Startup Next Steps after Raising Your First Million | from a Forbes Top 100 VC | Office Hours Ep. 2

We hear about startups raising millions, or billions of dollars all the time now -- but what should founders actually do the day the check hits? Find out why in this freshly branded version of Office Hours.
What is good retention? -- www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/wh...
0:42 -- Overview --
1:02 Part 1: Get Your Head Right
3:25 Part 2: Make a Plan
8:27 Part 3: Retention Before Growth
12:08 Part 4: When the Plan goes Wrong
15:26 -- Recap --
I’m Garry Tan, venture capitalist and founder at Initialized Capital. We were earliest investors in billion dollar startups like Coinbase and Instacart, and I’m a Forbes Midas List Top 100 venture capitalist in the world. We want these videos to be about helping people build world-class teams and startups that touch a billion people. Our startups have gone on to create more than $40 billion in market value so far, and Initialized has over $770M in assets under management.
Please like this video and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos like this!
Find me on Instagram where I can answer your startup advice questions by DM -
/ garrytan
/ garrytan

[@meetmahmod]

Your channel is a “Startup Netflix” ❤️💯

[@GarryTan]

Thanks! Super kind of you

[@astrarai-thesobercoder]

Facts

[@dpkn]

q

[@mohank2282]

Garry, I feel blessed because I watched your video right after I raised a seed round from Coinbase Ventures. Now I learned what should I do and going to execute. We are a Chennai-based (India) fintech startup and I am the co-founder of came village so I did not have a chance to study from good universities. I always learn from my mistakes and now masters like you. Thank you so much for your videos.

[@TheLastCodebender]

"Don't celebrate the raise, celebrate when you reach some sort of milestone like more customers or more revenue." - This is so true! That mindset is very important.

[@neospec]

When you've worked years to get to a point where you've finished your raise, its important to celebrate those wins, pause and appreciate, then move forward and kick ass.

[@mirhasanzade7383]

Your content quality is GOLD! You taught me more than my professors back in university ! Salute!

[@GarryTan]

Glad to help

[@shariffemevoli211]

Best KZbin content for startup founders!!! love from Amsterdam❤️

[@vincentan8085]

Incredible content coming at an incredibly timely moment for our Series A startup 🙏🏼 appreciate your time Garry!

[@GarryTan]

Good luck Vincent. Glad to hear this is helpful.

[@XShollaj]

Wow I can't believe all this information is for free on youtube. Garry is as generous as he is smart!

[@GarryTan]

Just trying to help other people as other people helped me.

[@XShollaj]

@@GarryTan Thanks a lot man! Coming from a developing country (Albania), it is so much harder to start reaching for your dreams. Videos like this, which are free and available everywhere are invaluable for us!

[@ahmedelnaggar3118]

This is the most helpful and beneficial video I have seen so far, you simply drew a road map for me that I would do a lot of mistakes and bad decisions to learn it. Thank you!

[@UxJoy]

Garry, your content is absolutely top notch and I have to say your delivery is spot on. I constantly search for good information to help me build my company and I keep coming back here. Thanks for all the hard work you do and the time you take to make these available to us. Can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for these. Cheers! Looking forward to the next week.

[@GarryTan]

Much appreciated! Thank you for watching Avinash!

[@GianluigiBallarani]

Crazy value ❤🚀 tnks!

[@randonmortland7946]

Incredible video! You provide so much value! I'm glad I stayed until the end to get some motivation!

[@GarryTan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aneeshbhardwaj9372]

World class Content ! Can't believe it's all freely available

[@shreyaskharbanda2777]

Such brilliant, genuine advice. Thank you for this channel, Garry!

[@LigneDesign]

It's fantastic to obtain these ballpark figures so to better evaluate what to expect, when, etc! "...a 500K pre-seed, then a 2M seed, then a 10M series A..." We need a whole lot more of such insider info and common figures! Thank you so much! 👍

[@jamiejswagga]

Truly incredible advice Garry! Thank you so very much!

[@elijahclaude3413]

This is soooo great!!

[@teodosp]

Great video Garry! Thanks for doing this.

[@shuoyang9085]

Awesome topic and content, Garry!

[@bryanpalaciosc]

Top-notch advice from you, Garry, the mentor I am learning from all this amazing content. Keep it up :)

[@wasifsmehdi]

A great video! Super insightful.

[@ElektroDrrrEL]

Thank you! Thank you !!! this channel is a gold mine

[@Hugh_Seaton]

This is fantastic. Explaining how to think about that moment when “the dog catches the bus”

[@edvoyce9889]

Wow great video. Nailed it. One of the best startup videos I’ve ever seen (as the topic is under-catered for). Love the real-life metrics chart + what certain investors ‘need to see’. I think this is a big subject that is often opaque to startup founders. IMHO the whole topic this video covers is worthy of additions real life examples in future videos. Perhaps if more founders were versed on this at the outset, they might think twice about: starting eg unscalable projects, and/or focusing money raised on achieving KPI milestones (rather than using it for ‘keeping house’ / expanding too early). 👍

[@JamesCPark-qf5xd]

Always, thanks!

