4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Andrew Bialecki is the Co-Founder and CEO of Klaviyo, the platform that powers smarter digital relationships for businesses and their data. To date, Klaviyo has raised over $778M from the likes of Accel, Summit Partners, Sands Capital, and Shopify, and raised an additional $700M after its IPO in September 2023.
In Today’s Episode with Andrew Bialecki We Discuss:
Founding a $6.23BN Machine in Klaviyo: The Aha Moment
What was the aha moment for Klaviyo?
How important does Andrew think it is for founders to stick with their initial vision vs when is the right time to pivot?
Does a great product sell itself? If you build it, will they come?
Bootstrapping Klaviyo: Would it Have Worked with More VC Cash Earlier?
Why did Andrew decide to bootstrap & not take VC money with Klaviyo?
Does Andrew think Klaviyo would have been successful if they raised a seed round? What would they have done differently?
Why does Andrew believe companies should take their time to find product-market fit? What are the most common mistakes founders make?
What is Andrew’s advice to founders on fundraising?
When did Andrew decide to raise a seed round when he did?
How to IPO in an IPO Winter: Advice & Lessons
Why did Andrew decide to take Klaviyo public in a bad public market?
How was the IPO roadshow process? What were Andrew’s lessons from it?
How has Andrew’s role as CEO changed after taking Klaviyo public?
Does Andrew think Klaviyo is undervalued today?
What is Andrew’s advice to founders on secondaries?
Behind the Shopify Partnership
How did Klaviyo’s partnership with Shopify happen? What were Andrew’s lessons working with Tobi Lütke & Harley Finklestein?
How does Andrew define a win-win partnership?
What does Andrew mean by “Partnerships are like a tug of war?”
What does Andrew think are the most common reasons partnerships go sideways?
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0:00.0 | In year one, we got to a couple thousand dollars in MRR. In year two, we got to a quarter of million dollars in ARR. And then it was until the end of year three that we got to a million dollars. When we were building Clavio, we'd applied to all these, you know, some of these venture firms had these kind of, you know, we'll give you $20,000. And it's like, you know, no strings attached, no equity. We applied to two or three of these and not one accepted us. I remember going to Ed and saying, let's just try to do this ourselves. This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbing, and I am a vertical SaaS nerd, and that means I am one of the biggest fans of Clavio. I think Clavio is one of the most underappreciated public companies today. |
0:39.6 | Why? They have top tier revenue growth, 39% year-on-year growth approaching a billion in ARR. |
0:45.9 | Two, their net new customer growth is up 20% on $50,000 ACV customers, where they are up 80%. And number three, they are super capital efficient, with $6,000 ACV customers, where they are up 80%. |
0:55.0 | And number three, they are super capital efficient, with 16% free cash flow margins. |
1:00.0 | Today, we sit down with their co-founder and CEO Andrew Bealecki. |
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... |
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