Ryan Hoover on Growth Flywheels, Building Communities, Helping Founders, LP Investing The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-08-08 | Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/Ryan Hoover is the Founder of Product Hunt and Weekend Fund.Ryan’s probably helped more founders launch their products than anyone else on Earth. We talk about starting Product Hunt as an email list, and he open sources the growth flywheel that propelled it to one of the most important places in technology.Ryan unpacks how he built and scaled a community around the product, how online communities have changed over time, how we’re thinking about software in the age of AI (tech will change, human behavior won’t), and how status has changed in Silicon Valley.We also talk about starting Weekend Fund to invest in other founders, his first 400x investment, investing in consumer health, and why he started investing in other funds.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:5:52 Helping founders with software15:36 Early ideas for Product Hunt in 201319:14 Starting as a social email list26:26 Product Hunt’s growth flywheel31:15 AI won’t change human behavior34:12 An audience is not a community36:42 Why every community needs utility38:52 Communities have shifted towards group chats40:10 How AI changes building products49:35 Importance of craft52:30 Starting Weekend Fund, Ryan’s 400x investment56:57 Weekend Fund’s software experiments59:26 What makes Ryan’s investing unique1:02:16 Why Ryan has a small fund1:07:41 Peptides, GLP-1’s, Ketamine1:18:57 Investing in funds1:20:53 Ways LPs can add value for GPs1:23:05 How status has changed in Silicon Valley1:31:37 Backing founders with secrets, why failing is hardReferencedWeekend Fund: https://www.weekend.fund/Product Hunt: producthunt.comWayve self-driving cars: wayve.aiThe community trap: ryanhoover.me/post/the-community-trapHooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products: nirandfar.com/hookedGet Your Wish - Porter Robinson: youtube.com/watch?v=4SZEDBFPpgwSocial Utilities: workingtheorys.com/p/social-utilitySilicon Valley’s new status symbols: ryanhoover.me/post/silicon-valleys-new-status-symbolsSelfish investing: ryanhoover.me/post/selfish-investingFollow RyanTwitter: https://x.com/rrhooverLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryanrhooverWebsite: ryanhoover.meSignature Block: signatureblock.coFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Stop Coding Emails: Loops Co-founder and CEO Chris Frantz The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-10-02 | Chris Frantz is the Co-founder and CEO of Loops, the email platform for software companies.We get into why sending emails is still a big problem, his hilariously simple framework for building products, getting in to YC with a last minute application, and why they skipped raising a Series A.We also talk through Chris decade of working in marketing, like when to lean into PLG vs Sales vs hype led growth, early stunts they did to get their first users, why they do no marketing now, and why Loops’ customer support team is all engineers.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTry Hanover Park - the modern, AI-native fund admin hanoverpark.com/TurnerTimestamps:4:37 Email for software companies8:28 Why email is a big deal14:05 The future of email17:00 Product vs Sales vs Hype led growth24:33 Coming up with the idea for Loops29:36 Building one of the first GPT wrappers in 202034:34 Lessons selling his first company37:13 Doing their YC app in 10 minutes40:53 Avoiding VC’s who add value46:58 Skipping a Series A51:37 Building in stealth for 18 months53:21 Marketing stunts to get the first waitlist sign-ups58:44 Four step cadence of building Loops1:01:58 Personally onboarding every new customer1:04:03 Balancing 996 with family1:11:11 Cleaning wasp nests with a shop vacReferencedLoops: https://loops.so/Careers at Loops: https://loops.so/careersCuriosity: curiositystream.comSnazzy AI / Unbounce: unbounce.com/product/smart-copyAtlas customer support: https://atlas.so/Follow ChrisTwitter: https://x.com/frantzfriesLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ctfrantzFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Untold Startup Lessons from Dozens of Academic Research Papers with Dan Gray at Equidam The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-09-25 | Dan Gray is the Head of Insights at Equidam.If you’re a tech and investing nerd like us, you’ll love this conversation. We cover everything Dan’s learned reading dozens of academic research papers on startups and venture capital, debunking many popular narratives of the industry.We talk about the dangers of pre-mature startup scaling, the importance of origination stage investing, the concept of startup catering and why so many startups look the same, and the role of mega funds play in the ecosystem.We also discuss what the data says about concentration vs diversification, what VC’s get wrong about pattern matching, and why pivoting is more valuable than you thinkThanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTry Harmonic - The startup discovery engine harmonic.ai/turnerTimestamps:5:18 Equidam: helping investors value startups6:43 What’s the required rate of return in VC?9:29 Venture capital needs new definitions16:10 QSBS18:23 Are we in an AI bubble?24:07 Re-branding early and late stage venture28:25 We need more origination stage capital40:05 Survivorship bias in emerging manager outperformance42:57 Incentives driving larger fund sizes48:10 Raising overvalued rounds re-risks a startup52:08 Startup catering: why all startups look alike58:42 Are VC mega funds still an experiment?1:08:06 Late stage VC is competing with PE1:13:42 a16z’s Fund 1 strategy1:18:18 How diversified should VC funds be?1:25:06 Performance of Generalist vs Specialist firms1:30:35 How to value a startup1:40:58 Why VC firm location correlates to returns, but startup location does not1:44:05 Founder background doesn’t predict success1:48:27 Startups with one pivot are most successful1:50:24 Premature scaling kills 70% of startups1:54:47 Does mega fund model work for origination investing?1:56:15 Value of Twitter and writing onlineReferenced Research PapersVenture Predation: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4437360Process Alpha: angelspan.com/process-alpha-how-to-construct-and-manage-optimized-venture-portfolios-joe-milam-journal-of-portfolio-management-august-2022The Sunk Cost Fallacy in VC: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119924000518Predictably Bad Investments in VC: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4135861Startup Catering to Venture Capitalists: afajof.org/management/viewp.php?n=58968Premature Scaling: innovationfootprints.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/startup-genome-report-extra-on-premature-scaling.pdfReferenced BooksThe Otherland Tetrology: goodreads.com/series/43762-otherlandPermutation City: goodreads.com/book/show/156784.Permutation_City?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=lf7FuUR9se&rank=1Necromancer: goodreads.com/book/show/6088007-neuromancer?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_29Other Referenced ItemsQSBS changes: dwt.com/blogs/startup-law-blog/2025/07/qsbs-big-beautiful-bill-tax-code-upgradesMega funds and the great re-risking: https://nextview.vc/blog/megafunds-and-the-great-re-risking/Rex Woodbury’s post on hot companies: https://www.digitalnative.tech/p/the-taxi-cab-theory-of-venture-capitalThe VC Performance Paradox: linkedin.com/pulse/performance-paradox-venture-capital-dan-gray-2fqrePrior episodes mentionedDan Feder: youtu.be/_Ou6D9PLSBIMichael Dempsey: youtu.be/UzSbG6DL8CMSolugen: youtu.be/ofkNiB2nI3QFollow DanTwitter: https://x.com/credistickBlog: credistick.comFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Rethinking Asset Allocation, The Past Present and Future of Venture Capital | Dan Feder, U Michigan The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-09-18 | Dan Feder is a Senior Managing Director of Investments at the University of Michigan’s $18 billion endowment.Our two hour conversation talks through the past, present, and future of all things venture capital, and investing more broadly.Dan lays out the case for why most institutional investors should change how they approach asset allocation, why risk and uncertainty are not the same, the importance of relevance and independent thinking, advice for fund managers raising from institutional LP’s, the trend of VC’s rolling up services businesses, and what he learned from beating Lance Armstrong in a race.Thanks to Chris Douvos @ Ahoy Capital and Adam Kurkiewicz at WashU for their brainstorming topics for Dan!Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTry Hanover Park - the modern, AI-native fund admin hanoverpark.com/TurnerTimestamps:5:50 Beating Lance Armstrong in a race8:05 “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare”10:39 Why investors need to re-think asset allocation22:31 Difference between risk and uncertainty29:26 How endowments work33:12 Endowment portfolio construction40:47 From law, to industrial buyouts, to venture49:13 Narrowing scope to increase returns54:54 Why career planning as an LP is hard58:24 VC in the 00’s1:08:18 Venture vs Adventure Capital1:15:16 VC’s rolling up legacy industries1:20:17 Importance of relevance1:26:25 Traits of the top investors1:28:25 Importance of trust in institutional LP fundraising1:32:54 Venture is the most competitive ass class1:35:37 Why venture firms do not persist over time1:38:27 How venture will change going forward1:43:37 The Newman CycleReferencedA Sense of Where You Are by John McPhee: amazon.com/Sense-Where-You-Are-Princeton/dp/0374526893Risk Uncertainty and Profit by Frank Knight: amazon.com/Risk-Uncertainty-Profit-Frank-Knight/dp/1614276390Follow DanTwitter: https://x.com/federdanLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfederFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Intercom’s AI Turnaround + Why Software Companies Must Train Their Own Models | Eoghan McCabe The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-09-12 | Eoghan McCabe is the Co-founder and CEO of Intercom, building Fin.ai, the AI customer service company.This was an extremely candid, two hour conversation going inside every detail of how Intercom was the first late stage software company to successfully re-architect itself to be AI-native.Intercom just announced they’ve built their own customer service-focused AI models, and Eoghan explains why most software companies will have to do the same.We also talk through the lessons he learned coming back to run Intercom in 2022 after stepping back in 2020, why many AI companies have strong negative gross margins despite the narrative, how Intercom designed AI’s first outcome-based pricing model, the challenges of buying AI software today, the importance of brand when building new products, and we get in the wayback machine, talking through the pain raising Intercom’s initial million dollar Seed round, and how venture capital has changed since then.Thank you to Eoghan’s Co-founder Des Traynor for helping me brainstorm topics for the conversation.Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:4:18 We’re at peak SaaS9:11 Inside early days of Intercom’s turnaround16:43 AI will beat humans at everything21:17 Making trade-offs building AI products24:25 Why Intercom trained their own AI models28:33 Lessons from returning as CEO34:19 Overcoming initial AI skepticism in 202240:02 Creating AI’s first outcome-based pricing45:15 Intercom’s best-in-class gross margins49:25 Why its so hard to buy AI software today51:28 Unpacking AI’s negative gross margins58:12 Being perfectly positioned for AI1:07:01 How AI will change org design1:09:47 Why AI products need their own brand1:16:13 Founder CEOs vs Manager CEOs in AI1:21:29 AI startup opportunities1:24:57 Lessons running a team in Dublin and SF1:28:25 How media has changed over time1:37:32 Raising Intercom’s first $1 million Seed round1:43:53 Why there are so many VC’s1:47:38 Advice for investorsReferencedIntercom: intercom.comFin: fin.aiIntercom Careers: intercom.com/careersEoghan’s website: eoghanmccabe.comIntercom’s first pitch deck: slideshare.net/slideshow/intercompitchdeckpdf/253317574Follow EoghanTwitter: https://x.com/eoghanLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eoghanmccabeFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How To Get Alpha in Venture Capital | Albert Azout, Level Ventures The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-09-04 | Albert Azout is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Level Ventures, combining first-principles thinking with state-of-the-art data science to back and build top seed-stage firms and their breakout companies.Venture investing is hard, and this conversation covers all their research unpacking exactly how to generate alpha.We also talk about how Level picks and backs emerging venture managers to invest in, and Albert gives a demo of the custom, internal software they’ve built.Thank you to Jake Kupperman, Sasha Kaletsky, Nathan Benaich, Amanda Robson, and Dave Fontenot for helping brainstorm topics for the conversation. Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTry Hanover Park - the modern, AI-native fund admin hanoverpark.com/TurnerTimestamps:5:01 Top 3 forms of alpha in VC10:11 Other ways to generate alpha12:47 Avoiding false positives17:11 Optimal fund size and portfolio construction22:25 The role of Luck23:55 Spin-out vs outsider funds25:43 Level’s backchannel reference process29:29 Finding alpha in Criticality Investing34:45 Why capital flows drive all returns43:53 Early, consensus investing has the most alpha48:46 Networks are more persistent than performance52:03 The strongest and weakest networks58:41 Demo of Level’s internal software1:04:48 Building a Fund of Funds around their data1:10:01 Ideal LP GP relationship1:12:39 Benchmarks are relative1:15:39 VC funds using AI1:17:43 How venture will change in the next 10 yearsReferencedLevel Ventures: levelvc.comLevel’s Research Papers: levelvc.com/researchFollow AlbertLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/albertazoutNewsletter: albertazout.substack.com Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
