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  • #153: Amanda Greenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Balloon, an Anonymous Collaboration Platform, on Creating a New Category, Transitioning from Bootstrapping to VC, and Being a Female Founder

#153: Amanda Greenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Balloon, an Anonymous Collaboration Platform, on Creating a New Category, Transitioning from Bootstrapping to VC, and Being a Female Founder

Amanda Greenberg is the co-founder and CEO of Balloon, which she founded with her partner Noah in 2015. Balloon is the world's first insight mobility platform. Balloon brings behavioral science and technology expertise together to unlock the true value of collaboration by removing cognitive bias, group dynamics, and fears. Organizations are able to share and vote on input anonymously, which eliminates costly biases, increases thought diversity, and amplifies the strongest insights from their teams.

The platform functions through a quick, phased process that also streamlines workflows, leading to fewer meetings and great results, faster. Over 80 percent of the information shared on Balloon is brand new, and the streamlined workflow reduced meeting time by 70 percent. Balloon ensures that more voices are heard and included, with an average of 78 percent of people collaborating and evaluating regardless of group size.

Connect with Amanda Greenberg

Some of the Topics Covered by Amanda Greenberg in this Episode

  • What is Balloon and why Amanda changed careers to found it

  • How Amanda and her husband and co-founder Noah Bornstein started Balloon

  • Choosing an accelerator

  • Creating a new category and the re-programming of work during COVID

  • Customer discovery and networking to get their first customers

  • Balloon's business model and creating accessible pricing

  • Use cases for Balloon and how it works

  • Marketing Balloon and their "flight plans"

  • From bootstrapping to VC funding

  • Why they chose to live and grow Balloon in the Bay Area

  • How going through an accelerator helped with fundraising and raising a $2.1M seed round

  • The bootstrapping phase

  • Growing Balloon post-fundraising

  • Amanda's advice for fundraising

  • Customer acquisition for Balloon

  • The challenges of creating a new category

  • Building out the team for Balloon

  • Creating company culture

  • The co-founder/partner relationship

  • Amanda's view on work-life balance

  • Expectations versus reality in entrepreneurship

  • What has been most helpful for Amanda on her entrepreneurial journey

  • Amanda's book and podcast recommendations

  • A typical day for Amanda

  • Being a female founder

  • Amanda's advice for founders

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