YouSaid · the spoken record

Alexa von Tobel

lines on the record: 37
first: 2023-01-31
most recent: 2023-01-31
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“And Sierra Black. Become a member of Masters of Scale to get access to a year's worth of courses and content on the Masters of Scale Courses app. Find out more at masterscale. com slash membership”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's advice. Anyone on a scale path can use. But you decide whether to take it. I'm Reid Hoffman. Thank you for listening. Master the scale is a weight what original. Our executive producers are June Cohen, Darren Triff, and Jordan McLeod, our head of content and production is Lori Hoffman. Our producers are Adam Skeuse, Catherine Clark Bray, Alex Morris, Tucker Lugurski, and Chris Gautier. Our editor at large is Bob Saffian. Our music director is Ryan Holliday, original music and sound design by Eduardo Rivera. Audio editing by Keith J. Nelson, Stephen Davies, Andrew Nolt, and Brad Worrell, mixing and mastering by Baron Bastinelli. Special thanks to Chris Ye, Elisa Schreiber, Arya Finger, Saida Sapieva, Greg Beato, Adam Heiner, Alfonso Bravo, Colin Howorth, Willem Krolls, Tim Cronin, Kelsey Capitano, Sammyoputa, Anna Pizzano, Sarah Tartar, Leah Sarmedis, Charlie Manessis, Chine Azequena, Emily McManus, Halle Bondi,”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And last but not least, a story from Phedra Ellis Lamkins. Before she co founded the GovTech platform promise she spent a short but memorable time managing the one and only prince during a moment of transition.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This is exactly right. Even after all the learnings we've discussed on this episode, it can be hard to know when to follow advice and when to ignore it. You must weigh who's speaking, why they are speaking, whether they have good motives or good information, and get a few contrasting opinions just to be sure. But if you start from a place of trust, even the advice not taken can help you get to scale. On that note, we'll leave you but a lightning round of some of the best advice we've gathered recently from our guests in making masters a scale. Here's Cindy Mee, founder of the online learning platform, the IPKID”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This isn't always the outcome when you ask a mentor for advice, but when you solicit feedback from people you trust, unexpected partnerships can emerge. This even happened to me recently when a fellow partner at Greylock, Mustafa Suleiman, contacted me for advice on a new AI company he was building. Our conversations went so well I became a co founder of Inflection AI along with him. That's how Alex and Penny launched inspired Capital in two thousand eighteen along with two other longtime friends, Lucy Deland of Paperless Post and Mark Batsian of Northwestern Mutual, their first two hundred million dollars fund was announced in twenty nineteen, and they closed the second two hundred eighty one million dollars fund in late twenty twenty one.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That would be the presidential ambassadors for global entrepreneurship under the Obama administration, which is where Alexa and I first met. Penny Pritzker was Commerce Secretary at the time and a public servant deeply committed to empowering people through business.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Friends and family don't always have the exact right advice for us, but when they do, it usually resonates in a deep way. Alexa left Northwestern Mutual and started a New York based venture fund, inspired capital. To kick it off, she sought out more advice from a trusted friend.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As an angel investor, Alexa was advising new founders the way she'd previously asked others to advise her. And just like in the early days of Learnvest, this new nights and weekends project became an all consuming passion. It was her husband who gave her the next piece of career altering advice.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Six years later, the investor landscape in New York hadn't much changed, but Alexa did have new access to personal capital and a calling to do something about it.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“United around their mission of providing financial advice to everyday customers. Alexa didn't exit after the 375 million dollar deal. In fact, she stayed on as chief digital officer, helping integrate the LearnVest platform into the insurance company's infrastructure. But Alexa did start a new side project that would soon lead her in a new direction. You may remember that when she was first building LearnVest, Alexa lamented the lack of angel funds in New York City. Long commutes to visit Bay Area investors brought home this coastal disparity.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's right. Before his passing, Alex's father had bought a life insurance policy with the company she'd now be joining.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Colex and her team had built a trustworthy brand that made them attractive to the insurance giant, and it stemmed from their mission to offer objective advice that wasn't tied to any product. It wasn't the only acquisition offer, Learn Vestfield did that fall, but it stuck with her, not just because of the five hour conversation right before Thanksgiving. It was also a personal reason Alexa felt drawn to the deal.