“Startup Dad” shines its light on the dad side of being a tech exec
In today’s teeming media landscape, you’re unlikely to find voices as wonderfully ego-free and informative as the ones Adam Fishman brings to the microphone for his popular podcast, “Startup Dad”.
Startup dads, as Fishman defines them, are entrepreneurs, founders and corporate leaders, commonly in the tech world, who “are raising kids, building companies, and trying to do both without completely losing their mind.” They are no longer just grappling with algorithms — they are also struggling with that most universally human challenge: how to create a happy family life.
And this is what gives “Startup Dad” its charge. In one-on-one conversations with a wide range of dads, Fishman gently probes his subjects, coaxing them to recount the ups, downs, hits and misses of their demanding lives, with a depth that you don’t often find in popular media. Blissfully, not once in Fishman’s podcast did I hear anyone ask the simplistic query: “So how do you do it all?” The answers are never simple.
The intersection of work and life has always been a fraught, even a scary place. And with our world hurtling ahead in an unforgivingly fast-forward pace, many dads trying to make ends meet have few places to turn to for advice. Of course, women face every one of these challenges, too, times 10. But one key resource women have that men do not is each other: women are mutually supportive in ways that men simply aren’t.
It’s easier to get the over-under on the next 49ers game than it is to get a dad to open up about how thing are going at home with their teenager. Sure, dads love their families, too, but they don’t necessarily wear this on their sleeve. There’s no handbook for men, and little in the way of reliable guidance. Of course, if you’re into that kind of thing, there’s a non-stop miasma of dubious advice to be found online from the creatures who inhabit what is known as the manosphere. The mainstream media isn’t always much help, either. Does the world really need another Sunday New York Times disquisition on modern fatherhood?
Fishman launched “Startup Dad” three year ago after incubating the idea during Covid, when he, his wife Ariel and their two children were, like everyone else, at home and on lockdown. After experimenting and recording a few episodes, Fishman says he realized there are lots of dads out there who have something important to say, as well as an audience of other dads facing similar challenges who would be eager to learn from such a podcast. “Dads have tears and admit mistakes,” Fishman says.
Fishman says he had also learned in his own life as a startup exec and even now in his work as an exec at Mozilla that when dads feel like they are able to get their footing, everybody wins. “There’s tons of research out there that shows that the more and the earlier dad is involved with his family it is better for his spouse, his kids and for dad himself,” he says.
Davis Smith, father of four, founder of the booming Cotopaxi outdoor gear seller, and guest of a “Startup Dad” episode earlier this summer, says he was impressed at how many people outside of his usual business circles heard his talk, and how it forced them to think about how they wrestle with home vs work issues.
Fishman has produced and posted over 160 episodes of the podcast and won two Webby Awards since “Startup Dad” launched. Episodes include some irresistible topics such as “Habits that backfire at home,” “What happens when parents stop hovering,” “How to be a better girl dad as a solopreneur,” “Diaper changes on Investor Calls,” and more. “It’s been an incredible experience so far,” says Fishman, who is also contemplating launching something he is calling “Startup Mom”.
Listen to “Startup Dad” here
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