YouSaid · the spoken record

Steve Murray

lines on the record: 87
first: 2018-05-18
most recent: 2018-05-18
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Like most people naive that the business plan is the one that they should go execute on. You spend all this time, you get trained along the way. There's going to be a business plan. And here's how we're going to do step A and step B and step C. And I've realized over time that never works. So don't show me a 50-page business plan because I don't want to see it. Tell me about how you're thinking about things. How do you think about challenges? How do you think about opportunities? And those are the things that I wish I knew.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, one of the things that I think I have learned over time is that people don't change, right? As much as they would like to. People talk about changing, but it's hard. Changing people is very, very hard. You can move deck chairs around. But the fundamental things that drive people to behave a certain way, very hard to change, so don't waste a lot of time trying to do that. Secondly is that failure of these companies that are doing this really, really hard stuff is okay. They can adjust. They can do things that I think I was”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A little self deprecating, but also they probably don't list here are the other 15 times that list that we pass. Right, so there's an equal number of those. So sometimes the best deals, as they say, are the ones that you don't do. Let me bring it back.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, there's a lot of different paths, and they all can lead to different things. And I think some firms obviously have more of a technology product, engineering bend. Some people, some firms have more of a investment banking bend. Some firms, I think the best ones have a mix of other, some people have more operators. I think the best firms really, as we talked about earlier with diversity, diversity of experiences is important. But it's a tricky path because there isn't a clean one where you can say, go get this degree and get this job, and you'll end up at this place. It's not my experience is it's not quite that.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's a question that I get, as you might imagine, a lot from millennials and recent college grads, friends of friends and others. The good and bad news, I think, on that particular question is the honest answer is there's no clear, easy path into the venture community. Some folks have, as you pointed out earlier, my background is not sort of classic out of that. So there's people that have come from legal backgrounds and accounting backgrounds, and they've come from product backgrounds, and they've come from banking backgrounds. So there really is a collection of different types of people that have come through it. What I do advise them to do is if you're passionate about startups, then get involved in one. And that could be as small as volunteering, if you will, or helping out at the local tech stars or something like that. Or it could be maybe on nights and weekends, you're helping your friend that's doing it. Not everybody is ready to say, I'm going to move to Silicon Valley and do your thing. If that's what you want to do, go do it.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I mentioned my three sons, so I have three sons. Two of them are in high school, so I love to, and then I have another one in seventh grade. I love to spend time with them. I love to go to their sporting events. For many years, I was the coach of their hockey team. So I enjoy contributing and participating with the kids and their friends and doing that kind of stuff. I like to work out. That's sort of, I find, like we talked about earlier with sleep, the other thing that correlates to happiness for me seems to be if I can get a workout in. So I try, I love to work out. I love to be outside. I love to fish and that kind of thing, but I really like spending time with my family.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Going to be the kind of person I really wanted to work with. But, you know, the opportunity was exciting and the progress in the business was great. And in both cases, it's come to bite me right back in the behind.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So there's some correlation. Yes, it is an interesting correlation. The topic for another one, perhaps. I'd say the two or three times that I've failed in terms of an investment badly is, and what I've learned about it is really the value of people's ethics and people's integrity. And so in a couple of different situations where we've Where we've Where I have known that the person that we were dealing with was something less than the type of quality individual that I want to be associated with. I'm sort of o for life on things like that. Really? So that's happened to me twice where I sort of knew that the person wasn't.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I fail every day in something, particularly, and I'm reminded of that by my three teenage sons. I think I actually fail more in their eyes as they get older, although I think my older one that's 18 now is starting to come out of that phase. I think he's realizing that I'm not quite as dumb as he might have thought a year or two ago.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Fund or a follow on fund or something like that. So I think the things that are changing are how do you serve the needs of the company in a better way given the changing landscape that we exist in. A lot of it is international too. I think that'll be another thing that we'll see more of, which is more firms, just as we've talked about earlier, more of the East Coast firms to now have a West Coast presence and likewise I actually think more of the U.S. firms will have an international presence over time.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We've talked about a number of at the companies are staying private longer. The holding periods, therefore, are longer. So the idea of investing today and returning capital in a year or two is much different. The size of the funds seems to be extending. I think partly due to that, which is that people are saying, geez, I have to be able to build a firm to support a company, particularly my best ones, from soup to nuts. I don't want to miss out. I've talked to a number of early stage investors who have now started to create follow-on investment funds because some of their best companies that otherwise would have been private or sold are now still private companies raising money and they want to participate in those, but they don't fit within the constructs of their early stage small fund. They are now adding different people call it different things a select.