Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures

What if you had a psychic digital gift concierge to help improve your corporate prospects and perhaps rid you of some decision fatigue in the process? That’s where Greg Segall, design/UX enthusiast and e-commerce expert comes in. How has this $120B industry evolved in a world where interpersonal exchange seems like an artifact of the past? All this, and more on today’s episode.About Greg:Greg Segall is an entrepreneur, executive, and supply-chain manager. He is the founder and CEO of Alyce, an AI powered corporate gifting platform. He was also founder and CEO of One Pica (now Astound Commerce), a global e-commerce agency, until 2012. Greg graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Design and Computer Science.Support for this podcast comes from Silicon Valley Bank“What’s next?”“What if?”“Now what?”Silicon Valley Bank understands these questions can keep founders up at night.For over thirty-five years, Silicon Valley Bank has helped high growth companies through scalable financial solutions, plus insights and expertise that many other banks just can’t.In 2019 we opened an office in Toronto dedicated to lending to Canadian businesses and their investors.Find out more at svb.com/CanadaSilicon Valley Bank – Built for What’s Next.In this episode we discuss:02:58 The current state of the corporate entertainment world and challenges companies face07:04 Why startups and technology companies have taken a liking to corporate gifting recently09:21 How to scale authenticity when it comes to one-to-one interactions16:35 Attention vs. action in a digital age18:44 Swag as a tool to build affinity for a brand21:43 How Alyce personalizes gift-giving26:13 Measuring ROI in corporate entertainment29:37 Following up with clients after hosting events and converting leads into opportunities35:00 How the market is going to move into more intimate environments40:36 Alyce’s growth planFast FavoritesPodcastsMasters of ScaleSaastrNewsletter/BlogMorning BrewTech GadgetEcho BikeNew TrendThe Push/Pull/Legs RoutinePeople to FollowJeff CavaliereBookThe Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Bruce Croxon is a legend in the Toronto startup scene. He’s led successful startups as an operator, but also is known as a mentor and investor, and of course he’s also become a bit of a media celeb. It was great to chat with him about the Canadian startup ecosystem, how much it’s grown and where it’s headed.About Bruce:Bruce Croxon is a Canadian entrepreneur, television personality, and venture capitalist. Croxon is currently a partner at Round13 Capital and co-host of BNN's TV show, The Disruptors. Croxon co-founded the dating website Lavalife and joined the cast of CBC's Dragons' Den from 2011-2013.Support for this podcast comes from Silicon Valley Bank“What’s next?”“What if?”“Now what?”Silicon Valley Bank understands these questions can keep founders up at night.For over thirty-five years, Silicon Valley Bank has helped high growth companies through scalable financial solutions, plus insights and expertise that many other banks just can’t.In 2019 we opened an office in Toronto dedicated to lending to Canadian businesses and their investors.Find out more at svb.com/CanadaSilicon Valley Bank – Built for What’s Next.In this episode we discuss:03:42 The Canadian Tech Scene today compared to the late-1980s07:36 How homegrown capital has changed the game10:37 Maintaining competitive advantage of Canadian VC16:51 Helping spark the entrepreneurial spirit in potential Canadian founders20:00 Is the blitz-scaling style of startups compatible with Canadian Investors25:51 The changing mindset of Canadian LPs28:34 Getting into growth stage rounds of companies31:17 Why founders need to take seriously who they are take investment from33:34 The next industries Canada investors should back38:03 Keeping talent local41:10 What the Canadian government should do to spur startup growthFast FavoritesPodcastsBill SimmonsSpittin’ ChicletsNewsletter/BlogLogic PeakBeta KitTech GadgetAirpodsNew TrendDemocratization of ProductionBookChasing the Scream by Johann HariFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Building a remote culture at work is something that has been thrust upon many businesses in the last 18 months, no so for today’s guest Nicolas Vandenberghe, co-founder and CEO of Chili Piper. Nicolas and the team are making waves in the competitive scheduling marketplace and recently closed a $33M Series B Lead by Tiger Global.About Nicolas:Nicolas started selling newspapers in the streets of Paris in high school. After graduating from Stanford Graduate School of Business, he started and sold 3 tech companies and also ran Sales for a $2B telecom company, negotiating billion-dollar deals with companies like Google.Presently I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of the tech firm - Chili Piper - a pioneer in Buyer Enablement. He co-founded Chili Piper in 2016 and successfully bootstrapped it past $2M ARR until receiving funding in 2019. Chili Piper is a forward-thinking company with a 100% remote work force. It's fully distributed leveraging global talent with employees in 28 cities in 21 countries.Support for this podcast comes from Silicon Valley Bank“What’s next?”