Podcasts about vcs

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach—raising VC money, hiring hundreds of people, and working from an office in SF. In 2020, he charted a new course by replacing himself as CEO at Clearbit, selling all his possessions and living full-time on a sailboat in the Atlantic. And now he's building his new company Reflect in with a totally different approach —building a fully remote & asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup. Alex shares everything he's learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all. Blake and Alex talk through: (7:07) Pros/Cons of being asynchronous by design(09:01) Why Alex doesn't believe in remote work for large companies(10:11) Remote work pitfalls(14:21) When to replace yourself as CEO(15:52) How to find your zone of genius(18:31) When do startups hire a CFO or COO?(21:14) #1 piece of advice for founders(24:14) Things to know before you found a startup (B2B vs. B2C)(27:27) Why not raise venture capital(28:28) When startups should (or shouldn't) raise venture capital(29:40) How Reflect started crowdfunding(39:14) What AI and ChatGPT is good for(44:13) Best time to start a company(46:20) Not all startups need VC funding(47:16) Advice for VCs from a founder

Today – we've got a treat for you. We're going to run a special episode from our friends over at Recode. Peter Kafka and his team just wrapped up a special 3-part series on AI.  AI has captured the imagination of Silicon Valley. In fact, in the last few months, I've talked to both Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about AI after they announced new AI-powered search products. And in the middle of the frenzy, it's hard to tell what's really going on. What exactly is AI, how does tech plan to re-design the world with it, and why are a bunch of smart people very, very worried? In this episode, they're diving into the gold rush around AI. Figuring out what's just hype, meeting the VCs that are hungry to invest, and finding out if there will be room for startups, or if the giants will just own it all. If you're a Decoder listener, this is right up your alley. Thanks to Peter Kafka and Recode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We exist in a market where things are tougher. It's year two of the venture downtown, meaning it's flat, and the value of each dollar in the public market is at 5-6-year lows, making it hard for VCs to invest.    Jason Lemkin, SaaStr Founder and CEO, shares nine types of CEOs that are hard for VCs to work with. Why does it matter what VCs think? They play a small role, but it's an important one. It matters today because happy VCs mean it's easier to get that next check.    Watch the video: https://youtu.be/edPw60dHU5I   ***** SaaStr Annual will officially be back in 2023. Join 12,500 SaaS CEOs, Founders, Revenue leaders, and investors. Annual 2023 will take place September 6-8, 2023 in the SF Bay Area. Podcast listeners can use code FAVE100 to save 100 off tickets. Use FAVE100 when you buy your tickets at saastrannual2023.com   *****   Want to join the SaaStr community? We're the

Malik Shehab is the Co-founder and CEO of Golden Scent, the largest online beauty platform in MENA. Prior to starting the company, Malik worked in financial services in Germany where he had pursued his university degree. Malik talks about wanting to give up on living in Germany, without speaking the language, in the early days and how that built his resilience. We also discuss fundraising in 2014 and how that has shaped Malik's perspective on VCs overall and how to rightsize your funding round. Malik believes it takes time to build a lasting business, and lots of money can actually hinder the progress of the company. I heard Malik say:You learn your limits once they get tested, then you can break through themBelieve in yourself blindly that you will succeed, then you will succeedBalance passion and the financial figuresAssess resources & opportunity size as a framework to prioritize#podcast #ceotalks #pod #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurship #middleeastentrepreneurs #mena #startupstories #menaentrepreneurs #menastartups #menastories #businesspodcast #businesspodcasts #CEOwisdom #founderwisdom #founderpodcasts #founderstories

During this interview, Karen and Matt discusses the importance of investing in climate change technologies and provides insights into how businesses can leverage these investments to make a positive impact on the environment.  It is BIG opptunity to solve the BIG problems and Trillions of dollars will be invested by private investors, institutional investors, corporate venture funds, governments and non-profits over the next 5+ years.  Key Takeaways: 1. Climate change is a pressing global issue that requires urgent attention. Matt stresses the urgency of taking action to combat climate change and encourages investors and entrepreneurs to get involved in the fight. 2. Investing in climate change technologies can be a win-win for both the environment and businesses. Matt explains that investing in climate change technologies can lead to cost savings and increased profitability for businesses while also helping to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. 3. Collaboration is key: The interviewee emphasizes the importance of collaboration between investors, entrepreneurs, and climate activists in order to make progress towards combating climate change and creating a more sustainable future. 4WARD.VC's climate investor syndicate invests invests alongside leading climate funds and accelerators in breakthrough pre-seed and seed stage climate startups led by CRAZY, world-class founders tackling BIG problems in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Construction & Manufacturing, Commerce & Circular Economy, Recycling & Waste Reduction, Energy & Renewables, Transportation & Mobility and anything with positive “climate-economics” that has the opportunity to MASSIVELY better our world. Visit http://4ward.vc for more info and connect with Matt.  BONUS: GET ACCESS TO Free 750+ Climate VC & Accelerator Database 4WARD.VC made a searchable index of 750 climate, sustainability and impact investors, LPs, incubators, accelerator programs and angel investor groups worldwide.  You can filter climate tech VCs by stage, sector, geography & check size to find your ideal investor and/or co investors! https://4ward.vc/VCdatabase Watch the Shark Tank Climate Tech Investor Pitch Show on Youtube The Startup Tank Climate Tech Investor Pitch Show - YouTube Karen Rands is the leader of the Compassionate Capitalist Movement™ and author of the best selling investment primer: Inside Secrets to Angel Investing: Step-by-Step Strategies to Leverage Private Equity Investment for Passive Wealth Creation.  She is an authority on creating wealth through investing and building successful businesses that can scale and exit rich.  Karen is an enthusiastic speaker on these topics for corporations, economic development groups, angel investor networks, and professional  business networks.   About Karen https://www.karenrands.co/about-karen-rands/ Visit http://Kugarand.com and click on the Services tab, to learn more about the Compassionate Capitalist Wealth Maximizer System™.  Read about the Due Diligence Services, Investor Relations, Capital Strategies, Capital Access, and Capital Readiness Coaching serviced offered by her firm, Kugarand Capital Holdings.  The Compassionate Capitalist Show™ is also a Podcast on YouTube.  Please visit and subscribe and share.  It is great to watch Karen and her guests live, in action.  The whole library of podcasts and interviews since 2020 can be found there by category or chronological. https://bit.ly/CCSyoutubepod  Imagine the feeling of investing in a way that had massive impact and a potential pay you back 10x your money. The time is now to find out if Angel Investing / CrowdFunding Investing is the wealth creation strategy for you.  Hear why the most wealthy people invest in entrepreneurs, and you have been told it is riskier than real estate and stocks.  Sign up for the FREE Compassionate Capitalist Wealth Mastery Challenge Power Week, new sessions every month.  http://dothedeal.org    

It takes a considerable amount of courage, purpose, resilence and tenacity to bring a Micro Mobility (scooter-bike!) startup to life!With an entrepreneurial spirit that was evident from a young age, our guest – Emil Nnani - took the business world by storm when he launched his first venture at just 17 years old. His tenacity and vision led him to achieve his first million in sales by the age of 22.A serial and seasoned entrepreneur, Emil takes us on a wonderful journey through his earlier businesses - a mechanic business, a clothing line, a singing career (hip hop Christian music) and an errand driver business, where he honed his entrepreneurial skills, ideally preparing him for his current startup: Boaz Bikes.As the Founder and CEO of Boaz Bikes, Emil took a vision of a safer scooter, while supporting underserved communities, and created a groundbreaking electric scooter and E-Bike MaaS platform that has transformed the landscape of urban transportation by solving first and last-mile transportation problems for cities across the globe.Learn more about Boaz Bikes here: https://www.boazbikes.com/Join Boaz Bikes Investor Waitlist here: http://eepurl.com/gilQEXConnect online with Emil and Boaz here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boazbikes/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emil-nnani-82aa2065/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/boaz-bikes/Here's what we learned:* why Emil, while building one business, saw a way to create safer, more equitable scooters and stopped everything to build Boaz Bikes* how Emil's earlier clothing business gave him the resources and relationships he needed with overseas vendors to help him secure the best manufacturers for Boaz Bikes* all about per minute rental revenue business model* why you can't insure scooters* why equity crowdfunding is a better alternative for minority business owners to raise capital (Emil raised over $2.0 million with his first campaign!)Thank you for carving out time to improve your Founder Game - when you do better, your startup will do better - cheers!Ande ♥https://andelyons.com#bestpodcastforstartups #startupstories #startuplife 00:00 - meet Emil and Boaz Bikes!08:55 - a Christian hip hop artist is born12:00 - why email launched Christ Like Clothing brand16:00 - Errand Driver - what worked and what didn't work19:00 - why it's so hard to raise money from VCs when you're a minority startup owner24:00 - how Boaz Bikes came to be36:00 - Boaz Bikes business model41:00 - Scooters can't be insured50:00 - Emil's favorite mindset hackJOIN STARTUP LIFE LIVE MEETUP GROUPGet an alert whenever I post a new show!https://bit.ly/StartupLifeLIVECONNECT WITH ME ONLINE: https://twitter.com/AndeLyonshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andelyons/ https://www.instagram.com/ande_lyons/ TikTok: @andelyonsWBENC ApplicationReach out to me - I can help you!ande@andelyons.comSPONSORSHIPIf you resonate with the show's mission of amplifying diverse founder voices while serving first-time founders around the world, please reach out to me to learn more about making an impact through sponsoring the Startup Life LIVE Show! ande@andelyons.com.

Chris Paik is a General Partner @ Pace Capital, an early-stage venture firm in NYC. Pace's first fund was $150M and their second was $250M. Before co-founding Pace, Chris was a General Partner at Thrive Capital where he spent an incredible 8 years having joined the firm when they were on their first $10M Fund. In Today's Episode with Chris Paik We Discuss: 1. From Hipster to One of NYC's Best VCs: How Chris made his way from not knowing about venture capital to being one of the most prominent in NYC? What are 1-2 of his biggest takeaways from his 8 years at Thrive? How did they impact how he thinks about building Pace today? What are Chris' biggest lessons from working with Josh Kushner? What did Josh do to spot young talent in a way like no one else did? 2. The Core Pillars of Successful Venture Investing: "Invest in companies that can be described in a single sentence". What does Chris mean by this? How does that impact the type of companies he looks to invest in? "Business Model Fit is as important as PMF". What does Chris mean by this? How does he determine where a company has business model fit? How does Chris analyze his relationship to market sizing? How does Chris think about how willing he is to take a bet on market timing? Why does Chris believe that the more "virtuous" a company is, the less enterprise value it will have? 3. What is Wrong with Venture Capital: The Misalignments: What does Chris believe are the single biggest misalignments between VCs and Founders? What does Chris see as the biggest misalignments between VCs and LPs? Why does Chris believe we should scrap capital gains tax and all be taxed as an income tax? Why do acquisitions allow investors to be screwed over by the acquiring company? 4. The Future of Social and User Generated Content Platforms: How does Chris analyze consumer businesses according to "The Seven Deadly Sins"? Why does he call them, "The Seven Deadly Motivators"? What does Chris believe is the future for Substack? Why does it not have Business Model Fit? What are 1-2 of his biggest lessons from being on the Twitch board? How did that experience impact his mindset and approach to what good is in UGC and social? What does Chris believe is the number one thing to look for in a potential consumer social investment? What do so many miss?

