Village Global Podcast

Fareed Mosavat (@far33d), EIR at Reforge and former director of product at Slack, and Jeff Chang (@jeffchang30), growth engineering lead at Pinterest and angel investor, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- What’s changed in growth over the last several years.- How to think about product-market fit and when to start investing in growth.- Which metrics to pay attention to and which to ignore.- How to think about payback periods, LTV, and CAC.- How founders should think about acquisition channels.- Common misconceptions that founders have about growth.- How to think about SEO and referrals.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Peter Kazanjy (@Kazanjy), co-founder of Atrium and author of Founding Sales, joins Erik on this episode.They discuss:- The difference between selling to SMBs versus large organizations.- How founders should think about sales as their company grows and evolves.- Common mistakes that people make when growing their sales organization.- What differentiates companies who scale sales successfully versus those who don’t.- How to think about pricing models.- How to measure the effectiveness of your sales team.- How to think about compensation for salespeople.- The best resources he recommends for learning about sales.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Chris Best (@cjgbest), co-founder and CEO of Substack, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss:- How the idea for Substack came about and the early days of the company.- How the internet has impacted media and journalism.- How the world changes if Substack is successful.- How they are enabling journalists to “go independent.”- The implications of the subscription model.- What’s been most popular on Substack and what has surprised him.- How they are thinking about aggregation and distribution.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Annie Kadavy (@akad), of Redpoint, and Meera Clark (@itsmeeraclark), of Obvious Ventures, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- The trends behind increasing loneliness and the decline of religion.- Where they’re looking to invest.- Why they’re interested in the mental health space.- Why we should have more new social apps by now.- Investing possibilities in online dating.- How all of this changes in a post-COVID world.The final deadline for applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Mike Duboe (@mduboe) of Greylock, Dan Hockenmaier (@danhockenmaier) of Basis One, and Dave Weinstein, also of Basis One, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- The impacts of the pandemic on businesses and what will be lasting versus temporary.- What makes food marketplaces an exciting investment in these times.- Why there will be a shift away from using data and experimentation in growth teams.- How to evaluate monetization and a re-thinking of how it interacts with growth.- The impact of the pandemic on hiring.- Opportunities in customer acquisition and marketing due to COVID-19.The final deadline for applications to our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Jesse Walden (@jessewldn), formerly of a16z and founder of Variant Fund, joins Erik on this episode.They discuss:- How he got into crypto.- What has changed in the space since Bitcoin came out.- What it means to be an “innovation maximalist.”- Why he’s excited about co-ops.- How crypto impacts ISAs and the possibilities for equity to be used where debt currently is.- What he means when he talks about “crypto-adjacent startups” and their impacts.- How crypto might change VC.The final application deadline for our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Chris Hutchins (@hutchins) of Wealthfront joins Erik to talk about:- How he became a “huge personal finance nerd.” He tells the story of ordering Domino’s in college and selling it by the slice to earn extra money.- The history of creating Grove and why Wealthfront was a great fit for them.- How software is democratizing access to wealth management.- Passive versus active investing in the time of COVID-19.- His requests for startups in fintech and where he’s excited in the space.- What personal finance will look like when their vision of “self-driving money” is achieved.The final deadline for applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Mike Maples (@m2jr), co-founder and partner at Floodgate, joins Erik to talk about:- Insight hacking as a scientific way to generate insights, including specific steps to take and how to “backcast.”- The types of inflections that create potentially huge companies.- How to systematically find those inflections.- Lessons from founders who have successfully created companies built on inflections.- Frameworks for thinking through whether a worthwhile company can emerge from a chosen inflection.- How to lead effectively in the earliest stages through the growth phase.- Why he says “you don’t want to be the best, you want to be the only.”- His advice on pitching.The final deadline for applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Tech entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan discusses career transitions, leaving/joining a company, generating/validating ideas, finding a co-founder, and the impact of COVID-19 on different markets.

Dan McMurtrie (@SuperMugatu) of Tyro Partners joins Erik on this episode.They discuss:- His writing on the crisis, how he has analyzed it, and why his view has changed from bearish to bullish.- The “bottom-up” recovery that’s taking place and all the ways that it might falter.- What specifically he’s watching for that might change his opinion on the market.- The impact on politics and society and why he says “it gets weird from here.”- What Schrodinger’s put means and the implications for the stock market.- Why he says this reveals the existential problems with the US economy and why he’s bearish on the US over the next twenty years.The final deadline for applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.