{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Grit","title":"#166 Executive Chairman & Former CEO Attentive, Brian Long: Problem Hunting","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3886,"description":"Guest: Brian Long, former CEO of Attentive and author of Problem Hunting: The Tech Startup Textbook\n\nBrian Long’s most recent company, Attentive, was originally designed to help clients communicate with their distributed workforce — but about six months in, he and his co-founder realized that that business would not grow as quickly as they had hoped. So, they decided to pivot to SMS marketing, at the cost of a few dubious employees and a well-known Fortune 500 client. The successful pivot confirmed Brian’s belief that it’s possible to over-commit to one solution, when in fact there may be bigger and better problems to solve. “I’ve just seen so many entrepreneurs spend years of their life building something being stuck with it,” he says, “and then trying to figure out how to fit it into something that doesn’t work.” \nIn this episode, Brian and Joubin discuss zero to one building, the problem with how entrepreneurs solve problems, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Matt Mochary, Tom Mendoza, transactional relationships, the dangers of ego, optimists and realists, best man speeches, defining a unique culture, reverse selling, Lunar Holdings, Peter Reinhardt, marketing conservatively, and business book sales.\nIn this episode, we cover:\nNew York vs LA (00:54)\nHow Brian feels, six months after stepping away from the CEO role (02:37)\nProduct-market fit and TAM modeling (06:07)\nBuild last (09:05)\nThe qualities of great entrepreneurs (13:24)\nTap Commerce and starting in sales (15:49)\nListening and remembering names (20:40)\nThe day after selling Tap Commerce (23:32)\nStarting another company, Attentive (25:07)\nResilience and optimism (29:21)\nFear, doubt, and the worst-case outcome (32:50)\nWhat Brian would tell his 29 year old self (37:13)\nHiring and pivoting at Attentive (41:17)\nText message marketing (45:49)\nHow Brian interviews people (50:12)\nHis new holding company, Lunar and its first startup (51:52)\nDon’t go social (55:21)\nWhat Brian is personally excited about...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/jCea5f44KBONhOsyLyht9nXUrj2YBNfA6fc-kgyfWTM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/Lzk3NzAvMTY2Nzg2/MjQyOC1hcnR3b3Jr/LmpwZw.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}