Tim Delisle

This part of my conversation with Joao Barbosa, co-founder at the world’s leading wellness platform Gympass (now Wellhub) valued at $2.4 is a testament to the fact that nothing big actually started big 👇 It took Gympass 5 pivots and 2 near death experiences to find the business model that works and is scalable across the globe What I found really interesting is the framework that the team had around pivots - the tripod approach towards creating value. This approach could benefit many founders especially in marketplace kinda businesses Head over to our channels on Spotify, Apple and YouTube to watch / listen to the full conversation link in comment 🔗 The J Curve #thejcurvepodcast #podcastrecommendation #gympass #pivot #entrepreneurship #founder #venturecapital

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Are you trying #Gemini for trip planning? How goes it? Several companies are now integrating Google's AI into their travel services: 🌍 Alaska Airlines is testing a trip planner with OpenAI tech, with another version coming soon using Google's AI. 🏨 IHG Hotels & Resorts will release a trip planning tool in their One Rewards app, focusing on the "dreaming phase" of travel and future integrations for events and bookings. ✈️ Sabre Corporation introduced SabreMosaic, an AI-powered retail platform for airlines, offering personalized retail experiences, real-time airfare tools, delay management, and market analytics. Anyone played with this? #AI #traveltech #googleAI #innovation #travelplanning https://lnkd.in/e96zwDsu

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Meta Q1 FY 24 Meta has two business segments: FoA: Family of Apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp). RL: Reality Labs (virtual reality hardware and supporting software). FoA Daily Active People grew +7% Y/Y to 3.24 billion. Zuck called out healthy growth in the US, on WhatsApp specifically. As expected, management stopped reporting Facebook standalone numbers. 📊 Ad impressions grew +20% Y/Y (vs. +21% Y/Y in Q4). Average price per ad grew +6% Y/Y (vs. +2% Y/Y in Q4). Growth was strongest in Europe and Rest of World. The average revenue per person grew +18% Y/Y to $11.20. Higher engagement met continued strong advertising demand. For context, 💰 Operating cash flow was $19.2 billion (53% margin, +4pp Y/Y). Free cash flow was $12.5 billion (34% margin, +10pp Y/Y). Balance sheet: Cash, cash equivalent, and marketable securities: $71.5 billion. Long-term debt: $18.4 billion. 👀 Q2 FY24 revenue was $37.7 billion in the mid-range ($38.3 billion expected). FY24 expenses $96-$99 billion (previously $94-$99 billion). FY24 Capex $35-40 billion (previously $30-$37 billion). So what to make of all this? User net additions were consistent with Q4 metrics. Meta still found a way to add another 50 million users to its Family of Apps. However, it was a slight slowdown after four consecutive quarters of accelerating growth. Revenue grew +27% Y/Y in constant currency. It was another acceleration from +23% Y/Y in Q4. The usual suspects were behind ad revenue growth: The online commerce vertical was the largest contributor to year-over-year growth, followed by gaming and entertainment & media. Growth was strongest in Rest of World (40%) and Europe (33%). 💻 Reality Labs revenue grew 30%, driven by Quest 3. The lower loss for this segment was primarily due to a favorable comp with restructuring costs last The operating margin improved following the “year of efficiency.” Meta incurred $3.5 billion in restructuring charges in FY23 (primarily facilities consolidation and employee severance costs). However, it was slightly down sequentially. 💰 Returning cash to shareholders: Stock buybacks were $15 billion in Q1, a huge increase compared to $9 billion in the prior year. Management still finds the stock attractive enough. They also paid $1.3 billion in dividends. Free cash flow hit a Q1 record, another manifestation of the year of efficiency. While Meta loses nearly $16 billion annually on Reality Labs, the company remains a cash-printing machine ($48 billion in free cash flow in the past 12 months). FY24 Capex and operating expenses were raised, primarily due to higher infrastructure investment to support the AI roadmap. #meta #ai #ads #growth