“What if?”“Now what?”Silicon Valley Bank understands these questions can keep founders up at night.For over thirty-five years, Silicon Valley Bank has helped high growth companies through scalable financial solutions, plus insights and expertise that many other banks just can’t.In 2019 we opened an office in Toronto dedicated to lending to Canadian businesses and their investors.Find out more at svb.com/CanadaSilicon Valley Bank – Built for What’s Next.In this episode we discuss:03:00 The origins of Chili Piper05:38 How Oracle’s sales practices pushed Nicolas to start Chili Piper08:31 The future of SaaS pricing and unbundling10:36 The decision to bootstrap for the first two years12:28 How long the initial MVP took to develop14:15 The early sales process15:45 Competing in a crowded market20:10 Early A/B testing and how they succeed23:01 Knowing when Chili Piper had product/market fit24:42 Why integrations are so important27:50 Why he started a second company, kosmotime.com, to help with scheduling31:10 How Chili Piper built a remote-first company prior to the pandemic37:04 Talking about Chili Piper’s series B Raise of $33M and what is smart moneyThe book Nicolas recommends:Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on it by Chris VossFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Finding and talking to your potential customers and discovering product market fit is one of the biggest challenges facing new startups, but our guest today Omri Mor, co-founder and CEO of Routable.com found joy in that process. Over the course of 9 months, Omri and his co-founder visited over 170 companies and held over 350 conversations around the pain point of B2B payments. What they learned allowed them to successfully apply to Y Combinator without a working MVP, and find early traction with large customers.Omri’s Background:Omri Mor is a serial founder, previously founding Down App, Inc. and Ziibra. Omri completed his bachelor’s at University of Washington.With over 35 years of experience working with founders, it probably comes as no surprise to hear that all they do is work to support the needs of entrepreneurs and their investors. Silicon Valley Bank understands the questions that can keep founders up at night.The team in Canada that includes Shez Samji, Managing Director and Head of Biz Dev, has been a breath of fresh air for the Canadian startup ecosystem. With a team of experts dedicated to supporting Canadian startups, SVB has been providing not only financial services to innovative companies like ours at Ripple Ventures but also at the fund level for ourselves and our LPs. Shez and his team are also helping build connections to potential partners through introductions and events, research, and insights, and helping leverage their full SVB platform to help our founders succeed globally. With such a rich history as Silicon Valley's banking partner for some of the top tech companies in the world, it’s no surprise that we have decided to partner with SVB Canada at Tank Talks so other founders and entrepreneurs can benefit from the incredible products and services SVB offers. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with an intro meeting with one of SVB Canada’s team members by visiting svb.com/Canada and mentioning "Tank Talks" to get set up today. Find out more at svb.com/CanadaTopics we discussed:03:38 What lead Omri to B2B payments06:03 What he discovered to realize that making a better system for B2B payments was possible09:13 How complex business payments really are10:00 How companies use internal resources to solve problems10:50 Omri’s extensive research processes and the reason behind it14:50 Why interviews were more important than live testing17:06 How Routable got into YC without an MVP or other traditional metrics19:03 What their YC experience was like22:14 How Routable thinks about integrations25:12 Securing large partnerships27:13 Ticketmaster case study29:22 How Routable saves customers up to 70% on bookkeeping31:30 Literally licking envelopes for ReMax to learn about their payment process32:38 The TAM for Routable33:45 Data and analytics and the benefits of building manual reports36:47 Omri’s pragmatic approach to crypto and real time payments40:31 Routable’s competition42:16 Discussing Routable’s $30M Series B round and it’s futureOmri’s Favorite PodcastBill SimmonsOmri’s Favorite BlogHis InboxOmri’s Favorite Tech GadgetPowerbeats ProOmri’s Favorite New TrendGen Z’s discussion about money and FinTechOmri’s Favorite BookAcross The Nightingale Floor by Lian HearnFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

