# Advice Line with Jack Conte of Patreon

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2025-01-16
- Length: 52m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon

## Summary

Jack Conte, co-founder and CEO of Patreon, joins Guy Raz to answer questions from three early-stage founders. He advises Zac Parsons of Honeymoon Coffee Co. on finding product-market fit for a couples' coffee subscription through rapid iteration rather than traditional strategy. For Rowena Shira of Eat to Explore, he suggests expanding to adults by leveraging existing customers with cocktail kits and building community through 'pilgrimages' and user-generated content. Finally, he counsels Melissa Spitz of Adventures in Handwriting on the challenges of shifting from direct-to-consumer sales to the complex enterprise sales cycle of schools.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=0) Introduction: Jack Conte and Patreon's Creator Economy
- [3:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=185) Building Community and Breaking Through in a Saturated Market
- [8:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=495) Advice for Honeymoon Coffee Co.: Product-Market Fit and Differentiation
- [22:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=1376) Advice for Eat to Explore: Expanding to Adults and Building Superfans
- [37:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=2277) Advice for Adventures in Handwriting: Navigating School Sales Cycles
- [49:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-16-advice-line-with-jack-conte-of-patreon#t=2943) Jack Conte's Advice for Founders: Decision Making and Marketing

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Patreon (company)
- Honeymoon Coffee Co. (company)
- Evansville Coffee Company (company)
- Eat to Explore (company)
- Adventures in Handwriting (company)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- Zola (company)
- Onyx Coffee (company)
- Blue Bottle (company)
- Starbucks (company)
- Figma (company)
- Shopify (company)
- TikTok (company)
- YouTube (company)
- Superfandom (product)

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- [#169 - "How to Take Advice" with Nikhil Arora](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-11-12-169-how-to-take-advice-with-nikhil-arora) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founders Feature: Lucy Dana of One Trick Pony](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-11-21-founders-feature-lucy-dana-of-one-trick-pony) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Max Luthy of Plink!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-04-18-founder-feature-max-luthy-of-plink) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Cason Crane of Explorer Cold Brew](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-11-22-founder-feature-cason-crane-of-explorer-cold-brew) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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