The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Scaling Zapier To $140M ARR and a $5Bn Valuation on $1.4M of Funding, What Founders Misunderstand About Fundraising & How Founders Should Think About Secondaries Today with Wade Foster, Founder & CEO @ Zapier

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Apr 15, 2021

Wade Foster, Co-founder and CEO of Zapier, shares insights from leading his company to a $5 billion valuation with just $1.4 million in funding. He discusses the challenges of remote work that Zapier has navigated since 2012 and emphasizes the importance of transparency in team communication. Wade reflects on his journey from email marketing to entrepreneurship, revealing critical leadership lessons learned while scaling. He also touches on fundraising approaches, the significance of effective executive hiring, and Zapier's mission to democratize automation for everyone.

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ANECDOTE

Wade's Non-Traditional Path to Zapier

Wade Foster graduated during the financial crisis and struggled to find a job in his field.
He took a marketing internship at a small software company, which sparked his passion for software.

ADVICE

Wade's Advice on "Fake It Till You Make It"

Don't fake it in areas where you're inadequate, but say yes to stretch opportunities if you're a good learner.
Be prepared for constant learning, as running a company constantly reveals new challenges.

ADVICE

Advice for Graduates: Small vs Big Companies

Join the smallest company possible to gain broad exposure to different business functions.
In smaller organizations, you get to experience all aspects of the business, even if not expertly.

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Wade Foster is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Zapier, the company that moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work. Post YC in 2012, Wade raised $1.4M for the company from Bessemer and Threshold but since that round, he scaled the company to $140M in ARR and a $5Bn valuation with Sequoia and Steadfast buying out some early investors earlier this year.

In Today’s Episode with Wade Foster You Will Learn:

1.) How Wade made his way from email marketing manager to founding one of YC's most successful alum in the form of Zapier? Does Wade agree with the "fake it till you make it theory"? How does Wade advise grads on starting a company vs joining a startup vs joining an incumbent?

2.) Remote Work: Zapier has been remote since 2012, what do Zapier do very specifically that Waade believes has enabled them to be so successful remote? What did not work? What were some of the biggest challenges of scaling the team remotely? In terms of tooling, what specific tools do Wade and Zapier use to make the org as transparent as possible?

3.) In the scaling journey, what have been the most significant breakpoints in the org scaling? How has Eade scaled his style of leadership? What has been the most challenging element to scale? How does Wade structure internal meetings? Who is invited to what? What materials are shared? How are the meetings structured?

4.) Why did Wade decide not to take the venture path and scale the company from revenues? What does Wade believe so many founders misunderstand when it comes to fundraising? What does Wade believe they gained from the bootstrapped approach? Why did Wade still maintain relationships with VCs? How did he choose those he wanted to stay in touch with?

5.) How does Wade feel about his relationship to money? What does Wade think about the rise of secondaries? In what framework does Wade advise founders who have the chance to take secondaries? What is the right amount to take off the table? How does one communicate this?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Wade Foster

Wade’s Favourite Book: Harry Potter

As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!