Results Junkies

Paul announces the news that he and Dana have a new addition to the family.  Sleep deprivation has set in big time but he still manages to sound coherent this week. We get a Beacons update (if you haven't signed up for a weekly Beacons newsletter , do it now) and Paul has started messing with some pretty cool stats on what folks are actually talking about right now. Paul asks Ed about some travel...

Paul is cranking on Beacons but an unfortunate error has lead to a setback. We hear the term "Use of Proceeds" tossed around frequently during fundraising.   Paul and Ed are digging into what a UOP is, whether it's necessary and how founders (and investors) should approach a discussion about Use of Proceeds. Layoffs seem to have leaked over into the big tech companies, with Google and Facebook qui...

Paul launched Beacons and continues to crank out updates. Ethereum completed it's long-awaited Merge , which reduces energy consumption significantly.  We discuss how this will affect everyone (and it will affect everyone). FedEx has a very gloomy outlook right now.  Is this another sign of a rough road ahead? Figma seems to be the only company bucking the trend of dropping valuations, to a stagge...

  Paul is still wrestling with Beacons . He's promised us a new version of his podcast search tool, keep an eye out for it! A spoof account on Twitter has Paul and Ed discussing Twitter's business model.  Should they be doing more to help key users? Paul and Ed spend time talking about Shopify and Amazon.  Shopify, the company helping equip the little guy with the tools to sell against Amazon, is...

Paul continues to iterate on Beacons . He's promised us a new version of his podcast search tool, keep an eye out for it! Layoffs continue to mount in the tech industry. Paul and Ed dig into why this hasn't spread to other sectors yet and what you should watch for.  A comment about a pitch Ed's team received leads Paul and Ed deep down the rabbit hole of all the things you shouldn't do when you're...

There was a time where you could push out a really crappy product with a bunch of bugs just to demonstrate a key feature or two.  Millions of dollars have been raised on MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with heavy emphasis on "Minimum".  Not today.  And, it's not just investors that will demand you have a better product.  Customers just don't have the patience.  You don't have to be all things to all...

Softbank sold their entire stake in Uber to satisfy a very interesting requirement by one of their LPs.  Paul and Ed are discussing why this is such a unique requirement.  Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz wrote their largest check ever to the founder of WeWork.  Reportedly, $350 million on a valuation over $1 billion.  And, Paul is trying to figure out why anyone would borrow money to invest in star...

We spend this episode pinning Paul down on the specifics of what should be in your pitch deck (and what shouldn't).  It's the first thing most investors will see when you begin the process of asking them for money.  So many pitch decks lack the key items necessary to get you a second meeting with an investor.  It's such an important part of your business that Paul built a free e-mail program on fu...

Uber Eats, Door Dash and other 3rd party delivery services may be another signal of changes in consumer behavior.  Founders need to understand the metrics that matters most and show they can manage them.  Paul sees plenty of evidence in the pitch decks he receives that not all founders are keyed into this new reality just yet. YC Combinator is trimming the number of companies in their latest class...

Shopify's CEO was brutally (and refreshingly) honest that he made the wrong call during the pandemic which contributed to the current round of layoffs the company is executing. Founders should pay attention not only to how Shopify is broadcasting their intentions but what lead them astray in their decision-making. Fundraising continues to shift to an environment where VCs have more leverage.  If y...

Paul and Ed are both struggling with tech this week but in very different ways.  The episode starts with Ed's e-mail server crashing.  Paul waxes nostalgic about the days of setting up a new e-mail server, spam filters and all.  These are truly days nobody misses. Paul is trying to figure out how to move forward with Beacon.  He wants to do some serious work under the hood and also is facing a que...

Paul's release of Beacon makes him think about Group 1 and Group 3 companies.  He hates the first version of Beacon which means he probably released it at the right time.  Paul sheds some light about his history of developing in public and how it informed the way he went about launching Beacon. Ed and Paul dig in a little bit to some slashed valuations and how this should impact the thinking of en...

