Adam Fishman (author of a top business newsletter on Substack with 10K+ subscribers) interviews executives, entrepreneurs, and company leaders in technology companies who are also fathers. They discuss the tough aspects of work, parenting, family, the mistakes made and lessons learned along the way.
Safety & Security On The Internet As Parents | Kevin Hanaford (Dad of 2, Discord, Cruise, Microsoft)
Thursday, September 5, 2024 • Duration 58:27
Kevin Hanaford is an engineering leader at popular chat application, Discord where he oversees security, safety, privacy and platform teams. His career has included companies like Microsoft, PayPal, Amazon, Salesforce, and autonomous vehicle company, Cruise.In addition to his roles at some of the most significant technology companies of the last two decades he’s also a husband and the father of two kids. In our conversation today we discussed:
* How his Dad started the local ISP in his home town
* How the world of internet safety and trust has shaped his perspective on parenting
* Frameworks and principles that he and his wife hold dearly for their family
* The relationship he wants his daughters to have with technology
* Balancing the demanding, 24/7 job of security with a commitment to his family
* His earliest and most surprising memories of becoming a Dad
* How he explains to his kids what Dad does for work
Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit startupdadpod.substack.com
Multicultural Families and Avoiding Over-Optimization of Parenting | Martin Pannier (Dad of 1, Founder/CEO Primo)
Thursday, August 29, 2024 • Duration 01:01:29
Martin Pannier is a French entrepreneur who started the company Primo to help small and medium-sized businesses get their IT work right for new employees. He’s worked as a product leader at iziwork, Gusto and several others. In addition to being a founder he’s also a husband and the father of one young daughter. In our conversation today we discussed:
* Raising a daughter in a multicultural family
* How to avoid the temptation to view parenting as an accomplishment
* Why not to focus on over-optimization of parenting
* Maintaining relationships outside of the family when it’s hectic
* The balance of two working parents when one is a founder
* His most surprising aspects of becoming a Dad
* A few things he learned very quickly after his daughter was born
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
A Modern Day Commune | Yousuf Bhaijee & Chris Lloyd (Dads of 3 and 2 kids)
Thursday, June 20, 2024 • Duration 01:12:05
Yousuf Bhaijee is a Growth Gdvisor and interim Head of Growth to companies like Brightwheel, HP, Evernow and Blackbird. Chris Lloyd is an engineer who most recently worked at AI company, Humane, and also Pinterest, Assembly and Opera. Yousuf is the father of three kids and Chris is the father of two.
Chris and his family, Yousuf and his family and five other families live in a town-home complex that they all collectively bought several years ago. There are now a total of fifteen kids at the complex! In today’s conversation we discussed:
* How this whole modern day commune experiment got started
* What it means to live in a modern day commune
* The shared rituals, benefits and drawbacks of this lifestyle
* The positive impacts on mental health
* The benefits of sharing
* How gender roles take on new meaning in communal living
* The most surprising aspects of a communal lifestyle
* Family privacy and parenting styles when you live in close proximity with others
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Creativity, Artificial Intelligence and Time | Scott Belsky (Dad of 3, Chief Strategy Officer and EVP Emerging Products at Adobe)
Thursday, June 13, 2024 • Duration 35:42
Scott Belsky is the Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design and Emerging Products at Adobe. He took on this role after being Chief Product Officer for their flagship Creative Cloud products. In 2006 Scott founded a company for creative professionals called Behance which he later sold to Adobe. He is also an active angel investor having invested in companies like Pinterest, Uber, Carta, Warby Parker, Ramp, Airtable and more.He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:
* How his perspective on building now incorporates his family
* Advice to founders who are starting a family
* Supporting his wife as a co-founder
* Fostering creativity in kids and observing where creativity comes from
* Support systems necessary for maintaining busy lives
* How AI has already changed the world for kids
* What AI is going to do for education
* The philosophy behind his wife’s company, Good Inside
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Managing Weekends as a Founder & Dad and 'First Team' Parenting | Patrick Thompson (Dad of 1, co-founder of Clarify)
Thursday, June 6, 2024 • Duration 52:34
Patrick Thompson is a three-time founder, starting a company right after college and then founding and selling his second company, Iteratively, to Amplitude in 2019. He stayed on as a Director of Product until leaving recently to co-found his third company, Clarify, a next generation CRM platform. He’s a loving husband and the father of one kid. In today's conversation we discussed:
* How to manage a young family with starting a company
* The differences between his last startup when he wasn’t yet a parent and this one