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I had a great chat with Ola Sars, founder of Spotify Business and Co-Founder of Beats Music, which was acquired by Apple for $3.2B. This was another awesome convo with a great special guest alongside my co-host & brother Alejandro Garcia-Amaya on our Unicorn Web Series (sponsored by ILUMA: The AI Chief of Staff for CEOs - Bad news delivered directly to you, everyday). One of my favorite stories that Ola shared was his specific experience on the fact that, as a founder, it doesn’t matter what YOU perceive to be a big problem, but what your customer perceives to be a painful problem that needs to be solved. Ola and Spotify Business set out to solve the problem that retail businesses around the world were playing music through their personal Spotify account (which is illegal in the US and Europe). However, Ola found out that retail business owners were not bothered by the legal issue at all. Instead what they liked about Ola’s product was the ability to control the music across all their stores. Ola’s product solved a big headache for them - preventing employees from playing their own taste in music at their stores, which was damaging to their business brands. You can watch the full conversation here https://lnkd.in/g6rtFrwm  or tune in to the podcast https://lnkd.in/gNcyNaEd. #MusicTech #Leadership #ILUMA #Founders #CEOInsights #CEO #startups

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Couple of weeks ago had the pleasure of sharing my story to Alexander Benkendorf about starting CastPrint and later moving on to join Verge HealthTech Fund and the learning along the way. Some topics we discussed: 💡What does it take to bring innvation in healthcare 💡How did my startup background help me better prepare for VC work 💡How founders can better engage with VCs and what are the tips and tricks from the "other side" Thanks Alexander for having me!

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Your company's equity can make or break your startup. As a 2x founder, I’ve had the privilege of fundraising from top-tier investors (Craft, Naval, Hustle Fund, 8VC, Loup, and 100+ others), investing early in Notion, Mercury, Rippling, and Pulley, and serving on the founding team & COO @ Forge (NYSE: $FRGE, $2B IPO). I often get DMs from founders fundraising at the early stage, people looking for help with compensation plans, and those interested in pre-IPO secondary markets. All of it boils down to: how do I allocate the equity in my company? How do I apportion a scarce resource to maximize my odds of success? So, I've opened up five 1:1 feedback slots on Intro. Half the proceeds will go to charity (you're welcome to nominate your favorites!). What can we cover together? ✔️ Fundraising strategies for early-stage founders ✔️ Designing effective compensation plans ✔️ Navigating liquidity & pre-IPO secondary markets Honored to be be on Intro alongside world-class experts like Phil Neil (Founder of Neobex (sold), bootstrapped from startup to $70M in rev), Patrick Lor (Managing Partner, Panache Ventures), Adeel Shams (founder of Coolkicks - most followed sneaker resell brand in the world, 2M on Youtube.) and Grace (Fooden) Correy (founder of Biophile Skincare. Ex: SVP at Spanx & VP at Ralph Lauren). Drop me a note in the comments below (e.g., “interested”) and book a chat: intro.co/hariraghavan

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Uber and Lyft both launched UberX in Raleigh on the same day. Fast forward 6 months, Uber had 90% market share in the area. Here's how we won: 1. Uber's main KPI at the time was ETAs. When a rider was ready to take a trip, we wanted them to get a driver in under 5 minutes. So we launched in a very small geographic area, and our team worked our butts off to match rider and driver demand so ETAs were under 5 minutes. Thus, we launched Uber in Raleigh in a 7 mile circle in downtown Raleigh in April 2014. Lyft, on the other hand, launched in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill on that same day. They thought covering the entire area (each of those areas are 30-45 min from each other) would help them win since they were first. However, their result was 10-20 minute ETAs for the entire area. So while Uber wasn't available in Durham & Chapel Hill, Lyft's experience was already sub-par. 2. For our team to hit 5 minute ETAs in our small geo, we needed more drivers on the road AND we needed existing drivers to drive when the demand was. So we did tons of top of funnel marketing: ads, driver referrals, and flyers were the best performing methods. And for existing drivers, we looked closely at the real-time data and we'd design targeted incentives. When we saw rider demand not being met, we'd target X number of drivers with extra financial incentives to drive during those times so all ETAs were under 5 minutes. Yes, we burned money to meet rider demand. And it worked. 3. As we grew our small geo in Raleigh and more and more rides were under a 5 minute ETA, we started to build a driver base in Durham and Chapel Hill. We did driver onboarding events, we advertised that we were "coming soon" and we built up supply so come launch day, we'd cover the area well. And 3 months after we launched Raleigh (and 3 months behind Lyft), we launched Durham and Chapel Hill nearly hitting sub-5 minute ETAs on day 1. 4. Uber had local city teams at this time. Meaning my team's sole focus was on the Raleigh-Durham area. We lived, ate, and breathed Uber Raleigh. I worked day and night to grow my market and ensure happy riders and drivers. I answered every single driver support ticket myself. Lyft, on the other hand, had their company in SF overseeing the United States. They didn't have dedicated city teams. This meant when there were events going on in Raleigh, we knew about it and we'd make sure Uber drivers would be there. I don't know what Lyft did, but their presence lacked, and we'd win the big events. Fast forward 6 months from launch, Uber had a >90% market share in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. It taught me a valuable lesson: you don't have to be first. You just have to be focused on what matters most.

