Reinventing Upfront and building LA (with Upfront partner Kevin Zhang)

We team up with Mario from the Generalist and Packy from Not Boring for something new: The Idea Dinner!We've been longtime fans of each others' work and, given all the buzz on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, decided to team up and run a little experiment: The Idea Dinner. Last night on Twitter Spaces we all got together and brought one beverage of choice, one public market investment idea, and one private market investment idea.Despite some technical audio issues... it was a blast! We're super excited to share the recording here with everyone who couldn't make it. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Stay tuned for more to come!Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfin

26 Feb 20211h 17min

It's a kids game, it's a social network, it's... potentially the hottest IPO of 2021? We team up with Mario Gabriele from The Generalist + S-1 Club to break down Roblox's business and its prospects as a public company.Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfinLinksMario & friends' definitive S-1 Club analysis of Roblox's prospectus: https://www.readthegeneralist.com/briefing/roblox-ipo Mario on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariodgabrieleAcquired: https://www.acquired.fm

12 Feb 20211h 27min

With 2020 and (hopefully soon) the global pandemic coming to a close, both existing and new companies everywhere will soon face a choice of how to operate going forward. Embrace the "future" that was pulled forward by the pandemic and remain remote? Or return fully/partially to a physical office environment? For those who choose the future (and investors who are considering betting on them), Doist and its CEO Amir Salihefendić provide a 10-year case study of both the challenges that arise and the opportunities unlocked by embracing the internet to its fullest extent in growing and running an organization. And oh yeah — along the way they built a profitable, double-digit $m ARR business with 100 employees, that's been completely bootstrapped on $0 capital invested. We dive into it all! Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfin Topics Covered:Amir and Doist's journey from side programming project to bootstrapped, double-digit million ARR global businessHow they've operated as remote-only company for the past 10+ years, with 100 people across 35 countries and 10+ time zonesWhy just going remote but keeping the same tools and culture as in-person doesn't solve any problems and just creates moreWhy the temporal nature of work is just as (if not more) important than its physical location, and how the new modality of "asynchronous" work takes advantage of thatHow remote + asynchronous unlocks massive opportunities both for new companies and the tools to serve them Links:Doist: https://doist.comDoist's "remote setup guide": https://twist.com/remote-work-guides/remote-company-setup"The CEO with an Empty Calendar":  https://superorganizers.substack.com/p/the-ceo-with-an-empty-calendarPacky's "We're Never Going Back" post: https://notboring.substack.com/p/were-never-going-backAmir on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amix3k

21 Dec 202056min

We continue our VC Fundamentals series with Portfolio Construction & Management — how do you build and manage a fund's portfolio as a whole, beyond each individual portfolio company and investment decision? We brought in two of the very best people in the world to help us dissect this topic: Jaclyn Hester & Lindel Eakman of Foundry Group. Jaclyn and Lindel have been early and longtime LPs in some of the best venture funds in the world: USV, True, Spark — and of course Foundry — and now also sit on the GP side of the table at Foundry. Tune in for a master class on how the best VC managers think about generating and optimizing fund performance. Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfinTopics Covered:1. The bar for what "good" venture fund performance looks like in terms of returns:Where venture sits on the spectrum of capital allocation options available to limited partnersThe difference between "gross" and "net" fund returns and why IRR is still importantThe distribution of returns across venture firms & funds — how many hit the performance bar — and the importance of diversification vintage years2. Portfolio construction: how do you allocate the fund's capital across companies?Why have a "portfolio" at all vs. loading up on a few high conviction investments — and what an LP's incentives are for diversification vs. a GP'sHow to determine overall $ size you should target for a fundConcentration vs diversification and the concepts of "shots on goal" and "groups" of high-potential companies within a portfolioFund reserves planning — are you "making your money at the buy", or able to buy up over time in your winners?3. Balancing playing offense and defense:The upside potential of "interstitial rounds"Whether it's possible to save a company with more capital, and if pivots are a good idea4. Time allocation vs capital allocation within a fund:Understanding and managing your own cognitive biasesWhy time & effort allocation across a portfolio rarely matches capital allocation (and shouldn't)Why a firm's partnership dynamics are typically the most important driver of funds' outcomes Links:Foundry Group: https://www.foundrygroup.comSeth Levine's post on skewed VC returns:  https://www.sethlevine.com/archives/2020/10/vc-fund-returns-are-more-skewed-than-you-think.htmlFred Wilson's posts on losing money and portfolio outcome distributions: https://avc.com/2016/04/losing-money/and https://avc.com/2012/07/the-power-of-diversification/

