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20VC: Clearbit Founder Alex MacCaw on How To Successfully Negotiate with Investors, What Value-Add Do VCs Really Bring & Why You Should Only Have Operators on Your Board

Sep 13, 2019

Alex MacCaw, the Founder and CEO of Clearbit—a marketing data engine—shares his journey from the UK to Silicon Valley. He discusses the balance between mission and organizational discipline and the concept of 'company making' after achieving product-market fit. Alex delves into the importance of transparency during fundraising and M&A, while also exploring the role of health and wellness in enhancing productivity. He emphasizes the need for effective management training and conscious leadership to foster trust within teams.

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ANECDOTE

Seeking Mentorship & Support

Alex credits Matt Mochary's coaching as instrumental in learning about company building and management.
He emphasizes the importance of seeking help and acknowledges the generosity of Silicon Valley's support network.

ADVICE

Hiring for Unfamiliar Roles

When hiring for unfamiliar roles, meet with top people in that industry to understand what excellence looks like.
Prioritize sourcing to avoid compromising on candidate quality due to pipeline limitations.

ADVICE

Building a Strong Candidate Pipeline

Conduct structured sourcing sessions with your team, using tools like Teamable or LinkedIn Recruiter.
This proactive approach addresses the common issue of neglecting candidate sourcing due to its tedious nature.

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Alex MacCaw is the Founder & CEO @ Clearbit, the marketing data engine for all of your customer interactions, from customer understanding to prospect identification to personalising every sales and marketing interaction. To date, Alex has raised $17m in financing from some incredible people including Geoff Lewis @ Bedrock, Ash Fontana @ Zetta Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Battery Ventures and then former guest Ilya Sukhar, Naval Ravikant and Josh Buckley. Prior to founding Clearbit, Alex spent time in the engineering teams at both Twitter and Stripe.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Alex made his way from the UK to becoming one of the hottest founders in the valley with the rise of Clearbit? What does Alex believe is more important mission and vision or organisational discipline? What does Alex mean when he says he started the company as a "vehicle for growth thinking and self-actualisation"?

2.) What did Alex mean when he said, "when you hit product-market-fit, it is time to move into company making"? What does company making mean to Alex? What would Alex like to fundamentally change about the way we manage companies today? When is the right time to make this transition? What needs to be in place to do it successfully?

3.) What does Alex mean when he says, "The 6 Pillars Behind Clearbit"? What elements does Alex think the team should not have full transparency on? How does Alex approach transparency when it comes to fundraising and M&A opportunities? What have been some of Alex's biggest learnings on both delivering and absorbing feedback? What can one do to create an environment of radical candor and rich feedback?

4.) Why does Alex believe that health has to be the #1 priority for every founder? What does that look like in practice? What can one provide the team to encourage this? How does Alex respond to those that might say, "fine but we cannot afford it"? How does Alex suggest there are 3 ways you can become more self-aware as an individual?

5.) What advice does Alex give to founders on successfully negotiating with investors? What value has Alex found that VCs really do bring? What does Alex optimise for when selecting his investor base? What value do most think that VCs bring but they actually do not? When does Alex think one should establish a board? Why does Alex think your board should only have operators and no investors on it?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Alex's Fave Book: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

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