Sand Hill Road

E53 Going from no app to a super app with Henry Shi, co-founder of super.com

In this episode, Erasmus Elsner is talking to Henry Shi, co-founder of super.com an all-in-one savings super app for everyday Americans. Having recently raised a $85m Series C led by Inovia Capital, the company is trusted by over 5 million customers worldwide and has helped them save over $150M to date. Super.com is backed by Tier 1 investors including NBA superstar Steph Curry and has raised over $150M USD and surpassed $1B in sales. 00:00​​ Intro 01:37 From Chatbot to Super App 03:02 V1 of the product 04:55 Product Today 06:39 Going from appless app to super app 09:34 Going from travel-only to Walmart 12:47 Going from Seed to Series C 14:56 Fundraising in 2016 16:15 Surviving the pandemic 17:45 The Las Vegas offsite 19:34 Perfecting Distribution 21:29 Founder transition 25:04 Vision for Super.com

E52 Pricing strategies for generative AI with Orb co-founder and CTO Kshitij Grover

In this episode, Erasmus Elsner is talking to Kshitij Grover, co-Founder and CTO of Orb (www.withorb.com), a billing platform provider that solves usage-based billing needs. The SF based startup has to date raised a total of c. $19.1 million across its Series A ($14 million led by Menlo) and seed ($5.1 million led by Greylock).

E51 Raising $1bn to bringing entrepreneurship to Japan with World Innovation Lab founder and CEO Gen Isayama

In this episode, Erasmus Elsner is talking to Gen Isayama, co-founder and CEO of World Innovation Lab, a Palo Alto and Tokyo based venture firm investing in growth-stage companies and serving as a bridge between startups and Japanese corporations. 00:00​​ Intro 01:30 World Innovation Lab 04:10 From Japanese lawyer to Silicon Valley VC 09:10 From DCM to WIL 13:55 WIL investment thesis 19:40 Japanese entrepreneurial culture 26:57 Open innovation Models at WIL 31:57 Raising Fund I 37:00 Full spectrum of WIL Activities 42:16 Investment strategy and portfolio construction 48:06 Outlook for WIL III 51:23 Call to action

E50 Establishing a growth equity firm with Left Lane Capital founding partner Dan Ahrens

In this episode, Erasmus Elsner is talking to Dan Ahrens, founding partner at Left Lane Capital, a New York based venture capital and early growth equity firm that invests in high-growth internet and consumer technology businesses. 00:00​​ Intro 02:43 Consumer vs. enterprise tech 05:09 Getting into venture 07:54 Raising Left Lane I 10:35 Investing while fundraising 13:09 The Left Lane Capital playbook 17:09 Due diligence in a hot market 18:52 Scaling Left Lane Capital 21:36 Deployment pace 23:28 Focus area 26:04 Hard conversations 28:10 Arc 32:53 Exo Freight 35:28 Supply Chain Tech 37:04 Call to action

E49 Cooking up the future of digital food halls with Byte Kitchen founder Divyang Arora

In this episode, Erasmus Elsner is talking to Divyang Arora, founder and CEO of Byte Kitchen about cooking up the future of digital food halls with Byte Kitchen founder Divyang Arora. 0:00 Intro 1:24 2 minute elevator pitch 4:27 Going all in 8:07 Business Model 14:52 The Byte Kitchen playbook 18:52 Optimal Partner Restaurant Profile 25:39 End customer benefits 27:25 Raising the Seed Round 30:14 Early traction 31:54 Byte Kitchen's Use of Tech 34:50 Call to Action