20VC: Upfront Ventures' Greg Bettinelli on Testing For Founder 'Grit' & What It Takes To Build A Successful Consumer Brand Today

Greg Bettinelli is a Partner at Upfront Ventures where he specialises in businesses at the juncture of retail and technology. Prior to Upfront, Greg was the CMO for HauteLook, a leading online flash-sale retailer that was acquired by Nordstrom for $270mm. Before HauteLook, Greg was Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Live Nation, responsible for strategic direction and key business partnerships for Live Nation’s ticketing and digital businesses. Before Live Nation, Greg held a number of leadership positions at eBay and StubHub and was the business leader who led eBay’s acquisition of StubHub in 2007. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Greg made his way into VC from the unconventional world of retail and consumer? 2.) How has Greg's unconventional background altered how he views investments and founders? How does Greg test for the 'grit' required to be a founder? 3.) With the rise of direct to consumer, will we see the end of the physical retail store? Why do big retailers still have such little e-commerce presence? 4.) To what extent does Greg view brand as a form of IP in a prospective investment? How have we seen changing brand loyalty in the last decade? 5.) What are the fundamentals for growing a consumer brand successfully? Who has exemplified this? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Greg’s Fave Blog and Newsletter: Dan Primack: Term Sheet Greg’s Fave Book: Michael Lewis Greg's Most Recent Investment: Happy Returns As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Greg on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. WeAreLATech is the number one resource uniting the LA startup community. Immediately integrate into the explosive LA tech scene by visiting WeAreLATech.com/VC. WeAreLATech offers a unique combination of curated offline experiences, the #1 LA Tech podcast called "WeAreLATech", and the only mobile app that keeps you in the know with a full calendar of events. Make sure go to WeAreLATech.com/VC to explore and learn all about everything LA tech and silicon beach. You'll also get access to a private LA tech immersion call exclusively for 20 Minute VC listeners. Eve make 1 perfect mattress – made with 3 layer technology and next generation memory foam. It comes packaged in a beautiful box and arrives the day after you order. You get 100 nights to try it with free return pick-up – it really is the perfect mattress for everyone. Just go online to evemattress.co.uk and enter the code 20VC for £50 off. Everybody deserves the perfect start with Eve.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Harry Stebbings?

  Hello and welcome back to the 20 Minute VC. I'm your host Harry Stebbings at H Stebbings on Snapchat. And for today's show, we're bringing you part one with part two being on Friday of a special feature on LA's incredible tech ecosystem. And so joining me for the show today, we have Greg Bettinelli. Now Greg is a partner at one of LA's leading funds, Upfront Ventures. And at Upfront, Greg specialises in businesses at the intersection of retail and technology. Prior to Upfront, Greg was the CMO at Oatlook, a leading online fashion retailer that specialised in flash sales. That was acquired by Nordstrom for $270 million. Before Oatlook, Greg was the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Live Nation. And before Live Nation, Greg held a number of leadership positions at eBay and StubHub and was the

• 0:44Harry Stebbings?

  business leader who led eBay's acquisition of StubHub in 2007. I also have to say a big thanks to the main man, Mr Mark Souster, for making the intro to Greg today, without which the interview wouldn't have happened. But before we dive into the show today, how could we do an LA feature week without a feature from We Are LA Tech and my good friend Espri, who runs the show? We Are LA Tech is the number one resource uniting the LA startup community, offering a unique combination of curated offline experiences, the number one LA tech podcast called We Are LA Tech, and the only mobile app that keeps you in the know with a full calendar of events. So make sure you go to wearelatech.com/vc to explore and learn all about everything LA

• 1:25Harry Stebbings?

  tech and Silicon Beach. You'll also get access to a private LA tech immersion call exclusively for 20 Minute VC listeners. Again, that's wearelatech.com/vc. It really is a must check out. But if you're going to enjoy LA to the max, then you really have to be well rested. And that's where Eve comes in. Eve are the makers of that great mattress that give you the perfect sleep. With three-layer technology and next-generation memory foam, it comes packaged in a beautiful box and arrives the day after you order it. They also offer you a 100-night free trial, so you can ensure that it's the perfect bed for you with free return pickup. So what's the risk? Go to eve mattress.co.uk, enter the promo code 20VC, and you'll get an incredible £50 off,

• 2:09Harry Stebbings?

  and it will be with you the next day. However, it's now time to hand over to the main man, Greg Bettinelli, partner at Upfront Ventures.