30 Nov 20201h 16min

Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra joins us for an absolute masterclass on startup fundraising that shatters much outdated traditional wisdom in the space. We cover why it's possible to build momentum and raise even as a solo founder, how you should think about syndicates vs. "brand name" VCs, and why you always want to be preempted and how to make that happen. This episode is a 100% must-listen for anyone raising money now, or planning to in the future. Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfinTopics Covered:How to run a successful fundraising process Why founders should think about raising money as "creating a market" for their company's equityHow to build fundraising momentum, and why you shouldn't be afraid of using outsourced design and development agenciesPreempted fundraises vs marketed fundraises: why you always want to be preempted, and how to orchestrate that happeningNon-obvious ways that founders should think about runway, amount to raise and raise-timing in order to always have leverage in fundraising conversationsRound construction The value of "brand name" investors vs. non-traditional capital, and why you actually want both at different timesWhy founders might want to raise their first capital from other founders and operators (versus from funds)Why founders should put some of their own capital into early roundsHow to use high-resolution financings (SAFEs and convertible debt) efficientlyThe concept of "interstitial financings", where you raise convertible debt in-between rounds, and when & how to use themInvesting while also being a founder/operator Time/attention allocation and why it's now possible to do both effectivelyFlexibility to build positions over time vs. traditional fund structuresRahul's own angel fund with Todd GoldbergBonus! The origin story behind the Superhuman name Links:Todd & Rahul's Angel Fund: http://toddandrahulangelfund.com/

12 Nov 20201h 13min

Hello ACQ2! Posting the audio recording of our Book Club Zoom session with Emily Chang in digestible podcast form. For those who weren't able to attend, we hope you get as much out of the recording as we did being there live!Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfinBook notes public post: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/book-club-discussion-brotopia-with-emily-changGDoc version of book notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1939VQja1rIK9yP1Ahe4w2frPy4-nUYEH7pxwRk-WjBk/edit?usp=drive_web&ouid=110434699798216361855Thanks as always,Ben & David

23 Okt 202057min

We're joined by Posterous co-founder, former YC partner and current Managing Partner of Initialized Capital Garry Tan to go deep on how YC changed the game for company creation and seed investing, how they thought about building the "cult" of startups, and what lies ahead as the early-stage world continues to globalize and evolve more quickly than ever.Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfin Topics Covered (among others):How the recruiting challenge for early-stage startups led to outside-the-box thinking Peter Thiel’s “crazy” (but not actually crazy) offer to Garry to join PalantirLeveraging “cult” startup culture into a magnet for specific types of peopleY Combinator’s path from fringe to mainstream Insight that those same cult recruiting techniques could be applied at a meta-level to recruiting company founders themselvesInitial strong reactions to YC, and knowing they were on to somethingThe beginning of “influencer investing” with Paul Graham’s essays + Hacker NewsThe blooming of Seed as an asset class alongside and around YC The landmark deal with SV Angel and DST / Yuri Milner to “auto-fund” every YC company starting in 2011YC scaling from ~10-12 companies per batch to 70-80 and now 200+ per batchStarting Initialized Capital within YC, and then spinning it out into one of the largest independent seed fundsInfluencer investing and startup evangelism going mainstream The impact of The Social Network movieExporting the ~”YC message” to the entire world: you can start a startupThe power of direct, bi-directional access to people via the internetLinks:Paul Graham’s Essays: http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.htmlHackers and Painters:  https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp/1449389554/Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.comGarry's (great) YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIBgYfDjtWlbJhg--Z4sOgQ

29 Sep 20201h 16min

We continue our VC Fundamentals series with Company Building — everything that happens after you write the check. We catalog the different categories, strategies and tactics for VCs to "add value" to their portfolio companies, from direct involvement to portfolio services to simply doing nothing (often better than many alternatives!). For both of us, this is the best and most fun part of being an investor, and we hope that shines through in this episode. Here's to building great companies!Sponsors:Koyfin: https://bit.ly/acquiredkoyfin Topics Covered:The goals of Company Building: (Obviously) add value to your investments(Less obviously) increase your odds of finding/winning your next investmentsThe four categories of company building: "Direct" work by the GPs"Active" platform and portfolio services teams"Passive" brand halo effectSimply "doing nothing"Activities you actually do: Board work (both governance and strategic/operational planning)Planning and orchestrating future financings and exitsRecruiting, closing deals and "selling"Cofounder/executive disputes and departuresPivots and company shutdownsAnd perhaps the most important company-building advice of all: Don't Freak Out. Links:Our interview on the main show with Doug Leone:  https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-ii-with-doug-leoneFred Wilson's great post on pivots vs. shutdowns: https://avc.com/2018/11/pivot-or-fail/

15 Sep 20201h 34min