A sure way to progress faster in your career -- Leave a wake of success and proof behind that is so obvious, 10 out of 10 people can look at your work and say yeah, they deserve the promotion. Whatever level you're at, whatever company you're at, the principle is…
Every single problem has a solution. There's always a path forward. You may have to take on some pain in order to progress. You may have to take two steps back to take one forward. But every single problem has a solution. Unicorn Founder Blake Murray told us on the…
Nothing is as bad as you think and nothing is as good as you think. Wise advice from unicorn founder Blake Murray - have a short memory, keep on moving and don't get caught up in the highs and lows. Hear more founder advice on the latest episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ttUEucpXg4&t=340s
What should your hiring strategy be for your startup? Unicorn Founder Blake Murray at Divvy chose people who would effectively 'be him' at every level of the business. Not only did this pushed the culture deeper it replicated his efforts across the org. Hear more on how he built a…
Blake Murray couldn’t get real-time data on the financial health of his business. So he built a solution and sold it for $2.5 Billion. How did he do it? By going against common advice. Blake spent 2 years building his product, Divvy, before ever selling a customer even though everyone…
When Blake Murray came up with the idea of Divvy, it was because he had a problem: he couldn’t get real-time data on the financial health of his business. So in 2016, Blake set out to find a solution and realized there was none. So Blake spent the next several…
What are you setting out to do? Not every company should be venture backed. Some even do better when they're forced to bootstrap. The question then becomes, "What are you setting out to do?" When you find an opportunity so large and disruptive, you need to move fast. Scott Sandell…
Slow growth in the beginning can set you up for massive gains in the future. It took Tableau YEARS to get to 10m in revenue. But afterwards became a rocket ship and the fastest growing software to their IPO. Why? Legendary Investor Scott Sandell at NEA says he sees a…
Investors want to be your partner, not another boss. Scott Sandell at NEA says that should mean: - you're with them trying to solve problems - you support them so they can be the founder you took a bet on Things become imbalanced when their is a lack of trust…
Use this in your next interview: There's only one question legendary investor Scott Sandell at NEA asks founders when he's making an investment decision: How did you get to this room, right now, today? In other words, what's been your journey and what are your dreams. If their level of…
When you're a pioneer there is no map. Legenedary investor and NEA executive Scott Sandell (Salesforce, Robinhood, Tableau and 13 other Unicorn Companies) says the best person to lead a company is the founder IF they have these two things: 1. They can take it the whole way and 2.…
Scott Sandell, Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at NEA is truly one of the great venture capitalists of our generation. With nearly three decades at NEA he leads the field with a track record of dozens of successful investments including unicorns like Salesforce, Plaid, Workday, Robinhood, Cloudflare and Tableau.…
The founders that do whatever it takes to get their first customers, those are the ones you need to back. Sheel Mohnot at Better Tomorrow Ventures even (temporarily) picked up smoking so he could get in front of a customer. Here's the story Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puOkL6r8utc&t=1430s
A big die off is coming for fintech startups based solely off card payments. Why? Interchange is a wedge, not a foundation. @pitdesi at @btv_vc breaks down why fintech business models built solely on ever-shrinking fee pools are at risk. Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puOkL6r8utc&t=2684s RT for Interchange learning https://x.com/matttbrown/status/1617601371796307968
What's the best way to support entrepreneurs in your portcos? Be there and be responsive. Jake Gibson and Sheel Mohnot from Better Tomorrow Ventures have landed deals because they have a reputation of reading the investor updates, picking up the phone, and having the tough conversations. One thing we liked…
When Jake Gibson was building NerdWallet, he knew the fastest way to grow was to rank high on Google. But credit card companies dominated the top spots. Their thesis (novel at the time) - write good content and you'll win with organic traffic. When Google changed their SEO algo to…
What's NerdWallet's Jake Gibson and Sheel Mohnot's fintech investing strategy at Better Tomorrow Ventures? Don't buy into the hype cycles. Why? A lot of these biz models are things the incumbents have largely already won. They tend to be games of marketing spend and cost of capital, not games you…
One thing to know about @pitdesi and @iamjakestream: they always respond. And it's become one of their differentiators as a VC at Better Tomorrow Ventures. Jake and Sheel tell us how this strategy is paying off with their founders and portcos on the latest episode. Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puOkL6r8utc&t=154s
There may be no better pair of fintech investors than Better Tomorrow Ventures Jake Gibson and Sheel Mohnot. After successful exits in the industry -- Jake as the co-founder of NerdWallet, one of the OG consumer fintech companies, and Sheel with FeeFighter and Innovative Auctions, Jake and Sheel saw a…
If you're a customer of Mercury you know they've gone above and beyond on their product. CEO and co-founder Immad Akhund told us executing at that level of detail has helped them stand out in a crowded field and set them up for big growth when SVB went under. Full…
New hires at Mercury can expect to have their equity vest on a 6-year period, not 4. Why? Ownership mentality. CEO Immad Akhund says the job hopping mindset can be a cancer to company growth and rewarding those who buy in long term is a huge unlock. Full episode: https://youtu.be/U6qh3Mwdmzk
Want to be successful as a CEO? Make yourself less busy, not more. Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund's advice for founders has stuck with us. Focus deeply on the things that matter most and hire great people for everything else so you never become the bottleneck in the business.…
When SVB failed last year, Mercury's growth seemed to explode overnight. CEO Immad Akhund tells us how years spent building a quality product made it possible to capitalize on the opportunity and assure their customers Mercury was a safe option. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6qh3Mwdmzk&t=2453s
Is it always smart to take outside money from investors and VCs? Mercury CEO Immad Akhund would say no. While Immad did raise capital to start one of the most beloved neobank products for startups, he's seen too many businesses collapse because they didn't have 'real growth'. Hear more from…