in what you think is lacking and how you're filling this gap.

[00:13:56] That's probably a very difficult question because every startup is unique.

[00:14:01] I like the thing of startups is on mosaic, right?

[00:14:03] If you go to a CRM, you have a workflow of 20 things that you must do, right?

[00:14:08] I need to get my contact information.

[00:14:10] I need to put them in if I've had a meeting.

[00:14:12] I need to show if they have budget.

[00:14:14] I need to show and it's very real, right?

[00:14:16] You know, there's always things that I can solve the data.

[00:14:18] A startup is a mosaic and it's moving and it's changing all the time and new competition

[00:14:22] and there's so much competition and the funding metrics change and what you do.

[00:14:26] But there's some core basics too.

[00:14:28] Like look, we understand that you first have to have an idea and that idea, even though

[00:14:34] it's the easiest part, then they should be validated.

[00:14:37] What do you have to validate against?

[00:14:38] You have to validate that the idea is something that actually solves a pain point or a problem.

[00:14:42] And what are the jobs to be done?

[00:14:44] Or what are the workflows that have to do with that idea?

[00:14:47] Who's the buyer of the idea and will people actually spend money on this?

[00:14:50] So all those things stay very consistent, right?

[00:14:54] So we can help a founder with the tools through that process and there's a lot of ways

[00:15:00] they can help out there.

[00:15:01] But the problem is there's a hundred despair of tools and they put each one in different

[00:15:04] tool and then the pieces don't work together.

[00:15:07] So this great age of AI and networks and all the data working as one, that's something

[00:15:11] that we're able to offer them.

[00:15:14] We find out that I had a mentor call this morning and he had just finished a pitch competition

[00:15:20] where he didn't win and he was curious to why he didn't win.

[00:15:24] And he thought that he needed to do XYZ and my personal judgment was that was not

[00:15:30] why he didn't win.

[00:15:31] He wouldn't establish enough that he was the right person at the early stage to say

[00:15:35] that he could do something with the type of clients and I'm not going to mention I think

[00:15:39] for a reason.

[00:15:40] But he needs to first show up proof that he can get what he's trying to do accomplish

[00:15:45] within an organization that he's trying to accomplish it.

[00:15:48] And so it was a very long story but I was thinking hard on that that most founders always

[00:15:53] go to the product and they say you know what?

[00:15:55] If my product can do XYZ, I'm going to make it.

[00:15:57] And what you really find out is if you build the right support community and they have

[00:16:01] people that like I am and hundreds of other mentors and advisors and network of people

[00:16:05] to share these ideas and most of them off, it takes a community.

[00:16:08] Like there's very few Steve Jobs right?

[00:16:10] There's very few Elon Musk.

[00:16:11] There's very few people that probably put a company on its back and take it all the

[00:16:14] way.

[00:16:15] If you're like most of us, it takes the village right?

[00:16:19] And so we're there to help support and give a village.

[00:16:22] And when you take a village, you also have to be very conscious of who from the village

[00:16:26] you're going to listen to because there's a lot of advice out there you don't want

[00:16:29] to take.

[00:16:30] And I tell founders the most important thing is you have to trust your gut, your instincts

[00:16:33] and they brought you this bar.

[00:16:35] But listen to the people that navigated to these problems because if you don't learn

[00:16:39] from it then that's a wasted opportunity.

[00:16:42] Yeah completely agree.

[00:16:44] It's one of those things that no one can, no startup founder could walk that path alone

[00:16:49] and as you said it requires a village.

[00:16:52] So on that side of things how important is mentorship, investor connections, partnerships

[00:16:56] in a startup journey because it feels like you take so many of the boxes.

[00:17:01] Yeah, well you know really depends and I like to like this at various levels right?

[00:17:07] If you're a first time founder you don't have you know 10, 20 years in the market meaning

[00:17:11] that you haven't had the opportunity to build this network.

[00:17:15] So you find out that the first obstacle connected to VC is you're better off with an introduction.

[00:17:19] Now there's exceptions everything if you're the hottest company on the planet and the hottest

[00:17:23] market and you might not even have to do a cold outreach to a VC they may have found

[00:17:26] a way to find you right?

[00:17:28] But for the most of us, you need introduction.

[00:17:30] So how do you get that introduction?

[00:17:32] Who does it for you?

[00:17:33] How do you know what you should value your startup at?

[00:17:36] How do you know if you're ready for funding like these are all guesses I can try to book

[00:17:41] 50 meetings with VCs and get 50 know us because I'm nowhere near close or right into the

[00:17:46] recreation and look you get one really good first chance and an opportunity there are exceptions

[00:17:52] to everything but you want to go in and you want to be ready?