The Ocean: Earth’s $2.5 Trillion Last Frontier | Will O’Brien, Co-founder of Ulysses The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-08-29 | Will O’Brien is the Co-founder of Ulysses, building autonomous, low cost robots for the ocean.Will considers the ocean humanity’s next great frontier. It makes up over $2.5 trillion of economic activity, considering things like fishing, aquaculture, shipping, mining, communications infrastructure, and defense. Yet we know more about the surface of the moon’s of Saturn than we do the bottom of our own ocean.We talk about Ulysses first product, restoring plant life in the ocean, their modular autonomous underwater robotics platform, advice for anyone selling to governments, crazy businesses that could eventually evolve in the ocean, and why the way we finance startups needs to change.Will also loves conspiracy theories, and we talk about some of our favorites, and why he thinks people who believe them could make good startup founders.Thank you to Will’s brother’s Harry and Jacob O’Brien, and to upcoming guest of the show Eoghan McCabe for helping brainstorm topics for Will.Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:4:03 Peace offering of Dubai Chocolate5:30 Modern internet theory7:40 The ocean is the last frontier11:53 Ulysses: read/write layer of the ocean13:35 The $2.5 trillion ocean economy15:14 Current ocean unit economics18:50 Starting with seagrass ecosystem restoration24:13 Modular, underwater autonomous robots27:31 Starting Ulysses with a group chat29:51 Raising a Seed from Lowercarbon with no network off a cold calendar invite32:24 Economic use cases for ocean robotics36:07 Spiritual energy from the ocean42:36 First Ramp podcast ad in Irish43:21 Floating cities, sub tours, deep sea mining, iron fertilization51:47 $10+ billion in shipwrecked treasure53:18 Atlantis is real59:46 Craziest alien conspiracy theories1:01:28 Sinking the titanic to create the Fed1:04:19 Conspiracy theory believers are good founders1:07:55 How to sell to the government1:13:28 Writing a letter to an Irish billionaire1:16:00 Finding meaning after living with Monks in Nepal1:27:10 Why financial innovation precludes economic dominance1:44:01 The SPV peddler business model1:46:35 Should we bring back SPAC’s?ReferencedUlysses: https://www.ulysses.eco/Careers at Ulysses: https://www.ulysses.eco/jobsThe Richat Structure: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richat_StructureJesse Michael’s YouTube: youtube.com/@JesseMichelsBrad Jacobs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Jacobs_(businessman)Follow WillTwitter: https://x.com/willobriLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/will0brienFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How to Build a Content Strategy + CPG Brand Lessons | Isaac Medeiros (Mini Katana, Kanpai Foods) The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-08-21 | Isaac Medeiros is the Founder of Mini Katana and Kanpai Foods.Isaac’s content gets over 1 billion views per month. Our conversation gets into content strategy from a high level down to tactical decisions, differences between the TikTok and YouTube algorithms, and how AI will impact content creation.We also get into Isaac’s origin story building consumer brands, why TikTok made food an interesting category for new products, how to get a product into retail stores, and why you shouldn’t sell into retail.Isaac also shares how tariff’s impacted his company. They became unprofitable overnight, and he had to move his entire supply chain from the US to Mexico in 60 days.Thank you to Sean Frank @ Ridge and Kevin Espiritu @ Epic Gardening for their help brainstorming topics for Isaac.Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:3:46 165 million views in two days5:15 Followers don’t matter, build a binge bank11:21 How to monetize an audience14:36 Identify outliers for content ideas17:13 Should founders make their own content?19:34 Starting Mini Katana23:39 $10m revenue in two years w/ $0 CAC25:56 Difference between TikTok and YouTube algorithms29:38 When to experiment with a second platform32:20 Starting Kanpai, a freeze-dried candy company36:54 Why freeze-dried candy wasn’t popular38:22 Why you shouldn’t sell in retail41:12 Why you should sell in retail47:05 Downsides of selling to large retailers49:52 Should CPG brands raise money?57:59 Moving manufacturing from US to Mexico in 60 days due to tariffs1:04:20 Why you don’t want to be first in a category1:08:06 Other CPG creators Isaac follows1:09:15 Elon Musk, Charlie Munger, Mark Cuban1:11:55 Labubu’sReferencedMini Katana: minikatana.comKanpai Foods: kanpaifoods.comPrevious episode with Kevin Espiritu: youtu.be/FefGL-qPzDoPrevious episode with Sean Frank: youtu.be/SBgRdgr7n0wPeachy Babies: youtube.com/@PeachybbiesThe Marshmellow Co: youtube.com/@themarshmallowcoFollow IsaacTwitter: https://x.com/theisaacmedLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isaacmedeirosFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
The Past, Present, and Future of AI, Robotics, Venture Capital, Crypto | Michael Dempsey @ Compound The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-08-14 | Michael Dempsey is the Managing Partner at Compound, a thesis-driven, research-centric investment firm.We spent two hours talking through the past, present, and future of a bunch of topics in technology and investing.Michael started investing in AI in 2016. He was the first investor in now-unicorns Runway and Wayve. But he hasn’t done much AI investing over the past few years. We talk about why, how AI will intersect with robotics, the future of things like crypto and synthetic biology, and why so many deep tech companies mess up economic value capture.We also talk about what it means to be a thesis-driven venture firm, Compound’s research process and how to replicate it, what private and public market investors can learn from each other, advice for anyone starting in venture today, how to build a brand in VC, and why venture firms don’t compound and actually decay over time.Thank you to Kevin Kwok, Andy Weissman, Cristóbal Valenzuela, Blake Robbins, and Smac at Compound for their help brainstorming topics for this.Special thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get $250 for signing-up here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:4:09 Leading Runway’s Seed in 201810:15 Short-term ARR vs long-term sustainability16:20 Compound, a research-centric investment firm18:41 Investing in bio, crypto, real-world AI, and healthcare23:58 VC firms do not compound, they decay over time29:27 How to build a research-focused investment firm41:30 Current state of venture slop45:43 Building a brand as a VC firm52:31 Investing in Wayve in 201658:53 Why deep tech companies screw up economic value capture1:04:57 How to approach massive funding rounds1:08:36 Should VCs “play the game on the field”?1:15:33 Compound is a forecasting firm1:21:37 Advice for young people getting into VC1:26:48 Public market investors underappreciate narratives1:31:20 Michael’s crypto thesis + real use cases1:40:07 Why crypto hasn’t seen mass adoption yet1:49:00 Humanoid robots won’t work1:54:42 Should you make a hyped launch video?ReferencedCompound: https://www.compound.vcRunway: runwayml.comWayve: wayve.aiMichael’s Blog: michaeldempsey.meFollow MicahelTwitter: https://x.com/mhdempseyLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelhdempseyFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Rebuilding SMB Lending with AI | Sahill Poddar, Co-founder and CEO of Parafin The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-08-01 | Sahill Poddar is the Co-founder and CEO of Parafin, helping marketplaces, vertical SaaS, and point of sale providers offer financial services their merchants.Sahill and his team have quietly built Parafin to nearly a $100m GAAP revenue run rate in only four years, and they've done it in an industry that's become a Silicon Valley graveyard: SMB lending.Sahill talks about how they partnered with other marketplaces, vertical SaaS, and point of sale providers to offer financial services to SMBs at scale, landing DoorDash as their first customer before building the product, and advice for technical teams learning enterprise sales.Sahill's a fascinating founder, as he started his career getting a PhD discovering the Higgs boson particle at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. We talk about physics, he explains how the Large Hadron Collider works, why physics is just real world machine learning, and all the lessons he learned on the growth teams at Facebook and Robinhood (including the way Robinhood acquired most of its userbase!)A thank you to Hans Tung at Notable Capital, Nick Shalek at Ribbit, and Mahdi Raza at Pathlight for their help brainstorming topics for the conversation.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get your $250 here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:4:06 Lending to SMBs inside marketplaces and platforms9:39 Why SMB lending is so hard12:50 Three ways AI is changing Fintech16:47 Silicon Valley’s graveyard of SMB lenders22:44 Getting a PhD in Particle Physics26:15 How CERN's Large Hadron Collider works31:49 Discovering new dimensions34:10 Building billion user data sets at Facebook39:53 Working with other physicists at Robinhood50:29 Growth lessons from FB + Robinhood1:00:57 Starting Parafin, embedded, horizontal SMB lending1:06:09 Why credit is the biggest problem for SMBs1:10:53 Raising a Seed from Ribbit pre-product1:13:25 Landing DoorDash as the first customer1:16:51 Mastering B2B sales as a technical founder1:22:58 Lessons from Vlad at RobinhoodReferencedParafin: parafin.comCareers at Parafin: parafin.com/careersEpisode with Charley & Mahdi: youtube.com/watch?v=5cxgB1_q2lwJulius: julius.aiCERN: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERNLarge Hadron Collider: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_ColliderFollow SahillTwitter: https://x.com/llihasLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sahill-poddar-5730246Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Sleeping in Parking Lots to $250M+ Revenue: The Handshake Story The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-07-24 | Garrett Lord is the Co-founder and CEO of Handshake, the career and social network for Gen Z, connecting a million employers, 1,600 universities, and 18 million students and alumni.We talk through the explosive growth in Handshake’s human AI data labeling business, how AI is changing the job market and careers, advice for scaling a three-sided marketplace, and Garrett’s approach to hiring executive-level talent.We also get into the early days of Handshake, tapping out his dad’s retirement account to fund the first years, driving across the US landing the first customers, sleeping in McDonald’s parking lots, sneaking into careers fairs, and their first fundraise that took over seven months.Shoutout to Jeff Richards, James Alcorn, Ilir Sela, and Ben Christensen for helping brainstorm topics for Garrett.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get your $250 here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:3:44 More Gen Z than LinkedIn7:11 Helping frontier labs label AI data14:43 Masters and PhD students flock to Handshake16:52 Why Handshake will win in AI data labeling19:24 Growing to $250m+ Revenue21:56 KPIs in recruiting marketplace24:45 How AI will change careers33:57 How to build a Seal Team Six AI team37:06 Interning at Los Alamos40:00 Breaking into Silicon Valley from Michigan44:19 Helping friends get jobs at Palantir48:13 Driving across the US sleeping in McDonald’s parking lots54:52 Funding early days with his dad’s retirement account57:37 Handwriting letters to get the first six customers1:03:06 Early product failures and iterations1:11:01 Fundraising, crashing on couches for seven months1:17:07 Finally closing a Seed round1:20:05 Moving from Michigan to SF with no money1:23:38 Importance of sequencing new features1:29:10 Handshake’s exec recruiting process1:32:01 Building a company with your best friendsReferencedHandshake: joinhandshake.comCareers at Handshake: joinhandshake.com/careersGumloop: gumloop.comPeter Thiel Startup School: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU630Cd0ZQCMeQiSvU7DJmDJDitdE7m7rPaul Graham’s blog: paulgraham.comFollow GarrettTwitter: https://x.com/GarrettLordLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/garrettlordFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Solving the Hardest Problems in Dev Tools | Jake Cooper, Founder of Railway The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-07-18 | Jake Cooper is the Founder of Railway.This conversation explores how AI accelerates the need for strong backend infrastructure, when to build vs buy in AI software, and why there are only two moats: solving hard problems and doing hard things.We also unpack Railway’s bold product bets, like enabling creators to earn revenue with backend templates, building their own data centers, and not building their own AI models.Jake also talks about their four week new hire onboarding, how they build a problem roadmap, why operators should be managers, and why you should almost never work weekends.Thank you to Angelo Saraceno @ Railway and Erica Brescia Bacon @ Redpoint for help brainstorming topics for the conversation.