Brendan Mahony - Why founders should look at building startups as a game and not a business!

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Brendan Mahony is the founder of Sunset, a company that helps tech companies shut down, saving founders thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. He is also the ex-founder of Toybox (YC S18, acquired) and Contrast (shut down). From this experience, he built Sunset!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Brendan discuss raising money, finding customers at an early stage, weird startup ideas, and more!
 
👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:22: Shoutout to Acquire.com
• 02:47: Introduction to Brendan Mahony - founder of Sunset, a startup helping you shut down your startup correctly
• 04:33: Why create a startup about shutting down startups
• 10:00: How Brendan raised money as a first-time founder
• 19:05: How to get investors on board for your startup
• 20:50: Finding customers as an early-stage startup
• 25:20: Lessons from the first year of building Sunset
• 27:20: Building a startup at Y Combinator
• 32:34: How to bend the rules when you're in founder mode
• 38:16: How to deal with shutting down your startup - operationally, physically, mentally, emotionally
• 42:12: What would Brendan work on if not Sunset?
• 46:00: Weird startup ideas
• 48:25: Problems startups deal with
• 50:47: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

• Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
• Andrew Gazdecki: https://www.andrewgazdecki.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Brendan:

• Twitter: https://x.com/bmaho2211
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mahony-72929385
• Sunset: https://www.sunsethq.com/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
• Website: https://5harath.com/
• Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
• Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/

What is The Undefeated Underdogs?

The Undefeated Underdogs is a podcast unpacking the underdog stories you never heard of!

It highlights the underdog mentality and brings authentic conversations with people who play the long game, take action with a chip on their shoulders, and convert obstacles into opportunities!

Buckle up, as I will be bringing some authentic founders, VCs, community builders, and content creators who got underestimated their whole life, and yet they beat the odds and became insanely successful!