After achieving product-market fit and starting to gain users, how do startups then avoid the "leaky bucket" problem of losing users as quickly as they gained them? By focusing on user engagement and retention, startups can not only keep their hard-won customers but also ensure that each new cohort of users gets more and more value out of their product.This episode is part two in a two-part series on the basics of growth. Featuring a16z general partners Andrew Chen (formerly of Uber and author of the book, The Cold Start Problem) and Jeff Jordan (formerly of OpenTable, eBay, Disney, and more), in conversation with Sonal Chokshi, the conversation goes deep on many aspects and nuances of engaging and retaining users: from how network effects come into play and if there is really a magic number or "aha" moment for a product to who are the power users and the power user curve for measuring, finding, and retaining those users.For a deeper discussion on user acquisition, check out last week's episode, the first part of this series. 

Jeff Jordan is a General Partner @ a16z where he serves on the boards of Airbnb, Incredible Health, Instacart, Lookout, and Pinterest, just to name a few. Before a16z, Jeff was CEO OpenTable, where he led the company during a period of hyper-growth and oversaw its IPO. Prior to OpenTable, Jeff was Senior VP and General Manager of eBay North America where he oversaw eBay's early growth into one of the Internet's leading commerce brands. In this role, he drove the successful acquisitions of PayPal and Half.com and went on to become President of PayPal, where he was responsible for establishing the company as the global standard for online payments.   In Today's Episode with Jeff Jordan We Discuss: 1.) From Taking Opentable Public to Being a GP @ a16z: What led to Jeff making the jump from CEO @ Opentable to becoming a GP at a16z? How does Jeff believe his operating career impacted how he thinks and acts as an investor today, both positively and negatively? What is his 1 biggest learning from eBay and then Opentable that has really shaped his mindset today as an investor? How did those experiences impact what he looks for in companies? 2.) The Two Core Features To Look For in Marketplaces: Fragmentation of supply side: Why does Jeff look for fragmented supply sides? Does this not take longer and is more expensive? How fragmented is fragmented enough? What are the most common reasons founders fail to acquire a fragmented supply side? Intelligent Lead Generation: What does Jeff really want to see in the way that new marketplaces acquire their customers? How does this change with the rise of TikTok and short-form video? What are some other really core features or traits that excite Jeff when he sees them in an early marketplace? What are some massive red flags for Jeff when he sees them early? 3.) How to Acquire and Retain the Demand Side of a Marketplace: Messaging and Brand: What are the biggest lessons Jeff has on how to craft the messaging of a marketplace to make it resonate with the target consumer? What are Jeff's biggest lessons from working with Brian Chesky on how they craft their messaging at Airbnb? What works? What does not work? Perfect Customer Cohorts: What does Jeff most want to see when examining prospective marketplace investment cohorts? What do the best have? What is the sign of a truly retained user in a marketplace? What is a good date duration to measure retention against? What are the biggest mistakes founders make presenting their cohorts? Lessons from Instacart: What are Jeff's biggest lessons from being on the Instacart board on cohorts? What makes good cohorts? How cohorts can seem bad but be good? 4.) Growth vs Profitability, CACs and LTV: Uber, OfferUp, Instacart, Deliveroo, respectfully, the level of profits these businesses are able to drive is questionable, why does Jeff believe marketplaces are good investments still? Many marketplaces start with poor unit economics, how does Jeff think about having the mental plasticity to project out to a time when unit economics could be better? Does Jeff pay attention to CACs at all? When are they important? When are they not? How can they be misleading? What is the best way for founders to present their CACs? 5.) It's Time to VC: Jeff Jordan: The Board Member What are the single biggest misalignments between VCs and their founders? How would Jeff describe his style of board membership today? How has it changed with time? What is the best way to deliver hard feedback as a board member? What are the biggest mistakes board members make? What does Jeff advise young board members today? What are the single best and worst changes that have happened at a16z in the last 24 months?

Once known as “growth hacking”, the concept of Growth has now evolved into an entire discipline that spans marketing, product management, user experience, and more. Why? After achieving product-market fit, startups need to capitalize quickly on that initial traction to capture and retain more users and market share before the competition does, and building an efficient and resilient growth strategy is a critical component.This episode -- one of two in a series -- focuses on the user acquisition aspect of growth. Featuring a16z general partners Andrew Chen (formerly of Uber and author of the book, The Cold Start Problem) and Jeff Jordan (formerly of OpenTable, eBay, Disney, and more), in conversation with Sonal Chokshi, the discussion also covers the nuances of paid vs. organic marketing (and the perils of blended CAC); the role of network effects; where does customer lifetime value (LTV) come in; and much more. Because at the end of the day, businesses don't grow themselves. 

