In the Room with Yin Wu, CEO and Founder Pulley
This week’s episode of The Room Podcast is a special one! We teamed up with Deel, CBRE, and Pulley to bring you an in-person interview with Yin Wu, the CEO and Founder of Pulley. Yin shared her journey as a three-time YC founder and dived into the founding story of Pulley, the company that is reimagining the future of cap table management, live on stage in San Francisco. The exclusive audience included the current Y Combinator batch of W23 and The Room Podcast community. If you’re based in the Bay Area and want to join us for future live recordings, the best way to keep in touch is by subscribing to our newsletter.
Yin grew up in Kentucky and it wasn’t until she attended Stanford in the Bay Area that she was introduced to the tech and startup ecosystem. Surrounded by people all trying to start something, taking a non traditional path was normalized. As a result, Yin took time off from college to work at an NGO in Kenya that aimed to plant trees to help farmers have another revenue stream. From this experience, Yin realized how exciting it was to be able to start something that didn’t exist and that could also help a lot of people. This led Yin to catch the startup bug and in 2011, she went on to found Overlab, a technology company that augments images into streaming video for real-time product placement. Then in 2013, she founded Echolabs, an Android lock screen app that used machine learning to prioritize mobile notifications.
Through these experiences, Yin realized that equity is one of the most valuable assets a company owns. However, many founders have little understanding of how equity works and are at an information disadvantage when fundraising. Startups also struggle to attract talented individuals based solely on cash compensation. Instead, they must sell the vision of the company and offer equity as a share in the potential success. These insights led to the inception of Pulley, where they help companies maximize the value of their equity and manage their cap tables.
In today’s episode, we explore insights and themes such as thinking in terms of decades rather than just next year for cap table management, how to build your first sales team and the myth of working smarter not harder.
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Theme 1: Thinking in terms of decades rather than just next year for cap table management
When asked about common mistakes made by early-stage founders when navigating ownership equity, Yin explains that many of them underestimate the future implications of their capitalization table and focus too much on short-term gains. Instead of optimizing purely for financials, she suggests that founders should prioritize the people on their cap table. While these partners may not invest at the highest valuation, they can add long-term value that is well worth it. Additionally, Yin emphasizes the importance of thinking long-term for your team and believes that being considerate with equity can lead to having a team who is truly committed to the company’s success. According to Yin, “being generous here is actually a case where you get people that are really bought in with your company, they also feel like more of an owner and feel more invested in its success too.”
Yin’s advice is a crucial message for aspiring founders — building a successful company takes time and it’s essential to think in terms of decades rather than short-term goals. This could mean optimizing for investors on your cap table who can provide value beyond the financial capacity or incentivizing your team with equity stakes to foster long-term investment in the company’s success.
Theme 2: How to build your first sales team
Building a sales team can be a challenging undertaking, but Yin Wu shares some critical insights from building out Pulley’s sales team. First and foremost, she emphasizes the importance of starting with founder-led sales. At the outset, your product may not be developed enough to drive sales on its own. As a founder, you should focus on selling yourself and “convincing customers to take a chance on you.” By interacting with customers personally and gathering their feedback, you can identify areas for improvement and refine your product. This feedback loop can be invaluable in driving product development and improving customer satisfaction.
Yin also highlights the value of tactical hiring. If you have the funding, she recommends hiring two account executives as a way to isolate whether underwhelming performance is due to the product or the sales team. Additionally, hiring a sales coach can help your team develop better sales strategies and techniques. However, Yin emphasizes that being the most skilled salesperson is not necessary to attract initial customers for your product. If your product solves a problem that resonates with your target audience, it should be attractive on its own, and you can feel confident in the idea behind your product and your company’s mission.
Building a strong sales team is critical for generating revenue and sustaining growth. While it can be daunting, starting with founder-led sales, hiring tactically, and focusing on creating products that solve customer problems are all steps aspiring founders can consider as they work to build a successful sales team.
Theme 3: The myth of working smarter not harder
Yin is a successful founder who has achieved a balance between her personal life, including being a mom, and her work commitments. While many people believe that working smarter rather than harder is the key to success, Yin disagrees as there’s “smart people who also happen to work incredibly hard.” She argues that success requires both intelligence and a strong work ethic. Prioritizing your time and deciding what you are willing to sacrifice is critical, and there may be times when working in the evenings or on weekends is necessary.
Yin also stresses the importance of resetting and being present, as well as surrounding yourself with supportive people. For her, being near her family and in-laws has been an enormous help in managing the demands of running Pulley and being a mother.
Success is a product of both hard work and intelligence, but achieving a balance between working smart and hard while managing personal commitments can be challenging. Yin’s story serves as a lesson for us all that with strategic prioritization, a willingness to make sacrifices, and a supportive community, it is possible to effectively manage the demands of both personal and professional life.
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Thank you for tuning in to this LIVE episode of The Room Podcast! We hope you enjoyed learning about Yin’s inspirational journey in founding Pulley.
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