20VC: Why CEOs Must Read Less & Listen Less, What VC Funding, Shelf Space & Time Have In Common & Why CEOs Must Look After Themselves Like Athletes with Sami Inkinen, Founder @ Virta Health & Trulia

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

🗓️ 6 October 2017

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sami Inkinen is the Founder & CEO @ Virta Health, the startup on a mission to reverse type 2 diabetes for 100m people by 2025. They have raised over $35m in funding from the likes of Max Levchin, Ev William's Obvious Ventures, Paypal, Ray Tonsing @ Caffeinated Capital and previous 20VC guest, Bob Kocher @ Venrock. Previously, Sami was a co-founder, COO and President of Trulia until it’s IPO and eventual sale for $3.6B. Sami, an avid athlete, is a triathlon world champion in his age group, and recently rowed across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii unsupported with his wife at a record speed to raise awareness about healthy nutrition.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Sami made his way into the world of startups, came to co-found Trulia and then realized his mission to reverse type 2 diabetes with Virta?

2.) Why does Sami disagree with conventional wisdom and say you learn "more from success than you do from failure"? What are the educational benefits of success that you do not get from failure? What did Sami learn from his Trulia journey?

3.) Why does Sami believe that CEOs should read less and listen less? What are the benefits to not empathizing extensively with the problems of the team? What operational structure must be in place for this level of management to occur?

4.) How does Sami compare VC funding to real estate mortgages? Why does Sami believe that it is always better to raise little? What is the one thing time, money and shelf-space all have in common?

5.) What does Sami mean when he says "CEOs must look after themselves like athletes"? What are Sami's top health and nutrition tips for founders and operators with hugely busy lives?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Sami’s Fave Book: Unbroken

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

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Founders Friday here on the 20 minute VC with your host Harry Stebbings at H. Stebbings with
0:04.8	two Bs on Snapchat to see all things behind the scenes here at the 20 minute VC. However, to our founder
0:10.6	today and I'm thrilled to welcome Sammy Incanon, founder and CEO at Verta Health, the startup on a
0:16.3	mission to reverse type 2 diabetes for 100 million people by 2025 and they've raised over 35 million in funding
0:23.3	from the lights of previous guests Mattis Levchin, Ev Williams's obvious ventures, PayPal, Ray Thompson
0:28.9	at caffeinated capital and previous 20 VC guest Bob Kotcher at Venrock. Previously, Sammy was also
0:34.4	a co-founder, COO and president of Trulia until its IPO and eventual
0:38.6	sale for $3.6 billion. And I don't think any founder could exemplify the mission of their
0:43.6	company better than Sammy with Verta, as Sammy's also a triathlon world champion in his age
0:48.4	group and recently rode across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii, unsupported with
0:53.8	his wife at a record speed
0:55.4	to raise awareness about healthy nutrition. And I do also want to say a huge thank you to Max Levchin
0:59.7	for the intro to Sammy today, without which this episode would not have been possible.
1:03.5	But before we dive into the show today, if you're an early stage startup, the right infrastructure
1:07.8	and support systems are critical. and that's where First Republic's
1:12.4	resources, network and expertise allow entrepreneurs to customize a solid foundation for your business
1:18.0	across all stages. So why First Republic? Well, you get to leverage their incredible network of VC
1:23.0	firms to prepare you for future fundraising events. You get to count on a single point of contact
1:27.5	that will be there for you and your employees when you need them.
1:30.3	You get access to exclusive events and networking opportunities.
1:33.5	But don't trust me on this.
1:34.6	Their clients include the likes of Instacard, e-shares and Wish,
	...

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