How to Avoid Building a Beautiful Product No One Needs

Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable. Inspired by his own experiences learning to code and building customized business apps, he co-founded the company in 2013 to democratize software creation. Prior to that, he was the founder of Etacts, an intelligent CRM tool that was acquired by Salesforce. While Etacts was a furious one-year sprint to acquisition, Liu followed a very deliberate, long-term approach with his second startup. In this conversation with Stanford lecturer Ravi Belani, he offers advice to innovators who seek to create complex products that can’t be prototyped in a week-long hacking session.

Howie Liu (Airtable) - Building Startups, Fast and Slow

Instagram Co-Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger challenge many of the myths surrounding startups and the lives of entrepreneurs. Both former Mayfield Fellows with the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Systrom and Krieger share their first-hand experiences of the entrepreneurial process, including identifying good problems to solve and the value in building simple solutions and minimum viable products. Systrom and Krieger also discuss aspects of their co-founder working relationship and their efforts to maintain a balance between work and life.

Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger - From Stanford to Startup

As the Co-Founder and CTO of Bespoke Innovations, Scott Summit leads a continuing effort to create products that radically change lives. In this lecture, Summit shares insights from creating customized prosthetic devices using new technologies in nascent markets. He also discusses some of challenges his company faced in discovering a working business model and developing customers.

Scott Summit - Products With a Purpose

The team at Stanford eCorner believes in the powerful combination of evidence and imagination. We share original stories from informed leaders in academia and industry that focus on innovation, startups, culture, and strategy. The goal: empower you to bring bold ideas to life. 

Stanford eCorner is led by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center in Stanford University’s School of Engineering.

Howie Liu (Airtable) - Building Startups, Fast and Slow

Stanford eCorner

Recent comments

Stanford eCorner

Stanford eCorner

Stanford eCorner

Stanford eCorner

Related tracks