It's launch day!  But, before that, Paul and Ed are digging into the latest round of layoffs.  Over 100 companies on layoffs.fyi since they last recorded.  Do employees bear some responsibility for their demise? Next up, Paul is launching a new side project called Beacon .  It's a new podcast search tool that transcribes podcasts and makes key terms searchable (think "travel" or "Roe v Wade").  Di...

We're featuring a cross-over episode this week of Results Junkies and Miles to Go , Ed's travel podcast.  Paul's wallet needs some serious work after a decade of neglect.  We're breaking down what's in his wallet and giving him some suggestions how to rescue the situation.  It's not all  about beating up on Paul because his crypto strategy is pretty solid (700% plus returns).  We're digging into h...

Paul and Ed talk about podcasts and the lack of discoverability.  Will this "bottom of the funnel" tool ever move up the funnel?  Paul has been working on a project to increase the ability to search podcasts.  Is it too corny to say it could be a game changer? And, if it's another podcast episode in 2022, Paul and I are looking at all the layoffs that have been announced.  It's a great time for co...

Paul and Ed are sitting down with Ani Sanyal of Kolkata Chai.   Kolkata Chai is one of Paul's portfolio companies that he also advises.  It's a perfect example of a company that, as Paul says, is at the intersection of "offline and online".  Kolkata Chai has a brick and mortar location in New York City and a thriving DTC business.  Ani spends an hour with Paul and Ed breaking down Kolkata Chai's g...

The day didn't start out well for Paul after getting stuck at the dealership for hours on end only to leave without his problem solved. That leads to a discussion of how Tesla is driving Ford to make changes on how they sell vehicles. Paul and Ed predicted that discussions about CAC would go mainstream and that time has arrived . Paul and Ed are recapping their bet on how many companies would have...

We continue to be fascinated by the data being published by Layoffs.fyi .  Lots of mid- and late-stage companies are laying off employees in the face of a very uncertain fundraising environment. Elon Musk is drawing a hard line in the sand on folks returning to the office.  He doubled down on an internal letter at Tesla outlining the need for employees to return to the office with a Tweet backing...

The landscape is changing rapidly.  There's still demand for great employees but many companies are shedding head count for a variety of reasons. Some have run out of runway and can't raise more funds.  Other are just plain overstaffed as market conditions have shifted. Speaking of market conditions, the cost of diesel is wreaking havoc with shipments as well.  Look for holiday shipping costs to s...

Paul and Ed are talking about Apple pausing their move back to the office.  There seems to be plenty of controversy about the decision.  Businesses are making decisions about infrastructure right now in a time of significant volatility. The market for fundraising is changing dramatically.  We talked a bit about it in a bonus episode over the weekend in case you missed it. Paul asks me Ed his opini...

Things are getting crazy out there and a letter from Y Combinator is circulating that illustrates what some of the smartest folks out there are thinking about right now.  Y Combinator is a major accelerator program that appears to be sounding a major alarm right now.  The image of the letter appears to be missing the postscript: "PS: If for any reason you believe this message does not apply to you...

Paul and Ed are looping back on a discussion a few weeks ago about the upside to investing in boring businesses .  As we learned more details about the boring business fund, it brought up all sorts of questions on dominant shareholder issues and selection bias. Elon is negotiating in public for Twitter and the strategy seems to be working.  And, Paul is wondering what the future of work looks like...

Markets have been volatile lately and the value of some companies has plummeted.  We've seen another mass layoff at a company that raised at big valuations.  Paul and Ed are discussing how founders need to be prepared for employees who may have a wandering eye due to the dwindling value of their employee options.  Employees have decisions in front of them as well.  Investors can play a valuable ro...

Paul digs into a new fund built specifically to target traditional businesses (think laundromats) by purchasing them and adding technology to improve profitability.  We touch on fund size, the ease of raising capital and what the future looks like if this fund is successful. Ed pitches Paul on a pitch he received recently, though without much information (to protect the innocent, of course).  Why...

Due to a late recording date we got to cover some things that are just happening.  We dive into Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter. Is it real?  Netflix is spending more on advertising while losing subscribers.  And, Google's ad revenue is up.  Not a surprise when you think of the companies impacted by Apple's new privacy rules. If you've got a comment or question for the show, you can e-mail us at...