[@nickhumph]

Great video Garry 👏 super helpful as we grow

[@gman2121]

Great video and really well edited. +1 new subscriber :)

[@GarryTan]

Thanks for the sub!

[@nikeshnaik5516]

watching this and working in startup which wants to raise fund.. 100x learning. 🤩

[@jasoneks]

If only I can like this video twice 😂 keep it up, looking forward to learn more 👍

[@f4n627]

Very insightful, thank you Garry

[@SamTheOilMan]

Great video to help get startups in the right mindset.

[@richardantao3249]

Gold mine insights! Awesome video Garry, thanks for sharing

[@rosesterling3033]

Brilliant insight! Thank you

[@GarryTan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@unabuenasemana]

Learned a lot from this video, thank you Garry! ✨🙏

[@Virgilttr]

Amazing Garry! Thank you very much!

[@GarryTan]

Thank you!

[@asdqwe4528]

Fantastic video Garry. Thanks for sharing!

[@GarryTan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@CaptainPlanet007]

Wow! You dropping them gems 💎

[@anthkwok]

Thanks Gary, this was super helpful 🙌🏽

[@bennydimirco5073]

Another gem Garry!

[@ramkrishnnarao3560]

Great insight Gary. Thank u

[@MRAREPAMRAREPA]

Thank you very much Mr.Garry Tan it's always so empowering and uplifting to listen to you sir.

[@DrugMusicNFT]

Well spoken Garry. Blessings

[@ebrahimmoamer9198]

Great as usual!

[@GarryTan]

Thanks again!

[@mohamedrasvi9341]

Wow this is the content I have been looking for

[@GarryTan]

Thanks Mohamed!

[@martinrandolph8220]

Amazing Gems here Gary. This is life for me 🚀🗝

[@lucapoidomani5837]

Hi from Italy, I am watching all of your videos :) thanks for your tips

[@GarryTan]

Thank you!

[@mclarentee]

Thank you so much!

[@gaboronem8615]

This is great content, thank you

[@cryptoRen7]

thank you Gary!

[@TheKiller2064]

This is pure gold!

[@GarryTan]

Thank you!

[@JunCoolB]

Tnks for the learnings. You always throw out a ton of very useful videos.

[@GarryTan]

My pleasure!

[@GIOVANNYGARCIAHOLGUIN]

I have learned a lot with your videos Mate, thanks, a million thanks....

[@rayjenscode3501]

I learned so much to you Garry, very realistic. Thank you very much

[@kristopherleslie8343]

Thx very useful

[@juanmacortes]

I just love this guy.

[@doxologist]

Hopefully one day I can use all this excellent advice in my own Startup. For now, gotta put my head down and build! Thanks for this awesome content Garry :)

[@garv3293]

Y combinator Advice - Launch Now!

[@rightright6582]

Thank u, great content. Not ready for a challenging question related to our majority partner: Taxes, taxes and taxes; Later.

[@DemyanLavor]

Good advice

[@AzriRich88]

Great input and plan of what to do with10 million

[@vijaylakshminarayanan7052]

Amazing content coming just after our first seed round 💯Need to already plan the next gas station 😀

[@KelechIwuaba]

Literally never been a founder or wanted a startup but here for the learnings. Maybe one day I'll be there. But at least I've got a resource

[@talalalgain798]

I love you constant. 👍🏼

[@richardgrant8634]

Garry is so helpful

[@tomsissons3336]

Gary keep this up ur building future billionaires !!!!

[@peernetwork]

Hello we are Peer Nice vid and great contend helps us improve our business. The best thing to never run out of money is to create your own XD

[@GarryTan]

Well said! Revenue is the best.

[@nvcho]

Awesome video Garry!! Would love a similar one for raising pre-seed as a first time founder! And all the roles a founder must have when starting out...

[@GarryTan]

Here's the roles one - will do one for pre-seed later. blog.garrytan.com/six-skills-for-startup-success-what-founders-can-do-to-improve-their-chances-before-they-take-the-plunge

[@prashantbhrgv]

Thanks for putting out awesome content Garry! Absolutely love this

[@GarryTan]

Thank you Prashant!

[@funtasticcollection]

Great

[@basheershaik1863]

This is "Gold" dropped for free!!! How to know my growth numbers are true? is my question these days..Now I found the answer in this video!!! Thanx a lot Garry!!

[@Faizalxg]

Hi Gary, awesome content as usual ❤️ What's your advice for a marketplace/ social network where you need significant growth of users to be meaningful for retention?! Thanks in advance ❤️

[@_zeketorres]

Great stuff! ask the question "How will I get paid back?" thanks Garry! keep up the great videos!

