Negative Venture Returns, GM Kneecaps Cruise, and Finix joins the TWiST500 | E2059

Jason and Alex kick off the show (0s)

• A regime change in Washington and numerous buyers in the market have driven prices up, with companies like Tiger competing to invest in SAS companies before they go public, and in doing so, they keep pushing the market up with higher bids to deploy capital and win deals (13s).
• Tiger's fees are substantial, with 1% to 2.5% fees on $12 billion, which translates to $125 million to a quarter billion dollars a year (42s).
• This weekend's startups is sponsored by OpenPhone, which offers business phone numbers that work through an app on smartphones or desktops, with TWiST listeners getting an extra 20% off any plan for their first six months (55s).
• Vanta is also a sponsor, making it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast, with TWiST listeners getting $1,000 off for a limited time (1m11s).
• CLA Innovation is another sponsor, offering CPA, consultant, and wealth advisory services to help startups grow, with listeners able to get started at caconnect.com (1m22s).
• The show's host, Jason Calacanis, welcomes listeners to This Week in Startups, with a packed show featuring news, a great guest, and discussions on various topics (1m37s).
• The topics to be covered include Tiger Global getting defanged, the founder and CEO of Finix, adding Finix to the TWiST 500, GM giving up on its Robo taxi dreams, and the new head of the FTC (1m48s).
• The show's co-host, Alex Wilhelm, joins Jason to discuss these topics and more (1m39s).

Tiger Global's investment strategy and performance (2m19s)

• Tiger Global's investment strategy and performance can be analyzed through data disclosed by CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which has information on Tiger Global's 2021 $12.7 billion fund. (2m20s)
• The ideal size of a venture fund was previously considered to be around $400 million, but Tiger Global's 2021 fund is significantly larger at $12.7 billion. (3m7s)
• Venture capital funds typically deploy capital over three to four years and then harvest in the second two-thirds of the fund, with a total fund life of 12 to 15 years. (3m37s)
• Tiger Global experimented with deploying capital as quickly as possible, taking the entire cohort that had reached series B or C in 2020-2022 and writing large checks to portfolio companies. (4m16s)
• The data on Tiger Global's 2021 fund shows a net IRR of -5%, making it a bottom decile fund, with one investment marked down from $93 million to $65 million. (5m17s)
• Four years is considered enough time to evaluate a fund's performance, and Tiger Global's poor IRR compared to its peers suggests that something is wrong. (5m27s)
• The data is still early, and the fund is currently at the beginning of the J-curve, where private investment pools typically have lower returns before improving in the later years. (5m39s)

Challenges of quick capital deployment and market timing (5m49s)

• A venture capital fund deployed capital to 300-315 startups in 2021 alone, which is a consolidated moment in time, but this approach can be challenging due to market timing and time dispersion (5m56s).
• Investing over a longer period, such as 32 or 48 months, can help mitigate market risks through dollar-cost averaging, increasing the chances of hitting an outlier and reducing the impact of overpaying for investments (6m38s).
• The criticism of investing in a large number of startups in a short period is that it may not allow for thorough diligence, and the team may not be able to provide sufficient support to all portfolio companies (7m21s).
• A team of 12 investment executives can handle around 100 investments per year, but investing in 300-315 startups in one year would require a significantly larger team or less diligence per investment (7m31s).
• The approach of investing in companies with high growth potential, such as those with $10-50 million in ARR, and giving them credit for a valuation that will be coming in two years, can be challenging and may lead to mistakes (7m57s).
• However, if one of these investments turns out to be a highly successful company, such as HubSpot, Tesla, or Uber, it could make up for a lot of mistakes and provide a significant return on investment (8m9s).
• The quote "if there's no adult in the room, what happens when things go wrong" is relevant to the situation, as it highlights the importance of having experienced professionals to guide and support portfolio companies (8m37s).
• Many people who were part of the Peak Zer funds have left, possibly because they knew that the track record of the fund would be based on investments made at high valuations, and they would have to live with that track record forever (8m57s).
• The reward for working on a fund with a poor track record may be limited, with returns of only 1X or 1.5X, making it less attractive for investment professionals to stay with the fund (9m29s).
• The situation is likened to being on a basketball team that has lost its All-Star player and is unlikely to win, leading some team members to want to leave and join a more successful team (9m43s).
• Founders know that every missed call is a missed opportunity, and customers don't want to wait, so they will call someone else, highlighting the importance of being responsive and providing good customer service (10m6s).

OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months (10m13s)

• OpenPhone is a service that ensures users never miss another customer call, and it is super affordable and easy to use (10m13s).
• The service provides a business phone line and complete control over the user's destiny for just $15 a month (10m26s).
• OpenPhone offers features such as syncing with HubSpot, AI-powered call summaries, and automated responses to ensure users don't miss a single ring (10m38s).
• The service allows users to port their existing phone number over at no extra charge (10m47s).
• OpenPhone is offering a 20% discount for the first six months, which can be redeemed by visiting openphone.com/twist (10m51s).

Impact of losing key investors or advisors on startups (11m15s)

• Losing key investors or advisors can significantly impact startups, as these individuals often serve as a point of contact and provide crucial support, making their departure a significant loss (11m17s).
• When a key investor or advisor leaves, the startup may be left to deal with a new, unfamiliar person who did not make the initial investment and may not have the same level of understanding or commitment to the company (11m22s).
• This situation can be compared to building a strong relationship with someone, only to have that person leave and be replaced by someone new, forcing the startup to start over and rebuild (11m34s).
• A similar situation can occur when a company is acquired, and the person who championed the acquisition leaves, leaving the startup to deal with a new manager who may not be invested in the project (11m42s).
• In some cases, the new manager may not be willing to take on the challenges of the startup and may choose to cut their losses rather than try to turn the project around (11m54s).
• Losing a key investor or advisor can leave a startup feeling adrift and without direction, which can be particularly challenging when the company is facing difficulties (12m13s).
• There is data available that illustrates the impact of losing key investors or advisors on startups, including a chart from The Wisdom Tree that was discussed previously (12m23s).

Public market trends affecting private investments (12m24s)

• The BVP Cloud Index, an index fund that tracks software companies, is used as an example to illustrate the peak of enthusiasm in late 2021 and the subsequent rapid change in the market within 6 to 9 months (12m26s).
• Tiger's aggressive buying at the top of the market is highlighted as an example of how even experienced investors can create a peak, which can be painful in retrospect (12m50s).
• The current situation with Bitcoin is compared to Tiger's actions, with companies like Micro Strategies and Mara investing heavily in Bitcoin and potentially driving up prices (13m2s).
• The regime change in Washington and the presence of many buyers are cited as factors contributing to the top in Bitcoin (13m24s).
• The competitive nature of venture capital investments is discussed, with firms like Tiger competing to invest in companies like SAS, HubSpot, and Salesforce, and driving up prices in the process (13m36s).
• The fees associated with managing large funds, such as Tiger's $12 billion fund, are highlighted, with estimates suggesting that 1-2.5% of the fund's value could be going towards fees each year (14m10s).
• The impact of taking money from investors at high valuations is discussed, with founders advised to be aware of the potential risks and to ensure they have sufficient runway to navigate any future challenges (14m49s).
• The challenges faced by companies that took money at high valuations and are now struggling to grow are highlighted, with examples of companies that have had to cut staff and are working hard to regain lost ground (15m9s).
• The potential for depression among LPs, GPs, and founders in these companies is noted, particularly if returns are not forthcoming and companies are struggling to grow (15m53s).

Market downturns' effects on startups and investors (16m9s)

• Startups that experienced rapid growth by hiring more staff and expanding internationally may struggle when the market isn't there, and their product isn't ready, leading to a need to pull back on spending (16m10s).
• In such cases, the founder may leave the company, and this can result in dead cap table at seed stage companies, highlighting the issue of founder vesting (16m34s).
• There is no foolproof method for deploying infinite capital in the private markets at scale quickly without losing money in the later stages, although accelerators tend to do well (16m52s).
• Venture capital firms, such as Tiger's LPS, may struggle with losses in the later stages, but they are likely to recover and return to at least a 1X return (17m10s).
• Allocating a portion of a portfolio to venture capital, such as 15% or 20%, can provide a potential for high returns over time, as some funds may return 5X and blend out to beating the market (17m33s).
• The expectation for valuation decline from 2021 to 2025 is uncertain, but some companies may try to go public or pursue M&A next year, which could result in the realization of already destroyed equity (18m22s).
• There has been a recent appreciation in public revenue multiples for software companies, which could lead to more liquidity and make it easier for companies to go public or pursue M&A (18m52s).
• The current administration is pro-business and pro-M&A, which could lead to more regulations being rolled back and more companies going public, making next year a potential starting point for increased M&A activity (19m16s).

Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 (20m5s)

• To sell to large buyers, companies need to clear compliance checks, including having SOC 2 (a standard that ensures companies keep their customer data safe) sorted out, or they risk losing big deals and being unable to operate at the highest end of the market (20m16s).
• Vanta makes it easy for companies to get and renew their SOC 2 compliance, with customers becoming compliant in just 2-4 weeks on average, compared to months without Vanta (20m38s).
• Vanta automates compliance for GDPR, HIPPA, and more, allowing companies to sell to bigger customers and saving hundreds of hours of work and up to 85% on compliance costs (20m46s).
• Vanta helps stop slowing down sales teams and offers a $1,000 discount at v.com/twist for SOC 2 compliance (21m1s).

Political influences on market and technology sectors (21m16s)

• Several prominent figures, including Aaron Levy and Penny Pritzker, have shifted their focus from supporting Democratic candidates to being pro-mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which is expected to lead to an increase in M&A and IPOs in the next four years (21m16s).
• Many companies that survived the recent market downturn will have new opportunities, including being acquired by larger companies with market caps over $100 billion, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Uber, and Airbnb (22m0s).
• The next FTC leadership class is coming into view, with Andrew Ferguson expected to be the next chairman, who has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship and protecting freedom of speech (22m38s).
• Ferguson is seen as pro-business, having voted against banning non-competes and a bill that made it easier to cancel subscriptions (22m56s).
• A leaked or released document outlines Ferguson's pitch to Trump, which includes ending Lina Khan's war on M&A and the FTC's attempt to become an AI regulator (23m15s).
• Ferguson also plans to focus antitrust enforcement against Big Tech monopolies, particularly those engaged in "unlawful censorship," which is believed to refer to companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (24m14s).
• The document is seen as a pitch to Trump, who had his social media accounts cancelled after January 6, and Ferguson's stance on Big Tech is likely to align with Trump's views (24m36s).
• Accounts of certain individuals have been suspended on major platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, with some arguing that this is a private company's right to do, while others see it as hypocrisy, especially when compared to the right of a small business to turn down customers based on personal beliefs (24m47s).
• The justification for this hypocrisy is that at a certain scale, these sites are so powerful that being removed from them is essentially being removed from the public square, and therefore, companies like Facebook and YouTube should be transparent about their removal processes and have a system for reinstating users (25m44s).
• Mark Zuckerberg has been criticized for his handling of banning Donald Trump from Facebook, and later hiring a group of academics to create a board to make these decisions, which was eventually disbanded or ignored (26m12s).
• Some people believe that Zuckerberg's actions are driven by fear of retribution, while others think he is genuinely trying to support the best interests of Americans by pushing the winning candidate towards their better angels (26m55s).
• The idea of breaking up big tech companies like Facebook has been proposed by some, including JD Vance, who argues that they have too much power and influence over elections (27m22s).
• Kon Ley, a former venture capitalist, is running a SAS company and may not be nervous about the potential breakup of big tech companies, but rather sees it as an opportunity for smart Silicon Valley people to have influence (27m32s).
• Mark Pincus, a moderate, has expressed support for certain proposals, highlighting the complexity of the issue and the need for nuanced discussion (28m2s).
• The current market is pricing in some cynicism, with not every percent of appreciation since the election being predicated on changes to business fundamentals, but rather a lack of regulation, which will particularly benefit highly regulated businesses such as self-driving and finance. (28m28s)
• The finance industry is expected to experience significant growth due to the anticipated lack of regulation, with businesses in this sector likely to thrive. (28m49s)
• Trump's stance on regulation is seen as contradictory, with him making populist comments while also advocating for less regulation, leaving uncertainty about the actual outcome. (28m59s)
• Trump has publicly spoken out against predatory credit card prices, yet also stated that finance companies will be able to do great with less regulation, indicating that the reality will likely fall somewhere in between these two positions. (29m15s)
• Steven Estus is a guest on the program. (29m31s)

CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now (29m32s)

• Stephen, a principal at CLA, specializes in CPA, tax consulting, and wealth advisory, with expertise in VC startups, VC funds, high-growth startups with complex tax issues, and multistate and international filings (29m33s).
• Startups often struggle with sales tax, particularly after a shake-up about four years ago that allowed states to force small companies to collect and remit sales tax in multiple states (29m58s).
• The pandemic and rise of remote work intensified the need for startups to collect and remit sales tax, as having employees in various states creates this requirement (30m10s).
• Another common challenge for startups is handling the issuance of equity to key employees, with many founders lacking knowledge about restricted stock awards and stock option plans (30m22s).
• SAFEs (Simple Agreements for Future Equity) have been beneficial for keeping 409a values low for early-stage companies, but many founders are unaware of how a priced round can negatively impact their ability to bring on critical hires due to increased tax liabilities (30m32s).
• Founders need trusted advisors for taxes and accounting to avoid making costly mistakes, and CLA can provide these services through their website, clacconnect.com (30m55s).

