The weekly podcast with fresh takes from venture-backed startup founders who are building great products.

Hey ya'll- I'm Dan Hightower, the host of Startups Unpacked, a podcast where I interview early-stage startup founders, diving into their path towards initial Product/Market Fit, and how they landed their first rounds of funding.

We started Startups Unpacked because getting a company started is HARD, and it's even harder for us, the misfits, who want help getting to product/market fit and finding investors, but find ourselves on the outside of the Silicon Valley clubhouse looking in.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur already trying to raise funds, or you’ve been sitting on an idea without direction on where to go next, this show is designed to introduce you to founders who are just one or two steps ahead of you- the ones who have recently been exactly where you are right now.

Our mission is to make starting companies more relatable and accessible, and in turn, way less mysterious and exclusive.

On each episode, we’ll sit down with a founder or investor who can share their story of building a product that customers can't live without, or explain how/here to find & close investors.

We will never interview:1.) A unicorn "startup"2.) A VC with an office on Sand Hill Road