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And what we end up doing as a society is we end up making the last five years of somebody's life probably miserable where they're going through surgeries and all kinds of other things, the likelihood of materially extending their life is not long and you spend enormous resources doing it. Something like 80% of the health care costs are incurred in the last 20% of people's lives. And so there's all these things. And so instead of that, what he proposes is something more along the lines of what hospice and others do, which is, what's important to you and how do I create an environment for you to enjoy as best you can your last remaining piece of your life.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“One? It may be, but really the point of the thing of the When somebody gets older and they have a condition, we treat them as if they're 25 years old and they might have 70 more years to live.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which is about really a book written by a doctor about the way, frankly, that we may have screwed up the aging process. We're treating the aging process as if it's a disease, not a condition.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, sure. So I actually mostly don't read about finance and technology because I live it every day. Right. And time is short, but I actually get to read a lot because I travel a lot. So I read, I think I've read every John Grisham book and I love him because they're fun and they're easy and you can read them a long flight or two. So they're great. I've read a couple recently that I really like. One is that many people have read, which is The Boys on the Boat. I like that because I'm a team guy. I'm a sports guy. I love how people can overcome adversity and gang together and accomplish something. And I get goosebumps on my back every time I hear those stories and I read about success and things like that. So that's a book that I've recently reread and enjoy it. I'm also reading, I just finished a book that has a real influence on me called Being Mortal.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I've admired him a lot. I've admired, I've worked with, and he still remains a great friend, a guy who just recently was the CEO at Forbes Mike Perlus, who's a great friend of mine who. Really is a real people person. You know, he is the guy that walks the hallways and says, this guy and this guy don't seem to be getting along and this gal is having a problem here. And how can I engage myself and help this company? And he's all about leadership and clear vision and direction. And so for each one of these person, I've learned something different.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Is really inspirational on some level. As I mentioned earlier, Brad Feld is somebody that's influenced my investing style. is very much understand the company, the product, the people, walk the hallways, see where things are going. Another guy that influenced my investment style that's here in New York is a guy named actually two people, one Eric Hippot, who runs Layer Hippo Ventures, who is sort of the ultimate professional. Everything starts on time and ends on time and decisions get made and you don't second guess your decisions and you put your very matter of fact and non-emotional businesses, you have to make decisions and you have to move on and you have to go to the next one.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so I'd say MASA has influenced my approach originally, and the influence there was his boldness, his willingness to take enormous risk against the grain. He was buying mobile companies when that wasn't the right thing to do out of favor, if you will. He raised a hundred billion dollar fund when everyone is saying, geez, we must be at the end of a cycle. So this is a person that his boldness”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Foundry group. He's really the managing partner at Foundry. They've been hugely successful, and he and I are working on something together now. And one of these guys that's just such a honest and straightforward and involved guy. I've had the pleasure of working with him and learned a ton from him. Although he wasn't a day-to-day mentor having exposure to Masa over the years has certainly influenced me in a great way. So I've been very, very fortunate. I've had people that, you know, now I have Ted Leonces and Steve Case, who I learn from every day. I think one of the things that Is so great about this business that we're in is that I get exposed to brilliant people every day that are either running these companies on the board, people that I work with. And so I literally feel like I learn something new every day.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I've been amazingly fortunate that I've had so many people in my career that have taken a real care about my career and me as a person. And so there's a long list of them. But I start at Deloitte and that was really folks like Steve Richards and Bill Platt and Susan Rayo and Gib Hammond and others. But each one of them, I still to this day bring something to the table from them. At Softbank and probably my best mentor and will be forever my best mentor is Ron Fisher, who's still at Softbank, who I had the pleasure of working with for 20 years. I got to Bradfeld was a mentor way back. He started at Softbank way back when then he and I continue to be friends.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The most important thing people don't know about me that they would be surprised to know perhaps given the nature of what I do. And so I'm a pretty energetic guy and I travel a lot and I see a lot of companies and I sit a lot of boards and I do a lot of outwardly facing things. And I'm a pretty introverted person that I think most people would not expect.