Trump administration's business policies and immigration (31m10s)

• JD's statements can be seen as bombastic and colorful, but it's essential to look at what he actually does rather than what he says, as seen in his approach to immigration and financial technology, where his options point in the same direction, making it easier to find a middle ground (31m11s).
• Ferguson's pitch to Trump includes pursuing structural and behavioral legal remedies under antitrust laws and the FTC act to ensure large platforms treat Americans fairly and prevent them from using market power to box out new entrants and stifle innovation (31m59s).
• Ferguson's document goes back and forth on many issues, including ending Lina Khan's investigations and investigating collusion, which raises questions about how to achieve these goals without regulation (32m16s).
• Politicians' primary job is to stay in power, which requires being flexible intellectually and able to say both things at the same time, holding space for diametrically opposed ideas (32m58s).
• This approach can be challenging for logical individuals who value facts and truth, as they may struggle to understand politicians' actions and statements (33m21s).
• Once in office, politicians often figure out their positions later, making it a "Choose Your Own Adventure" situation, with the current trend bending towards less regulation, small government, and lower taxes (33m47s).
• It's essential to distance oneself from the personalities involved and focus on the policies, as there may be a lot of baggage associated with certain individuals (34m3s).
• If a presidential candidate were to propose less government, lower regulations, and lower taxes, it would be a welcome change, but other issues, such as attempts to end Birthright citizenship, can be a significant concern (34m16s).
• The idea of giving up certain things for a little less friction is perplexing, and it's a personal thing, not a moral point, with some people willing to let go of more for a 3% increase in net income per year (34m38s).
• Immigration is a complex issue, and there's a strong case to be made for green cards for people who get degrees, with the goal of reducing the number of people crossing the border illegally (35m1s).
• A potential solution could involve deporting known felons with no leniency, while also providing due process for those who have come to the country illegally (35m26s).
• Talent and investors could get exceptions, with a points system in place for those who bring valuable skills or invest in the country (35m55s).
• The idea is to attract the most talented, entrepreneurial, and technical people from around the world, while reducing the number of people crossing the border (36m19s).
• The US is currently experiencing a 6% population growth rate, with around 2 million people crossing the border or coming to the country each year, which is roughly double the normal rate (36m27s).
• Trump's immigration policies are uncertain, but it's possible that he may go back to his previous administration's stance on making high school immigration harder (36m53s).
• The question remains as to who Trump will listen to and whether he will go with the business people and successful entrepreneurs or the career politicians (37m8s).
• The idea of deleting democracy and putting the six richest people from tech in charge is not something that many people in Silicon Valley would be okay with (37m50s).
• A person in a position of power makes their own decisions, as evident from their past actions, such as firing two-thirds of the people in the first Administration (38m2s).
• This individual is likely to continue making their own decisions when in office (38m11s).
• Those around this person are aware that they will be making their own decisions (38m16s).

Changes in the FTC leadership and impacts on startups (38m20s)

• Mark Mehta is being added to the FTC, giving the Republicans a majority, and has previously drafted a bill that would have forced the breakup of Google's adtech business (38m23s).
• The change in FTC leadership may impact startups, with some expecting it to be 10 times better than under Lina Khan for startups and entrepreneurship (38m47s).
• For startups that may not see a path to an IPO, it is recommended to focus on partnerships, as partnerships can lead to purchases and acquisitions (39m1s).
• Great companies are often bought, not sold, and the chances of getting bought are low if a company solely focuses on meeting with potential acquirers (39m5s).
• Partnerships and collaborations can lead to getting to know each other and ultimately result in acquisitions, as seen in the example of Weblogs Inc. and AOL (40m16s).
• Founders are encouraged to make connections and build relationships, as this can increase the chances of a successful m&a deal, similar to how socializing can increase the chances of meeting someone to date (41m20s).