New car, caviar, think I'll buy me a football team. With multiples at an all-time high and a raft of recent broker sales, the DIPP guys take a deep dive into broker M & A. They dig into the motivations of brokers who are selling, debate whether niche brokers can survive, and discuss whether scale is the only competitive factor that works. Can strategic partnerships, clusters, and franchises drive this scale? M & A needs financing, so the guys get into the different styles of financing, whether that's financing for growth, acquisition, or succession. They also debate the pros & cons of getting your money from the banks, insurers, or VCs. What are the pros, cons, and fine print? Resources: Tom Reid Jeff Roy Steve Earle Adam Mitchell Digital Insurance Pint Podcast

(0:00) Intro(1:18) Welcome Eliezer(6:27) How would you define artificial intelligence?(15:50) What is the purpose of a firm alarm?(19:29) Eliezer's background(29:28) The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence(33:38) Maybe AI doesn't end up automatically doing the right thing(45:42) AI Safety Conference(51:15) Disaster Monkeys(1:02:15) Fast takeoff(1:10:29) Loss function(1:15:48) Protein folding(1:24:55) The deadly stuff(1:46:41) Why is it inevitable?(1:54:27) Can't we let tech develop AI and then fix the problems?(2:02:56) What were the big jumps between GPT3 and GPT4?(2:07:15) “The trajectory of AI is inevitable”(2:28:05) Elon Musk and OpenAI(2:37:41) Sam Altman Interview(2:50:38) The most optimistic path to us surviving(3:04:46) Why would anything super intelligent pursue ending humanity?(3:14:08) What role do VCs play in this? Show Notes:https://twitter.com/liron/status/1647443778524037121?s=20https://futureoflife.org/event/ai-safety-conference-in-puerto-rico/https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/j9Q8bRmwCgXRYAgcJ/miri-announces-new-death-with-dignity-strategyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Figerh89ghttps://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23447596/artificial-intelligence-agi-openai-gpt3-existential-risk-human-extinctionEliezer Yudkowsky – AI Alignment: Why It's Hard, and Where to Start Mixed and edited: Justin HrabovskyProduced: Rashad AssirExecutive Producer: Josh MachizMusic: Griff Lawson 

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you'll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Will Patrick, CEO at Culture Biosciences. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Will, covering: How time at Google, MIT and Kendall Square led him to build disruptive tools and hardware for the bioprocessing sector Creating a cloud-based, real-time data alternative for companies wanting access to bioreactors... without the need for large-scale investment Why biotech and biopharma firms are embracing digitization, virtualization, and simulation... but less so at CDMOs Raising funds from VCs that understand the need for technological disruption How biotechs, biopharma companies, and CDMOs alike can leverage Culture's proprietary, integrated, and cloud-based single-use reactor platform How enhanced data-driven modeling and simulation can save a lot of time and costs in upstream bioprocess development going forward Will is an entrepreneurial engineer with a background in mechanical engineering, product design, and bioengineering. He develops hardware products at the interface of biology and digital fabrication. He holds 17 patents and has published 4 peer-reviewed journal articles. He currently runs Culture Biosciences, a company building and operating automated bioreactor infrastructure for the biotech industry. Will graduated from the MIT Media Lab in 2015 where he was a researcher in the Mediated Matter group. His research focuses on 3D printing fluidic systems and their applications in biotechnology and product design. Previously, he worked at Google[x] as a Rapid Evaluator where he developed and prototyped new projects for the organization. Will was a founding member of the Google[x] UAV delivery project, Project Wing, was an early team member of Project Loon, and also led the launch communications for Project Glass. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues, and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We'd also appreciate a positive rating! Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing, an international marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

In this episode Chris Beall discusses the common mistakes made by CEOs when seeking funding and how venture capitalists (VCs) make their decisions. Chris explains that VCs are in the business of pattern matching, meaning they compare the characteristics of a company seeking funding to those of successful companies they have previously funded. However, this approach can lead to the exclusion of companies that do not fit the pattern. He uses his own company, ConnectAndSell, as an example, explaining that his company's reputation and the age of its founders did not match the pattern favored by VCs, but the company was still successful. He also notes that VCs often encourage companies to spend their funding on headcount, specifically sales development representatives (SDRs), who set meetings for account executives. Beall calls this a "comfort" for VCs, but emphasizes that it may not always be the most effective use of funding. Join Susan Finch as she takes the host's chair with Chris as her guest for this episode, “Conversations Over Headcount: What VCs Should be Counting.”

Today, we welcome David Spreng, the founder of Runway Growth Capital, a Silicon Valley-based investment firm that provides venture debt financing to growth-stage companies. David has over 30 years of experience as a VC and growth debt lender and has been actively involved in the formation and development of nearly 50 technology companies. He has been ranked four times by Forbes magazine on their annual Midas List as one of the top 50 VCs, and in 2006, he was ranked the #8 VC.David's expertise in how venture debt has become critical for sustaining established companies has helped companies like Madison Reed secure $50 million in venture debt. In this episode, David shares his insights into the rising popularity of venture debt as an alternative to venture capital, particularly for established companies and household names.Key takeaways:Growth lending and venture debt [7:06]Counterparty risk and risk management. [14:41]The long-term model of venture debt. [17:04]Being a good partner is about knowing the risk. [42:35]Want to learn more about Runway Growth Capital? Check out their website here where you can view case studies and learn more about growth lending and venture debt. You can also email David directly at ds@runawaygrowth.com or on LinkedIn.Ready To Scale? But not ready to invest in a CFO? One of our bespoke packages can help you. Free Starter Membership Non-Profit Enterprise Package For-Profit Enterprise Package Connect with us because we love new friends!LinkedIn | Twitter |YouTube |Website

In the first two episodes of this series, we heard from startup finalists who participated in last year's program about their sustainability solutions, their experience with the program – including making strong industry connections and some securing funding, and advice for startups participating this year.  In this third and final episode of the SEMI Startups for Semiconductor Sustainability series, you'll hear about the journey ahead for the semifinalists of this year's Startups for Semiconductor Sustainability program.  SEMI just announced the semifinalists for this year's program. You can read about it here. You'll also hear from two of the VCs who make this program tick. They explain how they came up with the concept for a start-up pitch event, and how they collaborated with SEMI and VCs across the supply chain to make it happen. You'll hear about the process and the benefits of participating in this event. As an attendee of SEMICON West, you'll find out how to take in the program and learn about the sustainable solutions of this year's startups. Contact The Panelists·       James Amano, Senior Director, EHS & Sustainability at SEMI·       Jennifer Ard, Managing Director and Head of Investment Operations at Intel Capital·       Dr. John Wei, Investment Director at Applied Ventures LLCSEMI A global association, SEMI represents the entire electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. Like what you hear? Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter Interested in becoming a sponsor of the 3D InCites Podcast? Check out our 2023 Media Kit. Learn more about the 3D InCites Community and how you can become more involved.

Quantum computing has been surrounded by hype from the beginning. While these machines may exceed our most ambitious imaginings in the future, investing in them today brings some challenges to venture capitalists. How do VCs vet companies in the field, and how does the so-called Quantum Winter affect all this? Join Host Konstantinos Karagiannis for a chat with Bill Liao of SOSV about investing in quantum and other emerging technologies.For more on SOSV, visit https://sosv.com/.Visit Protiviti at www.protiviti.com/postquantum to learn more about how Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready.         Follow host Konstantinos Karagiannis on Twitter and Instagram: @KonstantHacker and follow Protiviti Technology on LinkedIn and Twitter: @ProtivitiTech.          Contact Konstantinos at konstantinos.karagiannis@protiviti.com.          Questions and comments are welcome!          Theme song by David Schwartz. Copyright 2021.    The views expressed by the participants of this program are their own and do not represent the views of, nor are they endorsed by, Protiviti Inc., The Post-Quantum World, or their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, shareholders, or subsidiaries. None of the content should be considered investment advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as an endorsement of any company, security, fund, or other securities or non-securities offering. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Protiviti Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, including minorities, females, people with disabilities, and veterans.

When it comes to top-tier VCs, very few equal Andreessen Horowitz' (a16z) impressive portfolio, which stretches over both Web2 and Web3. Their crypto venture arm includes investments in most industry verticals, from infrastructure projects to NFTs and blockchain gaming. Constructing such a solid investment thesis requires conviction in the long-term prospects of the industry, as well as an influential network.We were joined by Ali Yahya, GP at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss about a16z structure, operations and investment thesis, as well as the broader crypto landscape and value proposition.Topics covered in this episode:Ali's backgroundWhy Google didn't embrace cryptoa16z's team structureThe role of a GP in a VCa16z's thesis when it comes to crypto investingWhich crypto niches Ali is most bullish onGovernance vs. platform riskValuation-based investmentsProtocol revenue and monetary premium for L1sToken vs. EquityHow to prevent banking crisis contagion for crypto projectsEpisode links: Ali Yahya on Twittera16z cryptoa16zThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/494

As the state of the economy looks shakier by the day, Allison Braley head of marketing at Bain Capital Ventures gives founders critical advice on where to spend their marketing dollars. She explains the value earned media, and how to balance spend on brand and product.  It's a whole new world and although there's plenty of cash for early stage founders, late stage founders are feeling the crunch as VCs prioritize earlier profitabaility and low burn. Braley explaind the new marcom flywheel and where to focus as a founder. See the full show notes at https://justinkbrady.com/notes/allison-braley-bain-capital 

To commemorate the anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, Pete and Gary are telling the story of the heroic landings at W Beach, also known as Lancashire Landing. It's the gripping tale of 'six VCs before breakfast'!Presenters: Peter Hart and Gary BainPublisher: Mat McLachlanProducer: Jess StebnickiBecome a member to listen ad-free and receive special bonus content for only £2 per month: https://plus.acast.com/s/pete-and-garys-military-historySupport the show with a one-off contribution: www.buymeacoffee.com/pgmhFind out everything Pete and Gary are doing at https://linktr.ee/pgmhFor more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTVTo walk in the footsteps of the soldiers of the First and Second World Wars, join one of our battlefield tours! Full details at www.battlefields.com.au Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/pete-and-garys-military-history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would Dama do differently on her first fundraise? Three things:Iterate on her pitch based on feedback and "no's"Understand that VCs gossip with each other - don't erode momentum if you're getting too many "no's"When you have the pitch dialed in, hit it hard. About ManateeDama Dipayana is the CEO & Co-Founder of Manatee. Manatee is a family-first, virtual mental health clinic, designed for kids living in the modern world. We've put our heads together to create the best mental health care for families.About SpringTime VenturesSpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech, logistics, and marketplace businesses. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.   About Rich MaloyRich's mission is to rebuild the American dream through entrepreneurship. He believes technology gives all people the opportunity to grow, learn and earn. He is a Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures and the host of the VC Minute podcast. With prior careers in finance and sales, he's been focused on the startup ecosystem for over a dozen years. He's a father of two young children and loves sci-fi, skiing, and video games.  

Simon Schmincke war zu Beginn Teil von Rocket Internet und wurde durch das Schicksal Investor. Heute ist er als General Partner von Creandum wieder nah an den Gründern und wir sprechen darüber, was Gründer häufig falsch machen und warum sie deswegen kein Geld von Investoren bekommen.Was du lernst:Wie wählst du weise zwischen Junior und Senior, ohne am Ende einen zu unerfahrenen oder einen zu teuren Mitarbeitenden zu haben?Ist es eine gute Idee, als Gründer die Story an Investoren zu testen, die man eigentlich gar nicht haben will?Wie kannst du deine Finanzierungsrunde sichern, auch wenn dein Startup 2020/2021 zu hoch bewertet wurde?Was passiert, wenn dein Lead Investor die Pro-Rata Rechte nicht ausübt und du jetzt „allein“ vor deiner nächsten Runde stehst?ALLES ZU UNICORN BAKERY:https://zez.am/unicornbakery(00:01:08) Welchem unglücklichen Zufall verdankst du deinen Start als Investor?(00:04:44) Die Rolle von Rocket für das deutsche Startup-Ökosystem(00:09:44) Road to Series A: Was braucht es, um eine Series A zu bekommen?(00:16:57) Wie kann ich heute trotzdem eine erfolgreiche Runde raisen, auch wenn meine Bewertung aus 20/21 vielleicht viel zu hoch war?(00:20:02) Wie rette ich meine Runde, wenn der Lead Investor beim Pro Rata Investment nicht mehr mitgehen möchte?(00:24:01) Wie erstelle ich als Gründer eine Timeline für meinen Fundraising Prozess und worauf kommt es an?(00:27:59) Wie siehst du das, wenn Gründer vor dem Gespräch mit euch "just for fun" (um ihre Story zu testen) schon mal mit anderen Investoren gesprochen haben?(00:29:16) Wie muss sich meine Bewertung über die verschiedenen Runden entwickeln, dass meine Investoren happy sind??(00:35:03) Wie sieht ein gesundes Verhältnis zwischen Produkt weiterentwickeln, Burn Rate managen und Leute einstellen aus, damit ihr als VCs überzeugt seid?(00:39:14) Wie entscheide ich als Gründer, wann ich Senior und wann ich Junior hiren "muss" und wie verhindere ich das klassische Dilemma von zu teuer oder zu unerfahren?(00:41:08) Wie coacht ihr eure Gründer, damit sie mit der Firma mitwachsen können und alle Herausforderungen auf dem Weg meistern?Simon SchminckeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonschmincke/ CREANDUM: https://www.creandum.com/ WHATSAPP NEWSLETTER:1-2x wöchentlich bekommst du eine persönliche Sprachnotiz oder Inhalte von mir, die dich zu einem besseren Gründer machen, melde dich jetzt mit einem Klick an: https://bit.ly/ub-whatsapp-newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investing Like the 1% Salvatore Buscemi, HRN LLC   – The Sharkpreneur podcast with Seth Greene Episode 911 Salvatore Buscemi Salvatore M. Buscemi is the CEO and Co-Founding Partner of HRN, LLC a private multi-family investment office, and CEO for Dandrew Partners Capital Management, his own investment office. Mr. Buscemi also is the Managing Partner for several other direct investment vehicles across several asset classes in commercial real estate and credit, fine art private credit facilities, special situations, and several well-performing life sciences investments, among several others.   Mr. Buscemi has started and successfully operated two distressed real estate credit platforms, at 29, the first being a distressed whole loan fund with a $2 billion Park Avenue investment manager.    Mr. Buscemi is also the author of several books on fund management and real estate private lending. His first book, Making the Yield: Hard Money Lending Uncovered quickly became one of the most expensive books on real estate investing on Amazon. His second book, Raising Real Money: The Handbook for the Aspiring Real Estate Fund Manager speaks of the experiences Mr. Buscemi saw firsthand working through a $600 million portfolio of distressed private credit assets and funds while co-managing Oasis and provides a reference to emerging managers looking to a practical guide to operating a real estate credit or equity fund.   His third book, Investing Legacy: How the .001% Invest Mr. Buscemi gives a peek through the keyhole into the investment biases and other non-quantitative drivers for investment decision-making between the middle class and the world's wealthiest and most powerful families, commonly called the .001% of society.    In 2020, Mr. Buscemi with two other partners created HRN to be the preeminent multi-family office platform as a direct result of the successes the founding partners and their respective families have enjoyed across statement-class real estate assets and venture capital. HRN has made direct investments into SciTech Development, 25Madison, Geneius Biotechnology, Immunicom, Apricity Health, Shinnecock Partners, DazzleNow, Thrive Biosciences, and AiScout.    Mr. Buscemi is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on real estate finance at professional symposia and has written numerous articles on the topic of real estate and private equity finance in various publications, including Investor's Business Daily, Business Insider, Forbes, guest contributor for Entrepreneur.com.   Listen to this informative Sharkpreneur episode with Salvatore Buscemi about investing like the 1%. Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - What the Fine Art Enhanced Income Credit Fund is and how it works. - Why the most priceless collateral is ultra-fine art. - How it's important to take possession of the asset you're lending against. - How many VCs are about to blow up because they invested in companies founded by coders, not business owners. - How private equity is not a riskier venture if you can control the terms and the price.   Connect with Salvatore: Guest Contact Info Twitter @SMBuscemi Instagram @salvatorebuscemi LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/salvatore-buscemi-b829305   Links Mentioned: salvatorebuscemi.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I got connected to David through Gidi Pridor (Workvivo) who I super respect, David and Gidi both worked at TravelPerk and Gidi raved about David so of course I wanted to bring him onto the show. (Check out Ep. 146 where I talk to Gidi about why many startups stop being exciting too early and the advantages of hiring a Creative Director early. Workvivo just got acquired by Zoom.) David Hooker is Brand Lead at Printify. Prior, David was Head of B2B Content at Gett (a Series F startup). David also built Prezi's Evangelism and Creative Services teams and he built the Brand and PR function at TravelPerk. About Printify: Founded 2015 Funding: Series A ($54.1M total according to Crunchbase) Description: Create and sell custom products. The tech platform that's made it possible for millions to become global entrepreneurs selling high-quality merch online. In this episode we talk about: What does “creative” mean to you; Top 1-2 creative marketing ideas at Printify; What makes for an awesome Creative Director / Head of Brand; What's your advice for startups that want to push more on the creative side. You can find David on LinkedIn >> www.linkedin.com/in/hookerdj Check out Printify >> https://printify.com/ For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I'm sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov/message