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get your $250 here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:3:33 Solving the hardest problems in dev tools8:16 Starting with the hardest thing11:18 How AI accelerated the need for Railway12:50 Importance of backend in AI-native software16:52 Jake’s angel fundraise strategy20:51 Resisting AI for so long25:32 Using AI to get leverage29:57 Build vs buy in AI software33:22 When Jake knew Railway was working34:27 Creating infrastructure templates38:04 Building data centers and a cloud service40:27 Two moats: Hard problems and hard things46:25 Hitting 8-figures in revenue48:47 Railway’s four week onboarding54:25 Building a problem roadmap56:16 You can’t set your own culture1:01:58 Railway’s viral “How We Work” post1:08:39 Using Discord instead of Slack1:11:25 How hypergrowth companies mess up org design1:14:03 Why you shouldn’t work weekends1:19:45 Not betting big on AI models1:21:53 Lessons from Zuck, Martin ScorseseReferencedRailway: railway.comThe Inward Draw of Capitalism: justjake.substack.com/p/the-inward-draw-of-capitalismHow We Work: blog.railway.com/p/how-we-workVolume 2: blog.railway.com/p/how-we-work-volume-iiVolume 3: blog.railway.com/p/how-we-work-volume-iiiVolume 4: blog.railway.com/p/how-we-work-volume-ivFollow JakeTwitter: https://x.com/JustJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thejakecooperSubstack: justjake.substack.comFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How WordPress Powers 43% of the Internet | Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder and CEO, Automattic The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-07-11 | Today’s guest is Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress, which powers over 43% of all websites on the internet, and founder of Automattic.Our conversation gets into the internet in the 2000’s, the early days of the company, and the decisions and philosophies that set them up for success 20 years later.We talk open source software, why Matt’s such a big proponent of it, how Automattic built its business model as one of the first SaaS companies (that now owns companies like Tumblr and WooCommerce), and how AI is changing engineering.Matt shares how to build a community around your product, the concept of “Conscious Capitalism”, what he learned running one of the first distributed teams, and lessons on optimism from Walt Disney.Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Get your $250 here: ramp.com/ThePeelTimestamps:3:48 WordPress: Powering 43% of the internet8:30 Outcompeting Reid Hoffman’s startup in the early days14:03 Why open source wins over the long-term16:21 Business models in open source21:12 Starting Automattic in 2005, one of the first SaaS companies28:45 Spending most of Automattic’s Seed round on servers33:36 How to use Community + Word of Mouth for early growth38:38 Matt’s current standoff with WP Engine43:30 How to give back in open source53:55 Best practices from 20 years of running a remote company59:59 Lessons on optimism from Walt Disney1:12:33 How AI is changing coding1:16:09 Automattic's internal employee secondary market1:23:51 How open source increases longevity 1:26:08 Matt’s favorite classical thinkersReferencedAutomattic: automattic.comMatt’s Blog: https://ma.tt/Bay Lights in SF: illuminate.org/projects/thebaylightsInnocence Project: innocenceproject.orgVesuvius Challenge: scrollprize.orgPlastic List: plasticlist.orgThe Giving Pledge: givingpledge.orgDAFFY: daffy.orgPessimist Archive: https://x.com/PessimistsArcQuote from Rudy Francisco: goodreads.com/quotes/8302061-perhaps-we-should-love-ourselves-so-fiercely-that-when-othersMaintenance by Stuart Brand: amazon.com/Maintenance-Everything-Part-One/dp/1953953492We are as Gods by Stuart Brand: https://www.weareasgods.film/Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cohen: marginalrevolution.comFollow MattTwitter: https://x.com/photomattLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattmFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Gammas 50 Million User Playbook | Grant Lee, Co-founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-07-03 | Grant Lee is the Co-founder & CEO of Gamma, building instant PowerPoints, presentations, and websites with AI.As someone who’s made a lot of decks, its refreshing how Gamma thinks about slides starting with the words and narrative, using AI to build the design around the story.Gamma has put up impressive metrics, growing from zero to $50 million in ARR and 50 million users with only 30 employees. They’ve also had zero employee attrition, and a negative lifetime burn rate, with more cash in the bank than they’ve raised.We talk about building a horizontal product instead of for a specific vertical, why Grant likes hiring generalist’s, how a quarter of the team is designers, why they’ve never raised large funding rounds, and how they run the company with an efficient team while not subscribing to 996 working hours.Grant also shares how Gamma rebuilt their entire product to be AI-native in the months after ChatGPT launched, and how every department at Gamma uses AI internally.Thanks to Anamitra and Gaurav at Afore, Shiyan @ Hustle Fund, Evan @ South Park Commons, and Vas @ Accel for helping brainstorm topics for Grant.Special thanks to presenting sponsor of The Peel, Ramp.Ramp: Time is money. Save both with Ramp. Join 40,000+ companies, go to ramp.com/ThePeelNumeral: The end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:3:46 Gamma: The anti-Powerpoint5:56 How to be efficient with a small team7:58 Importance of full-stack generalists12:15 How to hire problem solvers15:57 Changing slides from designs to narratives20:13 Gamma’s freemium AI business model22:36 Ignoring conventional wisdom with a horizontal product28:47 Why Gamma started with Slides32:21 Raising a Pre-Seed for a horizontal product38:25 Why Gamma avoided hyped funding rounds40:57 How fundraising impacts recruiting43:40 Liquidation preferences and employee equity47:08 Gamma’s zero employee attrition49:54 Working in-person during COVID52:15 Using waitlists to batch new user cohorts56:08 Re-building the product to be AI-native58:17 How to improve your onboarding1:00:46 Benefitting from AI models getting better1:05:10 Growing from 60k to 50 million users1:07:30 How to stand out as an AI company1:09:23 Creating a Gamma API1:11:37 How Gamma uses AI internally1:15:06 Why Gamma doesn’t do 996 working hours1:19:54 4-month product sprints1:22:16 Parenting hacks: sleep, exercise, nutrition1:24:26 Brand and community lessons from Nike and AppleReferencedGamma: https://gamma.app/Careers at Gamma: https://careers.gamma.app/Optimizely: optimizely.comNotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google/Fin / Intercom: intercom.com/finAfore Capital: https://www.afore.vc/Follow GrantTwitter: https://x.com/thisisgrantleeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grantsleeFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Inside the $2 Trillion Employee Benefits Market | Ryan Sachtjen, Threeflow The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-06-26 | Ryan Sachtjen is the Co-founder and CEO of Threeflow, building software for employee benefits brokers and insurance carriers.We start with a deep dive into the nearly $2 trillion dollar employee benefits market, including the structural issues that actually give the smallest companies the most leverage.We also talk about insurance more broadly, AI opportunities in insurance, lessons from kickstarting a marketplace doing nearly $3B in volume, when his wife got cancer two months after closing Threeflow's seed round, and how his co-founders adjusted to support him.A special thanks to Bolt for supporting this episode! Join the world’s largest hackathon - up to $1m in prizes. Sign-up here: https://www.hackathon.devTimestamps:3:57 Threeflow: B2B benefits marketplace5:50 How the benefits industry works9:20 The importance of brokers in insurance12:32 Benefits broker software stack15:36 How to make money in employee benefits21:11 Ways to compete in insurance26:34 How AI is changing insurance31:01 What its like to be an insurance broker35:37 Starting ThreeFlow in 2016 pre-LLMs40:13 The 128 day walk through Europe before Threeflow44:47 When his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer50:23 Advice for founders on surviving large personal events52:46 Threeflow’s unorthodox Seed round59:46 How to vet your investors1:04:14 Why insurance brokers exist1:05:08 How to build a marketplace on top of Vertical SaaS1:10:53 Choosing a marketplace entry point1:15:05 $2.5B in premium volume on Threeflow workflows1:26:39 Importance of supply side volume in a marketplace1:31:21 Fundraising without a formal process1:33:03 Hiring for “just get stuff done”1:36:22 AI opportunities in insurance1:41:05 Building software in insurance1:44:56 Tactics for running a distributed team1:49:04 Creating your own playbooksReferencedthreeflow.comthreeflow.com/careersFollow RyanLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryansachtjenFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Raising a VC Fund Today, How AI Changes Private Markets | Samir Kaji, CEO of Allocate The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-06-19 | Samir Kaji is the Co-founder and CEO of Allocate.This conversation is a deep dive into the private markets, the evolution of venture capital as an asset class, and how there are now 10x more private investment firms than public companies.We also unpack why 90% of venture funds simply can’t raise capital right now, advice for anyone raising a fund today, how to stand out as an emerging manager, why secondaries have become a primary driver of liquidity in venture, and how to navigate SPVs as a GP and LP.We also talk through the AI products they built to evaluate fund managers at Allocate, and how AI is changing venture and company building.A special thanks to Bolt and Warp for supporting this episode.Bolt: Join the world’s largest hackathon - up to $1m in prizes. Sign-up here: https://www.hackathon.devWarp: Automates payroll, handles multi-state tax compliance, and streamlines international contractor payments, so founders can focus on building, not busywork. Try it here: http://joinwarp.com/demo?utm_source=peel-jun-12Timestamps:5:31 Evolution of the private markets17:55 VC markets post-202021:09 Risk / return profiles of various fund sizes24:04 Secondaries will drive future venture returns33:17 Creative ways to return capital36:27 “Curiosity Revenue” in AI41:52 Allocate’s Beyond Summit43:42 Samir's AI fund analyzer46:15 Fintech only 1% of financial services revenue50:13 Triple-layered SPVs54:50 Breaking down returns in venture58:27 How to gauge a fund manager’s access1:00:14 Determining appropriate fund size1:05:02 90% of venture funds cannot raise right now1:09:50 How to raise a fund today1:15:37 ChatGPT roasts Banana Capital1:19:56 Traits of the best VCs1:22:41 Vetting grit, hustle, and obsession1:31:12 Why using AI is table stakes1:36:49 Value of podcastsReferencedCheck out Allocate: allocate.coEric Vishria episode: youtube.com/watch?v=I-5IsqFgrZMSamir’s Venture Unlocked Podcast: ventureunlocked.substack.comFollow SamirTwitter: https://x.com/SamirkajiLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/samirkajiFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it
How to Skip Your Seed, Pre-Seed Lessons Building Afore to $500M+ AUM | Anamitra Banerji The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-06-12 | Anamitra Banerji is the Co-founder of Afore Capital, an SF-based VC firm that specializes in investing in pre-seed stage companies.Our conversation gets into the evolution of Pre-Seed as a category, why Pre-Seed is more than option checks, what Afore looks for when backing founders before they even have a product, how to skip your Seed and go straight to a Series A, and how to run a fundraise process.We also get into Afore’s Founder in Residence program, why every VC started an accelerator, how AI is changing venture, joining Twitter as the first PM, and how Oprah helped create the legendary verified checkmark.Thanks to Gaurav Jain and Derrick Li at Afore for their help brainstorming topics for Anamitra.And special thanks to Bolt and Warp for supporting this episode.Bolt: Help them break a world record for the largest hackathon - up to $1m in prizes. Sign-up here: https://www.hackathon.devWarp: Automates payroll, handles multi-state tax compliance, and streamlines international contractor payments, so founders can focus on building, not busywork. Try it here: http://joinwarp.com/demo?utm_source=peel-jun-12Timestamps:4:00 Afore: Starting in 2016 to build the pre-seed category8:11 The unstructured data Afore underwrites at pre-seed11:21 Pre-seed is determining bronze from gold16:03 Why pre-seed is more than option checks20:33 The secret to raising a Series A23:20 Running a tight fundraise process32:05 Skipping your Seed round34:01 How to measure obsession in a founder39:20 Knowing when to follow-on40:54 Figuring out what really matters in a business42:36 Afore’s Founder in Residence program49:44 Pros / Cons of more access to capital for founders52:27 Two reasons YC made every VC launch an accelerator1:01:05 Why AI is forcing VCs to invest earlier1:06:55 Will AI commoditize software?1:08:29 Growing up in India, starting his first company1:10:39 Coming to the US for school, joining Overture + Yahoo1:14:05 Joining Twitter as first PM, creating the Verified check for Oprah1:18:55 Building Twitter’s first ad product1:20:28 Why non-founders can’t take foundational risks1:23:02 Starting Afore for the Pre-Seed opportunity1:27:47 Raising Afore Fund 11:31:14 How to raise your first fund1:33:33 Was Turner the best Afore intern ever?ReferencedAfore Capital: https://www.afore.vc/K9 Capital: k9ventures.comAfore’s Founder in Residence Program: https://www.afore.vc/residenceSpeedrun: speedrun.a16z.comPearX: https://pear.vc/pearx/Neo Accelerator: neo.com/acceleratorGamma: https://gamma.app/Develop Health: develophealth.aiFollow AnamitraTwitter: twitter.com/AnamitraLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anamitrabFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Benchmark’s Eric Vishria on Going Zero to $100M ARR in 12 Months, Archetypes of Top AI Founders The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-06-05 | Eric Vishria is a General Partner at Benchmark Capital.Our conversation goes inside the new class of startups going zero to $100 million ARR in 12 months, the ways AI is changing company building, and how Eric and Benchmark make new investments.We get into the risk rewards of Series As today, how Benchmark competes to work with founders, and and why the best storytellers win.We also talk about parallels between the 90’s, 2000’s, and