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Month: December 2019

Gillmor Gang: Old Friends

by Steve Gillmor

The Gillmor Gang — Frank Radice, Michael Markman, Keith Teare, Denis Pombriant and Steve Gillmor. Recorded live Sunday, December 22, 2019. Most likely the last show of 2019, an analysis of 2020 in streaming media, the primaries and the influence of old and new tech.

Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor

@fradice, @mickeleh, @denispombriant, @kteare, @stevegillmor, @gillmorgang

Liner Notes

Live chat stream

The Gillmor Gang on Facebook

201. [REPLAY] Economic Theory in Venture Capital (Mark Suster)

by Nick Moran

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures joins Nick to discuss Economic Theory in Venture Capital. In this episode, we cover:

  • You’ve written about a major lesson from Clayton Christensen’s book, the Innovator’s Dilemma, which was one of ‘deflationary economics.’ Can describe what this means and why it should be a focus for startups?
  • In light of deflationary economics, what are the key questions that a founder should ask him/herself about the business?
  • Why is it that incumbents have such a hard time responding to startups w/ this approach?
  • What should new market entrants focus on when it comes to price vs. functionality?
  • At a high-level what are your thoughts on the trade-offs between growth and profitability?
  • What are your impressions of what Bryce Roberts is doing at Indie VC?
  • How have your thoughts on investment psychology and economics been influenced by The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb?
  • What other principles of economics, that we haven’t touched on, have informed your investment philosophy?
  • In light of today’s topics, what are the key things you’re looking for in startups?
  • Can you talk about Defy Ventures and your experience visiting California State Prison and the impact that Defy is having?

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

201. [REPLAY] Economic Theory in Venture Capital (Mark Suster)

by Nick Moran

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures joins Nick to discuss Economic Theory in Venture Capital. In this episode, we cover:

  • You’ve written about a major lesson from Clayton Christensen’s book, the Innovator’s Dilemma, which was one of ‘deflationary economics.’ Can describe what this means and why it should be a focus for startups?
  • In light of deflationary economics, what are the key questions that a founder should ask him/herself about the business?
  • Why is it that incumbents have such a hard time responding to startups w/ this approach?
  • What should new market entrants focus on when it comes to price vs. functionality?
  • At a high-level what are your thoughts on the trade-offs between growth and profitability?
  • What are your impressions of what Bryce Roberts is doing at Indie VC?
  • How have your thoughts on investment psychology and economics been influenced by The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb?
  • What other principles of economics, that we haven’t touched on, have informed your investment philosophy?
  • In light of today’s topics, what are the key things you’re looking for in startups?
  • Can you talk about Defy Ventures and your experience visiting California State Prison and the impact that Defy is having?

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Investor Stories 128: Strange & Unusual (Vrionis, Tusk, Klaff)

by Nick Moran

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

  • John Vrionis
  • Bradley Tusk
  • Oren Klaff

Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor.

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Investor Stories 128: Strange & Unusual (Vrionis, Tusk, Klaff)

by Nick Moran

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

  • John Vrionis
  • Bradley Tusk
  • Oren Klaff

Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor.

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Magic Startup Moments

by Elad Gil
This post is by Elad Gil from Elad Blog

Startups are hard. There are a few moments in every startups life that feel magical and make the grind (at least temporarily) worth it. Magic startup moments include:

Your first customer payment.
It is not a coincidence that so many restaurants have their first $10 bill framed and hung on a wall. Finding someone who wants your product enough to pay for it, and making money from something you built with your own two hands feels good.

Your first magic executive.
As a startup matures, its leadership bench gets built out. Many first-time founders of managers tend to fight delegating to others. Or they promote "smart, junior athletes" to run a function like engineering or sales and watch them flounder (often while thinking the floundering is normal execution). Then, that magic moment happens - you hire a tried and true, excellent executive for a part of the company. Suddenly, great people get hired, the right initiatives are launched, and that area of the company starts to function incredibly well. This is often the moment when founders learn to delegate, and think "I want more people like her".

