Tyler Rooney from Format

Tyler Rooney was the Co-Founder of Format (acquired by Zenfolio). Format has been offering creatives solutions to showcase, manage and grow their business since 2010.

Takeaways

The dot-com era at Waterloo was a formative time for Tyler, where he learned valuable lessons and worked at startups a few of which ultimately flamed out.

Tyler's early work experiences at companies like Infusion Development and Amazon taught him what he did and did not want to do, and helped him discover his strengths.

The inspiration from 37Signals and Basecamp influenced Tyler's approach to building Format, focusing on sustainable business models and creating value for customers.

Tyler's obsession with SaaS and business metrics.

Format experienced early traction and growth, and Tyler emphasizes the importance of staying true to bootstrapping and not getting caught up in the hype of raising venture capital.

The acquisition of Format and the change in pace it created for Tyler.

Throughout his journey, Tyler has learned the importance of meaningful relationships and the support of people in both personal and professional life.

Chapters

00:00 Tyler's Time at Waterloo and Startups

03:00 Early Work Experiences and Lessons Learned

09:50 Inspiration from 37signals and Basecamp

13:29 The Idea for Format and Building the Business

21:29 Early Traction and Maintaining Momentum

25:59 Reflections on the Journey and Staying True to Bootstrapping

35:05 Transitioning from Format and Future Excitement

46:08 Dealing with Hard Times and the Importance of People

48:20 Closing Thoughts on Meaningful Relationships

My podcast supporter!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada.

Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns!