About this episode
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/ *** 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