That special customer thank you.
Many companies change the lives of their customers for the better without realizing it. For mission-centric companies (for example a genomics company) deep, from-the-heart thank you notes from customers may arrive quite early. For other types of companies a thoughtful email or letter will suddenly show up thanking you for helping your customer and for making their lives (Read more...)

Magic Startup Moments

by Elad Gil
This post is by Elad Gil from Elad Blog

Startups are hard. There are a few moments in every startups life that feel magical and make the grind (at least temporarily) worth it. Magic startup moments include:

Your first customer payment.
It is not a coincidence that so many restaurants have their first $10 bill framed and hung on a wall. Finding someone who wants your product enough to pay for it, and making money from something you built with your own two hands feels good.

Your first magic executive.
As a startup matures, its leadership bench gets built out. Many first-time founders of managers tend to fight delegating to others. Or they promote "smart, junior athletes" to run a function like engineering or sales and watch them flounder (often while thinking the floundering is normal execution). Then, that magic moment happens - you hire a tried and true, excellent executive for a part of the company. Suddenly, great people get hired, the right initiatives are launched, and that area of the company starts to function incredibly well. This is often the moment when founders learn to delegate, and think "I want more people like her".

That special customer thank you.
Many companies change the lives of their customers for the better without realizing it. For mission-centric companies (for example a genomics company) deep, from-the-heart thank you notes from customers may arrive quite early. For other types of companies a thoughtful email or letter will suddenly show up thanking you for helping your customer and for making their lives (Read more...)

Lessons Learned Growing Successful Marketplaces w/ Mike Duboe, Lenny Rachitsky, & Dan Hockenmaier

by Greylock Partners
This post is by Greylock Partners from Greymatter

This episode of Greymatter is the third in a series of growth discussions featuring Greylock investor Mike Duboe. Lenny Rachitsky, former growth lead at Airbnb, and Dan Hockenmaier, founder of Basis One and former director of growth marketing at Thumbtack, join Mike to share lessons learned when growing marketplaces from startup to scaleup. They discuss how to design a growth org, processes and frameworks around experiments, building growth models, understanding marketplace liquidity, how to think about disintermediation, and parallels between B2C /B2B marketplaces.

Lessons Learned Growing Successful Marketplaces w/ Mike Duboe, Lenny Rachitsky, & Dan Hockenmaier

by Greylock Partners
This post is by Greylock Partners from Greymatter

This episode of Greymatter is the third in a series of growth discussions featuring Greylock investor Mike Duboe. Lenny Rachitsky, former growth lead at Airbnb, and Dan Hockenmaier, founder of Basis One and former director of growth marketing at Thumbtack, join Mike to share lessons learned when growing marketplaces from startup to scaleup. They discuss how to design a growth org, processes and frameworks around experiments, building growth models, understanding marketplace liquidity, how to think about disintermediation, and parallels between B2C /B2B marketplaces.

200. University-Affiliated Funds & Angel Networks (Jason Whitney)

by Nick Moran

Jason Whitney of IU Ventures joins Nick to discuss University-Affiliated Funds & Angel Networks. In this episode, we cover:

  • Backstory/path to venture
  • At IU you have 3 core initiatives - The Quarry, IU Venture Fund and the IU Angel Network. What's the focus of each?
  • Talk about the investment focus for the IU Philanthropic Fund.
  • What're the criteria to be eligible for funding?
  • How does IU Ventures support the University's mission? How does it affect or benefit current students?  
  • As a broader goal, I know the organization ultimately hopes to entice investors and entrepreneurs from around the country to return to Indiana as a result of participating in the network. Are you measuring this and are your efforts working thus far?
  • So, a criticism of both university venture funds and angel groups is speed -- traditional angel groups and academia move slowly with investment decisions.  How do you combat that issue for founders raising on a tight timeline, trying to close a round?
  • I was speaking with a university-affiliated investor just last week and he was saying, there's just not enough deal flow when you restrict investments to companies that have a specific university affiliation... do you agree/disagree?
  • I've heard from a number of the Alumni Ventures Groups in recent years  -- there are folks leading funds and angel groups with alumni from a particular university... are you a part of this effort and what's your impression of the Alumni Ventures Groups?
  • Let's talk more about the IU Angel (Read more...)