Founder Friday, our weekly series in which a founder shares a lesson learned or best practice utilized, returns Oct. 5 with a post on hiring by Hatchlings founder Brad Dwyer (left).
We kicked off this series in April in response to our readers’ requests for more insight from startup founders. It’s not surprising then that this series has produced some of our most-read and most-shared posts.
Stackify’s Matt Watson candidly shared how he bootstrapped his last company to the point at which is was aquired by AutoTrader.com for more than $135 million. Hudl’s David Graff preached about how selecting his company’s benefits package has played a role in attracting top talent. Klink Mobile’s Jessica Bishop opened up about her role as a founder and how – even though she’s found herself in dangerous situations – she hasn’t regretted following her intuition.
Each month presents a new topic and insight from four founders. Following Dwyer on Friday will be AdVentures founder Brent Beshore on Oct. 12.
Thanks to our sponsor
If you’d like to recommend a founder for this series or if you’re a founder and would like to author a guest post, please contact editor@siliconprairienews.com.
Here’s a look back at the 22 Founder Friday posts published:
August: Benefits
- “Benefits that build passion and knowledge” – John Schnipkoweit, RecBob
- “Add a bonus to your boring employee benefits plan” – Josh Cramer, Cramer Dev
- “Offer benefits that make you stand out” – David Graff, Hudl
- “Every startup has benefits” – Tim Guenther, Clickstop
- “Give careful consideration to employee benefits” – Tej Dhawan, StartupCity Des Moines
July: Bootstrapping
- “Bootstrappers: Enjoy the ride” – Brian Hemesath, VolunteerLocal
- “Embrace the bootstrap…and start pulling!” – Mark Carson, Fat Brian Toys
- “Bootstrapping is about balancing scarce resources” – Pat Lazure, Deal Garden
- “Bootstrapping isn’t for the faint of heart” – Matt Watson, Stackify
June: Role of founder
- “Do what you do best” – Michael Ferrari, Social Money
- “The founder, startup culture and lessons from the Bushmen” – Christian Gurney, Torsion Mobile
- “The strategic and tactical roles of a founder” – Nick Bowden, MindMixer
- “Founding a startup and following your intuition: Across the globe and back again” – Jessica Bishop, Klink Mobile
May: Leaving a full-time job to pursue a startup
- “Making the jump: How we did it” – Rodrigo Neri, Instin
- “Embracing the possibility of ‘what’s next’ instead of ‘what if’ ” – Jeff Slobotski, Silicon Prairie News
- “When you know it’s time to quit your day job and launch a startup” – Bo Fishback, Zaarly
- “Experimentation is to a startup as a task list is to a job” – Wade Foster, Zapier
April: Goal setting
- “The three daily Ps to achieving your goals” – Ryan Tinker, Leap
- “Set goals that put butterflies in your stomach” – Jayme Thomason, DivvyHQ
- “Setting goals is the easy part, the real challenge is how to reach them” – Adam Coomes, Salt
- “Remember to stay focused and keep shipping” – Calvin Pappas, SelectOut
- “Learning to be deliberate” – Dusty Davidson, Silicon Prairie News
New sponsor
We’re also welcoming a new sponsor to the series: the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). IEDA is the organization supporting economic development on behalf of the State of Iowa and has been a valued supporter of our events. This is their first time sponsoring the blog and we’re very excited and appreciative of their continued support of the startup community in the Silicon Prairie.
Credits: Photo of Brad Dwyer courtesy of Eric Rowley/Juice.
Founder Friday is brought to you by the Iowa Economic Development Authority
Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is dedicated to supporting innovation by connecting entrepreneurs with resources and development opportunities in Iowa. It salutes the founders of today and tomorrow; encouraging ideas that will invigorate a new economy. Please visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com for more information on how IEDA can help your business ideas come to life.
