How James Evans Got 20 Million Users

And raised $24 million for his YC-backed startup

Author

Michael Houck
November 14, 2024

Hey y’all — imagine that your college project ends up getting 20 million users.

Pretty wild.

But that’s exactly what happened for James Evans, co-founder and CEO of Command AI. If you’ve been a subscriber for a while you might remember when I wrote about James’s unique perspective that creating a category is overrated.

I wanted to go deeper on some of his other contrarian ideas, and also get the details on their path to 20 million users, getting into YC, and more so I asked him to join for an episode of the pod.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or your podcast platform of choice.

As a reminder, each Thursday I interview a world-class founder about their unique paths to uncover tactical insights they've learned about how to fundraise, grow, validate, hire, scale, and lead teams.

Also, after each conversation I write up my candid takeaways. Become a member and grab them ✨ here ✨ along with lifetime access to my private founder community and more.

In our chat we discuss:

Founder Journey

  • (01:00) — James’ founder origin story

  • (04:04) — Command AI origin story

  • (25:15) — Gaining conviction to build Command AI

Founder Mindset

  • (06:39) — Recognizing pivot opportunities

  • (08:23) — The overrated nature of creating new categories

  • (11:06) — The myth of necessitating truly new creations

Growth Strategies

  • (15:17) — Engaging in activities that probably don’t scale

  • (22:37) — Can anyone become a founder?

  • (41:53) — Prioritization strategies for founders

Networking & Resources

  • (29:18) — Effectively using the YC experience

  • (33:07) — Using Loom as a fundraising cheat code

  • (35:53) — Well-designed decks vs. substance

  • (39:10) — James’ angel investing learnings

  • (44:03) — Securing big logos early

Rapid Fire

  • (47:25) — Recommended investors?

  • (48:33) — Advice for first-time founders?

  • (49:08) — Favorite SaaS tools?

  • (50:03) — One change you’d make in startups?

Where you can find James and Command AI:

Listen now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or your podcast platform of choice.

How We Can Help

Become a member to join the community, get access to all 90+ deep dives, and fireside chats with experts.

Content Creation

Let my team and I ghostwrite for your newsletter, X, or LinkedIn.

Growth

Grow your audience + generate leads with my growth service.

Fundraising

Share your round with hundreds of investors in my personal network.

Advising

I’ll help solve a specific challenge you’re facing with your startup.

Advertise in this newsletter to get in front of 60,000+ founders.

What'd you think of this episode?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Reply

or to participate.