YouSaid · the spoken record

Thomas Plantenga

lines on the record: 55
first: 2024-02-12
most recent: 2024-02-12
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“Nine months in before I actually had a real contract with Vinted, and they said, like, you cannot go now. And I was like, okay, I'm really enjoying this stuff. Let's close the deal.”
2024-02-12 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Marketplaces, Why Rule of 40 and EBITDA Optimisation is BS, How Founders & VCs Should Approach Market Sizing and Outcome Scenario Planning and Why Europe is Failing with Vinted CEO, Thomas Plantenga & Alex Taussig · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To fire half of all the people, close all the offices except of Lithuania. So I ran through the plan and I thought, like, okay, after this, they're going to send me back to New York and find an easier way out. So they started asking questions, very detailed analytical questions. I was answering them. I was like, oh my God, they're actually very interested in this. And then they looked at each other and someone to look at each other and were like, I think we should try it. Mantas was nodding. Okay, let's do it. I'm like, whoa, you're actually going to do this. And because it's like risking the whole company, right? These guys were building this for like five, six, seven years maybe already. And I was like, okay, you're really going to run this plan. And I was like, okay, if I'm talking this talk, I got to walk to walk. So then I told them like, okay, I will help you pitch it to the board. And then if they're really going to do it, I will just stay. You pay my Airbnbs and you pay my food and let me help you execute on it. So then we executed on it in a month after. And then it worked. And then we just kept on working, kept on going. And then I think it's...”
2024-02-12 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Marketplaces, Why Rule of 40 and EBITDA Optimisation is BS, How Founders & VCs Should Approach Market Sizing and Outcome Scenario Planning and Why Europe is Failing with Vinted CEO, Thomas Plantenga & Alex Taussig · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then the business started to collapse. So they showed me this graph and they showed how at a certain point in time it really went upside down. And I thought, you know what? I can learn a lot from this visit if I'm going to do this. So we closed the deal. I said like I need a consulting fee because I don't have any job. I'll come help you five weeks. Write me a good check for five weeks and I'll come over for five weeks. And I came over for five weeks and it just directly connected. Like, I don't know. You sometimes have that with people really understood each other. We started working within three weeks. We had a plan ready. And I sat down at Mantos and Justos and Vidas. Well, actually, it was Mantas and Justus at that point in time. I walked them to this deck like 80 slides of analysis of how we should change the business model, what we should do. Bottom line, it comes down to you completely switch your business model. You practically kill all your current revenue streams, build new ones. And then the last money that you have available, you blow it on television. Meanwhile, you also have...”
2024-02-12 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Marketplaces, Why Rule of 40 and EBITDA Optimisation is BS, How Founders & VCs Should Approach Market Sizing and Outcome Scenario Planning and Why Europe is Failing with Vinted CEO, Thomas Plantenga & Alex Taussig · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In Lithuania, meaning growing up in the Soviet Union, Soviet Union falls apart, like big chaos, these guys brilliant, start building tech companies in Lithuania at the age of 13, 14, 15. Mantas built like a server company by himself that he sold. He was a data expert. Justice built an accounting software in Lithuania that is still this day one of the most used accounting softwares in Lithuania. And Vidas was able to escape the Soviet because he was winning all these mathematics and programming medals, you know, those Olympiadas. So I hear these stories of these guys and I'm like, holy shit, these are like brilliant guys. I'm like, okay, I'm in New York or surrounded by a lot of like interesting people. But it would be really nice to meet them. Then they showed me how the business was doing. They walked me through and you saw like fast growth of the business. And then they changed the business model into what was, let's say, what the business model that Poshmark is using as we speak.”
2024-02-12 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Marketplaces, Why Rule of 40 and EBITDA Optimisation is BS, How Founders & VCs Should Approach Market Sizing and Outcome Scenario Planning and Why Europe is Failing with Vinted CEO, Thomas Plantenga & Alex Taussig · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so I got involved with FJ Labs and we built a company there that we sold to Wallop, then we ran that for a while. And there you had investors inside and Axel on the board. And then when we sold off to let go, I was kind of like without a job, had nothing to do. But I was really enjoying it. Living in New York, I was skating a little bit and think about what to do next. And actually the plan was to build something again with Fabrice because I don't know, me and Fabrice clicked and I was good. So then I had LOD from inside Ventures who came to me said Thomas, come for breakfast. I have this amazing company. You gotta come and I asked about the company and kind of like really didn't look good. I'm like, come on, I'm not going to go to Lithuania while I live here in New York. And like, no, I'm not going to do this. Another breakfast, another pitch of LOD. I'm like, okay, I'll take a call. So I took a call with Mantas Justice Invitas. And I remember these guys coming in. And they first told their stories about, you know, how they grew up.”
2024-02-12 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Marketplaces, Why Rule of 40 and EBITDA Optimisation is BS, How Founders & VCs Should Approach Market Sizing and Outcome Scenario Planning and Why Europe is Failing with Vinted CEO, Thomas Plantenga & Alex Taussig · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source