Andy Rachleff on SVB, how to evaluate VCs, market pull indicators, Wealthfront, and more | E1699
Wealthfront Chairman and Co-Founder Andy Rachleff joins Jason for an incredible interview! They start the show by discussing the SVB situation before breaking down different tech mini-crashes throughout Silicon Valley history (2:28). Then, they break down Wealthfront’s business and how to know if a business has market pull (40:49). They finish up the show by covering a range of topics, from AI to stock-based comp (1:13:45).
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show
(2:28) SVB situation
(9:26) The FDIC’s $250K limit
(13:27) MasterClass - Get 15% off an annual membership at https://masterclass.com/startups
(14:49) The bank run
(16:17) The SVB ecosystem
(22:20) Merge - Integrate up to 5 customers for free today at https://merge.dev/twist
(23:45) Cycle changes
(36:15) How to judge a VC
(39:27) Issuu - Get 50% off when you go to https://issuu.com/podcast and use promo code twist
(40:49) Wealthfront’s operation
(48:58) Reactions to the market
(55:00) Modern analysis and stock buybacks
(1:01:24 ) Caring about profitability
(1:02:06) Attaining market pull
(1:13:45) Andy’s thoughts on AI
(1:16:31) The makeup of a great entrepreneur
(1:18:50) Stock-based compensation
(1:25:06) How we avoided inflation
FOLLOW Andy: https://twitter.com/arachleff
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Andy Rachleff on management theory, Reed Hastings’ genius, lessons from passing on Netflix & more | E1158
Check out Wealthfront: https://www.wealthfront.com
FOLLOW Andy: https://twitter.com/arachleff
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Wealthfront founder Andy Rachleff explains why the robo-advisor is betting on millennial investors, but not offering clients exposure to bitcoin
Episode 30 of The Scoop was recorded on Skype with Frank Chaparro, Steven Zheng, and Andy Rachleff, Co-Founder of Wealthfront. Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.
In this episode of the Scoop, Andy discusses several topics with Frank and Steven, including:
How Andy saw opportunity in the crowded investment services space
Why Wealthfront has developed a laser focus on millennial investors
Why Wealthfront does not include cryptocurrencies in their investment services
Andy's experience as a co-founder at Benchmark, including his biggest failure as an investor
E1002: Wealthfront CEO & Co-founder Andy Rachleff on hitting escape velocity at Wealthfront, pioneering “self-driving money” for consumers, shares insights on product-building in 1980’s vs. today, best investor attributes, & the future of NextGen banking
1:08 Jason intros Andy Rachleff
2:20 Where is Wealthfront at currently?
4:44 How are traditional money managers allowed to get away with so much?
10:19 How has Andy dealt with becoming the elder statesmen at his company?
14:15 What are Wealthfront Cash Accounts?
18:27 Wealthfront's long term vision
23:49 What is high-revenue retention? How does Wealthfront maintain it?
27:44 How has Silicon Valley changed since Andy started at Benchmark?
32:10 Andy describes his greatest skill as an investor
35:30 What were the 1980's like in Venture Capital?
40:05 What do you call a VC who's never lost money?
55:01 Jason & Andy discuss how Silicon Valley is viewed in the present day
a16z Podcast: From Teaching Leadership to Being a Leader
Few operators become VCs, and even fewer go back to leading companies... so how does these perspectives change how one leads? Obviously, it's a lot easier to think of a solution than execute on one... but then how does a leader empower one's team to do the right thing without micromanaging or without being frustrated when they're not getting what they wanted? (Hint: it has to do with providing context).
In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Andy Rachleff (president and CEO of Wealthfront and alum of Benchmark) shares his thoughts on leadership, as well as his own journey as an entrepreneur in a particular vertical, in conversation with Bethany Coates, founder and CEO of BreakLine, which helps vets transition into tech. (The discussion took place during one of BreakLine's programs, co-designed and hosted at a16z). And since both are/were also teachers at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (where Rachleff still lectures, and where Coates served as Assistant Dean for their Global Innovation Programs) -- how does teaching make one a more authentic leader, given all the styles of leadership out there? All this and more in this episode.
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Andy Rachleff - Building Something People Want to Buy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.42]
My guest this week is Andy Rachleff, who is the CEO of the automated investing platform Wealthfront. Andy was also a co-founder and long-time partner at Benchmark capital--one of the most interesting and successful venture capital firms in the world.
We spend most of our conversation discussing venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. Andy coined the now ubiquitous term “product/market fit,” and has great insight into how investors and entrepreneurs should think about business. In that vein, we discuss both what we refer to as the value hypothesis: building a product or service that customers love, and the growth hypothesis: scaling that product or service to a large market.
