20VC: Creating A Competitive Process Between VCs & Having Bill Gurley As A Board Member with Aaron Hirschhorn, Founder & CEO @ DogVacay

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2016

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Aaron Hirschhorn is the founder, CEO and “Top Dog" of DogVacay, the leading online and mobile pet sitting company. DogVacay connects pet parents in need of services with more than 25,000 vetted and insured pet caregivers in 10,000 cities across the country. Founded in March 2012 and based in Santa Monica, CA, the company has over 80 employees and has raised $47M from investors including Omers, Benchmark Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to DogVacay, Aaron spent several years in venture capital and technology, working at Monitor Group, Upfront Ventures, and Monitor Ventures. Previously, Aaron was an analyst at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Aaron come to found one of the startup hits to come out of LA? In the beginning what was the harder element the demand or the supply side?

2.) How did Aaron know when he had achieved product market fit with DogVacay? What were the signs and how did he follow this up? How did Aaaron react to VCs laughing at his concept and how did he stay energised and positive?

3.) How was the fundraising process for Aaron with DogVacay and Benchmark, Andreesen and First Round? How can founders look to control the dialogue? How many investors should founders look to target? What makes Aaron want and not want a particular investor?

4.) What business fundamentally work in the on demand economy and what don't ? How should marketplace founders be approaching the issue of unit economics and should growth still be the priority?

5.) What is it like having Bill Gurley as a broad member ? What will be the enabler that will allow DogVacy to achieve that market penetration required?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Aaron's Fave Blog Or Newsletter: Bill Gurley, Jason Calacanis: Inside

As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Aaron on Twitter here!

If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Friday and that can only mean one thing here at the 20 minute VC. It's Founders Friday with
0:04.8	your host Harry Stebbings, who you can also find on Snapchat at H. Stebbings or at the nearest
0:09.7	Mahito bar. It is Friday after all. However, I get distracted, but back to the show today and I'm so
0:14.9	excited to welcome Aaron Hirshan. Aaron is the founder, CEO and top dog of Dog Vacay, the leading online and mobile
0:22.6	pet sitting company. One of the key players in the $15 billion pet services market,
0:27.6	Dog Vacay connects pet parents in need of services with more than 25,000 vetted and insured
0:33.5	pet caregivers in 10,000 cities across the country. Founded in March 2012 and based in Santa Monica, the company has over 80 employees and has raised
0:42.3	$47 million from investors including the likes of benchmark capital and Andreessen Horace.
0:48.3	I'd also like to thank previous guests, Mike Jones at Science and Clark Landry, for the intro to Aaron today. Before Aaron
0:55.7	joins us in the hot seat, the weekend means one thing. Increased sleep. But did you know the record
1:00.9	for the most days without sleep was 12 days set by a 16-year-old called Randy Gardner in San Diego?
1:07.7	He clearly did not have a Lisa mattress, as he would have given up much quicker.
1:11.6	And who can blame him? With their perfectly crafted mattress comprising of three unique layers,
1:15.6	one of latex light foam designed to keep you cool, and one of memory foam to ensure the perfect night's sleep.
1:21.6	Even more amazing, Randy wouldn't have even had to leave his house, as Lisa delivered to the UK, the US and Canada for free. He would also
1:29.3	have had a 100-night free trial to make sure that the Lisa mattress was perfect for him. So avoid
1:34.7	Randi's disappointment of not getting a Lisa mattress and get yours now by heading over to
1:39.2	Lisa.com forward slash VC and enter the promo code VC-75. That's L-E-E-E-S-A.com forward slash VC to get a
1:48.3	wicked $75 off. But now time for the show today and I'm delighted to welcome Aaron Hirshorn,
1:53.7	founder at Dog Vacay.
1:55.5	Three, two, one, zero. You have now arrived at your destination.
2:04.1	Aaron, it's so awesome to have you on the show.
	...

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