[00:17:54] You want to make them come back to you and ask questions and feel it.

[00:17:58] So you have to do the work first.

[00:17:59] So I think if you have the right mentors, the right network, the right platform even though

[00:18:03] you're a mosaic there's certain things that you can validate and trust and get advice

[00:18:08] and counsel on to this day I still build 20, 25 pitch decks and iterations and I give

[00:18:14] them to my team every stand up almost on every Wednesday because I want to continue to

[00:18:18] go through our business model one to make sure that we're all on the same page two to any

[00:18:22] learnings of my team have gotten through the week.

[00:18:24] I'm always begging for nuggets what nugget can I pick up?

[00:18:27] What nugget can I pick help us with our goal today?

[00:18:29] What did you hear?

[00:18:30] What did you do?

[00:18:31] What did we see and we do this on an exponential basis on a startup platform for a startup

[00:18:35] it's invaluable because you can't as you said walk this journey alone.

[00:18:39] 100% with you on and looking at the next six to 12 months, how do you view the venture

[00:18:45] landscape evolving especially in the context of current economic trends and technological

[00:18:50] advancements and I realize even just asking next six to 12 months is almost impossible

[00:18:54] as with we've woke up this morning and open AI of a released his text video thing so it's

[00:19:01] moving so quickly isn't it?

[00:19:03] It is moving quickly and if you're in the right space look they went over two billion

[00:19:06] a revenue yesterday I read two right before their video announcement today.

[00:19:08] I mean they are on an incredible trajectory but for the most people you have to pay attention

[00:19:14] to the market.

[00:19:15] Look I lived through the dot com boom right I sold my first company to a public company

[00:19:19] and then the dot com boom happened in my next company spigot which became a world leader

[00:19:24] in an idea innovation management it happened right in 2008 was lying for braided that that

[00:19:29] was the same year Sequoia wrote I believe there are IP memo that was the year of you know

[00:19:33] the banking collapse right it's tough to start companies but don't feel like this is unique

[00:19:39] I've started three or four companies in fact I'm going to write a book on when not to

[00:19:43] start companies and then you know because I feel like every time I started a company

[00:19:46] it's in some crisis but there's a really good side to that you have to get lean in mean

[00:19:50] you have to get very focused and you know what that's the formula for a success focused

[00:19:55] lean in mean right it so so this is forcing all of us into a place that's uncomfortable

[00:20:01] but a place we need to go it's going to be really hard to raise money I mean I tell

[00:20:05] that to the startups right now it's a very hard market how do you stand out how are you

[00:20:09] that company that they want to raise them they have a lot of companies there's a lot of

[00:20:12] companies in B&C runs that are not getting funded by venture firms that it's funded them

[00:20:16] early there's just a lot more to go through indilligence so my advice is try to get to revenue

[00:20:22] try try to get to some form of being very lean in mean so you can extend your runway and

[00:20:28] also if you're in the market for it there's a great opportunity with companies this is

[00:20:32] the year that companies are going to go shopping there's so many look every company needs

[00:20:36] to understand how to get AI in their workflow and every workflow they have there's so

[00:20:39] many opportunities for companies to be to acquire startups so we're helping them we're

[00:20:44] helping bridge the gap if there's not BC or angel money available to you why aren't

[00:20:48] you doing a license deal that a partnership if you think about it I raise money to build

[00:20:52] a company so I can sell a product well if raising money is becoming really difficult why

[00:20:57] don't you skip the middleman why don't you go from building a small product working with

[00:21:01] an enterprise to distribute that product that areas the customers in the engine to do it

[00:21:05] so there's there might be some gold in this some liquid gold coming out of all of this

[00:21:10] market turmoil now I love the free markets I love the capital markets they're going to bounce

[00:21:14] back there's I say by the end of the year we're hopefully going to be much more line in next

[00:21:19] year will be a great funding year just get through this year that's what I say to

[00:21:22] people try to get through this year and I'm curious if I was asked you to look back at your

[00:21:26] career and everything that you've experienced and compare it with what startup founders are

[00:21:31] going through today are there any challenges that might be worth traveling in the past

[00:21:35] that a present now and how do you it start to throw us out address some of these challenges

[00:21:41] well first off there's pluses and minuses today it's far easier to start a company right my

[00:21:47] my first company I had to go and raise five million dollars because my infrastructure cost was

[00:21:51] gonna be eight hundred thousand dollars before I could even test it so that that's no longer the case

[00:21:56] for a couple hundred dollars you can get something running you you can build a website with a

