Steven Tristan Young

Hiring alert! One of our newest MKT1 portfolio companies is hiring a founding marketer. nodaFi is vertical SaaS that understands a wedge-in strategy. The team is scrappy and values marketing--and really understands their ICP - facilities managers. If you're based in the Bay Area and interested in helping bring a tech-first approach to an industry that operates with pen & paper, take a look. The founders are awesome (cc Jacob Pandl & Michael Loyda) JD link in the comments.

60

6 Comments

A stroll through San Diego led me to Geppetto's, where a life-sized puppet and friendly staff turned me into an unexpected customer. 🌟This IS the magic of independent retail. 🌟 With consumer spending down, small businesses need innovative strategies beyond discounting to thrive without sacrificing profitability. Curious about how #indieretailers are navigating these challenges? Check out my latest article in Total Retail. #Retail #SmallBusiness #CustomerExperience #Innovation #IndependentRetail #SMB #boutiqueowner #retailer #fashion

45

2 Comments

Let’s be real. A truthful discussion about why big luxury marketplaces tanked, beyond what’s already been said Many of my colleagues at THE LIST came from luxury marketplaces that crashed last year. Here's my summary of many discussions we’ve had with them to gain learnings: 1. Org structures that didn’t support innovation → churn 2. Overspending to force unnatural growth 3. Raising too much capital too soon 4. Going public too early 5. Losing focus from core mission 6. Ventures outside core competencies, e.g. beauty, brick & mortar On points 5 and 6 we have actually faced similar issues but on a much smaller scale. AI was our core value prop at the beginning, but there was investor pressure to pursue social shopping. Most social shopping ventures have failed. Because the global market is now hyper focused on AI, we can finally expand on our original vision. I’m curious. What do you think is being left out of the narrative around the luxury marketplace implosion?

40

15 Comments

Ezra Klein opens his podcast, with AI Expert, Ethan Mollick, with an all too relatable preamble: “I consistently sort of wander up to the A.I., ask it a question, find myself somewhat impressed or unimpressed at the answer. But it doesn’t stick for me. And I think that failure matters. I think getting good at working with A.I. is going to be an important skill in the next few years.” In the next hour, Klein and Mollick go back and forth with some of the most insightful and practical AI guidance I’ve heard.  For example: Ethan Mollick: "A.I. is built like a tool. It’s software…But because of how it’s built, because of how it’s constructed, it is much more like working with a person than working with a tool. In fact, there’s some early evidence that programmers are the worst people at using A.I. because it doesn’t work like software. It doesn’t do the things you would expect a tool to do. Tools shouldn’t occasionally give you the wrong answer, shouldn’t give you different answers every time, shouldn’t insult you or try to convince you they love you. And I find that teachers, managers, even parents, editors, are often better at using these systems, because they’re used to treating this as a person.” See comments below for some of my other favorite sound bites. I definitely encourage everyone to listen. https://lnkd.in/gjmHCEvq

9

2 Comments

Fear of Failure was NOT a consideration for early Silicon Valley startups that were focused on break-through technology to create markets and companies to serve them.  When you are pushing for an edge, it can be hard to slow down and not go over the unfamiliar precipice.  Gordon Moore’s $15M Microma digital watch acquisition and subsequent failure in the early 1970s resulted in Intel’s System-on-a-Chip concept which resulted in the breakthrough 4004 microprocessor.  Steve Jobs’ personally invested $12M of his own money in forming NeXT and a new computer that was superior to any personal computer or workstation available at the time.  It has been called a work of art even though not a business success. I posted earlier about my father’s teaching computer startup, Hu-Mac (human-to-machine), incubated in the attic of our Los Altos home in 1966.  It failed in 1970.  Always the entrepreneur, his new bench top product was an integrated silicon etching system for prototyping 2” silicon wafers.  It was comprised of a polypropylene tank for the etch bath and a control module for etch voltage & timer functions wired to a 2” wafer rack that was then lowered into the etch tank.  At the time I was working in a bar and driving a tractor for a local farmer to pay my college & living expenses.  As an alternative, my father offered me a job building the system’s circuit board, acquiring the components, and then populating and soldering the components in place. I balked at the superior wage offer given my lack of these skills but my father said to me, “don’t worry about failing, you can always go back to what you were doing previously”.  Soon after, I was helping my father to deliver finished systems through a back door into an Intel building on Middlefield Road in Mountain View in the early 1970s.  This was roughly about the time Intel was manufacturing their first 4004 system-on-a-chip on 2” wafers.  I got my college degree and I have NEVER feared failure since those formative days.  My father successfully retired onto his sailboat at the age of 59 and sailed the world the rest of his days. By 1988, I had regional management responsibility for NeXT with Motorola Semi.  With Motorola’s $20M investment backing, I got to personally interface with Steve Jobs and the NeXT management team, a phenomenal experience and a front row seat for its development.  NeXT may have been considered a failure but it created the technology that fueled Apple’s and Steve Jobs’ 2nd coming.  Once back at Apple, Steve acquired NeXT for $400M bringing NeXTSTEP and Jon Rubinstien to Apple. NeXTSTEP became the MacOS and Jon pioneered the development of the iMac and iPod platforms that rescued a floundering Apple and set in motion the technology dominance Apple enjoys today. Failure CAN be an option.  I have some old Microma watches and a NeXT hat to remind me.

