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20VC: Evernote & mmhmm Founder Phil Libin on Why We are Beginning a Multi-Trillion Dollar Restructuring of the World, Why Shortcuts are the Biggest Mistakes Startups Make & The Future of Video and The Unbundling of Zoom

Jan 25, 2021

Phil Libin, Founder and CEO of mmhmm, previously led Evernote to great success. He discusses the emerging multi-trillion dollar restructuring of the world and the critical pitfalls of shortcuts in startups. Phil emphasizes the importance of structured hiring and team dynamics. He also explores the future of video communication and its unbundling from traditional platforms like Zoom, predicting an evolution in how we interact. Additionally, he reflects on his venture experiences and the importance of aligning founder and VC incentives.

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ANECDOTE

mmhmm's Origins

Phil Libin's mmhmm began as a joke to make lockdown video calls less dreary.
It evolved from playing with Zoom backgrounds into a full-fledged product.

ADVICE

Expand Your Hiring Pool

Hire outside your network, avoid the shortcut of only hiring friends.
Spend money on recruiters and instruct them to find candidates beyond your network.

INSIGHT

VCs and Shortcuts

The VC model incentivizes shortcuts, pushing for rapid success or failure.
This focus on speed often leads to negative consequences.

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Phil Libin is the Founder and CEO @ mmhmm, the app that allows you to level up your remote presentations, making high-quality video content in minutes. To date, Phil has raised over $30M for the company from an incredible investor base including Sequoia, Kevin & Julia Hartz, Tony Fadell, Instagram's Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and Brianne Kimmel. Prior to mmhmm, Phil was a Managing Director @ General Catalyst and prior to his time in venture, Phil most famously founded Evernote, where he led the business with phenomenal success, as CEO for over 8 years.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Phil made his way into the world of startups, came to found Evernote and how that led to his founding of mmhmm, most recently?

2.) How would Phil describe his management style today? How has it changed over time? Why does Phil believe shortcuts are the greatest mistakes startups make? What does Phil believe you can vs cannot take shortcuts on? What have been some real world lessons there?

3.) What were Phil's biggest takeaways from his time in venture? How did it change his operating mindset? Does Phil believe there is an incentive misalignment between founder and VC? Why is Roelof Botha the best board member Phil has worked with? What makes him so special?

4.) How does Phil think about the unbundling/verticalisation of Zoom? How does he predict the market evolving? How does Phil see the differing usage patterns between consumer and business? Why does Phil believe more can be learned from looking at similarities and not differences?

5.) What does Phil believe are the two classes of mistakes when scaling startups? What have been Phil's biggest lessons on acquiring and retaining the best talent? How does Phil create an environment of dissent where anyone can bring their entire self and beliefs to the table?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode

Phil’s Favourite Book: Kafka on the Shore

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