Finix's addition to the TWiST500 (41m40s)

• Finix has been added to the TWiST500, a company that helps businesses accept payments by providing tools to build their own payment systems directly into their apps and services (41m45s).
• The digital payment space is large and growing quickly, with Statista estimating the total value transaction value of digital payments to be around $17-18 trillion this year, growing 16% per year through 2029 (42m4s).
• Finix started as a payments infrastructure company, helping businesses build payments into their own software, but as of 2023, it also became a payments provider, offering both sides of the equation (42m41s).
• The company has seen fantastic growth, with a reported increase in the last year as of October, and has raised $75 million in funding (43m0s).
• Finix allows businesses to have their own payments inside their apps and services, accepting credit cards, PayPal, and other payment methods, without having to use Stripe or other models (43m16s).
• The advantage of using Finix is that businesses can keep their brand in-house, avoid sharing customers with Stripe, and potentially pay lower fees, as Finix charges interchange fees at cost, a SaaS fee, and a variable rate (43m44s).
• Notable investors in Finix include Homebrew, AMEX, Visa, Lightspeed, and ACrew Capital, which led their last $75 million round (44m27s).

GM's scale-back on Cruise and future implications (44m53s)

• General Motors (GM) is scaling back its plans for Cruise, a self-driving taxi service, and instead will integrate the technology into its existing driver assistance program, with the goal of making its trucks self-drive better, (44m59s)
• This decision comes after Cruise faced controversy and an accident, which led to it being shut down in San Francisco, (46m11s)
• Despite this setback, Waymo is doing well in San Francisco and other locations, and has partnerships with companies like Uber, (46m43s)
• It is likely that GM will announce a partnership or divestiture of Cruise, possibly with a company like Uber, Lyft, or another automaker, (45m46s)
• The self-driving technology industry is expected to consolidate, with the number of players decreasing from around 25 to 5, (47m57s)
• GM expects to save around $1 billion per year by scaling back its Cruise plans, which is a significant amount but not substantial compared to its expected full-year EBIT of $14-15 billion, (48m14s)
• General Motors (GM) has decided not to pursue a specific future technology, instead opting to focus on making more money from large trucks and working on their L3 technology, which may be seen as a less ambitious goal (48m36s).
• The possibility of companies like Tesla, Aurora, or Weo licensing their self-driving technology to other companies like GM is considered, but it's noted that this would not be a unique advantage for GM (49m16s).
• The concept of personal car ownership is expected to become outdated as companies like Tesla and Weo work on building fleets of self-driving cars that can be rented and used (49m56s).
• GM's decision to focus on more immediate financial gains and less ambitious technology goals may be seen as a missed opportunity to become a leader in the growing self-driving technology industry (50m20s).
• Weo is mentioned as a company that could potentially decide to focus solely on developing the best driver in the world, rather than manufacturing cars, and license this technology to other companies (50m32s).
• The self-driving technology industry is seen as having three main businesses: ride-sharing, self-driving technology, and car manufacturing, with companies like Tesla and Uber aiming to have a presence in multiple areas (51m7s).
• GM's decision to scale back its ambitions in the self-driving technology space may be seen as a strategic mistake, given the potential for companies like Tesla and Weo to dominate the industry (51m2s).

Self-driving technology's impact on car ownership (51m25s)

• Car manufacturers will likely have one or two out of three self-driving technology options, and the industry will be shaped by whether people want to own cars or not (51m26s).
• Young people may not want to own cars if they are available all the time, and instead opt for on-demand car services (51m36s).
• The desire for car ownership may vary depending on location, with areas like Austin requiring cars due to limited public transportation options (51m55s).
• In the future, the need for car ownership in areas like Austin may change with the development of self-driving technology and improved on-demand car services (52m7s).
• Currently, many teenagers, including those in Austin, still learn how to drive and own cars, with some seeing it as a way to gain independence from their parents (52m12s).
• The shift away from teenagers learning to drive and owning cars may be due to parents being too nice and not providing enough motivation for their children to want to drive (52m33s).

Flite's Suvir Wadhwa joins the show (52m39s)

• Suvir Wadhwa is the founder and CEO of Flite, a company that offers a vertical SaaS solution for event hosts, providing an operating system for event organizers. (52m42s)
• Flite aims to simplify the operations of event organizers, allowing creators to focus on their core activities, such as performing or connecting with their audience. (53m15s)
• The idea for Flite stemmed from a problem Suvir Wadhwa faced himself as an event organizer, where artists and creators with massive followings struggled to monetize their audience or connect with them due to difficulties in managing the back-end of events. (53m19s)
• Flite's solution involves taking care of operations, taxes, finances, hiring, payroll, and finding synergies between different tools, allowing creators to focus on their strengths. (53m38s)
• Suvir Wadhwa started working on Flite while attending NYU and launched the company in February, with the past nine months being an exciting period for the company. (53m58s)
• The company's customer and business model were discussed, with Suvir Wadhwa explaining that the customer is the event organizer, and the business model involves providing a SaaS solution to simplify their operations. (54m17s)

