And for you I guess personally and professionally because I think they both come together, so how has your leadership and management skills changed over the time from leading the company of lets say four to ten folks initially to a company of over a hundred employees? I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. Got it. It is not suppose to be easy. I mean your job moves from doing jobs in the first few years. Had worked in politics. So I wouldnt be too picky early. Based in San Francisco, Anth leads the company in its mission to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. I didnt think that either of them originally. Got it and before we actually dive in to the journey here, so consulting and. Yeah, sure. Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More. We both had ideas to be entrepreneurs but neither of us have the guts to actually go for it. Zumper which is a little bigger in terms of audience now caters more to urban professionals moving within cities. 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. 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. It has to be me and thats how I started the company six years ago after business school. In the early days we love the exposure to Silicon Valley investors. Youre exactly right. And then as we looked at the C round, Axle Springer are fantastic good example [19:59]. Were going to charge you per lead or for the smaller landlords we charge them if theyre [11:15] for the transaction. So Zumper is the vision for the company is to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. 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. And then my other cofounder Kurt Taylor I met through his mother who was an [04:43] and it was another example of just pure hustle. So how did you meet your cofounders? So M&A are strategic [33:48]. But theres no right answer in business. We have like four people at the company for the first year or maybe five for the first year and so theres so much to do and theres so little time and few resources that you actually theres no real intellectual whiteboarding session that you do to carve out rose. Alejandro: Got it. I think Id say forget everything you think you know and everything, your education [38:28]. 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. 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. 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: 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. We love our investors. 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. Over-Communication. 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. It happened but I wouldnt say its like an obvious part. I mean I think at seed round its like an [26:02]. So paradoxically, I dont think the core DNA of a companys culture is built at ski tracks or offsite. Sujal Patel On Selling His First Business For $2.6 Billion And Now Raising $108 Million From Jeff Bezos And Others To Improve Medical Diagnostics, Cap Table: Everything Entrepreneurs Need To Know, He Cofounded A Business Of 4,000 Employees That Just Sold For $2.6 Billion To Delivery Hero, Sacha Michaud On Cofounding A Business Of 4,000 Employees That Just Sold For $2.6 Billion To Delivery Hero, His Previous Business Is Worth $1 Billion And Now Raised $54 Million To Create A Cloud-Native Database Service, Nikita Shamgunov On Building A $1 Billion Business And Now Raising $54 Million To Create A Cloud-Native Database Service, How to leverage your network for introductions, The importance of your metrics leading up to the, Expectations from investors during the different. 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. It was kind of [31:51] as early as we did to buy another stock up that was kind of four years in. When you look your cofounders, your team in the eye and you know theyre ready to go and theyre resilient and they come back in to build and try the next thing and youve kind of worked out together this is part of the game. So I guess what was the timeline of this C round compared to perhaps your seed round of 2012? "These markets had a huge net migration from New York and California, and they have held up," he says. Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below. So I as British person moving to Silicon Valley in 2012 I have never run a startup before. 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 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. Got it. [06:54] the early days and it worked where there was just all hands to the pump. After that, it changed to more consumer. Alejandro: Just out of curiosity, Anthemos, like how many nos did you get for example on your seed round if you have to count it? And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. Great question. So I think three months is an efficient round. So the way we monetize this is we either monetize the landlord mainly and we either charge them to leads. And the biggest change in the series C I just raised versus in the early days is having a CFO. I think at that stage it makes sense. Alejandro: Of course and I agree with you there, Anthemos. And your cap table I mean as I was reviewing I just felt as I was looking at the Oscars of Silicon Valley, the red carpet. So strategically that was a good marriage where they had a great consumer brand and we have really fantastic supply side inventory. In the early days we love the exposure to Silicon Valley investors. So I guess in just to like follow up on that, what in your mind and obviously in what youve seen creates really that magical relationship between cofounders? 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. Got it. He had actually interviewed me for a job at a different consulting firm and we stayed in touch. Anthemos Georgiades is the CEO of <a href="http://zumperblog.kinsta.cloud">Zumper</a>. Oh wow, good question. And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. Got it. 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. 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. [06:54] the early days and it worked where there was just all hands to the pump. Anthemos Georgiades: Oh wow, good question. You just get to this kind of motion of you all feel the same and you kind of pull in the same direction. So in terms of timeline, you were mentioning that the C round, you guys closed this 46 million a couple of months ago. Well help you prequalify renters and actually get the renter in to a lease, signing the documents, paying the first month deposit but well charge you a percentage of the lease fairly. Anthemos Georgiades: Its part of the game. In the first two or three years you will kill your marketplace if you create any barriers to entry from either side. Got it. But I will say the one thing is true is that you always raise on momentum. Shalin Amin Chief Experience Officer. I mean I called it like a cheat [33:33] my team. You can filter down by city and . Got it. And so I wouldnt be too pressured. The one unifying theme in every fundraising Ive run is momentum. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Anthemos Georgiades is the co-founder and CEO of Zumper. 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 that was great. 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. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: So Zumper is the vision for the company is to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. But theres no right answer in business. So for the business, Anthemos, how much capital have you guys raised today? 