Startup Dad

Sean Ellis is a growth legend and the creator of the term “growth hacker.” He has built a legendary framework (the “Sean Ellis test”) for determining product/market fit, wrote the original book on Growth (“Hacking Growth), and has founded several companies along with working at or advising companies like LogMeIn, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Bounce and more. In addition to his role as the Godfather of Growth he’s also a husband and the father of two adult children.

Maintaining strong relationships with your daughters during the tumultuous teenage years and into their 20’s

Sean’s philosophy on not waiting until it’s convenient

Navigating big challenges with kids—from autoimmune disorders to depression

Balancing the approach between letting kids figure stuff out on their own vs. jumping in to help them

When to push and when to back off

Sean’s meteoric rise as a CEO and head coach of a youth soccer team

Some controversial approaches that worked for his family

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Where to find Sean Ellis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis/

X: https://twitter.com/SeanEllis

Sean’s Newsletter: https://substack.com/@seanellis

Where to find Adam Fishman

FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[2:05] Welcome

[2:42] Sean’s professional background

[7:49] Childhood

[9:13] How Sean met his wife; all about their kids?

[11:18] Are 20 year olds “kids”?

[12:00] Decision to start a family

[13:01] Earliest memory of becoming a Dad

[15:31] Maintaining relationship w/daughters into adulthood

[20:55] Surprising thing you learned as a Dad?

[22:28] Advice for younger Sean

[23:41] Shared advice to friends

[25:31] Balancing parenting techniques

[30:20] Did the kids come back home while working?

[31:54] Sean the soccer coach

[37:05] Parenting style evolution

[41:41] Where Sean and his wife don’t align on parenting

[43:36] Kid’s relationship with technology

[45:36] What he gave up to become a dad?

[47:24] Mistakes he made as a dad?

[49:10] Where to follow along

[49:55] What inspired you to write again?

[52:00] Lightning Round

[55:38] Thank you

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Show references:

LogMeIn: https://www.logmein.com/

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/

Bounce: https://usebounce.com/

UC Berkeley: https://www.berkeley.edu/

UCLA: https://www.ucla.edu/

Breathalyzer: https://www.amazon.com/BACtrack-Breathalyzer-Professional-Grade-Smartphone-Connectivity/dp/B079XXNBF3/ref=zg_bs_g_15992781_d_sccl_1/143-4646178-9363038?psc=1

Vuori: https://vuoriclothing.com/

Anastasia: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118617/

National Lampoon’s European Vacation :https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089670/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

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For sponsorship inquiries email: [email protected].

For Startup Dad Merch: www.startupdadshop.com

Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/

Bianca Schulze is the founder and editor of The Children's Book Review—a resource devoted to children's literature and literacy—and the host of The Growing Readers Podcast. Bianca is also the author of DON'T WAKE THE DRAGON which has been translated into 20 languages and is now a six-book series, as well as 101 BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP which is an Amazon Editors' pick for Best Nonfiction for Kids. She also a wife and the mother of three kids! In our conversation today we discussed:

How to raise readers in your household

How to foster a love of reading within your family

Her Top 5 book recommendations for 2024

The Children’s Book Review journey from blog to important literary resource

How she came to write her earliest books

Classic holiday stories for families

How parents can work with kids who are struggling to find reading enjoyable

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Where to find Bianca Schulze

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/biancaschulze/

Website: https://www.biancaschulze.com/

The Children’s Book Review: https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/

Where to find Adam Fishman

FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[1:38] Welcome

[2:19] Professional background

[4:05] Family

[5:13] Children’s book review evolution

[8:11] How does being an author inform your work?

[10:25] Don’t Wake the Dragon Series

[14:27] Inspiration for 101 Books to Read

[17:25] Top book recommendations by age

[27:55] New releases you’re excited about?

[29:08] Where to buy all your books

[31:41] Classic holiday book recommendations

[33:24] How do you choose age level books?

[35:29] Using Children’s Book Review as a resource

[37:05] Trends in children’s literature right now

[39:17] How to encourage children to love reading

[44:24] Diversity/representation in literature

[46:45] Growing Readers Podcast

[48:44] What’s next?