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This is a quintessentially entrepreneurial reaction and a great example of advice that makes sense in one context but not another. Taking a five hour meeting before a massive holiday gathering is generally a bad idea. Unless it's the seas a unique window of opportunity.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The insurance company in question was Northwestern Mutual, founded in eighteen fifty seven they were the opposite of a startup, but Alexa took the call.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“one day in late 2014 Alexa got word from her head of business development his name's Kareem. He'd been receiving some emails from a major insurance company.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Learn Vest grew steadily over five years, cultivating an audience about one point five million users and raising $75 million in capital. Alexa herself was named to many 30 under thirty lists of powerful women on turnurs.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In building learn vest, Alexa team harnessed the power of great advice plus a great delivery system. And to make sure the advice they were giving was unbiased, they built the revenue model on subscription packages, not on advertising specific products.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And we're back with Alexa von Tobel of LearnVest and Inspired Capital on when and when not to take advice. If you're enjoying this episode, advise your friends to listen to. Just have to share button on your podcast app and hear my complete interview with Alexa, including lightning round questions, become a master scale member at masterscale. com slash membership or you can join through the masterscale courses app found in the app store of your choice there are so many moments we didn't have time for in this episode like alexa's love of long form personality tests and you hear what she learned from her time at Dan Gilbert's Happiness Lab. You won't want to miss it. Before the break, Alexa told us what it was like to launch her financial advice platform Learn Vest. Just a year after the world plunged in a global recession. In fact, one of her biggest learnings was that the product she'd built for young people had a much larger total addressable market.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The judges didn't see Learn Vest potential, but the audience did. And when LearnVest officially launched less than four months later, in january twenty ten, the site got fifty thousand signups in the first month.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You're right and your trusted source is wrong, just as Alexa did on the stage of TechCrunch fifty. Did you notice the detail she shared about what happened next?”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There are two things to love in the story from Jack. First, the way he described the burning, tough piece of feedback from Sar, because it can actually feel like unsparing advice is boring its way into your soul. The other detail I love is how actually Sarah's advice was to not take the board's advice so passively. Rather, his message to Jack was If you want to be a leader, go lead. And that's actually the best way to navigate difficult feedback. If his advice you know is right, take it with humility and thanks. If you're not sure it's right, ask another trusted advisor for a second opinion. And if you're pretty sure it's wrong, you can actually just ignore it politely. It will make you a better leader and help you build your theory of the case. Rejecting advice forces you to articulate why.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's exactly what happened to another past masters of scale guest, Jack Conti of Patreon, which you're about to hear is from the lightning round series of questions that come at the end of every interview. If you're a subscriber and you listen to our complete episodes, you'll already be familiar. What's the best single piece of advice you ever received? And who gave it to you? Tsar was an early investor and patreon and sits on their board. And it was after an early board meeting that our scene is set.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“If you're cringing on Alexis' behalf, you're not alone. We've all experienced some version of being tech punched, even if it didn't happen on a stage, because most of us have been on the receiving end of totally devastating advice. For my own parallel example, I often point to when my fellow partner at Greylock, board member of LinkedIn, David Z, took apart my decision to invest in Airbnb. He said, well, every venture capitalist has to have a deal that they fail on in order to learn. Airbnb can be yours. To David's own insight and credit, he revisited this opinion six months later. But whether they turn out to be right or wrong, these moments can sting when they're coming from someone you trust. We said earlier that it's good practice to ask smart people what's wrong with your idea. But then of course you have to be ready for them to tell you”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Alexa had hoped for some constructive advice or perhaps admiration and more investment. Instead, the advice she got was maybe don't bother. Alexa defended her idea to the judges and the assembled crowd.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Technically, the word fintech was coined in the nineties, but back then it referred to technology that helped financial processes. It wasn't yet a consumer category, and most banking wasn't done online. And maybe, that's why Alexa encountered the next speed bump in a road to scale. It was September two thousand nine and Learn Vest had been invited to launch their closed beta at the TechCrunch 50 Conference. Alexa can set the scene.