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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Topic:   Startups
 Will Little

Apr 6, 2021
Startups Sociology Ventures Podcast

Finding purpose, embracing curiosity, and navigating career paths in the 2020s :: with Kim Porter, Eric Sullivan, and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Kim Porter (https://hatchone.com), Eric Sullivan (https://thumos.io/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/) and I go “meta” and ask questions about questions. We discuss creatively in career paths, finding purpose, doing good, helping humans flourish, proving middle-schoolers with mentorship and encouragement, pursuing interesting professional questions, and connecting people.

Will Little

Mar 30, 2021
Startups Marketing Ventures Podcast Product Management

The dance of product and growth within a startup, from idea through acquisition into enterprise :: with Jenna Langer

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Jenna Langer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/langerjenna/) and I discuss the nuances of product and growth from the perspective of an early stage startup (Livefyre) all the way through acquisition by Adobe. We talk about Jenna’s entrepreneurial story, wearing many hats, team composition strategies, the skill stack of a product manager, professional life in an enterprise, and lessons for startup founders.

Will Little

Mar 23, 2021
Startups Marketing Ventures Podcast

Marketing operations, building a MarTech stack, and ensuring data visibility and security in a growing startup :: with Kelly Jo Horton and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Kelly Jo Horton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyjohorton/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/) and I discuss marketing operations from a startup and enterprise perspective. We dive into Kelly Jo’s story entering the space, the need for a marketing operations expert as early as possible in a startup, how to avoid technical debt with your MarTech stack, why to setup a centralized command center, and how/why to retool a broken MarTech data infrastructure.

Will Little

Mar 16, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Sales

Complex business-to-business (B2B) sales, the inflection point in a buyer’s journey, and strategies for building a sales team :: with Steve Crepeau and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Steve Crepeau (https://www.truesalesresults.com/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/), and I discuss the nuances of sales, including characteristics, values, tactics, and techniques for helping people progress along the buyer’s journey. Our discussion expands from complex B2B sales to how the “inflection point” concept can be applied to other areas of startups and enterprise sales, including “selling” your team and investors on your idea as a startup founder.

Will Little

Mar 9, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Design Product Management

Building a co-founder team with product and design capabilities, and the future of UX in the no-code/low-code era :: with Perry Azevedo

In this episode of Ventures, designer/developer Perry Azevedo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryazevedo/) and I discuss the importance of a co-founder team having product and design capabilities, the important nuances between “product” and “design”, examples from products that Perry and I have built together, and the future of UX design in the era of low-code/no-code applications.

Will Little

Mar 2, 2021
Blockchains Startups Ventures Podcast

Brokering trust, bringing transparency into medical supply sales, and distributing COVID-19 rapid antigen & antibody tests :: with Susie Kataoka and Norris Liu

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Susie Kataoka (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susiekataoka/), Norris Liu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenorrisliu/), and I discuss the origin story of Zebra Health, the work they are doing to bring transparency to the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) global market, starting a joint venture between their startups, distributing rapid antigen and antibody tests for COVID-19, and aspiring toward blockchain/Web 3.0 opportunities for any marketplace that involves brokering trust.

Will Little

Feb 23, 2021
Startups Venture Capital Ventures Podcast

Growing as a technology leader, engaging value-add investors, and optimizing go-to-market strategies :: with Bill Murphy and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Bill Murphy (https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamwmurphy/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/), and I discuss the worlds of private equity and investment banking, how founders should think about engaging strategic investors, the different stages of technology leadership as a company grows, and the services that Cresting Wave (https://www.crestingwave.com/) offers to help tech companies mature operations and execute go-to-market strategies.

Will Little

Feb 9, 2021
Blockchains Startups Ventures Podcast Cybersecurity Web3

The history of cybersecurity & the Internet, and lessons for the Web 3.0 generation :: with Tony Sager and Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Tony Sager (https://www.cisecurity.org/), Sol Cates (https://twitter.com/solcates), and I discuss Tony’s journey through the National Security Agency during the cold war and dawn of the Internet. We talk about how Sol and Tony crossed paths, and how cybersecurity has evolved over the past 50 years, and how the Web 3.0 generation can (and should) learn from the Web 1.0 generation.

Will Little

Feb 2, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

Starting a company in the pandemic, leveraging no-code solutions, and finding co-founders online :: The indifit.co story with Cheryl Kemp

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Cheryl Kemp (founder of https://indifit.co/) and I discuss her journey of starting a company at the beginning of the pandemic, finding co-founders, leveraging no-code technology to validate her idea, pivoting into a completely different business model, providing software for fitness instructors, experimenting with growth strategies, and raising startup capital in 2021.

Will Little

Jan 26, 2021
Health Science Startups Ventures Podcast

HealthTech entrepreneurship, surviving cancer, and starting FertilityAnswers :: with Alice Crisci

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Alice Crisci (https://www.instagram.com/fertilityanswers_/) and I discuss her journey as a cancer survivor and entrepreneur in the medical/fertility space. While many people turn to “Dr. Google” when trying to find answers to their medical questions, Alice and her team have created a more sophisticated and personalized approach for finding answers to fertility-related questions. In addition to talking about MedAnswers and their first vertical, FertilityAnswers, Alice and I also talk about mental health for founders, how to validate an initial entrepreneurial idea, and how to think about smart resource allocations for effective go-to-market strategies.
Will Little

Jan 19, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Social Entrepreneurship

From social work to social entrepreneurship and starting an inner-city boarding school :: The Ryan Banks Academy story, with Valerie Groth

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Valerie Groth (https://www.ryanbanksacademy.org/) and I discuss the Ryan Banks Academy story, her background in social work and in Chicago Public Schools, resiliency when starting a school and nonprofit, and life for students in a pandemic. With social entrepreneurship gaining increased attention globally, we dive into a number of topics in this conversation to help founders think about relevant issues to address with new ventures.
Will Little

Jan 13, 2021
Startups Will's General Newsletter

Listening to your community

In this newsletter I discuss the latest podcast episode of Ventures with Foxy Davison and discuss more in depth why it's important to architect systems to listen deeply to your customer/user communities.
Will Little

Jan 12, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

Listening to your community, empowering the marginalized, and knowing when to step back :: with Foxy Davison

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Foxy Davison and I discuss her journey as a community advocate and venture-builder in Seattle’s Central District and beyond. Foxy has a remarkable ability to listen and serve, and we - as fellow entrepreneurs - have many things to learn from her about how to pay attention to our communities. In addition to hearing about her entrepreneurial pursuits, we also discuss how to focus and step back from opportunities that might otherwise seem important, and how to effectively develop an internal compass in order to say yes and no to the appropriate things.

Will Little

Jan 5, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

Teaching financial literacy after the NFL and embracing TikTok for marketing :: with Jed Collins

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Jed Collins (https://www.tiktok.com/@fullbackoffinance) and I discuss the basics of financial literacy and Jed’s journey into the NFL and entrepreneurial venture thereafter. Of particular interest is not only Jed’s story and important content he is teaching young people, but also how he has been using TikTok as a marketing engine to grow his business.

Will Little

Dec 22, 2020
Blockchains Startups Ventures Podcast Design

Virtual Identities, Dream Thinking, and Human Flourishing in the Web 3.0 era :: with Joel Fariss

In this episode of Ventures, Joel Fariss (https://joelfariss.com; a design research and strategic futures associate at Gensler) and I continue our conversation from Episode 21 and explore the implications of self-defined virtual identities and data stores as it relates to innovation, human progress, Dream Thinking, and Web 3.0.