Fundraising (Platform FIR 113)

Building maintenance traditionally runs on phone calls, Post-It notes, and prayers. Gabe Marrero, the CEO of Yosubi, explains how his company is creating a massively more efficient marketplace that matches building owners and managers with quality contractors on-demand. He also talks about the series of pivots that have lead Yosubi to the success it is seeing today.

Construction is responsible for 40% of global emissions. Kathleen Egan, the CEO / Co-Founder of ecomedes, explains how her company is helping architects, contractors, and building owners make smarter selections of materials. We also talk about reimplementing an existing product in the AI age, and the importance of self-knowledge for founders.

With fractional employment growing 3x faster than traditional employment, Katie Murphy, the CEO/Founder of Knex, a marketplace matching companies to fractional executives and advisors, shares lessons in rolling out AI in a marketplace business, her own experience as a fractional exec, and what gives Knex an unfair advantage.

Ayden Syal, the CEO/Founder of MOGL, explains how global brands like Toyota are using college athletes to reach Gen-Z audiences through MOGL. We also talked about the evolution of the NIL (Name Image Likeness) regulations, navigating startup pivots, and how to handle breaking up with a co-founder. https://www.mogl.online/

Molly Hanten, the CEO/Founder of PartyPlease (PVS Cohort 2022), who tells us about building a 3-sided marketplace for throwing parties, her journey as a founder, and what gives PartyPlease an unfair advantage.

Josh Burkwist, the CEO/Founder of HireSource.ai, an AI-driven talent acquisition platform talks about his entrepreneurship journey, and what gives him an unfair advantage.

What is a Cognitive Bias? Why are they particularly deadly to startups? Do we all have Cognitive Biases? How can we spot them? What can we do about them, if anything? This episode is based on JB's original article here: https://vibratingmelon.com/2017/02/27/12-cognitive-biases-that-will-kill-your-startup/

This week, what's the big deal about Unit Economics anyway? Fixed vs variable costs, CAC, LTV, CACD, MRR, margins, churn and other TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms). When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! This episode is based on JB's original "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Unit Economics but were Afraid to Ask" which you can read here: https://vibratingmelon.com/2020/08/03/unit-economics-two-sided-marketplaces-part-1/    

How does this whole fundraising thing work for startups? What are the different kinds of investors? Why is "dilution" such a scary concept? This is based on Unit 113 of Platform's Founder-in-Residence syllabus. If you are interested in being a Founder-in-Residence at Platform, signup to Platform https://os.platformstud.io/