• 2:22Speaker 01

  You have now arrived at your destination.

• 2:26Harry Stebbings?

  Greg, welcome to the 20 Minute VC. A big hand to Mark for introducing us today, but it's so great to have you on the show. Thank you for joining me.

• 2:32Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, I'm excited. It's great to be with you. Congrats on all your success. So I'm glad to be number 497 on the list.

• 2:40Harry Stebbings?

  Now, I'd love to get started today with a bit about you and how you came to be a partner at Upfront. So how did you come to be in this position?

• 2:48Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, I have a pretty unconventional track record to be in venture capital. I think two things I'm most proud of. I'm pretty sure I'm the only current or former chief marketing officer who is also an investor. And I know I'm the only person who ever used to work at a horse racing track. Uh, and so I have a very different way that I got here and it actually drives a lot of my decision making and the type of entrepreneurs I look to support. But the real story is I moved down here into Los Angeles in 2008 after spending a lot of time at eBay up in the Bay Area. And eventually we became the chief marketing officer at a business called Hootlook, which is a fashion e-commerce business that we, we sold very successfully to Nordstrom in 2011.

• 3:32Speaker 02

  And the truth is I was only a couple of years into my vesting schedule when that acquisition. And so I continued to work at Nordstrom, but also had done pretty well through the exit. Um, and started doing some angel investing in Southern California companies and kindling national companies. I was a co-founder of an accelerator here in Los Angeles called Mucker Lab with a couple of fellow eBay colleagues that I worked with. And really spent time getting to know what was going on here in Los Angeles, which I'm sure we'll talk about later. And during that process, really 2013 or so, I got to know the, what was then GRP Partners, which is now Upfront Ventures. Uh, Mark Suster and other partners here and really got excited about the idea of being part of, of the LA story.

• 4:17Speaker 02

  And I, then I coined the phrase long LA, which I still use. And if you see on Twitter and things, that kind of all came from some original ideas of me just being very bullish on what was going on in Los Angeles. And I thought venture was a pretty exciting place to be with everything happening and Upfront, uh, happened to have an opportunity and we'd spent a lot of time together. And I've been here for the last two and a half years or so.

• 4:38Harry Stebbings?

  And as you said, unorthodox start there. So I have to, so I have to ask, what do you think that unorthodox start gave you in terms of affecting your decision-making processes in America?

• 4:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I really, the term I use is grit or moxie. I think those are two terms that I really look for in entrepreneurs. Because I think I was always that. I grew up in a small town. I was supposed to be a dairyman or, you know, much more of a different type. But I didn't, I thought VCs were the Vietcong. I didn't know what a venture, I didn't know what a venture capitalist was till I was, you know, at eBay when I was thirty-two, I think. And so I just kind of, if you really look at those entrepreneurs that have built great companies, obviously, there's a lot of people who went to Harvard and Yale and Stanford. But I think really the interesting ones, or the ones that I think I like to follow and spend time with, have a different kind of element.

• 5:30Speaker 02

  You know, they had some, I don't want to say that hardship, but they overcame something. They were underdog. They really took advantage, and you'll hear me say this a lot, of their own unfair advantage. And I kind of think that we're the type of firm, actually, that Mark Suster and other partners have similar backgrounds, is I really respond to those type of entrepreneurs. Those people who, who notice something, notice an opportunity, and really try and parlay that into a large business success. And so I tend to have filters around those type of entrepreneurs versus what I call more of the silver spoon entrepreneurs. Again, I don't want to discredit anyone, but it's, you know, I think people who've kind of worked through and gotten themselves in a position to succeed probably have a greater likelihood of having a very successful outcome. And so those are some characters I look for.

• 6:14Harry Stebbings?

  And is that grit always kind of inherently obvious? Or how, how do you look to expose that in the initial meetings?

• 6:20Speaker 02

  Uh, well, I think you can really talk about, there are things that I try, I have filters that I put on, you know, things like name droppers, those people who over, overexaggerate their titles and the work they've done. You know, when a twenty-three-year-old tells me that they, they ran a hundred-million-dollar budget for Pepsi-Cola or something, I just find that very hard to believe and saying a lot of people may try and oversell themselves. You can also drive it around, you know, that when people really give credit to their other team members or credits to their bosses for their, putting them in positions to succeed. There are just some elements of what people say and how they say it, as well as how They define the market opportunity going after.