today, and how the archetype of successful founders has changed in the age of AI.Thanks to Spenser Skates, Sajith Wickramasekara, Bobby DeSimone, and Semil Shah for help brainstorming topics for Eric!Special thanks to this episode’s sponsors:Bolt: Help them break a world record for the largest hackathon (up to $1m in prizes): bit.ly/ThePeelBoltHackathonNumeral: The end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:5:17 What gets Eric excited about a new investment7:48 Backing learning machines12:34 Backing Cerebras at inception16:20 Why the best storytellers win21:17 How Eric works with founders26:38 Companies going zero to $100m in 12 months31:09 Revenue quality of AI products32:41 Moats and business models in AI38:41 AI margins and runway41:14 Parallels between winners of the 90’s and today44:54 Archetypes of the best AI founders50:43 SaaS companies successfully pivoting to AI53:43 LLMs are most comparable to transistors in the 1950s56:19 Ways Eric uses AI personally58:05 How VC has changed over the past decade1:01:40 VC is a hustler’s business1:03:20 Backing extraordinary companies is all that matters1:09:36 What makes Benchmark unique1:17:03 How Benchmark makes investment decisions1:18:38 Skipping senior year of high school1:20:21 Working with Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen ‘00-’081:24:42 Starting RockMelt, selling to Yahoo1:26:28 Joining Benchmark in 20141:28:08 Investing in Confluent one month later1:28:50 Lessons from Spenser at Amplitude1:29:36 Fireworks AI’s hyper growth1:30:49 Pricing in AI changing from tokens to outcomes1:32:23 Ways Eric’s perception of VCs changed after becoming one1:34:07 How to build a management team1:38:21 The best CEOs make new mistakes1:39:50 Why there should be more public companies1:44:03 “Even great companies can be overvalued”ReferencedBenchmark: benchmark.comCerebras: cerebras.aiBenchling: benchling.comBen Thompson + Mark Zuckerberg Interview: stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-about-ai-and-the-evolution-of-social-mediaConfluent: confluent.ioAmplitude: amplitude.comFireworks AI: fireworks.aiAndy Price at Artisinal Talent: linkedin.com/in/andyprice1Follow EricTwitter: https://x.com/ericvishriaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ericvishFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Zero to $1.5B ARR in Ten Years, Samsara’s Journey to $26B with Sanjit Biswas, Co-founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-05-29 | Sanjit Biswas is the Co-founder and CEO of Samsara, the fleet management and safety platform.At the time of publication, Samsara is a public company worth over $26 billion, and we unpack how exactly they went from zero to run rating at over $1.5 billion in revenue in ten years.We get into using AI to impact the physical world, how Samsara uses AI internally, and how their products prevent over 200,000 deaths per year.Sanjit has built two unicorns, and he shares everything he’s learned along the way, including what most founders and investors get wrong about hardware, thinking customer-first instead of product-first, how to know when you have product market fit, mastering sales as a technical founder, and how to spend more time with your customers.We also talk about getting his high school online in the 90’s, and the research project that turned into Sanjit’s first company, Meraki, and its $1.2 billion dollar sale to Cisco in 2012Thanks to Bolt for supporting this episode. Help them break a world record for the largest hackathon (up to $1m in prizes): bit.ly/ThePeelBoltHackathonTimestamps:4:26 Samsara: Helping the world of physical operations8:44 Preventing 200,000 deaths per year11:19 AI opportunities in transportation14:43 Samsara’s internal AI tools16:58 What people get wrong when building hardware19:04 Starting Samsara customer-first instead of product-first22:23 Find adjacent products for your customers26:28 How to know you have product market fit34:52 How to spend more time with customers and build feedback loops43:00 70-20-10 framework for allocating capital45:07 Importance of selling new products to existing customers49:15 Revisiting the product roadmap based on new technology50:38 Why Sanjit credits focus to hitting $1B revenue in nine years53:41 Learning to love sales as a technical founder57:06 Getting his high school online in the 90’s1:01:46 The research project that turned into Sanjit’s first company, Meraki1:04:01 Importance of asymmetric risk when starting a company1:05:41 Early days of Meraki taking off1:09:19 Surviving and doubling during the financial crisis1:16:00 Cisco acquiring Meraki for $1.2B1:18:15 Meraki’s post-acquisition integration1:20:48 Differences between 1st and 2nd company1:24:19 Almost starting an renewable energy company1:25:52 The power of small teams1:28:49 One-shotting Bill Gates’ biography at 10-years oldReferencedSamsara: samsara.comMeraki: meraki.cisco.comArduino: arduino.ccRaspberry Pi: raspberrypi.comHard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire: amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp/0887306292No Priors Podcast: youtube.com/@NoPriorsPodcastFollow SanjitLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sanjitbiswasFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Cendanas Michael Kim on VC Portfolio Construction, How Seed Funds Compete vs Multistage The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-05-22 | Michael Kim is the Founder of Cendana Capital, a fund of funds that makes anchor investments in very early stage VC funds.We talk characteristics of the best investors, how Cendana does diligence on fund managers, portfolio construction best practices, Michael’s “60x rule”, and why high ownership to fund size is the main driver of returns.We also get in to how VCs are using AI, the competition between Seed and multi-stage investors, why US endowments are under siege, and how secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns today.Michael also opens up about the early days of starting Cendana, taking 18 months to raise Cendana Fund 1, the day he almost died, and ranking in the top 2% globally in Call of Duty.Shoutout to Roger Ehrenberg, Kevin Hartz, Semil Shah, Jeff Claviar, Beezer Clarkson, Jack Altman, Jeff Morris Jr, Sheel Mohnot, Nichole Wischoff, Ted Alling, and Rick Zullo for their help putting this together.Thanks to Bolt for supporting this episode. Help them break a world record for the largest hackathon (up to $1m in prizes): bit.ly/ThePeelBoltHackathonTimestamps:4:24 The day Michael almost died5:10 Call of Duty & video games9:34 Hiring @ Cendana10:31 How Cendana uses structured and unstructured data16:51 How VCs are using AI19:55 Why secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns22:01 Deciding when to sell secondaries24:28 Best performing venture funds ever27:26 The best VCs have amazing access to the best founders33:42 Why Cendana backs Solo GPs35:57 How to invest over time and hype cycles41:35 Why multi-stage firms are investing earlier44:45 Cendana’s current thesis: High ownership % to fund size45:51 Why Cendana started backing non-lead VCs48:41 How Cendana does diligence on fund managers52:22 VC NPS Scores and Ron Conway’s Silver Bullet53:49 Good vs bad new VC firm strategies56:36 Determining defensibility of a strategy57:57 “Messy middle” software buyout fund1:03:25 Portfolio construction best practice1:08:11 Michael’s 60x Rule1:14:28 How Seed funds compete with multi-stage funds1:20:05 Should you collect logos writing small checks?1:21:07 Becoming an LP for the city of SF1:24:42 Taking 18+ months to raise Cendana Fund 1 in the GFC1:26:48 Warehousing the first Cendana Fund 1 investments1:29:56 How to do a first close1:34:29 Why it’s hard to kill a VC firm1:37:00 What happens to ZIRP tourist fund managers1:40:22 How to raise a Fund 2 or 3 today1:42:07 “US endowments are under siege”1:44:55 What the best GP LP relationships look like1:46:41 What Fund of Funds get wrong1:50:43 The three most interesting trends in venture todayReferencedCheck out Cendana cendanacapital.comDeep Checks https://www.deepchecks.vc/Prior episode with Eric at Bolt youtube.com/watch?v=7Q6n1vqUrF4Follow MichaelTwitter: https://x.com/MKRocksLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-kim-cendana-capitalFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How AI Changes Governments & Business Models | Mike Vichich, CEO of Pursuit The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-05-15 | Mike Vichich is the Co-founder and CEO of Pursuit, which helps companies generate more revenue from the public sector.We talk about how AI is changing Helmer’s 7 Powers, how it’s impacting the government, if DOGE is actually working, building a startup in the Midwest, and how to disagree with your team.We also get into Mike’s prior company Wisely, and how they went from $11 in the bank account and unable to pay payroll for six months, to over $10 million ARR and a $187 million exit to Olo, a public company.Thanks to Jack Altman and Blake Robbins for their help brainstorming topics for Mike!Timestamps:3:21 How AI changes Helmer’s 7 Powers17:06 What becomes important in AI-first economy21:02 How AI interfaces with the government24:02 “The rules intended to save taxpayer money ironically cause taxpayer money to be wasted”29:34 How change orders impact public sector costs33:20 Why DOGE has not impacted US government spending yet38:15 Three pieces of wisdom from 2nd-time founders41:44 Starting Pursuit to make selling to the public sector as easy as the private sector45:35 Why cities grow expenses 5x faster than tax revenue51:42 Pros + Cons of building startups in Ann Arbor, MI57:43 Hiring talent density in the Midwest59:30 Starting his first company to fix consumer credit cards1:08:50 Pivoting Wisely to restaurant loyalty1:12:49 $11 in the bank, missing payroll for six months1:15:21 Embarrassing demo at an Ann Arbor tech meetup1:18:18 Why CEOs don’t always have to be right1:20:54 How to disagree1:25:48 Hiring at Pursuit1:28:30 “A bad day with customers is better than the best day in the office”1:31:33 Crashing their first customer’s PoS on Labor Day Weekend1:35:55 Using “The Cadence” to hit $10M ARR1:41:55 Selling Wisely to Olo for $187MReferencedCheck out Pursuit: pursuit.usThe Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank: amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/0989200507Ann Arbor New Tech Meetup: meetup.com/a2newtechHow to Disagree: paulgraham.com/disagree.htmlThe Cadence by David Sacks: sacks.substack.com/p/the-cadence-how-to-operate-a-saas-startup-436aa8099e8Follow MikeTwitter: https://x.com/mikevichichLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikevichichFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Ultimate Startup Growth Playbook, Using AI to Automate Operations | Sam Ross, Numeral The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-05-08 | Sam Ross is the Co-founder and CEO of Numeral.This conversation is a master class on all things growth at the zero to one stage. We talk early growth lessons from Airbnb, and stories from being one of the largest, earliest Facebook advertisers.We get into working backwards from pockets of strong demand to find business ideas, how to establish early social proof around your product, why you shouldn’t hire a growth person as your first growth hire, how he raised Numeral’s Series A in four days, and why sales tax is so complicated and how they’re using AI to make it easy.Timestamps:3:03 Why sales tax is so complicated8:06 Running crazy Facebook ads in 201311:58 Why you need to be aggressive on new growth channels16:55 How strong retention unlocks massive businesses 18:24 Using pockets of demand to find business ideas21:34 Balancing performance vs brand marketing25:45 How to build a brand from scratch29:11 When cold outbound actually works36:18 Building early social proof around your product43:33 Don’t hire career growth people for growth roles49:31 Lessons building a jewelry business doing $30m in revenue58:44 How the 2018 Wayfair v South Dakota decision led to Numeral1:05:04 Hacking an early product together with spreadsheets1:07:32 Automating the product1:15:26 What happens if you don’t pay sales tax1:20:41 How Numeral uses AI and LLMs internally1:26:41 How to compete against non-technical incumbents1:32:57 Why they raised VC for Numeral1:38:19 Raising a Series A in four days1:45:43 How big can a sales tax company really be?1:48:55 Creating a better global tax system1:54:31 How San Francisco is losing its soulReferencedCheck out Numeral: pockets of demand/South Dakota v Wayfair: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_v._Wayfair,_Inc.Follow SamTwitter: https://x.com/SpamRossLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sambrossFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Future of AI in B2B SaaS, Scaling Amplitude to $300M ARR | Spenser Skates, Co-founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-05-01 | Spenser Skates is the Co-founder and CEO of Amplitude.Our conversation gets into the importance of data in product design and company building, how Amplitude is thinking about AI, and the future of user responsive software.We also get into the early days of building Amplitude, when to go multi-product, how to construct your board as a startup, hiring executives at various company stages, lessons from closing three acquisitions, lessons scaling to $300 million in ARR, inside Amplitude’s 2021 IPO, and what most people get wrong about Founder Mode.Thanks to Numeral for supporting this episode, the end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:4:45 Using data to build great products8:31 Why data is existential to every business13:14 How to go multi-product15:48 Every startup becomes a distribution company19:29 Lessons from three acquisitions29:09 AI hasn’t changed B2B SaaS yet31:24 Challenges of incorporating AI in B2B SaaS33:09 Amplitude’s AI experiments36:29 Navigating technology hype cycles as a public company39:40 Amplitude’s opportunity in LLMs43:08 User responsive software46:16 Surprising things that slow your speed of execution51:27 What people get wrong about Founder Mode59:48 Pivoting into