Meet Jaspar! Product Marketing Manager at Eggplant, a software startup from London in the UK. Serendipity brought Jaspar to the startup world, where he has had various roles as early employee for 6 tech startups across multiple countries. I invited Jaspar because he has a truly unique perspective on the startup world and so many fascinating insights to share. And he is so fun to talk to. We had quite a lot of fun creating this episode, I guess that's why it turned out a little bit longer than others. Enjoy!
00:00 - Intro & Some background Product Marketing
04:45 - Breaking the ice: Random Questions
09:50 - Currently working for tech startup #6 - Why be an early employee at early stage startups? What are some of the (overlooked?! undervalued?!) advantages of NOT being the founder? What impact can you have in an early startup compared to a corporate company?
16:30 - Unique impact and experience in an early stage startup: Having a conference room named after yourself and being acquired by your favorite role model company
22:00 - If you cannot explain your business model and how you make money clearly, then it ain't happening (Exception: You admit that you haven't figured it out yet, that's fine)
28:58 - A certain level of delusion can be quite helpful in the startup field. But not so much that you don't listen to the doubters.
35:30 - People should not think of it as "unicorn or bust": Attaching more value to lifestyle businesses
48:02 - Disaster stories
51:30 - Jaspar's advice for anybody wanting to enter the start-up ecosystem
Learn more about Jaspar on his website https://jasparcasey.com/ and connect with him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasparcasey/
Learn more about WalkingTheTalk at walkingthetalk.io and connect with Melissa on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/melissaoppermann You can contact me via the contact form at the bottom of my website. Looking forward to hearing from you!