#125 - Brian Halligan and Kevin Hale
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Description
Brian Halligan is the CEO and cofounder of HubSpot. HubSpot builds software for marketing, sales, and customer service. You can try it out at HubSpot.com.Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC and cofounder of Wufoo.Brian is on Twitter @bhalligan and Kevin is @ilikevests.The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.  Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:27 - Brian's an introvert that likes to work from home. He also runs a public company. How does he do both?2:12 - How does he manage his calendar as an introvert?4:12 - How Brian met his cofounder Dharmesh6:12 - The first project they worked on together7:27 - What was their unique insight when starting HubSpot?8:52 - Pricing in the early days9:27 - How would he have priced HubSpot differently knowing what he knows now?10:27 - HubSpot's first customer12:27 - Important early features14:47 - At what point did they shift entirely away from consulting?15:32 - Providing advice as content vs in the product16:27 - SEO is underrated17:12 - Trends in B2B and marketing21:57 - Inbound marketing and audience building advice26:52 - How did Brian know that his cofounder was right for him?28:12 - The internet disproportionately benefiting small businesses over big ones29:12 - Keeping your company hungry when you're big29:52 - Building assets for your company 30:47 - Freemium34:27 - Structural pieces of HubSpot Brian would have changed if he did it again37:27 - Creating the voice of your company39:57 - Early metrics they tracked40:32 - Having a coach and reviews41:57 - How Brian's changed as a CEO from the beginning42:51 - What was the hardest thing to give up as CEO?43:57 - Humility