Alec Wright

Tech Innovation, Ecosystems and Fortune 500 Disruption @theOneValley; Investment team @ OneValley Ventures.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@joinpogo really has built something unprecedented for consumer brands.

Your real customers made instantly available - verified by their payment data - rewarded for sharing their insights, preferences and feedback directly with your brand.

[Dom Wong @domwong]

Suno just raised $400M at a $5.4B valuation.

This week on Humans of Pogo, we went straight to the data - 3,743 real Suno subscribers, verified by linked card transactions - to see what's really behind the hype.

What we heard is that @suno has become something far bigger than an AI music generator.

For many subscribers, it’s the first time they’ve felt the shock of making something that sounds real.

“I got the chills. I started breathing a little heavy. I can’t believe I made something like this.”

For others, it has become even more personal: a way to preserve memories, finish old ideas, and bring something meaningful back to life.

One subscriber told us about using Suno to finish a song for a bandmate who had passed away years earlier:

“A friend of the band had passed away years ago and we had samples of her voice for a song that she never got to perform, and that allowed me to perform that song, finally.”

Congratulations to the Suno team for bringing the joy of music to millions - @MikeyShulman, @GeorgKucsko, @fut_ure, @jackdbrody, and their backers @daegwonchae, @amywumartin, @mignano, @antrod, @scottbelsky, @AravSrinivas, @natfriedman, @danielgross, @levie, @karpathy, @demi_guo_

Watch the full episode 👇

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

The team at Pogo has been quietly building one of the world’s richest dynamic data sets of consumer transaction and purchase data.

Today they are making that dynamic community of purchasers available to brands across the globe. Congrats @domwong and the whole Pogo team!

[Dom Wong @domwong]

The dirty secret about consumer research? It’s overrun by fraud.

Survey bots. People lying to qualify for interviews.

Today, Pogo is launching the world’s only AI researcher that lets brands talk to verified buyers of any product - at scale, in hours.

Backed by $32M to date.

For 6 years, we’ve built the consumer network that makes research with real, verified buyers possible:

• 3M+ opted-in U.S. consumers
• Visibility into 1 in every 150 U.S. shopping trips
• $470B in observed transactions
• Ranked #1 Loyalty App in the U.S. by Newsweek, two years running

Watch the full story 👇

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@domwong It only took 6+ years, 3M+ users nearly 500B transactions to make this possible! Congrats Pogo team!

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@damonchen Applying to YC shows you are working towards a venture scale company (they want that).

You can ref other accelerators, VCs who are investors, or share a growth metric or two. If you look like you are hot or growing a lot and their tool is key, they will want you as a customer.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@damonchen You can do this with almost any software provider that serves startups. Most have discount programs and many default restrict them to YC, Techstars etc companies. But you can change their mind - they just want to know you could be a high value customer without doing any work.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

I could watch Jeremy Siegel rant about the Fed all day/every day

[Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital]

Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School ripping apart Powell and the Fed…

“They Know Nothing” 2.0

[Dom Wong @domwong]

Thrilled to share that Pogo has raised $14.8M!

This past year, we’ve launched an app used by hundreds of thousands of families, consistently generating millions of dollars in earnings and savings.

Our goal is simple: to make you more money by unlocking the power of your data.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@domwong Huge congrats @domwong ! Watching the Pogo team the last year+ has been a masterclass in refining and scaling an early-stage product.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

I understand the need for momentum, but the market has changed so tactics need to change too.

VCs are still investing, but the pace is way down and 2 day FOMO diligence is done. Founders are trying to create urgency but are actually limiting their investor pool a lot.

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

A PSA to pre-seed/seed founders raising a round right now - cold emails trying to create urgency “bc the round is closing next week” = counter productive unless the round really is wrapped (if so, not sure why the cold email). It use to work - not so much today. 1/2

[Arkestro @Arkestro]

This is our biggest news yet…

We've achieved Series A!

#Arkestro has raised $26M from investors NEA, Construct, Koch Disruptive Technologies, & Four More Capital.

More details to come, but for now congrats to our team & thank you to our trailblazing customers! 🚀 #procurement

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

Really excited for @Arkestro's next step on their journey to give superpowers to every procurement team. @elizeyaquate, @bkleiken and #Arkestro team's focus and perseverance has been amazing. Nothing better than seeing great people do great things. https://t.co/aFnZCq7ELv

[Erik Torenberg @eriktorenberg]

Rebrand "family/friends" round as belief capital round and include:

- former employers/colleagues/investors
- present or future customers
- cofounders/employees/advisors

Basically, invite anyone who has data on you to put some skin in the game, even if a token amount ($1K-5K)

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

Great opportunity for early-stage founders. I’m constantly impressed by @villageglobal and it is awesome to see them leveraging their platform at scale through an accelerator.

[Village Global @villageglobal]

Village Global Accelerator applications are OPEN! Apply by 8/10 to join the Fall 2021 vintage.

Participants get:
* Dedicated Advisor
* Turnkey Fundraising Support
* Just-In-Time Answers
* Community
* $125k invested on a SAFE

Learn more & apply: https://t.co/lcKMfrVbvy

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@MacConwell I’m loving this thread as someone trying to learn more about the STL tech scene

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@jspujji @paulg Great content @theonevalley - also gives pre/seed teams the superpower of consistency (so valuable if raising VC). So many startups grow 100% MoM for 3 months, then 30%, then 20%, then 10%. So much better to set a consistent 7% WoW target from Day 1 and control growth

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

@jspujji I think this is true in 90% of tech startups. I’m not sure what funding sources other than high risk venture work for a company that needs to raise billions of dollars before reaching profitability (basically massive consumer businesses like Facebook, Uber or Postmates).

[Rachel Romer @Rachel_R_Romer]

A horrible truth we're regularly confronted with: How expensive it is to be poor in America.

A dirty secret we rarely discuss: How cheap it is to be rich in America.

A thread... 🧵

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

Awesome, succinct advice any first time founder should hear!

[Janine Sickmeyer @myfriendjanine]

Being a first-time founder is hard!
Everything takes 2x time and 3x money.

Here are a few tips to help first-time founders stay focused and keep moving! 🧵

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

Schwab bought @TDAmeritrade for $26B last yr. Result = $4.2B in Q1 2021 rev + $127B market cap.

Coinbase doesn't need a $26B brokerage to ���� (although why not?). It needs crypto use to ⬆️ from 1.4% to 3%, or 1-2% of institutional assets to move into crypto. $100B looks cheap!

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

A thread on @coinbase as the fastest growing financial services company of all time 🚀.

A 🧵on why a $100B valuation may end up looking cheap!

[Alec Wright @GreenChipped]

Equally 🤯 are the margins! Schwab did $795M in profit on
$2.6B in rev (~30%). Coinbase's margins = 50% higher: $730 - $800M in profit on $1.8B in rev (~45%)!

So what comes next????