“We make it so that TV commercials are as effective as a Facebook ad,” is how Noah Palanksy describes the mission of his AI company Taiv. Having a drink at a bar one night, he watched as the TV played an ad for another bar down the street, and realized the potential for an establishment to promote itself on its own screen. Later, this idea evolved so that companies can now place their ads on the screens in bars, or anywhere where people congregate, to promote their business. From there, Taiv tracks where attending patrons then click, visit, or make purchases, after they leave the establishment.
About a year and a half into bootstrapping their company, Noah and his co-founders were accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator program, which helps startups companies to successfully launch. All of the priceless information they learned there would soon be put to the test as they worked through the challenge of selling a socially driven concept, right as the world went into lockdown.
On this episode, learn why it’s so important to have hobbies, the difference between being cheap and treating every dollar like it’s your last.
Quotes:
“To get enough funding to hire a few developers without giving up too much of the company is very challenging.”([8:50]-[8:59] | Noah)
“Build something that people want, and actually figure out if you’re providing value to people and don’t just build a thing because it’s cool.” ([14:16]-[14:21] | Noah)
“There’s a million things you could spend money on and most of them are stupid.” ([16:27]-[16:30] | Noah)
“The hardest part of my job right now is balancing between trying to build new products and iterate, trying to make the thing we have better, and how to get users using the thing we already have.” ([41:32]-[41:45] | Noah)
“I think we’re going through a transitionary period with advertising…so it’s a good time to be doing something in this space.”([21:42]-[22:28] | Noah)
Connect with Brendan Dell:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell
Instagram: @thebrendandell
TikTok: @brendandell39
Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926
Connect with Noah Palansky :
Website: taiv.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taivbox/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahpalansky/
Check out Noah’s top 3 recommended books:
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062273208
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062407801
Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524761417
Please don’t forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Billion Dollar Tech on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Use code Brendan30 for 30% off your annual membership with RiverSide.fm
About the Author
Brendan Dell
Brendan Dell is an author and the founder of The Daily Creative. As a freelancer he's worked with clients like Expedia, Cvent, Panasonic, Brother, Windstream and 100+ more to build unignorable tech brands. At The Daily Creative, he shares advice and lessons to help freelancers level up.