Amplitude after YC1:04:42 Nine months to raise Amplitude’s first round1:08:31 Surprises from closing the first customers1:12:46 Two sales lessons for technical founders1:13:44 Scaling to $300M+ ARR1:17:14 How to choose board members1:19:55 Inside Amplitude’s IPO1:21:56 “Stock price is an output of the business”1:26:36 Evolving from startup founder to public company CEO1:31:54 How hiring execs changes as you scale1:34:32 Why DEI is important at Amplitude1:39:46 Relevance of gaming and startupsReferencedTry Amplitude: amplitude.comCareers at Amplitude: amplitude.com/careersMoxie Marlinspike’s web3 article:moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.htmlSheep Logic: epsilontheory.com/sheep-logicFollow SpenserTwitter: https://x.com/spenserskatesLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/spenserskatesFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Lessons Scaling Zero to $40M ARR in Two Years | Dan Lorenc, Chainguard The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-24 | Dan Lorenc is the Co-founder and CEO of Chainguard, the safe source for open source.The internet runs on free, open source software. But as its risen in popularity, its become the latest attack point targeted by hackers and nation states.This conversation with Dan gets into the history of open source software, cloud computing, Linux, the software supply chain, how AI will impact it, and what the next big cyber attack will look like.Dan is an engineer, but he also loves sales and go-to-market. We unpack how Chainguard went from zero to 150 customers and a $40m ARR in two years.Chainguard just announced a $350 million Series D led by Kleiner and IVP, and Dan unpacks the round, plus shares his secret methodology for valuing the company.A big thank you to Dan’s Co-founder Kim Lewandowski, to Clay Fisher @ Spark, Bogomil Balkansky & Andrew Reed @ Sequoia, and Tom Loverro @ IVP for their help brainstorming topics for Dan.Thanks to Numeral for supporting this episode, the end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:3:26 A safe source for open source4:57 The software supply chain7:19 Can you trust open source code with contributors in Russia?9:43 Malware attack that almost took down the entire internet12:40 What the next big cyber attack will look like15:12 How will AI impact the software supply chain17:53 The history of cloud computing21:42 Why all cloud computing runs on Linux23:16 How Linux + Linux distros work29:28 Automating open source security32:43 Chainguard roadmap: Libraries and VMs36:40 Focusing on FedRAMP42:44 Impact of DOGE44:06 Zero to $40m ARR in two years45:40 Learning to love sales as a technical founder47:24 Lessons from Frank Slootman51:15 How to create urgency in sales53:16 How to build a sales team58:23 Hiring Ryan Carlson from Wiz & Okta1:01:45 Inside Chainguard’s $350m Series D1:07:41 Vibe coding + Dan’s software stack1:09:51 Cutting his hair in front of the entire company1:10:27 Wearing a different suit to each board meeting1:12:32 Bogomil, world’s best SDRReferencedCheck out Chainguard: https://www.chainguard.dev/Jobs at Chainguard: https://www.chainguard.dev/careersPrior episode with Dan: youtube.com/watch?v=AC4cOJ9n_Z8Linux Origin Email: reddit.com/r/linux/comments/mmmlh3/linux_has_a_interested_history_this_is_one_ofThe Qualified Sales Leader: amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064Julius, AI data analysis: julius.aiClaude Code: anthropic.com/claude-codeWorld’s best SDR: https://x.com/BogieBalkansky/status/19132697148828143502025 Chainguard Assemble Keynote: youtube.com/watch?v=adfU9LJg3I0Follow DanTwitter: https://x.com/lorenc_danLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danlorencFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Surviving Two Seed Extensions, Fixing Auth for AI Agents | Clerk Founder & CEO Colin Sidoti The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-17 | Colin Sidoti is the Co-founder and CEO of Clerk, the best way to build authentication and user management.I loved this conversation, because Colin is currently in the arena building Clerk. It has not been easy, and he takes us inside some of the harder moments of the past six years.We hit on three main themes: authentication; lessons raising multiple hard Seed extensions in the early days, including a recap before the A, and the demo that got a16z to invest; and things AI and MCP.We also talk founding a company with his brother, building a compound startup, why components are the new APIs, and what he learned about audacious goals from John Collison @ StripeA big thank you to Reid Christian @ CRV, Paul Klein @ Browserbase, and Joseph Nelson @ Roboflow for helping brainstorm topics for Colin.Timestamps:3:39 The best developer tool for authentication and user management5:45 The easiest way to set up billing7:13 Building a compound startup9:15 Lesson on audacious goals from John Collison12:40 Developer tools are now trusted category experts13:47 How auth impacts billing, CRM, marketing, analytics19:44 Why auth is always changing25:40 Coming up with the idea for Clerk29:24 What its like starting a company with your brother30:58 Living in a basement during Clerks early days35:33 Getting early users narrowing focus in South Park Commons40:10 Fundraising lessons from struggling to raise43:46 The trick that raised Clerk’s first round from S2845:09 Launching + the first Seed extension50:15 Sequoia’s feedback that improved conversion rates52:22 Why a16z led Clerk’s 2nd Seed extension58:11 How to do a recap before Series A1:03:34 Changing Clerk’s pitch to scare investors1:08:56 Fundraising advice “Why partner alignment is all that matters”1:11:42 Fast Series A and breaking 7%/week growth1:16:32 Negotiating Clerk’s Series B at the bar1:22:15 Investors in the arena vs in their mansions1:27:57 The three ways AI is changing authentication1:31:21 Why AI agents all try to steal free AI credits1:33:09 Remember to have fun1:36:24 Building a better product to compete in a crowded marketReferencedTry Clerk: clerk.comJobs at Clerk: clerk.com/careersMartin Casado’s tweet https://x.com/martin_casado/status/1558134697753841664Try Inngest: inngest.comFollow ColinTwitter: https://x.com/tweetsbycolinLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colin-sidoti-751a219Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
pros of working at a startup #startup #businessgrowth #entrepreneur The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-14 | ...
Building Verkada, the $4.5B Physical Security Company | Filip Kaliszan, Founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-10 | Filip Kaliszan is the Founder & CEO of Verkada, the physical security company.Verkada started in 2016 by building the best camera for physical security teams, and has since evolved into a full suite of security products for buildings. Filip takes us inside Verkada’s rapid growth to almost a billion in annual revenue, over 2,000 employees, and raising capital from investors like Sequoia, Meritech, First Round, General Catalyst, and Next47.We get into how AI and LLMs are changing hardware, the power of customer therapy, how Filip iterated on early startup ideas, inside Verkada’s very difficult first funding round, how signing their first big customers changed the trajectory of the business, and how to think about adding new products over time.We also talk through Verkada’s commitment to in-person work in the summer of 2020, how you should evaluate joining a startup as an employee, Verkada’s “software zero” employee bonus policy, and building a rooftop bar for the office.Thanks to Numeral for supporting this episode, the end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:4:20 Verkada, the physical security technology company + Demo!11:02 Building software powered hardware12:56 LLM opportunities in cameras15:49 Filip’s lifelong fascination with photography17:57 Taking one year to come up with the idea for Verkada22:27 Building his own home security system to learn the $16B market27:14 Why hardware experimentation is cheaper and easier than you’d think30:36 The importance of customer therapy32:37 How to get your first customers, importance of quick time to demo35:06 Why early fundraising was so hard40:38 Verkada’s first big customer42:23 How to decide what startup to join45:45 The opportunity in “smart building tech”50:34 How to launch new product lines58:07 Re-architecting the security industry to be software-native1:02:31 How hiring and managing a team changes as you scale1:08:55 Why each team at Verkada has its own recruiters1:14:00 Adding senior leaders to the team as you scale1:17:06 Evolving from introverted engineer to CEO of multi-thousand person company1:21:59 Verkada’s cool office and focus on in-person work during COVID1:28:12 Building a rooftop bar on the office1:32:20 Verkada’s Software Zero employee bonus program with 40x ROI1:36:00 How Filip thinks about IPO vs staying privateReferencedVerkada: verkada.comOpen roles at Verkada: verkada.com/careersFollow FilipLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kaliszanFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Is micromanagement really as bad as everyone says? #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #BusinessGrowth The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-07 | ...
The Truth About EBT: Who Really Benefits? #FactsMatter #podcast #entrepreneur The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-05 | ...
💳 Why No One Built an EBT Payments Product #Fintech #startups #entrepreneur The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-03 | ...
Forage: The Trillion Dollar Opportunity in Restricted Payments | Ofek Lavian The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-04-03 | Ofek Lavian is the Co-founder and CEO of Forage, the mission driven payments company.This is a special episode, because I’m an investor in Forage, and Ofek shares everything he’s learned building the company. We go deep on food stamps, also known as EBT or SNAP, the government program that provides over $200 billion dollars per year in benefits that help 42 million low income Americans buy food.Our conversation gets into lessons from Ofek’s time leading payments teams at Uber and Instacart, building Instacart’s EBT program up to 40 employees and 10% of its total revenue, and why Ofek is so passionate about helping low income Americans.We get into the history of food stamps, market dynamics that led to low online adoption, the days Ofek thought Forage might not make it all the way to now working with the biggest players in online grocery, like Uber and DoorDash, and the long-term opportunity Forage has to build the rails the government uses to distribute trillions of dollars of restricted consumer benefits.Thanks to Numeral for supporting this episode, the end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try it here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:4:53 Forage: Helping 42m Americans buy food5:24 History of food stamps & EBT9:26 Growing up as an immigrant family with low food access11:39 90% of EBT recipients are elderly, disabled, or working parents12:39 How Forage sells revenue to its customers14:15 Building Instacart’s EBT program during COVID18:25 Why no one built an EBT payments product22:13 Joining Forage as a Co-founder25:01 Why government payments are so hard30:25 Growing 15x in six months33:52 Underdiscussed mental health challenges of startups37:06 How the political environment impacts EBT43:20 Why Forage charges more than competitors45:58 Seasonality in EBT spend46:59 Why early investors passed on Forage48:10 The trillion dollar opportunity in restricted payments50:56 “ There's no single idea that has destroyed more business value on planet Earth than the idea that micromanagement is bad.”54:45 Why Forage doesn’t care about job titles58:51 Lessons backpacking across 28 countries after college1:02:09 How to travel on a budget1:04:24 Importance of health1:06:15 Saving a friends life on Mount EverestReferencedForage: joinforage.comOfek’s viral tweet: https://x.com/OfekLavian/status/1766950034581700697Follow OfekTwitter: https://x.com/OfekLavianLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ofeklavianFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How the Top US Angel Investor Operates | Ed Lando, Founder of Pareto Holdings The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-03-20 | Ed Lando is the Co-founder of Pareto, where he’s been an early investor in over 25 unicorns, started and incubated over 10 companies, and was recently named the most active angel investor in the world according to Crunchbase.We get into how Ed first got started angel investing, how he built up deal flow, why he’s historically kept a low profile, and why he hasn’t raised outside capital.We also talk concentration vs diversification, why there’s many ways to build successful companies, advice on hiring your first employees, and his playbook for incubating companies at Pareto, which is where he focuses most of his time. Timestamps:0:00 Intro2:51 Getting into angel investing3:58 Debating high vs low PR strategies8:27 How to start building deal flow when angel investing10:00 Pareto: first investor in people leaving school or their job12:05 Evolving from angel to fund14:57 Why Ed didn’t raise outside capital20:33 Concentration vs diversification28:29 Investing in non-sexy categories32:50 There’s no one right way to build a company36:03 When to go against traditional wisdom39:36 Lessons from his anti-portfolio45:59 Ed’s close relationship with his parents49:04 How we’re using AI54:04 Incubating companies58:38 Investing beyond spreadsheets and DCF models1:05:49 How to trust your intuition investing 1:09:47 How to move fast1:14:24 What most people get wrong when incubating companies1:18:40 How to hire your first employees1:26:27 Navigating hype when building and investing1:29:59 Venture math and the Power Law1:35:33 How Ed and Pareto’s strategy might break1:38:45 Differences between the US and EuropeReferencedPareto: pareto20.comMisfit Market: misfitsmarket.comCatalina Crunch: catalinacrunch.comZamp: zamp.comMagnus Carlsen on Joe Rogan: youtube.com/watch?v=ybuJ_nIXwGEFollow