Give First

As an entrepreneur, Jay Clouse loves to create. After spending time in the product world as both a founder and an employee of another company, he stumbled into the world of content creation, where he could build products on his own timeline. The Creative Science Founder has the #givefirst mentality, providing many free resources through several platforms for founders and creators, including his podcast Creative Elements.“The model in a nutshell is giving first for as long as you can, never stop giving, and then some people will choose to give back to you because of that,” Jay says.Listen as Jay shares how building your personal brand is valuable to success: “This level of influence that you can have as an individual … can be huge no matter what you're trying to do, whether you want to funnel that toward your own products, whether you want to funnel that toward your startup or your fund, it can be totally game-changing.”Also, don’t miss David and Jay talking about the importance of sharing information in different ways, becoming your product’s “public loudmouth,” and the growing popularity of the Build in Public strategy.Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenFollow Jay Clouse on Twitter @jayclouseListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Do you have a digital storage problem? As almost everything begins to be stored digitally, customers are often looking for sustainable but secure and permanent storage for their assets.What was once considered science fiction has been created by Arweave. One of the company’s goals is to create a permanent archive of all of humanity’s knowledge through its cryptographically verifiable method.“The simple way of explaining what Arweave is to people that have read 1984 is, well, you know the memory hole? Well, we make the memory hole impossible,” says Sam Williams, Arweave co-founder and CEO.Listen as Sam talks to Pete Townsend, Techstars managing director and leader of the Techstars Web3 Accelerator, about the story of Arweave, and how hope and resilience led to extraordinary success. Also, don’t miss Sam sharing advice for future Web3 founders that he learned throughout this process.Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenFollow Pete Townsend on Twitter @PeteTownsendNVListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

When a thoughtful founder or investor is thinking about creating or sustaining long-term value and a company that adapts for the future, they are already inherently thinking about environmental, social, and governance issues (ESG).ESG is for ALL companies - not just the ones focused on the environment.Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, Director of ESG at Techstars, breaks down the creation of ESG, starting from when companies began to think about their corporate social responsibility (CSR), to the sustainability movement across corporates, and now tracking how companies were addressing ESG issues.“ESG evolved out of those spaces when investors, who are a powerful crew for change, started to realize companies could lose their social license to operate by making poor social choices,” Mairi-Jane says. “ESG is the data-driven thinking about financially material stuff that investors know impacts a company … so that they can manage for those risks or even manage for a positive impact.”Listen as Mairi-Jane and David discuss different examples of ESG responses and how ESG can set up companies for greater success. Also, don’t miss how Techstars is modeling ESG operational standards for its portfolio companies.If you missed the previous ESG takeover episodes, check out episode #66 on the benefits of ESG measurement for your company; episode #68 on how to engage with investors; and episode #69 on what it means to be a b corp.Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.