YouSaid · the spoken record

Weston Gaddy

lines on the record
26
first
2015-10-21
most recent
2015-10-21
sittings or episodes
1
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podcast

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  1. “Going back to my earlier point about why now the ability to implement this sort of strategy and this approach in e-commerce wasn't possible before because both the The move from a single large vendor trying to provide everything to consumers to taking advantage of lots of little pockets of infrastructure and supply chain and inventory that other vendors have built gives Jet the ability to really change the face of retail and the way that consumers shop online really oriented around driving more savings to consumers at lower prices.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “So the most recent investment that I made was the follow-on investment that we had done on a series A in a company called Jet.com, which is really changing the face of retail in a pretty interesting way. So historically, e-commerce had been driven by a couple large companies that are obvious and don't need to be named, but really they lived in a world where they built infrastructure from the ground up to deliver a single item to a consumer at the lowest price. And what Jen is doing is applying some very interesting algorithms and technology to figure out how to deliver a basket of items and find the vendor in a marketplace dynamic that can deliver that basket of items at the lowest cost.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “And what I really liked about the book was it's very analytical, but it walks through some vignettes about specific species, but also provides some really, I think, optimistic views on ways that we, we as a species can change the direction that extinction is going. And I think technology can play a big part in that, both in terms of reducing carbon emissions and in terms of keeping track of the environment and specific species to figure out how we can better protect them.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “favorite book I don't know my favorite book is but a recent book that I read that I think both connects to an evolving world and my interest in the environment is a book called The Sixth Extinction which won the Puleta this year for non-fiction which talks about the state of the environment and how we may be living in a time where humans are creating a mass extinction Is unprecedented in the history of humankind and potentially is on order of large mass extinctions that we've seen that really change the face of the planet.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “I think Chris Saka has done a fantastic job seeing new trends and emerging trends and investing very early on with a lot of strong conviction in a bunch of really interesting companies.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “My sort of daily update is Dan Primax term sheet. That's the one that I check every day just to see what's happening at a high level in the industry. And then to keep tabs on what specifically is happening, I do read TechCrunch and Pando, and those give me, I think, good insight into the everyday. And I love just browsing around Medium as well. come across something new every day.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Really, I use it to keep in touch with my network, so both to keep tabs on where people are moving from and to, and to do searches on my own for venture investors, a big part of what we do is helping our portfolio to hire the best talent and to connect with customers. And so for me keeping tabs on my own network is incredibly important on both of those.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “of the enterprise and low friction tools to allow employees to better talk to each other, to better talk to their vendors, and to better talk to their customers is still really in the first ending. And it's far behind consumer technology. So I think there's still tons of opportunity in the enterprise sector.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “I think venture investors are always evolving their focus and emergence has had some great consumer investments. And my guess is the nature of the partnership evolved where they had seen success, the types of companies that they were seeing and investing in may have led them in a different direction. I don't think that's any sort of embedded commentary on the future of enterprise investing. I think there's tons of opportunity left. The consumer world and we as consumers have benefited from more frictionless ways of interacting with other companies, with friends and peers. And largely that has not hit the enterprise yet.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Areas and inside of that, all areas inside of the enterprise. My environmental interest, I think, is I think will become an area of increasingly important venture investing. Historically, because it's relied so much on energy generation and transmission, which is highly regulated, it has been a challenging environment to invest in.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “But I do think that it's incredibly important for VCs to specialize. So at Bank Capital Ventures, I focus solely on enterprise technology. And even inside that, in technology that sells to the CMO. So marketing technology has undergone a sort of dramatic shift over the last 10 years. And the CMOs are poised to become the largest spenders on technology inside of the organization, even more so than the CIO and CTO in the next 10 years. And that specialization, I think, is incredibly important, especially at the later stages of investing. When it's seed investing, I think a focus on community and the geography is more important. But the later stage that you invest, the more important it becomes really to have a sector expertise. And so we at Bain Capital Ventures all do focus on different”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Well, so my environmental interest actually is more of an extracurricular than a place that I invest. I have done a couple investments, EcoSense Lighting, which is a connected LED lighting company on the side, an investment in a restaurant called But those things are more sort of passion projects and interest”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “I think Tesla's done a fantastic job, and I think it's been viewed as something that is an environmental cause early on. And I think the way for them to break into the mainstream is just to push the fact that it's a superior product, and not just a superior product in terms of the car, a superior experience in terms of the new charging stations, and increasingly an accessible price point and a price point that actually makes it cheaper than owning a traditional gasoline car. And that the announcements or the buzz is that they're going to be releasing a much cheaper model in late 2016, a $35,000 price point car. I think that has the opportunity to make them household brand and not just something that's accessible by Silicon Valley, New York elites.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “So I think any sector where there's been an intermediary that hasn't lived up to its promise to provide value to the customer is where the opportunity for exploitation by new brands is the highest. So I think Casper is actually a great example. The retailer that sat in the middle didn't provide a good experience for customers and therefore that direct relationship something over the retailer creates a huge opportunity. I think there are tons of opportunities left in big sectors where that's the case like auto is going to have a bunch of changes in the future and Tesla is just the tip of the iceberg. I think”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “In digital media products and communication products, both in the B2B world, I think something like Slack could have never been born, not just because the technology wasn't there, but because it was a sort of groundswell of support for this one communication method that just sort of blew up out of nowhere because the product itself was just superior. So I think you see that in digital products, I think you see that in physical products, things like Casper, the way that mattresses has been sold was the same for 40 years. There were a couple large brands that sold through regional and national retailers. And it really wasn't about product. It was about what the incentives were in the channel to sell the product. that's much more authentic and direct because they don't have to rely on the retailer to do the communication for them.