Very True by Verissimo

Alex
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Brought to you by Verissimo Ventures, The Very True Podcast features candid startup insights and conversations with early-stage founders, operators, and investors shaping the future of tech. From behind-the-scenes startup stories to hard-earned lessons on fundraising, scaling, and staying resilient, each episode offers a window into what it really takes to build something bold.

  1. Your Business Model Probably Sucks - Part 2

    4H AGO

    Your Business Model Probably Sucks - Part 2

    In the second half, Alex moves from theory to tactics. He tackles the often-misunderstood world of unit economics, the innovation of GAAP accounting, and why "Quality of Revenue" is more important than the top-line number. He also shares his framework for why data is the "blood" of a healthy corporate organism.Episode Highlights [01:50] The WeWork Warning: Alex reflects on the "dollar for 75 cents" model and why zero-interest-rate environments can hide broken business mechanics for years. [04:25] Defining Your "Unit": Whether it’s a contract, a cohort, or a node, Alex explains how to find the "least common denominator" where your revenue meets your costs. [08:00] Financial vs. Business Models: Why a three-statement model is often "made up" of GAAP innovations (like depreciation), while a business model reveals the actual economic engine. [14:20] The "Uber Playbook" & Unit Economics: A deep dive into how complex marketplaces calculate unit economics, featuring the $6,000 CAC-to-payback example. [18:45] Quality of Revenue: Alex identifies the three pillars of high-value revenue: Reliability, Profitability(Contribution Margin), and Velocity. [24:10] Data as Blood: Why finance isn't just about accounting—it’s a blood test for your company. Good data should result in "non-decisions" where the right path becomes mathematically obvious. Links & Resources: Verisimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/Founder Resources (SaaS Definitions): https://verissimo.vc/resourcesFollow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/Recommended Reading: The Most Important Thing by Howard MarksAbout Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verisimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    53 min
  2. Your Business Model Probably Sucks - Part 1

    4D AGO

    Your Business Model Probably Sucks - Part 1

    In the first half of this solo deep dive, Alex draws on his background in mechanical engineering to explain why a business model is like a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) drawing. If you can’t simulate your business's "tolerances" digitally, they will surely clash in the real world. Episode Highlights [01:25] The Emperor’s New Clothes Venture capital often rewards perception over value. Alex discusses why it’s easy to get funded but hard to build something that actually makes sense financially down the road.[05:22] Why Your Business Needs a "CAD" Model Just like in mechanical engineering, if a system is too complex to hold in your head, you must model it. Alex explains how digital simulations catch "part conflicts" before you waste millions in capital.[08:14] The Marshall McCall Test "Your outline is weak, and therefore you are weak." Alex breaks down the cognitive dissonance and "fear-based laziness" that stops founders from doing the rigorous math early on.[11:53] Transitioning from Startup to Growth The pivotal moment: realizing that your product is not what you’re selling—the entire business is the product.[12:38] The "One Column Model" Masterclass A simple, actionable framework to audit your business using three elements:Independent Variables: The inputs you control.Dependent Variables: The lagging indicators and outputs.Mechanics: The equations and "physics" that connect them.Next Up: In Part 2, Alex moves from theory to the tactical math of "Units" and the "Blood" of business data. Links & Resources: Verisimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/Founder Resources (SaaS Definitions): https://verissimo.vc/resourcesFollow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/Recommended Reading: The Most Important Thing by Howard MarksAbout Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verisimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    13 min
  3. How Growth Can Drain Your Cash Faster than You Can Raise Money with Ariel Menche

