So what is the best way, Anthemos, for people that are listening to reach out and say hi? How did you find these investors? Were going to charge you per lead or for the smaller landlords we charge them if theyre [11:15] for the transaction. One is I wouldnt be too pressured about it too early. Your third month is getting kind of diligence done and getting the wires in to the door. Your job is to raise capital and your job is to kind of hire and retain the best talents. A lot of that is in the bank. They are brilliant about. 1. Now my cofounders were phenomenal in bringing them to meetings. So lets talk about Zumper here. How does the day to day at Zumper work? Ckg1 Ckp1 - Ckg1a63-100 Make sure tenants understand why things are . I mean at the end of the day, building and scaling companies especially when youre at the early stages is all about survival and its all about learning to be with each other behind the trenches and really going to war and having each others backs. In terms of the dynamics, I think in the early days, you kind of through osmosis graduate towards like the things that are important. Youll get terms sheets and yeses hopefully quicker than that but this process takes a while and as the money increases and a few rounds become more complicated, it can take more than three months as well. He had actually interviewed me for a job at a different consulting firm and we stayed in touch. You know its interesting that you mentioned the chicken and the egg. Get Anthemos Georgiades's email address (a*****@zumper.com) and phone number (646398..) at RocketReach. And [14:42] in Silicon Valley is married to [graphics 14:43] mostly in terms of great companies just break out and succeed [agnostic 14:48] as to where people went to college or if they came from a wealthy or poor family. Hes raising money now. Alejandro: Got it. I mean youre doing various jobs, head of sales, head of finance, head of fundraising, head of like DZ. We saw it would take three to six months to integrate Pat Mapper and their backend that engineering project we worked really hard and quickly just over a year to integrate so we underestimated like how much work was required to integrate them by 3x. Every fantastic company has had hundreds of nos on the way to kind of huge outcomes and you just cant take it personally. Russell Middleton Co-Founder. Anthemos Georgiades on Twitter: "77% of you were interested in a In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. Because I speak with a ton of founders that are perhaps opening up the possibility of bringing on corporations and I think that you need to really do it right. How flat is the company? It was incredibly difficult. And so just be prepared that however smart, however many smart people have looked the deal and thought about whether it will work, it always take a little bit more time than you think it will to integrate because theres always some gremlin kind of hiding in the works that youre going to find. Prices can change quickly! So I think three months is an efficient round. How much respect is there? If you want me to help you with your fundraising, just book a call. Alejandro: Got it. Got it. So I guess without further ado, Anthemos Georgiades from Zumper, welcome aboard. So the way we monetize this is we either monetize the landlord mainly and we either charge them to leads. Taylor Glass-Moore Co-Founder. You look at your cofounders and you know that they understand that and that theyre not freaking out, that is where you build real institutional culture and then you try and grow that across the team. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs, Anthemos Georgiades was drawn into startup life to solve a burning problem. I was really impressed when because its not hard, its almost impossible to land VC such as Kleiner Perkins on literally your first financing round, the seed round. Well, first of all, your point about quashing the egg and shooting the chicken. Alejandro: And talking about hustling the network, was there any because I mean those networks that you have I think the network of Harvard is really fantastic and then you know the BCG as well but is there like any process that you followed to really like leverage the network? And then now your job at five, six years in with a team of a hundred with higher and amazing executive team who are all better at doing their jobs than you would ever be and so your job is almost as a CEO is to like hire yourself out of a job where you hire people, where you look at them and you think, Wow, I cant believe you report to me. Got it. I mean to a point network gets you an intro but a lot of intros are 10 minute meetings where the VC immediately decides its not for them which is totally fair. The most important thing is to surround yourself with an amazing support group because it is so much harder to build a company than I thought it was and the emotional resilience you need to get through the dark days and come back to the bright days even now is what [38:54] just get harder like yeah, we have more revenue now but with that there are people [38:58] and like huge revenue targets we have to attain and so the most important thing is surround yourself with a network of family, friends, mentors, peers, your team, your investors, whoever is an emotional crutch for you where you can take from them but also maybe get back to them as well when theyre having a tough time, thats the single most important thing is look after your mental health because it is lonely and it is stressful and if youre able to kind of be resilient you have a great outcome but it is really hard on some days to push through, so build that around just [39:35] and you can be happy while running your company. Had worked in politics. He runs all the background of operation and he came from the real estate industry, two completely different background and neither of them was an obvious pick when I started the company at grad school. Unluckily weve made some phenomenal early hires so the company that have all scaled to leadership roles, thats fantastic for retention because those people know that we could have hired from outside but we bet on them and it worked and so Zumper is a place to build theyre career not somewhere else. So you acquire not long ago Pat Mapper and how did this come together? For me, its