• 7:00Speaker 02

  You know, those people who really pitch a one trillion dollar market or something like that versus having realistic expectations about the products or services they can offer. I kind of use those and then, you know, back to I use the term unfair advantage. Like, what is this person or this team? What's their unique advantage they have to conquer and develop a market? And so I kind of tie all those together.

• 7:23Harry Stebbings?

  And, you know, you're very sure of your founder assessment and your investing thesis now, having been an investor for three, three and a half years. How's that changed then over the years? When you started out, how did you look to go about kind of investment thesis creation?

• 7:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I think a lot of it, I think at the beginning I had some general market thesis about retail innovation and some consumer products categories. What I quickly learned is I'm much better off reacting to strong entrepreneurs who think they can do something with a market versus my own point of view about a certain market. So I think those kind of, that was a big early driver for the types of companies I'm looking at entrepreneurs I was seeking out. Now I'd say I'm much more reactive to just responding to quality people with quality ideas versus me saying, hey, I want to do live events, virtual reality, for example. Instead of trying to find the company in that space, I'm more likely to wait to find a great entrepreneur who presents an idea like that to me.

• 8:21Harry Stebbings?

  Would you say that investor specialization isn't necessarily the optimal strategy to go for?

• 8:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, look, I don't, I think it depends. I think for me, definitely not. But in general, I think the reality is I would, I would take a great team in a very good market over a decent team in a great market. Because I think at the end of the day, the great, at the end of the day, the great team has a flexibility insight to really move into great markets. And so I think if you narrowly say, hey, I'm looking for a company that fits X, Y, and Z, you may force yourself into a decision just because it was the only thing you found. You might settle for an investment and I don't think you can ever settle for investments in venture capital.

• 9:01Harry Stebbings?

  And one of the many areas within your wisdom and expertise is the retail and technology space. The key word that, that I want to touch on is kind of the intersection that we have between retail and technology today. And I want to know if you agree with Jeff Jordan Andreessen when he said that we're seeing a structural shift from digital to retail. Do you think we fundamentally are seeing this shift?

• 9:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I think it's kind of interesting question. So I used to work for Jeff at eBay and actually now serve on a board with him, a company called Walker and Company that Andreessen led around after we had done a deal with an entrepreneur named Tristan Walker. So I think, I don't disagree with his macro thesis. I think there's a little too much the sky is falling theme to that. The reality is, I would say, businesses and categories evolve over time and retail isn't any different. You're not in the US, but you know, if you grew up around here, you would hear, you know, your parents, your grandparents, talking about brands like Woolworths or Montgomery Ward or Sears or Kmart or even Circuit City. All those retailers are no longer in business and had absolutely nothing to do with Amazon,

• 10:08Speaker 02

  right? So the reality is, I think there's more of a consumer characteristic change going on that's being accelerated by technology. Clearly Barnes and Nobles is out of business because of Amazon and Blockbuster is out of business because of Netflix. That was more because the content itself had transitioned from a tangible product to a digital one, I would say. But I look at more in retail as an example. The most successful retailers today in the United States have very little e-commerce. So think of Home Depot, Lowe's, TJ Maxx, Costco, Dollar Store, Zara, H and M, even Uniqlo. Their e-commerce businesses

• 10:47Speaker 02

  are sub 3% of total sales, yet TJX, which owns a company called TJ Maxx and Marshalls, has a $50 billion market cap and they do zero online, right? So I think it's really towards a bigger macro shift. What's really happened, I believe, is consumers are shifting to price, value and convenience providers and away from, that's why you see Nordstrom Rack's business actually being a better business than Nordstrom's business. That's why you see H and M, Zara's businesses be better than, say, Macy's business or Gap's business, is I think you're just seeing a shift of the customer to value. Think of Costco, think of places like that. So I think that's more of a broader shift. And then you do have

• 11:32Speaker 02

  what I call the urban Of the consumer, not necessarily just from a geography perspective where people are moving into cities, which is obviously slightly true, but the malls aren't as cool as they used to be. The very commoditized shopping experiences aren't well received by consumers anymore. So I think those are all adding to really the change and clearly technology plays a part, but isn't the only thing that's driving, you know, Macy's to have a poor sales quarter.

• 11:59Harry Stebbings?

  And you talked about kind of value and convenience that being crucial to the consumer.

• 12:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:02Harry Stebbings?

  With the likes of, say, Warby Parker, okay, because of their lack of retail stores, I know they have one or two now. Actually, they might have twenty.

• 12:09Speaker 02

  They have twenty, yeah.

• 12:11Harry Stebbings?

  Okay, bad example, but you get what I mean, they're kind of online brands, meaning they can pass the costs on to they, they can pass the savings on to their consumers and have lower pricing. Does this mean we'll see an end to the physical high street, do you think?

• 12:23Speaker 02

  No, because I think curation is important. I think the reality is not all brands can afford to distribute product directly at scale to their customers. I believe that similar to like wine, fashion needs someone to tell us what looks good. And maybe it's not going to be so much the department store anymore, but it might be an influencer or something else. But I do think those aggregated brands and styles are important. It's why liquor stores exist to tell us which are the fifty wines we can choose from. I think Nordstrom's role is no different in that, you know, the certain styles and types of products that we'd be interested in. So I think it will definitely change.

• 13:03Speaker 02

  I think you're already seeing things like private label brands and other things really to drive margin in the stores changing. And the reality is, we talked earlier, there are just very different types of customers now. You have the high-end customers, think of like the Barneys of the world or even Marcus of the world. I put, I put everything into the world into a department store to kind of identify different customer traits. In the middle, you have like a Macy's and a Nordstrom, and on the lower end, you might have a Penny's or a Coles. And they all serve different purposes to different markets.

• 13:35Harry Stebbings?

  And with this kind of very physical retail discussion, I'd love to hear what your takeaways were then from your time with Nordstrom and that acquisition. What did you learn about the kind of consumer model?

• 13:45Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, so I learned a tremendous about as much about the consumer themselves, but I learned a lot about brand loyalty. Um, there's always, there's always great stories about Nordstrom, how they were, they had the best return policy anywhere. Um, and that you could return shoes that were worn for three years and bring them back and get your money back. And, and a lot of the stuff that was actually was mostly folklore, um, where they didn't actually do everything they said. But the perception of the brand was that of great customer service and the importance of that and the value that to the company. Um, I really underestimated. So just the, the earned customer loyalty and really what lifetime value literally means. As in my mother shops, has shopped at Nordstrom for fifty years or forty years. Um, so I think that was important.

• 14:30Speaker 02

  Scale was another thing I learned. I mean, when I was at Hope Look, you know, we would do, we got to a point where we're doing, say, twenty five million dollars a month of sales. Before I left, um, and we had started, we were doing a million a month. So we had huge growth. But Nordstrom's was doing ten billion dollars a year, right? And just the sheer enormity of having a stores business. Um, an online business and then their, their acquired businesses like Hope Look. So just, just the understanding of what it takes in an organization to truly scale, putting stuff in boxes is very different. And say my eBay or stuff updated more of a marketplace business and you really never saw what you're selling. But Nordstrom, you saw everything that you were selling. This is sheer magnitude of the products being moved in and out was pretty impressive.

• 15:12Harry Stebbings?

  Um, and, and do you agree, a recent guest of mine said that with the new millennial generation, there's a lack of brand loyalty. Do you agree with this or do you think there's potentially even more?

• 15:21Speaker 02

  Uh, I think there's actually even more. I think it's more of a changing customer. I would say, I don't like to use the term millennial. Because I think we're all changing the way that we buy, um, and technology is really driving that. But look at, look at using, uh, the Chipotle example here in the U S. There was a brand incredibly loved. But then incredibly hated within a very short period of time because of a quote unquote betrayal of, betrayal of trust. Around the products and the, that they were selling. Um, in this case, it was the food they were serving. So I think brand or, you know, consumer. Today are very receptive to think of Apple, think of Lululemon, think of those types of brands where I think have incredible loyalty.

• 16:00Speaker 02

  I think there may be an appetite to discover more than in the past. Maybe I can find that new artist, find that new fashion brand, find that new type of food. But in general, I think when you do find brands that you love, today's customer will continue to migrate more and more to them. And so again, I think it's, there's definitely, maybe the outcome is more winners that you really notice and there's less of a middle tier. But I do think brand and brand development is more important now, mostly because it just enables you to differentiate in a very crowded market. Because your ability for anyone to launch new brands is much easier now than it was ever before.

