Podcast with James Connolly, Co-Founder and CEO of Villa

On Season 4 Episode 3 of the Think Like A Founder podcast, Maureen Taylor speaks with James Connolly.

James Connolly is the Co-Founder and CEO of Villa. Villa builds high-quality, prefab accessory dwelling units efficiently and for a low cost. Their mission is to help solve the housing crisis through a visionary plan and hard work.

Before co-founding Villa, James co-founded Olive, a company that attempted to create a network of sleeping pods across underutilized parking lots to solve the housing crisis among the “commuting workforce.” James attended UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

When I first started trying to do something in entrepreneurship, and I was talking to some of the people that I was Podcast with James Connollyputting literally into this mobile hotel that I had built. I realized that being able to actually build something that improves somebody’s life or makes an impact on the world. I mean, that’s gotta be the most rewarding line of work you could possibly do.

– James Connolly

On this episode of the Think Like a Founder podcast, SNP’s Co-Founder & CEO, Maureen Taylor gets James Connolly’s thoughts on…

  1. About taking the path of minimal regret
  2. Knowing your first idea won’t be your best
  3. Building a team to lean into your strengths

Learn more about Villa on their website.

Think Like A Founder is produced by SNP Communications in San Francisco, California. Visit the Think Like A Founder website to learn more about the podcast and curriculum or connect with Maureen Taylor on LinkedIn to continue the conversation there. 

Series Producer: Mike Sullivan

Sound Design: Marc Ream 

Content and Scripting: Jaselin Drown

Production Coordinator: Natasha Thomas

Thanks also to Róisín Hunt, Selena Persiani-Shell, Jordan Bailey, Matt Johnson, Eli Shell, John Hughes, and Renn Vara.

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