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Every day is a reminder that startups are unpredictable as hell. As alums of YCombinator's Summer 12 batch, we've long taken pride in being "the batch that broke YC" - as PG calls us. So it tickles me to no end to see this in the 2024 YC Top Companies list: "The S12 batch is the best represented, with 5 companies on the list: Benchling, Coinbase, Instacart, SmartAsset and Zapier" 🤣💪 #ycombinator #ycs12 #startups https://lnkd.in/gNDewZfn

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Wing Venture Capital's Founder Docs project is a unique collection of startup wisdom, by founders, for founders. The authors of the docs are talented founders themselves, sharing their experience on the topics they are most passionate about. I'd like to highlight the contributions of Edo Liberty, founder / CEO of Pinecone. Edo writes about the special opportunities for the scientist / founder (and he is one of the best of this breed!), as well as some of the risks and challenges they face. I got a lot out of reading Edo's stuff and I suspect you will too! https://lnkd.in/g_wyRMiE

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An interesting article below, that demonstrates out how San Diego is punching above its weight.  And how Connect's strategy and execution over time, contintues to be central to that success. The article describes the current state of the market in Seattle.  (And i love Seattle.) It's a market that we tend to track with relative to venture fundings.  They used to kick our butts, we outraised them each of the last three years.  This despite the fact they have 3x as many funds there, and 9x the amount of resident capital there. (per pitchbook) Some key takeaways:  * They continue to compare themselves to SIlicon Valley. Instead, we leverage our proximity. *They whine there's not enough local investors (see note above - they have more than us). We bring over 200 VCs to SD annually! * They say founders are not connected with one another. We bring CEOs together regularly, in a variety of ways - private dinners and through our Springboard program. * They say they need to elevate their image on a national & international stage. Why we created and continue to build Five.Ten.Thirty (aka Inno Day).  * And the last paragraph - they need to concentrate on making their region a great place to live. Our mantra: "It's about Better, not Bigger." (See XEO, TL Fund). THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. WE ARE ON A MISSION TOGETHER!!!  (Comments, whining, suggestions on SD always welcome.) https://lnkd.in/g6Rq_f2Y

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Messy cap tables could cause problems for fundraising. Sometimes we meet founders who gave up 50-80% of the company during pre-seed and seed rounds. This typically signals to VCs that the team has a lower motivation to run a startup and may prefer to exit earlier. This in turn will result in lower returns on investment. Of course, it’s not the end of the world and there are ways to fix that, but VCs and founders will need to put efforts and time to renegotiate with current investors. Many external VCs will prefer to pass on the investment opportunity. Keep this in mind when you raise your early-stage funding. For more details, please refer to the article by Haje Kamps: https://lnkd.in/dxSPdtft

