David Linhardt, founder and CEO of both ComeWith and InsightStudios, is a serial entrepreneur with a long and successful career in the tech industry. His journey began in 2003 when he created his first startup after helping turnaround and sell Yesmail, the first publicly-traded email marketing company. Since then, David has founded and co-founded several successful companies, including Vezt, TaskRabbit, and LivingSocial.
Career Path
When asked about his career path to becoming an entrepreneur, David shared that he always knew he wanted to create his own company. He was drawn to the idea of being able to make an impact on the world through his own vision and hard work. After gaining valuable experience in the tech industry, David decided it was time to start his own venture.
Current Companies
David’s current companies, ComeWith and InsightStudios, address two different problems in the market. ComeWith is a social app that helps people connect with others who share similar interests and want to do activities together. David was inspired to create ComeWith after realizing that he was tired of doing things alone and wanted to build a solution to help people cure their loneliness. InsightStudios, on the other hand, is a company that builds startups in parallel instead of in series. David created InsightStudios because he has more ideas than he has life left, and he wants to be able to chase down all of his visions simultaneously.
Ideal Customer Profiles
When it comes to identifying his ideal customer profile, David shared that he was the ideal customer profile for both of his companies. He started with himself and talked to other people in similar situations to see if they had the same problem. In the case of ComeWith, he found that many people felt lonely and wanted to connect with others who shared similar interests. For InsightStudios, he found that there were many entrepreneurs like himself who had more ideas than they had resources to pursue them.
Culture
David is proud of the culture that he has built within his companies. As a 20+ year entrepreneur, he has created a highly entrepreneurial culture that focuses on customers and building products that they love. The teams at ComeWith and InsightStudios are relentless in their pursuit of success and are committed to making a positive impact on the world.
Growth
In terms of growth trajectory and success to date, David shared that his companies have seen early traction and success, but they have not yet scaled beyond the first paying customers. ComeWith started as an MVP and launched as a free service, which quickly gained 16K users in just a few months. They have since started monetizing with subscription models, which has changed their focus. InsightStudios is still in the early stages, but they have already started building multiple startups in parallel.
While David is not currently hiring, as his companies are focused on fundraising, he knows that the right team is essential for success. When the time comes to expand his teams, he will be looking for talented individuals who are passionate about entrepreneurship, customer-focused, and driven to make a positive impact on the world.