EdTwitter: https://x.com/edwardlandoLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardlandoSubstack: edwardlando.substack.comFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Alloy’s Unconventional Path to $1.5B with Tommy Nicholas, Co-founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-03-14 | Tommy Nicholas is the Co-founder and CEO of Alloy, the identity and fraud prevention platform trusted by over 700 financial service companies.Our conversation explores the early days of fintech, why more consumer financial protections actually lead to more fraud, and gets into the weeds of various tactics he’s learned building a technical platform company like Alloy.We talk about embracing that the hard parts of company building are actually the best parts, why you’re most likely to give up when things first start getting better, using hands-on sales implementations in the early days to gave Alloy product market fit on steroids, how hiring changes as you scale, getting 100’s of no’s over 20 months raising their Seed round, and why TAM doesn’t matter.Thanks to Charley Ma for his help brainstorming topics for Tommy!Thanks to Numeral for supporting this episode, the end-to-end platform for sales tax and compliance. Try them here: bit.ly/NumeralThePeelTimestamps:3:56 The platform to manage fraud5:48 What fintech risk was like in the early 2010’s14:34 Why company building never gets easier19:30 Reasons the hard stuff is actually the good stuff24:00 You’re most likely to give up when things start getting better33:47 Doing hands-on sales implementation to get PMF on steroids42:26 Deciding when PLG or hands-on sales will work best52:33 Why more consumer financial protections leads to more fraud58:14 20 months to raise $2m vs $200m from a spreadsheet1:06:32 “Make yourself look like a good investment”1:10:14 Why TAM doesn’t matter1:14:35 How to hire collaborative problem solvers1:24:38 Why Alloy didn’t do much marketing early onReferencedTry Alloy: alloy.comCharley Ma’s Pod Episode: youtu.be/5cxgB1_q2lwTry Artie: artie.comFollow TommyTwitter: https://x.com/tommyrvaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tommynicholasFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
The $750 Billion AI Opportunity in Customer Service | Mike Murchison, Co-founder and CEO of Ada The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-03-06 | Mike Murchison is the Co-founder and CEO of Ada, the AI-powered customer service automation platform.Ada’s product and scale puts Mike at the forefront at how AI is changing software and labor markets, and this conversation felt like both a glimpse into the future, and a look into the past, at a story of pure grit and determination, working seven customer service jobs at once.We talk about why management capabilities becomes even more important in AI-native companies, how customer service is changing from a cost center to a revenue driver, and how to talk to customers more as you scale.We also get into why AI is still underhyped, what truly AI native software looks like, the realities of selling enterprise AI software today, and advice for anyone building an AI agent from scratch.Thanks to Boris Wertz and Fahd Ananta for their help brainstorming topics for Mike!Timestamps:00:00 Intro03:49 Making customer service extraordinary for everyone05:44 Management becomes more important in AI-first companies12:13 From customer inquiry to solution in production, fully autonomously16:01 Why companies talk to customers less as they grow20:36 Creating new products from customer service data22:45 Broken incentives in customer service26:10 Working 7 customer service agent jobs at once for a year37:19 Why pivoting to Ada felt like failure46:11 How Mike would build an AI agent from scratch today49:15 Ways AI will change how we build and manage companies56:44 Why the best managers are great users of AI1:00:27 How the top 1% of people are using LLMs1:06:22 Realities of selling enterprise AI software today1:11:02 Building a sales team from scratch1:15:21 Reflecting on Ada’s scale + doubling the last six months1:16:41 Biggest software category of all-time ($750B)1:19:51 Why AI is still under hyped1:21:01 Ego is the biggest inhibitor to AI adoption1:23:33 How AI will fuel explosion of creativity and productivity1:25:20 Large companies will benefit the most from AI1:27:41 Multi-modal language models and autonomous computersReferencedTry Ada: https://www.ada.cx/Follow MikeTwitter: twitter.com/mimurchisonLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikemurchisonFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Why Founders are Moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee to Lock-in | Cam Doody at Brickyard The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-02-27 | Cam Doody is the Co-founder and General Partner of Brickyard, the venture capital firm moving founders to Chattanooga, Tennessee to lock-in with no distractions until they find product market fit.Brickyard is one of the most unique venture firms you’ll ever come across, and we get into how it how it was inspired by a 16x fund based in Chattanooga, why Cam and his co-founders started it during ZIRP, and why they hope everyone copies their model.We also get into Cam’s startup Bellhops, which he started in 2011 and has since grown into the third largest moving company in the US. We talk running a local services business, why 5-star review systems don’t work, and how U-Haul almost killed Bellhops overnight back in 2016.Thanks to Nader Khalil, Matt Harb, Austin Beveridge, and Spencer Levitt for their help brainstorming topics for Cam!Timestamps:(0:00) Intro(03:33) Chattanooga: Dirty manufacturing city to high tech(05:23) Brickyard’s precursor, the Lamp Post Group (a 16x fund)(09:46) How ZIRP screwed up early stage investing(13:49) What is Brickayrd?(21:14) Getting Brickyard off the ground in 2021(26:25) 100+ year old rug warehouse + maintenance nightmares(33:13) Cam wants everyone to copy Brickyard(36:31) Why economic development startup programs don’t work(38:59) YC teams doing Brickyard to escape the Trough of Sorrow(44:07) How Brickyard companies raise Series As(46:10) Nvidia acquiring Brev(52:18) How to deal with a co-founder breakup(55:45) Starting Bellhop to build a better moving company(1:02:27) How U-Haul almost killed them overnight(1:06:54) Marketing tactics for a local services business(1:12:05) Why 5-star review systems don’t work(1:18:16) How Cam’s view of VC’s changed after becoming one(1:20:37) Ways VC’s actually add value(1:25:05) The thesis for Bitcoin(1:39:21) Cam’s annual remote desert island vacationReferencedCheck out Brickyard: justlaybrick.comThe Trough of Sorrow: andrewchen.com/after-the-techcrunch-bump-life-in-the-trough-of-sorrowBellhops: getbellhops.comFollow CamTwitter: twitter.com/camdoodyLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cam-doody-b489a124Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Zero to $20m ARR in Two Months: Bolt’s 7-Year Journey to Overnight Success | Eric Simons, Co-founder The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-02-20 | Eric Simons is the Co-founder and CEO of StackBlitz, best known for its breakout product Bolt, letting anyone build full stack apps from text, in the browser.Bolt launched in October of 2024, quickly growing from zero to a $20 million revenue run rate in two months, making it one of the fastest growing products ever. But Eric will be the first to tell you it wasn’t an overnight success - the product didn’t even work the first time they tried building it.We go behind the scenes of the seven year journey building the tech that eventually led to Bolt, how to avoid distractions, being capital efficient, living in a frat house for $100/month, and squatting in AOL’s headquarters for $1/day when he was 19.Eric also takes us inside the weeks after Bolt’s viral launch, figuring out a new business model on the fly, his strategy for fundraising and PR, why you should open source your code, Bolt’s playbook for building a community around the product that enabled their viral launch, and how AI is changing software forever.Timestamps:(0:00) Intro(2:24) Building full stack apps from text, in your browser(4:19) Running an operating system in the browser(11:48) Why Bolt failed the first time, almost shutting down the company last summer(20:18) How Bolt went viral from one tweet(28:33) Differences between ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor(39:38) Why AI code gen changes the software world order(42:01) What happened inside Bolt going from zero to $20m ARR in two months(47:32) Not sharing fundraises publicly + his PR strategy(58:57) Why the team never gave up for seven years(1:01:07) Living in a frat house for $100/month(1:04:07) How to be capital efficient(1:09:00) Living on $1/day in AOL’s HQ when he was 19(1:14:01) Inside Bolt’s Series B(1:21:03) Bolt’s hiring and product roadmap(1:32:58) Creating a new inference-based AI business model(1:38:07) Eric's playbook for building a community of users(1:44:05) Why you should open source your codeReferencedTry Bolt: https://bolt.new/Bolt on X: https://x.com/boltdotnewCheck out Webcontainers: webcontainers.io$0 to $4m ARR case study with Anthropic: anthropic.com/customers/stackblitzBolt’s open source code: https://www.bolt.diy/Bolt / StackBlitz is hiring! stackblitz.com/careersEric’s favorite cafe, The Lighthouse SF: thelighthousessf.comLady Gaga’s “one person” montage: youtube.com/watch?v=iRxsX_30tjsLiving inside AOL HQ at 19 years old: cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-squatted-at-aolBloomberg coverage of StackBlitz Series B: bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-21/ai-speech-to-code-startup-stackblitz-is-in-talks-for-a-700-million-valuation?embedded-checkout=trueJoel Spolsky’s blog: joelonsoftware.comFollow EricTwitter: https://x.com/ericsimons40LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-simons-a464a664Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Rick Zullo on Building Equal Ventures, Why Traction is Overrated, Advice for Emerging Managers The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-02-13 | Rick Zullo is the Founder of Equal Ventures. Our conversation gets into Equal’s unique approach to venture capital, thinking more like public market and private equity investors, and why they also think traction is overrated at Seed.We talk through Equal’s thesis-driven model, employing a team of product owners, only investing in only 3 to 5 themes at once, and Rick’s admiration of Charlie Munger.We also talk AI - who will benefit the most, what he does and doesn’t like in terms of investing in the space, why venture capital is not really venture capital anymore, and why it sucks to be a Seed investor right now.Rick also runs the Emerging Manager Circle, a group for emerging fund managers. We get into the origin story of the group, his own struggles raising his first fund, and why talent is leaving the mega funds.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:38) Why venture capital isn’t venture capital anymore(11:33) How founders should approach raising a Seed round(14:13) The realities of downrounds(15:55) Rick’s favorite founders that raised little capital(18:54) Biggest fundraising mistake founders make(21:21) Why we need to stop funding AI companies(28:34) How AI will benefit private equity the most(33:30) Three levels of opportunity in AI right now(38:36) Why traction is overrated at Seed(41:38) Investing in businesses with compounding returns on capital(52:07) VC lessons from PE firms(56:24) Why Seed investing sucks right now(1:04:15) The beauty of small exits(1:12:52) How failing to start a fund in college led to Equal Ventures(1:20:06) The struggle raising Equal’s $55m Fund 1(1:23:23) Why the best talent is leaving mega VC firms(1:30:16) The Emerging Managers CircleReferenced* Equal Ventures: https://www.equal.vc/* EMC Summit: emcsummit.comFollow RickTwitter: https://x.com/Rick_ZulloLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rickzulloFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Illegal Immigrant to $160m Fund 1: Inside Villi Iltchev’s Journey Building Category Ventures The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-02-06 | Villi Iltchev is the founder of Category Ventures, where he invests early in enterprise software startups. And he’s done it longer than almost anyone, building Salesforce’s corporate venture arm and investing early in companies like Airtable, Zapier, GitLab, Remote, Hubspot, Gusto, and Box.Fresh off raising his $160m Fund 1, we get into the opportunity he saw to start Category, and how San Francisco and Silicon Valley have changed over the past 30 years.He also shares his story growing up as an illegal immigrant in Greece, moving to the US by himself in high school, the biggest mistake of his career, advice for founders selling their company, why unit economics and profitability always matters, how developer tools went from terrible to amazing businesses, the mistake that almost killed GitLab after he invested, and why you should raise your seed round from a seed fund.