Back and Better Than Ever
Sixty-plus episodes into Due Diligence — here's what's new.
Hi, again! 👋🏼
It’s been a while.
The last time one of these landed in your inbox, I was just launching Due Diligence — my podcast on the intersection of business, Silicon Valley, and the creator economy. Some sixty-plus episodes later (and a brand new 100 day challenge!) — interviewing both thought leaders and giving you a small peek into the way my brain works — the fuel behind the podcast just keeps getting stronger.
I’m excited to announce an extension of that with this newsletter: think of it as a business school class packaged into less than 1,000 words each week. Every Sunday, I’ll be sharing what you need to know from the most exciting podcast episodes of the past week, breaking down a piece of business jargon, and spotlighting a product/entrepreneur/creator I’ve been loving so you never miss out on the value of the podcast even if you can’t always tune in.
I appreciate you coming along with me on this journey. As always, happy reading (and listening) — and my DMs are always open to feedback & suggestions from you. Full episodes of Due Diligence are available on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Love,
Dulma
The Bottom Line
The three things from each episode that you need to know.
Tyler Tringas — Disrupting the Venture Model and Investing in Bootstrappers
Tyler’s Career: Founded Storemapper, a bootstrapped B2B SaaS product > Successfully exited Storemapper to private equity > Founder and General Partner at Calm Company Fund to provide financing & mentorship to bootstrapped companies
On The Gap That Exists Between Small Business Loans and VC: Sustainable, profitable SaaS companies — the kind that Calm invests in — often neither qualify for small business loans nor venture capital, yet many bootstrapped companies in the “Micro-SaaS” space need some capital to operate and scale, so founders in this space are held back. “We’re unlocking a new layer of entrepreneurship.”
On Gatekeeping Entrepreneurship: There just aren’t enough on-ramps into entrepreneurship. When pitching over 400 individuals and funds for his tech startup before starting Storemapper, almost a third suggested raising a “friends and family round” to come up with just under a million dollars. “[Coming up with] that amount of money becomes a gatekeeper.”
On His Single Most Effective Marketing Strategy: Building his companies in public by sharing the real-time process and learnings allowed Tringas to become a thought leader. “Radical transparency lets folks calibrate on what I was writing about. [They knew that] If I talk about what’s relevant to a particular moment, it’s authentic information.”
This is just the bottom line from my conversation with Tyler. For the rest of our discussion, listen to the podcast episode here.
Michelle Goad — Operating Partner at TCG on Selling Her Social Commerce Startup to Nike
Michelle’s Career: Founded social commerce app PS Dept > PS Dept acquired by Nike > Led Nike’s Gen Z Digital Innovation team > Led Nike’s entry into social commerce > Operating Partner at growth equity firm The Chernin Group (TCG)
On Preparing For a Merger or Acquisition: You need to remember that you’re trying to sell your company for the strategic benefit of the acquirer. “It’s not the vision you were historically selling to investors, it’s the strategic value and acceleration you can provide in a joint effort.”
If you are building a company with an end goal of M+A, pick verticals that regularly pursue those kinds of exits. In hindsight, exiting a tech company with an M&A in fashion was a harder sell than it would have been in another industry.
Speak the language of the company you’re working with. “Every entrepreneur should work with someone external during the M+& process” — whether it’s an investment banker, advisor, or someone who’s managed this kind of deal before.
This is just the bottom line from my conversation with Michelle. For the rest of our discussion, listen to the podcast episode here.
LEARNING FUND
Invest in your business knowledge.
This Week: Growth Equity Firms
TL;DR: Growth equity firms are entities that invest in revenue-generating startups with proven business models and product-market fit to fuel continued scale and expansion. Think of them as financial backers of companies somewhere between venture capital & private early.
Unlike VCs who invest in early-stage startups that are often pre-revenue and high risk, growth capital (AKA “expansion capital”) invests a minority stake in high-growth, later-stage companies to fuel plans for continued scale and expansion. These companies already have proven business models, product-market-fit, and successful customer acquisition funnels and growth equity funding prioritizes growth and expanding market share. Most of the startups growth equity firms invest in are either pre-profit or are making a profit, but are rarely pre-revenue (this falls more under the VC bucket).
Some examples in the consumer space are Silas Capital (ILIA Beauty, Herbivore Botanicals, Sakara Life, Makeup by Mario) and Stripes (Parade, Erewhon, Kosas, Reformation, Dr. Barbara Sturm).
SMALL INVESTMENTS, HIGH RETURNS
A little support goes a long way.
Partiful is an event invite platform that I’m obsessed with. Dubbed “Eventbrite for Gen Z” this app has appeared in my social circles as the new go-to for event planning and I’ve now used it as both attendee and host enough times to be a stan. I’m a big fan of the delightful mobile-first experience and design-forward branding — and also can’t help but cheer on a female-founded startup that has already managed to raise from some of the top names in VC. Congrats team!
(PSST! If you have any fun apps, products, or tools you’ve been loving that you’d like to nominate for a shoutout in the newsletter, let me know! Bonus points if they’re female / POC-founded.)
Thanks for sharing Dulma! If you are willing, I would love to see how many total downloads, new subs etc. from the 100 days of podcasting. It would be cool to see the results from a statistical level.