Transcript of Laura Behrens Wu - When Digital and Physical Worlds Converge - [Founder’s Field Guide, EP.5]
My guest today is Laura Behrens Wu, co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo started in 2014 after Laura realized with her own e-commerce start-up that shipping was an incredibly difficult task for most merchants, so she set out to fix the problem for everyone. Shippo let's merchants small and large use its dashboard or APIs to simplify the shipping and tracking process. Our conversation focuses on Laura's background prior to Shippo, how Shippo's business and business strategy have evolved, the inherent challenges of building a shipping platform, and the intersection of the physical and digital worlds. I hope you enjoy our wide-ranging conversation. This episode is brought to you by Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft for Startups is a global program dedicated to helping “enterprise-ready” B2B startups successfully scale their companies. If you’re a founder running a B2B company targeting the enterprise, you should definitely check them out. This episode is also sponsored by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:57) – (First question) – The story of Popout and how it led to Shippo (7:40) – Challenge of working in a huge and crowded market (10:36) – How Shippo changed shipping for small businesses (12:30) – First big break in their favor (13:39) – Their master account with the major shipping companies (14:39) – Why is the shipping industry so complex (16:25) – Most painful part of building Shippo (18:20) – Advice for people in early company building (19:26) – Pricing software in early days (20:32) – The early days of Shippo and getting it to where it is today (23:17) – Going to market and targeting new customers when they’re mostly small businesses (25:48) – Partnering with a larger company, in their case Shopify (27:52) – How they think about their long-term planning (30:48) – Competing in a world where companies can own their own infrastructure (32:39) – How often they think about other competitive advantages (34:20) – Worst question an investor asked her: what if Amazon tries to copy them (35:17) – Her superpowers as a founder (36:41) – API vs dashboard and the difference in their customer bases (38:52) – What businesses that need shipping today need to know (40:14) – Changes in how businesses are being built today (41:28) – What excites her most about the future of this business (43:28) – Kindest thing anyone has done for her Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
- 49:08
- 1.9K views
- Published about 5 years ago
Transcript of Justin Singer - How Regulation Unlocks Opportunity - [Founder’s Field Guide, EP.2]
My guest today is Justin Singer, the founder and CEO of Caliper Foods and Stillwater Brands, two leading companies in the cannabis industry. We start our conversation with a fascinating discussion on how regulation creates or destroys business and investing opportunities, and then go on to discuss the ins and outs of the cannabis industry in detail. You’ll be able to tell quickly how high-quality Justin is as a thinker and operator, and you’ll learn a ton about this nascent business. Please enjoy our conversation. This episode is brought to you by Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft for Startups is a global program dedicated to helping “enterprise-ready” B2B startups successfully scale their companies. If you’re a founder running a B2B company targeting the enterprise, you should definitely check them out. This episode is also sponsored by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:51) – (First question) – How changes in regulation create market opportunities (5:38) – Why VC’s need to pay attention to regulatory changes (6:50) – Story of Section 230 of the communication decency act (8:54) – Relationships between rules, laws, and free markets (11:56) – How regulatory changes impacted recent business ventures (13:30) – His initial interest in the cannabis space (17:28) – How the industry participants have changed over time (21:04) – An overview of the cannabis industry and different pieces of the chain (25:51) – What has led to delays in the legalization of the marijuana industry (28:52) – How the dosage of the product impacts the business (31:34) – CBD vs THC industry differences (32:53) – How much of this industry is left to be unlocked and potential timing (35:55) – Business and investing opportunities in the space (38:16) – Competitive frontier in cannabis (40:37) – The timeline and pending changes coming (43:03) – Margins and business factors of his business (45:51) – First big break for the business (49:47) – What he learned working under Tim Wu (50:34) – Why we are in the golden error for fraud (52:11) – Avoiding fraud (55:12) – What he wants to learn more about in the cannabis space (56:50) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
- 01:02:32
- 2.2K views
- Published about 5 years ago
Transcript of Rahul Vohra - Using Emotion to Design Great Products - [Founder’s Field Guide, EP.1]
