I'm excited to share with you another installment of our Founder Feature series! This week we're featuring @Sean Schroeder, Founder, CXO/COO of Happy Ladders. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Here's a little more about Sean:
Second-time founder, first-time fundraiser. I started my career way back before the dotcom bubble burst. Started small. Accidentally created a product. Grew a digital services agency, open-sourced a Digital Experience Platform. Picked up some great accounts using a bottom-up, product-led approach. Sold both in 2019. Wife also exited her business. Fast-forward to 2021…started an AutismTech platform to empower parents to teach developmental skills to their kids in the spectrum. Built an MVP. Did lots of marketing experiments. Then did some more. Got a little momentum and decided to raise a pre-seed round to accelerate and scale beyond the two of us. Incorporated. Joined Carta. Now looking to connect with other founders here!
Tell us about your most recent project at Happy Ladders:
Spent the last few months prepping to fundraise, applying to accelerators, networking and trying to convince orgs to run a pilot with us. Did our first investor showcase last week.
What are your biggest challenges so far?
Starting the business-building process over from scratch. It's still hard but I'm grateful to have been here before.
What do you wish you knew more about as a founder?
Umm…everything? Seriously though, because our first two businesses were bootstrapped, we had no idea what a grind the fundraising process is and how hard it can be to start from zero.
What do you hope to get out of the Founders Lounge?
I'm going to connect with others so I can find some light to brighten the dark corners of things I don't know yet. I'm also hoping I can add value and do the same for others!------------------------------
Brent Devey
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