In this episode, of How I'm Building This, Prateek interviews Ryan Walsh, the founder of Valqari, who shares his journey from being an airborne ranger to starting his own business. Valqari provides a practical solution for the last inch of the last mile in the delivery industry. They focus on solving the inefficiencies and challenges of the last mile logistics network by using drones and their infrastructure. Ryan discusses the challenges of raising capital for a hardware startup and the importance of finding investors who share the same vision. He also emphasizes the need for founders to have a deep understanding of various aspects of their business and the importance of maintaining mental health in the entrepreneurial journey.
Takeaways:
Sound Bites:
In this episode, we cover:
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:09 Transition from Military to Startup
05:25 Revolutionizing Last-Mile Delivery with Drones
08:40 Building a Feedback Loop and Providing Excellent Customer Service
13:08 Challenges of Raising Capital for a Hardware Startup
18:28 Inbound Sales and Marketing
21:29 Lessons Learned from Hiring Mistakes
25:01 The Importance of Wide-ranging Skills for Founders
28:28 Managing Mental Health in the Startup Journey
32:33 Future Plans for Valqari
Where to find Ryan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan--walsh
Valqari: https://www.valqari.com
Where to find Prateek:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateekmathur
Activated Scale: https://www.activatedscale.com
For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email prateek@activatedscale.com
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