[00:22:00] landing page of a b and do a market validation test so it's much easier to start a company and

[00:22:05] and you can do it with a lot of tools that could help you get there very fast on the flip side when

[00:22:11] I started my first company there were probably twenty five companies looking for capital or business

[00:22:15] plans in the market and you could raise money on a PowerPoint like it was very different so

[00:22:20] in some ways we had it much easier and in some ways we had it much harder so the competition angle

[00:22:25] right now so take advantage of all the resources that you can network like you've never no network

[00:22:31] before state true to your gut and those are things that I believe were there when I started just

[00:22:38] a different scales and different ways to do it but there's always been incredible competition

[00:22:42] in obstacles in market that that doesn't change we we can't dictate the markets we just have to

[00:22:46] we just have to ride the wave of the market we're in and again before you came on the podcast

[00:22:52] doing a little research on you guys and I was really how start-up OS also targets educational

[00:22:57] institutions and enterprises etc so how do these entities benefit from engaging with your platform

[00:23:03] and what role do they play in that that broader start-up ecosystem yeah so I like to explain it

[00:23:10] this way to any kind of world platform we're an operating system so we have a two-sided network

[00:23:15] we have supply side we have demand side educational institutions are at the forefront because while we

[00:23:21] take all startups we want to take all startups regardless of you can democratize access whether you

[00:23:26] went to an Eastern Illinois university a high school or or Stanford University right so we democratize

[00:23:33] access we bring them in and then we bring in different levels of startups so startups are very early

[00:23:37] stage and they need to be accelerated because they have an idea and they want to validate right we

[00:23:41] can do that but there are other companies that are further along and they're looking for different

[00:23:45] things than then building a lean my well canvas they might want to join one of our accelerators

[00:23:50] they might want to just find out and match with investors or mentors they might want to attend

[00:23:55] pitch events so they come on our platform and then what happens is they go through the slupe

[00:23:59] they go through the marketplace services do they need legal branding digital advertising

[00:24:03] cap table capital raise incorporation all these services they get and they keep going through this

[00:24:07] loop that we've created with supply and demand and then hanging to that on the other side of the

[00:24:10] platform the main site are our two forms of people they're the enterprises so we bridge that gap

[00:24:16] and connect really high ambitious quality startups with enterprises and enterprises might want to do

[00:24:21] a plethora of things they might want to have they they might want to co-create they might want to find

[00:24:25] some talent they might want to just benchmark and learn about an industry they might want to license

[00:24:30] a startup they might want to buy a startup and then they go down the realm the same way that a

[00:24:34] venture capitalist does to fund a startup but we provide all those tools on our platform if you're

[00:24:38] working on our platform enterprises and investors can see the data they can see your traction they

[00:24:44] could see your funding they can see your pitch deck they can see what's happening in real time not

[00:24:49] not in some static time but in real time with your startup and it makes it much easier for that

[00:24:53] attraction to occur we have these two products on our on our network that I love one is are you

[00:24:57] enterprise ready and you take this 15 minute AI kind of a validation we call it a power up

[00:25:03] and we give you a scale of how enterprise ready you are and the enterprises you know that's a great

[00:25:09] filter for them hey we'd love to do business what's the security model with your tech staff what

[00:25:13] you know how many people are you what's your burn rage like simple things that they can quickly

[00:25:17] validate and then they don't need a huge back office to do that and then we help the startups really

[00:25:22] gather the information they need to be enterprise ready and we have another one similar that's

[00:25:26] are you fundable that's the same site for the angel or the venture capital market so it tells them hey

[00:25:31] we believe at this point this is the this the stage you're in we think that you're valued at xyz

[00:25:36] and you should go after raising this much capital and then we can take it once up further if

[00:25:40] you want to report we can say here the 25 companies we think are most likely to fund you so we take

[00:25:45] it all the way through so having a supply and demand side to this I think is the key and it

[00:25:49] just keeps going through this loop regardless of your stage because you're going to find uses

[00:25:53] and the question I've got to ask is where do you go from here I mean you probably can't share too much

[00:25:57] but is there anything you can share around the long-term vision for startup OS and also any

[00:26:02] emerging trends that you might foresee in the start of world that entrepreneurs maybe they should

[00:26:07] be listening and preparing for right now yeah thanks it's increasingly clear that we're on

[00:26:13] to something we're getting incredible testimonials and feedback and the data that we're collecting

[00:26:18] with the AI intelligence we're doing we're hoping to shorten the path and I think the end goal like

[00:26:24] we always started you know we wise be founder friendly and I love startups and I've done many in my

[00:26:30] life but our platform aims to increase the overall number the confidence the probability of long-term