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:22) Illegally immigrating from Bulgaria to Greece(05:14) Moving to the US by himself in high school(13:15) Moving to SF in the Dot Com Bubble(15:49) How SF changed over the last 25 years(22:27) Why HP fell from the top of Silicon Valley(25:36) Building Salesforce’s corporate VC arm(30:29) Why SaaS was so transformative(34:35) Angel investing in Airtable(39:52) The biggest mistake of his career(42:13) Why unit economics always matter(47:20) Biggest mistake when selling a tech company(49:00) Almost starting a software PE firm and landing in VC(55:45) Lessons from August Capital + Evolution of venture(59:22) Early days of dev tools + Investing in GitLab(1:09:50) Why being contrarian is dumb(1:11:45) How GitLab almost died and emerged stronger(1:16:48) Villi’s journey to starting Category(1:25:22) Category’s thesis(1:30:48) Why startups always come in batches(1:31:57) The importance of track record in venture(1:35:32) Deciding a $160m fund size(1:39:26) Why you should raise seed rounds from seed firms(1:43:40) What Villi looks for in a startupReferencedCategory VC: categoryvc.comCategory’s $160m Fund 1: forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2024/12/17/villi-iltchev-raises-160-million-debut-fund-categoryAaron Levie (Box) on The Peel: youtu.be/cLn_tqPvNf4GitLab’s Recovery Stream: youtube.com/watch?v=v0TRHLvYGE0Guy Podjarny (Snyk) on The Peel: youtu.be/BzKlZ_v4uCwWhy SaaS won’t consolidate: medium.com/@villispeaks/why-saas-consolidation-is-not-happening-2b9b722e0250Follow VilliTwitter: https://x.com/villiLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/villi04Follow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Drones + GovTech Crash Course | Rahul Sidhu, Co-founder of Aerodome The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-01-30 | Rahul Sidhu is the co-founder of SPIDRTech and Aerodome, two companies in the public safety space.He’s sold both of them, and our conversation unpacks all the lessons he learned, what he did differently with his second company Aerodome, and why he sold only 17 months after starting it.If you tuned into last week’s episode, Paul told us to never talk to the cops. Rahul gives us the other side of the story, sharing his playbook for selling to police, the government, how he met Nikita Bier in high school, and why he’s still bullish on drones, robotics, and AI in the physical world.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(04:07) What its like testifying to Congress(08:06) Why 90% of what he knew about police was wrong(13:15) How to sell to police departments(15:24) His first business selling WoW accounts(19:00) Meeting Nikita Bier in high school(21:29) Starting SPIDRTech to improve police + community relationships(27:45) Two biggest mistakes building SPIDR(31:47) How startups break down when scaling(34:19) Selling SPIDR instead of raising a Series B(40:12) Why Aerodome was so much easier to start(42:55) Why Rahul loves unsexy markets with founder market fit(46:03) Starting Aerodome, drones as first responders(53:39) Building a capital efficient hardware startup(56:46) How regulatory changes made an opening for Aerodome(01:00:13) Inside Aerodome’s Series A(01:03:57) Selling Aerodome to Flock Safety within 17 months(01:09:31) Saying “would I work for this team?” when getting acquired(01:14:35) Seeing a homeless guy in an Aerodome shirt(01:17:02) The massive Robotics + AI opportunity this decade(01:21:42) What’s really happening with drones in New JerseyReferenced:SPIDRTech: spidrtech.com Aerodome: aerodome.com Nikita Bier’s Ted Talk: youtube.com/watch?v=k9QTVII_lkg Follow Rahul:Twitter: https://x.com/rahoolsidoo LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rahulsidhu Follow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How to Build an AI Browser with Paul Klein, Founder + CEO of Browserbase 🅱️ The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-01-23 | Paul Klein is the Founder and CEO of Browserbase, building infrastructure for AI browsers.Our conversation gets into the future of software and AI agents, why authentication is a huge problem in AI, how the best infrastructure companies become product companies, and the memo he wrote that convinced him to start Browserbase despite not wanting to build another company.A year ago, Paul was a relatively unknown commodity, and definitely did not want to raise venture capital again. He shares the playbook he used to go from zero to raising $27 million in nine months “as a non-famous person” (his words).He shares all his lessons learned in the arena as he’s processing them, like what he thinks will unlock better AI agents, why you should like your own tweets, and how Browserbase competes with incumbents.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:39) How LLMs unlock automation online(08:34) The future of software (AI agents)(11:21) Why AI agents need better authentication(12:59) Lessons from Twilio on building an infrastructure company(17:27) Learnings from his first startup(19:56) Bubbles, and how they drive innovation(20:37) Reasons this moment in AI is special(29:58) Why technical founders love post-PMF(31:55) The memo that started Browserbase(34:09) Why a startup should be a means of last resort(36:53) Being a solo founder(42:24) Importance of in-person culture(45:56) The best place to find engineers(48:34) How Paul hired a contractor army to build Browserbase(50:16) Why you can’t hire mercenaries(54:28) The power of emojis in marketing(57:39) Browserbase's early growth playbook (3 videos)(01:04:00) Benefits of sharing an office with other startups(01:06:00) Sales lessons from his parents(01:08:07) Why startups are like video games(01:13:43) Successful founders work the hardest and are shameless(01:18:44) Customer support is a startups greatest differentiator(01:22:06) Paul’s playbook that raised $27m in nine months as a non-famous person(01:29:03) How investors make decisions(01:33:10) Risks help startups avoid competition(01:36:37) Great infrastructure needs its own frameworks(01:39:05) Long-term thinking in LLMs will enable mass AI agents(01:42:21) Avoiding tech debt with AI moving so fast(01:43:48) Infrastructure companies need to become product companies(01:46:54) The Sine Wave philosophy to startupsReferenced:Browserbase: browserbase.comAn Internet Browser for AI: https://memos.hawkhill.ventures/p/an-internet-browser-for-aiRise of the Product Engineer: https://memos.hawkhill.ventures/p/rise-of-the-product-engineerDeath to the Backend: https://memos.hawkhill.ventures/p/death-to-the-backendThe three Browserbase marketing videosPre-Seed: https://x.com/pk_iv/status/1775183751800377344Seed: https://x.com/pk_iv/status/1798731220005883935Series A: https://x.com/pk_iv/status/1851270308701106383Follow Paul:Twitter: https://x.com/pk_ivLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paulkleinivFollow Turner:Twitter: https://x.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Robinhood Co-founder Baiju Bhatt on the Journey to $40B, Building Space Solar Power with Lasers The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-01-16 | You’re probably familiar with Baiju Bhatt’s work as the co-founder of Robinhood. But he’s also obsessed with space, and recently started Aetherflux, a space solar power company.We get into the physics of using lasers to beam solar power to the Earth, Aetherflux’s early roadmap, and how he went from zero to one going from building software to physical products.We also talk through the early days of Robinhood, getting turned down by hundreds of early investors, the accidental launch, how to know if you really have product market fit, how Aaron Levie at Box helped get Robinhood.com, the value of creativity and design, Baiju’s philosophies on combining qualitative and quantitative user research, and his favorite animal and classic car. He also tried to cut my hair.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:31) Aetherflux: a space solar energy company(02:50) Origins of space solar power in the 40's & 70's(10:31) Safely beaming energy from space to Earth with lasers(13:46) Building floating space solar farms(21:27) Aetherflux's early roadmap(27:08) Growing up with dad as a Physics professor(32:18) Going zero to one building physical products(35:15) Baiju's favorite car, attempting a haircut, contemplating mustaches(38:27) Trying to prove Einstein wrong(41:42) Meeting Robinhood Co-founder Vlad at Stanford(44:10) Starting an algorithmic trading company(46:41) The beginnings of Robinhood(52:04) Getting turned down by hundreds of early investors(56:49) How they convinced Tim Draper to invest(59:39) Getting Robinhood.com because of Aaron Levie(01:01:28) Accidentally launching on a Friday afternoon(01:03:09) How to know if you have Product Market Fit(01:06:35) Combining qualitative and quantitative user research(01:14:23) Loving cats despite being allergicReferenced:Robinhood: robinhood.comAetherflux: aetherflux.comTechCrunch coverage: techcrunch.com/2024/10/09/billionaire-robinhood-co-founder-launches-aetherflux-a-space-based-solar-power-startupSeinfeld mustache scene: youtube.com/watch?v=DzZsLaLChRgThe Michelson–Morley experiment: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experimentEpisode with Aaron Levie @ Box: youtube.com/watch?v=cLn_tqPvNf4Follow Baiju:X/Twitter: https://x.com/BaijuBhatt LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bprafulkumar Follow Turner:X/Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Sheel Mohnot on All Things Fintech, Starting Better Tomorrow Ventures The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-01-09 | Sheel Mohnot is the Co-founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, an early stage fintech focused fund leading rounds in pre-seed and seed-stage companies.Our conversation weaves through Sheel’s two decades of building and investing in fintech, starting BTV, and why they started a fintech-focused accelerator, The Mint.Fun facts on Sheel, he was a contestant on the Zoom Bachelor during COVID lockdowns, in a Justin Bieber music video, got married in the Taco Bell Metaverse, and was once banned from Uber.We talk lessons competing against Stripe before selling his first company, common fintech startup pitfalls, and the trick every VC should use when fundraising.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:13) Why fintech makes disproportionate positive change(07:49) Most interesting opportunities in fintech today(09:09) The accountant shortage(12:59) Common early fintech startup pitfalls(16:09) Building Fee Fighters to cut payment processing fees(21:15) Lessons competing with Stripe(21:57) Getting acquired by Groupon and adding $600m in market cap(25:11) Biggest first-time startup mistakes(29:21) Getting $10k in Uber credit via paid Google ads(32:13) Investing in Flexport(36:19) Navigating hot vs underhyped rounds(43:39) Sheel’s domain auction company(53:18) How he started angel investing(54:57) Spotify acquiring his podcast “The Pitch”(59:55) Why accelerators succeed and fail(01:06:07) The Mint, BTV’s fintech-focused accelerator(01:09:56) Camp BTV in the Santa Cruz Mountains(01:11:41) Early days of NerdWallet(01:14:55) Raising $75m BTV Fund 1 with Jake to fill a gap in the market(01:18:36) Understanding Fund of Funds incentives(01:22:15) References in VC fundraising(01:24:02) $150m BTV Fund 2(01:27:13) Importance of following-on when leading roundsReferenced:BTV: https://www.btv.vc/The Mint: https://www.themint.vc/Fee Fighters: techcrunch.com/2011/09/23/feefighters-launches-payment-gateway-samuraiFollow Sheel:Twitter: https://x.com/pitdesiLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/smohnotFollow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Life360s 17-Year Journey to $3B | Chris Hulls, Founder and CEO The Peel with Turner Novak 2025-01-02 | Chris Hulls is the co-founder and CEO of Life360, the social network for families. At the time of recording, its the 15th largest app in the US, with over $330 million in annual revenue, and valued at over $3 billion in the public markets.We go inside the two decade journey building Life360, competing against Sam Altman and Woz, almost getting cancelled on TikTok, and going public twice - first in Australia, then again in the US.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:04) Why CEO’s are getting more authentic(04:59) Building a social network for family(08:14) Starting Life360 after Hurricane Katrina(12:23) $30k from mom and a professor(13:52) $300k grant from Google(16:13) Launching on the first Android phones(18:20) Competing against Sam Altman, Steve Wozniak(19:06) “If we trusted the data, we would’ve shut down”(24:22) Why doubters lead to less competition(25:49) Fundraising in an unsexy market(32:21) Almost getting cancelled on TikTok(41:42) Building a contextual advertising business(48:36) Acquiring Tile, launching hardware products(52:41) Defeating patent trolls(57:22) IPO’ing in Australia and the US(01:01:00) Why its hard to go public below a certain size(01:07:50) 70% drop in downloads during COVID(01:10:03) Get to know your competitors(01:15:05) Lean Startup philosophy went too farReferenced:Try Life360: life360.com Wheels of Zeus: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheels_of_Zeus Chris’ TikTok journey: entrepreneur.com/leadership/how-life360s-founder-dealt-with-teens-mocking-him-on-tiktok/457879 Chris’ TikTok: tiktok.com/@life360ceo Follow Chris:Twitter: https://x.com/ChrisHulls LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrishulls Follow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Unlocking AGI With Visual AI Agents | Joseph Nelson, Roboflow The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-12-19 | Joseph Nelson is the Co-founder and CEO of Roboflow, making the world programmable by building computer vision tools for developers and enterprises.We talk about how computer vision creates a new paradigm to program the world, and how visual AI is the missing piece of AGI.Joseph also shares multiple live product examples, how computer vision unlocks new data sources, lessons from Stripe and Palantir, building business models in developer tools, his experience working with David Sacks, and developer marketing tactics and how Roboflow consistently gets to the front page of Hacker News.