    FEB 5

    How Growth Can Drain Your Cash Faster than You Can Raise Money with Ariel Menche

    In this episode of Very True, Alex sits down with Ariel Menche, Founder and CEO of Raftel Strategy, to explore the calculus of the modern business model: The New Net Working Capital. Following up on their first conversation, they move from theory to high stakes scenario modeling, breaking down why traditional accounting often fails to capture the reality of SaaS and AI driven companies. Alex and Ariel dive deep into the working capital hole explaining why even a company with great unit economics can go bust by growing too fast. They cover the dangers of relying on LTV as a benchmark, the hidden costs of AI on gross margins, and how to build a True CAC model that tracks the actual attribution of every dollar spent. This episode is a masterclass for founders on how to stop lighting money on fire and start building a self funding growth engine. Episode Highlights: [01:05] The Modern Float: Ariel redefines Net Working Capital for the software age, explaining it not as physical inventory, but as the cash cushion required to fund the gap between spending and receiving subscription revenue.[04:02] The LTV Graveyard: Why Alex has thrown LTV in the garbage as a benchmark and how to shift your focus toward LTV as a strictly internal, cohort based operating metric.[08:31] The AI Margin Squeeze: A critical warning on how AI token costs and high touch customer success are ending the era of 99% gross margins and what that means for your unit economics.[12:25] Mastering CAC Payback: Why CAC payback is the ultimate unit economic metric and how to calculate it accurately using the inverse of your churn rate.[14:15] Building True CAC: Alex breaks down the attribution math for a 6 month enterprise sales cycle mapping marketing spend, SDR costs, and AE commissions to the actual month they occur.[20:12] The Annual Contract Hack: Lessons from the early days of monday.com on why being maniacal about annual upfront payments is the best way to solve the working capital problem.[27:44] The No Chain Bike: A powerful analogy on the dangers of venture growth: pedaling as fast as you can with marketing spend, only to realize you’re just coasting downhill without actual attribution.[29:02] The Self Funding Formula: Ariel shares his framework for calculating whether your current customer base generates enough margin to fund the acquisition of new customers without outside debt.[32:12] Three Lenses of Finance: The three types of metrics every founder needs to run a modern tech company: Accounting, Cash, and Economic metrics.Links & Resources: Raftel Strategy: https://www.raftelstrategy.com/Verissimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/Follow Ariel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariel-menche/Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/About Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verissimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    34 min
  4. Living in Sprints: Navigating the Eras of a Founder's Life with Todd Saunders

    JAN 29

    Living in Sprints: Navigating the Eras of a Founder's Life with Todd Saunders

    In this episode of Very True, Alex sits down with Todd Saunders, CEO of Broadlume, to explore the nonlinear path from Big Tech employee to vertical SaaS mogul. Todd shares his journey of leaving a comfortable job at Google to launch a horizontal ad-tech company, only to discover a hidden goldmine in the flooring industry, a pivot that transformed his business into a dominant market player. Alex and Todd dive deep into the philosophy of "Living in Sprints," discussing how high-performers navigate the intense phases of life, from the academic grind to the startup gauntlet and eventually to family life. They dismantle the "Golden Handcuffs" myth, debate the true definition of wealth (cash flow vs. paper equity), and explain why "valuation optionality" is often more valuable to a founder than a massive headline-grabbing valuation. Episode Highlights: [03:21] The Accidental Pivot: Todd reveals how he discovered that 30% of his ad-tech revenue was coming from local flooring stores, leading to a massive pivot from a horizontal platform to a specialized vertical SaaS juggernaut.[04:46] Escaping the Machine: Why Todd walked away from Google after only two years to chase "unlimited upside" and control his own destiny, despite having no other job offers.[11:47] The Golden Handcuffs Trap: A candid look at how high salaries in finance and Big Tech can trap talented people in lifestyle creep, preventing them from ever taking the entrepreneurial leap.[32:25] Living in Sprints: Todd and Alex discuss the concept of "sprints"—how life is defined not by a steady cruise, but by intense periods of focus (high school, banking, early-stage building) and the challenge of finding the next mountain to climb[25:11] Valuation Optionality: Why raising a "$100M Seed Round" can actually be a death sentence for a startup. Todd explains the math behind maintaining a valuation that allows for multiple exit scenarios, not just a unicorn-or-bust outcome.[49:54] The Case for Founder Secondaries: Alex argues why allowing founders to take some chips off the table early (via secondary sales) actually aligns them better with investors and allows them to play "offense only."Links & Resources: Broadlume: https://www.broadlume.com/Verisimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/Follow Todd on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tosaunders/Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/About Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verisimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    54 min
  5. How Bad Finance Kills Good Companies with Ariel Menche of Raftel Strategy