Jeremy Parish and Jared Petty chat with author Kevin Bunch about the launch of his book, Atari Archive Vol. I, and dig into the lessons he learned about the creation and launch of the groundbreaking VCS console. Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Interviewing Abhinav Tandon, Founding Member and Global Spokesperson of Da One Global Ventures In this conversation, Abhinav talks about how they decided to headquarter in the middle east due to all of the interest around sport, the connectivity due to the location, the availability of funds and hunger for innovation. One of the 10 pillars of GCC was also sports. They also identified the importance of sports, tech and funds that Abu Dhabi very warmly welcomed them with. This is also what led them to operate out of the middle east. Da One leverages its robust network of VCs and sports industry leaders to empower startups to soar and scale, driving their operations to new heights. Da One also has an  E-Sports Studio that nurtures early-stage ventures, fostering innovative virtual sports experiences and fostering collaborative opportunities. And the Web 3.0 Studio champions startups that aim to launch and evolve blockchain projects, NFTs, and more, providing essential support for growth. To learn more, visit http://daoneglobal.vc Hosted by Rohn Malhotra from SportsTechX - Data & Insights about SportsTech startups and the surrounding ecosystem.

While private space investment plummeted back to earth in the recent capital drought, VCs may be looking for a rebound. According to Seraphim Space Index, total investment rebounded 75% to $1.4 billion. Morgan sits down with Seraphim Space CEO Mark Boggett at the Space Symposium to discuss the private market landscape and his outlook.

Denielle Finkelstein and Thyme Sullivan are on a mission to make high quality period products available in restroom stalls across America. In this episode, they sit down with host Sam Saperstein to talk about the company they co-founded, Unicorn. The Triple Co Denielle and Thyme call themselves the Triple Co to reflect their stats as cousins, co-founders, and co-CEOs. They both had successful careers in corporate America—Denielle spent 20-plus years in fashion with Ann Taylor, Coach, and Kate Spade, and Thyme worked with beverage and food giants Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Nestle for 27 years. But as Denielle explains, “I'd gotten to that amazing C-suite job, that job I'd always dreamed of—and I was completely unfulfilled. I was working in a toxic environment. I had sort of lost that love of learning and the passion and really where that purpose was.” She made the decision to walk away from her corporate career, and before long she reached out to her cousin Thyme who was similarly feeling unsatisfied and ready for a transition. Thyme says her background as a “grocery geek” provided inspiration for the idea of producing high-quality, organic tampons and other period products. “Going up and down the aisles for years on end, I just saw as everything was changing to organic and to sustainable and non-GMO and gluten-free and transparency became so important,” she tells Sam. “Yet when you got to what is called the feminine care aisle, and saw the period products, it looked like you were shopping back in the seventies. There'd been little innovation, and nobody was talking about it.” Once they started researching and learning facts—such as the stat that in the U.S., one in four girls has missed school or work because she didn't have access to period products—they were even more motivated to start a business in the category that “nobody else wanted to talk about.” It didn't hurt, Denielle says, that they're perfect complements for each other: “Thyme came with an amazing, amazing pedigree with sales and operations and supply chain, and that complemented mine and where I came from as this brand-building and this marketing background.” The challengers become disruptors While providing quality, organic period products was the motivator, it wasn't long before Thyme and Denielle zeroed in on a mission to address period poverty. Thyme says that their mission was always to advance women in society, and they didn't initially see themselves as disruptors. “A disruptor by definition is more like an Uber, your Netflix, your Airbnb, it's something that's never been done before,” she says. “When we started this company, we were much more of a challenger brand. We were challenging the category, challenging the transparency and the efficacy and better getting access to better products for women. But we've actually evolved into a disruptor and we're incredibly proud of that.” Specifically, they wanted to disrupt the outdated period product machines in public restrooms. “A lot of places don't [offer period products] because the big metal machines are very expensive, they're difficult to install, they're difficult to service from the staff, they don't hold very much product,” she explains. “They certainly don't hold quality products. Nobody has coins, and often they're broken and empty. And we were thinking long and hard about that's a real problem, and the solution goes even deeper.” They spent a year and a half developing a low-cost, low profile dispenser that goes in the stalls, right next to the toilet paper. Then came the fun of fundraising—or as Denielle says, the non-fun. (“We have a phrase that there's no fun in fundraising, and it is real.”) The two had what they call a summer of un-love during which they spoke to about a hundred VCs without success. Then they found Barbara Clark, who they say changed their trajectory overnight. She not only believed in their mission and offered funding, she provided expert advice in terms of how they should shift their pitches to other VCs. Another huge break came last summer when JPMorgan Chase became [one] the first big organization to adopt their dispensers. It started when they found CEO Jamie Dimon's ear during his annual summer bus tour. “So everybody's asking about Bitcoin and world economics, and we're like, we know you got daughters, we want to talk about period products,” Thyme says. “And he listened. We had a good enough elevator pitch and he understood as a father of daughters and granddaughters.”   Full transcript here 

