(1) Who are you and what do you do?
I am Sam Ekpe, co-founder of Grupa – a Silicon Valley startup that connects cross-functional products teams made up of employees from FAANG companies with startups that need to scale quickly.
(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
We help startups scale their product engineering.
(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
Startup: Secrets of San Hill Road by Scott Kupor and Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Novels: Last Day by Domenica Ruta and Edgar & Lucy by Victor Lodato
(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
The network effect, collaboration, capital, community, and cross-pollination of ideas.
(5) What drives your passion for the startup ecosystem?
Connecting people and providing access to opportunities and resources to help companies grow.
(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
It will move to become a distributed system, powered by the cloud: with physical hubs.
(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
My previous attempts at startups taught me few lessons: from how to choose a partner/cofounder, how not to do things and how to have a sense of urgency, talk to customers and experiment faster.
(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
Learning how to communicate and sell.
(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
I go play basketball and aim for great shots. It gets me humble, hungry, and in the zone of learning.
(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Talk to customers, work on small ideas- be forced to make it massive with technology, iterate, and move fast.
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