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Frontier Podcast by Gun.io

From Startup Weekend to YC to startup success

Season 1, Ep. 123
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Technology co-founder Matthew McDonald is no stranger to rapid change. He joined a Startup Weekend event, met some contractors there with an idea to change construction equipment rental industry, and built a prototype -- booking their first validation client the same weekend.


When a friend suggested they apply to Ycom, Matthew admits he blew off the idea at first. After deciding to go through with it, his co-founders and he were shocked to be accepted, and moved together to California after having only known each other for 6 weeks.


Fast forward to present day and EquipmentShare is 300+ employees strong, having built a powerful online and offline business. Matthew’s personal story is compelling -- he had the personal awareness and fortitude to work with a mentor after having grown the team to 11 as the founding CTO, and admitting he just didn’t like the leadership seat. He stepped down and continues to make critical contributions as Principal Engineer. The story of that process is inspiring on many levels, and will be instructive to any engineer who questions the standard leadership path.

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