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Once she had built the website, written the content, and gone through the legal and compliance check required of a financial advisory service, she soon had her minimum viable product. She called it Learn Vest, a portmanteau of learn, earn, and invest.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Alexa used these funds to hire engineers that could build the framework of her financial literacy platform. But as the money trickled in, she still needed to tackle the substance. The site needed rich content with advice her customers could have faith in”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This act of reaching out to peers may feel slow and unscientific, but it's also a critical lever for getting advice that counts. It's something I counsel all the entrepreneurs I work with to do. More specifically, I advise them to ask what's wrong with my idea. What am I missing? And then they should take that question to every smart person they know. Not because every smart person they know will be right, they won't be. But if you ask enough peers enough questions, you'll start hearing them raise the same issues over and over, which will point out where you have blind spots. This is also a way to immunize yourself against a single piece of bad advice. The more people you consult, the more you separate the signal from the noise. This cast a wide net approach that”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of course, the timing of your exit from business school cut both ways. It was a unique moment to service the need for accessible financial planning, but it was still the beginning of a global recession, not the easiest time to start a company.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of kind of how the counterexample works because you went in the NBA because you're serious about business and want to learn and then you went times now, I'm dropping out. I'm not going to complete the MBA. I'm going to go do the entrepreneurial thing.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Under ordinary circumstances, advice coming from a trusted friend with good intentions seems like the kind of advice you're just supposed to take. But Alexa didn't, and she was right not to. Here's how she knew. First, she was self aware in that moment. She knew how strong her own drive was to start her business now. Second, Alexa saw something in the ecosystem her friend didn't, and it had to do with timing. In a moment of total financial upheaval, a platform that would help people navigate their own finances was uniquely suited to the moment. And what seemed dangerous to a friend seemed to Alexa like a window of opportunity. We talked about this during our interview. Usually when I give talks at business school is one of the things I say is two negative factors that need to be explained away. One is a background of management consulting. The other one is an MBA for entrepreneurship and investing in entrepreneurship. But you're the perfect example.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Alexa was in business school for only about 90 days when she decided she had to leave. The advice she received from friends was swift. Many thought it was a bad idea.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Alexa couldn't stop thinking about the irony that often the people most in need of advice have the least regular access to it. For evidence of that she needed to look no further than the swift collapse of the housing market. Families were steered towards subprime mortgages following advice given with total confidence, only to watch their interest rate skyrocket, leading them into foreclosure. It was a grim demonstration that bad advice is given with as much conviction as good advice, and the motivations of the advisor's matter. Alexa left Morgan Stanley in two thousand eight to pursue her MBA at Harvard Business School. Soon after, the dominoes from the subprime lending crisis started to fall.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Alexis' wish was for a platform that could be a source for good, solid advice about money. It was the kind of tool she wished her mom could have had in the aftermath of her father's death. It was also something Alexa felt had been missing from her own life and the lives of her friends.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The big short, of course, refers to the true story of traders betting against the housing market, making record profits by going against established wisdom. But it would also lead to the third largest trading loss in history at the firm.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. How you convert challenges and difficulties and opportunities is an essential entrepreneurial skill, an essential life skill. This gift, Alexis speaks of, gave her the freedom to make decisions outside of other people's opinions, and she took this fearlessness into her early career as a traitor at Morgan Stanley. But there she got a front row seat to the fallout from bad advice given confidently.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Watching her mother untangle the family finances was formative for Alexa, and even through her grief she recognized that there was something she could learn.”
2023-01-31 · Masters of Scale · When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT