In episode 37 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we present the third episode of the Awesome Founder Inspiration Sessions with Gerrit McGowan and Dries Faems.

Continuing the format from the previous episode, they discuss few though-provoking topics:

– Generalists or specialists – what type of founders have an edge in fundraising?

– The science of selling – how to leverage psychological principles to level up your sales process!

– Do social welfare schemes encourage or discourage entrepreneurship?

– Is Elon Musk’s definition of free speech crossing the line?

– Not – so – tasty green drinks, celery juices and weird trends among silicon valley founders

– Liquid death: a mineral water company’s skyrocketing valuations and how brands of the future might look like!

The episode is full of interesting insights and takeaways. So hopefully, you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we did producing.

References

Chapters:

(01:03) Gerrit introduction

(03:00) Something that made Dries learn – specialists, generalists or both and its effect on IPO fundraising?

(03:55) Does Gerrit identify as generalist or specialist?

(05:12) Would Gerrit prefer founders to be generalists or specialists?

(06:33) Is the “jack of all trades” mindset correct for founders?

(09:22) The “generalist penalty” vs “specialist premium” for founders when fundraising for IPO

(11:34) What skillsets fall under generalist and specialist?

(13:55) Something that made Gerrit learn – “The Science of selling” book and his key learnings

(23:16) How do the principles discussed in the book apply in reality?

(25:44) The concept of social exchange theory: Presentation equals perception

(27:12) Can you learn how to execute these concepts?

(29:00) Introverts score much higher as sales people, why?

(30:46) Something that made Dries think – The effect of unemployment benefits on entrepreneurship

(31:40) Gerrit’s experience with social benefits

(32:28) Unemployment benefits’ perception in US and Europe

(33:40) How is social welfare influencing entrepreneurial culture in countries?

(34:37) Need driven vs want driven entrepreneurship

(36:00) Findings of the paper – the relationship of entrepreneurship and social welfare

(39:46) Public policy discussions on social welfare and drawback of using academic research in public policy

(45:25) Stimulating vs pampering entrepreneurship through social welfare

(47:05) Something that made Gerrit think – Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and the free speech debate

(52:00) Dries’ take on the current developments in free speech and how to draw the line?

(54:35) The role of regulators in drawing the line of free speech and its drawbacks

(59:00) Elon musk and Twitter – A case for governance

(01:00:47) Something that made Dries laugh – Distasteful green juices featured in 2 TV shows

(01:06:38) Something that made Gerrit laugh – Liquid death: a mineral water company in the US

(01:12:35) What is the future of building the best brands?