EP5: Sam Corcos on lessons from early startups, why he took a year off before Levels ($12m seed) and how he spent his time, and why he's building a radically open company/culture

Conversation with Sam Corcos, CEO of Levels health, who is a prolific serial entrepreneur and building one of the most exciting companies in healthcare today. Levels is a groundbreaking product that helps people track their blood glucose in real-time to understand and improve their metabolic health.

We talk about key lessons Sam learnt from his first few startups, why he took a year off before starting levels, how he honed in on the idea for Levels, his approach towards building a radically open company, and areas he's most excited about for the next 5-10 years.

This episode is packed with real insight into what it's like to be a serial founder, and full of actionable advice on how to explore ideas, find purpose, and work hard without burning out.

Episode Highlights:

1. Early startups and nomadic adventures

2. Building a high-trust culture that supports risk taking

3. Thoughts on hiring as a matching problem

4. Why (and how) he's building a radically open company

5. Biggest lessons from Sightline Maps and CarDash

6. Building effective co-founder / interpersonal relationships

7. Sam's framework for choosing what problems to work on

8. Why he took a year off before Levels and how he structured his time

9. Approach to network management and maintenance

10. Approach to time management while exploring ideas

11. How he converged on the Levels idea and product

12. What Sam's excited about for the next 5-10 years

13. Thoughts on synthetic biology

14. Sam's superpowers and how he's honed them

Links:

• Check out Levels' product and unlock your metabolic health

• Follow Sam on Twitter at @SamCorcos

• Read more about why Levels is building in public

• Levels' internal company podcast