As customer expectations continue to evolve, marketers must adapt by delivering more personalized, timely, and efficient communication. This is where the online marketing platform Customer.io truly shines.Customer.io enables tech-savvy marketers to engage with their customers in a more meaningful way through emails, SMS, push notifications, and more. For the fast-growing SaaS companies that Customer.io serves, this capability could translate into stronger customer relations, higher conversion rates, and increased scalability.In this episode of The Modern CFO, host Andrew Seski talks with Customer.io CFO Zhi Li about his nonlinear career path, the impact Customer.io can have within organizations, how marketers can use AI as a fractional assistant, and more.Show Links Check out Customer.io Follow Customer.io on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram Connect with Zhi Li on LinkedIn Connect with Andrew Seski on LinkedIn TranscriptPlease note that the transcript is AI-generated and may contain errors. The content in the podcast is not intended as investment advice, and is meant for informational and entertainment purposes only.[00:00:00] Andrew Seski: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Modern CFO Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Andrew Seski. Today, I'm joined by Zhi Li, CFO of Customer.io. Zhi, thank you so much for being here today. [00:00:21] Zhi Li: Thanks for having me. [00:00:23] Andrew Seski: So I'd love to talk about your career progression, the route to the CFO role, your first time as a CFO in earlier companies. But before we do so, I'd love to hear a little bit of background as to what you were interested even in undergrad and some of the first roles that you had, you know, right out of Penn.[00:00:41] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. So maybe just a little bit of myself and then we can probably launch into different topics that would go in there. But so I was born in China and then grew up in the Bay Area and then went to Penn. You and I just chatted about like Philly, which is the city that I really love. But after Penn, I actually started my career in Canada. So I was in finance at a wireless division of a large telco called Bell Canada. And then after that, I moved back to the US. So I worked in investment banking in New York in the tech group of Credit Suisse. So if you follow banking, you know, Credit Suisse might be called UBS or First Boston later on or something like that. So that's the some of the new dynamic there. But I learned a lot during that time in banking. Worked a lot as well but, you know, on many tech M&A and IP financing deals there and also get to interact with a ton of smart, hard-working, talented people. And then after that, I actually moved to Seattle cold turkey. And the backstory to that was my wife and I were both actually in grad school in LA. When I took the job to move to New York, I made a deal with her and say, Hey, you know, we need to transfer your grad school. She's got two more years. You know, whenever you are ready to leave, I'll hold up by end of the bargain. So no questions asked. When you're ready to leave New York, then I'll go. So the time came. This is probably like seven years ago. She says she wants to move to Seattle closer to her family. And then, I picked up and go. I did not know anybody in Seattle going in. But Seattle, I — now, like it's home for me. So I love it. It reminds me of maybe the Bay Area when I was, you know, many, many years ago, you know, back in high school when I kind of grew up in the Bay Area. So but yeah. So now, I'm in Seattle. I focus on helping fast-growing SaaS companies, helping them scale. So, you know, the one of the company was Skytap, which is a Seattle-based enterprise SaaS company. And we did a number of transactions, including a Series E Round led by Goldman Sachs. And then after that, I was with MedBridge. So it was a growth P/E-backed company, and we sold the company from one growth P/E to another growth P/E. And now, I'm at Customer.io. So very happy at the momentum and everything that we have here at the company. So just really, I think, very fortunate to be part of this growing story with Customer.io. Yeah, so that's generally the work background.[00:03:07] Outside of work, I also, you know, spend time doing the alumni interview for the Penn undergrad admission, which I always find super refreshing to see the fresh applicants every year. And I've always been amazed with the quality of the applicants. And then also, I'm on the board of an organization called LCYC — Legal Counsel for Youth and Children. So we're focused on advancing the rights of our youth and children so.[00:03:35] Andrew Seski: That's a pretty incredible resume. I want to — we're gonna pick it all apart, but let's start right at your last and current role right now, Customer.io. And I'm curious to know first, what attracted you to the firm, the leadership, maybe some of the cultural ways that the firm's been building out over the last decade, and also maybe the value add of working together. I know there are a million SaaS solutions out on the marketplace today. The venture world has been in flux over the last few years. So I'd love to learn a little bit more about the firm, how you're delivering value to clients, and what got you most excited. And you've been there for about two years now, so, you know, maybe bring us back two-ish years.[00:04:19] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. So just a little bit about Customer.io. So we're a leading multi-product, customer engagement platform. I think today, it's actually super exciting day 'cause we have our new launch of customer data pipeline that we launched today for early access. So, you know, throughout the last 10 years or so, our core product has been the Customer Engagement Platform, where we allow tech-savvy marketers to engage with their customers through emails, SMS, and push notifications, and also in-app messaging. And now, we also allow a new product called the Data Pipelines, so we can leverage first-party data to create more unified view for our customer records. So super exciting. [00:05:00] And I think what really attracted me — with my background, I've looked at a ton of software SaaS companies and looking at like their value and their potential. I was really attracted to number one, it's founder-led. So Colin, our CEO, has been there from day one. He's got this really long-term vision, and I really kind of feel aligned with that vision. And also, we are very horizontal in terms of like our approach to our customers. So we want to partner with early tech companies. So if you're like a VC-backed early company, we want to be partnered with you early on and grow with you, and then just try to be, you know, as you kind of advance and mature as a company, we will be part of that. And so throughout that journey, we were able to provide a lot of value for you to engage with your customer. The company's also fully remote, which I find super refreshing as well. When I joined, it was just right around the COVID time, so people are like definitely warming up to that remote idea. But the company has been remote for a really long time. So the D&A really shows like in terms of the efficiency and how people interact async across the globe. So that's been a really great experience for me. And like I said, just very excited about the future where we continue to roll out a more rich experience for our customers through new products and new solutions. [00:06:19] Andrew Seski: That's really exciting. I appreciate that. I'm sure the audience will appreciate it as well and be able to check out the solutions themselves. [00:06:25] I want to go back to early career and discuss some of your original curiosity across all of the different types of deals that you were seeing. One of the things that's really apparent at this point after I've done so many of these interviews with CFOs tend to be just fearlessly curious, whether it is in learning something new, really being entirely detail-focused as they're reading financial statements, and looking for opportunities to improve constantly. And it tends to then iterate in, you know, Big Four audit, where you've got a ton of different companies to go through or consulting or sometimes even other types of leadership positions. So I'm curious where that initial curiosity came from and if that has augmented your career path, whether it is at Credit Suisse or elsewhere.[00:07:18] Zhi Li: Yeah, and I think it's funny because I think back. Earlier on, I didn't really have a full vision of like, oh, I wanna be this way. So we — I try to figure it out. But consistently, it's always been around like the finance field. So, you know, at the beginning, you know, I was in a just corporate finance role in a wireless division, but which at the time we're talking about like early 2000s, you know, we were kind of like going through this phase from landline telecom to wireless, like cellphones that kind of face. So there's a lot of growth in that area, and I was working from the company side. But I don't know if you recall. Like there was a big LBO kind of trend there — leveraged buyout trend — back in the early 2000s. So the Bell Canada was part of a deal for one of the largest, you know, LBOs at the time, which eventually actually didn't go through. But at the time, it would've been the largest deal in Canada at the time. So I was able to get involved on that deal from the company side, which really kind of opens my eyes and curiosity on like, oh, you know, on the other side of the table, you know, these are the things that are happening. So super interesting. So I kind of used that to craft my way up back to US. Took my MBA, and then I went into banking, and that kind of helped me continue that path to look at — in the tech space, I was part of the, you know, tech and telecom group. So being able to work on a lot of fast-growing companies with cutting, you know, advanced technology with some new trends looking at there. So during that time, able to work on a number of M&A deals, IPOs, and debt financing deals. So that really helps me open my eyes and being able to kind of be comfortable interacting with C-level clients as well as, you know, collaborating with law firms, right, the the teams from the law firms and also accounting teams, to your point, like the big forest on different transactions. So being able to kind of like drive the process forward, giving me that skill set was super valuable. And then at that time, I was really, even up until that time, wasn't really thinking about a CFO path eventually. But, you know, when I moved to Seattle, that was kind of a moment of, okay, I need to figure out how do I reposition myself because there are some banking presence in Seattle, but it's not a, you know, it's not a banking presence in comparison to like New York or San Francisco. So I decided to leverage my background and skill set to, you know, go into a fast-growing like startup companies. Seattle happens to be a very kind of cloud-based software company hub for a lot of like interesting and exciting companies. So I was able to get connected with some of the local VCs that get me connected with Skytap, which is one of the companies that we're preparing to do a round of fundraising. And they had aspiration to go IPO in a relatively short timeframe at the time. Yeah. So that's kind of how I went from banking into startups. And then through there, you know, going into CFO and doing different transactions, whether it's fundraising with the VCs or M&A or other things that we've been doing with Customer.io as well.[00:10:31] Andrew Seski: Yeah, it's really interesting to hear that you've been on both sides of the table. I think that it probably informs a lot of decisions, you know, whether you're communicating across boards or to investors, especially with, you know, expectation management and timelines. [00:10:45] But one of the things I'm curious is to learn a little bit about and share with other CFOs is some of the playbooks that you saw that worked really well either at Credit Suisse or things that other CFOs can do or communicate with founders in today's environment that you saw that were successful in the past.[00:11:05] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. I think when it comes to the interaction with the board, ultimately, it depends on the company and also the composition of the board. But yeah. I like to try to make sure that I'm always proactive in terms of the communication and be very transparent with them, laying out the potential, you know, upside or downside, and be pretty conservative about the recommendation and the assessment. And then, one thing that's always helpful is to have always be prepared with a the downside case or be prepared with like a plan B because that always comes up and trip up people. But if you actually had those things think through before the meeting or communication with the board or even, you know, with other investment communities or other partners that you work with, it helps your credibility and also kind of reinforces the confidence there. And I think that's part of that habit was built from my banking days when we would do these, you know, management case upside downside. So there's always the thinking of like how can I get things wrong? Like how wrong will I be and what is the impact if I get it really wrong? So that's always been kind of my mindset and my thinking.[00:12:14] Andrew Seski: Interesting. That's great. I really appreciate when people share frameworks to operate in. I think that's really valuable for the mix of different types of finance leaders. [00:12:23] I'd love to hear what you've learned recently in your new position. Just think about how CFOs of scaling businesses that's probably relevant to a lot of people who you typically have as clients, you know, scaling venture-backed firms. The CFO role typically is, you know, you've got the financial acumen but you also need a ton of EQ and leadership ability because you typically are wearing more than just one hat at any startup. So I'm curious as to how you think about leadership and the mix of IQ-EQ needed to be transparent, communicative, you know, sometimes it's an addition to the culture of the firm, especially as you hire a finance team. So I'm curious if you've learned anything recently or, again, seen successful playbooks as to how to contribute.[00:13:09] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. No, that's a really good way to frame it actually. So the way I think about this is I think the mix between IQ and EQ probably shift depending on the individual and also the company stage. So like for example, if you're a earlier stage, when you're like five to 10 people company, everybody is just diving deep. Like they're contributing on their individual, you know, expertise, building things from the ground up. So at that stage, everybody is like a one-person army. So IQ probably takes a higher mix in that scenario so that you can, you know, act very quickly and come up with creative solutions to solve a problem and make trade-off on a timely basis, you know, with very limited resources. Now, as you kind of mature and then your team grows and then the company grows, then you become like, in addition to individual contributor, you are also trying to inspire your team and you're trying to motivate them. You need to be able to relate to them and understand how you can, you know, like paint a picture of success and help them along the way. And that's where the, you know, slowly then the EQ becomes more and more important. And it's not going to be like a one-way direction for you to move just like from here to there. So being a leader, being able to kind of like recognize, you know, having the both IQ and EQ, but the trick maybe one step further to that in my mind and I think I'm still working on that for sure is how do you find the time. Like how do you recognize the moment when you dial like up or down, right? Like in today's environment with, you know, the reason Silicon Valley Bank, you know, chaos there and also like obviously, our market condition is super volatile. You wanna be, when you communicate, you need to dial up the EQ because you want to share and be transparent with employees about what has been going on, what are we going through, how are we preparing for different downside scenarios. Make them understand and paint the provide a context for them so that they understand we are, you know, working for their interests; that we are, you know, leading or partnering with them, you know, in the front line, not just like behind the scenes. So I think EQ is very important in that scenario, especially during the uncertain times, which seems to be always beyond there. So yeah. So it's maybe a long way to explain it, but I feel like it's gonna be a constant dial and that the better you are, you can pick up the moments when you know when it's like when to move it around.[00:15:38] Andrew Seski: Yeah, I really appreciate that. And I always kind of ask audiences and listeners to, you know, hit that 30-second back button and re-listen to a piece of the episode. I think that's really important that I think you might be the first person to say that it's not a static, you know, allocation of when you need to overcommunicate versus when you need to just strictly be heads-down and lead by example in terms of just staying focused, and I really appreciate that. There are different market environments. There are different things that could happen internally within the company where that sliding scale needs to be fluid and dynamic. I think that's a really great answer. [00:16:11] It sounds like we're kind of tiptoeing around your personal definition of what makes a modern CFO, so I'd love to get your take on that.[00:16:20] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. So I think of a modern CFO as it's like first and foremost a strategic partner to the CEO and the exec team. And oftentimes, maybe more increasingly, it's a CFO that is a leader leading in the frontline rather than maybe traditionally you might see CFO more like behind the scenes. They're equally effective, but, you know, it's just maybe a different style. And also, with the obligation of building relationships both internally and externally. So internally with like building your finance team, accounting team, and you're wearing multiple hats, but you're also dealing with stakeholders like other employees or even ex-employees if they have like stock option questions, for example. But externally, you're dealing with also, you know, board members, potential investors, you know, you keep a relationship with the capital market folks and vendors and all those people in the ecosystem that you keep in touch with. So being able to maintain the relationship, tell the story about company as well — that's super important. So it's no longer just someone that, you know, just provides the numbers or, you know, like be compliant on things. But someone that can actually be out there, you know, work alongside the rest of the leaders, with the CEO. [00:17:33] Andrew Seski: That's a great definition. [00:17:35] Zhi Li: Yeah. And then, maybe one thing I will say is having said that, I still wanna stress that, you know, that the baseline for you to be a functional, right, like highly functional CFO will still need to be some of the key competencies, like, you know, accounting, you know, making sure that the company's compliant, and the numbers gotta be right, for example. You gotta manage cash. Those are like not something that you'll forget, you know, just because you're trying to be in the front. You still need to make sure these core things are like welded in place. I call it the train's always gonna be on time, and then you can work on the other like things to improve you as a more modern CFO.[00:18:11] Andrew Seski: Got it. So you're the public face of the finance team, but you are the finance team. Finance now is table stakes in terms of, you know, leadership and all of the other things you need to be a great modern CFO.[00:18:21] Zhi Li: Yeah, exactly. [00:18:22] Andrew Seski: Got it. So I'd love to talk about — we've covered a lot of really impressive ways of describing frameworks and playbooks in our conversation already. I'd love to talk about some of the new technologies that are becoming available and how you manage focus and distraction for yourself personally, for your team, and, you know, the trade-offs of investing heavily in the latest technologies versus, as you said, keeping the train on time. [00:18:50] Zhi Li: Yeah, so there's a couple things. Like maybe we can frame it of like the, you know, the company's always trying to look for new tools and softwares to make our employees more productive. So that's always been a constant evaluation and trade-off based on the limited resources that we have. But one thing that's super exciting maybe as the second part to that is like all the new advanced development on AI, which, you know, I'm a finance guy, but like I'm super excited about the AI development that I'm seeing with the pace and innovation. So I feel like there's gonna be a huge potential for us. But obviously, a lot of unknowns still. So yeah. I'm happy to dive into some of those. [00:19:31] But maybe like just to walking back real quick is for technology. So being a modern CFO, my mindset is that we have to be very open-minded and fully embrace technology so that we can try to standardize and, you know, like automate most of the processes so that we can scale. And, you know, I went through the whole learning process where, you know, back in the day, like hardcore Excel in banking. But now over time, I'm like, Hey, you know, Excel plus Google Sheets for collaboration. And now, it's like, hey, cloud-based financial planning tool so that, you know, everything is easier, accessible, and share, and we can like control access and we can build a lot more things in a more kind of quality-controlled way. So it has evolved, like especially for me as well. But that's just one example. But that's happening across like different functions within the company. So a lot of times, it's kind of looking at how many people does it impact, and how does that translate to the company level impact for it, and is it gonna be like a one-time transition thing or long-term impact for us? So, you know, adoption rate assumption type things is really important because I don't want to launch something and then people only use it for like three months and then nobody gets to use it. [00:20:48] One thing that's maybe more timely these days with the volatile market condition is that when I look at vendors or new tools, I also do another layer of diligence just to see like, you know, are they well-funded, you know, or do they have a good track record? If we're gonna commit long-term relationship with them, like are they gonna run out of cash in the next eight months, which is a real concern for a lot of the companies out there. Like there are a lot of great companies that could, you know, get caught up in this environment today. And then, yeah. [00:21:18] So and then going into the AI topic, which, you know, I'm actually very excited about. And I start kind of playing with some of these, you know, use cases out there. One thing I feel that it's like, you know, you can think of AI being a fractional assistant for someone on the engineering team or on the accounting team or finance team where you can you have all the models and things like that, for example, but just ask AI to drill down on, you know, headcount on this month because things were fluctuating. You kind of know the general direction, but, you know, just have the AI to pull that and kind of get you 90% of the way, and then you just kind of like validate it and put in commentary and share with the team and do all that stuff. So that's a very — I think that's a use case that's probably available today or can be perfected really soon, given, you know, I'm looking at some of these developments. You know, it used to be it takes like quarters or a year for like the next version to be available. Now, it's like, oh, two weeks, you're gonna have another thing. So yeah. Like at this pace, it's gonna be hard for me to even keep up with it, but I feel like some of these core, you know, applications is gonna come out and it will be a huge tool for us. [00:22:33] Andrew Seski: Yeah, it's like compound interest. It's snowballing and the pace of innovation's incredible. So yeah. It'd be interesting to me to hear — I mean, sales and marketing are gonna be pretty disrupted. But do you picture — I think right now we all are starting to realize that we can have personal assistants help us individually streamline some of the repeatable and kinda onerous one-off things that we do every day. Do you think about this in terms of individual productivity or kind of market shifting — we don't do marketing or customer engagement in the same way we did in the past? It's a hard thing to predict, but kind of curious as to what you see in the future. [00:23:13] Zhi Li: We look at it from maybe like both angles, like from a customer-facing perspective. And, again, this is probably still changing view. So like, you know, things are changing. But the way we kind of think about it is from a customer-facing view, it's probably gonna be a very commoditized feature to have some kind of AI assistance or interface to product. So we would be probably experimenting — I think some of our competitors are already kind of looking at those as well — where with our product, you know, instead of building these key like workflows or, you know, journeys, we can have AI create templates for you or so we can get you like 50% of the way or maybe 80% of the way eventually or higher, so that, you know, you know, oh, you sign up with Customer.io. You wanna run this campaign. These are the top three, you know, workflows that if you just give me the names of like the data inputs you wanna do it, AI can kind of plug it in for you, and then you can just modify it. I think that's a very feasible thing that, you know, a company can do. So we will be looking at that to make sure that we enrich customer experience and make their, you know, life easier over time with AI. [00:24:26] And then when it comes to like internal, the leverage of each employee has massively increased in such a way that like if you are like, you know, a subject matter expert of something, you know the right questions to ask. So like you're prompting the AI to do certain things for you. AI become an extension of you that your productivity will increase, you know, drastically. So I think of that as maybe from there, the output of that would be we will be able to roll out like, you know, new features or upgrades of like our products and things like that in a much faster pace, similar to some of the stuff you're seeing out there where, oh, maybe like every month or every week, you see some new things because the pace has been just like constant in the background with AI. [00:25:13] So that will — that's probably something that I'm excited to see how that works out. It's hard to predict, right? Like I think you might be able to get to 70% really quickly, but then each incremental percentage from there, it takes much longer. So when it gets from like 95 to 97, it's a much harder thing to do, even for AI so. But yeah. I'm watching. It's super exciting to see. [00:25:38] Andrew Seski: Yeah. You're making me think about how the venture and the private markets in general are probably going to shift pretty aggressively. And we went through this cycle in '21 of just scale at all costs. And if you're reporting to a board and they wanna see where those investors dollars are going, it's typically hiring to generate more output. And now, we're seeing some of that, like you mentioned, some of that reversion and there have been some pretty significant layoffs across the market. So it'll be interesting to see the next, you know, whoever's at Y Combinator a couple of weeks ago how big their teams are gonna be in a few years or if they're not gonna be the giant teams of the past. So it's super interesting. I think the ecosystem's gonna change a lot.[00:26:18] Zhi Li: Yeah. And like the extension of that point, too, right? On a VC level, like maybe you look at a Series A company in the past and maybe it's a 10-people company you're trying to get to a certain scale. With AI, fast-forward maybe many months from there, you probably only need two people. So you're maybe the funding round, the dollar amount has changed, but you can probably get to the same reach of the scale. So what do you do if you have a VC that's, you know, you raise a fund that's based on a certain kind of like deal flow because you're writing a check size at this level, but now it's only like, oh, instead of 10 people, you only need two people or like instead of 200 people, you only need like 50 people. You write a smaller check. You might have a higher return from there. But then, how do you allocate the rest of the dry powder? Yeah, I mean, it's the all new questions that I don't have the answer for, but I can totally see that, you know, the wheel's turning for everybody, looking at, you know, these developments.[00:27:15] Andrew Seski: This might be a tricky one 'cause I'm not sure I thought it through. But I'm thinking about the changing mediums of communication. I don't know how often you hear the cold email is just dead. It's just a flooded medium. I get, you know, hundreds of emails a day or, you know, I don't want a phone call coming into my personal cell or — I'm curious as to how the mediums of communication may change or the routes that are, you know, if we could identify, like you mentioned, an AI puts together, you know, a certain format that is the most effective, I'm really curious to think through what the future of those mediums or cadences may be that we're gonna be able to unearth as all this data becomes available where we know not only the right time to reach out, but how to do so at what medium and at, you know, in what with what messaging. So it's an interesting thing. I'm curious. I think I can see the automations taking place to generate insights. I'm very curious to see if there are gonna be any new types of mediums that arise through some of this.[00:28:18] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. And I think that's gonna follow. You're definitely right because that has evolved over time. When, you know, even when customer dial first started, it was a lot of like just primarily email. And then over time, we added to, you know, push notifications. We then also did like SMS, and then we launched in-app messages. So we were trying to also make sure that we reach, you know, the audience through the different ways that they engage with their, you know, customers or their users. So that's continuing to evolve. And then, the mix of that will change over time. And I wouldn't be surprised if like, you know, there will be another element that adds to the lineup. And then, we'll try to make sure that, you know, we'll be part of, you know, like a world-class engagement platform for that median as well. [00:29:07] Andrew Seski: Very cool. Staying on Customer.io for just another moment, I want to bring us up a little bit higher to about 30,000 feet and think about what you're most excited about in the next 12 months, and then maybe expand even further out like three to five years, if you've got any idea as to what you're really excited. It doesn't have to be AI. It could be, you know, internal developments or even something personal. [00:29:30] Zhi Li: So I think we are in the near term for this year, for example, there are a lot of, you know, exciting product that we are we've been kind of cooking in the background and we're excited to roll it out this year. The Data Pipeline that we just we talked about earlier is one of them. And so we're excited to continue to execute on our roadmap to make sure that we provide a rich experience for our customers. And then, as we continue that journey, we know the power of having that, you know, like source of truth as a customer record. And we see it because we, you know, we see our customers using our product and then, you know, integrating with the different data inputs, and then they can drive actions from there. We see that having this as a core customer data record will enable us to add on to other experiences for them. So in addition to campaigns or marketing, we just talked about kind of the data integration. There will be many, many more things that we can explore. So that's what we're very excited about I think in the next three to five years. Continue to add, you know, different add-on features or product experience to that and make it more of a platform experience for the company. So that's the longer-term, you know, journey that we're on.[00:30:49] And then internally, I'm kind of still building out my team. So like I own finance, accounting, data analytics, legal, IT. I'm probably forgetting a couple. So with that team like, you know, I've been super excited about being able to, you know, providing a path for them to grow within the company, and then also kind of adding new talent to the team and seeing how with people now starting to work together and showing their potential and adding more productivity. So mentoring the team and growing that team has also been very, you know, rewarding for me as well. [00:31:23] Andrew Seski: Yeah, very exciting. I want to go expand even further out — my favorite question on the podcast. And this can be about something we've already talked about or completely out of left field. It could be something you're reading or personal opinion. But, you know, what's one thing that you feel is underestimated in the world today?[00:31:41] Zhi Li: Yeah. I think people neglect the value of the power of context. So what I mean by that is — and this is something I'm trying to improve as well. So I think when you provide the right context and, you know, connect the dots for people, it really empowers them to take ownership and really enrich their experience in that, you know, to getting to that success. So in a team environment, you know, instead of me, a lot of companies or other people might just, Hey, think of it as a science. These are the 10 steps in the workflow or the playbook. Like do it. Which has worked fine and, you know, that's totally good. But what I think about is providing the context for them so they understand what we're trying to achieve, and then they can craft their steps to do it. Along the way, we make mistakes, we learn better things, have some good surprises. But I think we all take more ownership that way. And then, the highly talented people I think really thrive when they have that freedom given the right context for any like goals or projects. And then, sometimes when I look at some people who are talented, but then they maybe they fail in a certain task and I kind of take ownership on that and maybe I did not provide the right context for them to really empower them to get to the right path. So that's something that, you know, like maybe people are more focused on in the past about driving the right behavior down to a science step-by-step. I'm kind of of the view that while that is important, let's make sure we, you know, provide the context, tell the story, connect the dots for them to make sure that they are also, you know, a principal, you know, stakeholder rather than just getting the step done.[00:33:20] Andrew Seski: I think that's a really interesting point. I was just reading an article about some of the cultural differences between founders who call their teams a family versus a professional sports team. And you think about a professional sports team, if it's not performing, people are traded. Owners may not invest as much in the next year. They're just harsh realities. In the context of a family, that is going to cause strife. It's just a it's a mix of expectations as well. So I really think it's an interesting concept. And I also think it's really important in terms of basic communications. You could expand that out into almost any conversation that you have in a kind of very politically loaded environment no matter what. If you can provide good context as to where you're coming from and the hope to explain an outcome in the way that you'd like, I think it's a really powerful tool. It also, like you said, it provides accountability to both parties in not just the outcomes, but in the communication levels because you have to both articulate that you understand the same goal.[00:34:26] Zhi Li: Yeah, and it's a very interesting like maybe a transition, too, because I think a lot of the companies when they are going from like a smaller company but they went through a very successful massive growth journey and then they realized that, oh, they're kind of like in between a family environment to a, you know, professional sports team. And there's probably not like a right or wrong either way. And a lot of people are probably trying to figure out in between. But the transition of it and maybe also like depending on the times of the market or like the life stage of the company, then you're trying to communicate the behavior change where — yeah, on certain things, like for us to scale, you know, it needs to be done a different way versus like back in the day, everything, it's, you know, honor system, you know, family-type feel. It's gonna be it's gonna go through some natural progression, and it probably doesn't need to be extreme like the just purely professional sports feel to it. And I think I value Customer.io where even though we've gone — so we're now about 230 people. When I joined, I think it was like a hundred, so like about 18 months ago or something. So we've gone through massive growth and, you know, we were able to keep all the good DNAs. I could be biased but, you know, I think we kept all the good DNAs, you know, as a, you know, fast company, but, you know, still keeping that, you know, closed, fully remote, you know, elements to it while adding new employees like new perspective, new experience into it, but still kind of jiving as a united, you know, force. So that's been, you know, very interesting to see. And we're definitely going through some of those transitions in terms of maybe, you know, policies and things like that for us to really tweak it. But we wanna make sure that we're not sacrificing I think some of the efficiencies or some of the prior experience that people take pride in with the company. We don't wanna water it down with just a bunch of processes and like workflows.[00:36:28] Andrew Seski: Yeah, that's a really good point. And it's a challenge for, you know, to measure growth and cultural consistency so 'cause priorities change, stakeholders sometimes change, ownership sometimes changes. All can have major impacts on culture. And I think it's so important because, you know, you may have a great idea as to what to do, but culture defines how you go about doing it. So I think it's a really important concept. [00:36:53] One of the last things I wanna cover today is some of your advice for aspiring CFOs. You had a nonlinear path, but I think, you know, you've also had a number of moves that you said you picked up and moved across the country a few times and you've lived in a few different places. How did you have some of the — where did the courage come from to make some of those transitions? And if people are thinking about a move for the CFO role for the first time, what would you recommend they start thinking about? [00:37:25] Zhi Li: Yeah, and I always love kind of going through or like chatting with people about, you know, their career journey and like when they make certain choices, right? I think for folks that are, you know, trying to make the move, there's a couple recent learnings, right? One that's fresh in my mind actually it's the Silicon Valley bank situation. So this is a very, maybe a common thing, but like just make sure you don't put all your eggs in one basket. We were exclusively banking with SVB and they're a bunch of great, great guys. We still keep our relationship with them. But when that situation came up, we were just — we are stuck. We couldn't get our things out. So I think just the lesson of that is, you know, try to make sure that you have always diversified your risk, and then don't put all your eggs in one basket. [00:38:15] And then also, this might be a hard thing for, you know, finance people because we like numbers and we like knowing things exactly. But a CFO, especially when you're operating in a fast-growing pace, you have to be comfortable with high degree of uncertainty. In a certain degree, maybe even embrace that. So that's probably a very counterintuitive thing where you go through finance, accounting, training, but like when you look at the numbers, like there's just a lot of variability to it. So I think of that as it's a skill to have — to be comfortable with uncertainty and to embrace that potentially the fear or the anxiety with that uncertainty because we're trying to achieve like some big goals. We're trying to, you know, make a lot of big impact for customers. It's supposed to be pretty nerve-racking. Like if you try to climb Mount Everest, it's supposed to be pretty, pretty tough. Like you shouldn't be like, you know, comfortable around it. So I think having that just accept the fact and just kind of take the challenge and make sure that you have upside downside case to kind of like frame your the ranges as you go through the navigate through the risk. Then, you can kind of really thrive on it. But maybe that's one thing. Like I think conceptually, it's a little bit contrary to people's, you know, by trade. [00:39:34] Andrew Seski: That's a really, really unique perspective because if you have an idea that you're in a high-risk environment and you can account for that level of variability and then you can continue to kind of recapture some of that control that I know most finance people really appreciate. [00:39:48] I want to give you the opportunity. Maybe you'll be back here in Philly talking to Penn students soon. But I wanna give you the opportunity to let people know how to learn more about Customer.io. Maybe if your career page we can link in the show notes if you're actively continuing to expand the team and your team specifically. Would love to know and direct people where to go if you don't mind.[00:40:09] Zhi Li: Yeah, yeah. So we are definitely hiring. So I think the best place to go is Customer.io. That's the address that takes us to the company page. Yeah. So you can do Customer.io and then slash careers, and then you can find all the open spots there. And then, you know, follow us on Twitter, on Instagram, on LinkedIn. And yeah. And I would love to keep in touch with you. And I've been saying that I'm gonna go back and visit Philly for a long time. So now, you're adding another reason for me to go back. My wife and I, we met in freshman year college at Penn, so we were kind of joking that maybe on one of these like anniversary years that, you know, this is like many, many years now that we'll go back to Philly and celebrate.[00:40:50] Andrew Seski: Well, can't wait for that day. There'll be cheesesteaks in the office for you waiting, and I can't wait for that day to come. Zhi, thank you so much for joining The Modern CFO Podcast, and I hope to stay in touch and I'll talk to you again soon. [00:41:04] Zhi Li: Thanks, Andrew.