79

3 Comments

This article really resonated with me, especially the section below about founders knowing their numbers. What skill set should a founder starting a brand today have?  Drew F.: "Now, more than ever, you have to know your numbers. You have to be able to describe your unit economics, not only certainly to any prospective investor, but also to yourself because the odds that you’re going to get any capital are near zero. If you don’t know your unit economics and cash flow, you won’t have a business. The founder that knows their numbers and how to scale the business in a healthy and efficient way is the founder that will prevail." Scaling a beauty brand has never been easy, but it has gotten increasingly more difficult over the past few years. Capital efficiency and a focus on margins and profitability have also become more important for investors seeking to deploy in the category. True Beauty Ventures Cristina Nuñez Rachel Brown Beauty Independent #beautyinvesting https://lnkd.in/egBiFhPC

33

6 Comments

What's preventing your store from loading this fast? https://lnkd.in/gVANey-H ⏱ I met Michael Bower yesterday and loved what he's doing at Nyla to deliver blazing-fast sites like Paradox Outdoor as a simple no-code solution for brands. Building something really bespoke on Hydrogen? Check out solutions like Pack. The point is, you shouldn't have a slow and cumbersome site in 2024. We build mobile apps based on web components at Kin so we often help brands see their website through a fresh lens 👓 ➡ how does my site look and feel as a mobile application? Sometimes, they don't love what they see through this fresh lens. The experience is clunky and doesn't feel native because it's slow. This is the wake-up call the brand needed! Do you think customers who are willing to hop into the app store and download your mobile app are the ones turned off by your underperforming site? They might not love it, but at least they're very interested in what you're selling! It's the person who just clicked your IG ad and had never heard of you before you need to worry about. They don't care about you. They aren't sure they want your products. They liked the look of an image or the hook of some copy... but they are literally plugged into an instant dopamine machine continuously optimized by machine learning PHDs worth more than your company. You really want to make them wait a couple seconds? Then expect them to navigate through something clunky? They're gone... So fix your site.

10

Are we helping or hurting? That is a question many residents of San Francisco ask ourselves in the midst of a stark and increasing equity gap. As a parent, community member, and incoming board member of the Horizons at San Francisco Friends School, I’m keenly aware of the potential learning loss our public school students in the Mission District experience in the summer months without our support. Our city is undergoing another crisis - looming budget cuts threaten vital programs like Horizons at SFFS that provide equitable learning for Mission youth. We urgently need your support to secure bridge funding and ensure our summer enrichment continues. Our scholars and families are relying on Horizons' high-quality academics and social-emotional growth.  Horizons has been successfully leveraging the months when students are out of school to stem summer learning loss for children in San Francisco for ~10 years. The program has also intentionally increased impact by supporting their scholars through their educational journey during the school year and into High School. Last year, Horizons impacted 150+ scholars with targeted small classroom instruction, confidence-building, and joyful community enrichment experiences- thanks to our dedicated summer education workforce. But we can't continue without you. Please join me in supporting Horizons at SFFS today to expand partnerships, engage more crisis-impacted families, and grow our supportive community stronger. In past years, the SF Department of Children, Youth and Families has been a partner to increase access to education for our students. This summer, as we face a potential 40% loss to our summer program due to DCYF funding cuts that have impacted so many vital programs in our city, we’ve decided to celebrate Horizons Giving Day, the whole month of May. Please join me in our movement - your gift saves the summer for San Francisco scholars and helps bridge the educational equity gap in our city. Let’s help together. In gratitude, friendship and community, Aneesha #GiveTheGiftofSummer #SparkPassions #HorizonsGivingDay https://lnkd.in/gJAYnibC Links for reference: Horizons at SFFS: https://lnkd.in/gfsdugDX Impact Report: https://lnkd.in/gZc2jn85 Press Release on DCYF Loss of Funding: https://lnkd.in/gNprpSyB

12

2 Comments

Over 1.1 million DoorDash customers are now accessing their EBT / SNAP benefits via Forage 🎉 👏 Awesome seeing this win win win partnership come to life: "The companies say their collaboration is designed to widen food access for more than 14 million Americans living in “food deserts,” and the 40 million-plus people who live in communities where upwards of 10% of households receive SNAP/EBT benefits." "Although 7.2% of all consumers shop for groceries exclusively online, that figure climbs to 10.4% for people who live paycheck to paycheck and have issues paying their bills" More access and choice for consumers. DoorDash reaches more customers and builds denser delivery networks. And Forage now serves customers on DoorDash, Uber, Shopify, and more.

