The SPAC format has gotten a pretty big black eye now. It almost seemed like it was a victim of its own success to me. If some is good, more is better up until the point where you just stuff the turkey into a burp burst. And obviously, in a time of free money, that only happened at an accelerated pace. But you have to still be able to tell your story crisply and clearly.
Jason is joined by FirstMark Capital’s Rick Heitzmann, who started his investment career in 1999. They discuss “sobering up” after the 14-year bull run (1:55), Airbnb’s response to the downturn (7:38), how senior leaders must act as shock absorbers for their founders (26:30), and more!
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show
(1:55) Rick’s experience of the “Speculative Asset Bubble”
(7:38) Airbnb’s reaction to the downturn
(11:33) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free
(12:58) Rick’s memory of the Dot Com bubble
(19:39) Advice for founders in a downturn
(22:27) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
(23:29) How CAC and LTV have changed
(26:30) The emotional state of Founders and keeping them focused
(35:09) Term sheets in the Dot Com era and today
(40:06) Letterhead - get 50% off their first year at tryletterhead.com/twist
(41:21) Different forms of exits + Key attributes in founders
FOLLOW Rick: https://twitter.com/rick
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood