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

20VC: How To Build True Human Relationships with VC Pre-Investment, Why Valuation Is Not The Only Term and When To Take Lower Offers & How To Approach Mental Health As A Founder with Jon Dishotsky, Founder & CEO @ Starcity

May 17, 2019

Jon Dishotsky, the visionary Founder & CEO of Starcity, a proptech startup, shares his unique journey from handling major commercial real estate transactions to revolutionizing urban living. He discusses the importance of authenticity in building investor relationships and why valuation isn't the only critical factor. Jon also emphasizes mental health for founders, suggesting practices like therapy and gratitude journaling. He reflects on the evolving proptech landscape and offers advice for entrepreneurs navigating investor selections in the quest for funding.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Early Co-living Exposure

Jon Dishotsky's parents fostered Stanford students, exposing him early to co-living.
This, coupled with city visits, sparked his interest in urban affordability and community.

INSIGHT

Proptech's Rise

Proptech's VC appeal was initially low due to limited success stories and perceived asset-heavy nature.
WeWork's rise and a shift towards tackling gritty problems increased VC interest.

ADVICE

Product-Market Fit First

Focus on building the best product first, then find suitable capital.
Starcity began by addressing a significant market need, attracting VC interest despite being asset-heavy.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Jon Dishotsky is the Founder & CEO @ Starcity, the startup on a mission to make cities more affordable to everyone allowing you to live with great people in the city you love. To date, Jon has raised over $28m in funding for Starcity from the likes of Social Capital, Y Combinator, Bullpen Capital, NEA and Kima Ventures in Paris, just to name a few. Prior to founding Starcity, Jon did over 3M square feet of commercial real estate transactions for clients including Optimizely, Cruise Automation, Weebly, Zenefits and many more. Before that he spent 8 years at the prestigious Cushman & Wakefield. Jon is also an active angel investor with investments in the likes of Remote, Fond and Savvy.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Jon made his way from doing real estate transactions for clients including YC to being one of the hottest prop tech startups making cities affordable with Starcity?

2.) Why did it take so long for the venture ecosystem to get excited by the rise of proptech? What was the catalyst? When advising VCs, how do you advise them to get comfortable investing in these heavy asset, non-lean startup businesses? What are the biggest mistakes investors make when analysing proptech?

3.) What were some of Jon's biggest takeaways from his time at YC? How does Jon advise other founders looking to get into YC today? When it comes to investor selection, in what cases would Jon take a lower valuation against other offers? How does Jon advise founders on investor selection? What questions should they ask? Why is it like hiring? What are the common mistakes that Jon sees founders make when selecting investors?

4.) How does Jon advise founders when it comes to improving the quality of their mental health? Where do Jon struggle? How does Jon engage with social media knowing the psychological effects it has? What have been some major breakthroughs for him? Why does Jon believe having kids has made him a better founder? Why does Jon believe that older entrepreneurs are actually more successful than younger founders?

5.) What is Jon's biggest advice to founders when it comes to building relationships with VCs? Should founders "always be raising"? How transparent should founders be with VCs both in the relationship building process and the fundraise itself?

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

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.