There’s a lot of talk about who will be able to compete with Amazon and Shopify post pandemic. Our guest today, Anton von Rueden, and his team at Boosted Commerce are looking at Amazon and Shopify as the OS for ecommerce, to see who is succeeding and then buying those winners and helping grow them through efficiencies and internal operating systems.Anton’s Background:Anton von Rueden is currently Boosted Commerce’s President & COO. He began his career in Germany in 1999, joining a small startup that would become eBay Germany. At eBay, Anton managed marketing, built eBay’s European Customer Service Center, and then, as Managing Director, established eBay’s business teams in Austria and Switzerland.In 2012 he co-founded Carfrogger and led the company as CEO until the successful completion of a merger in 2014. Anton subsequently joined TechStyle Fashion Group as General Manager of Global Customer Service before relocating from Berlin to El Segundo to serve as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all Global Operations. Anton also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Los Angeles Kings and Sondors Network.Aduro Advisors is the premier fund administrator for venture capital and private equity firms. Led by a team of industry veterans and powered by proprietary software, FundPanel.io, Aduro pairs best-in-class service with the robust and flexible technology that the industry demands. From emerging managers just starting out to seasoned firms looking to supplement an internal team, Aduro’s back office solution rises to the challenge of supporting your firm’s specific needs.https://aduroadvisors.com/In this episode we discuss:03:37 Anton’s journey to Boosted commerce05:26 How Boosted looks for acquisition targets06:57 What “Fifth Ave Placement” means on Amazon08:29 Why they focus on CPG and personal care products09:53 The purchase criteria Boosted11:26 Advice to new sellers on Amazon14:19 The truth about competition from Amazon Basics15:56 Do buyers even know who they are buying from17:39 The registration and verification process on Amazon’s side19:38 The future of Amazon merchants20:38 The future of brick and mortar commerce22:47 How distribution will help shape commerce24:26 Boosted’s edge in the FBA rollup market27:15 The onboarding process28:15 The software Boosted Commerce uses to gain edge30:03 Third-party addons to make Shopify closer to the Amazon experience31:19 How consumer habits can evolve over time32:33 Instagram and other social shopping platforms33:29 Livestream shopping and video ads on Amazon35:10 The pandemic’s effect on Boosted Commerce’s operations37:00 Thoughts on supply chain globalization39:28 What North Americans should know about the German tech scene41:28 The tech ecosystem in MiamiBooks Anton Recommends:Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino WhitmanIntentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution by Robert ChesnutRebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship by Maynard Web and Carlye AdlerFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

It’s always a pleasure to talk with someone who is at the intersection of technology trends, and today our guest Boris Wertz is at the forefront of investing in crypto and has been for the last five years. Through his position as an early investor in Dapper Labs, creators of CryptoKitties and NBA TopShot, Boris has been an early believer in the power of blockchain and crypto and he’s now setting his sights on climate change investing and the creator economy.Boris’ Background:Boris Wertz is founding partner of Version One and one of the top tech early-stage investors in North America. Born in Germany and based in Vancouver, Boris takes a wide-angle view to find great companies all across North America with a focus on the pre-seed and the seed stage in marketplaces, enterprise SaaS, crypto, healthcare, energy, climate.. He is a board partner with Andreessen Horowitz and is well-respected for his uncanny ability to find the next generation of leaders. Before becoming an investor, Boris built an online marketplace for used and out-of-print books in 1999, selling the business to AbeBooks.com where he became COO and led a team of 140 people doing $250mm in platform revenues. After AbeBooks.com was sold to Amazon, he moved into investing, first as an angel and now with his own fund Version One which launched in 2012.Aduro Advisors is the premier fund administrator for venture capital and private equity firms. Led by a team of industry veterans and powered by proprietary software, FundPanel.io, Aduro pairs best-in-class service with the robust and flexible technology that the industry demands. From emerging managers just starting out to seasoned firms looking to supplement an internal team, Aduro’s back office solution rises to the challenge of supporting your firm’s specific needs.https://aduroadvisors.com/In this episode we discuss:03:27 The growth of DeFi as an industry04:48 How negative associations with the early ICO market has affected DeFi07:01 The opportunity Boris saw in 201710:32 The speed of innovation the crypto space12:14 How big the market for Ethereum can grow13:52 Valuing crypto platforms and protocols15:04 How Uniswap.com works and its power17:10 The lending mechanic in Ethereum19:58 New platforms like nexusmutual.io and opyn.co23:42 How DeFi compares and competes with another Boris portfolio company, Coinbase28:28 Has