FounderMail #16: The Power of Community
👋 Hey there! I’m Ilan. This is FounderMail, your monthly dose of startup insights that helps founders hire top talent, raise capital, and stay informed. Community: your ultimate growth hack. Ready? Let’s go!
First time? Let us introduce ourselves…
Unstacked Startups is building a community of tech founders, early employees, leaders, and VCs uncovering the 'secret sauce' to startup growth. We want to share the insights with you through real conversations on our podcast (subscribe on YouTube or Spotify) live events, and our newsletter FounderMail.
In This Edition:
Shower Thoughts: Casual Chats to Unicorns
What’s Got Our Attention
Unstacked Podcast: Lloyed Lobo, Co-Founder of Boast.ai and Traction
The MVP Play with Gorish Aggarwal
Shower Thoughts
Soak up insights from our network’s top investors, founders and tech influencers.
From Casual Chats to Unicorns: The Power of Community
In tech, networking isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a growth hack.
Real magic happens in “pseudo-communities” like coworking spaces, Slack groups, and Twitter threads.
Take Daniel Zarick and Benedict Fritz, who met through gaming design circles on Twitter. When Daniel moved back to Chicago, they discovered they lived two blocks apart. From joke apps to client projects, their friendship became Arrows, now five years strong.
The takeaway? Your next co-founder or hire could be a DM away.
TL;DR: Networking isn’t just handshakes—it’s a growth catalyst. Build your network, not just your product. One connection can change everything.
What’s Got Our Attention
The latest startup news and research you can’t afford to miss.
How Open-Source AI Is Leveling the Playing Field — Axios (Jun 2025)
Open Source in 2025: What Startups Can Learn from This Year’s Top GitHub Repos — Medium (May 2025)
The AI Talent Wars Are White Hot — Business Insider (Jun 10 2025)
Unstacked Startups Podcast Recap
Check out our favorite insights from a recent episode of the Unstacked Startups Podcast. Every episode, Unstacked host, Ilan Saks, chats with startup founders, early employees, leaders, and VCs to uncover the 'secret sauce' of startup growth.
Lloyed Lobo, Co-Founder of Boast.ai & Traction, author of From Grassroots to Greatness
From refugee to building a 100 000-strong founder community, Lloyed’s life is proof that companions really do shape the journey.
Key Lessons
Purpose > product. Great communities (and companies) start with an un-shakeable why; events, Slack rooms or forums are tactics, not the core.
The CAMPER playbook for happy “campers”. Connection, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Energy and Recognition are the six levers Lloyed uses to keep teams (and volunteers) on fire.
Consistency compounds. Ideas come and go, but showing up—workout after workout, meetup after meetup—turns small actions into “overnight” movements.
The MVP Play
Unlocking the playbooks of startup MVPs, one question at a time.
Checking into the game? For this edition, we chatted with Gorish Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CEO of Sybill — the AI platform that turns sales calls into real-time coaching.
MOTIVATION
Why are you building Sybill and what’s the driving force behind your willingness to endure the challenges of founding a startup?
We’re building Sybill to free sales reps from time-draining admin work, letting them focus on what they do best - selling. The vision of revolutionizing the industry and seeing users’ appreciation keeps us going, even when it’s tough.
VENTURE
What advice do you have for founders to ensure a good fit between them and potential VC partners?
Find VCs who align with your values, understand your vision/goals, and respect your decision-making process.
Screen the partner, not just the firm.
Back-channel portfolio founders to confirm they show up after the term-sheet.
PEOPLE
How do you identify truly bar-raising talent?
Values first: radical ownership & low-ego curiosity.
Growth mindset: demos their last “manual patch” that became a feature.
Humility: brilliant, yet defaults to “we” over “I.”
The PLAY
Unstacked’s cheat code for early stage founders.
A network with aligned values is a game-changer for founders. At Sybill, the team recognized that forging relationships with VCs and talent who share their core vision creates an unstoppable synergy. When everyone’s values align, trust grows faster, friction drops, and impact multiplies—enabling teams to move further, faster.
How We Can Help You Grow Your Startup
Need help hiring elite talent? We’ve built the talent firm for startups.
Raising Capital? Drop us a line, we’d love to discuss what you’re building and how we can help.
Are you an engineer considering your next gig? Check the open startup roles in our network!