Zumper, an apartment rental platform. His passion for relieving the stress for others in . Weve only been working with Axle Springer for four months now but they are fantastic. You look at your cofounders and you know that they understand that and that theyre not freaking out, that is where you build real institutional culture and then you try and grow that across the team. In many instances, really acquisitions are great to either feel growth on the company itself, either on the product or perhaps by adding a great talent, but unfortunately many M&A transactions fail really on the integration side of things. Alejandro: Really, really nice to have you here and excited for the chat that we have ahead here. How many listings do we have on the site? They are the two ways that Zumper currently monetizes them and there are two folks that [11:35]. I mean at the end of the day, building and scaling companies especially when youre at the early stages is all about survival and its all about learning to be with each other behind the trenches and really going to war and having each others backs. Theyre struggling to kind of grow their audience because they didnt have enough listings whereas Zumper at the getgo we had a lot of unique landlords on the platform that no one else had. They wanted to close apartments like they book a hotel and so took the status of like 35 different apartments we leased using the technology in San Francisco to VCs and said, Hey, were really going to rebuild all of this but heres some data that shows this really can work at scale, and thats how we raised the first million dollars from some of the names that you mentioned. In the early days you as the CEO you are the fundraiser, you are the effective CFO, youre the head of sales and you kind of have to do the whole thing. I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. Theres never like an exact number you need like when Uber raised money or you know Zillow raised money, theres never like a number they have to be at. Well, today's guest noticed that experience and wanted to improve it. So watching board members from the early investments are [19:38] who now runs Good Water but was originally Kleiner and then Eric [19:42] from Kleiner and theyre both experts at product market set. But I will say the one thing is true is that you always raise on momentum. And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. Pat Mapper caters to 25 and under and kind of big college populations. They are the two ways that Zumper currently monetizes them and there are two folks that [11:35]. So in terms of timeline, you were mentioning that the C round, you guys closed this 46 million a couple of months ago. So today, we have another founder and another one that is quite successful in their own paths. So you acquire not long ago Pat Mapper and how did this come together? For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered. To give you odds, at the seed stage and the series A stage of growth cuts, all about supply side where a two sided marketplace chicken an egg, on day zero you have no renters and no landlords, how do you solve that? So M&A are strategic [33:48]. And then at business school, I think the single biggest thing I learned through the case study method which is how they teach it at Harvard Business School but I think its true. Really good strategy to differentiate the demographics and were super happy with how it went down. Search icon - dusa.perfecttrailer.de Yeah. Im the CEO and Ive always felt that it was my responsibility to do the fundraising. A lot of business schools was how to make decisions with imperfect information. Tanguy Le Louarn Chief Product Officer. Alejandro: Got it. How do you take a company with those tractions, 10 million in revenue. So thats how Zumper got started. Saying that, if you do have multiple term sheets the second point is of course, like before you get to liquidity, revenue is irrelevant and if revenue gets in the way of bringing either the consumer on to your platform or the supply side person on to your platform, you should not be trying to charge. Anthemos Georgiades. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. When people ask me what Im most nervous about its how to keep our amazing team together, a couple of tactics and then one thing that really worked. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs. Got it. And I mean its quite a few cofounders. When people ask me what Im most nervous about its how to keep our amazing team together, a couple of tactics and then one thing that really worked. But theres no right answer in business. It is not suppose to be easy. And talking about hustling the network, was there any because I mean those networks that you have I think the network of Harvard is really fantastic and then you know the BCG as well but is there like any process that you followed to really like leverage the network? The reality is often in the early stages, youre going to want to take all the capital thats given to you and you may not have multiple term sheets. My friend have had to camp out overnight outside the property management office to get access to the new apartment and this is [01:09] you know things coming online, you can order a cab via phone, you can book a hotel online. I have no experience doing that. Originally from London, he has an MBA from Harvard Business School, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and BA from the University of Oxford. Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below. Saying that, in the early days you kind of need to bring on all the capital that you can. Youre supposed to try six things that dont work. Thank you so much. A lot of it was completely bottom up. You just get to this kind of motion of you all feel the same and you kind of pull in the same direction. Yeah, I think its probably the DNA of your culture is I think a lot of it is built in the tough times. Anthemos Georgiades, Zumper, European Founder, International Founders, Marketplace The process of renting apartments hasn't changed since Craigslist was introduced. Not really actually. Its not about the ski trips and any of that you know. And to be fair, some of these 20 did indeed come back later to invest but in Boston and I pitched all of the east coast investors first because I was on the east coast and they were straight nos. And then when I moved out to America, Russel was software engineer at Google and I had no technical background so I basically hit up my network for anyone with a technical background living in the US who might be interested in joining and Russel and I really hit it off and he was the perfect cofounder. Im so glad I did it. They may not understand marketplace as well as you but they may be able to bring a brilliant way of thinking about how to bring the supply on [30:20]. Your job as the CEO and the founder is to convince your investors of the reason to do this. It looks better for investors and it makes your life easier. So cofounders are difficult especially if youre not technical as really hard to find a good technical cofounder but the great thing is once you do and it takes a long time, they are able to attract the next generation of talent in to the company and thats how you kind of build your engineering team out. And it was just [22:11] during the process that its a startup, were at growth stage but not to expect to be able to predict our courses like that public company again. Got it. I met Russel who [04:01] engineering products through just the personal connections in London. Got it. So I as British person moving to Silicon Valley in 2012 I have never run a startup before. So we tell the small landlords, Hey, dont just advertise in Zumper. Township Of Ocean Police Department. A lot of it was completely bottom up. So you still have to land it and once youre on the door it doesnt matter where you come from you have to have something good. So thats how Zumper got started. And so when you think about AB testing frameworks, you think about how many started [03:43] that is a [03:44] grad school taught me. Got it. Look how quickly our revenue are scaling. So in terms of timeline, you were mentioning that the C round, you guys closed this 46 million a couple of months ago. Got it. 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I guess the question that I would ask you and perhaps some advice for some of those that are listening, that are building a business that is more around the network effects, the marketplaces, should they walk the other way if the investor is asking too much about revenue early on on the financing cycles? So all good companies have multiple offers on the table. Alejandro: I love it. Anthemos Georgiades - CEO and co-founder - Crunchbase So seed, series A, series B, series C, I was always the point person in the fundraise. So I think as your company matures, you look for investors that have something that you dont have and so for us, were not yet doing $100 million in revenue. There was no book [01:41]. For us, I think they fully understand the entrepreneurial journey and were really excited to have them on board. So what is the best way, Anthemos, for people that are listening to reach out and say hi? So our CFO is fantastic and what he was able to bring to the series C was real credibility where I meet the investors, get them excited about our vision and our story and then they spend hours with the CFO on the second or third meeting digesting our historical financial as were talking about where were headed. So one is weve always promoted within so whenever we needed a role, we always prefer to promote someone instead of hiring from outside. What are some tips for successfully navigating the rental market from a renter's perspective? Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. And in terms of preparation, Anthemos, how has the preparation like preparing before going to market to start engaging investors, how have you seen with your business, with Zumper, how have you seen that changed over time as the rounds were maturing? Then behind the scenes, Zumper will close the transaction with the landlord and set the renter up with kind of rent payment. Anthemos Georgiades On Building A Marketplace That Helps Millions of Yeah. It was always a man, there is a really tough problem that consumers experience and no one is solving it. Got it. I'm so proud of my wife Lucy Georgiades and her cofounder Lindsey Nehls on launching their business Elevate Academy today. So I think three months is an efficient round. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Then behind the scenes, Zumper will close the transaction with the landlord and set the renter up with kind of rent payment. And it is the culture that keeps people here, not the compensation or anything else. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. So for Zumper our vision as I mentioned was to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel and so instead of going in with just an idea, I built like a really crappy version of the end game that I wanted to build. "These markets had a huge net migration from New York and California, and they have held up," he says. The one unifying theme in every fundraising Ive run is momentum. So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. He discovered that the marketplace doesnt work for renters, and the idea for Zumper was born with the goal of evening the playing field and increasing transparency in the marketplace. Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More. You can set the expectations and then see what happens and if its not a good fit upfront, you can go with the different option on the table. It was not something Ive really ever thought about before. Were incredibly grateful for everything she did and she remains kind of shareholder in the company. Dave Costantino Staff Engineer - Backend. So it doesnt always work out and I think thats fine. You just cant get spooked. Rental listing startup with more than 26 million users. Alejandro: Got it. So that was great. Budget in my opinion perhaps should be allocated to something else. And so I finally just gave in and thought no one is going to build this. If you guys are Zumper website, you can kind of kind at zumper.com the Contact Us or on Twitter I am just @anthemos, A-N-T-H-E-M-O-S on Twitter and yeah, I respond to people. In terms of investors, I guess two comments. You kind of just all in [06:39] I think where the carving of the rose start to happen for me around 10, 12 people where you no longer just have [06:49]. So it was never I want to be an entrepreneur journey. And then when I moved out to America, Russel was software