Results Junkies

Fast.com was a one-click checkout solution that flamed out pretty brilliantly two weeks ago.  After raising  over $100 million, Fast never even managed to earn $1 million in gross revenue.  Better.com is faring a bit better but going through another massive round of layoffs.  Is it enough to save the company?     If you've got a comment or question for the show, you can e-mail us at show@resultsju...

Paul brings up forecasts from travel tech infrastructure giant Amadeus and draws some conclusions about the future of work and business travel.  Travel is changing along with the nature of work and Paul talks about why this is so important to entrepeneurs. After that, Ed and Paul discuss the recent development where Uber is now listing NYC taxis in their app for riders to book.  What started as th...

Paul and Ed start the show with a quick nod to the work from home culture that most of us have embraced during the pandemic.  From Ed's hatred of Microsoft Teams to Paul's shocking realization of how much Zoom can cost for a small team, it's a real-world look into how entrepreneurs are thriving and suffering in WFH.  Speaking of cost, Ed shares a story about a company in fundraising mode that ran...

What is Walmart up to with their latest move in the tech world?  Is this a sign that founders should be cozying up to the massive retailer?  Is this a move for Walmart to "buy the squeeze"? A discussion between Paul and Ed brings up a relevant question.  Why don't our phones to more to protect us from bad phone calls, texts , etc? 2:45 - Why Walmart might be setting up a “tech hub” in Toronto (and...

We're are discussing must reading this week from Fabrice Grinda.  Titled " The Great Unknown ", it's worth 10 minutes of your time.  Paul shares why he's optimistic even if the short-term market conditions look rocky. Culture matters in every company. We take issue with a tweet from a prominent CEO .  How you build your company and your culture will be some of the most critical thinking that you d...

Asymmetric bets might sound like buzz words and hand wavy stuff, but it's critical thinking.  We're talking about why the devastation in Ukraine will have profound effects on your business (and where your attention should be focused). Bitcoin seems to be a part of so many conversations but the buzz may not match the engagement level. Here's a few time stamps to tune-in: 5:15 - How Bump reacted to...

The Russian invasion is front and center. There's plenty of heartache for the people of Ukraine.  To a much lesser degree, there are also difficult decisions for founders in regards to fundraising, inventory and logistics. Paul provides feedback from his single opt-in test on his mailing list. If you missed our discussion on whether the gold standard of double opt-in is no longer the standard, you...

A discussion about one of the largest food delivery services in India leads Paul and Ed down the road of identifying the five key languages that divide the world markets. Paul tries to quantify the time lost by GDPR.  Ed and Paul discuss Facebook's whitewashing of privacy regulation.  Paul is annoyed by the logo on his TV. Paul raises the point that VC-backed startups may never unseat incumbents ....

Google announced plans for some major changes on cross-app ad tracking, a topic Paul and Ed have discussed ad nauseum on the pod.  On this, they don't quite see eye-to-eye on Google's intentions. They're also digging into why speed and aggression are such key traits to succeed as a founder . If you've got a comment or question for the show, you can e-mail us at show@resultsjunkies.com.  You can fi...

Paul starts the episode with the question of when it's okay for founders to take money out of a company.  This is a complicated question, especially since you have outside investors.  It doesn't happen often and we're discussing when it might make sense.  It's also a great reminder of why it's so important for founders to stay connected to investors. Ed asks the question of whether double opt-in,...

A lot to cover this week.  Paul and Ed start with a discussion on Cana.  This 3D beverage printer has the ability to cause serious disruption in a number of industries.  The product itself is intriguing and brings up so many questions. The unique capital structure that enabled Cana to progress is also up for discussion. Peloton is on the docket.  The current state of the company raises the questio...

Paul and Ed loop back on a listener question and follow-up on the concept of turning something your company does well into an API for others. The Theranos verdict teaches important lessons for both founders and investors. Paul talks about the fact that every fundraise has a public and a private story and why they frequently don’t match. Big box retailers look at e-commerce as a channel.  E-commerc...

