My framework for assessing CAC payback Payback is a _________ Each year, we meet hundreds of internet businesses that run the gamut from industry or vertical to product and business model — and just about everything in between. On the surface, these businesses might not have much in common; internally, we’ve converged around one single metric that’s…More
The State of Sound: Audio in 2020 and Beyond
By Gaby Goldberg & Talia Goldberg. Originally published in Bessemer’s Atlas. Audio is experiencing a Cambrian moment, growing faster now than it ever has before. Apple is expected to sell over 100 million AirPods this year, up from 60 million in 2019. Roughly one in four adults owns a smart speaker, with a third of…More
Enabling Entrepreneurship
By Talia Goldberg, Sakib Dadi, Lindsey Li. Originally published in Bessemer’s Atlas. Contrary to popular belief, starting a business has never been harder. Although startup culture sometimes feels more like pop culture in mainstream media, the number of new businesses formed each year is decreasing. Over the past 30 years, new business creation has declined…More
Remote work roadmap
This was originally posted on the Bessemer blog in January 2020. It outlines my remote work thesis and includes excerpts from a presentation I gave to Bessemer’s limited partners in October 2019. At Bessemer, we believe entrepreneurship is borderless and that geography is one of the greatest limitations of innovation and growth. We first came…More
Valuations: What is Happening and does it Matter?
Here is a short presentation that my colleague Jeremy Levine and I put together to highlight valuation trends in various tech sectors. Within the past two years, over 50 new “unicorns” have emerged in the U.S. These unicorns are propped up by venture capitalists and their rapidly expanding funds. While many will evolve into self-sustaining…More
More Money, More Problems
I recently wrote a guest post for the Dorm Room Fund‘s blog about the dangers of raising too much money early on. I think this topic is one of the most important for young startups raising seed / series A capital. You can see the post on the DRF blog, but I have also posted…More
Scandals in a Male Dominated Silicon Valley
The recent Ellen Pao–Kleiner Perkins scandal has brought much needed attention to the gender gap in technology and venture capital. The media attention and debate surrounding the lawsuit has opened up a dialogue that often remains hidden and overlooked, particularly in this field. But the gender unbalance is unmistakable. A recent report reveals that women make up a…More
How Startups Disrupt Industries
Below is a great quote from Bryce Roberts’ blog that highlights one of the reasons I love startups — their innovative way of envisioning a new reality. “Startups don’t compete with airlines by purchasing a bunch of planes, hiring a bunch of pilots and locking up a bunch of terminals at airports. Startups compete with…More
Improving App Discovery
How do you discover new apps to download to your iPhone? Most people download apps based on word of mouth and recommendations from friends. Others rely on online searches or ratings. All these methods are ineffective. Over the past few years, I have certainly spent a few hours looking at lists of the “top 50…More
Ask Questions First. Get a job at a Startup Second.
A few days ago, I hosted an event at Penn on “how to get a job at a startup.” Eric Friedman and Charles Birnbaum of foursquare, (both of whom I worked with last summer), and Christina Cacioppo of Union Square Ventures offered advice on how to reach out to startups and enter an entrepreneurial world.…More
Talia Goldberg 