In this episode of our podcast, "How to Raise from a16z and Sequoia Capital? with Wes Kao (Founder of Maven & altMBA)," we dive deep into the world of startups, education, and personal branding with our guest Wes Kao, a renowned founder and entrepreneur. We also explore the topics of leadership, entrepreneurship, and fundraising.

Wes emphasizes the importance of selfawareness and leveraging one's strengths when starting a company. She also highlights the value of credibility indicators in fundraising and the need to find the right fit with investors. The conversation provides insights into the process of pitching to venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz. In this conversation,

Wes Kao shares insights on fundraising, building a personal brand, and the challenges of scaling as a founder. Finally, Wes talks about her approach to writing newsletters and the importance of thinking deeply about the topics you write about.


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* Your First Startup Journey: https://www.prodcircle.com/newsletter


Takeaways

*Selfawareness and leveraging one's strengths are crucial when starting a company.

*Credibility indicators, such as fundraising from wellknown venture capital firms, can provide a boost in the ecosystem.

*Leadership is learnable, and there are different ways to be a leader.
Entrepreneurship can be learned, but it's important to have a point of view and an unfair advantage.

*The fundraising process should focus on finding the best fit with investors who can support the company's growth. Credibility and experience are crucial in fundraising, and firsttime founders should not compare themselves to veteran founders.

*Creating a sense of inevitability in your storytelling can instill confidence in investors and derisk your venture.

*Marketplaces like Maven differ from publishers like Reforge in the cohortbased learning space.

*Consistently sharing your ideas and insights online can unlock various opportunities and help build a personal brand.

*Writing newsletters requires deep thinking and a focus on providing valuable insights and frameworks.


Chapters

00:00 Trailer
02:00 Who is Wes Kao
05:50 Lessons from Seth Godin
08:55 Shipping Fast Is Important
16:20 Why Wes Kao Pickup Education Sector
20:42 Can leaders and enterpreuners are by birth
24:40 Unfair Advantage
27:00 Fundraising and the Importance of Credibility
41:51 Building a Personal Brand (Complete Guide)
48:00 The Art of Writing Newsletters
54:15 Ritual
56:35 Conclusion


CONNECT WITH WES KAO

Website https://www.weskao.com/
Twitter   / wes_kao  
Substack https://substack.com/@weskao
Linkdin   / weskao  


CONNECT WITH MUDASSIR

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Twitter   / prodcirclehq  

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Website https://prodcircle.com/
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SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT
Visit the website for the transcript and highlights from the conversation https://www.prodcircle.com/podcast

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