The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Startup Valuations Are Not As Overpriced As You Think, How To Determine Whether An Investor Is Truly Aligned To Your Mission and What 2 Traits Make The Truly Special Board Members with Jason Brown, Founder & CEO @ Tally

Nov 29, 2019

Jason Brown, Founder and CEO of Tally, discusses revolutionizing consumer finance by focusing on efficient credit card debt repayment. He shares insights on the misunderstood nature of startup valuations and the importance of aligning with investors who genuinely support a founder's mission. Brown emphasizes the significance of fostering meaningful relationships rather than celebrating fundraising milestones. He also highlights strategies for maximizing board member contributions through diverse perspectives and fostering an inclusive culture.

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ADVICE

Building Investor Relationships

Build relationships with investors early, even years before fundraising.
Use walks to understand their motivations and long-term vision.

INSIGHT

Venture Valuations

Venture valuations may not be overpriced due to high capital demand and low supply of yielding investments.
This is driven by wealth concentration and low GDP growth.

ADVICE

Celebrating Milestones

Treat fundraising like refueling on a road trip—necessary, but not a cause for celebration.
Celebrate product milestones and customer value delivery instead.

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Jason Brown is the Founder & CEO @ Tally, the startup that allows you to pay off your credit card debt faster and save money. To date, Jason has raised over $92m for Tally from the likes of Mamoon @ Kleiner, Angela @ a16z, Nikhil @ Shasta and Aileen @ Cowboy just to name a few. As for Jason, prior to Tally, he spent 5 years as the Founder and CEO Kleiner Perkins backed, Gen110. Before that Jason founded Bask, a company providing both technical support and pro-active maintenance.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Jason came to change the world of consumer finance with Tally having spent 5 years in the solar financing sector and even a year in venture? Given his prior entrepreneurial activities, does Jason agree with Joe Fernande @ JoyMode that "serial entrepreneurship is overrated"?

2.) Does Jason believe that founders should always be raising? What is the right way to truly determine whether an investor is aligned to your mission? What should you look for in how they behave and speak? How does Jason like to build relationships with investors pre-term sheet? Is Jason concerned by the compressed fundraising timelines today?

3.) Why does Jason believe that VC funded companies are largely not over-priced? What elements of the macro-economy does Jason attribute as the reason for the high valuations today? Why does Jason believe that we should not celebrate new fundraising? Is the celebration not good for the morale of the team? What should we celebrate instead?

4.) Why does Jason believe that the target for investors is they provide no value? What are you looking to avoid? What are the core ways an investor can damage the success of a company? What can founders do to truly extract the most from their investor base? Does Jason believe one should focus on the VC partner or the firm? Why?

5.) What does Jason believe makes the best board members? What advice would Jason give to new board members on how they can truly be the best board member? Why does Jason do onboarding sessions for all new board members? What does he look to instil in this process? What behaviour at the board should not be tolerated? How should the founder communicate this to their investor?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Jason's Fave Book: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Jason on Twitter here!