We finish our conversation by talking about Andy and his teams mission at Wealthfront, and this conversation is perfectly timed, as Wealthfront just released a new feature that allows investors to buy factor portfolios, similar to Smart Beta ETFs.
Above all, I’ll remember Andy’s advice to “put the gun in the other person’s hand,” a strategy that we explore in the middle of our talk.
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/andy
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune
Diffusion of Innovations
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
Show Notes
2:36 – (First question) – The partnership setup and how they came to be 5 equal partners
7:57 – Why benchmark would not take on the chairman role in companies they invested in
9:28 – What made John Doerr the greatest capitalist investor ever
11:59 – Looking at the venture process and what made it an attractive investment for Benchmark, using eBay as an example.
18:06 – If you are willing to help other people, without an expectation of return, it can create other opportunities
20:08 – Andy is asked to explain the idea of Product Market Fit, a term that he coined
22:18 – How does one go about finding a Product Market Fit
23:05 – The Four Steps to the Epiphany
23:19 – The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
25:55 – What are the components of the Growth hypothesis
26:51 – Why you can learn more professionally from success vs failure
28:13 – What it’s like to shift from venture capitalist to operator/CEO
30:24 – The rate at which technology gets adopted and what will help Wealthfront
30:53 – Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune
31:26 – Diffusion of Innovations
31:38 – Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
32:38 – What does it look like to innovate on top of current platforms
41:07 – Will platforms like Wealthfront help to democratize access to private markets
44:23 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Andy
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
20VC: Wealthfront and Benchmark's Andy Rachleff on Why Delight Is The Greatest Form Of Virality, Why Competition Does Not Matter & What The Future Holds For Automated Personal Finance
From 1995 until 2004 Andy Rachleff was a co-founder and General Partner of Benchmark Capital, who have backed the likes of Twitter, Snapchat, Dropbox, Uber and Instagram. Upon his retirement from Benchmark, Andy joined the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business to teach a variety of courses on entrepreneurship. In 2008 he co-founded Wealthfront Inc, the online financial advisor and investment management solution, where he now serves as Executive Chairman. In just 3 years, Wealthfront now have over $2bn AUM. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Andy made his way into the world of VC, became the Co-Founder @ Benchmark and what was the origin story behind the founding of Wealthfront?
2.) On rejoining Wealthfront as CEO Andy stated, 'I am an investor, not a CEO but what I did not realize was that I am a founder'. At what point did Andy realize this? Would Andy say that this is a strategic inflection point for Wealthfront with his return?
3.) What are the few elements that will make or break Wealthfront in the coming years? It it the best CEOs that are able to both balance the challenges with the opportunities?
4.) What does the future hold for Wealthfront? What is the exciting news? What does this mean for the road ahead and the world of automated personal finance?
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Andy on Twitter here! X.ai is AI-poweredered personal assistant for scheduling meetings bringing you Amy or Andrew. The assistant you interact with like you would to any other person and it allows you to avoid the tedious hours of email ping pong in order to schedule one meeting. Even better, there is no sign in, no password, no download, all you do is cc amy@x.ai beautiful! And you can check it out now on x.ai it really is a must!
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20VC: Andy Rachleff, Founder @ Benchmark & Wealthfront on What Makes The Best CEO & Board Member & Why Ivy League Endowments Are The Best Managed Capital In The World
From 1995 until 2004 Andy Rachleff was a co-founder and General Partner of Benchmark Capital, who have backed the likes of Twitter, Snapchat, Dropbox, Uber and Instagram. Upon his retirement from Benchmark, Andy joined the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business to teach a variety of courses on entrepreneurship. In 2008 he co-founded Wealthfront Inc, the online financial advisor and investment management solution, where he now serves as Executive Chairman. In just 3 years, Wealthfront now have over $2bn AUM. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Andy made his way into the world of VC and what was the origin story behind the founding of Benchmark?
2.) Andy took the opposite route to most having been a VC and then founding Wealthfront. So what does Andy make of doing VC first and then becoming an operator?
3.) Why does Andy believe Ivy League endowments are the best managed pools of capital? What do they do well and what separates the good from the great?
4.) Andy has worked with some of the world's best CEO's and board members, so what makes the best board member and what makes the best CEO?
5.) How has Andy seen the VC industry evolve and develop over the last 20 years? How has Andy seen his own investment decision making process and patter recognition alter over that time?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Andy's Fave Book: The Innovator's Dilemma
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Andy on Twitter here! The Twenty Minute VC is brought to you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including 2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are 100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get $75 off!