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

#125 - Brian Halligan and Kevin Hale

Y Combinator Startup Podcast