[@cphshum123]

Awesome video Garry thanks! Do you mind unpacking more on Net & Gross Revenue? When you hear 5-10x valuation on revenue for SaaS, is that extracted from Net or Gross? If it is a pure SaaS, Net & Gross should be quite similar with a smaller proportion of COGS. Thanks!

[@GarryTan]

I tend to use net and then when valuations get wacko its because they are using next year’s net.

[@rakeshraveendra7411]

Hey can you make a video on how to raise funds ?

[@stevexie8511]

Great content as always Garry. I have a question about focusing on retention than growth - what are your views about the perception of growth that is required to generate interest into customers piloting your products? This is especially true for consumer startups where branding and credibility is sometimes important to even land the first customer.

[@GarryTan]

Figure out the smallest set of users you need to prove network is working

[@NgnMark]

The first 23 seconds would totally be me 😅

[@conocerseasimismo]

Found the video. Great 🦡

[@KaranSingh-wu8qq]

Hi Garry: Very structured and insightfu video. I was curious about what KPI to measure for market place for mortgages and home buying. On average the customer comes to the marketplace once in 7 years. Will retention be the right KPi to measure in this case or will referral growth be the right KPi to measeure - because it can be measured over a shorter time window

[@kwawmannanjnr]

I’m finally getting locked into the startup mindset

[@justthej]

🙏🏾

[@Arkentos9]

Can you please talk more about the what metrics VC love in Startup ?

[@0ppszee]

🤗 pat on the back

[@GarryTan]

Thanks!!

[@mohamedrasvi9341]

I have a question do usa vc firms invest on foreign market ? Like example startup target market is not usa ?

[@GarryTan]

Sometimes, usually if it is pure software (e.g. selling software to people no matter where they are in the world) but usually not if it is something that requires local market understanding (e.g. delivery marketplaces, fintech, healthcare, etc.)

[@ritvik5064]

Hey Garry, another great one, could you explain how 110% retention is possible?

[@GarryTan]

Existing customer spends more money over time (sends to more users, upgrades to higher tier plans etc)

[@ashrhazaly4993]

Would have been great if you still did OH alongside the current YC partners 😁

[@ShaneBurns]

Thoughts on 1. Measuring NPS alongside retention? 2. Changing leadership in marketing and sales before slashing budget?

[@GarryTan]

NPS is a vanity metric compared to retention. But it's fine to use to impress investors when your retention metrics are bad.

[@ShaneBurns]

@@GarryTan A Medallia marketing manager just keeled over. Is there a metric you value for tracking referrals or virality?

[@nelsonnng6249]

How can I find investors focus on investing global food ecosystem, B2B marketplace?

[@JoshsDevBox]

Meanwhile I’m just tryna survive at these company lol.. btw thanks for the excellent content!

[@pensarfeo]

Is it me, or the link for the "Becoming profitable" video is missing?

[@o.h.w.6638]

“investment funds DON’T belong to you personally” yikes that actually need to be clarified

[@refaelwhyte6243]

Wish I watched your videos years ago.

[@GarryTan]

Thanks Refael!

[@nat.serrano]

I foresee these videos will be shown in college campus or Gary’s university in the future

[@musictorelaxandunwind]

i dont any vc or angel investors in australia do u any ,no luck so far

[@chrisharrisglobal]

Hey Garry! Awesome video! I’ve watched tons of your videos, the only thing is, I still didn’t know you have a venture firm from any of your videos. Is there a reason you don’t promote it specifically much? Is this a strategy? Just curious about your thought process, or maybe this comment is helpful to let you know there may be lots of people looking for investors that didn’t know you have a fund! Myself included : )

[@mrniksharma]

My guess is that's because his goal is to give the best advice with the channel instead of just use it to source leads for investments!

[@GarryTan]

Mostly focused on helping people make more successful startups just like Paul Graham’s essays. The score takes care of itself.

[@meetmahmod]

@@GarryTan yes 💯 I noticed that in many of your videos. Paul's essays are written long form essays and your video content is 🔥

[@_zeketorres]

My question, is what does "good growth" look like for pre-revenue startups?

[@GarryTan]

10% weekly growth from small numbers

[@_zeketorres]

@@GarryTan that’s awesome, super helpful, thanks!!! We launched a little over 3 weeks ago and we are at 7017 download and 4026 users. • As an early startup what’s the ideal length of time for that sustained growth?

[@aliensonmars3662]

Gary finally got dark mode in his profile.

[@alexpaden8544]

this comment is because the video was good

[@aidenkim6629]

2:40 That’s why Jeff bezos rented a shitty office building when Amazon was wroth 30 Billion since “the customers won’t see it”

[@senju31]

10 million? I'd be great with 10,000.

[@Anythingbhakti]

10 billion 😁😁

[@bhairavidugal4979]

A lot of investors are confused and go into deep research, for a trusted and legit platform to trade and invest their equity & get tangible returns

[@kayondoedward]

pretending the problem is not there, wont solve it

[@GarryTan]

Gotta face problems head on!