Ep. 04: Growing ID.me to a $150M ARR Unicorn

Case Study: From Zero to A Billion - the Making of an Identity Verification Unicorn

I met Blake Hall in 2020, during COVID, as my nonprofit organization was looking to help surge healthcare professionals into the fight against the pandemic. One of the key challenges was identifying and verifying user credentials. Enter ID.me; Blake and team offered to do it for the healthcare facilities who were vetting our volunteers - and incredibly, to do it for free. His heart for service runs deep. I’m excited to share his story - the ID.me story - with you.

For more info:

* On Blake Hall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hallblake/

* On ID.me: https://www.id.me/

⏲️ Timestamps ⏲️

2:23 - The ID.me founding story

6:40 - Finding their first users

11:55 - Early funding, the power of serendipity, and the burden of expectations

14:55 - The power of niche: focusing where others had flared

18:25 - ID.me's approach to product

26:20 - Approaching the federal government

30:55 - Commercial as a launchpad for federal

33:15 - The first government grant

38:10 - The cautionary tale of Connect.gov

43:00 - Blake's take on adversity

47:20 - The fatal sin of entrepreneurship

48:25 - The value of certifications and testing

54:15 - The first $1 trillion identity company?

58:50 - Blake's friendship with Elon Musk

1:02:20 - Blake's advice to people entering the federal market

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com