Welcome to episode 51 of Inc.‘s Founders Project With Alexa Von Tobel podcast–where we bring you stories of the entrepreneurs building the future. Listen to the tales of guts, inspiration, and drive that define the people and companies at the forefront of technology. Each week, we dig into a founder’s professional playbook–and uncover what makes them tick.
How to Build a Company Remotely, with Wade Foster of Zapier
After their day jobs wrapped, Wade Foster and his co-founders spent their nights building what would eventually become Zapier, a workflow automation tool. Originally based in Missouri, the Zapier team decided to fully focus on their budding startup by joining the Y Combinator accelerator–and have since become one of the highest valued companies to come out of the program. Today, Zapier has millions of users and connects to more than 2,000 apps. Foster shares how he got his first beta customer from a cold email, how their formula for scaling is a blend of data and intuition, and the surprising upsides of being a fully remote team from the earliest days.