Paul and Ed are still discussing companies that are trying to pivot but may not be equipped to do so. This dates back to their Walmart discussion in Ep 14 . Ed digs into the wayback machine to talk about Independence Air and Paul introduces the concept of "Start, Build Grow". When your company needs to pivot, it's natural that part of your team may not be ready/equipped to do so. Leadership has to...

Paul and Ed debate whether it makes more sense for a DTC company to handle logistics and shipping from one center or if a “micro-center” strategy might work better.   Here's a reference to the map Paul discusses .  Thanks to our listener Eric for the question. They also dig into the different models that Y Combinator and Tech Stars chose  Paul also has an announcement about some changes coming up...

Paul is back from the islands and we're diving back into the world.  Hot topics this week involve COVID wildfires, travel, technology and DTC.  Ed details how his restaurants had to adopt  3rd party delivery platforms essentially overnight to keep restaurants afloat at the beginning of the pandemic.  That ultimately meant half of their customer relationships are now controlled by someone else.  Pa...

There is a ton of money on the sidelines waiting to invest right now.  Paul and Ed are looking at a new Angel List fund and wondering if this is a byproduct of investors needing to adopt new models to find the returns they're seeking. With recent changes to CAC  found ers are likely going to feel the squeeze when it comes to fundraising. Paul describes why the far ends of the barbel (very early an...

Paul and Ed dive right into why this time of year is the best time to recruit.  Paul is busy talking to new candidates every day and Ed is busy recruiting his existing employees.  This leads to Paul's  assertion that most CEO's wouldn't be proud of their culture if they stopped to figure out what their employees thought it was. We also discuss Paul's first public appearance on a podcast since we l...

Some founders are built to start companies and some are built to bring their companies to a new level.  Most aren't built to do both.  Paul and Ed dive into that this week.  Paul talks about how deep his company is into Black Friday when it comes to e-commerce and making sure all the trucks are leaving on time.  Ed pokes a bit of fun at Paul for jumping shoulder deep into the world of physical pro...

Paul and Ed  are breaking down some recent pitch decks for potential investments.  Bad pitch decks can crush your chances at an investment. Lead with the strongest details, such as revenue, CAC and LTV.   Traction is key, cut out the fluff.  In the end, if you need to explain your entire business to an investor through a lengthy pitch deck, they're probably not the right investor.

Big recent statements from Facebook/Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg make Paul and Ed wonder if thinking in public can actually be a solid strategy. They also recap what Black Friday looked like for DTC and whether some odd ad targeting might be related to recent changes to iOS.

We dive right into alphabet soup this week.  Paul is talking about the world of DME and we wander into a discussion on CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV (Lifetime Value of the Customer), two numbers every founder needs to understand. How hard is it to triple your revenue this year and then triple your revenue again next year?  10X-ing your revenue is really hard, and really special.   Apple'...

Does your team make your company an acquisition target?  That's what Paul Singh ( @paulsingh ) and Edward Pizzarello ( @pizzainmotion ) start off the show with this week.  Your team can be your greatest asset. We're talking about the super sizing of Y Combinator , one of the most well-known accelerators. We also  talk about Paul's idea for a verified revenue API on Twitter .  And, robots ordering...

Nobody would blame an acquirer or acquisition target for getting a bit of deal fever as you close in on an agreement.  Many more deals fall apart than actually get across the finish line.  Paul digs in to this topic with Ed as they discuss the acquisition he's currently working on. There are more updates on North Star and over 1,000 users giving feedback now .  If you're an e-commerce company it's...

You'll hear folks debate about "buy vs build" when they're trying to figure out the best way to grow a company.  Paul and Ed peel back the layers on how to make this decision for your company.  Paul's Google plug-in, North Star is available for download on the Google Play store .  Paul has more planned for a future update but it's ready to track your eCom stats right now. Submitting to Google wasn...

So many entrepreneurs focus on cutting costs when they should be focused on growing revenue.  Paul and Ed have strong opinions on where you should be focused. Paul lays out the game plan on why you need both traction and distribution.  Traction is your intellectual property, your secret sauce.  Once you have that figured out, distribution is what keeps people from eating your lunch. Diversificatio...