Babylist: From Nap-Time MVP to Platform Powerhouse
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Books
- "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries - This book was influential for Natalie Gordon, providing a manual for building products correctly and highlighting common mistakes made in the startup process.
People Mentioned
- Eric Ries - Author of "The Lean Startup."
- Jocelyn - Current CFO of Babylist, who presented a stark view on the difficulties of e-commerce.
- Lindsay - Design student from the Philippines who partnered with Natalie Gordon to design the first version of BabyList.
- Peter Mann - Founder and CEO of AirOyncy, a company specializing in air purifiers and electric motors, who was featured in a small business spotlight segment.
Organizations & Institutions
- Amazon - Natalie Gordon's first employer, where she worked on the founding team for Amazon Fresh.
- Microsoft - Mentioned as being more prestigious than Amazon in the early 2000s.
- Babies R Us - A big box baby store where Natalie Gordon had an overwhelming and negative experience creating a baby registry.
- 500 Startups - An accelerator program in the Bay Area that BabyList was accepted into, providing initial funding and guidance.
- Northwest Venture Partners - The investor that BabyList eventually went with for their seed round funding.
Tools & Software
- Superhuman - An AI productivity suite mentioned as a tool to level up productivity and help with workflow.
- Audible - A service for listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals.
- Shopify - A platform that powers online businesses and helps small businesses grow.
- Grammarly, Coda - Mentioned as being built into Superhuman.
- Reddit - Mentioned as a popular discussion board for technologists, similar to Hacker News.
- Pinterest - A social media platform that BabyList optimized for and used for advertising.
- Vanta - A service that helps companies with security and compliance, specifically SOC 2 readiness.
- Schwab - A financial services company offering market insights, education, and human help for investing.
- Claude - An AI referred to as a "thinking partner" for exploring topics and collaborating on complex challenges.
Websites & Online Resources
- Superhuman.com/podcast - Website to learn more about Superhuman.
- audible.com/built - Website to sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial.
- shopify.com/built - Website to sign up for a Shopify trial.
- hellolingo.com - Website to learn more about Lingo, a glucose wearable.
- go.amex/bplat - Website to learn more about the Amex Business Platinum Card.
- claude.ai/hibt - Website to try Claude for free.
- guyraz.com - Website to sign up for Guy Raz's newsletter.
- wondery.com/survey - Website for listeners to fill out a survey.
- wondery.com - Website mentioned for early and ad-free listening of "How I Built This."
Other Resources
- Langueguero - Natalie Gordon's first startup, a peer-to-peer language exchange platform that did not succeed financially.
- Havana, Cuba; Medellin, Colombia; Oaxaca, Mexico - Locations where Natalie Gordon lived and traveled during her year and a half trip abroad.
- Farmville - A Facebook game mentioned in the context of the spammy nature of Facebook API usage in the past.
- Lingo - A glucose wearable designed to help users understand the connection between their glucose levels and their daily activities.
- AirOyncy - Peter Mann's air purifier company.
- BabyList's House - A new vertical for BabyList focused on health and wellness for new families, including providing breast pumps.