Growth Investor with GrowthCap‘s RJ Lumba

In this episode, we chat with Andrew Dudum, the founder and CEO of Hims & Hers, which is an online healthcare platform providing products and services to millennials and others. Hims & Hers recently became public through a SPAC transaction. It was acquired by Oaktree Acquisition Corp. in January of 2021, in a deal valuing the company at $1.6 billion. Today, just a few weeks later, the company’s market capitalization is approximately $4.5 billion. What’s incredible about the Hims story is that the company was founded just three years ago and in a very short amount of time it has grown to $140 million in annual revenue, has run more than 2 million telehealth visits and operates at a 70% gross margin. Perhaps what’s even more incredible is the seemingly unlimited runway for the company in the years ahead. We’re still in the early innings when it comes to online healthcare offerings for today’s connected consumer. As for the estimated market size? About $4 trillion. We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we chat with Peter Arrowsmith, a General Partner of JMI Equity and a Top 25 Software Investor of 2020. JMI is a leading growth equity firm focused on helping founders and management teams in scaling their software companies.  The firm is well equipped to do so given its long and focused track record in software, which goes all the way back to its founding and lead backer John Moores, the founder and former Chairman and CEO of BMC Software.   Notably, JMI has raised over $4 billion since it was founded in 1992.  Over the years, the firm has invested in over 150 businesses, participated in 19 IPO's, and completed over 100 exits.  Peter and I chat about how the growth equity space has evolved over time, what they look for in investment opportunities and how JMI helps the companies it invests in. We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we chat with Eric Partaker, a McKinsey consultant, executive and entrepreneur turned peak performance expert. After a life altering experience, Eric decided to refocus his priorities on the things that matter most and figured out a way to consistently and effectively execute on those priorities. In our conversation, we cover his insights into the power of identity, productivity strategies and anti-fragility. These ideas can enable individuals to excel beyond measure while still being in control and balance. We hope you enjoy the show.  To learn more about Eric, visit www.ericpartaker.com.

In this episode we chat with Kyle Griswold, a Partner of FTV Capital and a Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investor of 2020. FTV Capital is a growth equity investment firm that has raised nearly $4 billion since inception and has invested in 120 high-growth companies across enterprise technology and services, financial services, and payments and transaction processing. Kyle and I chat about some of the investment areas he is most excited about, how FTV Capital drives value for the companies it backs, and how FTV has built a strong firm culture over the years. We hope you enjoy the show.

Welcome to the GrowthCap podcast where we chat with CEOs, investors, and other key industry leaders to uncover insights and strategies for accelerating growth and succeeding in business. I am your host RJ Lumba. In this episode we chat with Jan Arendtsz, a former corporate software professional turned entrepreneur. Unlike many of today’s startup founders, Jan took a more methodical approach to founding and ultimately building his company, Celigo. Celigo simplifies the integration of business applications and data sources in the enterprise. Its integration Platform-as-a-Service or iPaaS solution allows both technical and business users to connect applications together quickly through an industry-leading guided user interface. Based in San Mateo, California, Celigo is backed by growth equity. In setting out as a software entrepreneur, Jan first identified a distinct need in the market through his client engagements as an IT services provider. He then began gradually transitioning to developing a software product while ensuring a true product-market fit. As we hear from Jan, building a company is not easy but with passion and a single-minded focus, one can overcome the inevitable challenges which accompany the entrepreneurial journey. We hope you enjoy the show.

Entrepreneurs who have built their business with no outside capital understand the skill it takes and greatly appreciate when seeing others who have done it. Sana Commerce has been growing 50% each year for the past 12 years and now has approximately 400 employees.  The secret to their success is a combination of favorable market conditions and a culture which emphasizes entrepreneurship and empowerment. We spoke with the CEO Michiel Schipperus who built the b2b ecommerce software company from the start.  It was hatched as a spin off from an IT services company that recognized the need for a productized solution from their existing client base.  The spin off ended up being wildly successful as ecommerce has continued to manifest as a megatrend.  Listen to Michiel as he describes more about the company today as well as what has contributed to their success. Welcome to the GrowthCap podcast where we chat with CEOs, investors and other key industry leaders to uncover insights and strategies for accelerating growth and succeeding in business. I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we chat with Nehal Raj, a Partner at TPG, which is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with approximately $85 billion of assets under management. Nehal co-leads the firm’s investment activities in software and enterprise technology across its private equity platforms (TPG Capital, TPG Tech Adjacencies, TPG Growth, and The Rise Fund). Nehal shares with us the investment themes he’s currently most focused on as well as some of the keys to TPG’s success over the years. Today, the firm’s investment platforms span a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth equity, real estate, impact investing, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode we chat with Gus Warren, Co-Founder and CEO of Bindle, a company that is revolutionizing the way health data can be quickly and securely shared prior to entering a venue. A perfect confluence of events led to Bindle’s inception, allowing Gus and his five co-founders to leverage recently developed technology and domain expertise across multiple areas to solve a very timely problem. Bindle utilizes a self-sovereign identity network to allow individuals to share information, such as test results or vaccine certificates in the case of COVID-19, with stadiums, schools, or even family events that may require such information. The venue then has a certain level of confidence to permit entry, without actually having to view the source data. Thus privacy is maintained without the need for the Venue to attain HIPAA compliance. Gus shares with us the exciting implications Bindle’s platform has for both the current pandemic and beyond. He also shares his advice for other entrepreneurs looking to get their business off the ground. Gus can be reached at gus@bindlesystems.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we chat with David Butler and Rick Firmine of Argosy Real Estate Partners, a fund manager with $1.3 billion currently under management. It has invested $5.5 billion in gross real estate investments since inception and operates out of three offices in Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco. Argosy has proven that a unique investment approach can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage over the long run. As one of the few institutional diversified real estate fund managers focused on the underserved lower middle market, the firm has created value for institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals over many years. David and Rick speak to their strategy, the trends they are seeing in the market and also share with us the tax advantages of investing in Opportunity Zones. We hope you enjoy the show.

Adaptability has long been a feature of thriving businesses and industries. Add in the impacts of a global pandemic, and now companies are being forced to adapt in ways they never imagined. Enter Plex Systems, a company that has not only been able to meet the changing demands of its own market but has also provided solutions that have helped its customers to do the same. CEO Bill Berutti chats with us about how Plex’s solutions use inventory, human capital, and process flow information, along with analytics and automation, to address inefficiencies in the manufacturing industry. Plex Systems offers a cloud-based, single instance, multi-tenant solution to manufacturing companies. The company boasts success stories across manufacturing verticals and the results speak for themselves, as their customers turn their inventories two and a half times faster, have a significantly lower cost of quality, and have between 15% and 25% more productive output than their competitors. Bill also speaks to the ways in which Plex’s diverse customers have been able to use Plex’s systems to facilitate changes in response to COVID-19, such as a shift to producing PPE or enabling employees to work remotely. Throughout his career, Bill has worked to help companies navigate complex transitions. Bill shares how he has used this experience to help Plex position itself to meet the increasing demand for smart, cloud-based manufacturing solutions—in a market where many large manufacturers are accustomed to building solutions themselves. Bill’s observations highlight the importance of adaptability and efficiency in the manufacturing environment and demonstrate how Plex has used this model to maintain an 11-year track record of double-digit organic growth. We hope you enjoy the show.