• 16:34Harry Stebbings?

  Is brand enough of IP for you guys to invest? Is that, you know, a very meaningful, tangible ownership stake that someone has over someone else?

• 16:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, I would say it's one of a handful. I think if you look at, especially like direct to consumer type of brands. I think we, my formula is a very large market opportunity that doesn't have multiple brand participants that can play in, let's say, high margin categories that have reoccurring purchasing characteristics. Meaning this idea of I can build a direct to consumer brand in categories that have this. But the most important part of it all is you have a founder or a team that has some sort of unfair advantage and perspective in that category. And brand development might be one of those. I think we'll talk, I think a brand like Dollar Shave Club is an example of that where,

• 17:24Speaker 02

  you know, you wouldn't think that a brand could be developed in and around something owned by Procter and Graham via Gillette. But I think through some innovation, through a founder with a unique perspective, they're able to separate through the clutter and actually build something pretty powerful in a very short period of time.

• 17:41Harry Stebbings?

  Absolutely. And I wonder, before we dive into a quick fire, and touch on your hashtag LongLA. And talk about the rise of the LA ecosystem, why we've seen it, how it is being there now, and then what your predictions are for the roadmap.

• 17:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm obviously very bullish on LA and I bet my career on it. And I think it stems from an element that I think, you know, the most creative people in the world live in Los Angeles. Twenty years ago, we thought about that from a Hollywood perspective, but now I think we think about it from not just Hollywood entertainment à la content, but I think about it from art, I think about it from food, I think about it from diversity, I think about it from weather and global proximity. And the unique thing about LA with that creativity component is it really with the core application layer being built à la the technology to make the internet and mobile go is content, community, commerce, communication can all be built on top of that.

• 18:39Speaker 02

  And I think LA in particular is very good at doing that. So look at companies like Snapchat, obviously, which I think is one of the most exciting companies globally right now. You have SpaceX, you have Tinder, you have Honest Company, commerce, other commerce companies like Loot Crates, that I think are doing very interesting things. And LA just kind of fits perfectly for those elements coming together.

• 19:02Harry Stebbings?

  So for an emerging community like LA, what's first then? Is it the investors or is it the high-quality startups?

• 19:08Speaker 02

  I believe that, you know, there's plenty of capital out there locally, nationally and globally, and they're starving for great ideas and great entrepreneurs building great businesses. So the capital will find the great businesses. And you can just look at LA, there are very few top 50 venture funds that don't have an investment in Southern California today. Some of the top investors, historically, whether it's Kleiner Perkins, or whether it's Benchmark or Sequoia, they all have multiple Los Angeles-based companies in their portfolio. So I don't think, I think the capital will find the great businesses. I think we are just now getting the great entrepreneurs who may be doing things in

• 19:51Speaker 02

  different categories or market segments to think about technology-related businesses in Southern California.

• 19:57Harry Stebbings?

  And then I want to dive into a quick fire round now, so I say a short story. Yep. So your favorite book and why?

• 20:02Speaker 02

  I'd say I'm a little more broader. So I'm a big Michael Lewis fan. And so I think obviously like Moneyball, Blindside, Liar's Poker, that kind of that thought provoking type of work that he does around actual real topics are the type of literature and books that I respond to.

• 20:19Harry Stebbings?

  What's the morning routine for you? Is there any ritual preparation maybe the night before?

• 20:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's pretty boring, but the reality is I'm getting old, uh, so I wake up about six o'clock. Um, I probably read for thirty to forty five minutes, think current events, technology news, politics, sports, those type of things. Then I spend probably another half hour, uh, just before the kids are getting up, really getting caught up with email and candidly dealing with the top priorities that probably kept me up from the night before. Um, and so that way, when I get to work after I drop off my kids about eight thirty, eight forty five, I feel like I'm not behind. So really those sixty to ninety minutes when I wake up to kind of get me set for the day.

• 20:58Harry Stebbings?

  And then what online brand have you been most impressed with in recent years?

• 21:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I I talked about Dollar Shave Club, which is an an example of an L A company before. But I think what Michael um has done around building a brand organically in a very fun and innovative way, starting with that great video and then most recently is television commercials and new product launches and everything between. I love brands that are really disrupting the legacy providers. So in Los Angeles, for example, we have another company called Honest Company that's done a very good job building brand. They're both attacking the same company, which is Procter and Gamble. And you can see them responding by doing what big companies do, suit, you know, creating grassroots, quote unquote grassroots marketing efforts, challenging the claims of of these innovative brands.

