Will Little @wclittle Subscribe

Managing Director at Prota Ventures.
I'm a bioengineer-turned-software-developer and venture builder/investor. Learn more about me professionally on LinkedIn, personally here, and check out the podcast I host, Ventures.

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 Will Little

Jul 28, 2020
Software Development Redux Ruby on Rails React React Native CSS Product Management

Learn to code with skills for business, product design, and collaboration: a curriculum for entrepreneurs

While there are plenty of amazing “learn to code” options out there, what’s often missing from their content is an integrated business curriculum for engineers building digital products, especially in a team setting. My goal with this curriculum is to teach from the ground-up a toolset for (1) rapidly prototyping software applications, (2) establishing an architecture that is ready to scale, and (3) integrating business and entrepreneurship fundamentals so that - as an engineer - you can be maximally effective to help drive revenue and customer satisfaction.

Most Recent
Will Little

Sep 15, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

Angel Investing 101 for founders to be aware of...and do you know a great COO candidate?

In this week's newsletter I talk about my monologue podcast on angel investing and a need I have for a strong director of operations at Prota Ventures.
Will Little

Sep 15, 2021
Startups Venture Capital Ventures Podcast

Venture capital and angel investing insights for founders: How investors *should* evaluate your team, product, market, traction, and financial model

In this episode of Ventures, I took the liberty to record a short monologue that outlines how I (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) and my partners at Prota Ventures (https://www.protaventures.com) evaluate early stage venture deals and teach new investors how to conduct basic diligence. I briefly discuss what aspects of your founder team, product experience, market dynamics, traction nuances, and believability of your financial model commonly stand out to investors - for better or worse - when making allocation decisions.
Will Little

Sep 7, 2021
Sociology Will's General Newsletter

Managing marketing data in a growing startup, and reflections on last week's The Economist cover article

In this newsletter I comment on this week's podcast episode and last week's The Economist cover article: 'The threat from the illiberal left'

Will Little

Sep 7, 2021
Startups Marketing Ventures Podcast

Tips for setting up and managing your marketing stack in a new startup :: with Kelly Jo Horton and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, we pull a clip from Episode 37 with Kelly Jo Horton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyjohorton/) and Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/) to discuss marketing operations in a growing startup. Early founder teams often leave the design, implementation, and maintenance of marketing stacks as an afterthought, which ends up costing the new company a massive amount of time and money. In this episode, Kelly Jo and Sol help us understand why bringing in an expert - or at least someone dedicated to learning from experts and driving the integrated flow of marketing data - is essential to any B2C or B2B company’s growth.
Will Little

Sep 1, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

Removing rose-colored glasses for founders, and those on the political far right and far left

In this newsletter I talk about this week's podcast episode, and my brief commentary on the promise of the political center and Web 3.0.
Will Little

Sep 1, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

How to validate a market for your startup without being naive :: with Bill Murphy and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, we pull a clip from Episode 33 with Bill Murphy (https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamwmurphy/) and Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/) to discuss how entrepreneurs should be aware of their rose-colored glasses when approaching a market. It’s not easy to face the brutal facts about what customers need and will pay money for, but the process of asking the right questions and making decisions with an appropriate amount of data is critical.

Will Little

Aug 25, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

Technology, good behavior, and email snoozing

In this week's newsletter I talk about how to best design Web 3.0 for human goodness...and I reflect on how powerful email snoozing has been for digital productivity this century.
Will Little

Aug 25, 2021
Web 3.0 & Blockchains Ventures Podcast

How can Web 3.0 be designed to promote human kindness and flourishing? :: with Joel Fariss

In this episode of Ventures, we pull a clip from Episode 24 with Joel Fariss (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelfariss/) to discuss how technology - especially the shift from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 - can be designed in such a way to promote and sustain human kindness and flourishing. Joel posits that a shift away from Dataism and toward what he calls “Dream Thinking” will be an essential part of this mission.
Will Little

Aug 18, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

"Love" between customers and brands

In this newsletter I talk about this week's podcast episode and love and branding from a business and product perspective.

Will Little

Aug 17, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Branding

Love & Branding: Do you love your customers? Do they love you? Do you care? :: with Moshe Engelberg

In this episode of Ventures, I comment briefly on my evolving definition of “Brand” and pull in a clip from Episode 51 with Moshe Engelberg (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosheengelberg/) on loving customers (and whether they love you back). The best product leaders I know not only understand a market deeply and the value-add a product is bringing, but also think about “uplifting and connecting” people (Moshe’s definition of Love) in and around a product to create delightful experiences for customers.
Will Little

Aug 11, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

The paradigm shift: Decentralized Application (dApp) development in Web 3.0

In this newsletter I talk about this week's podcast and the shift to Web 3.0 development from Web 2.0
Will Little

Aug 10, 2021
Web 3.0 & Blockchains Software Development Ventures Podcast

Web 2.0 vs. Web 3.0 development, design, and data architecture concerns :: with Andrew Cronk

In this episode of Ventures, I start with a quick summer 2021 reflection and then dive into a short clip from Episode 48 with Andrew Cronk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcronk/). Web 3.0 entrepreneurs and decentralization application (dApp) developers will need to approach software engineering concerns such as user identity and data storage/querying in different ways than the Web 2.0 era. Andrew’s initial insights into this transition are enormously helpful.

Will Little

Aug 3, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

How to validate a new B2B SaaS startup idea :: with Patrick Lowndes and Brian Geihsler

In this episode of Ventures, we pull a popular clip from Episode 12 with Patrick Lowndes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricklowndes/) and Brian Geihsler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangeihsler/). The clip focuses on how they validated their Business-to-Business Software-as-a-Service (B2B SaaS) startup, VendorHawk, which sold to ServiceNow in 2018 (https://www.geekwire.com/2018/servicenow-snaps-vendorhawk-help-customers-manage-saas-spending/). We cover how to sell contracts with wireframes, how to reach decision-makers, how to test pricing, and how to set up an “alpha group” as a cohort of initial customers to help your new startup succeed.

Will Little

Jul 28, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

Excelling at Product Management, and helping founders succeed

In this week's newsletter I talk about all-things product management and why it's important for founders to educate themselves with product management nuances.
Will Little

Jul 28, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Product Management

How to be an excellent Product Manager :: with Jenna Langer, David Pierce, Perry Azevedo, Kiel Sanders, and Patrick Lowdnes

In this episode of Ventures, we pull clips from Episodes 38, 35, 41, and 46 to dive deep into all-things Product Management. Most startup founders are overwhelmed and too busy to grasp the nuances of how world-class product managers think about growth and technical operations. These clips provide an overview and a primer to how some of the best in the industry think about their trade at different stages of company size and growth.