* Having the conversation with your partner about getting back to building
* Investing in your relationship with your partner
* The concept of “first team” and applying that at work and home
* Rituals for quality time with your kids
* Recharging his batteries as both a parent and founder
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Finding Fun in the Mundane Aspects of Parenting | Ethan Austin (Father of 3, Founder, Outside VC)
Thursday, May 30, 2024 • Duration 54:40
Ethan Austin is the founder of OutsideVC, where he invests in founders building a more equitable and just financial system. He was the Chief Strategy Officer of Gig Wag, Managing Director of Techstars Denver, and was co-founder and president of GiveForward which was acquired by GoFundMe. He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:
* The time he picked up his oldest kid from school in a taco costume
* His life with a newborn
* Teaching kids values
* Modeling behaviors with your kids
* Finding fun in the mundane
* How partners can take turns supporting one another
* Why every parent is just winging it most of the time
* Three important parenting frameworks he’s developed
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Does Parenting Have To Be So High Stakes? | Lane Shackleton (father of 3, CPO at Coda)
Thursday, May 23, 2024 • Duration 59:10
Lane Shackleton is the Chief Product Officer of Coda, where he has worked for over 8 years. Prior to that he had a 9+ year career at Google and Youtube as a product manager and leader. He’s a loving husband and the father of three kids. In today's conversation we discussed:
* How to motivate and teach lessons to your kids through “quests”
* Lowering the pressure on high-stakes parenting
* Two actions that can solve most of the challenges you’ll experience with your kids
* The difference in feeling overwhelmed between a parent and a professional
* Why parenting overwhelm can be so much harder to work through
* Leveraging technology as a builder vs. a passive consumer
* Balancing being a startup executive with coaching a baseball team full of 9 year olds — and which one is harder
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Teaching Dads How To Cook | David Haddad (father of 1, founder of Mr. Branzino)
Thursday, May 16, 2024 • Duration 01:00:53
David Haddad is a health-tech founder and product manager turned creator. He's now on a mission to teach Dads how to cook with his new company Mister Branzino and the Meal Machine operating system. He runs a newsletter and the Dad Cook Crew community. He's a loving husband and the father of 1 son. In today's conversation we discussed:
* How David developed his passion for cooking
* Why Dads often let this important skill go by the wayside
* The PPSCE system for building a weekly meal plan
* Maximizing meals with minimal time
* How to get more Dads comfortable in the kitchen and building confidence
* Sample meal plans that you can get started with right away
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Having Your First Kid At 22 And A Portfolio Management Approach To Parenting | Matt Wensing (father of 4, founder/CEO Summit)
Thursday, May 9, 2024 • Duration 01:17:41
Matt Wensing is the founder and CEO of Summit, a no-code platform for building tools and workflow automation. For nearly 20 years he has been a founder and CEO--starting with a company called Riskpulse which became Everstream Analytics and was acquired in January 2020. He is a loving husband and the father of four teenagers! In today's conversation we discussed:
* Getting married and having kids in your early 20's
* How little you know when you're that young
* How amazing it is to be a young Dad with children now in their teens
* How to eliminate the excess from your life if you want to prioritize work and family
* A points allocation metaphor for prioritizing what's important
* Helping teens navigate a tech-first world
* The growing awareness of the impacts of social media on teenage girls
* How losing one of your parents unlocks new truths in your life
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Male Fertility and the Fleeting Nature of Time | Linus Ekenstam (father of 2, co-founder Sensive)
Thursday, May 2, 2024 • Duration 59:34
Linus Ekenstam is a designer and serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold several companies. He has also been a design leader at Typeform, Bamboo Blockchain and Flodesk. He's currently building an AI-powered children's story generator at BedtimeStory.ai and a platform to track and improve mental health called Sensive. He is a partner and the father of two daughters. In today's conversation we discussed:
* What it means to be an "AI Gardener"
* Struggles with male infertility
* Time and relativity
* How to navigate the daily grind with two working parents and a 4 and 2 year old
* A visit from his youngest daughter while recording
* How he thinks technology will transform his daughter's lives
* Optimism for the future with AI as a useful tool
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt: https://www.amazon.com/Anxious-Generation-Rewiring-Childhood-Epidemic/dp/0593655036
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/en/
How To Train Your Dragon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/
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