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Startup Confidential

Startup Confidential

Dr. James F. Richardson

Who is it For? Founders of CPG start-ups. What is It? Zero B.S. perspective on running your start-up well, understanding the biases of industry stakeholders and getting the industry to work for you, not the other way around. When? Every month. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com If you want to take my founder's Quiz to see if you are ready for exponential growth, please visit : www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/founder_resources and sign up for my e-mail list to download it. Transcripts and an entire episode library are on my podcast site. https://www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/podcast
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Top 10 Startup Confidential Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Startup Confidential episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Startup Confidential for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Startup Confidential episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Startup Confidential - Episode 75 - Are These 6 Things in Your Strategic Plan?
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08/01/22 • 12 min

It's that time of year, folks. Preparing for 2023! The most underthought aspect of early-stage business plans is the strategic plan. It's the front half of your business plan focused on growth. And all too often, it resembles an investor pitch. In this episode, I narrate material from my Blog for a broader audience, so you can focus on a measurable plan for growth based on reality.
Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 72 - Stop Staring at Your Laptop And Do This
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06/15/22 • 5 min

Consider this a non-violent, verbal kick in the rear. I continue to see too many digitally native founders sit on screens too much of the day. Get out in the field and meet stakeholders, including your fans. Respect the big, broad world out there that builds your brand with you. This is how you achieve an unfair advantage over others.
Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Ep. 18 - Working w/Agencies - Identity and Branding
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03/15/20 • 13 min

Look at my glorious brand! Save it for the bedroom, please. In CPG, you are scaling a product line. It may have a name. It may have a look. But let's not confuse how important branding is in the ramp up of a strong business. It is VERY easy to overthink these elements and agencies will charge to the maximum extent of founder ego if you let them. Time to get real. So, you must be in the right place.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Ep. 14 Working with Agencies - Communications
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01/15/20 • 11 min

It's critical to understand what kind of communications talent can most help an early stage premium brand. And it is not the typical agency employee or veteran...not at all. I explain why in this episode.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Ep. 13 - Founder Archetypes...the Creative Founder
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01/01/20 • 9 min

The majority of CPG founders exhibit this archetypal orientation. They got into this because they're innovators. They're category geeks. Some, even snobs. But the real weakness these folks have to accept and address somehow is that they are NOT business people at heart. And yet it is the professional businessperson (and his/her team) who scales innovations. Not product-obsessed amateurs.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 79 - The Last Big Early-Stage Hire is the Toughest
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10/01/22 • 9 min

Wow. Finding a decent head of marketing is easy. But, their ability to move the needle is probably dumb luck, despite their organizational skills. Most marketing fails to move awareness and household penetration because the head of marketing doesn’t have a Guggenheim ruthless eye for effective creative that moves hearts and wallets. The problem is so bad, I even launched a course, now live, to help train folks who want to up their effectiveness and become major players at the table.
Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 102 - Why Startups Fail – w/ Tom Eisenmann Part 2
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09/15/23 • 18 min

99% of business media stories on startups are essentially PR for the startup itself. This makes these stories a one-sided source of information on what it’s like to operate and grow a startup. While there are more and more discussions of mistakes, basically no one at Inc or Entrepreneur or anywhere else really will ever greenlight a debate on this or that failed startup unless, like Theranos, it ended in some massive ethical scandal. Failure is depressing, they say. Not me.
I’m honored to bring you a past podcast, the second part in a two-part interview with Professor Tom Eisenmann of the Harvard Business School (HBS). He and I chat about themes from his new book Why Startups Fail and how these patterns play out in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG). In the second part of our interview, we discuss more advanced themes in failure: the Speed Trap, Help Wanted, and the challenges of staffing up quickly

Since joining the HBS faculty in 1997, Tom has led The Entrepreneurial Manager, an introductory course taught to all first-year MBAs, and launched fourteen electives on all aspects of entrepreneurship, including one on startup failure. Eisenmann has authored more than one hundred HBS case studies, and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 103 - Top Myths About Pivoting a Consumer Brand
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10/01/23 • 12 min

In this episode, I address some of the key myths about pivoting that I have heard. Most correspond to excess risk aversion for an ideal founder. You took the risk to start this business. Let’s not let risk in the back door and prevent you from pivoting to a better path to scale. In many cases, you do not need to see a sales decline at all.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 130 - Your Year-Round Horror Show - The Death Funnel
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11/15/24 • 11 min

The perils of the first $500,000 in recurring sales are many. Most are related to cash flow and getting paid by distributors or retailers. Without the proper seed monies, many companies evaporate despite the power of their innovation. In this episode, I’m updating the episode that launched this tough love podcast. There is less space on shelves than ever before, slotting fees have risen, and competition for access is worse than ever. Learn how to get through it and thrive.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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Startup Confidential - Episode 106 - Behavior-Based Brand Building
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11/15/23 • 9 min

Unfortunately, the folks who talk loudest about brand-building are either a) branding agencies, b) venture capitalists or c) overly enthusiastic founders. Curb your enthusiasm. You can design a brand identity, a symbolic system. But, ‘brand’ is an outcome. It is an outcome based on influencing real human behavior, entering social networks with memorable consumer experiences, potent symbolism, and grassroots ‘influence,’ not social media puffery. Learn the rules of behavior-based brand-building or get ready to struggle unnecessarily on your journey up the Skate Ramp.

Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: [email protected]

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FAQ

How many episodes does Startup Confidential have?

Startup Confidential currently has 130 episodes available.

What topics does Startup Confidential cover?

The podcast is about Organic, Management, Entrepreneurship, Podcasts, Business, Cpg, Natural, Strategy and Food.

What is the most popular episode on Startup Confidential?

The episode title 'Episode 74 - Why Engineers Struggle as Startup Founders' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Startup Confidential?

The average episode length on Startup Confidential is 11 minutes.

How often are episodes of Startup Confidential released?

Episodes of Startup Confidential are typically released every 15 days.

When was the first episode of Startup Confidential?

The first episode of Startup Confidential was released on Feb 19, 2019.

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