Had worked in politics. 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. In terms of the dynamics, I think in the early days, you kind of through osmosis graduate towards like the things that are important. Yeah. Got it. 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. 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. So the way we monetize this is we either monetize the landlord mainly and we either charge them to leads. Alejandro: Got it. 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. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. Not really actually. So the majority of that is still in the bank but yeah, we raised money in capital [12:00]. Were very clear with Axle Springer that we have a lot of consumer scale so a lot of people use our platform on a monthly basis but were still building the [21:55]. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Alejandro: Really, really nice to have you here and excited for the chat that we have ahead here. Got it. Just out of curiosity, Anthemos, like how many nos did you get for example on your seed round if you have to count it? In terms of the dynamics, I think in the early days, you kind of through osmosis graduate towards like the things that are important. So paradoxically, I dont think the core DNA of a companys culture is built at ski tracks or offsite. 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. 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. 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. 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? Its not about the ski trips and any of that you know. Saying that, in the early days you kind of need to bring on all the capital that you can. So in terms of timeline, you were mentioning that the C round, you guys closed this 46 million a couple of months ago. rex harrison audrey hepburn relationship. Got it. Raising money first, marketplace businesses is still really difficult and Ive raised $90 million and Im still saying it is difficult. So what is the best way, Anthemos, for people that are listening to reach out and say hi? Like what have you seen that really works? Im so glad I did it. 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. Anthemos Georgiades is the CEO and co-founder at Zumper. Like what have you seen that really works? 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. 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. Vishal Makhijani President & COO. I dont think theres a startup I could have launched that taught me more. It was incredibly difficult. 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. Zumper CEO & Co-Founder Anthemos Georgiades makes renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel, shares insights on monetizing marketplaces, diversifying r. In terms of investors, I guess two comments. Well, Anthemos, it has been a pleasure to have you on the show. 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? Budget in my opinion perhaps should be allocated to something else. 1.4.1 - Provisions of this Code Declared . Anthemos Paul Georgiades has been associated with one company, according to public records. I mean I called it like a cheat [33:33] my team. 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. And the biggest change in the series C I just raised versus in the early days is having a CFO. Anthemos was an undergrad at Oxford when he noticed how problematic renting an apartment . 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. Saying that to your point, we see the deal was a successful and yet M&A is really hard to integrate. Originally from London, he has an MBA from Harvard Business School, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and BA from the University of Oxford. It was kind of [31:51] as early as we did to buy another stock up that was kind of four years in. Had worked at the Boston Consulting Group. Anthemos Georgiades, Zumper, European Founder, International Founders, Marketplace The process of renting apartments hasn't changed since Craigslist was introduced. 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. So I guess for a marketplace or lets say for the people that are listening to us like what kind of metrics do you think for the most part if were talking about hyper growth companies, like they should be a little bit more mindful about? Yeah. In the early days we love the exposure to Silicon Valley investors. I mean your job moves from doing jobs in the first few years. So how did you meet your cofounders? Youre exactly right. And so I finally just gave in and thought no one is going to build this. We envisioned a world in which a renter can find apartments, book in [tour 10:18], turn up the [10:21] and if they want to take the apartment pre-qualify, leave a deposit and book the apartment. Got it. Got it. And it is the culture that keeps people here, not the compensation or anything else. I know entrepreneurs who spend nine months raising their rounds which is a long time but they got great rounds done. It looks better for investors and it makes your life easier. Got it. Got it. Alejandro: Got it. 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. You are going to get a bunch of nos so I wouldnt rule people out too early. How do you take a company with those tractions, 10 million in revenue. 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. Got it. And were just a little earlier than obviously a public company so our gross is spikier. 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. 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. Just enter your email below. 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 how did that consulting experience shape up your approach in terms of like tackling problems and the entrepreneurial journey itself? Anthemos Georgiades is co-founder & CEO of Zumper, the largest startup in the rental industry. 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. I kind of looked through in Crunchbase which connections I have into which fund. 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 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. Zumper which is a little bigger in terms of audience now caters more to urban professionals moving within cities. For me, its Zumper, an apartment rental platform. 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. 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. Got it. It has to be me and thats how I started the company six years ago after business school. How many landlords did we have on the site? 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. This show is about storytelling and all the elements that go into telling the perfect fundraising story. And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. So strategically that was a good marriage where they had a great consumer brand and we have really fantastic supply side inventory. How much respect is there? In terms of investors, I guess two comments. Zumper Board Member Related Hubs Raising money first, marketplace businesses is still really difficult and Ive raised $90 million and Im still saying it is difficult. 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]. Yeah. I think just up front boundaries before you close the round is super important. How flat is the company? 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. 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. I think if you set these expectations from the very beginning that are super important. anthemos georgiades net worthperpetual futures binance. I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. August 4, 2020. So the series B, weve done story now look at how quickly the renters are growing on the platform. I think Id say forget everything you think you know and everything, your education [38:28]. Not really actually. 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.