[00:26:35] success for all founders regardless of their background and if we do that well we're going to

[00:26:40] track the enterprises we're gonna track the the VCs and then we also offer this same piece of software

[00:26:46] we license it so you can you can run your own cohort your own pitch event in our public domain

[00:26:50] or you can waitly able to hold thing and take it with you what why is anyone else cover going to

[00:26:54] build a platform like ours I believe we're kind of first in this of a digital platform that's

[00:27:00] always on with AI tools in the same aspect that Salesforce was first so I think that's our future

[00:27:06] well we covered so much in a short amount of time today and I can't thank you enough for joining me

[00:27:11] but before I let you go there's a little thank you for investing your time and sitting down

[00:27:17] with me I'm gonna see if there's something we can do for you because some of the biggest names

[00:27:20] in business VC funding and tech have either been guess or maybe even listen to this podcast if I

[00:27:26] was to say who is a person you'd love to have a private breakfast or lunch with and why because he

[00:27:32] or she might just listen to this who would you choose because we'll see if we can manifest

[00:27:35] something together but who would you go for I would choose David Sats and I'll tell you why I

[00:27:41] met David several times I was doing Spigot and he was at Yammer and every time I went he taught me

[00:27:46] something and I know he's a fairly successful venture person now but but I learned so much from

[00:27:51] David so he was X pay pal he went on to Yammer sold that for a billion dollars to Microsoft but

[00:27:57] he would tell me about his company he always pulled up a dashboard and I was telling about our company

[00:28:02] I'd pull up a PowerPoint and I thought he was the first one that taught me the power of data

[00:28:06] right the power of data behind the scenes what you really need to show and I feel like

[00:28:11] David's been first at so many things in building companies and growing companies and connecting

[00:28:15] with companies I would love to show him our startup platform and understand his feedback and where

[00:28:22] where he thinks the evolution is and where the right points that we're hitting are I just love

[00:28:25] to get his input. Steve, well we'll put that out into the A-thirlis let's see what we could manifest

[00:28:31] together and for anyone listening just one in a fun app more information about start to power

[00:28:36] and anything that we talked about today well do you like to point everyone listening?

[00:28:40] dub dub dub that started for us and just log in and try it out and tell us what you think or

[00:28:45] reach out on our chatbot and connect with us and we'll get back you very quickly we'd love to

[00:28:50] we'd love to connect. Well as I said a few moments ago we covered so much in it just 30 minutes

[00:28:55] today about this start the power s platform how is boosting start growth with AI tools guidance

[00:29:01] and a network of mentors investors and partners and also how it feels like a bit of a game change

[00:29:06] if I accelerate as enterprises communities and educational institutions and one of the things that

[00:29:11] I always say at the end of every episode is technology works best when it brings people together

[00:29:16] and for me that's what I love about exactly about what you're doing here the use of technologies like AI

[00:29:21] and bringing people together and helping start up founders love your work look what you're doing

[00:29:26] here but just thank you for sharing the story behind it today Paul. Thank you Neil and I

[00:29:30] loved your summation I'm going to steal it and I'm going to use it so thank you. So as we wrap up

[00:29:34] today's conversation with Paul for me it is clear the startle but ecosystem is on the cusp of a

[00:29:39] significant transformation and start a po s seems to be standing at the forefront of this change by

[00:29:45] offering a AI enhanced lifeline to start ups to help them navigate the complex journey from

[00:29:51] inception to success and it's pause insights though into the power of a comprehensive human

[00:29:57] support system coupled with the potential of AI technology it's that partnership that collaboration

[00:30:03] that paint an optimistic future for entrepreneurs around the world and this evolving start up landscape

[00:30:10] I think it also presents both challenges and opportunities in equal measure and as we do look ahead

[00:30:15] it's essential to consider how AI will help shape the start up world what new challenges and

[00:30:21] breakthroughs that we can anticipate over the coming months and I invite you to share your thoughts

[00:30:27] your experiences in the realm of start ups technology and everything in between so please join

[00:30:32] the conversation by emailing me tech blog writer outlook dot com twitter linked in instagram just

[00:30:38] at Neil c.use nice and easy there and let's together explore how we can support the next generation

[00:30:44] of innovators the next generation of disruptors in creating a new future of business so please let

[00:30:51] me know your predictions for the start up ecosystem how you see AI how you see AI shaping its evolution

[00:30:56] but please and also share your thoughts with us and join the dialogue on empowering the trail blazers

[00:31:02] of tomorrow but that's it for today so keep your messages coming in I'll be back again tomorrow

[00:31:07] thank you for listening today and until next time don't be a stranger