Boris bought any TopShot packs personally30:39 Selling his Cryptokitties investment to his LPs32:30 The future of cryptoart34:33 What value means with today’s meme-investing35:47 How his team decides on what is worth investing in38:50 Addressing Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger’s crypto critique41:08 Working with LPs as investment thesis evolves44:02 How portfolio company silviaterra.com is working to fight climate change45:34 Investing while remote46:43 Boris’s favorite podcast: Invest Like The Best47:22 Boris’s favorite newsletter or blog: stratechery.com47:51 Boris’s favorite tech gadget: Google Pixel48:21 Favorite new trend: The creator economy49:34 Favorite book: Albert Banger’s forthcoming bookFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Successful founders have been mythologized in startup culture, but the reality of getting to a success is less glamorous, and much harder than it seems. Our guest today, Mike Silagadze, founder and now former CEO of TopHat, joins me to discuss his journey founding one of the largest EdTech companies, his decision to hand over the CEO role, and why he’s joining Ripple Ventures as a Venture Partner.This is a fun, no-holds-barred look at what it takes to create a successful startup.Mike’s Background:Mike founded Top Hat in 2009 with Mohsen Shahini who is now the Chief Academic Officer for the company. Noticing that the graduation rate for university students in North America is below fifty percent, Mike and Mohsen realized that there was a problem of student engagement in the classroom. Through Top Hat, Mike and his team have aimed to better the relationships between students and their instructors and make the university experience a positive one for all. Since its inception in 2009,the company has raised over $350 million dollars and Top Hat is on its way to being one of Canada’s next unicorns.Prior to Top Hat, Mike was an early employee at Miovision Technologies in Waterloo, another great Canadian success story. Mike is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Electrical Engineering. Aduro Advisors is the premier fund administrator for venture capital and private equity firms. Led by a team of industry veterans and powered by proprietary software, FundPanel.io, Aduro pairs best-in-class service with the robust and flexible technology that the industry demands. From emerging managers just starting out to seasoned firms looking to supplement an internal team, Aduro’s back office solution rises to the challenge of supporting your firm’s specific needs.https://aduroadvisors.com/In this episode:03:37 Starting a business during the financial crisis of 200806:32 Raising his first capital and working with those early investors09:39 The importance of storytelling and pitching in early startups12:11 Would he invest in himself if he heard his original pitch13:30 Finding product/market fit19:35 Maintaining your dataroom in between raises22:28 Benefits of having strong investors23:45 The reasons to acquire a company when you’re a startup31:04 Mike’s thoughts on investment bankers34:13 Did he consider selling early35:06 He he decided to join Ripple Ventures as Venture Partner37:43 The biggest changes in the Canadian startup scene39:06 Thoughts on remote-first versus in-person41:33 The future of crypto and DeFiMike’s Book Recommendations:Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim TalebFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Working with startups a common theme emerges, the need to hire qualified people at scale is a challenge all of them face. Our guest today, Amit Bhatia, co-founder and CEO of Datapeople.io, is working to improve the recruitment process through data and science to allow much more precise measurement of how companies hire.Amit’s Background:CEO Co-Founder of Datapeople for 6 years, before you were a investment banker at Morgan Stanley and before that he was a Software Engineer working neural networks.Aduro Advisors is the premier fund administrator for venture capital and private equity firms. Led by a team of industry veterans and powered by proprietary software, FundPanel.io, Aduro pairs best-in-class service with the robust and flexible technology that the industry demands. From emerging managers just starting out to seasoned firms looking to supplement an internal team, Aduro’s back office solution rises to the challenge of supporting your firm’s specific needs.https://aduroadvisors.com/contact/In this episode we discuss:03:03 The history of Datapeople.io05:17 How data helps solve the recruiting problem07:31 Indicators that they found Product/Market fit09:40 Current state recruiting13:10 How Datapeople helps with transparency in the hiring process16:56 Examples of how language in job listings can exclude qualified candidates19:36 Ways to fix systemic problems in hiring21:55 How referrals can be a part of the problem26:52 Fixing the problems with internships28:37 Getting better data to help solve hiring problems31:48 Target market for Datapeople33:01 How they get their data34:53 Realworld results from using Datapeople36:27 What’s nextBooks Amit recommends:Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanMoney Ball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael LewisThe Three-Body Problem by Cixin LiuFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

