Prompt Cast
Acquired Launches Bonus Show "Limited Partner" for Deeper Company Building Topics
TLDR Acquired is launching a new bonus show called "Limited Partner" where they will cover topics that don't fit into their normal episode format and dive deeper into company building topics. The show will be available for $5 a month.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Acquired is launching a bonus show called "Limited Partner" for $5 a month, where they will cover topics that don't fit into their normal episode format and dive deeper into company building topics.
05:23
Andrew Kortina and his freshman roommate at Penn, Ikram, started hacking on projects together, including building a classified site for college students called My Campus Post, before eventually meeting Craig Newmark from Craigslist and starting Venmo.
11:35
Andrew Kortina and his roommate Ikram worked at an early Y Combinator company before starting Venmo, and Ikram saw a job post on Craigslist that led them to move to New York and work for the company.
17:04
Venmo started as a way to support musicians by allowing people to text money to the band, but then evolved into a platform that enables anyone to accept payments for anything, anytime.
22:59
Venmo intentionally incurred losses due to interchange fees in order to grow quickly, but eventually transitioned to bank payments to reduce costs.
28:36
Venmo used BrainTree to process ACH payments and relied on them even after they shut down, leading to an acquisition by BrainTree due to their shared vision and the fact that Venmo was running out of money.
34:33
Venmo was acquired by PayPal, who understood the importance of a two-sided network effect and saw the potential for growth in the millennial market.
39:57
Venmo's unconventional advertising campaign featuring a photo of a software engineer named Lucas with a Santa hat and the slogan "Lucas uses Venmo" generated a significant amount of earned media and helped increase awareness and usage of the platform.
45:28
Venmo's growth has continued at a rapid pace, with 20% month-over-month growth and a gross transaction volume of $17 billion in the last quarter, accounting for about 10% of PayPal's entire transaction volume.
51:15
Venmo is essentially PayPal's Instagram, with a separate consumer audience and a higher viral coefficient due to its design for transactions between slightly more distant and distantly trusted parties.
56:50
Venmo and PayPal could be a powerful combination because Venmo's peer-to-peer transactions and high usage frequency, combined with PayPal's merchant network, create a strong business model with potential for further monetization.
01:02:18
Venmo's integration with Uber and the introduction of the Venmo card have expanded its merchant network, making it a more appealing option for users and increasing its potential for monetization.
01:08:06
The host recommends two books, "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Original Pen Computing Company," and discusses the advancements in computational photography.
Categories:
Technology
Business
