PTM 029 – How to Launch a Tech Startup Part-Time with Kristen Carney of Cubit

Part Time Money PodcastThis episode of the Part-Time Money podcast is with Kristen Carney of Cubit.

Cubit sells demographic data: $20 basic demographic reports, a web app that people use to pull demographic data, and a consulting branch that does custom data research.

In 2009, Cubit took a small round of funding from a local Austin seed stage investment group. After the funding ran out, either Kristen or her co-founder worked a full time job while the other worked full time on Cubit.

Last November, they consistently hit their revenue goals for a period of 6 months. So she took the scary next step of leaving her six figure job to work on Cubit full-time. In 2013, both her co-founder & Kristen are full-time on Cubit.

Listen to the Podcast

Highlights from the interview:

Kristen Carney - Founder of Tech Startup Cubit1:30 – The background on Cubit and how it was started.
2:45 – Kristen’s background and experience.
3:15 – Building a tool while on the job and working for the government to have more time to work on Cubit.
4:30 – Applying for a startup program and getting $20,000 in cash (for 5%), plus services and mentors.
6:00 – What types of people/ideas make for a good startup program.
7:30 – The competition involved with startup programs.
8:00 – What Cubit does and how they do it different than competitors.
10:00 – What Cubit means and the change from Cubit Planning.
11:30 – How they spend the $20,000 and what didn’t work about the original Cubit app.
13:15 – Jobs Kristen held part-time while working on the tech startup.
13:45 – Getting back on track using customer needs. Using a simple form on the website.
14:45 – Using SEO (i.e. targeted landing pages to get the right traffic).
16:30 – Using common form requests to build out pre-packaged data. i.e. scaling.
17:15 – Switching time working on the business with the co-founder.
18:20 – The mental game of a startup. Waiting for success.
20:00 – The revenue needed to be full-time on the business.
23:00 – The continued benefit of being a part of a startup program.
24:00 – Managing contractors and growing the startup. Hiring and legal entity issues.
27:45 – The importance of listening to your customers to build a product they will buy.
28:30 – The success of SEO (organic search, inbound marketing).
29:30 – Find things that inspire your passion.

Mentioned in the Interview:

Capital Factory
Bill Cosby – Noah and the Cubit
LessAccounting.com
Running Lean by Ash Maurya
Hacker News

Watch the How to Launch a Tech Startup Google Hangout

Thank you so much for listening!

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Transcription: show

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3 Comments

  1. Avatar davidmartinez says:

    ptmoney cubitplanning ashmaurya HackerNews capitalfactory title is akin to ‘How to engineer a spacecraft with a spoon’ #interestsparked

  2. Avatar HullFinancial says:

    A developer who can design is indeed a golden unicorn. We looked for several years for one and never found that magical, mythical creature. If you can find one, shackle him or her in a basement and feed copious amounts of pizza and Mountain Dew!

    1. HullFinancial Yeah, @antm rocks! Since we’re in Austin, Texas, I feed him lots of BBQ brisket & Lone Star instead of pizza & Mountain Dew. 🙂

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