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that's the question. I think there's a lot of those activities that happen, and then there's an event, and then there's, can you trust them? Can you not? There is no question a growing concern appropriately so around where does my data set, who has access to it, how do I protect against that? And part of that is an operational thing, and part of that is a cybersecurity thing.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Investment decisions we make and the companies that we like a lot, which is are you using the availability of data that either didn't exist previously or didn't exist at the pace at which it exists now to do something different? We have a company in Chicago that we talked about a couple times Uptake, which is using data from sensors on industrial equipment to do things like tell you”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This or yes, or is that part of the same concept of the same concept, which is how can you use, and it informs a lot of the.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, can you give me access to these five things? They say, yes, please. I would like a loan of X. They say, okay, based on that, I've correlated that activity with other people. And this means that you're good or not a good credit risk.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, a couple examples is our most recent investment in Tala. As I mentioned, so what we like to see is what are they doing now that has changed the fundamental value proposition of what is being offered? So as an example, this company is taking information that exists on somebody's phone for people that are almost universally do not have a bank account and they're making a credit decision based on that activity.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Certainly could be. I remember having a conversation with somebody that's involved in one of the operators in Europe, a good friend of mine who actually lives in New York here. And he said, you know what's interesting is that he said, when we have a tennis match in Europe where the number hundredth player beats the number three player, we actually go to the logs and see who bet on what when. And if there's some unusual activity. If that happens here in the US, how do you find any data about what happened?”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It all the time. So, what consumers actually hang on to? I don't know, but there has started to be, and there will continue to be an enormous amount of innovation around the activities around sports because they're so popular, because the usage patterns have changed so much. And I do think this 60, 90, nobody knows what the number is, but it's a big, big number of billions that is... Oh, it's”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's just, and so, but if a year ago somebody had shown me that game, I would have said, I don't see why somebody would want to do that. They and all their friends and everybody I know's friends.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You think about a situation where you're sitting at your house on a Friday night, you don't feel like going into the Yankees game. But maybe for $15, you can be essentially at the front row, put your headset on and you're there. The game's going on, you hear it all, you see the ball flying by. There's those types of things. So there's a lot of ideas that are going on, what the consumers actually fall in love with. Who knows? I don't know. I have three teenage boys, and I've never seen addictive behavior like theirs right now with a game called Fortnite. Of course.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's very clear that from sports, which is a big and important business in the US and internationally, that the way in which the consumers consume that content has changed dramatically and will continue to change. That could be where things like virtual reality and augmented reality play a role, like with your friends company.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Leagues, the states want taxes, sure. The operators, the media companies, everyone seems to be positioning there. There's a number of states that have already begun to file legislation in the event this passes. Wow. So this is a real game of musical chairs that could start any day.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. So this is a big thing There's a strong opinion amongst many people that know much more about it than I do that the Supreme Court will in fact overrule this. Makes sense and allow for states to decide on their own what they want to do. That will kick off an enormous game of musical chairs around who's doing what. Everybody wants to have their hand in that pie”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In essence, that is the conflict that's being resolved or that's at that issue right now. The reason I think that's so important is that sports and the media around sports has changed so much in the last few years, how people engage with sports, whether it's through the mobile device. Regular leagues fantasy sports or daily fantasy sports like at DraftKings, the engagement with sports has changed so much over time, but the importance of sports to the television bundle and places, right, it's live.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So that's the essence of the conflict. And there's lots of legal nuanced in you with your legal background would be able to read the briefings, I'm sure, and be able to summarize them. Dear Lord.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So you are now seemingly making the argument that New Jersey is making, which is why does Nevada get to allow for this and the other states not?”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there's all of those. So here's one that's maybe more current that would be an interesting topic to talk about, which is the Supreme Court will. Rule within the next 30 days on a case called Paspa, which is the state of New Jersey sued the federal government essentially around a thing about states' rights. But depending on which way the Supreme Court rules, it could allow for legalized sports gambling. On a state by state basis.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there's a lot of ways to go there, and obviously there's been some very public and bad stories that have come out in the last couple years, but that's probably catalyzing change faster, is my guess.