“Hiring the wrong people teaches you more about your culture than hiring the right people...”Did you know a third of women in the UK do not have easy access to contraception?And 80% of those who are using contraception have reported side effects…Following her own experience of having devastating side effects of being put on the wrong contraception, today's 40 Minute Mentor, Alice Pelton, decided to take matters  into her own hands. That's why she started The Lowdown - the UK's leading sexual and reproductive health platform, used by over 2 million women. Featured in the likes of Grazia and The Times, The Lowdown is a contraception review, advice and prescriptions platform, on a mission to change women's health. In today's episode, Alice shares candid insights into her own contraception journey and being a female Founder, including: ➡️ Her 10-year journey to find the right contraception [05:00] ➡️ The historical ‘un-sexy' part of medicine and building the Lowdown [08:59] ➡️ Challenges of being a solo female Founder [10:30] ➡️ What nobody teaches you about fundraising [11:48] ➡️ Working with Angels vs VCs [16:18] ➡️ More about our sponsors, Alchemist [18:10] ➡️ Misconceptions about investors [19:20] ➡️ Building communities [22:11] ➡️ Learnings from hiring mistakes [25:23] ➡️ What she looks for when hiring for The Lowdown [27:53] ➡️ Navigating the ‘chat' around contraception with children [32:33]  ⛳ Helpful links:➡️ More about Alice: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-pelton/➡️ Check out The Lowdown: https://thelowdown.com/ 