    JAN 14

    How Bad Finance Kills Good Companies with Ariel Menche of Raftel Strategy

    In this episode of Very True, Alex sits down with Ariel Menche, Founder and CEO of Raftel Strategy, to demystify the critical difference between "accounting" and "strategic finance." Ariel shares his journey from strategy consulting at KPMG and managing budgets at WWE to becoming a go-to fractional CFO for startups. Together, they dismantle the misconception that finance is just about paying taxes and processing payroll. Alex and Ariel dive deep into the "arithmetic vs. calculus" of business—explaining why accounting looks backward at compliance, while true finance looks forward at exponential growth. They cover the essential "four hats" of a modern CFO, the often-overlooked power of net working capital (using Costco as a prime example), and why traditional SaaS metrics and benchmarking can sometimes lead founders off a cliff. Episode Highlights: [02:22] From the Ring to the Boardroom: Ariel shares his background moving from high-level strategy at KPMG to managing finances at WWE, and his eventual Aliyah to Israel to found Raftel Strategy.[16:07] Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts: The lesson Ariel learned from his father’s Brooklyn factory: "Anyone can sell something, but it’s another thing to get paid."[19:17] Arithmetic vs. Calculus: Alex explains why accounting is linear arithmetic (compliance) while startup finance requires calculus (modeling exponential growth).[21:43] The Four Hats of the CFO: Breaking down the distinct roles within the office of the CFO: Accounting, Treasury, FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis), and Corp Dev/IR.[27:56] The Hidden Cash Engine: A deep dive into Net Working Capital, deferred revenue, and how companies like Costco use negative cash conversion cycles to fund their own growth.[36:54] The "SaaS Magic Number" Trap: Why linear growth is death in the software world, and how to analyze sales efficiency when aiming for non-linear scale.[49:07] Organizational Debt: How "garbage in, garbage out" data practices and poor chart of accounts structures can blind a CEO to the reality of their business model.[57:43] Against Benchmarking: Why comparing your unique startup to industry averages is often a waste of time compared to optimizing your internal LTV and customer cohorts. Links & Resources:Raftel Strategy: [Link to Website if available, otherwise omit]Verissimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/Follow Ariel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariel-menche/Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/ About Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verissimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    1h 2m
  6. Investing in AI, Selling Secondaries and Venture Math with Nick Fitz of Juniper Ventures

    12/29/2025

    Investing in AI, Selling Secondaries and Venture Math with Nick Fitz of Juniper Ventures

    In this conversation, Alex Oppenheimer of Verissimo Ventures and Nick Fitz of Juniper Ventures discuss venture math, seed investing philosophy, building and fundies AI companies, selling secondary and much more. Just two emerging VC managers talking shop during a spontaneous car ride in San Francisco.  Keywords startups, venture capital, investment strategies, AI talent, liquidity, fund management, secondary sales, fundraising, investment returns, decision making Chapters 00:00 The Startup Landscape: A 100 Company Analysis05:46 The Sweet Spot: Companies Two to Five11:52 Moments of Liquidity: Selling Secondary Shares17:55 The Dynamics of Fund Management and Fees26:21 The Challenges of Fundraising and Founder Empathy34:41 Navigating Ownership and Investment Strategies39:45 The Importance of Check Size and Quality in Investments

    36 min
  7. From Craft Beer to Autonomous Checkout: Living Life in Chapters with Avi Moskowitz, CEO of PDQ

    12/22/2025

    From Craft Beer to Autonomous Checkout: Living Life in Chapters with Avi Moskowitz, CEO of PDQ

