20VC: From Unsexy Startup to $1.8BN Acquisition | Why VCs and Founders are Fundamentally Misaligned | Why Valuations and Fundraising are BS | Lessons from Josh Kushner and Marc Andreesen | Zac Bookman, OpenGov
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2024
⏱️ 68 minutes
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Summary
Zachary Bookman is Co-Founder and CEO of OpenGov, the GovTech cloud software leader that was acquired for a staggering $1.8BN earlier this year. Prior to acquisition, Zac raised over $180M from some of the best of the best including Marc Andreesen, Josh Kushner, Joe Lonsdale and Founder Collective to name a few. Zac is also a successful angel investor with investments in Flexport, Flock Safety and Addepar.
In Today’s Show with Zac Bookman We Discuss:
04:27 Navigating Enterprise Sales and Pricing Strategies
07:49 The Importance of High Gross Retention in SaaS
11:03 Investor Relations and the Power Law in Venture Capital
14:32 WTF is Product Market Fit
18:14 What No One Knows About M&A
20:05 Fundraising Challenges and Lessons Learned
32:51 What Marc Andreesen Taught Me About Boards
34:18 Why Founders and Investors are Misaligned
35:29 The OpenGov Acquisition: Selling for $1.8BN
37:22 What Does It Feel Like to Sell for $1.8BN
43:58 Why Venture Capital is a S*** Asset Class
45:13 Investment Mistakes and Lessons
01:02:05 The Importance of In-Person Collaboration
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm an LP in legit funds. |
| 0:02.7 | Where's the money? |
| 0:03.6 | Where's the money? |
| 0:04.6 | How many years has to go by? |
| 0:06.2 | People think these companies take like five, seven, nine, ten years. |
| 0:10.1 | Not true. |
| 0:11.0 | They take like 15 to 20. |
| 0:12.8 | That means your venture fund takes 15 to 20 years to distribute the money. |
| 0:16.7 | Your business runs on a power law. |
| 0:19.1 | Your business is about finding the next coin base. |
| 0:22.5 | OpenGov's been quite successful, but it doesn't move the needle. |
| 0:26.0 | It's a couple billion dollar type exit. |
| 0:28.1 | That's not what you're in the game for. |
| 0:29.8 | This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings. |
| 0:31.9 | Now, stay on the show. |
| 0:32.5 | We have Zach Bukman. |
| 0:33.7 | Zach is the co-founder and CEO of OpenGov, the Gov Tech Cloud Software Leader that was acquired |
| 0:39.0 | for a staggering $1.8 billion earlier this year, and they've since blown past the 150 million |
| 0:46.1 | ARO revenue mark. Now, prior to the acquisition, Zach raised over $180 million from some of |
| 0:52.1 | the best to the best, including Mark Andreessen, Josh Kushner, |
| 0:55.5 | Joe Lonsdale and Founder Collective, to name a few. |
| 0:58.7 | Zat is also a very successful angel investor, with investments in the likes of flexport, |
... |
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