10

1 Comment

Sometimes I encourage founders to socialize their company to prospective investors before actually starting an official fundraise process. We've seen this work in a variety of ways: (1) preemptive term sheets; (2) founders pick up on investor sentiment towards their business; (3) opportunity to form more organic relationship with an investor; and (4) get a sense of what investors want to see for a subsequent fundraise. Some founders are reluctant to socialize their business until it appears more solid and there's obvious traction. While this makes sense, the reality is that early-stage is inherently messy and investors know the plane is being built and flown simultaneously. The art of conveying the narrative of, "this is what I've already accomplished and here's where the business will be in next 3-6-9-12 months" can be the most effect fundraising tool in the game. What do others in the VC community think of this strategy?

18

2 Comments

We got deep and a little emotional on this episode! Thanks Nicolas W. for sharing your story and taking the time to share beyond most on this episode!

8

1 Comment

🎨 📺 Sharon Roth is a Product & Design leader who’s built her career in the lab, across different modalities, to bring more creative product experiences to life 📺 🎨 It's W3 / Q3 / 2024 and this week in our MGMT Boston up & coming operator series we’ve got Sharon who serves as the Senior Director of Product Management at Quantified.ai, the AI-driven flight simulator for sellers. The app feels as real as your next video call, scales across teams, programs, and companies, and ramps reps 42% faster. Sharon is leading Quantified AI’s Product & Design team after previous roles in Product leadership at Tamr & Honor Education. She’s excited to be back working in an Enterprise focused company, leading Design alongside Product, focused on strategic & execution based discipline. ❓Questions Are Your Roadmap ❓ It’s popular to encourage new hires to ask a lot of questions. But it’s always a good time to ask questions! When a member of your team comes to you and says “we really need to build X feature”, they’re coming to you for good reason. Dig into the why to understand how often the issue comes up, when it happens in a customer conversation, and why they’re asking for it in the first place. Is there an even better way to build a solution? Also, people are always excited about getting to a solution. By delaying the solution discussion to first get everyone to agree on the problem, you can coordinate a better response. Sharon has been in rooms where stakeholders can’t agree on the problem they’re trying to solve, which can sometimes be even more painful! By asking better questions and articulating the underlying issues thoroughly, they can work together as an organization to chart a better path forward. 3 Career Insights / Learnings 🙋‍♀️ Seek New Challenges - “Trying new things is how you learn and grow. At a startup, there are so many opportunities to try new things. As startups evolve, you need to embrace all that’s going to happen and make it a positive thing. Otherwise don’t go to a startup!” 🤝 Act with Integrity - “Do your best, show your work. But also treat others with respect and kindness while doing it. How you treat people and how you show up every day will impact your work environment. You’re responsible for the energy you bring to the room, so be authentic and try to inject some positivity. It will help you build the type of network you want to have too” 🗣 Invest in Communication Skills - “It helps you ask questions well, advocate for yourself, have your ideas be heard. It also helps others understand your impact. It takes continuous practice to do well.” If you’d like to learn more about Sharon’s career, the full post is linked in the comments. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter to see the operator learnings we bring you in the weeks ahead too, will ya? #bostontech #operators

