Rising Above the Noise in Consumer VC with Kirsten Green of Forerunner | E1961
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 June 2024
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…
Vanta - Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at http://www.vanta.com/twist
Oracle - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist.
Mercury - With Mercury, you can simplify your financial operations with banking and software that power your critical financial workflows, all within the one thing every business needs, a bank account. And with new bill pay and accounting integrations, you can pay bills faster and stay in control of company spend. Apply in minutes at https://www.Mercury.com
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Todays show:
Kirsten Green joins guest host Mark Suster to discuss Forerunner’s framework on making investments (8:33), how AI will change how consumer companies and applications are built (16:28), cultural shifts that are investable (33:38), and more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Kirsten Green joins guest host Mark Suster.
(2:49) Kirsten’s advice to stand out in consumer venture with only seven percent of VC dollars being allocated to consumer.
(8:33) Forerunner’s framework on making investments.
(11:16) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(12:09) The value of searching for where businesses are missing the mark, and the “wow” factor of the Oura Ring.
(16:28) How AI will change how consumer companies and applications are built
(19:46) Oracle - Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist.
(20:50) The current state of the consumer search experience and the power of personalization that AI can bring.
(24:16) The disruptive lesson from mobile and the next level of being context aware.
(28:24) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://www.mercury.com
(31:57) Forerunner Ventures lives within the intersection of invention and culture.
(33:38) Cultural shifts that are investable.
(36:36) The consumer shift from large to small screen.
(40:42) The importance of the mix between direct and indirect revenue.
(42:32) Discussing the relevance of “freemium”.
(55:48) What the exit environment is like going forward.
(1:02:55) What will it take to bring back the small and mid-cap market?
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Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
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Check out Forerunner Ventures: https://www.forerunnerventures.com/
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Follow Kirsten:
X: https://x.com/kirstenagreen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstengreen/
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Follow Mark:
X: https://twitter.com/msuster
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksuster/
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Thank you to our partners:
(11:16) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(19:46) Oracle - Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist.
(28:24) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://www.mercury.com
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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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Follow TWiST:
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Say anything the fuck you want, I'm going to riff off you and take it in different directions, okay? |
| 0:05.2 | All right. Something has to be both novel and both the utility. It needs to have an element of uniqueness to stand out in the market and cut through the noise. |
| 0:14.4 | Okay, yes, you address the need. Then you also have to wow people. You have to give somebody a reason to |
| 0:19.7 | want to talk about it or reason to want to try it, a reason to tell somebody else about it, |
| 0:23.8 | something that captures the imagination to trial. And then you have to deliver on something |
| 0:28.7 | that's really good. This weekend startups is brought to you by Vanta. |
| 0:35.0 | Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal breaker for startups to win new business. |
| 0:40.0 | Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a sock to report fast. |
| 0:45.0 | Twist listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at vanta.com. |
| 0:50.4 | Swist. |
| 0:51.4 | Oracle. |
| 0:52.4 | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure or Oracle. development and AI needs. |
| 1:02.6 | Take a free test drive of OCI at Oracle.com slash twist. |
| 1:08.3 | And Mercury. |
| 1:10.2 | With Mercury, you can simplify your financial operations with banking and software that power your critical financial workflows, all within the one thing every business needs, a bank account, and with new bill pay and accounting integrations you can pay |
| 1:26.1 | bills faster and stay in control of company spend apply in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury the art of simplified finances. |
| 1:36.3 | Welcome back to this week in startups. I am not Jason Calcanus. I am Mark |
| 1:41.1 | Suster of Up From Ventures. |
| 1:42.7 | I'm so excited for my guest today. |
| 1:45.3 | It's Kirsten Green, who is the founder of Forerunner Ventures. |
| 1:50.4 | She founded it 12 years ago, has in my estimation about 2.3 billion dollars and for anyone who doesn't know to go from zero in 12 years founding a firm raising 2.3 billion dollars is an enormous achievement. |
| 2:05.8 | She is probably the best known consumer investor in venture capital of our era, having backed players like Chime, |
... |
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