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “I think they're one in the same. I think that there is so much, the two sides of the same coin with so much media and so many different ways for us as consumers to find out about new products, it means that we're always looking for the next thing. And so that loyalty is not something that's just a given. It's something that has to be earned. Loyalty in the past could largely be bought by volume of advertising and by placement on the shelves in a retail environment. But now because there are so many competing alternatives, loyalty has to be something that's earned through having better products. And at the end of the day, I think that's the thing that is a benefit to consumers, that product has the ability to win above all else. And then you see that in”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “Tightly controlled because the methods of communication to customers were pretty tightly controlled. And it's just a much more fluid world now. So the relationships that companies have with their customers are much more fluid, which for the sort of legacy players means that those brand loyalties are in flux and they're having to evolve the way that they talk to their customers, but that creates opportunities for new brands to emerge and new startups to emerge that can speak more authentically to their customers and also more directly connect the nature of the product with the brand promise and the way that they're able to talk to consumers because there isn't a medium like television that sits in between that says a 30 second spot with a catchy jingle is the only way that you're allowed to talk to your customer.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “I think a big part of it is not actually about the products, it's about the way that we interact with media. So in the past, the main form of media was sort of top-down, pushed out television communication where brands were able to tightly control their messages. And the rise of social media and direct forms of communication, email push notification, downloading of apps means that brands have much more of a direct connection to their customers than they ever have in the past. And that dialogue with the customer is much more fluid. And so we're seeing that the relationship that millennials have with those brands is very different from their parents who were all seeing the same jingles. And that was the brand. The brand was very”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “I don't I think good companies are getting solid valuations on both coasts. I think the The time in a company's life. And that's sort of leading to this dynamic where both as founders and as investors, you're sort of picking the winner in a space earlier. And that means that the valuations relative to what's been proven have continued to increase. There's a little bit more of that on the West Coast, but I think both in New York and San Francisco, you're seeing that same dynamic that valuations have gone up relative to what a company's proven”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “Now being on the East Coast, we don't really see a bunch of them. Bain Capital Ventures has invested in several YC alums out on the West Coast, but because I'm based in New York, we don't tend to get as many YCLums moving to the East Coast. And I do think that there's something to be said for focus, as I said earlier, and focusing on a geography. And so I invest solely on the East Coast.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “You got to understand why now is the right time and some structural change in a market or technology is really the only thing that I think creates new opportunity. Assuming that everybody who came before you who tried something was just doing it badly or stupid or didn't get it is very hard to justify. And so I always look for the answer to the question why now when thinking about investing and thinking about where the opportunities are for new technologies and new companies.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Absolutely. I think that sort of core insight is something that I look for every day. And that was a big part of the feedback and the mentorship at YC. And I think the other one that the other big thing that I learned there that's continued to inform how I think about investing is asking the question, why now what has changed in the underlying technology and the underlying market that creates an opportunity? And this was some feedback that I got. that assuming that everyone else has just done something badly in the past is arrogant.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “I think it was two things that are interconnected. They sound contradictory to me. They're one and the same. It's start small and focus, but work in a big market. I think the reason that that's important is staying focused can often lead entrepreneurs to solve niche problems that aren't really big problems and aren't big markets. But going after big markets, I think often leads entrepreneurs to want to try and solve every problem in the market with one solution. And really the magic of startups is fine a big enough problems that can be solved with small enough solutions to start. I think that's the biggest thing that I took away.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “I went to consulting. I stayed in technology. I did consulting for media companies and technology companies while at Bainin Company. Did that for a couple years and decided that I wanted to get back into technology and venture felt like it sort of combined both the passion for building businesses and helping to build businesses with some of the analytical frameworks that I've learned in consulting. And so I rejoined state sort of in the Bain family but rejoined Bain Capital Ventures in 2009 and have been here ever since”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “From sort of sheer force of will. And with the fraternity brother of mine started a company called Frogmetrics, which was born out of a project that we had done for a group on campus to help them gather feedback from students. And that led us to this idea that there are lots of brick and mortar environments, retailers who really have this big disconnect between having their customer in the store and not being able to take the opportunity while they have that customer in the store of being able to ask them how they feel about their experience. And so we created a device and a software that would allow businesses to in a very low friction way continue to gather information from customers while they were in the store. And that led us to actually join Y Combinator. Although the business ultimately went to different direction.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “So, my love of technology started at a very young age. I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Little bit outside of the one city in the state called Albuquerque. Spent a bunch of time sort of tinkering on everything that I could find was always very interesting in the way that things work. That led me to college on the East Coast where In studying engineering, just got very interested. Again, the way that things worked and how they were put together and how new technology could be used in our lives. I started two companies while I was in school. One was with a professor called Wisdom Tree Funds, which is all about making it easier for the average investor to, in a low fee way, access the stock market. And from that, I sort of caught the bug around starting new companies and what could be created.”

    2015-10-21 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 081: From YC to VC with Weston Gaddy @ Bain Capital Ventures · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source