5 ms·

Fresh out of Y Combinator, Tandem lands millions from Andreessen Horowitz https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/tandem/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/tandem/

by elmar 7y ago

Fresh out of Y Combinator, Tandem lands millions from Andreessen Horowitz https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/tandem/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/tandem/ "is raising a $7.5 million seed financing at a valuation north of $30 million" "We’re told several top venture capital firms were vying for a stake in Tandem. One firm even gifted the founders a tandem bike, sources tell TechCrunch, resorting to amusing measures to sway the Tandem team. But it was a16z — which has an established interest in the growing future of work sector, evidenced by its recent investment in the popular email app Superhuman — that ultimately won the coveted lead investor spot."

whoisjuan 7y ago
I hope not to sound like a jerk or get downvoted for this, but what's the point of quoting the article without adding at least an opinion or thought?
- elmar 7y ago
  :) well I posted on a FYI - For Your Information only angle. My thoughts: seed valuations for YC Demo Day are probably on a all time high, VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO, ok I remembered everything on SV HBO is based on real life events.
  - whoisjuan 7y ago
    I think the most ridiculous thing is not even the gift, but the fact that it is a Tandem bike (just because of the name). What's the rationale there? "Ohh their name is Tandem. Let's buy them a Tandem bike to convince them to accept our term sheet. It's our fiduciary responsibility to do this stupid thing". For me, that's just a red flag. How little can you add to a company besides money, that you have to resort to this chaplinesque strategy?
    - WillPostForFood 7y ago
      Why not? Personal relationships are a part of why deals are made. Showing some whimsy and personal attention isn't going to hurt, and costs what? ~500?
      - bch 7y ago
        Not really your point, but if somebody gifted a $500 tandem/boat anchor for a $30MM co, that might indeed be a red flag. A $500 tandem is probably a boat anchor no matter what the circumstances are...
        mathattack 7y ago
        This is the norm in business. It forces reciprocity. It’s why most sales orgs spend so much on business entertainment.
        bch 7y ago
        I (think) I know what you’re saying, what I’m saying is that if I said I was interested in your billion dollar automobile startup, and bought you a car as a gesture, you might be excited, until I handed you the keys to a used 1998 Hyundai Excel. Unless I really am missing the point, because a $500 bicycle really is a pretty cheap machine these days, let alone a $500 tandem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Excel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Excel
        WillPostForFood 7y ago
        It's the thought that counts right? Tandem is the name, they are gifted a tandem bike, which reinforces the symbolism of doing something together. I'd hope it would be perceived either neutrally, or generate some very small positive feelings, but not negatively.
        bch 7y ago
  - austenallred 7y ago
    > VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO It's actually super common. I've probably received 20+ random gifts. Everything from shoes to jackets to bitcoin miners and bottles of wine (I don't drink). If there's a $7.5m deal that will eventually be worth 10x that (say it returns $75m to the investor), a $200 tandem bike doesn't really move the needle.
    - elmar 7y ago
      > It's actually super common I didn't know that, I knew that was normal practice on recruiting but I didn't imagined it on fundraising. > that will eventually be worth 10x The seed stage VC's are probably targeting more on the 100x - 1,000x range :)
- ghobs91 7y ago
  In the case of an article that lists 82 startups, their comment is essentially saying "Here's a startup I think is notable". Hence their opinion.
amsilprotag 7y ago
This sounds like what Kevin Kwok was describing[0] in his recent essay, The Arc of Collaboration. Even down to using the Discord metaphor. Kwok says that Slack ended up being more of an exception handler when normal processes break down. Contrast to Discord, which is more of a meta-layer around games and integrates within game platforms. I wonder if Tandem is what will make collaborative communication ubiquitous, i.e. sales talks to engineering talks to design all from within their various environments. From TC: Tandem provides a virtual office for remote teams, complete with video-chatting and messaging capabilities, as well as integrations with top enterprise tools, including Notion, GitHub and Trello. [0] https://kwokchain.com/2019/08/16/the-arc-of-collaboration/ https://kwokchain.com/2019/08/16/the-arc-of-collaboration/

by elmar 7y ago

whoisjuan 7y ago

I hope not to sound like a jerk or get downvoted for this, but what's the point of quoting the article without adding at least an opinion or thought?

elmar 7y ago
:) well I posted on a FYI - For Your Information only angle. My thoughts: seed valuations for YC Demo Day are probably on a all time high, VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO, ok I remembered everything on SV HBO is based on real life events.
- whoisjuan 7y ago
  I think the most ridiculous thing is not even the gift, but the fact that it is a Tandem bike (just because of the name). What's the rationale there? "Ohh their name is Tandem. Let's buy them a Tandem bike to convince them to accept our term sheet. It's our fiduciary responsibility to do this stupid thing". For me, that's just a red flag. How little can you add to a company besides money, that you have to resort to this chaplinesque strategy?
  - WillPostForFood 7y ago
    Why not? Personal relationships are a part of why deals are made. Showing some whimsy and personal attention isn't going to hurt, and costs what? ~500?
    - bch 7y ago
      Not really your point, but if somebody gifted a $500 tandem/boat anchor for a $30MM co, that might indeed be a red flag. A $500 tandem is probably a boat anchor no matter what the circumstances are...
      - mathattack 7y ago
        This is the norm in business. It forces reciprocity. It’s why most sales orgs spend so much on business entertainment.
        bch 7y ago
        I (think) I know what you’re saying, what I’m saying is that if I said I was interested in your billion dollar automobile startup, and bought you a car as a gesture, you might be excited, until I handed you the keys to a used 1998 Hyundai Excel. Unless I really am missing the point, because a $500 bicycle really is a pretty cheap machine these days, let alone a $500 tandem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Excel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Excel
        WillPostForFood 7y ago
        It's the thought that counts right? Tandem is the name, they are gifted a tandem bike, which reinforces the symbolism of doing something together. I'd hope it would be perceived either neutrally, or generate some very small positive feelings, but not negatively.
        bch 7y ago
- austenallred 7y ago
  > VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO It's actually super common. I've probably received 20+ random gifts. Everything from shoes to jackets to bitcoin miners and bottles of wine (I don't drink). If there's a $7.5m deal that will eventually be worth 10x that (say it returns $75m to the investor), a $200 tandem bike doesn't really move the needle.
  - elmar 7y ago
    > It's actually super common I didn't know that, I knew that was normal practice on recruiting but I didn't imagined it on fundraising. > that will eventually be worth 10x The seed stage VC's are probably targeting more on the 100x - 1,000x range :)
ghobs91 7y ago
In the case of an article that lists 82 startups, their comment is essentially saying "Here's a startup I think is notable". Hence their opinion.

amsilprotag 7y ago

This sounds like what Kevin Kwok was describing[0] in his recent essay, The Arc of Collaboration. Even down to using the Discord metaphor. Kwok says that Slack ended up being more of an exception handler when normal processes break down. Contrast to Discord, which is more of a meta-layer around games and integrates within game platforms. I wonder if Tandem is what will make collaborative communication ubiquitous, i.e. sales talks to engineering talks to design all from within their various environments. From TC: Tandem provides a virtual office for remote teams, complete with video-chatting and messaging capabilities, as well as integrations with top enterprise tools, including Notion, GitHub and Trello. [0] https://kwokchain.com/2019/08/16/the-arc-of-collaboration/ https://kwokchain.com/2019/08/16/the-arc-of-collaboration/