• 21:45Speaker 02

  You see them actually trying to do their own scientific research about the quality of the products. Um, you see this disbursement of these brands. And so I think you know you're, you know it's working when that's where the legacy providers uh react. So I think those those are a couple of examples of very special brands that are in my backyard that I'm very proud of.

• 22:03Harry Stebbings?

  And then what's your favorite tech in startup and investing blogs or newsletters? There any must reads for you?

• 22:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, so uh Dan Primack's uh term sheet, which comes about seven o'clock my time here in California. It's it's definitely a must read. It's part of my thirty to forty five minute routine to really know what's going on in my business. He does a great job and always has unique perspectives, so that's definitely a must read for me.

• 22:27Harry Stebbings?

  And then the most proud moment of your career?

• 22:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, I thought about that question because for the users out there, we know some of the questions that are being asked by Harry. But I haven't been very good at celebrating my own successes, and I think that's part of what makes, really motivates me to move forward. Of all the things that, from a work perspective, obviously, getting hired at eBay in 2003 really set everything off for me. That's where I did good work, I made an impact, I met great people, and really understood what motivated me. And so I would say that's probably been the most proud moment I have, looking back. At the time, I probably didn't realize it, but now I can trace almost all of my successes

• 23:09Speaker 02

  over the past 10 to 12 years, or 10 to 15 years, really from that 2003 hiring at eBay.

• 23:15Harry Stebbings?

  And then finally, your most recent public investment and why you said yes?

• 23:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I invested in a company called Happy Returns, which we talked a little bit about friction in retail, but returns is broken. So think of you buy something and you don't want it. Online retailers are at a disadvantage because of the fact that they don't have stores to return product to. You'd probably be surprised to know that most of the top retailers in the US, à la Macy's and Nordstrom, The Gap, etc., almost 70% of the product that's bought online and returned from the stores is actually returned into the stores. It's a big part of the true omnichannel experience, and most online retailers don't have that advantage. So Happy Returns really creates the ability for online retailers to offer offline return solutions.

• 24:03Speaker 02

  And so it's a business that I have a long relationship with the founder, it's right in my wheelhouse from a retail innovation perspective, and I think it's kind of an really an unknown problem from most other entrepreneurs and even investors. So it's one of those businesses that I'm super excited about.

• 24:19Harry Stebbings?

  Well, Greg, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show today. Thank you so much for joining me.

• 24:23Speaker 02

  Absolutely, absolutely. Glad to be here.

• 24:27Harry Stebbings?

  What a fantastic episode that was with Greg and so grateful to him for giving up his time today to appear on the show. And if you enjoyed the episode today, you can follow me on Snapchat at H Stebbings with two Bs, or you can sign up for the newsletter on the 20minutevc.com. That's all in letters, so you never have to miss an episode or an update from us. Also, do not forget to check out We Are LA Tech from my good friend Esperie who runs the show. We Are LA Tech again is the number one resource uniting the LA startup community. They offer a unique combination of curated offline experiences, the number one LA tech podcast called We Are LA Tech, one of my favourites, and the only mobile app that keeps you in the know with a full calendar of events.

• 25:08Harry Stebbings?

  So make sure to go to wearelatech.com/vc to explore and learn all about everything LA tech and Silicon Beach from the homes of the likes of Snapchat. You'll also get access to a private LA tech immersion call exclusively for 20 Minute VC listeners. Again, that's wearelatech.com/vc. You must check it out. And with the week ahead, remember, every great day starts the night before. Every smart move you make on Wednesday has its roots in Tuesday. So leap out of bed with a can do attitude and you've got a head start on the world. And that's why Eve makes only one kind of mattress, the very best. With three-layer next-generation memory foam and open cell technology, they even give you a 100-night trial to make sure that the mattress is perfect for you with free return

• 25:53Harry Stebbings?

  pickup. So go to eve mattress.co.uk, enter the code 20VC for £50 off and it'll be with you the next day with next day delivery. Everybody deserves a perfect start with Eve. As always, I so appreciate all the support. You can always email me [email protected], again, all in letters. And we cannot wait to bring you Wednesday's episode with one of my best friends in the industry, Chad Byers at Sousa Ventures. It's a special one.