In this episode, we deep dive into the process of Venture Capital - how does it actually all work? - and what the future of VC holds. The end of our 2 part episode on the Evolution of Venture Capital. Navigation: Intro (01:33) Section 1: The Process of VC (01:59) Section 2: Stats on VC (19:03) Section 3: The Future of VC (27:31) Conclusion (38:40)  Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Intro (01:34) Bertrand Welcome to Tech DECIPHERED episode 42. After our first episode, episode 41, sharing the history of venture capital as well as the business of VC, and we are starting episode 42 with the process of VC, as well as some statistics around VC and we will finish with the future of venture capital. Nuno, good to see you again. Section 1: The Process of VC - (01:59) Nuno Nice to see you, and let's start with the process of venture capital. At its essence, the process of venture capital is we're funnel managers. We're not just fund managers, we're funnel managers. We manage a funnel. It's about how healthy that funnel is that a fund can return a lot of capital or not. Nuno So it's all about really two extreme positions in the funnel, the beginning of the end being deal sourcing, the quality of the deals you see in the market and the market is essentially—we'll come back to that later—has been very inbound driven. It's about people that come to you. That's why you needed to create a brand, people need to know that you existed, et cetera. I suggest that's about to change and that's we'll talk about in the future of venture capital. Nuno But it's about the quality of the deal flow that you have, your proprietary networks, your access to key entrepreneurs that bring you other entrepreneurs, your access to scouts, your access to the market and the quality of those deals. Nuno And then at the other extreme is selling the asset at the right time. And really normally you sell an asset either because the company is bought by someone else, or the company IPOs, and at some point you can sell it as public equity or the company fails miserably. Nuno I think in the last few years it's very obvious there is maybe a fourth mechanism for you to exit, which is secondary. Someone wants to buy your participation in that company and you can sell it to that other entity, be it an investor, be it a company, be it someone else. But maybe minority sale or selling just your stock rather than anything else. Nuno Also important to highlight in the business of venture capital, venture capital firms are minority shareholders. They're not majority shareholders, they're minority shareholders. They're just protected by special provisions because when they buy into the company, they buy into preferred shares. Their shares are paid higher than they should be, but then they get special rights. And then if that VC gets someone on the board, the board member also gets special rights in terms of approval, minority protections, et cetera. Nuno So it's not that VCs are dumbasses or stupid and they only want to have minority protection, no, we don't run your businesses, we don't want to own it. But we do want to have protections on your businesses to make sure that we are well represented, either because we're on the board or because we're a lead investor or we're a significant investor in the company. Nuno Two pieces of the funnel are top-end deal sourcing, top of funnel, bottom end of the funnel, end of the funnel,

In this episode of the ⁠⁠⁠Scaling Japan Podcast⁠⁠⁠, we are joined by Schyler Alexandra Cole, an associate at Incubate Fund and a founder of Startup Co-Creation Community. This will be part one of a two part series covering venture capital in Japan. Today's focus will be on how to understand venture capitalists so that you can make a meaningful first impression. Be sure to stay tuned for part two when we delve into how to raise money. Links from Guest Appearance LinkedIn Incubate Fund KK Links to Additional Resource Co-Creation Community Venture Deals by Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson, and Dick Costolo Pitch Deck post Show Notes (1:20) Schyler's self introduction (5:02) What qualifies as early stage (5:52) Difference between the seed stages (6:39) Types of companies that VCs invest in (8:48) Types of companies that VCs avoid (10:03) How many companies reach out to Incubate Fund (12:12) Reaching out to VCs (15:09) Who to reach out to in the VC team (18:54) Schyler's experience as a VC (21:35) Overview of positions in a VC firm (23:27) Qualities of a good VC candidate (27:54) How to better engage with VC (29:10) Advice for foreign entrepreneurs (30:02) Startup Co-Creation Community (33:01) Making connections in Japan as a foreign founder Coaching with Tyson Looking to take your business to the next level? Let our host Tyson Batino help you scale your business from $100,000 to $10,000,000 dollars with his coaching and advisory services. ⁠⁠⁠Visit here to learn how he can help⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scalingjapanpodcast/message

Top Venture Capitalists Elana Dickman at Red Beard Ventures, Saka Nuru at Funnder, Megan Ananian at H/L Ventures & Pete Mathias at Alumni Venutes matched up April 13th to debate the following Topics: + Current VC Mindset w/ SVB Disrupting Market Conditions + Most Exciting Verticals to Invest In & New Unicorns to look out for + Advising Portfolio Companies on how to handle Competition + PreSeed to Seed, What are most important Hires? + How to Navigate your Cap Table + What Role did VCs play in SVB debacle & what are the Long term Effects? + What New Jobs will be Born from ChatGPT + What are the Best StartUp Analogies /Stories for Success Connect with Shoobx for Cap Table Management Software IBM HyperProtect Accelerator  Building & scaling the next generation of fintech, healthtech & insurtech startups. PitchPages.io  The first end-to-end solution for fundraising!  Entre - The Professional Network for Entrepreneurs

There is so much I love about Goodles and so much that both B2C and B2B startups can learn from them. So I brought on Paul Earle because he was very deeply involved in Goodles' creative work. Paul works with brands on their creative and he teaches innovation, new ventures, and new brand creation at the Kellogg School of Management (go Kellogg!!). Prior, Paul was the co-founder and executive director of global creative agency Leo Burnett's “Farmhouse” (its innovation and new venture center). Jen Zeszut (Co-Founder and CEO at Goodles) joined me for Ep. 95 “This Is Huge: How To Take On Billion Dollar Companies When You're Small” so listen to that one too. About Goodles: founded in 2021, based out of Santa Cruz (CA) and has 42 people now! (was 24 people last episode). Funding: Seed ($10.2M total). Goodles is noodles, gooder. PROTEIN-PACKED, VEGGIE-BOOSTED mac n' cheese. Yum. In this episode we cover: Why the brand name is such pure magic; Why companies that succeed do so because there's this intense emotional connection created with people; Why large companies have a hard time launching new products and being creative; How did you make the Goodles creative so amazing; What's your advice for startups that want to push more on the creative side (HINT: great creative pulls your product development forward). You can find Paul on LinkedIn >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulearle/ Check out Goodles >> https://www.goodles.com/ For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. I can be your startup's fractional head of marketing (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. You can sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I'm sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. You can sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov/message

The Wharton Fintech Conference, held on March 30-31st, brought together some of the most prominent innovators and investors in the fintech ecosystem, including start-up founders, managing partners of VCs, and Bill McNabb, former chairman and CEO of Vanguard. Join Kailee Costello, Joshua Benadiva, and Tarang Gupta as they discuss the highlights and main takeaways from the conference, covering topics such as embedded finance, Chat-GPT, and more. With so much to learn from the top people in the fintech industry, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in fintech innovation. To stay up to date with the latest developments in fintech and to find out about next year's conference, follow us on social media or visit https://whartonfintechconference.com/

Morgan helps executives become thought leaders through content creation and ghostwriting. He works with attorneys, VCs, and others to shape and share their messages online. He is a father of six, a wrestling coach, and an appreciator of Mexican food. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio but loves Utah and doesn't think he'll ever leave. Join the sales mastermind group - https://empatheticselling.com/ Join the Podcast Community - https://discord.gg/UcZBk8Uu3c Support The Podcast, Meet Sponsors, and MORE here - https://linktr.ee/daltonkjensen --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dalton-jensen/support

When someone enters the multifamily real estate investing landscape, there are several paths to choose from. Some have the resources and assets available, and some seek out VCs, syndications, or private lenders. But there is another option that can be attractive to both the buyer and the seller: seller financing. Here to talk about how he's using this strategy in his portfolio is Christian Osgood. Christian is the founder of MultiFamilyStrategy.com. He's bought over 100 rental properties and a waterfront resort, and he and his business partner have done a ton of creative financing to get private money.  In this conversation, Christian and I dig into how to find creative deals that work, what he's doing to double (or triple!) his investing in the next 12 months, and the most important factors he looks for when using seller financing to make the deal. The Forever Passive Income Live Virtual Event The next FPI Live Virtual Event is coming up on May 19-21, 2023 where I'll be sharing the step-by-step blueprint on how we raised tens of millions in capital and acquired over 4,300 units. Buy your FPI tickets today by visiting ForeverPassiveIncome.com  Key Takeaways with Christian Osgood The importance of meeting every owner in your market. The questions you need to ask when using seller financing to make a deal work. Why Christian gets long-term cash-flowing, fixed-rate debt on every deal. Reasons why investors should evaluate the deal first and the debt second. Why sellers are likely to sell when financing is creative and generates a win-win. Why being a visionary or an integrator alone is not enough to be successful.  Want the Full Show Notes? To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit https://acceleratedinvestorpodcast.com/359 Rate & Review If you enjoyed today's episode of The Accelerated Real Estate Investor Podcast, hit the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device. You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU! Connect with Josh Cantwell Facebook YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Sign up for the Forever Passive Income Partnering, Mastermind and Coaching Program with Josh Cantwell To unlock your potential and start earning real passive income, visit joshcantwellcoaching.com

On this week's Green Marbles, G3 welcomes Mike Edwards, Deputy CIO at Weiss. Silicon Valley Bank and some other notable bank issues may be in the past, but the ripple effects from these situations continue to influence the markets. In this episode, Mike will discuss some of those ripple effects with an emphasis on how the private markets have reacted thus far and what could be in store for them and the public markets in the future. Please check important disclosures at the end of the episode and feel free to follow and review us wherever you get your pods. Time Stamps:Has the banking crisis sparked new thinking in how allocators are assessing portfolio allocation decisions? [2:43] Why does Mike believe that the ‘traffic around the accident' is worse than the SVB collapse itself? [9:15]How is the private market being impacted by the ripple effects of the banking stressors and the nature of financial conditions right now? [13:44]How will inflation and interest rates impact the VC market? [20:30]Is commercial real estate a ‘watched pot'? [27:13]Resources:McKinsey private markets reviewThe coming commercial real estate crash that may never happenRising interest rates are putting VCs back in their lanesDisclosures: This podcast and associated content (collectively, the “Post”) are provided to you by Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers LLC (“Weiss”). The views expressed in the Post are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice. Information in this Post has been developed internally and is based on market conditions as of the date of the recording from sources believed to be reliable. Nothing in this Post should be construed as investment, legal, tax, or other advice and should not be viewed as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security or adopt any investment strategy. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. You should consult your own advisers regarding business, legal, tax, or other matters concerning investments. Any health-related information shared on the podcast is not intended as medical advice or for use in self-diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before acting upon any health-related information on the podcast. Weiss has no control over information at any external site hyperlinked in this Post. Weiss makes no representation concerning and is not responsible for the quality, content, nature, or reliability of any hyperlinked site and has included hyperlinks only as a convenience. The inclusion of any external hyperlink does not imply any endorsement, investigation, verification, or ongoing monitoring by Weiss of any information in any hyperlinked site. In no event shall Weiss be responsible for your use of a hyperlinked site. This is not intended to be an offer or solicitation of any security. Please visit www.gweiss.com to review related disclosures and learn more about Weiss.