76

5 Comments

🚨 The former CFO of Dropbox, Sujay Jaswa oversees the investment and operating activities as a founding partner at WndrCo, alongside media vet Jeffrey Katzenberg. He joins us for VC Wednesdays.🚨 🖋️  You recently closed a $460 million VC fund. Where are you looking to deploy that? Everything we do is around the idea of the future of work and helping people optimize how they get work done. That’s why we're investors in companies like Airtable, Figma, Databricks, Deel, 1Password and others. That won’t change, but now, you'll see us really focus on the applications of AI that will meaningfully disrupt how work gets done, like in finance, HR and customer support. 🖋️  Why should founders work with WndrCo? One thing that we do that's different is starting one to two companies a year in areas that we think have the potential to yield big returns. So, when we talk to entrepreneurs, our operating experience stays current, and that angle on venture is fairly unique. The second is that each partner at WndrCo has built something, so we have the empathy that comes from that experience. Third, we do only five to seven deals a year, versus bigger firms that do hundreds. Because we have a smaller portfolio, entrepreneurs can get a hold of literally every partner within a couple of hours, 365 days a year. 🖋️ Which startup pitch sticks out the most in your memory over others and why? My favorite is one that’s not a household name yet, even though the business is absolutely on fire. It’s Aura, an all-in-one product to protect you and your family online. The idea is that unlike the physical world, you have no idea what your kids are doing on their phones and devices. Aura gives parents the tools to navigate raising a kid in our mobile-first and digital-first world. When the founder, Hari Ravichandran, walked me through how he would take it to market, it was love at first sight. He's an extraordinary entrepreneur and the best go-to-market person I've ever met when it comes to consumer products. 🖋️ What’s one investment you regret passing on and why? At the end of the day, this whole business is built on being part of monster companies as early as possible. One of the best enterprise companies of the last decade is Databricks. The founder and CEO, Ali Ghodsi, is a very good friend of mine, and for whatever reason, it never occurred to me in the early years to twist his arm to try and let him take our money. We invested in Databricks later than I’d have liked to. 🖋️  What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned working with Jeffrey Katzenberg? The biggest thing I've learned is that you can't be him, and it’s impossible to keep up with him. He's relentless, and I have never met someone who works harder than him. If he says he's going to do something, no matter how hard, if it's within his capabilities, he'll do it. He's a doer, and he just gets stuff done. I admire that so tremendously. #VCWednesdays #vc #venturecapital #startups #TechonLinkedIn

82

8 Comments

Yesterday I posted about how failure is inherent in entrepreneurship, and I promised to share more about how #VentureStudios help #startups avoid failure.   💭 When I posted, I had my next few posts outlined in my head. Or at least I thought I did. That's when a friend and mentor, Court Vanzant, commented and helped me realize I was about to skip a step: defining failure.   ✏ So, first thing's first: "failure" is really just a construct. To borrow from Court, "failure exists only in the mind, yours or others…Failures only stick if you cease to mine them for the gold buried in the rubble (lessons learned) or if you quit (letting the story end on someone else's terms)."   He's exactly right, and that's exactly how Studios help startups.   🍎 By teaching: Studios pair founders with experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts who serve as advisors, helping them to define the opportunity in front of them and shape their strategy. These advisors have almost certainly mined through plenty of rubble in their careers and share the lessons they've learned to help founders steer clear of avoidable errors.   🙌 By encouraging: Building companies is hard. Roughly 90% of businesses do not survive. Studios foster collaboration and camaraderie, providing a forum for founders to share their stories and inspire one another to power through tough times, and if something truly isn't working, help them pivot to something more promising. Tomorrow, we'll get back to the regularly scheduled programming on Studio mechanisms and their secret sauce

11

2 Comments

Love these high-level takeaways from my due diligence discussion with Cherub today! So many actionable insights for both founders and investors.

15

2 Comments

AI will make news and content even more a commidity.. human beings, unique positions as well as human connections will become the key to the #futureofmedia

3

There is a lot that white-labeled marketplace tech can learn from public marketplaces. A fair amount of inspiration in this latest version of Morphed actually came from a public solutions and services marketplace I co-founded years ago. It was called On The Bench (OTB). That launch was more of an experiment due to the frustrations with partner directories. Key to this frustration was that customers wanted relevant solutions and services that met their needs at the exact time, and they wanted to move the conversation forward. Most directory listings focus on partner profiles and a contact form. You can see the friction in this process.   One; most profiles look the same and say similar things. The friction here is endless form submissions, setting up meetings just to see if there could be a fit. Time is being wasted. Then there is the friction of time once a partner meets most of the criteria. That friction is time to get an initial call, scope out the requirement, proposal being created, sent and closed. This can take many weeks. I learnt in OTB once relevant solutions and services are listed, even with scoping included, the time to close was cut by more than 70%. Selection was simple as the description of the solution/services was very clear. Thirdly; the tool was used not only by customers but all customer facing teams and other partners. They could on behalf of the customer, find options and start the engagement process and then bring in the customer.   So using this inspiration, we have created a tool that takes so much of the frustration and friction away regarding bringing in partners into specific opportunities. We have taken elements of a focused solutions and services marketplace and a multi-party digital sales room to enable all relevant parties to work with partners solving for the customer ensuring customer success.    

3

Kudos to Zuck for taking aim at VP titles, the proliferation of which is inversely correlated to how lean a company is and how fast it can move. Hope more CEOs follow in his footsteps. It’s also an appropriate time to reshare my old article on Titles. It’s a call to arms to be very thoughtful and intentional about Director / VP titles and avoid them for as long as possible. https://lnkd.in/g4zQkEr

525

6 Comments