Newborns, standup comedy and a new definition of fatherhood | Will Rocklin (new father of 1, Google, Square, Safara)

Startup Dad

Will Rocklin is a product advisor, the former Head of Product at Safara and former product leader at Square and Google. He is also an aspiring standup comic, having performed in New York and Los Angeles. He now helps climate tech startups go from zero to one. When he's not doing that he's busy gentrifying Los Angeles as a new father.

In this episode we discuss:

• A hilarious story about how he met his wife
• How compatible product management is with standup comedy
• His parents thoughts on his comedy aspirations
• How they chose their son's name
• The good and bad of IVF
• How marriage is a growth driver for self actualization
• His love of babywearing
• Will's evolved definition of what it means to be a husband and a father
• Parental leave policies and what they did after their son was born
• Frameworks for simplifying your life after your kid enters
• Parenting books, Google searches and ChatGPT
• Sacrifices and mistakes made as a Dad so far
• A rapid fire round including why Will is PRO minivan!

—

Where to find Will Rocklin

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wrocklin/

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/willrocklin

Where to find Adam Fishman

- Newsletter: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/

- Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

- Twitter (aka X): https://twitter.com/fishmanaf

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

—

In this episode, we cover:

[2:03] Welcome and introductions

[2:21] Will’s professional background

[4:08] Will’s childhood and his parents career

[5:30] Standup comedy

[9:28] Parent’s opinions of his standup

[11:28] Standup and Product Management

[14:09] How he met his partner

[16:33] Choosing his son’s name and his Mom’s reaction

[19:33] IVF

[22:42] Marriage as a growth driver for self actualization

[25:15] Their decision to start a family

[27:06] Earliest memories of being a dad

[28:26] Prepping for delivery

[30:57] Most surprising thing about being a dad

[32:00] Babywearing

[33:37] His evolved definition of a husband/father

[36:41] Parental leave polocies

[38:18] Frameworks for newborns

[40:38] Parenting books

[42:02] What he agrees and disagrees about with his partner

[45:51] Sacrifices he’s made

[49:11] Mistakes made as a dad

[50:11] Thoughts on hustle culture

[52:46] Rapid fire round

—

Show references:

Will Rocklin Standup Comedy - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMWHua2cAciWTpFK-AVloSQ?app=desktop&feature=applinks

Sarah Cooper - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Cooper

Square - https://squareup.com/

Lalabu - https://shop.lalabu.com

Burning Man - https://burningman.org/

Seinfeld - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098904/

Merengue - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merengue_(dance)

What To Expect The First Year - By Heidi Murkoff - https://www.amazon.com/What-Expect-First-Heidi-Murkoff/dp/0761181504

Your Baby Week By Week - By Dr. Caroline Fertleman and Simone Cave - https://www.amazon.com/Your-Baby-Week-Ultimate-Caring/dp/0091910552

The Montessori Book - https://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Book-Babies-Toddlers-Independence/dp/B0CHL7WS6R

ChatGPT - https://chat.openai.com

Doona - https://www.doona.com/en-us/car-seat-stroller/discover-doona

Friends - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends

The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com

Fellow Tea Kettle - https://fellowproducts.com/collections/kettles

Hatch Rest 2 - https://www.hatch.co/rest-second-gen

Asics - https://www.asics.com

Ipad - https://www.apple.com/ipad

Sonos Speaker - https://www.sonos.com

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/

IVF - https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/in-vitro-fertilization/about/pac-20384716

RMA - https://rmanetwork.com/

X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/

Harville Hendrix - https://harvilleandhelen.com/

Acropolis - https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/404/

Doula - https://www.dona.org/what-is-a-doula-2/

—

Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/

Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/