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How turning $35,000 into $8M inspired this founder's next startup
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How turning $35,000 into $8M inspired this founder's next startup

An interview with Kevin Xu, founder and CEO of AfterHour.

Kevin is the founder and CEO of AfterHour, the stock market super app for active traders. On WallStreetBets, he was known as SirJack, the day trader who turned $35,000 into $8M. A former engineer at Stripe and YouTube, he is also a serial founder.

In this episode:

  • How Kevin used Reddit to seed his initial audience

  • The positives and negatives of building for consumers in 2024

  • How he tackles the search for product-market fit

  • Why he loves big hats

Full episode guide:

  • (00:39) Is 2024 a good time to build in consumer?

  • (02:48) The two viable paths for consumer startups

  • (06:00) What Kevin learned from his last two startups

  • (07:44) Finding product-market fit and why he focuses on DAUs above all

  • (09:49) How AfterHour works

  • (15:01) What Kevin learned at Stripe and YouTube

  • (19:37) How Kevin traded his way from $35,000 to $8M

  • (24:54) Community as a moat

  • (26:46) The death of friend-based social networks?

  • (28:55) Balancing startup life with fatherhood

  • (30:00) What’s the deal with the big hat?

Where to find Kevin:

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Discussion about this podcast

David Kaye’s Essays
David Kaye's Interviews
Interviews with leaders from startups and the attention economy from a founder turned investor.