    In this episode of Very True, Alex sits down with Avi Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of PDQ, to explore the evolution of e-commerce from a simple "copy-paste" of retail to a data-driven, personalized experience. Avi shares his unique entrepreneurial journey—from bootstrapping an ISP and selling medical software to managing a craft beer business in Israel—and how those diverse "chapters" led him to tackle the $270 billion problem of cart abandonment. Together, they discuss why trust and logistics are the new battlegrounds for merchants, how to listen to customers at scale using AI, and the future of "autonomous checkout." Episode Highlights: [00:00] Intro: Alex introduces Avi Moskowitz and his non-traditional path to Silicon Valley success.[03:11] The Early Chapters: Growing up as the son of Holocaust survivors, early ventures in shoe shining, and bootstrapping an ISP during the internet's infancy.[05:33] The "Shut Up" Method: A critical lesson in sales: carrying index cards in his pocket to remind him to listen twice as much as he spoke.[10:27] The Beer Bazaar Story: How running a craft beer business in Israel and personally delivering hundreds of orders during COVID exposed the "trust gap" in e-commerce.[13:50] The Amazon Standard: Why Amazon wins on boring logistics and predictability, and why most other merchants lose customers by failing to build confidence at checkout.[18:37] Segmentation & Personalization: How PDQ uses over 1,600 data points to treat every customer differently—customizing offers, shipping, and badges based on real-time data.[21:01] Autonomous Checkout: The future of e-commerce where AI manages unit economics and business strategy in real-time to save sales.[36:40] Logistics as Marketing: Why the post-purchase experience (shipping, tracking, and delivery) is more important than the product itself for retaining customers.[51:37] The "WISMO" Plague: Why 50% of "Where Is My Order" tickets are submitted the same day an order is placed, and what that says about the state of online trust.Links & Resources: PDQ Website: https://www.prettydamnquick.com/Verisimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/ Follow Avi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moskowitzavi/ Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/About Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verissimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.

    46 min
  8. It’s Never a Straight Line: Why the Path to an Exit Often Starts with a Stop - Neri Bluman of XFunnel (acq by HubSpot)

    12/15/2025

    It’s Never a Straight Line: Why the Path to an Exit Often Starts with a Stop - Neri Bluman of XFunnel (acq by HubSpot)

    From the high-pressure grind of logistics to a strategic exit in AI: Neri Bluman joins Alex to discuss his journey from Avo to XFunnel. They dive into the "generalist" superpower, the vital importance of taking a career break, and how Neri and his co-founder Beeri built a lean, profitable engine that was acquired by HubSpot in under a year—all without sacrificing their sanity. ______________________________________________ What does it take to build a company that big tech giants want to buy? Sometimes, it starts with doing absolutely nothing. In this episode of Very True by Verismo, Alex sits down with Neri Bluman, co-founder of XFunnel (a Verissimo Ventures portfolio company), which was recently acquired by HubSpot. Neri’s journey is a masterclass in resilience and self-awareness. He takes us from his early days as a lawyer-turned-operator to the hyper-growth rollercoaster of Avo, a logistics startup that scaled to 1,000 employees before facing the harsh reality of the market. After Avo, Neri did the unthinkable for a founder: he took a full year off to reset his nervous system. We discuss how that break paved the way for XFunnel—a company built with a completely different DNA. Neri shares the specific playbook he and his co-founder Beeri used: prioritizing profitability over massive headcount, having the "money conversation" early, and targeting enterprise giants like Wix and HubSpot not just as customers, but as design partners. In this episode, we cover: The Generalist Superpower: Why being "good at everything but master of nothing" is a massive asset in the age of AI.The Avo Story: The thrill of Y Combinator, the stress of logistics, and the hard lessons learned from a down-market cycle.The Founder’s Break: Why Neri moved to Portugal, slept for months, and why you can’t "consult" your way to mental health.The Co-Founder "Prenup": The crucial conversations Neri and Beeri had about lifestyle, financial goals, and ego before writing a single line of code.Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): How XFunnel identified that the internet was moving from "blue links" to "direct answers" and built the tool to serve that shift.The HubSpot Acquisition: How selling to enterprise customers early led to strategic partnerships and, ultimately, an exit.Links & Resources: Neri Bluman on LinkedInVerissimo VenturesHubSpot acquires XFunnel (News)

    1h 13m
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About

Brought to you by Verissimo Ventures, The Very True Podcast features candid startup insights and conversations with early-stage founders, operators, and investors shaping the future of tech. From behind-the-scenes startup stories to hard-earned lessons on fundraising, scaling, and staying resilient, each episode offers a window into what it really takes to build something bold.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alex
  • Show Website
    Very True by Verissimo