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. 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. Categories . Alejandro: I love it. 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. Raising money first, marketplace businesses is still really difficult and Ive raised $90 million and Im still saying it is difficult. 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? So how did you meet your cofounders? 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. And I mean its quite a few cofounders. Retention is something I think about every day. I kind of looked through in Crunchbase which connections I have into which fund. I say like in the first pitch to the day the money wires, theres always been around like a minimum of three months. Alejandro: Got it. Weve only been working with Axle Springer for four months now but they are fantastic. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. 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. Russell Middleton Co-Founder. They are the two ways that Zumper currently monetizes them and there are two folks that [11:35]. He remains a huge Tottenham Hotspur fan, and wakes up painfully every Saturday morning to tune into the live English soccer games. Got it. So today, we have another founder and another one that is quite successful in their own paths. Zumper which is a little bigger in terms of audience now caters more to urban professionals moving within cities. Now we have supply so the six months curve at the series B was all about users and millions of monthly users and then at the series C it was much more revenue curve. See How I Can Help You With Your Fundraising Efforts. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. And so I finally just gave in and thought no one is going to build this. 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. Alejandro: 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. Got it. I knew the CEO for a while. It is ultimately the culture. I grew up in London. 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. They are brilliant about. Alejandro Cremades leads the vision and execution for Panthera Advisors as its Co-Founder and. How many landlords did we have on the site? It has to be me and thats how I started the company six years ago after business school. Never thought Id be an entrepreneur. Alejandro: So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. It was incredibly difficult. Weve only been working with Axle Springer for four months now but they are fantastic. You know its interesting that you mentioned the chicken and the egg. 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. 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? So I guess lets say we had the opportunity to put you in front of your younger self, Anthemos, in 2012 before you were to close that seed round, what would be that piece of advice that you would give to your younger self with everything that youve learned having this journey ahead of you? Got it. Whats your story and most importantly, how did you get started with the entrepreneurial bug? In terms of investors, I guess two comments. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. It was at the time Pat Mapper example almost the same size on consumer but now Zumper is much bigger but we called it like a cheat and your job as the founder is to identify like vertical cheats where overnight you become bigger than your competitors. Anthemos Georgiades. Rocketreach finds email, phone & social media for 450M+ professionals. How do you take a company with those tractions, 10 million in revenue. Alejandro: Got it. So you know I think Axle Springer very used to appraising companies that match their scale. So one is weve always promoted within so whenever we needed a role, we always prefer to promote someone instead of hiring from outside. He had actually interviewed me for a job at a different consulting firm and we stayed in touch. Got it. One is I wouldnt be too pressured about it too early. It looks better for investors and it makes your life easier. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. anthemos georgiades net worthperpetual futures binance. Its a Greek name, British accent. Additionally, Anthemos Georgiades has had 2 past jobs including Consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Thats your job. How flat is the company? 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. Yeah, I think its probably the DNA of your culture is I think a lot of it is built in the tough times. Like what have you seen that really works? For Zumper's Georgiades, many Florida markets, such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, have been the big pandemic winners. Yeah. Rental listing startup with more than 26 million users. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Your job is to raise capital and your job is to kind of hire and retain the best talents. Alejandro: Got it. 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. ! We both had ideas to be entrepreneurs but neither of us have the guts to actually go for it. @zumper Stories Uncategorized 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. 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. So Ill read it if anyone tweets anything interesting or if I can be helpful in anyway. Absolutely. Anthemos Paul Georgiades has been associated with one company, according to public records. Hello, everyone, to the DealMakers Show. So I learned a lot from a few companies that I loved, a few companies that I thought are doing crazy things I learned so much. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. It seemed crazy that the real estate industry wasnt moving towards on demand. Got it. Got it. I mean I called it like a cheat [33:33] my team. Its so hard to get marketplaces liquidity so correct, the beautiful thing as you know is when you have it, it took us three years to get to that, it just runs and you just grow naturally when you have both sides but its so hard to get to it. So the series B, weve done story now look at how quickly the renters are growing on the platform. All photos courtesy of Forbes Councils members. 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. 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. The other large investor in this round [20:05] scale so once you have product market set, how do you scale that? So I guess without further ado, Anthemos Georgiades from Zumper, welcome aboard. After that, it changed to more consumer. And then my other cofounder Kurt Taylor I met through his mother who was an [04:43] and it was another example of just pure hustle. Please subscribe to unlock this content. So I wouldnt be too picky early. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. At the end of the day though, whether its senior people, junior people, interns who we want to bring back is all under pinned by culture. So lets talk about Zumper here. So what was that process like you were talking about, yes, your network of Harvard but can you share with us like what was that process of landing Kleiner on your seed round? I mean your job moves from doing jobs in the first few years. 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. 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. Pat Mapper caters to 25 and under and kind of big college populations. 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. 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. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs.