Healthy Skepticism Towards Investor Value Add

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The speaker, from a VC perspective, is skeptical about the idea of investor value add. They believe that most investors actually destroy value, especially when they become more involved in companies. The speaker believes that even smart investors can provide detrimental advice due to applying wrong lessons from past experiences. Additionally, the speaker warns about the dangers of highly knowledgeable VCs spending minimal time thinking about a company, emphasizing the explosive nature of such a situation. However, the speaker acknowledges the significant brand value that investors can bring to the companies they back.

In this memorable episode from our podcast archives, we revisit our conversation with Parker Conrad, Co-Founder of Rippling and former CEO of Zenefits. Parker opens up about his entrepreneurial path, detailing everything from fundraising challenges to his departure from Zenefits and the founding of Rippling. We also discuss the dynamics between VCs and founders, including what founders really value from investors, as well as the many entrepreneurial lessons Parker has gained from growing four companies (including two that reached unicorn status).

This episode was originally aired in May 2022.

(00:00) Intro

(01:25) Parker's Early Life and Education

(02:08) Parker's Experience at Harvard and Early Career

(05:21) Parker's Journey to Entrepreneurship

(08:27) The Founding of Sigfig and Challenges Faced

(10:15) The Birth of Zenefits and its Rapid Growth

(13:13) The Downfall of Zenefits and Lessons Learned

(19:12) Parker's Perspective on Media Narratives and VC Involvement

(35:48) The Power of Investors and Branding

(37:22) The Influence of Media on Investment Success

(38:42) The Role of Venture Capitalists and Founders

(39:39) The Impact of Social Media on Business

(40:48) The Rise of Andreessen Horowitz

(41:18) Introducing Rippling: A New Approach to Business Software

(41:32) The Power of Employee Data in Business Software

(49:47) The Advantages of Compound Companies

(56:13) The Role of Founders in Business Units

(01:09:20) The State of San Francisco and the Tech Industry

Executive Producer: Rashad Assir

Producer: Leah Clapper

Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky

Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

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About the Show

Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.