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:34) Computer vision is the missing piece for AGI(05:59) Vision as a new paradigm to collect data(10:55) Live examples of computer vision(13:45) The Magic Sudoku solver that led to Roboflow(18:13) Using computer vision for automation(24:49) Computer vision in sports(27:02) How vision unlocks new data sources(28:24) Inside developer tool business models(33:32) The "Collison Install" and hands-on customer service(36:45) When to adopt Palantir's Forward Deployed Engineers(43:44) Why AI companies need to combine PLG and enterprise sales(50:12) Advice on developer marketing(52:30) Roboflow's greatest hits on Hacker News(01:02:19) Benefits of David Sacks as AI & Crypto Czar(01:05:32) Why all new technology has bad actors(01:07:07) Why over-regulation holds back innovation(01:12:01) How to get on the front page of Hacker News(01:19:43) Multi modality, time recognition, and agentic vision(01:28:36) Image-to-image prompting(01:30:42) Growing up in Iowa(01:32:20) Making TI-84 calculator games in high school(01:36:32) Pioneer: hunger games for startups(01:40:16) Why Roboflow does weekly Ship Lists + Ship and Tell(01:42:46) Hiring former founders and "full stack people"(01:45:16) Designing a bottoms-up organization while scaling(01:50:35) Why candidates build with Roboflow in hiring process(01:55:08) Hiring someone to help with the podcastReferenced:Robowflow: roboflow.comRoboflow Universe: universe.roboflow.comPaint.wtf: https://paint.wtf/Roboflows NeurIPS Presentations: blog.roboflow.com/neurips-2023-papers-highlightsCareers at Roboflow: roboflow.com/careersFollow Joseph:Twitter: https://x.com/josephofiowa/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephofiowaFollow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How Morning Brew Grew to 6 Million Subscribers and $70 Million Revenue | Austin Rief The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-12-12 | Austin Rief is the Co-founder & CEO of Morning Brew, building the Wall Street Journal for the next generation. They started the company in 2016, and grew it to 6 million subscribers and $70 million in revenue in six years.We talk through the journey starting Morning Brew with Co-founder Alex Lieberman while students at the University of Michigan, and Austin's playbook for starting a new media company from scratch today. We get into the creator economy, early stage investing, ad based business models, being the first advertiser on Instagram Stories, advice for hiring, and his secret for sourcing remote talent in Sri Lanka.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:42) How to start a media company from scratch today(13:01) Future of the creator economy is niche products(14:42) Opportunity in B2B media today(17:05) Reflecting on investing during ZIRP(21:30) Why its starting to feel like 2021 again(23:16) Talking VC portfolio math(27:09) Starting Morning Brew with Wall Street interview prep(33:35) Being so dumb that they never pivoted from being a newsletter(35:29) How newsletter business models works(38:32) Morning Brew’s first viral Instagram post(40:37) Acquiring subscribers for two cents on Instagram Stories(42:29) Nik Sharma’s poor mans paid ads strategy(44:32) Landing Discover as their first big sponsor(46:06) How agencies and ad buying works(49:49) Why sales roles are so hard to hire for(53:04) Importance of offsheet references(57:43) Sourcing talent in Sri Lanka with Oceans(01:04:23) Austin and Alex’s unique co-founder dynamics(01:07:16) Dental plans, rotisserie chickens, and company laptops(01:10:00) Building WSJ for the next generationReferencedMorning Brew: morningbrew.comTry Oceans: oceanstalent.comCraig Fuller episode: youtube.com/watch?v=oPPqO8eBq2MOvertime episode: youtu.be/9Prj5AtkvzgKevin Espiritu episode: youtube.com/watch?v=FefGL-qPzDoForbes article: forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2019/02/07/morning-brewFollow AustinTwitter: https://x.com/austin_riefLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/austin-riefNewsletter: theaustinbrief.comFollow TurnerTwitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
The Startup Teaching 2-Year Olds to Read | Niels Hoven, Mentava The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-12-05 | Niels Hoven is the founder of Mentava, building software to accelerate kids’ education, starting with teaching two year old’s to read.We talk about how public education isn’t designed for ambitious kids, the power of hater marketing, product design from zero to one, how too much data leads to Frankenstein products, Seed stage fundraising advice, parenting hacks, why AI won’t have a big impact on education, and the future of elite higher ed.For full show notes, visit: highlightai.com/share/0a0869a7-c345-4974-ba2b-726bacf7a534 Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:49) Why schools don’t challenge overachievers(11:58) How a hater made Mentava go viral(18:14) The secret that teaches little kids to read(24:22) How people actually learn to read(27:35) 2/3 of 4th graders can’t read proficiently(29:29) The downfall of one-size fits all education(33:44) How California almost banned middle school algebra(40:41) SF’s lottery system and how it impacts low income families(42:41) How COVID changed education(47:41) Early prototypes and going all-in on Mentava(50:56) Best practices from gaming in education(55:10) Raising a party round from lots of angels(01:03:03) Designing business models in education(01:13:19) Being pro-tech + anti-screens for kids(01:18:04) Top parenting hacks(01:22:53) How data-driven product design leads to Frankenstein products(01:25:34) Why gaming’s the best industry to learn how to build product(01:27:46) The trick Niels used to find startup ideas for 20 years(01:31:03) Why AI won’t be that impactful in education(01:36:28) What happens to elite higher education over the next decade(01:43:15) Admiring StripeReferenced:Mentava: mentava.comRyan Delk podcast episode: open.spotify.com/show/3QqtxGHqsPnKTG4CS7NgX5 | youtu.be/GTfsMEOIIxQ How Neils raised Mentava’s Seed round: mentava.com/blog/how-i-got-50-high-profile-angel-investors-to-join-our-seed-round Mentava’s Alphabet Book: mentava.com/alphabet-sounds-book | amazon.com/Mentavas-Alphabet-Sounds-Niels-Hoven/dp/B0DKTQ9FW4 Follow Niels:X / Twitter: https://x.com/NielsHoven LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nielshoven Follow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
Growing to 100M Neighbors + Why Nextdoors Founding CEO Nirav Tolia Returned Six Years Later The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-11-21 | Nirav Tolia is the co-founder and two-time CEO of Nextdoor. He started the company in 2011, stepped down as CEO in 2018, watched the company go public in 2021, and re-joined as CEO the summer of 2024. He also founded Epinions which IPO’d in 2004, and before that was an early employee at Yahoo. We go inside the decision to re-join the company after he thought he’d never come back, and how Nextdoor’s trying to act like a startup while running a public company. He also takes us back to the very early days of Nextdoor, the deliberate product decisions that made growth hard but led to 100M+ neighbors on the platform, the lessons learned operating his first company through the Dot Com Bubble, and what it was like being a guest shark on Shark Tank. For full show notes, visit: highlightai.com/share/d7bcd655-9b2f-47f7-a6e3-fdf3e109c97eRecommended Podcast:🎙️Unpack Pricing Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more.Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:39) Leaving Nextdoor in 2018(07:30) Coming back in 2024(10:31) The importance of family in career decisions(17:37) Why you have to listen to learn(24:47) The Founders Mentality(26:45) “Develop and Deliver”(32:03) Local, the last remaining consumer opportunity(36:58) Why being a founder is so hard(39:21) Going to the high school from Friday Night Lights(42:07) What Nirav learned at Stanford(46:22) Working at Yahoo from $500m to $100B(49:37) Starting Epinions with Naval in 1999(51:11) Operating through the Dot Com Bubble(56:34) How Bill Gurley’s challenge led to Nextdoor(58:16) Early product experimentation(01:05:19) Why early growth was so hard, and scaling to 100 million neighbors(01:10:10) The opportunity in local news(01:12:14) Being a Shark on Shark Tank Referenced:Nextdoor: nextdoor.comThe Founder’s Mentality: amazon.com/Founders-Mentality-Overcome-Predictable-Crises/dp/1633691160 Follow Nirav:Twitter: https://x.com/niravtoliaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/niravtoliaFollow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to get new episodes + transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it: https://www.thespl.it/
Recruiting From Zero to One with Nakul Mandan (Founder Audacious Ventures) The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-11-14 | Nakul Mandan is the founder of Audacious Ventures. Prior to Audacious, he was a partner at Lightspeed, joining from Battery, which he joined in ‘09 in the middle of the financial crisis while living in India.This conversation explores his journey immigrating to Silicon Valley and building an early stage venture firm from the ground up.We get into why most VCs aren’t helpful with recruiting at the zero to one stage, his thesis on starting an early stage venture firm to help founders hire A+ teams, a crash course on early stage recruiting and building a sales team, and how COVID hit right after he left Lightspeed to raise Audacious Fund 1.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:43) Evolution of VC platform teams(09:53) How Audacious runs in-house recruiting processes(15:16) The reason large firms can’t help with Seed stage recruiting(17:06) Immigrating from India to the US mid-financial crisis(21:59) Silicon Valley's secret weapon(25:59) The opportunity to start a recruiting-focused Seed firm(30:14) Raising Audacious $90m Fund 1 in April of 2020(36:58) The new guard of Seed firms(39:23) Why $50-75m is the minimum viable institutional fund size(41:48) How to work with the best founders(45:30) Navigating deal dynamics, term sheets, and valuations(52:24) The two hardest parts about starting a fund(54:32) Lessons applied raising Audacious $125m Fund 2 in 2023(58:46) Evolving from a PMF-first to Founder-first investor(01:02:09) Five factors that create force of nature founders(01:07:05) How to build an A+ team01:11:46) The importance of backchanneling(01:13:54) Why everyone thinks they’re a good people reader(01:14:35) Two most common mistakes in recruiting(01:20:59) Determining urgency of a customer’s problem(01:22:55) Hiring and scaling your first sales team(01:25:55) Why marketing is the hardest role to hire for(01:31:59) What good sales people look like(01:35:43) How to move up market + how to do pilots(01:43:40) Why Nakul admires Rafael NadalReferenced:Audacious: audacious.coNakul’s immigration journey: nakulmandan.com/blog/2024/an-immigrant-living-the-american-dreamForce of nature founders: nakulmandan.com/blog/2024/traits-i-look-for-in-foundersEarly GTM hiring: nakulmandan.com/blog/2023/initial-gtm-hiring-for-saas-startupsFollow Nakul:Twitter: https://x.com/nakulLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nakulmandanFollow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it
Rent the Runway’s Early Days and the Future of Commerce with Co-founder Jenny Fleiss The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-11-07 | Jenny Fleiss is the Co-founder of Rent the Runway, and more recently started Roll Rider with her three kids.We get into the early insights that led to Rent the Runway, building the company with no fashion or tech background, fundraising advice, what she’s thinking about the future of AI and commerce, and the latest company she’s building with her kids, Roll Rider.For full show notes, visit: highlightai.com/share/9bc59c07-05ab-41aa-b37e-f35a7c92092d Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(05:31) How social media was Rent the Runway’s first tailwind(07:21) Being early to sustainable fashion(09:21) Starting the company at HBS in 2008(12:36) Launching with no fashion or tech background(14:49) The three biggest early surprises(18:44) Using “show don’t tell” to fundraise(20:06) Why customer social proof was so important(23:04) How they only spent 10% of revenue on marketing(25:12) Getting the NYT to cover their launch(29:43) Early mistakes(31:29) Re-building the product a few weeks before launch(33:11) Why building their own logistics was so important(38:59) Subscriptions, retail, and other key product decisions(45:15) How the internet makes it harder to shop(49:30) Building conversational commerce at Walmart(53:48) Lessons from starting a company with her kids(58:38) Favorite startups in AI and commerceReferenced:Rent the Runway: renttherunway.com NYT’s Launch Coverage: nytimes.com/2009/11/09/technology/09runway.htmlCheck out Roll Rider: rollrider.com Use code TURNER15 for 15% offFollow Jenny:Twitter: https://x.com/Jenny_RTR LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennifer-fleiss-18577314Follow Turner:Twitter: https://x.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
How OpenPhone Grew to 100k Customers | Daryna Kulya The Peel with Turner Novak 2024-10-31 | Daryna Kulya is the Co-founder of OpenPhone, the world’s best business phone.This episode is a masterclass on startup marketing, chronicling the first six years of OpenPhone, how they acquired their first customers, and inside all the different channels they used to scale the business to over 100k customers, including FB Groups, Reddit, SEO, and cold outbound.We also get into why founder-led content is so important today, and why design is a crucial core competency.For full show notes, visit: highlightai.com/share/28b95226-9936-4ae9-882d-6c68a1b578d5Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:10) OpenPhone’s new API launch(06:41) Why a better business phone is a big deal(13:18) Immigrating from Ukraine to the US and building OpenPhone(15:39) Hacking a custom business phone(25:29) How OpenPhone got its first customers from Facebook Groups(33:02) Tricks for unlocking word of mouth(39:11) Transitioning from free to paid users(43:05) How OpenPhone cracked word of mouth on Reddit(46:29) OpenPhone’s YC experience(49:01) Why the Seed round was hard to raise(53:49) Using Slack to aggregate all customer feedback across the internet(57:38) How YC helped redefine their ICP(01:01:33) Tactics for sending cold emails(01:06:24) How to get and benefit from press(01:12:18) Daryna’s “behind the scenes” approach to founder-led content(01:16:26) Using long-tail keywords to kickstart an SEO strategy in 2020(01:23:05) When to do founder-led content vs SEO(01:28:38) How your customers should pull you up-market(01:30:18) Why OpenPhone cares about designReferenced:OpenPhone: openphone.comAhrefs: ahrefs.comFollow Daryna:Twitter: twitter.com/darynakulyaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/darynakulyaFollow Turner:Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
