The Investor + Operator (IO) Podcast Sterling Snow and Tyler Hogge

When Blake Murray came up with the idea of Divvy, it was because he had a problem: he couldn’t get real-time data on the financial health of his business. So in 2016, Blake set out to find a solution and realized there was none. Blake spent the next several years building what would become one of the fastest-growing startups in history—a platform combining expense management software and a corporate card to help businesses of all sizes manage their finances.
Blake, along with Tyler and Sterling—Divvy’s SVP and CRO—break down why this startup was such a remarkable success: a world-class team, a world-class product and a performance culture that pushed Divvy and it’s people to the top.  
Chapters: 
01:38 - How Blake Knew Divvy Would Be A Big Idea
07:17 - The Insight: No Real-Time Financial Information For Businesses
09:20 - The Idea: Blake Lands A 7-Figure Deal With Only A Deck
14:15 - Sell, Design, Build: How Divvy Built First Then Sold To Solve GTM
24:30 - Hire Like-Minded People Instead of People Who’ve Done It (Culture vs Acumen)
37:00 - ’Nobody’s Coming, It’s Up To Us’. How To Do More With Less
42:27 - Founder Advice: Have A Short Memory 
43:45 - Founder Advice: Build A Performance Culture 
49:52 - Work-Life Balance Myth: Big Sacrifices Are Required for Asymmetric Upside
59:00 - Investor Advice: Founders Want Investors Who Will Be Loyal To Them
1:04:45 - Tyler and Sterling’s Recap
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Connect With Blake
https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-murray-79655665
https://x.com/blakemur
Connect With Tyler & Sterling
https://x.com/thogge
https://x.com/sterlingmsnow
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Scott Sandell, Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at NEA is truly one of the great venture capitalists of our generation. With nearly three decades at NEA he leads the field with a track record of dozens of successful investments including unicorns like Salesforce, Plaid, Workday, Robinhood, Cloudflare and Tableau.
How has he done it? Scott shares his investment philosophy influenced by other greats like Dick Kramlich and John Doerr: understand an individual's life story, decision-making process, and future goals as key in making successful investment choices.
Chapters:
00:02:17 What Are The Characteristics Of Unicorn Founders?
00:10:16 "I Look For Passion-Driven Missionaries"
00:16:05 Building Tableau's Success: Lessons in Slow, Purposeful Growth
00:27:13 Make Your Investors Your Partners. Navigating Board Relationships
00:40:55 The Era of Decreasing LP Commitments
00:52:39 Tyler and Sterlings Recap
Connect with Scott and NEA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottdsandell
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTU3mQDqk3QyB4WeDQwZ1YQ
Connect with IO Pod
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IO__podcast
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@io_podcast
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCayuY0VO95kQTUXJvh9T0oQ
Website: https://www.investoroperator.io/
This episode of the IO Podcast is brought to you by Pelion Venture Partners
https://pelionvp.com/

There may be no better pair of fintech investors than Better Tomorrow Ventures Jake Gibson and Sheel Mohnot. After successful exits in the industry -- Jake as the co-founder of NerdWallet, one of the OG consumer fintech companies, and Sheel with FeeFighter and Innovative Auctions, Jake and Sheel saw a gap in the market and started a fund to help fintech companies at the earliest stages. And they've already had some big wins, counting Ramp and Unit as Portcos.
Jake and Sheel joined us on the pod to tell us how they built their previous companies and talked to the future of fintech and the the trends they're seeing across the industry. We cover the pandemic-induced surge in fintech interest and how their big bet is on embeddable fintech, where financial services are seamlessly integrated into non-financial platforms.
Chapters:
00:00:35 Tyler & Sterling's Intro
00:07:05 Starting NerdWallet during the 2008 Financial Crisis
00:12:34 How Jake Gamed Google SEO To Grow NerdWallet
00:19:08 How Better Tomorrow Ventures Started
00:24:17 Early Support from Andreessen Horowitz for Fund
00:30:08 Fintech Investment Opportunities During The Pandemic
00:37:38 Embedded Fintech Is The Future
00:45:52 The Durbin Amendment & Changing Bank Profit Pools
00:55:47 Jake And Sheel's Nominees for Best Operators & Investors
Connect with Jake And Sheel
Twitter (Sheel): https://twitter.com/pitdesi
Twitter (Jake): https://twitter.com/iamjakestream
Website: https://www.btv.vc/
Learn More About The Mint
https://www.themint.vc/
Connect with IO Pod
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IO__podcast
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@io_podcast
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCayuY0VO95kQTUXJvh9T0oQ
Website: https://www.investoroperator.io/
This episode of the IO Podcast is brought to you by Pelion Venture Partners
https://pelionvp.com/