[49:46] Advice on how to juggle work & family

[53:25] Lightning round

[58:43] Thank you

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Show references:

Children’s Book Review: https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/

Growing Readers Podcast:https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/thegrowingreaderspodcast/

Bianca’s Published Works: https://www.biancaschulze.com/#published-works

CU Boulder: https://www.colorado.edu/

Dragons Love Tacos : https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dragons-love-tacos-adam-rubin/1107389326

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie (Illustrator): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/impossible-creatures-katherine-rundell/1143746993

The Poisoned King (B&N Exclusive Edition) (Impossible Creatures #2) by Katherine Rundell: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-poisoned-king-katherine-rundell/1146144609

Kate DiCamillo: https://www.katedicamillo.com/

Priya's Kitchen Adventures: A Cookbook for Kids by Priya Krishna: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/priyas-kitchen-adventures-priya-krishna/1142903399

The Yellow Bus by Loren Long: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-yellow-bus-loren-long/1143921425

Where Is Koketso?: A Search, Seek & Find by Nyasha Williams, Anna Abl (Illustrator): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-is-koketso-nyasha-williams/1144786418

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-remarkable-journey-of-coyote-sunrise-dan-gemeinhart/1128564272

Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coyote-lost-and-found-dan-gemeinhart/1143297511

BookShop: www.bookshop.org

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-outsiders-s-e-hinton/1100458329

Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twas-the-night-before-christmas-clement-clarke-moore/1102050730

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stick-man-julia-donaldson/1015184424

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #1) by Jeff Kinney: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-jeff-kinney/1100714716

Dog Man (Dog Man Series #1) by Dav Pilkey: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dog-man-dav-pilkey/1123324195

Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:(Harry Potter Series #1) by ...

Today I’m releasing the best of Startup Dad from 2024! Across over 50 hours of conversations, hundreds of topics, and approaching 100 Dads (and Moms) I’ve covered a lot. In this episode you’ll hear from dozens of executives and founders like Scott Belsky of Adobe, Immad Akhund from Mercury, Siqi Chen from Runway, Chris Miller from Hubspot, Lane Shackleton from Coda and Adam Nash from Daffy. You’ll also hear best-selling authors and experts like Sean Ellis, Nir Eyal, Linda Flanagan and “Dad Brain” expert Darby Saxby alongside some lesser-known founders and solopreneurs who are making it work or sometimes just barely surviving.

The goal of Startup Dad has always been to learn something new about parenting and to normalize hearing more successful male leaders talk about their families—the struggles and the successes.

In this episode highlights include:

The role of technology and artificial intelligence in our kids’ lives

The importance of modeling the right behavior and how to recover when you don’t

How to partner successfully with your significant other

How we approach our own aging parents

Navigating cultural differences inside your own family

Building companies while raising kids

How to approach paternity leave as a startup founder

Defining and creating quality time

Whether work/life balance is possible, a myth, or should be re-thought entirely

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Where to find Adam Fishman

FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[1:49] AI/Tech & parenting

[7:56] Talking to kids about over-reliance on AI?

[8:57] What's the most interesting thing that one of your kids has done with ChatGPT?

[19:46] Tech parents limiting kid’s access to tech

[21:53] Modeling behavior

[33:15] Adult children & relationships

[41:18] Aligned & disaligned w/ partner in parenting

[55:45] Raising families with cultural differences

[1:09:25] Parenting & Startups

[1:28:52] Paternity leave as a startup founder

[1:30:23] Partnership

[1:52:33] Healthy habits & kids

[2:01:39] Being present

[02:23:39] Cooking as a Dad

[02:27:39] Difficult times/adversity

[02:49:50] Frameworks

[3:20:10] Nurturing kid’s growth

[03:41:10] Thank You

Show references (more coming soon!):

Harriet Tubman: https://www.biography.com/activists/harriet-tubman

Gundam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam

Transformers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers

ChatGPT: chatgpt.com

Troomi: https://troomi.com/

Inside Out 2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22022452/

Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

by Pamela Druckerman: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bringing-up-b-b-pamela-druckerman/1111325335

Alexa:https://www.alexa.com/

Tanzania: https://www.britannica.com/place/Tanzania

Daring Girls: https://daringgirls.org/

Paid Family Medical Leave Act: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-overview-and-benefits

Ready to Die album by Notorious B.I.G: https://www.amazon.com/Notorious-BIG-Ready-Die-Remaster/dp/B0002GTWYW

Dadversity: https://dadversity.co.uk/

Five Love Languages: https://5lovelanguages.com/

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

by Naoki Higashida, KA Yoshida (Translator), David Mitchell (Translator): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-reason-i-jump-naoki-higashida/1115218514

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-will-to-change-bell-hooks/1100306349