Startup Dad

Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge, former VP of Growth at Hubspot, and a venture partner at Long Journey Ventures. He is one of the foremost experts on Growth and also a husband and the father of two young kids. In this episode we discu...

Show Notes

Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge, former VP of Growth at Hubspot, and a venture partner at Long Journey Ventures. He is one of the foremost experts on Growth and also a husband and the father of two young kids. In this episode we discuss:


  • His parents opinion of his profession

  • Other family members' influence on his entrepreneurial spirit

  • His decision to start a family and whether he took to fatherhood right away

  • The tragedy of losing his first child at birth and challenges of conceiving

  • How to protect your time as a CEO and a father

  • Brian's frameworks for parenting

  • How to align with your partner

  • Life during the pandemic with a partner who is a nurse, young kids and a fast-growing startup


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Where to find Brian Balfour


- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bbalfour


- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/


- Personal Website: https://www.brianbalfour.com


 


Where to find Adam Fishman:


- Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com


- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/


- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf


- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@fishmanaf


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In this episode, we cover:


[1:40] Intros


[2:06] Professional background


[3:28] Personal background


[6:38] Parents' opinion of his career


[9:33] Uncle’s influence on his entrepreneurial spirit


[11:59] About his family


[14:39] Decision to start a family


[18:07] Whether or not he took to Fatherhood right away


[18:30] Losing a child at birth


[21:29] The “Instagramification” of parenting


[22:52] Parenting reality check


[25:26] Most surprising thing about Fatherhood?


[28:08] How to protect your time as a parent and a CEO


[30:21] More discussion of losing a child and Brian's coping strategies


[37:09] Parenting frameworks


[41:34] Aligning as a couple


[45:11] Life during pandemic


[48:58] Rapid fire round



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Show references


- www.reforge.com


- H.A.N.D. - Helping After Neonatal Death


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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/


Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/


 



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What is Startup Dad?

Adam Fishman (author of a top business newsletter on Substack with 11K+ subscribers) interviews executives, entrepreneurs, and company leaders in technology companies who are also fathers. They discuss the tough aspects of work, parenting, family, the mistakes made and lessons learned along the way. All episodes at www.startupdadpod.com.