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Will Bodewes
Phonely (YC S24) · EP 28
Will's first startup was Spoke Sound, a hardware company turning flat surfaces and artwork into high fidelity speakers that even attracted Chance the rapper and had a patent. He realized after shutting it down that it could have worked — but the real motivation to move on was that "I didn't feel like I was solving a problem" and he'd created "a nice to have."
See Will Bodewes's full take
The two valuable lessons Will took from Spoke Sound: first, he didn't feel like he was solving a problem, so with his next startup he wanted "to solve a real problem that businesses or people have in the world." Second, the idea you work on is actually really important — "you're gonna be working on an idea for a really really long time so make sure that you either like the problem like the customers or like the solution a lot," because "best case scenario you're gonna start to see success in like three to five years."
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Joe Zhou
StrongRoom AI · EP 17
Joe calls it inheriting 1,000 problems overnight — pissed-off staff demanding pay rises, a backlog of customer complaints, political agendas in the industry, and three people resigning in front of him on day one. He calls it one of the most painful things he's done in his life, but also a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
See Joe Zhou's full take
The first few days after settlement were "basically to deal with everybody that is pissed off," and "literally everyone's pissed off." Remaining staff wanted pay rises; there was a whole backlog of customer complaints; and there were political agendas within the industry — people who'd lost money investing in StrongRoom withdrawing contracts and telling others not to use it. "Just dealing with — I call it how to inherit 1,000 problems overnight." On the day he bought it, three people resigned in front of him to say "congratulations on your purchase, here's your resignation papers." Joe says it's "one of those once in a lifetime experience — who could say that they've went through all of this shit except for you and maybe like 100 other people." Looking back, it's the craziest thing he's done, and "it is up there with the most painful thing I've done in my life."
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Robert Huynh
Nook / Reforge · EP 7
Robert got Nook to 50,000 users and a $20 million valuation before it closed after two to three years. His framing: "There's no shame in failing.
See Robert Huynh's full take
Robert built Nook, a blue collar job marketplace in Vietnam, made an impact, raised big, and had to walk away. He says the biggest thing that kills startups is really not running out of money — "it's easy to get money, it's hard to stay motivated. And that motivation has to come from inside." When it fell apart he still got voicemails from workers asking "where are you guys? Like, I still need a job." He says you shouldn't think about it as letting them down, but think about the positive in terms of what you did during your time. And he warns it feels personal: "It's your baby. And if someone calls your baby ugly," you take it very personally, because a startup is very personal.