Episode 5: Hunter Wagenaar, Founder of Ollo Health, on fundraising, staying sane as an entrepreneur, embracing failure, and parent/child relationships
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I am pumped for this episode because I’m joined by my friend, Hunter Wagenaar, the founder of Ollo, a platform that provides resources for parents to educate their children on health and wellness topics. Think back to when you were a kid and you had to sit through those awkward conversations with your parents about the birds and the bees. Ollo helps break the ice with easily digestible tools to help parents help their kids. Hunter’s journey founding Ollo is super interesting and makes perfect sense why he is the perfect guy for this job.
This is a great episode for any startup founder. Hunter shares his experience starting Ollo, everything from fundraising and investor relations to how to stay sane as an entrepreneur. We dive deep into his investor red flags so you know what to look for in a potential investing partner. We cover the importance of having advisors, knowing when to scale your team, the luxury of iteration and adaptation unique to startups, and embracing failure and transparency.
Buckle up because we also chat about parent/child relationships and the need for ongoing support for parents. It’ll definitely leave you wanting to call your mom and dad afterwards.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Open communication between parents and children is crucial for healthy development.
- Sex education should focus on teaching consent, boundaries, personal hygiene, human anatomy, nutrition, and healthy eating.
- Supporting parents in their journey is essential for building strong parent-child relationships.
- When fundraising, founders should focus on the problem they are solving and find investors who align with their values and vision. Having good advisors and a support system is essential for first-time founders.
- Recognize when it's time to scale the team based on your calendar and the tasks that are taking up too much of your time.
- Focus on your core competencies and outsource tasks that are not your strengths.
- Startups have the luxury of continuous iteration and adaptation.
- Embrace failure and be transparent about challenges and plans of action.
- Startups are unique in their relationship to the business and execution matters more than the idea.
Follow Hunter:
Chapters
00:00 How Hunter and I met
03:50 The Idea for Ollo
06:38 Challenges in Sex Education
15:06 Importance of Open Communication
20:48 Supporting Parents
26:04 Parenting as a Long-Term Process
32:55 Fundraising and Investor Relations
42:09 Timing of Investor Outreach
44:51 Importance of Advisors and Support System for a Founder
48:37 Knowing When to Scale the Team
53:39 The Luxury of Iteration and Adaptation in Tech
55:10 Embracing Failure and Transparency
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