Part 2:
So I literally could have gotten the "churning customer" on the phone with the investor to say they weren't going anywhere.
But the investor didn't ask, just made his decision.
3: Company X was going to beat us on price.
I mean it's true, they weren't going to beat us on price, they already do. I have nothing but respect for that company. ShipHero starts at $1,850 a month, X starts at $9 a month. You know how I learned those facts? By visiting each of our websites and clicking on the pricing link
Enough of me being salty, screw that guy.
It was overall a positive experience.
I got a ton of support from teammates and friends I made on Twitter and off.
The nicest VC that didn't offer to invest was probably Austin Levitt of Sequoia.
We did have 1 self inflicted issue.
We had multiple good offers, which put us in a great position.
I was up front with investors about all the negative things I could think of. No unexpected bad news was my approach.
Then, the week after we signed an LOI, the employee with the 4th most equity quit.
The way it works is: before you sign an LOI, if you have multiple offers, you are in a position of power.
Then that changes once you sign the LOI. When you sign an LOI, you have to tell everyone else sorry, I like someone else better. So now all your other options are gone.
Once I got the "Peace out, I quit" email, my first call was to the investors.
I was hitting them with unexpected bad news but at least I could be transparent. It wasn't pleasant but the investors still were solidly in.
A few days later that individual posted that they had left
The announcement was public and let's say exaggerated this person's role. This time the investors called me.
I was committed and now our investors had an excuse to walk away. It was an unideal position to work from as we closed the deal. I almost never hold a grudge, but man...
Enough dark stuff... I took none of the $50 million, so don't ask me for a loan.
A Riverwood Principal and a Co-Founding Partner came to where I live during the pandemic to meet. They were our first serious conversation & have lived up to their reputation as great investors.
The decision to go from being bootstrapped & profitable to taking a large investment was one I debated for a long time and got a lot of advice on. I think I made the right decision, but ask me in 5 years.
Bootstrapped -> funded comes with change & plenty of opportunities for mistakes. And boy have I've made mistakes, but I have a great team that carries me.
If you are a ShipHero customer, know that you're going to get a better product each day than you had the day before.
Boop from ShipHero. Stitch isn't really a WMS. If you need a WMS and are on Shopify, did you check us out? We tend to get those brands (we power about $5 Billion of annual ecommerce GMV).
But the investor didn't ask, just made his decision.
3: Company X was going to beat us on price.
I mean it's true, they weren't going to beat us on price, they already do. I have nothing but respect for that company. ShipHero starts at $1,850 a month, X starts at $9 a month. You know how I learned those facts? By visiting each of our websites and clicking on the pricing link
Enough of me being salty, screw that guy.
It was overall a positive experience.
I got a ton of support from teammates and friends I made on Twitter and off.
The nicest VC that didn't offer to invest was probably Austin Levitt of Sequoia.
We did have 1 self inflicted issue.
We had multiple good offers, which put us in a great position.
I was up front with investors about all the negative things I could think of. No unexpected bad news was my approach.
Then, the week after we signed an LOI, the employee with the 4th most equity quit.
The way it works is: before you sign an LOI, if you have multiple offers, you are in a position of power.
Then that changes once you sign the LOI. When you sign an LOI, you have to tell everyone else sorry, I like someone else better. So now all your other options are gone.
Once I got the "Peace out, I quit" email, my first call was to the investors.
I was hitting them with unexpected bad news but at least I could be transparent. It wasn't pleasant but the investors still were solidly in.
A few days later that individual posted that they had left
The announcement was public and let's say exaggerated this person's role. This time the investors called me.
REST IN THE COMMENTS (char limit)