#125 - Brian Halligan and Kevin Hale

Y Combinator

Brian Halligan is the CEO and cofounder of HubSpot. HubSpot builds software for marketing, sales, and customer service. You can try it out at HubSpot.com.
Kevin Hale is a Partner at YC and cofounder of Wufoo.
Brian is on Twitter @bhalligan and Kevin is @ilikevests.
The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.
Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.
Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
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Topics

00:00 - Intro
00:27 - Brian's an introvert that likes to work from home. He also runs a public company. How does he do both?
2:12 - How does he manage his calendar as an introvert?
4:12 - How Brian met his cofounder Dharmesh
6:12 - The first project they worked on together
7:27 - What was their unique insight when starting HubSpot?
8:52 - Pricing in the early days
9:27 - How would he have priced HubSpot differently knowing what he knows now?
10:27 - HubSpot's first customer
12:27 - Important early features
14:47 - At what point did they shift entirely away from consulting?
15:32 - Providing advice as content vs in the product
16:27 - SEO is underrated
17:12 - Trends in B2B and marketing
21:57 - Inbound marketing and audience building advice
26:52 - How did Brian know that his cofounder was right for him?
28:12 - The internet disproportionately benefiting small businesses over big ones
29:12 - Keeping your company hungry when you're big
29:52 - Building assets for your company
30:47 - Freemium
34:27 - Structural pieces of HubSpot Brian would have changed if he did it again
37:27 - Creating the voice of your company
39:57 - Early metrics they tracked
40:32 - Having a coach and reviews
41:57 - How Brian's changed as a CEO from the beginning
42:51 - What was the hardest thing to give up as CEO?
43:57 - Humility