Flite's business model, AI benefits, and market reach (54m18s)

• The business model involves charging a fee on top of tickets sold through the Marketplace, with a charge of $1 plus 12% on tickets sold, and the customer is typically an event organizer who puts up one to two events a month, selling around 600 tickets at an average price of $28 (54m19s).
• Event organizers currently sell tickets by advertising on Instagram or YouTube, but the platform provides more than just ticketing services, helping to monetize and grow revenue in various streams, including drink sales at bars and other ecosystem-related revenue (54m51s).
• The platform also helps promoters, who are involved in events and have mailing lists to bring people to see DJs, by streamlining payments and accounting, as promoters often struggle to get paid in a timely manner, taking three to four weeks to receive $200 to $300 from an event (55m33s).
• The platform aims to help artists who are a few levels below well-known artists like Taylor Swift, who may not have the same level of talent or resources to put up concerts at scale, by providing a technology-based solution to handle operations and finances (56m7s).
• While no bands have used the platform for more than a one-off concert, several TikTok DJs have used it to handle operations, teams, and finances for their performances across the country (56m41s).
• The platform offers same-day payouts, which is a popular feature, and has implemented measures to mitigate the risk of chargebacks and disputed payments, including vetting customers and integrating APIs to reduce payout amounts (56m58s).
• Flight, an event management platform, has built custom APIs to manage disputes and chargebacks, making the process automated and efficient for users (57m34s).
• The platform brings various operations into one place, making it easy for users, such as DJs, to manage their events, and with the addition of Flight AI, users can now manage their events through conversations (58m11s).
• Flight AI allows users to make changes to their events, such as raising ticket prices, through a chat room, eliminating the need to text the founders or access a desktop interface (58m37s).
• The use of AI in software development has driven efficiency in running startups, with tools like GPT making it easier for founders to balance tasks and write code (59m5s).
• The founder of Flight has used AI tools to build the product, despite not initially knowing how to code in JavaScript or React, and has given the development team access to various AI resources to increase efficiency (59m25s).
• The development team uses AI resources such as GitHub and ChatGPT, but has not requested any other specific products, with the founder continually looking for more solutions to make their life easier (59m47s).
• Flight is growing rapidly, with 70% month-over-month growth and over 100,000 users, which refers to consumers who have bought tickets on the platform, not event hosts themselves (1h0m9s).
• The platform has around 60 active event organizers who run events every two weeks (1h0m22s).
• Flight is a platform that scales to various markets, with its biggest markets being Connecticut, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, and it has also expanded to around 33 cities in the US and internationally to Dubai, London, and India (1h0m40s).
• The platform seems to be benefiting from a trend where younger generations, who spend a lot of time online, are looking for ways to engage in live events and interact with people in the real world (1h1m9s).
• Flight stands out in the ticketing space by targeting consumers and enabling them to organize and attend events, as well as throw their own events, which is expected to be a big part of the future (1h1m44s).
• The rise of platforms like Flight may be driven by the decline of traditional jobs, such as retail and gig economy jobs, which could lead to more people becoming content creators, podcasters, and event organizers (1h2m5s).
• Flight's business model is similar to Airbnb's, as it helps people build a platform and aggregate attendees for events, but it also provides tools for event organizers to reach their audience and grow their mailing lists (1h2m41s).
• The platform has built products for event organizers to reach their audience, but it also focuses on its consumer app, which is used by many young people to discover and attend events (1h3m22s).
• Discovery is crucial for finding events, and an app has been developed to help with this, which can bring in demand and increase ticket sales, with a focus on the B2B operational side of things (1h3m32s).
• The app currently only has a mobile version for iOS, but plans are in place to expand to Android after scaling the team and resources following a fundraiser, as having an Android app is necessary for scaling, especially in markets like India (1h4m2s).
• The app's success can be seen in the rise of TikTok DJs and singers who use the platform to announce their events, creating a new way for artists to monetize their celebrity and connect with their audience (1h5m3s).
• The platform's potential for monetization is significant, with the ability to turn online popularity into real-world events and tours, similar to how podcasting helped comedians like Tony Hinchcliffe (1h5m21s).
• The company will continue to focus on building its brand and expanding its services, with plans to cross the next major ARR milestone and continue to grow its user base (1h5m45s).