Have you ever thought about what it would take to sell your business? Or what you'd even be able to get for it? The process can be overwhelming, and getting it right is crucial. But fear not, because in this episode, I'm joined by Rob Follows, the founder of STS Capital—a one-of-a-kind M&A firm that helps businesses achieve extraordinary exits.Rob has been in the driver's seat for over a thousand mergers and acquisitions, with deals worth over $100B. When he sold his business for 27x EBITDA, he thought he had struck gold, only to find out later that the buyer would have paid a whopping 300% EBITDA. This experience led Rob to start STS Capital, which focuses on using strategic buyers to get the highest price for their clients.In this episode, you'll learn:✅ The benefits of going with a strategic buyer instead of VCs and private equity firms.✅ How to cut out the middlemen, identify and engage with the right strategic buyers, and negotiate a deal that benefits everyone involved.✅ The preparation required to 10x the value of your business and achieve an extraordinary exit.Free GiftBusiness Valuation Consultation + Maximizing Business Exit Checklist. Get access at LifestyleInvestor.com/130Want the Full Show Notes?To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifestyleInvestor.com/130Free Strategy Session For a limited time, my team is hosting free, personalized consultation calls to learn more about your goals and determine which of our courses or masterminds will get you to the next level. To book your free session, visit LifestyleInvestor.com/consultationThe Lifestyle Investor InsiderJoin The Lifestyle Investor Insider, our brand new AI - curated newsletter - FREE for all podcast listeners for a limited time: www.lifestyleinvestor.com/insiderGet the Lifestyle Investor Book!To get access to The Lifestyle Investor: The 10 Commandments of Cashflow Investing for Passive Income and Financial Freedom visit LifestyleInvestor.com/bookRate & ReviewIf you enjoyed today's episode of The Lifestyle Investor, hit the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, or wherever you listen, so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.You can also help by providing an honest rating & review. Connect with Justin DonaldFacebookYouTubeInstagramLinkedInTwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian Feretic is the Founder of Blossm, a community marketplace to buy, sell, and trade plants. Victoria talks to Brian about how coming up with the concept happened, getting started in a very scrappy way and then filling in gaps, and opening up the app to have full marketplace functionality with buying, selling, and trading capabilities. Blossm (https://blossm.garden/) Follow Blossm on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/blossm-plant-marketplace/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/blossmllc), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/blossmplantswap/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/blossmplantswap) or TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@blossmplantswap). Follow Brian Feretic on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-feretic-3b2b337a/). Follow thoughtbot on Twitter (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido or Tori. And with me today is Brian Feretic, Founder of Blossm, a community marketplace to buy, sell, and trade plants. Brian, thank you for joining us. BRIAN: Hey, it's great to be here, Tori. VICTORIA: Great. I'm excited to hear more about Blossm. Why don't you just tell me a little bit more about the concept? BRIAN: The concept actually happened at the end of 2019, and I'd already been a plant enthusiast for a couple of years. I was actually just going on my way to surf in my town of Ocean Beach, San Diego, and I stopped by this garage sale. And when I came back to pay my neighbor, I brought this rubber plant that are propagated just as a neighborly gift. She flipped out. She was ecstatic. She's like, "Oh my God, I'm such a huge plant person. Thank you so much. Why don't you come into my backyard, and I'll give you a plant tour, and you can pick something out." And what was cool about this was it wasn't just like a simple exchange. It was like this hour-long interaction with someone that lived four blocks from me that happened to be this big plant nerd like me. And I got her whole story. She went through all these different species I didn't know about. And then, she helped me pick one out, which I still have to this day. It's this crassula succulent. When I was walking home with my new plant, I was like, oh wow, I got to go download the app for this. I would have never known this person that lives four houses away was a big plant person like me. And when I got home, I searched the App Store. I did a Google search. I just couldn't find what I was looking for, which was basically this plant-swapping plant-connecting platform where I could find fellow plant nerds in my neighborhood. And so that kind of set me off on this path. I did some more research and decided...I was like, you know what? I'm going to commit to this and make this happen for myself and for my community. VICTORIA: Well, what do you think makes someone a plant person [laughs] or like a...how did you describe yourself? A plant nerd? What sets that user apart? BRIAN: We'll say it's like on a spectrum where people can shift along the spectrum. But I'd say when people start treating their plants more than objects and more what they are. They are these living things. They're beautiful. They bring people joy. I find it therapeutic to take care of them. And then the beautiful thing about it is that these plants grow, and you can propagate them and share them with your friends. And I think that is a critical aspect of this whole plant person thing. VICTORIA: So the plants have become a little more like pets, and you can grow them in a way that creates a community around your friendship and your local area. BRIAN: Yeah, exactly. That was actually the early signal about this whole plant world is that I saw people creating plant-dedicated Instagram accounts as if it was your dog or cat. And that was something that I realized this is a different type of person. This is a very passionate person willing to, like, they're so proud of their plant babies, we call them. [laughter] VICTORIA: Right. And it's funny, you say, plant babies. When I think of people I know who I would consider plant people, they do talk to their plants like their babies. They're like, "Oh, it's so cute." [laughs] Or they're like, "Oh, he's not feeling so well." So I think that's great. And so you started to do some research into this community, into this group. What surprised you about your early findings? BRIAN: This was actually something that I didn't realize until I dug deeper was that I thought that it was only going to be a local thing. People wanted to experience what I did with Sondra, who's the neighbor I swapped with, this in-person connection, swapping, checking each other's gardens out and houseplants. But I learned very quickly that people ship plants to each other not only within your own state but across the country, and this is global. And I was just like, how do people ship plants? Turns out I do it all the time, almost weekly now, for years. That aspect was critical to realize, all right; this plant community doesn't necessarily have to be bound by physical in-person distance. It can connect online, and people share all over via shipping. VICTORIA: That's really cool. So you decided that there's a whole international community. So is that when you decided to really start building something like an application to help people? BRIAN: I remember just throwing this idea out to a lot of different friends, like, various backgrounds. And I was like, "Hey, what do you think of this idea about connecting people through this shared love?" And there is not one person who thought it was a terrible idea. And then I remember talking about it with a roommate at the time, and basically the same thing. I was like, "Hey, man, imagine people connecting through the shared passion. Who knows? Maybe even love can blossom." And he was like, "Dude, that's what you should call it." I was like, oh, that's a great name. It's about three and a half years now, and it's stuck ever since. VICTORIA: I love that, [laughter] about sharing love, and how the name came about, and just starting with your friends and people you knew and bouncing ideas off of them. But your background is not specifically in technology. So what about your background applied? And what did you have to learn new to take along this journey? BRIAN: So my whole career, I've been involved within the science sector. I actually moved to San Diego to pursue graduate school in neuroscience. I was very curious about kind of full neural networks and how those contribute to behavior. Actually, the Ph.D. program I wanted to get into at UCSD, there's a specific lab doing this really cool research with this new innovative imaging technique. And I applied twice, and I didn't get in. And so I went into biotech. But I would say probably two things helped me. I realize now going through this entrepreneur path, things that helped train me for this, was definitely a graduate school where you're pretty much broke the whole time. My lab didn't have too much funding, so you had to be really resourceful and creative to figure stuff out with minimal resources. And that's perfectly summed up the last couple of years, just like figuring stuff out. We have no money. How do we get awareness of our product when we can't spend, you know, we don't have ad spend or marketing budget? And it just kind of requires you to get creative and think outside the box and just really think, all right, what do I do here? And I came up with some hacky-type strategies that have been very effective. [laughs] VICTORIA: Well, very cool. It sounds like you found your team now to start working with you on this in a very scrappy way. So how did you fill in those gaps, maybe in your knowledge or your background on how to get this done by the people that you grew around you? BRIAN: For me, it wasn't too difficult. Well, one, my background. I was very naive with tech at the time and just programming in general. So my first task, I laid out three options. It was like, one, I can learn how to code. I dabbled in it for a week, and I was like, man, there's no way. [laughter] Two, I was like, I can outsource it, maybe somewhat cheaply, but I don't want to spend all my savings on it. But more, I knew that, you know, say you come out of MVP product, the product always is growing, adapting, evolving, or you encounter bugs. And I could just see how full of friction the process would be if I had to, like, all right, we have found a bug, send the contract out. They have to accept the contract. And I just knew progress would be too slow to operate in that fashion. And the third option was, like, find a technical co-founder and pursue this dream with, you know, a buddy. I was like, all right, who do I know that is in the computer stuff? And that was my thought. And my first guy I pitched it to was a friend I went to college with at Bucknell University. And he was like, I think, "This is a good idea." But he's like, "I'm going to retire probably in five years, and this is going to be a very lengthy thing." He's like, "I'm not interested." The second guy was extremely down for it, but it turns out he didn't know how to do any mobile app development. He uses a consultant. [laughs] And so the third and who I ended up working with was my surfing and climbing buddy Nick Mitchell. I just knew he did computer-type stuff. I pitched him the idea, and he was like, "What's up with this plant thing?" VICTORIA: [laughs] BRIAN: And I was like, "Oh, dude, this is a rapidly growing market. I know the ins and outs really well. I know this audience. I'm one of them." He wasn't sold until he heard an NPR piece talking about the houseplant boom. And then his father sent him an article from the New York Times saying how millennials are embracing houseplants and driving this new houseplant market. And so I think this was maybe end of December, now in 2019. And he hit me up, and of course, he's like, "Oh, dude, I want in. Let's do it." But I also wanted to make sure I knew he could actually do what was the task at hand. [laughter] So I had my other first friend vet his GitHub and stuff just to make sure. [laughs] VICTORIA: Oh, cool. [laughs] BRIAN: And he was like, "Yeah, you know, he looks good. Worth a shot." And it turns out Nick is excellent. He did all the front end, back end. He built this whole app basically from scratch. It's pretty amazing what he's capable of. So I got it right on the third try. [laughs] VICTORIA: That's funny. And I'm not surprised it came from networking in the climbing community, either. BRIAN: Right. There's a lot of smart...definitely a lot of smart people in the climbing community. And those are like my closest friends now. So it was kind of cool to find someone in that place. VICTORIA: And I've been climbing with friends before, and you're talking about work or whatever. And they're like, "Oh, yeah, I'm also like an Azure architect," [laughs] like some specific skill that's related to what you need. And I think it's a similar cultural mindset of people you want to be working with too. Maybe that's just me. So, okay, so you found your partner. You had someone who had all the skills that you needed to make this happen. How long did it take until you really had something you were proud of? BRIAN: So, for me, I was laid off in August of 2019. I was working at Celgene, and they got acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for like 72 billion, so massive merger. And I was kind of getting over the field. And so I was already basically unemployed. Nick, when we started actually working together in...we'll just call it January 2020. We started working on it casually, and then the pandemic happened. And then he got laid off. And he did about a three-month stint before he got another job at ServiceNow. But within those three months, he really cranked out like a full MVP. And then I had about probably at least 60 or 70 people I knew beta test the product for feedback and just initial thoughts. And so that was like a very critical time where we were all locked down. We have this cool idea. Let's just crank this out. So we had an MVP pretty quick. And then we actually launched it in June 2020. And I was already very stoked about the product. As long as it did its core thing, which is connecting people through this shared love, I knew it was like a proper test, a good enough test to see if this is a worthy endeavor. VICTORIA: That's really cool. So was there any surprising feedback that you got from that initial beta testing? BRIAN: Yeah. [laughs] So the initial concept was essentially like a Tinder for plants. [laughter] And I was just thinking about this idea, like, if people could just swipe on plants they've uploaded, and then if both people liked a particular plant and they swiped on each other, and they matched, it would open up a chat that would connect them. And it took the...one of the issues with bartering, in general, is people are like, "Oh, I'd love to swap that with you." And they're like, "Oh, what do you want to swap? What do you have?" And a lot of times, people don't align with what they have and what they want to swap. So I figured that would get this kind of friction out of there, but still, the core was connecting people. And then, very quickly, people found it fun. And this is still a feature right now on Blossm, which we've moved to the homepage. And it got a lot of engagement and interactions on it. But one of the simple changes was like, all right, maybe this is not the optimal way to present these plants people are uploading. Nick actually drew a lot of inspiration from OfferUp. And he was like, "Oh, this is very simple. This is a very clean way to present these things." So we started getting inspiration from OfferUp, and we changed that kind of swipe card functionality just to a scrollable grid. And that was a great insight on his part, and some of that has been core to the product from that point on. VICTORIA: That's so cool. So I can just go in the app and see a whole list of plants that people are willing to trade. BRIAN: Right. Actually, I would say another thing that happened very early on, too, was, once again, bartering is not the most efficient way to exchange things with each other. And within weeks, we're seeing people being like, "Oh, well, what do you want to swap?" And then people are like, "Oh, well, I don't want to swap for that. I already have that." And then other people are like, "Hey, I don't want to swap anything. I just want to buy it." And then other people are like, "Hey, I don't have anything. but how do I get stuff for you?" So right away, we opened it up to full marketplace kind of functionality with buying, selling, and trading. And we didn't have necessarily any payment system to facilitate that. We would just connect people. And then they would use Venmo, or Paypal, or Cash App, or things like that. VICTORIA: That makes sense. MID-ROLL AD: Now that you have funding, it's time to design, build, and ship the most impactful MVP that wows customers now and can scale in the future. thoughtbot Liftoff brings you the most reliable cross-functional team of product experts to mitigate risk and set you up for long-term success. As your trusted, experienced technical partner, we'll help launch your new product and guide you into a future-forward business that takes advantage of today's new technologies and agile best practices. Make the right decisions for tomorrow today. Get in touch at thoughtbot.com/liftoff. VICTORIA: Now you kind of got your core features figured out, and you see people engaging with the app. What are you the most excited about on the horizon in your roadmap? BRIAN: We're about to actually finish the TechStars accelerator next week. Next week is our demo day. It's been such a great experience, and I feel blessed. But during this time, we're really figuring out, like, what's our big vision with Blossm? And we kind of went back to really harp on, like, we're more than just an e-commerce or marketplace. We're like this special passionate community where people can do this buying, and selling, and trading. One of the things that's been the trend for years now is instead of just photos; we're about to integrate some video functionality. This is a lead in to the bigger goal. And the idea is creating this...we're calling this full plant experience focused around live video where people can engage with each other on this totally different intimate level and can really showcase their plant collection and give each other a plant tour. How do you take care of this plant? Is another big topic that always comes up. It's just hard to really decipher what's wrong with something just from ecstatic images. And we imagine we could have live plant help. And then people can just show their plant up to the camera and showing a really holistic view of what's going on. And so this vision of live with video and creating a more complete plant experience centered around really using the community as this way to promote that and really build that even further. VICTORIA: That's very cool. I think I've talked to you a little bit before about this giant fiddle fig I have in my office. [laughs] It's going to the ceiling. And I got it from Home Depot, so it may not be the highest quality. And I've asked you about, like, is it alive? It keeps dropping leaves. So if I had a video and I could just show you around and show you where the leaves are browning a little bit and where it's not growing, I could see the value in having that interaction like that. BRIAN: Yeah, exactly. No one's doing that. And definitely, we want to keep innovating the space. We were first to market many years ago. And then, actually, we have some direct competitors that are blatantly just copying us, like copying email templates, features. And on one hand, it's flattering, but also we realize we have to be careful about positioning and making sure we stay ahead of the curve. And we think this is going to be the future and something that delivers really extreme value to this demographic. VICTORIA: Absolutely. And you mentioned you're a part of a tech accelerator. Could you tell me a little bit more about choosing which program you went to and how that's affected your overall approach to your app? BRIAN: Yeah. So last year, we added two more team members, so actually Nick's younger brother, Calvin, we poached from Amazon, which felt really good. [laughter] And then we had another friend, Ari Olmos, who we knew had experience in the startup world. He started, or I think he was, co-founder or CEO of a few other social mission startups. So he understood just the fundraising process was probably the most critical trait we're looking for, just someone that can help refine our systems, our processes, things like that. So now we're a team of four. And we were like, all right; we need money if we want to keep this alive. And I've been full-time since the idea conception. Ari joined full-time. Nick and Calvin both had jobs. But we just knew it's critical for a high-potential startup like ours to really grow; we needed some sort of fundraising. And it seemed logical. We gave our shot at proper fundraising with some angels and VCs last year. There were very encouraging signs, but didn't necessarily translate to any checks being written for us. And then we applied to a bunch of accelerators; Y Combinator and TechStars were our top two. We got a few rounds of interviews from TechStars, and the director, Ryan Kuder, who's great; he's actually based in San Diego. And I credit him to definitely being a key component here because I knew he really liked us. He saw the really good complementary team we built. We had a pretty mature product with traction and an active user base. And we accepted, and it did a lot of things for us. It was our first proper fundraising beyond a Kickstarter. So Nick and Calvin became full-time once we got in. And then we just had this, like, you have access to this massive network and get this really detailed one on one mentorship. We had almost six or seven mentors that we met with weekly. They're always available to help. And probably the coolest thing about it is they're just there to help you. There's no two-sided, like, I'll help you if you can help me. We are here to help you build, grow, accelerate your business. And they gave us really good insights on direction, really formalizing how to build in systems that will last much longer than the three month-program that essentially just mimicked a lot of stuff we've done on the program within our own team, like hosting little daily stand-ups every day. We've always done weekly meetings but using that time more efficiently, knowing how to test and measure more effectively. They've really just refined our company to be a proper business instead of four dudes trying to make this cool plant app. VICTORIA: That's really cool. And I wonder now, like, after you've had this experience, what advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when this all started? BRIAN: First thing that popped in my head was...and I kind of knew this going into it, like, this is a big project that needs time. Things that prevent startups usually is, one, you don't execute, or you just don't start it at all, or you give up too soon. And I guess I would tell myself, hey, things are going to be all right. Like, just keep sticking with it. And you're getting all the signals; this is something substantial and worthwhile. Just be patient, stick with it. Survive those valleys, and there are peaks on the way. And getting into TechStars was the ultimate validation. Yeah, I feel extremely blessed to be in it. And I think we're poised to do big things this year. VICTORIA: That's very cool. So you've mentioned those peaks and valleys and how much time you have to spend on this type of starting a company [laughs] and building an app. How do you balance that with also having a regular life and going surfing and climbing? BRIAN: It's tough to find your specific balance and especially during the accelerator where I didn't want to waste any opportunity. So there were a lot of times...I think January was a month straight no days off. And actually, I was injured so I couldn't surf, climb, or even play piano, so all my outlets. But just be okay with setting aside time to where you don't think about work at all. And it took me a few months to reach that point. And I found that as long as I have one activity or some exercise per day, either I surf or climb, I'm good. I don't mind working 12-plus hour days if I do one of those. And then just to allocate one day of the week where I am like, I do a couple of hours in the morning. But one mostly day of don't think about work, just enjoy life. And that has been enough for me to feel refreshed going into next week. And so I think I got a good rhythm, and I got a good formula for what works for me. It might be different for other people, but it's important to set aside time where you don't think about it. VICTORIA: Right. Yeah, just to turn off your brain. Sometimes I find, like, you know, you mentioned surfing and climbing helps you do that because you really just can't be on your phone [laughs] when you're out there sometimes. BRIAN: Right. It's kind of funny because I'll almost say it's a catch-22. But sometimes, those things can be distracting, but they're also necessary for you to be focused if that makes sense. [laughs] VICTORIA: Yeah, totally. Let me bring it back to plants. What is your favorite house plant that you have right now? BRIAN: Man, it's changed over the years, but I do have one. It's like the most popular high-in-demand one; it's the Monstera albo. Its common counterpart is the Monstera deliciosa, which is all green. This one has white variegation on the leaves. They're just inherently beautiful plants. And anyone that sees it can be like, "Wow, that is gorgeous." But I have one specific one, and why it's my favorite is that years ago, I was telling a climbing friend about the app, and I guess the app is out by now, but telling her about it. And she's like, "Oh, my grandmother was a huge plant person. My mom now takes care of them. I think she has one of those Monstera plants with the white on it. It was my grandma's though." And I was like, no way. I have to see this. And when I get there, she has this massive one, incredibly mature and old. I think she said it was almost 50 years old. I can't even believe this. VICTORIA: Wow. BRIAN: And then I asked her. I was like, "Hey," [laughs] I was like, "Can I have a little bit of that?" [laughs] And she was like, "Oh yeah, just go ahead. This is a plant. I'll grow it back." And I felt a little bad because I took a nice big cutting like multiple leave cutting. And she absolutely did not care and just was so happy. Turns out she had three of these like big mother plants. There's one cutting that had very low variegation, so it showed barely any white on it. Over time, I grew it out. Every subsequent leaf kept showing more and more white. And now it's just so beautiful. I check up on it every day, and every new leaf is just more beautiful than the next. And it's a special one. And it was gifted to me by my friend's mother. It started off like you can say a lowly variegated plant, and now it's just thriving and beautiful. So it has some history, and it came from a friend. So without a doubt, that's my favorite one. [laughs] VICTORIA: That's very cool. Yeah, I know those Monsteras that you're talking about. They're really interesting-looking plants. I kept one alive for a short time, and I'm very proud of myself for it. [laughs] So I'm interested in using Blossm to keep my plants alive possibly. But that's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. What else can I ask you? Is there anything that I should ask you that I haven't yet? BRIAN: Well, we could actually segue from what you just said. This is an interesting thing. So I think everybody who's been through this has gone through this exact process. So they have a couple of plants. They're like, what's wrong with my plant? How do I take care of this? And they go down the Google rabbit hole, or they happen to buy one of these plant ID plant care apps. Usually, they're like freemium. You get a couple of free tries, and then you have to buy a subscription or whatever. I also did this. And I was like, you know what? These apps suck. They just don't work, or they're too general. The best plant advice you can get is from other plant people because there are so many variables. Like, which growing zone are you in? What kind of light do you have? What's your ambient humidity, temperature? All these factors come into play on how to properly care for your plant and what could be wrong. And the best advice I've gotten was from other plant people. And so we have, like, beyond the marketplace grid, we have this fully functioning community forum essentially like a Facebook group in a way where people can post questions about what's wrong with my plant, or what plant is this? Or share memes and just nerd out. And it's been such a critical component I think of Blossm to cultivate this community. But it's also just very functional and effective because really the only way to get that advice and care information is by interacting with other people. That's something we want to build upon in the future too with that whole live and video capabilities. VICTORIA: Yeah, that makes sense. Just a funny story, sometimes I'll call my mom who's a big plant person, and ask her questions, and she's like, "Well, you should go check that book I got you." [laughter] It's like, it's not helpful at all. [laughs] But yeah, no, I think that's right. I think people get excited about AI and image recognition. But sometimes it's still easier to get a real effective answer from a human. BRIAN: Yeah, I'd be curious with the whole AI getting its spotlight right now. And without a doubt, I could see applications there for it. Right now, I don't think that exists, but I'm very curious and excited to see what happens with all of it. It's going to be cool. VICTORIA: Yeah. Well, that's awesome. And I am excited that what Blossm does is really create this community around plants and learning about them and with the people around you. Do you have any final takeaways for our listeners? BRIAN: Hmm, final takeaways, you know, shameless self-promotion; if you love plants or you're getting into plants, Blossm is tailored for the plant person, which is what I think makes it special. And more general, I never intended to be the entrepreneur. I never intended for Blossm to be like, oh, this big tech company. I just had something I was super passionate about and wanted to see come alive for myself and for other people. Without a doubt, that passion paired with perseverance, I think, are critical attributes to follow any idea to the end or to some level of success. So don't be afraid to take that leap. By no means has it been easy. It's been the most difficult thing I've ever done but also the most rewarding. It's been really fun too. So if you got a cool idea, maybe try to build it out, find a good co-founder, a good team. Give it a go and create something for everyone. VICTORIA: Well, I really loved your story, Brian. I think you've found your niche. You built something. You took advantage of the time you had when you had it, and look where you are now. [laughs] I'm very excited to see what comes next. BRIAN: Cool. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This has been lovely, and yeah, stoked to listen to the next episodes too. VICTORIA: Excellent. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, you can email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. And you can find me on Twitter @victori_ousg. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. ANNOUNCER: This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot, your expert strategy, design, development, and product management partner. We bring digital products from idea to success and teach you how because we care. Learn more at thoughtbot.com. Special Guest: Brian Feretic.

