Hack To Start
Year In Review 2014
How a crazy, little, idea for a podcast turned into so much more in just 25 episodes.
The idea for this podcast came along quite some time ago. However, Hack To Start was officially launched (quietly) in early October 2014 with 3 episodes.
The objective was always to create something people would love, would listen to with curiosity — time and time again — and would feel a sense of ownership for.
25 amazing episodes later, we’ve hit some pretty impressive milestones thanks to our awesome community of listeners and guests:
Ranked #1 & #8 on iTunes under “Business News” and “Business” categories respectively.
In the Top 10 on iTunes under “New & Noteworthy” since launch in October 2014— ahead of the awesome Gary Vaynerchuk’s #AskGaryVee Show.
More than doubled our website traffic, month-after-month, since launch in October 2014.
RT’ed by Canadian icon Tom Green.
Some of our episodes have been included in a business book series published by Pearson Canada Inc.
This is an incredible base to build on for the things to come in 2015.
The Year-In-Review 2014 Episode
Hack To Start has always been meant to serve — both for ourselves and for our community — as a sandbox for learning and creativity.
Since we have no idea what we were doing (neither founders knew much about podcasting at the start), nothing was off-limits or “wrong”. And we’ve always relied heavily on the feedback of our listeners and new ideas from our friends to help shape the podcast.
One of the biggest values at Hack To Start is to launch early and ship often.
So to cap off our first 25 episodes and some of the lessons we’ve learnt in 2014, we created a special recap episode to introduce ourselves more formally, share more about why Hack To Start was created, and of course, what’s in store for 2015.
You can listen in here:
Below, you’ll find some highlights from this episode.
Some Of Our Most Inspiring Episodes of 2014
While all of our episodes and guests were absolutely amazing, we both decided to share with you some of the stories that stuck with us the most.
Tyler:
Having done some travelling myself, I was really inspired when we got the chance to talk to people like James Seymour-Lock and Tomas Laurinavicius who are currently travelling while working. We got some amazing insights on how they are able to manage their work/life, all while being surround by so many amazing things and places to see.
Being a designer, I really enjoy having other designers on the show. It’s inspiring to listen to stories on how they got to where they are today, and their process of designing and building products. So far on our show we have had Rafael Conde, Cat Noone and Dominic Coballe, who are, in my opinion, are doing amazing things as a designers.
Franco:
I never expected John O’Nolan from Ghost to get back to us. I just sent him an email thinking why not, he probably won’t even see it. Then he responded the same and we had something setup for a few days later. It’s amazing how he and his small team were able to achieve so much with Ghost.
Another guest, Steve Beauchesne, from Beau’s Brewery always energizes me and fills me with hope when he shares his story and how they built one of the best breweries out there. They have so many values that are so core to who they are that bleed right into their brand.
Speaking with Sofia Quinterno really opened my eyes as to how anyone can start a company and then move to a completely different country and continue to build amazing things for real people.
Some Of The Most Important Lessons Of 2014
While each episode is special and full of unique insights, some of the most profound lessons our guests shared with us in 2014 include:
Franco:
- Ali Zahid → not compromising vision for anyone. Wanting to create something complete.
- Brandon Reti → figure out your core metric. Design a few features to do just that. More features doesn’t equal more money, it’s the opposite.
- Heather Payne → sharing your ideas is the key to building things. Small is beautiful.
- Josh Pigford → charging for a valuable MVP from Day 1.
- Adrian Salamunovic → journalists are people and they want to be treated like a peer, not like someone who’s doing a job for you.
- Greg Isenberg → drive to network, the Good People Theory, and the 4 reasons you’d ever sell your company.
- Zach Holman → everyone should have at least one thing that really challenges them in their life.
- David Spinks → you should create a community around something that people are already trying to do. It should have value to you and to each person in the community.
Tyler:
- Cat Noone → side projects are the best way to achieve personal growth.
- Hana Abaza → generating new revenue is a function of taking a step back and seeing where there are opportunities.
- Tomas Laurinavicius → it’s possible to travel the world and work on projects that you are passionate about.
- Rafael Conde → a lot can come from designers having side projects that they are passion about. Also people should dedicate more time to writing as it will help to explain the entire thought process.
- James Seymour-Lock → decluttering your life by getting rid of everything that you don’t need. How he travels the world with a single backpack. (Camera, macbook air and a couple of shirts).
- Sofia Quintero → Why branding is a critical factor for any startup and how growth can be dangerous for the success of your company.
Some Of What’s In Store For 2015
Here’s a few of the ideas we’ve got bouncing around our Slack account for 2015.
- More amazing episodes and guests with a bit of a new format
- T-Shirts & Stickers
- An awesome ebook/Guide based on our episodes
- Awesome new sponsors who will help us continue to take Hack To Start to the next level!
- And most importantly — new and more frequent ways to connect directly to you, our listeners and supporters, to find out how we can continue to improve Hack To Start and help you reach your dreams.
How Can We Help?
How can we help you in 2015? What would make Hack To Start better for you?
Drop us a line!
@HackToStart or Hey[AT]HackToStart[Dot]com
