Secret Co-Founder and ex-Google, Medium, and Square Engineer David Byttow on Coding, Leadership, and the Highs and Lows of Being a Startup Entrepreneur.
Today’s guest is David Byttow – a self-described engineer by trade and, very much an artist at heart. David is most famous for his role as co-founder of mobile app Secret which allowed people to share messages anonymously.
Whilst there was a lot of hype around Secret when it officially launched in 2014 - lauded by the press and tech industry, and with the company raising millions of dollars within just a few months – the company abruptly closed down a little over a year later.
Some of the very public criticism David faced at the time was around the three million dollars that he and his co-founder each took off the table as part of their Series B deal. And, of course, there was the red Ferrari that David bought and which got a lot of column inches when things didn’t work out.
In this episode, we dig deep into the rise and fall of Secret and some of what David went through during that time from the exciting high - post launch - to the crushing low he felt in having to close the company down. We also discuss how he dealt with the backlash that came with Secret’s closure and how his pre and post Secret career has seen him work at many of the top tech companies from Google to Medium, Square and Snap.
I really appreciate David’s candour in this interview, he opens up about a lot of things which many founders would prefer to keep out of public conversation. And, in doing so, I believe David will enable others to do the same – to talk about the hard times which come with entrepreneurship. It also gives an insight into David – who he is as a person, not just a founder, and that’s exactly why I do these interviews.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Mentioned in this Interview:
David talks about Andy Hertzfeld who appears in Series 1 - listen here.
David's ABC: Always be Coding article can be found here.
Jim McKelvey interview can be found here.
Tweet about creator economy can be found here.
Philip Rosedale interview can be found here.
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Danielle on Twitter @daniellenewnham and Instagram @daniellenewnham
David on Twitter @davaidbyttow / YouTube David Byttow
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This episode was hosted by me - Danielle Newnham, a recovering founder, author and writer who has been interviewing tech founders and innovators for ten years - and produced by Jolin Cheng.