The tables have turned on our host Matt Cohen who was recently a guest on the BetaKit podcast and had a spirited discussion about the recent meltdown of RenoRun. BetaKit features weekly podcasts discussing Canadian technology news and global startup news from a Canadian perspective and it was an honour to be a guest on the show. You can listen to the whole episode where Matt shares the history of Ripple Ventures and a lot more here.From BetaKit's post:BetaKit has reported this year on LPs unable to honour capital calls, leaving Canadian VCs to pull out or renegotiate deals with Canadian startups—one of those startups being Montréal-based RenoRun, which recently filed for creditor protection after failing to raise four different rounds to keep the company alive (along with a few other Hail Mary attempts). Most recently, the Globe and Mail reported that Toronto-based Clearco is looking to raise $20 million USD at a $200 million USD valuation—one-tenth of what it was at its height (BetaKit can confirm we've heard the same numbers).You know things are bad when pension-backed VCs like OMERS Ventures' Laura Lenz are trying to encourage downtrodden founders by tweeting that her firm is still investing.This week we also welcome back John Ruffolo to break down the big tech news.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Breakthrough health tech is useless if it fails to meet people where they are, especially when it comes to underserved populations. So, how do we encourage VCs to invest in culturally competent digital health solutions? How do we direct capital in a way that promotes health equity for women and communities of color? Deena Shakir is Partner at Lux Capital, where she invests in transformative technologies improving lives and livelihoods. She is passionate about investing in women's health, digital health infrastructure, health equity and foodtech, and her portfolio includes notable startups like Maven Clinic, Everly Health and Gameto. On this episode of HLTH Matters, Deena joins host Dr. Jessica Shepherd to discuss the fertility and maternal health crises we face in the US and the $90 million Lux has invested to address these issues.Deena describes some of the category leading companies in the Lux health tech portfolio and explains how she thinks about putting women's health at the forefront of research, technology and innovation. Listen in for insight on building technologies that meet people where they are and get Deena's take on the future of the healthcare investment landscape. Topics CoveredDeena's journey to becoming a VC in health and wellness techThe $90M Lux has focused on investing in women's healthDeena's insight on the fertility and maternal health crises we face in the USThe category leading companies in integrated women's health in the Luxe portfolioPutting women's health at the forefront of research, technology and innovationHow the conversation around women's health is changing among VCsHow innovation has improved coming out of the pandemicWhy women in leadership serve as champions for cultural competency in healthcareHow time spent with her founders lifts Deena up on a bad day Connect with Deena ShakirDeena at Lux Capital Connect with Dr. Jessica ShepherdHLTHDr. Shepherd on TwitterDr. Shepherd on LinkedIn ResourcesGoogle HealthMaven ClinicEverly HealthAlife Health‘Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of Samples Collected Globally in the 20th and 21st Centuries' in Human Reproduction UpdateGametoMiga HealthCityblock HealthWaymarkAnne Wojcicki