After the Round Closes: How to Leverage Your Investors

After the Round Closes: How to Leverage Your Investors

Author: Burkland August 26, 2025 Duration: 31:18
In this episode, host Kate Adams sits down with Julia Austin—Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, startup advisor, executive coach, and author of After the Idea: What It Really Takes to Create and Scale a Startup. With decades of experience leading teams at Akamai, VMware, and DigitalOcean, Julia brings tactical wisdom and deep empathy to the messy, high-stakes realities of startup life.

Together, they unpack what really happens after the check clears: from managing investor relationships and board dynamics to building operationally sound companies that can scale. Drawing on frameworks from her book and real-world examples, Julia gives founders clear guidance on how to stay in the driver’s seat—even in the face of strong investor opinions.

Highlights include
  • How and when to communicate with your investors after the "check clears"

  • Productive ways to disagree with your investors and still build trust

  • Strategies to get the most value out of your board member’s network & expertise

  • The gap most startup books miss—and how After the Idea fills it
Julia also lays out a strong case for why figuring out the “culture and people stuff” is essential to a startup’s survival. 

Whether you’re working towards product market fit, building a team, or navigating early-stage chaos, this is your crash course in leading with intention, not reaction.

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Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn
Purchase your copy of After the Idea here!

Tuning into Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors feels less like attending a formal lecture and more like pulling up a chair in a room full of people who have actually built and funded companies. Hosted by the team at Burkland, the conversations here move beyond theory to focus on the tangible, often messy, realities of scaling a business. You’ll find episodes that feel timely, addressing the specific challenges and opportunities that founders and investors are navigating right now. The dialogue is driven by guests who have lived it-founders recounting pivotal moments from their journey and investors explaining the nuances behind their decisions. This isn't about generic advice; it's about the operational details that make or break growth. Each discussion naturally narrows in on a single, critical pressure point, whether that's untangling a complex financing round, refining a go-to-market strategy, or building a culture that can withstand rapid hiring. The value of this podcast lies in its specificity and the credibility of the voices featured. It serves as a practical resource for anyone actively involved in the lifecycle of a startup, offering perspectives that are immediately applicable to your own work. By focusing on real stories and current trends, the series provides a grounded, actionable look at what genuine progress requires from both sides of the founder-investor relationship.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors
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