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Everything from the venture firms themselves. To the firms and the companies running, there's a clear emphasis on diversity and there's real business reasons for it. The research suggests that you get people in a room with different points of view and you come up with a better outcome. Sure.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Changed a little bit over time, and they have become more similar Partly is that some of the firms in the West Coast have opened up New York offices and some of the firms in New York and Boston have opened up Silicon Valley firms. Actually, most of the successful firms on either coast now have a presence in the coast that they weren't in. So I think there's some of it that there's a little bit more of similarity. That said, I do think there is something to the old adage that the more risk tolerant on the West Coast. They're more for sure. And the acceptance of failure is a little higher. And on some level, particularly on the early stage, I find that the West Coast investors almost look at somebody's failure as a CEO, as a badge of honor, not as a black mark.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, the weather in Northern California is certainly superior to Boston or New York. I can say that for sure. It does suck to say the least. I agree with that. 100% agree. So I actually think the differences between the coasts and how they approach things”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And too many people say, geez, I know where I'm going, and I keep going, and I'm running into this wall, the really talented managers of these companies and founders, they say, geez, I know where I'm going, but I have to go here first and then there and then there, and I'm going to read the tea leaves along the way. And it's actually fun to be a part of those”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I'm sure it's a little different on each one. And I think it depends a little bit more on the stage of investment. So the earlier we go, the more it's simply dependent on the team, right? So it's because what we find is great teams can find the opportunity. You know, if you're in a general market area where you think there's a great opportunity and you have a superior team, they will find where those nuanced opportunities will be. They're almost never exactly where you start. I use this analogy with a lot of people because my sons are all, they're competitive sail racers. And I said, when you're running one of these companies,”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And the CEO, Elon, is obviously one of the world's great visionaries that people want to back and want to support. So why they decide to go public when they did is not clear, but it seems to have worked out okay for them.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know enough to know, I don't know all the details of why they decided to do what they do. It seems to have worked out okay for them. They're obviously going through some challenges now, but people love the product. They've been able to access a lot of public funds. Recently.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“At the stage that we invest in, which is really the growth stage where there's been lots of work left to be done, but there's an existing revenue stream and there's a product in the marketplace where you can see things like margin and things like that. The failure rate should be much, much lower or should be 10% of the companies. But you also lose the 50 or 100 times X because you're in at a higher valuation entrance point.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It depends when you invest. If you're pure early stage investors, most of them that are honest with you would tell you that certainly 30 or 40 percent of their companies never make it.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I guess maybe this is where some of my accounting background would probably put me in a slightly different point of view there. I think as it relates to super early stage investments where you're really betting on a team and an idea, whether you invest that 2 million pre or 10 million pre probably doesn't matter too much. I think it starts to matter a lot more as you get further up the valuation train. So does it matter if you invest in the next best travel company that has a lot of traction at a $200 million valuation versus a billion valuation? I think it matters actually a lot in many instances in actually most instances. It's easy to point to a Facebook and say, hey, you're going to make 20,000 times your money. Does it really matter if you make 10,000 times your money? Of course it does not. That's really an exception. Most of the companies fall into a much more predictable pattern.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know. There's been a lot of talk about this wave of IPOs for a number of years, and it doesn't seem to have happened. I do think some of these companies that are private, some of these big companies, Airbnb and others, they could go public anytime they want. They don't have to wait for a good market, a bad market, whatever. There are companies that are of size and scale. Many of them are achieving or past profitability. They're starting to show real leverage in their model. They're starting to show that they're able to add new products and new services onto what they're doing in a very effective and efficient manner. They've built out their management team. So they are operating almost as if they are a public company within the shell of within the veil of privacy, if you will.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right, and that was also particularly in the 90s, really, the IPO event was much more of a financing event. Which is they got access sitting in boardrooms during that time. The question about when to go public was when do we need to raise our next round and what would be the benefits of being public? And some of them would be access to more capital. Some of them would be we now have a public currency which we can use for acquisitions and the like. And with the world that has changed now, where there aren't five Softbank vision funds, but there are certainly five multi-billion dollar funds that are focused now on later stage technology-based companies that are private. And so the availability of capital, I can't imagine it's ever been more great than it is right now.”
2018-05-18 · Masters in Business · Steve Murray Discusses Startup Valuation · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source