Today’s episode represents a new chapter for Invest Like the Best, so requires a longer introduction than normal. Starting today, I’ll be bringing you two episodes per week on the same feed. On Tuesday’s, I’ll focus on investors, and on Thursday’s, I’ll host builders—founders, CEOs, and operators from all different fields. We call this new Thursday series Founder’s Field Guide. There’s nothing more interesting to me than how great businesses get build, and how investors can identify those businesses at the right time. We’ve already recorded with founders build companies in food, technology, infrastructure, shipping, collectibles, and many more categories. The goal each weak will be to have a builder share what they’ve done, how they’ve done it, and what they’ve learned along the way. We view this as a critical next step in furthering our mission: to capture and openly share the world’s best knowledge on business and investing. Onto the kickoff episode with Rahul Vohra. Rahul is the Founder & CEO of Superhuman, an extremely popular product for managing email. Rahul describes himself as a Computer Scientist, Gamer, Entrepreneur, and Designer. You’ll see quickly why it’s the intersection of these areas that sets Superhuman apart. We discuss why emotion matters when building products, and how other entrepreneurs can learn from his experience. Please enjoy the very first episode of Founder’s Field Guide, and stay tuned in future weeks as we host leaders from Nike, Cisco, Twitch, and so many more…listen in as we explore the world of cannabis, baking (not that kind), manufacturing, hardware, software, and more. Let’s dive in. This episode is brought to you by Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft for Startups is a global program dedicated to helping “enterprise-ready” B2B startups successfully scale their companies. If you’re a founder running a B2B company targeting the enterprise, you should definitely check them out. This episode is also sponsored by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (3:56) – (First question) – His interest in game design and emotion in software creation (5:15) – Key elements of game design (6:23) – Toys in digital software creation (8:48) – Finding success in boring software solutions (11:19) – Getting confidence while building when there are no real customers (14:08) – How they landed on their final product (15:40) – The Superhuman Product/Market Fit Engine (20:46) – Determining software price (21:55) – Positioning Your Startup is Vital — Here’s How to Nail It (23:09) – Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (24:13) – Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price (26:36) – First big break for the business (29:04) – How technology companies actually grow (32:15) – Branding a software (33:57) – How he evaluates a company brand as an investor (36:07) – Questions to ask founders when considering an investment (37:35) – How the distribution of Superhuman worked so well (41:25) – Most common question asked by VC’s about Superhuman (43:00) – Why they do manual onboarding of customers (43:05) – Daniel Ek Podcast Episode (45:10) – Cost structure of a busines looking to reach the billion-dollar valuation (47:18) – Designing for flow in software business (51:21) – His design philosophy and their joy formula (58:03) – His superpower (1:00:46) – The power of therapy (1:02:50) – Why he invests in other companies (1:05:05) – Trends in the technology space that have him excited (1:07:28) – The future for Superhuman (1:10:26) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
- 01:19:51
- 3.1K views
- Published about 5 years ago
Transcript of John Collison – Growing the Internet Economy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.178]
My guest today is John Collison, the Co-Founder of the digital payments company Stripe. Stripe’s mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, a lofty and deeply interesting pursuit. John is clearly a voracious learner across business and investing, which you’ll hear instantly. He started Stripe with his brother Patrick when he was just 19 years old, and has grown it to, at last valuation, a $36B business. In our conversation, we discuss conglomerates, the internet economy, the power of writing, and why board members are like Pokémon characters, each with different powers. It’s a lively and wide-ranging conversation with one of the entrepreneurs I’ve most enjoyed speaking with. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:30) – (First question) – Interest in industrial conglomerates (9:10) – Their thinking on acquisitions vs starting new companies (11:42) – How the payment landscape looked when Stripe was started (15:55) – View on the internet economy (20:09) – Exciting possibilities for the future of the internet economy (22:11) – The forces of size vs speed among startups (26:53) – Driving reasons why employees choose Stripe starting with clear communication (28:55) – Tips for better internal communications (30:09) – The importance of rigor in Stripe’s corporate culture (32:15) – Investors and investing styles that are most intriguing to him (36:02) – Teaching vs experiencing business lessons (37:56) – Lessons from going to market with new ideas (50:58) – Allowing teams to explore new ideas at Stripe (44:11) – Best startup companies to study to understand the history of this space (44:52) – Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle (48:18) – Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business (48:43) – Infrastructures of internet businesses that are missing (52:03) – Does general accounting practices need to change to capture the true value of a company like Stripe (1:01:53) – Shared playbooks in Silicon Valley (1:02:02) – The transition to the no code movement (1:08:22) – Other businesses that pique his interest outside of software (1:10:21) – Future trends that excite him (1:11:10) – First memory when he felt like he was participating in the tech economy (1:12:46 – The role of board members (1:15:48) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him (1:18:49) – Advice for young people Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
- 01:21:25
- 2.4K views
- Published over 5 years ago
Exploring the ideas, methods, and stories of people that will help you better invest your time and money. Learn more and stay-up-to-date at InvestorFieldGuide.com