My guest today is Jeff Jordan, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Jeff has one of the most interesting set of experiences of guests that I’ve had on the show. As an operator, he has been the General Manager of eBay.com, President of PayPal, and CEO of OpenTable. As an investor, he was one of the first General Partners at a16z and sits on the board of Airbnb, Instacart, Pinterest, and other notable firms. Given his vast experience, he is the firm’s go-to-expert on all things marketplaces, which is the common thread in our conversation. Please enjoy this great discussion with Jeff Jordan. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes[00:02:48] - The notion of perfect competition in marketplaces[00:04:31] - How to build a marketplace while thinking about perfect competition[00:05:32] - Promoting price discovery at eBay[00:06:52] - Features of a marketplace he focuses on [00:08:38] - Best way to do lead generation [00:10:20] - Red flags for marketplace businesses [00:11:00] - Major business lessons learned while at Disney [00:12:10] - Learning to be an operator while at eBay; Leaving It All on the Field[00:14:45] - How he got hired at OpenTable[00:16:22] - Taking OpenTable public and being its first public company CEO[00:17:44] - What they did well in financing OpenTable[00:18:54] - Communications between company leaders and its investors [00:19:45] - Going from operator to investor[00:22:08] - Lessons from the early years of becoming an investor and pricing companies[00:24:12] - Power of network effects on a startup[00:26:56] - Healthy tensions inside of a network[00:29:23] - When the supply side is the more difficult part of the equation[00:33:30] - The importance of being a perpetual learner as a founder[00:35:36] - When he starts focusing on unit economics and margin profile in a new marketplace[00:37:45] - Increasing convenience for a buyer as a business strategy [00:42:14] - Categories that could use better marketplace solutions[00:44:36] - Layers of growth inside a business[00:50:26] - Lessons with the unique business model of Pinterest[00:52:03] - Unique aspects of the Andreessen Horowitz business model[00:55:54] - Finding and recruiting talented general partner investors [00:57:37] - The morning basketball game and community strengthening[01:01:36] - Defining great mentor relationships[01:04:54] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him[01:06:05] - Lessons from his parents

Former CEO of OpenTable, Jeff Jordan, and former Head Managing Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.D. Moriarty, discuss the complexities surrounding IPOs, including pricing, allocations, and timing unpredictability. They share insights on the challenges faced during the Open Table IPO amidst the financial crisis, the role of momentum investors and boards in the IPO process, and the preparation phase for IPOs. The speakers also explore the pressure of being a public company and the importance of clear communication.

In the tech world, marketplaces are a hot topic. That term—marketplace—encompasses a huge swath of services we use every day, from grocery delivery to online shopping to remote learning. How have marketplace dynamics changed since pre-pandemic, and what COVID-propelled consumer behaviors will persist into 2021 and beyond?  In this episode, we discuss the most promising marketplace companies and categories on the rise, based on data from the Marketplace 100, a ranking of the largest and fastest-growing consumer-facing marketplace startups and private companies.The report provides rich fodder for looking ahead at the future of marketplaces: Which companies are on a tear and which are locked in close competition? Which marketplace categories are poised for growth, and which may make a comeback? Host Lauren Murrow is joined by a16z consumer team partners Connie Chan, D’Arcy Coolican, Jeff Jordan, and Sriram Krishnan. 

Today’s episode is about a practical application of crypto — namely, the way it can “tokenize” fandom. More broadly, it’s about fan engagement, and the increasingly blurred lines between sports, culture and tech.  We talked to NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie, of the Brooklyn Nets. Spencer created a new platform on the crypto blockchain Ethereum that gives fans the opportunity to invest directly in his revenue-generating potential, through debt securities.  Joining this conversation are a16z managing partner and tech investor Jeff Jordan, who has long followed the evolving relationship between sports and tech. Also joining is Jesse Walden, a former a16z crypto partner and co-founder of Mediachain. He’s also a former music promoter and manager whose focus was on helping artists stay independent.   We discuss the evolution of models for fan engagement; how social media has changed the game; and where technologies like cryptonetworks and blockchains come in.

For any business, there are three core financial statements – the income or P&L statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. While these statements can show investors and the board how the business is doing, they can do more than just keep score on your business – they are one of the best tools you have to run it.In this podcast, a16z General Partner and managing partner Jeff Jordan, who previously ran several businesses and took a company public right after the 2008 financial crisis; David George, who runs the a16z late-stage venture operation; and former CFO Caroline Moon, who leads the a16z financial operations team, break down what the numbers do (and don’t) tell you, both in financial statements and KPIs. They cover the most common mistakes people make when it comes to understanding their numbers; how investors look at a company's P&L; what metrics they use to determine if a business is healthy; and how founders can use the numbers to navigate in times of crisis.

Jeff Jordan, a former CEO of OpenTable and now a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, shares his journey of leading the company through its IPO during a financial crisis. Joined by J.D. Moriarty, former head of equity capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, they discuss the crucial elements of timing, pricing strategies, and building relationships with investors. They also explore unexpected challenges, like legal issues before the IPO, and emphasize the importance of long-term thinking in public markets.

James Beshara, co-founder and CEO of Tilt, shares insights on the transformation of commerce through crowdfunding and pre-commerce. Jeff Jordan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, joins him to discuss how social networks and consumer engagement redefine traditional business models. They explore the power of collective action and the importance of community in driving demand. Additionally, they highlight innovative retail strategies and the significance of direct sales, using Tesla as a case study for modern commerce's evolution.