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David Hauser is the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. As the Founder of two companies — Grasshopper and Chargify — that serve the needs of his fellow entrepreneurs, David has spent most of his adult life focused on creating great businesses that not only solve his community’s problems, but also provide a great living for him.

Grasshopper sells for $165M Cash and $8.6M in stocks to Citrix

If you’ve started a company in the last decade, you’ve probably heard of Grasshopper, a virtual phone system that turns existing cellphones into primary business numbers.

David and his co-Founder Siamak Taghaddos targeted startups when they launched Grasshopper because of how incredibly expensive business phone services were for budding entrepreneurs.

They knew ...

Startup Founders love the idea of full transparency when it works for them.

At first glance, it's hard to argue against the idea of "full transparency" in our startups. Who wouldn't want the inside information about what's really happening at a startup? Doesn't that make everyone feel more informed, safe, and supportive?

But try running a startup for long enough, and you'll quickly start to see that the concept of full transparency only works when things are good. The reality of running a startup quickly devolves into lots of shitty situations where going "full transparency" is more likely to sink our startups than improve them.

We Want Transparency When it's Positive

Startups often love the idea of full transparency in the early days when ...

Question: HOW do you find beta testers for your new product or service?

Finding the right pool of beta testers isn’t as easy as it sounds. Our startup founders share their personal experiences and best practices to find beta testers for your new product or service.

The answers below are provided by members of FounderSociety, an invitation-only organization comprised of ambitious startup founders and business owners.

1. Interest-Based User Groups

At Salty Girl Seafood, we’ve chosen to categorize our potential customers by interest. We reach out to specific groups in our community, such as yoga studios, university programs, alumni networks, job-posting listservs, food bloggers and athletic teams to use their contact lists. When people hear t...

I started angel investing almost by accident, which sounds strange to say. Who “accidentally” invests tens of thousands of dollars into highly speculative ventures? Well, I did.

A friend introduced me to Clayton Christopher who was raising money for his new liquor company Deep Eddy. Their first product, a sweet tea vodka, was amazing and he was an experienced entrepreneur, so I went in.

Investing was an exciting, interesting process. Then the company took off, and I got to tell everyone I know that I invested in that new vodka that everyone in Austin was drinking. Winning is the ultimate intoxicant, and from there, I was hooked.

I started investing in companies left and right. I became a huge cheerleader for angel investing. I wrote about h...

Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy Duarte is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.

The below video is the third part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity and critical thinking. Find out what she has to say:

The importance of storytelling in business

When Nancy identified a gap between storytellers and presenters, she was determined to figure out what caused the disconnect.

Referring back to Step 2 of her talk, Nancy formulated her big i...

Question: What unrelated hobby has taught you the most about business?

Marathon Running

“Running involves discipline and a lot of hard work. You can’t fake it when it comes to finishing 26.2 miles. You definitely get out of it what you put in. Not only does it involve physical toughness, but a considerable amount of mental strength and focus as well. Comparisons can be drawn to business when it comes to knowing your capabilities, working hard, using your wits and not giving up.”

— Michael Quinn
Yellow Bridge Interactive
@ybinteractive

Poker

“Poker is a game of incomplete information. You know what cards you have but are making educated guesses and playing odds based on your opponent’s cards. Business is similar. You can collect data all day...

At age 17, Noor Siddiqui co-founded Remedy, which provides instant consults for clinicians. She also forewent the traditional route to college and was chosen as a Thiel Fellow, where she was one of 20 entrepreneurs under 20 years old who received a $100,000 grant to bring an idea to life. If anyone can help you execute an idea, it’s Noor.

The below video and write-up are the first in a series of 10 where Noor helps explain how to bring your own startup business idea to life – and how to make it stick.

1. You Must Validate your startup business idea

According to Noor, the first thing you need to do when you have a startup business idea is validate it. Not everyone will see what you see when looking at it. To her, the most important thing yo...

Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy Duarte is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.

Nancy Duarte on The Importance of Knowing Your Audience

The below video is the fifth part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity, critical thinking and how important it is to know your audience. Find out what she has to say:

By this point in Nancy’s “Presentation is Everything” lesson, you know that your presentations revolve around the audience: who they a...

Conventional wisdom says that startups are at a disadvantage when building their customer base, because they don’t have the same manpower behind their efforts. But Steve Blank asserts that it is this perceived weakness that actually sets startups apart from—and ahead of—their larger competitors. It’s counterintuitive, but true!

Founders Engage Customers Directly

At large companies, employees are sent out into the world to find and talk to customers, reporting back with their findings. But if that employee reports back that the target customer isn’t interested, the passionate founder will undoubtedly believe that the fault is not with the product, but with the employee’s tactics.

At a startup, on the other hand, the founder is the one out p...

If Product A & B are identical, what could cause Product A to sell 5x more than Product B?

I love button up short sleeve shirts, I usually buy them at $15-$30. I came across one I loved, but it costs a whopping $85! How can one mimic their bold pricing positioning to become a premium brand vs. a mid-range brand?

Randy Tucker, Startup Founder, answered:

Purchase decisions are made based on presentation and then need. The same products presented in different methods will sell drastically different. Think about this, shirt A & B are identical, Shirt A is presented in a comfortable nice store with a well dressed sales person and Shirt B is neatly folded and laid out in a street vendors trunk. At the same price, shirt A will sell better. The on...