20VC Newsletter - Apr 28th 2024
Here are the transcripts and top takeaways from 20VC episodes released this last week!
Monday’s episode with Daniel Dines, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer for UiPath:
Download the full transcript here:
My 8 key takeaways:
The Billionaire Who Lives on a Dollar Per Day
I was living on $30 a month.
At times I didn’t have enough to eat properly.
It leaves a mark & I had the anxiety until recently.
How a Seed Round Changed a Mindset?
I bootstrapped UiPath for 10 years before raising my seed round.
Something switched in my head after raising.
I had the freedom to go big & stopped having any fear.
Why Programmers are Lucky
They are artists.
They get to completely be in the flow when creating something.
I could work for 30 minutes & all my anxiety will be gone.
The Ultimate Wisdom From a Billionaire on Escaping a Prisoner Mind
I used to only work for financial freedom & I felt stuck.
But it is a prisoner mindset anyone can change.
What is preferable can be pleasurable.
The Secret to Management: Delegate and Inspect
It’s important to give them freedom but also inspect what they’re doing.
I go deep in certain areas and assess why they’ve made those decisions
Sometimes you find signs of cancer early & it’s easier to kill it.
People Have a Range and It Is Four or Five Exec Teams to Go Public
We went through 4-5 execs before going public.
People have a range where they operate better in a hyper growth startup.
Hire more experienced people in command when the company grows beyond their range.
They will leave or stay & learn.
Why Firing Someone Should Always Hurt
I talked with Carl Eschenbach about how firing people is difficult.
He said it is completely normal.
The moment firing someone doesn’t hurt is the moment you are no longer a good CEO.
10 Years of Bootstrapping Prepared Me For VC Funding
The adversity taught me important skills as a CEO.
Writing, licensing, talking to customers…
I wasn’t ready without those 10 years.
Wednesday’s episode with Co-Founder & CEO of Zip Rujul Zaparde:
Download the full transcript here:
My 5 key takeaways:
Why Speed is the Most Important Thing
Our team has a thought exercise:
“In an alternate reality, how would we compete against a Zip clone?”
We’d rather be fast & iterate than slow & plan everything.
No one can get it 100% right, so might as well learn quickly & move on.
Why Young Managers are More Creative
I prefer to hire someone that has potential but no experience.
They will first principle the problem & have more original ideas.
They won’t be cutting and pasting a playbook from another company.
Platform vs Point Solution
Founders need to identify that one pain point their product solves.
You can build a platform BUT you will need to differentiate from your competitors.
That original pain point will always be your wedge.
Why We Don’t Use Design Partners
Our first 10 customers were cold off of Linkedin.
No warm intros, no referrals, nothing.
We want to build a generational company & if this doesn’t work we want to know early and move on.
Lessons from Brian Chesky @ Airbnb
He is world class in his attention to detail.
If a spacing is off in the app he will let us know.
It reflects the company’s bar for quality.
Friday’s episode with Adam Gross, Former Interim CEO of Vimeo:
Download the full transcript here:
My 5 key takeaways:
PLG Is a Business Model Not a GTM
PLG is not for everybody.
It’s a way of architecting your product, business, & entire organization.
It’s not a random distribution channel to add on.
You have to be really intentional about it.
If You Have Paid Sub 100M You Are Not PLG
Good PLG businesses have discovered one effective acquisition mechanism.
It contributes up to 70% of their customer acquisition volume.
Doing paid acquisition sub $100M ARR isn’t PLG.
The Poet & Librarian of Hiring
There are two types of hires:
Poet: Creativity-driven, experts in domain knowledge.
Librarian: Process-oriented, experts in systems & efficiency.
Know which one you’re hiring & find a mix.
Importance of Team Alignment
An organization’s attention & focus is the most precious resource you have.
I am a big believer in planning methodologies to align teams.
It doesn’t matter which methodology you use.
When a team is genuinely aligned, you can feel it.
The Seasons of Software
A leader should align everyone in “seasons”.
We do quarterly updates through blogs, web posts, etc.
It creates a rhythm everyone can align to.
It’s one of the most powerful yet simple things you can do.
Let us know what your big takeaways from this week’s shows were in the comments below!
Thank you for reading, and don’t miss the great guests we have next week:
Arthur Mensch, Co-Founder & CEO at Mistral.
Mark Suster, GP at Upfront Ventures.