Sahil Lavingia is the founder and CEO of Gumroad, a web platform where creators can sell products directly to consumers. He started the company while working at Pinterest in San Francisco, raised venture capital and ascended to the elites, but eventually, changed his trajectory, fired everyone and relocated to a small town in Utah. Why this was the right path for Sahil, and why venture capital is not a fit for everyone, it's all in this episode.

“My role isn’t about seeing every pixel but setting the standard, getting the right people in place, seeing the big picture of where we are going and what we can accomplish.”

On the first episode of What Fuels You, Shauna is interviewed by executive coach, author and friend, Teri Citterman. Shauna Swerland, a Seattle native, is the CEO and Founder of recruiting firm, Fuel Talent. In just five years, Fuel Talent has been recognized as one of the Fastest-Growing Companies, Largest Women-Owned Companies and Best Places to Work in Washington, among many others awards. Hear how her recruiting career came to be, how it’s evolved and her process on finally deciding to become an entrepreneur. You’ll learn about her passion and desire for creating this podcast, and it will set the tone for what you’ll hear the rest of this season when she does the interviewing moving forward.

Which is better: B2C or B2B? When should you walk away from a sale? How do you make difficult decisions?

Jason is a co-founder of Dent The Future, a community of entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives who are driven to “put a dent in the universe.” We talk about startup journey and how to manage a creative job while raising two kids.

Anthony Armendariz is a founder of Funsize.co, a design agency based in Austin, TX. He had been in the design business for many years, and eventually had founded his own company with his wife, Natalie. For many years they were working non-stop on Funsize, growing the team, and their client list. But one day, they decided it was time to do more than work, they were ready to have a baby. Although pretty terrified at first, Ant and Nat prepped themselves and their company for the changes, and it could not have worked out better! If you are a business owner struggling with the question of whether it is time to start a family, this is a must listen episode for you!

How does meditation help us to evolve as individuals and as a species?

"Give a project to someone that they’re really excited about, they’re going to do better work."

Sahil Lavingia is the CEO and Founder of Gumroad, a platform to help creators create more through simple e-commerce and audience tools.

He is also known for insightful and refreshing points of view on Twitter and Medium. To round it out, he’s also a designer, painter in addition to being a technology CEO and writer.

Sahil and I have had similar paths in creation, from tech to design to art, as well as being a founder that has seen almost everything. From being employee #2 at Pinterest to starting his own company, to coverage in just about every magazine, every investor in Silicon Valley wanted to be a part of what he was building to layoffs, then more layoffs, to then being the only person running his company, bordering on depression for a long stretch of time, and now back to a tight-knit team and a business that will bring in over $5m in revenue this year, profitable and actually growing faster than ever.

In addition to the experience he’s had, he’s begun to articulate what it has been like as a creator, and his tweets and essays on the topic, up there with Justin Kan, Eric Ries and a handful of other guests have given people some of the most realistic glimpses of what it’s truly like, and I can’t wait for you to hear this behemoth of an episode.