Hello, everyone, to the DealMakers Show. 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. How did you find these investors? We want investors who look at $100 million in revenue as table stakes but they wont agree to a billion. Its a Greek name, British accent. Make sure tenants understand why things are . I didnt think that either of them originally. Really good strategy to differentiate the demographics and were super happy with how it went down. And the biggest change in the series C I just raised versus in the early days is having a CFO. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. And I mean its quite a few cofounders. Got it. Pat Mapper caters to 25 and under and kind of big college populations. Anthemos Georgiades: One Lesson That Led To Raise $90 Million From The Were growing very quickly but none of that was true obviously in the first two years. 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. Got it. Were growing very quickly but none of that was true obviously in the first two years. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. Yeah. So we solved it to the first two years purely by getting landlords on board through various kind of product strategy and so our growth cuts for the first two years that we raised the [27:41] were purely about landlords and listing. How flat is the company? How does the day to day at Zumper work? How do you take a company with those tractions, 10 million in revenue. 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. If you dont have those connections, I think this is where like a lot of these accelerators and incubators, Y Combinator or Techstars or Launch are really good where you can apply. I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. 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. Obviously they knew and I think for us it was like telling Axle and the rest of our investors that there are going to be months where we massively beat plans and there will be months where were behind plans. Anthemos Georgiades | Multifamily Executive Magazine anthemos georgiades net worth. This show is about storytelling and all the elements that go into telling the perfect fundraising story. I'm so proud of my wife Lucy Georgiades and her cofounder Lindsey Nehls on launching their business Elevate Academy today. 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 the first two or three years you will kill your marketplace if you create any barriers to entry from either side. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. That is where your focus is and even though you kind of missed doing some of the stuff and the weeds and my team continue to tell me to get away from the weed and continue to [36:12] the 50,000 set, you have to let it go and trust your team to do a better job than you were doing. Got it. Saying that, I have connections through both business school and previous people that have gone through BCG venture capital and most of your listeners and entrepreneurs will know so much of this is about like getting warm introductions to VCs so I did have a couple of cheats to get in through the network or through the BCG network. 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. "These markets had a huge net migration from New York and California, and they have held up," he says. Its really built in the dark days of when stuff is really difficult and I think Zumpers culture now is we have a lot of users still remembers and its a testament to those dark days and we never take anything for granted. 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. It was like $46 million. One is I wouldnt be too pressured about it too early. Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below. So Anthemos, theres always a first time and you know I guess this is the first time in the history of the DealMakers Show that Im able to interview someone that has been involve on the M&A but more on the buy side. We also actually had a really wonderful fourth cofounder whos no longer with us. It was just purely hustling my network for six months to find people who are really great cultural fit but also have very different skill sets to the one I have. It was like $46 million. I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. 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? And were they like obviously now youre opening here the cap table to a different breed and I guess when that happen probably at a strategic level lets say from a board perspective or something you know, maybe you receive some type of recommendations whether it was with this corporation or with other corporations as to what perhaps to look for and what to avoid. Anthemos Georgiades on Twitter: "77% of you were interested in a So we have several million users using our platform every month now which is great and next year we wanted tens of millions of users a month and were poised to doing that. Youre right that is wrong advice. Well, Anthemos, it has been a pleasure to have you on the show. It was incredibly difficult. And at one point I just told one I just feel like I want to step on the egg and shoot the chicken because it was so repetitive. I have no experience doing that. Got it. It just really helps to divide and conquer like that while I was meeting new investors again. 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. Really good strategy to differentiate the demographics and were super happy with how it went down. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. Look how quickly our revenue are scaling. So tell me your story a little bit here, Anthemos. I mean your job moves from doing jobs in the first few years. Alejandro: Got it. So if the story has changed in a way that merits the focus of the company but what is consistent every single time weve raised is that for six months in a row, we had really, really quick growth. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs, Anthemos Georgiades was drawn into startup life to solve a burning problem. And it is the culture that keeps people here, not the compensation or anything else. Could you meet him? And so whereas that doesnt guarantee any success we obviously have to have really good numbers and a really good story to tell them. Alejandro: And did you diversify this responsibility with the other cofounders or was there one of you guys that has always been leading the chart on the financing side? So in terms of timeline, you were mentioning that the C round, you guys closed this 46 million a couple of months ago. They were super lean team of under five people and its been a great deal for Zumper like we have one backend, one sales team and then two consumer platforms. So you know I think Axle Springer very used to appraising companies that match their scale. Could you meet him? And so whereas that doesnt guarantee any success we obviously have to have really good numbers and a really good story to tell them. It was not something Ive really ever thought about before. At series A, you got to show product market set in a sub vertical. But oh we must have had like 20 persons or 20 people say not now or later. So we have several million users using our platform every month now which is great and next year we wanted tens of millions of users a month and were poised to doing that. At scale you get to do that and have those teams. 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. But theres no right answer in business. I think its easy not to set those expectations and get caught in the relationship where neither side is being clear on what they expect. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. And you know I think hiring is definitely tough but retaining is even more complicated so is there any things that you for example seen yourself that work on that front? Never thought Id be an entrepreneur. Got it. But oh we must have had like 20 persons or 20 people say not now or later. For every successful fundraise, every single company have a lot of nos. 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. Meaning hey, we send you a ton of leads this month that close in to leases. So I wouldnt be too picky early. 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. Obviously they knew and I think for us it was like telling Axle and the rest of our investors that there are going to be months where we massively beat plans and there will be months where were behind plans. They take every, some people go and warm theirif you have a brilliant idea, theyd be crazy not to take it and then their entire value is obviously give you a three month program and then at the end expose you to liek 40 investors. FUNDED EP01: How to tell a story worth $140 million dollars (Zumper) 00:00 51:07 Episode Summary Anthemos Georgiades, founder of Zumper, perfected his pitch the way most founders do: through trial and error. And so I didnt really think about it too often because this is kind of 15 years ago but then I moved to another six or seven times into an apartment rentals in London, in Boston, in New York and the process is so bad every time, not just in searching but also in actually like getting the apartment. So I guess in your guys case, how do you deal with the egos and then more importantly how did you define the responsibilities early on so that you kind of have that healthy culture going on? He has grown the Zumper team to 50 and counting and successfully completed the acquisition of apartment search platform PadMapper. We raised like a million dollars in seed money, that was running out so we tried various things that didnt work and I think the fabric of our culture that is still true today when we have a hundred people is built in the dark days and those days where your stuff is not working, your users arent growing, and how you look at your teammates and how you guys turn up on a Monday morning after a really crappy week the week before where maybe someone quit or maybe the metrics went south. Every fantastic company has had hundreds of nos on the way to kind of huge outcomes and you just cant take it personally. 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. So you kind of just have to [25:29] but just to be clear yeah, we had far more nos than yeses at the seed round. You are going to get a bunch of nos so I wouldnt rule people out too early. Got it. A lot of it was completely bottom up. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. Thats your job. Over time, its great to be able to bring in your team. So how did you meet your cofounders? Anthemos Georgiades on LinkedIn: Elevate Academy | Elevate Leadership Alejandro: So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. It is your job not just to do the day to day but once or twice a year you should be doing stuff that has a completely linear outcome where one day youre doing you know 3 million users a month and the next day youre doing 5 million users a month. The one unifying theme in every fundraising Ive run is momentum. hendrick motorsports hats; anthemos georgiades net worth I think if you set these expectations from the very beginning that are super important. 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. 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. And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. Everyone filling gaps where they could and it [07:02] fulfilling gaps in to where youre skilled and so I think the most obvious thing to do for that is to hire people with very different skill sets to you that allows you to never really have awkward overlap and egos because everyone is kind of skilled at something very unique. How does the day to day at Zumper work? True to its reputation, Comfortbilt's HP22 pellet stove comes with a heating capacity of 50,000 BTU. E1031 Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades on monetizing - YouTube Hes raising money now. And did you diversify this responsibility with the other cofounders or was there one of you guys that has always been leading the chart on the financing side? Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Anthemos Georgiades: Its part of the game. 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. In terms of investors, I guess two comments. But I will say the one thing is true is that you always raise on momentum. Whats your story and most importantly, how did you get started with the entrepreneurial bug? 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. Hes raising money now. Alejandro: Got it. Youre exactly right. Get Anthemos Georgiades's email address (a*****@zumper.com) and phone number (646398..) at RocketReach. Alejandro: Got it. Alejandro: Got it. 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. 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? Its not about the ski trips and any of that you know. 