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And just like that, Altumare Capital’s inaugural fund (FUND 1) is: CLOSED! Let's check it out >> Fund 1 was an incredible collection of (i) very close family / even closer friends, and (ii) small / medium business owners and entrepreneurs aligned with Altumare’s thesis and mission: Putting operators at the heart of everything we do, and everything we invest in. Fund 1 wasn’t raised on “up and to the right” graphs or far out revenue inflection points. It was raised on real P&Ls, stable (and downright “boring”) growth projections, and building a strong foundation for our collective future. (And!) Fund 1’s capital has already been put to work - on our first acquisition - and we’ve got plenty of deal volume in the pipeline (and now bandwidth in the bank!) to keep deploying throughout the year. I am incredibly (i) proud of the small but mighty Altumare Capital team, and (ii) grateful for the faith and belief our inaugural LPs have in not just our vision, but us as operators. Interested in what we’re doing over here at Altumare Capital? Well, now’s the time to find out! Emails and DMs are (always) open and accepting discussions around (i) our mission, (ii) alternative investments (iii) any sport that involves a board or racquet, (iv) how to properly refinish a live-edge redwood slab (currently trying to build a table) evan@altumarecapital.com

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What would you do if a prominent VC told you, "You shouldn't do this, this is a horrible idea?" Find out how Eric S. Yuan tackled this challenge in part two of my Startup Success Story on Zoom. ‼️ In case you missed it, watch Part 1 and don't miss Part 3—follow me and stay tuned for the rest of the story! Special mention of: Walt Mossberg #StartupSuccess #Zoom #EricYuan #TechHistory #Perseverance #StartupJourney #Inspiration #TechSuccess #NeverGiveUp #TechInnovation #Entrepreneurship #Startup #Founder

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“You know you have it when it constantly feels like you’re just laying tracks right in front of the train.” It = product-market fit. Probably the most talked about concept in startups. First Round just posted their latest on the Levels of PMF last week (https://lnkd.in/e7Zz_nzq) Like his colleague, Ann Miura-Ko, Mike Maples, Jr believes the purpose of a seed round is find product-market fit, where you marry proprietary power with product power. If proprietary and product power are present, then a scalable business model is always possible. Proprietary power is a startup’s unfair advantage. Product power is felt when customers are pulling the product out of you — demanding it even if it’s half-baked Mike synthesizes this in a phrase he repeats often: “What can you uniquely build that people are desperate for?” — How does Mike help founders find product-market fit? His approach is shaped by the book, The Goal. He encourages founders to find their “Herbie” and resolve it. WTF is a Herbie? In the book, The Goal, a line of boy scouts is hiking up a narrow trail. The group becomes increasingly dispersed as time goes on. The goal is to keep them together. The leader tries to order them from fastest to slowest so nobody is held up, but then they disperse again. Reverses it — slowest to fastest. Herbie is the slowest. The kids behind him want to go faster, so they ask Herbie what’s in his pack and they start distributing that load. After that, things finally progress at a steady pace. Finding product-market fit means progressively eliminating all Herbie’s until there are no more Herbie’s. Mike asks founders: what is the BIGGEST thing impeding your progress? How can we take it out as quickly as we can? Everything else is wasted energy. — Tomorrow we’ll dive into Mike’s take on competing with incumbents, which is one of my favorite topics as a vertical SaaS nerd. Thanks for reading!

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I've long been an advocate of getting more people to invest in startups, but aware that uneducated investors are not good for the ecosystem. 🤔 That's why I love the current efforts to educate and activate a new population of investors! In particular, I'm a huge fan of Hustle Fund 's Angel Squad 😍 , that are committed to developing an ecosystem of informed investors and evangelizing angel investing! 💸 Early stage investing can be a true win/win when done right and should be available and understandable to more folks! https://lnkd.in/gXsbsN_i #angelinvesting #venturecapital #startups #founders #TheFoundersForge

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Should you ask a VC to sign your NDA before sharing information about your startup? Check out my latest Youtube video to hear my perspective on this divisive topic. I cover: - the reasons a VC will not sign your NDA - why its a bad tactic to ask - when its appropriate to ask Many startups thrive on outcompeting their peers through innovation. Its understandable that many startup founders will want to jealously guard information about their innovation, product, and business. But its not a good strategy to ask for an NDA because it creates unnecessary barriers and has very little utility in the early stage of the fundraising process and very hard to enforce. Also, there are ways to mitigate the risks of sharing sensitive info. I am not a lawyer, and nothing I say in this video should be construed as legal advice. This is my personal opinion from ~10 years of experience as a VC investor. #venturecapital #startups #investing #NDAs https://lnkd.in/dxyRyrbG

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