#StartupLife #StartupMentality

Immad Akhund had the idea for Mercury years before they started. In fact, he'd launched 3 other startups and been through YCombinator twice before even starting initial validation on what would become the beloved neobank of startups everywhere. And opinions were mixed. Immad himself recognized the need for a simpler and more efficient banking service while while operating Heyzap his previous company. But when he shared the concept with other startups, not everyone grasped its potential.
Today, Mercury dominates in the neobank industry. Immad walks hosts Tyler Hogge and Sterling Snow through the early days of Mercury, shares advice on how to operate and his strategies on investing.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:56 Immad's Entrepreneurial Journey - Previous Companies & Learnings
00:08:27 What Does Mercury Do?
00:11:24 How He Launched Mercury
00:14:35 The Neo Bank Industry and Launch Timing
00:21:50 The SVB Fallout & How That Led To Big Growth For Mercury
00:32:50 Operating Advice: The Six-Year Vesting Plan
00:43:35 Immad's Hot Takes & Predictions: AI Is a Hype Cycle
00:57:17 Rapid Fire & Wrap-up
Things to Check Out:
Immad's Memo - How to Not Be A Bottleneck as a CEO
Immad's Podcast - Curiosity Podcast
Immad's Advice on Operating - @immad on X
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This episode of the IO Podcast is brought to you by Pelion
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Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Alex Rampell may be the most true version of an investor-operator. Alex's first entrepreneurial endeavor started as a child when he built and sold shareware out of his parent's house. Eventually he added more businesses to his portfolio before launching the payment platform TrialPay after college and eventually Affirm. Today, Alex invests in some of the largest companies at Andreessen Horowitz and he shares with Tyler and Sterling what he looks for in entrepreneurs and shares tactical advice from his days building.
Chapters:
(00:03:00) How Alex Started His First Company in Middle School
(00:14:46) Investing in People: The Key to Startup Success
(00:18:33) Building Relationships for Business Success
(00:21:23) The Advantage of Naivete in Entrepreneurship
(00:26:41) Interconnected Attributes for Building a Successful Business
(00:28:44) Building a Strong Entrepreneurial Framework
(00:36:04) Mitigating Risk of Overdependence on Initial Customers
(00:42:20) The Battle for Market Dominance
(00:46:05) The Crucial Role of Distribution for Startups
(00:57:17) The Challenge of Convincing Buyers
(01:00:38) Leveraging fear to drive successful acquisitions

Geoff Lewis is a titan in the VC world as both the lead investor and founder of Bedrock Capital, the firm backing some of the world best-known tech companies. Geoff joins Tyler and Sterling on the podcast to share his insights on venture capital and what it takes to consistently make money for LPs. Geoff discusses the unique decision to raise Bedrock's fund size in a time when other funds are downsizing, the importance of assessing founders and their unique qualities, and the challenges and rewards of starting a venture capital firm. He also shares his thoughts on the future of social media, the venture capital industry, and the power of authenticity in building strong partnerships.
Chapters
00:04:10 - Why Bedrock Is Upsizing Their Fund Structure.
00:06:54 - How Geoff Assesses Entrepreneurs and Raises Capital.
00:10:10 - Building Relationships Brings Smart Investments
00:14:13 - Achieving Work-Life Integration For Entrepreneurs.
00:17:49 - Why The Best Founders Are Authentic
00:21:29 - Different Investment Styles in VC
00:26:44 - When To Double Down
00:38:04 - The OpenAI Situation
00:40:37 - Geoff's Hot Takes
00:57:08 - Rapid Fire and Wrap-up
We think you'll love this conversation. Don't miss hearing from one of the industry's top investors and operators.