Don’t Wait Until It’s Convenient | Sean Ellis (Dad of 2, Author, Advisor, Founder, Growth Phenom)

Sean Ellis is a growth legend and the creator of the term “growth hacker.” He has built a legendary framework (the “Sean Ellis test”) for determining product/market fit, wrote the original book on Growth (“Hacking Growth), and has founded several companies along with working at or advising companies like LogMeIn, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Bounce and more. In addition to his role as the Godfather of Growth he’s also a husband and the father of two adult children. In our conversation today we discussed:

• Maintaining strong relationships with your daughters during the tumultuous teenage years and into their 20’s

• Sean’s philosophy on not waiting until it’s convenient

• Navigating big challenges with kids—from autoimmune disorders to depression

• Balancing the approach between letting kids figure stuff out on their own vs. jumping in to help them

• When to push and when to back off

• Sean’s meteoric rise as a CEO and head coach of a youth soccer team

• Some controversial approaches that worked for his family

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast and YouTube.

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Where to find Sean Ellis

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis/

• X: https://twitter.com/SeanEllis

• Sean’s Newsletter: https://substack.com/@seanellis

Where to find Adam Fishman

• FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[2:05] Welcome

[2:42] Sean’s professional background

[7:49] Childhood

[9:13] How Sean met his wife; all about their kids?

[11:18] Are 20 year olds “kids”?

[12:00] Decision to start a family

[13:01] Earliest memory of becoming a Dad

[15:31] Maintaining relationship w/daughters into adulthood

[20:55] Surprising thing you learned as a Dad?

[22:28] Advice for younger Sean

[23:41] Shared advice to friends

[25:31] Balancing parenting techniques 

[30:20] Did the kids come back home while working?

[31:54] Sean the soccer coach

[37:05] Parenting style evolution

[41:41] Where Sean and his wife don’t align on parenting

[43:36] Kid’s relationship with technology

[45:36] What he gave up to become a dad?

[47:24] Mistakes he made as a dad?

[49:10] Where to follow along

[49:55] What inspired you to write again?

[52:00] Lightning Round

[55:38] Thank you

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Show references:

LogMeIn: https://www.logmein.com/

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/

Bounce: https://usebounce.com/

UC Berkeley: https://www.berkeley.edu/

UCLA: https://www.ucla.edu/

Breathalyzer: https://www.amazon.com/BACtrack-Breathalyzer-Professional-Grade-Smartphone-Connectivity/dp/B079XXNBF3/ref=zg_bs_g_15992781_d_sccl_1/143-4646178-9363038?psc=1

Vuori: https://vuoriclothing.com/

Anastasia: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118617/

National Lampoon’s European Vacation :https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089670/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

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For sponsorship inquiries email: podcast@fishmana.com.

For Startup Dad Merch: www.startupdadshop.com 

Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/