engineer at Google and I had no technical background so I basically hit up my network for anyone with a technical background living in the US who might be interested in joining and Russel and I really hit it off and he was the perfect cofounder. Anthemos Georgiades - Previous President for Zumper, Inc. Alrightee. There could be investors who are fantastic. So how did you meet your cofounders? And even though that sounds so obvious six years later, people just werent doing this in 2011, 2012 and we created a bunch of data that overwhelming shows the renters wanted to be applying for apartments from their phone. In the early days you as the CEO you are the fundraiser, you are the effective CFO, youre the head of sales and you kind of have to do the whole thing. And we built this website using an outsource development shop in Europe that just tested one assumption of the end game which was can we get users in 2011, 2012 just as mobile was coming online to apply and close apartments from their phone. Anthemos Georgiades. Its just part of the game and it doesnt [24:30]. After that, it changed to more consumer. At college in the UK, Ive had like multiple [00:58] renting apartments. Whats your story and most importantly, how did you get started with the entrepreneurial bug? Anthemos Georgiades is the co-founder and CEO of Zumper, the largest startup in the rental industry, used by more than 26 million renters last year alone. You shameless have to mine your network and I think all CEOs and entrepreneurs have to find that edge of how did they meet one of these investors, how did they meet someone that knows them. Oh yeah, on the seed round back in 2012, we had probably five investors come in to the seed round so we kind of had five yeses who put in small checks. There could be investors who are fantastic. For us, I think they fully understand the entrepreneurial journey and were really excited to have them on board. So you know I think Axle Springer very used to appraising companies that match their scale. You know marketplaces and liquidity is king like you were pointing to finding what you need in the shortest period of time because otherwise theyre going to go elsewhere. And then now your job at five, six years in with a team of a hundred with higher and amazing executive team who are all better at doing their jobs than you would ever be and so your job is almost as a CEO is to like hire yourself out of a job where you hire people, where you look at them and you think, Wow, I cant believe you report to me. For every successful fundraise, every single company have a lot of nos. Alejandro: So Im completely there with you. So I guess for those listeners that are looking at acquiring other companies to perhaps grow a little bit faster, what kind of advice would you give to them? This pellet stove is a good heating solution for a smaller rather than a . It is not suppose to be easy. Your second month you spend getting term sheets and documents signed. Please subscribe to unlock this content. One is I wouldnt be too pressured about it too early. You know marketplaces and liquidity is king like you were pointing to finding what you need in the shortest period of time because otherwise theyre going to go elsewhere. Anthemos Georgiades CEO at Zumper United States 4K followers 500+ connections Join to view profile Zumper Harvard Business School Websites Websites Company Website http://www.zumper.com Company. Culture is everything and so investing in people making sure I as the CEO spend a lot of time as much as possible with people who dont report to me is absolutely critical and that is ultimately like the fabric on how most companies are run. We didnt go that route because I have the network but if I didnt have the network and some people have the network and still do it, they are really good cheap in to getting scaled quickly. Thats quite motivating for people. They may not understand marketplace as well as you but they may be able to bring a brilliant way of thinking about how to bring the supply on [30:20]. Of course and I agree with you there, Anthemos. How does the day to day at Zumper work? And the biggest change in the series C I just raised versus in the early days is having a CFO. The reality is often in the early stages, youre going to want to take all the capital thats given to you and you may not have multiple term sheets. Meaning hey, we send you a ton of leads this month that close in to leases. Yeah, sure. Yeah. They were [sexy 23:47] company and really fantastic fundraisers but the rounds just take a long time, due diligence take a long time. Member profile: Zumper's founders - Anthemos Georgiades and Russell And so I wouldnt be too pressured. I say like in the first pitch to the day the money wires, theres always been around like a minimum of three months. Likewise. But I will say the one thing is true is that you always raise on momentum. You always have more nos that more yeses in fundraising but it was ultimately about just hustling my network as much as possible. I mean if you could give some kind of like tips you know both fronts it would be really fantastic. I mean if you could give some kind of like tips you know both fronts it would be really fantastic. So lets talk about Zumper here. In terms of investors, I guess two comments. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. She was our original CPO and after the series A, she moved on to roller, another company and we promoted someone internally to CPO. "While many markets cool off during the winter, Miami is still posting month-over-month increases. Theyre struggling to kind of grow their audience because they didnt have enough listings whereas Zumper at the getgo we had a lot of unique landlords on the platform that no one else had. You can filter down by city and . Got it. And so back to your point, yes, we want investors who are supportive of the fact that we didnt try to monetize the platform for the first three years because it would have created a barrier to entry. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. So Ill read it if anyone tweets anything interesting or if I can be helpful in anyway. Raising money first, marketplace businesses is still really difficult and Ive raised $90 million and Im still saying it is difficult.
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