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Nick Fassler, Founder and CEO of Thrively
Name: Nick Fassler
Current Startup: Thrively
Bio: I spent seven years in online marketing (aka “growth hacking”) for startups and nonprofits, I’m an aspiring front-end designer and developer, and I just got my Sustainability MBA from University of Michigan. I’m a first time founder, but I’ve worked at two startups: RealTimeFarms.com, recently acquired by Food52.com; and GreenAds, the first sustainability focused advertising network.
I founded Thrively a year ago because I’m passionate about helping people thrive at work. Thrively is a web app that makes it extremely simple to request constructive feedback on your work from your team, advisors, or even customers. I moved to San Francisco in June to work on Thrively full time, and we just launched our private beta. My current focus is gathering feedback from the beta and building out my team, before I go out to raise additional seed capital.
Lessons Learned: Personal management is a difficult task as a CEO. When you don’t have anyone to answer to it’s harder to get up in the morning. You have to find motivation and balance that is healthy and keeps you moving forward.
Staying Motivated: I find that pushing myself in ways that are outside of a startup keeps my focus sharp when I am working. I both run and meditate on a regular basis.
Mentors: The companies that I really look up to approach business holistically and consider culture as an important part of their business. I’ve been lucky to have Rich Sheridan from Menlo Innovations, an agile software development firm, as a mentor. I admire Menlo’s visionary approach to extreme programming and running a transparent and democratic organization.
Want to learn more about @thrively? Connect with Nick on Twitter @nickfassler
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