#125 - Brian Halligan and Kevin Hale

Y Combinator Startup Podcast

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/
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Topics

00:00 - Intro
00:27 - 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 Dharmesh
6:12 - The first project they worked on together
7:27 - What was their unique insight when starting HubSpot?
8:52 - Pricing in the early days
9:27 - How would he have priced HubSpot differently knowing what he knows now?
10:27 - HubSpot's first customer
12:27 - Important early features
14:47 - At what point did they shift entirely away from consulting?
15:32 - Providing advice as content vs in the product
16:27 - SEO is underrated
17:12 - Trends in B2B and marketing
21:57 - Inbound marketing and audience building advice
26:52 - How did Brian know that his cofounder was right for him?
28:12 - The internet disproportionately benefiting small businesses over big ones
29:12 - Keeping your company hungry when you're big
29:52 - Building assets for your company
30:47 - Freemium
34:27 - Structural pieces of HubSpot Brian would have changed if he did it again
37:27 - Creating the voice of your company
39:57 - Early metrics they tracked
40:32 - Having a coach and reviews
41:57 - How Brian's changed as a CEO from the beginning
42:51 - What was the hardest thing to give up as CEO?
43:57 - Humility