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. anthemos georgiades net worth; wedding max minghella wife; private beach airbnb california; antique english double barrel shotguns; tuscany faucet cartridge removal; primeweld cut 60 machine torch; glendale, az setback requirements. Thats just part of the game. Anthemos Georgiades, Zumper Inc: Profile and Biography Likewise. 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. Absolutely. We also actually had a really wonderful fourth cofounder whos no longer with us. Budget in my opinion perhaps should be allocated to something else. Anthemos Georgiades, Author at The Zumper Blog At series A, you got to show product market set in a sub vertical. Yeah. Zumper CEO and co-founder May 2012 Board and Advisor Roles Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 1 Anthemos Georgiades is the Board Member at Zumper. 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. Anthemos Georgiades - Previous President for Zumper, Inc. Terms & Conditions! 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. You rarely have enough data to make the absolutely correct decision and I think a lot of businesses fail especially start ups when they dont make decisions fast enough and in business schools, the case study methods taught me how to feel confident in making decisions without perfect information and how to use data to kind of then review once youve launched, whether it was right or wrong. Yes, weve raised $90 million in capital including a series C that we just closed three months ago. I say like in the first pitch to the day the money wires, theres always been around like a minimum of three months. They are brilliant about. Thiel was the first angel investor in Facebook with a $500K check that turned into more than $1 billion in cash. With a diverse background that includes consulting for Boston Consulting Group and serving as Economic Advisor and speechwriter in the 2010 British Election, Anthemos founded Zumper in 2012 after his own terrible rental experience. So we bought them. Absolutely. So Anthemos, theres always a first time and you know I guess this is the first time in the history of the DealMakers Show that Im able to interview someone that has been involve on the M&A but more on the buy side. Alejandro: Got it. Youre right that is wrong advice. And then as we looked at the C round, Axle Springer are fantastic good example [19:59]. 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. So we tell the small landlords, Hey, dont just advertise in Zumper. Got it. Anthemos Georgiades: One Lesson That Led To Raise $90 Million From The Top Venture Capital Firms by Alejandro Cremades Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs, Anthemos Georgiades was drawn into startup life to solving a burning problem. But theres no right answer in business. Its a Greek name, British accent. It is not suppose to be easy. So it was never I want to be an entrepreneur journey. His passion for relieving the stress for others in apartment rentals has given birth to a venture which has now raised $90 million, has experienced tremendous growth, and boasts a VC line up of some of the most prized investors in Silicon Valley. Great question. Got it. And we were talking about the $46 million round which was the C round, C as in cat and basically what you were talking about I mean what Ive seen is that you guys have shifted a little bit the strategy. Likewise. So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs. I mean youre doing various jobs, head of sales, head of finance, head of fundraising, head of like DZ. Meaning hey, we send you a ton of leads this month that close in to leases. How do you scale like 20 million in revenue to 200 million in revenue and we didnt need the more product set investors because we already have fantastic people at that. So when you go in to a fundraising in terms of preparation the most important thing is that your last six months are great and your most important metrics are all growing really nicely so kind of five, six months in a row that is a fantastic story to tell to an investor. I think at that stage it makes sense. 1. How many landlords did we have on the site? I think if you set these expectations from the very beginning that are super important. Rear mounted 3" standard exhaust port, and 2" standard air intake Exterior dimensions of unit are 24" wide, 26" deep, and 40" high with mounted controller. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah, I mean BCG I think you get access to the 23 year olds CEOs who had been working for 40 years and kind of crazy in consulting you take the shortcut in your careers to being in the board room. I think Id say forget everything you think you know and everything, your education [38:28]. At college in the UK, Ive had like multiple [00:58] renting apartments. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Yeah, sure. Alejandro: So Im completely there with you. Keeping good lines of communication open can solve many landlord/tenant problems. It is your job not just to do the day to day but once or twice a year you should be doing stuff that has a completely linear outcome where one day youre doing you know 3 million users a month and the next day youre doing 5 million users a month. Your second month you spend getting term sheets and documents signed. So what I wanted to ask you here is in terms of on boarding lets say this type of, because its a different beast, you know type of investors so how does the approach from evaluating an investor that is a VC, an angel or an angel group shift towards evaluating a potential strategic corporation that is looking to become part of your cap table? 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? I learned more from you than you learned from me, and then your job as CEO is to do kind of two or three things, that is to continue to advance like the vision and the mission of the company and keep everything strategically aligned. 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? Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs, Anthemos Georgiades was drawn into startup life to solving a burning problem. There could be investors who are fantastic. Its a good question. We both had ideas to be entrepreneurs but neither of us have the guts to actually go for it.