#040 Customer-Driven Products: How Brett Kopf built “Slack for Schools” and launched Omella

Topics:   (7:11) - Brett’s earliest memories of his strengths   (9:58) - Understanding different skills and abilities   (13:36) - Brett’s early career   (18:08) - What was the moment of conception for Remind?   (26:03) - What were some pivotal moments early on?   (30:08) - How much did Twilio aid your growth?   (31:18) - What role did investor selection play into the success of Remind?   (35:00) - Transitioning into Omella   (44:18) - How many customers did you talk to before building the product?   (45:11) - What’s the process of building conviction in your product?   (50:38) - How much wider is the purview of Omella than Remind in terms of the market it helps?   (55:11) - Thoughts on distribution, engagement and retention   (1:01:15) - How has the founder experience compared with your second company vs. the first?   (1:03:38) - How does leverage fit into structuring Omella?   (1:08:23) - What are the most common mental models you use to make decisions?   (1:12:50) - Do you find people to be overthinking while building a product?   (1:14:13) - Where would you like Omella to be in the next 5-10 years?   (1:15:09) - How do you ensure you can keep a small high-performance team rather than solve problems via headcount?   (1:16:16) - How often do customers that you interact with become evangelists for Omella?     Links: BrettKopf.com Brett Kopf on Twitter and LinkedIn   Omella   Remind   Acton academy   The Theory of Constraints   To support this costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners  >> Name-your-price subscription monthly, annual, or one-time: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa  >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Get in touch about sponsoring this podcast by replying to an email or DMing me on Twitter.

Om Podcasten

Casual conversations with founders, technologists, investors, and artists about building a brighter future, together. Welcome to our digital living room.  With science, technology and entrepreneurship we can *continue* to create unfathomable leaps in quality of life. We show you how to find, apply, build, and invest in technologies to change your life and the world.  When we have smart friends, we do smart things. When we do smart things, we save the world.  No matter who, where, or when you are – now you have smart friends, too.  Outside this podcast, I’m the author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant and The Anthology of Balaji. Connect at ejorgenson.com  Laugh and learn with people like Balaji Srinivasan, Naval Ravikant, Andrew Wilkinson, Austen Allred, David Senra, Josh Storrs Hall, Ashley Rindsberg, Zach Pettet, Bret Kugelmass, Omar ElNaggar, Grace Guo, Brett Kopf, Max Olson, Chris Williamson, Shane Mac, Tim Hwang, David Perell, Jason Hitchcock, Natalia Karayaneva, Sebastian Marshall, Taylor Pearson, Mitchell Baldridge and more. Join conversations with my partners in early-stage tech investing, Bo Fishback and Al Doan. Our Rolling Fun Episodes cover our investments and escapades as angel investors and startup helpers. We invest in startups creating the *next* industrial revolution. Learn more at rolling.fun “Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than of your past.”