There’s a lot of stories around how the pandemic has changed and shifted business, our guest today Shaunak Amin is one of the biggest success stories. His startup Stadium was able to quickly pivot and grow a new business SnackMagic entirely during the lockdown and now is at $20M ARR.Shaunak’s Background: Shaunak Amin is co-founder and CEO of STADIUM and SnackMagic. He is an experienced entrepreneur and operator, and has helped launch and scale businesses in different industries.In addition to the entrepreneurial ventures, his career spans financial technology and investment management with senior roles at Novus - a fintech firm based in NYC, SAIL Advisors- a multi-billion dollar family office based out of Hong Kong, ING Investment Management and SEI InvestmentsShaunak also holds a BS from University of Pennsylvania. He started his first business, Tikka Foods, during his Sophomore year at PENN that initially started as a food truck and ultimately evolved into a wholesale delivery service of ready-to-eat, contemporary Indian food.For more on this story, check out this playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnuoDHNwT1mVI7wPP-kunbjLKgnSY5ZJPIn this episode we discuss:01:31 Shaunak’s early entrepreneurial experiences02:37 Lessons from those days that he’s applied to Stadium and SnackMagic03:27 The business model of Stadium05:23 How Covid pushed Stadium to pivot07:32 Mindset of the company in the early days of the pandemic10:04 The effect on the team size11:05 The decision to fully launch SnackMagic14:08 Research process to validate SnackMagic15:41 Timeline of idea to first order17:50 Why they didn;t choose to be subscription first20:00 How SnackMagic manages SKUs and helps consumers discover new snacks22:31 Getting access to brands24:10 The data around the purchase decisions25:00 How consumers use the platform to try and then buy in bulk26:06 The best sales channel for SnackMagic26:45 The biggest headache for scaling27:26 Network effect of treating it forward28:34 Customer experience tracking29:20 How they weed out weak snacks29:57 The hidden gem of data around what people want to eat31:03 Why Shaunak decided to take a large Series A32:17 The future of SnackMagic33:30 Moving beyond snacksBooks Shaunak recommends:The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. GoldrattInfluence: The Psychology of Persuation by Robert B Cialdini PhDThe Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. ChristensenBlue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan KimFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

On today’s Tank Talk we have Jonathan Tower, renowned venture capitalist and author of a recent piece on the Series A gap in VC.Jonathan’s Background: Jonathan Tower is the Managing Partner at Catapult, a cross-border venture capital platform which specializes in investing in emerging tech hubs outside Silicon Valley. Jonathan has deployed more than $220mm in more than 50 companies across three core investment themes: consumer (ecommerce, marketplaces), enterprise (software, services) and frontier technologies (AI/data/robotics, etc).Jonathan's investments include early bets in Jet.com (acquired by Walmart for $3.5 Billion), Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever for $1 Billion), Freshly (acquired by Nestle for $1.5 Billion), and many other companies that have gone on to become market leaders.Jonathan began his venture career with Gabriel Venture Partners and, more recently, was a Managing Director at TriplePoint Capital and a Managing Director at Hercules Capital. Previously, he was CEO at two successful software companies, an M&A investment banker, and a management consultant with Accenture and Braxton Associates.In this episode we discuss:01:17 Why seed investors grown over the last decade04:35 What Series B and C funds are in for with the influx of capital into earlier stages06:41 Concerns with the current trends08:10 How the flood of capital misallocates funds to secondary players and real estate11:18 Recruiting competition in this market14:53 How Seed and A series has evolved in the last few years16:16 The YC effect on startups and investors19:03 How the concentration of follow-on deals can distort funds21:05 What is the metric that startups should aim for to attract investors23:01 Should seed investors evolve in later later stage26:11 The right way to evolve to keep your LPs27:34 Why start a new firm30:53 How the pandemic has affirmed his investment thesis32:09 What the Catapult pitch was to LPs34:17 Advice to emerging managers raising their first fund38:11 The ingredients for creating a successful tech ecosystem41:57 How remote is affecting new tech ecosystem44:04 The long term vision for CatapultBooks Jonathan recommends:Meditation by Marcus AureliusSkin In The Game Akim TalebThe Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com