Alejandro: Of course and I agree with you there, Anthemos. 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. Georgiades founded Zumper after his own . All of it is going to be important and it will come out at the right stage. 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? I think if you set these expectations from the very beginning that are super important. Theres never like an exact number you need like when Uber raised money or you know Zillow raised money, theres never like a number they have to be at. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs, Anthemos Georgiades was drawn into startup life to solving a burning problem. Alejandro: Got it and before we actually dive in to the journey here, so consulting and business school, this is a few things that I typically hear so from some of our other guests. Zumper CEO & Co-Founder Anthemos Georgiades makes renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel, shares insights on monetizing marketplaces, diversifying r. We both had ideas to be entrepreneurs but neither of us have the guts to actually go for it. So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. 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. Had worked at the Boston Consulting Group. Anthemos Georgiades Email & Phone Number - Zumper | ZoomInfo How many landlords did we have on the site? Just enter your email below. Alrightee. So I guess how did that consulting experience shape up your approach in terms of like tackling problems and the entrepreneurial journey itself? How flat is the company? 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. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: Its just part of the game and it doesnt [24:30]. Anthemos Georgiades is the co-founder and CEO of Zumper, the largest startup in the rental industry, used by more than 26 million renters last year alone. 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. He was with HBS 10 years ago. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. I think at that stage it makes sense. 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? So in the first two years, Zumper is now [07:52] $90 million in capital. Likewise. Anthemos Georgiades - Co-Founder & CEO - Zumper | LinkedIn 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? 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. For every successful fundraise, every single company have a lot of nos. Over time, its great to be able to bring in your team. You can set the expectations and then see what happens and if its not a good fit upfront, you can go with the different option on the table. 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 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? Thats just part of the game. Zumper has 7 current employee profiles, including CEO and co-founder Anthemos Georgiades. So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. So that was great. Anthemos Georgiades on LinkedIn: Elevate Academy | Elevate Leadership So for Zumper our vision as I mentioned was to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel and so instead of going in with just an idea, I built like a really crappy version of the end game that I wanted to build. So today, we have another founder and another one that is quite successful in their own paths. We both wanted to be entrepreneurs. Its a Greek name, British accent. So it doesnt always work out and I think thats fine. But I guess you were saying then here the shift, kind of like shifted more from like growth of users perhaps retention to more kind of like deep revenue growth. Got it. Alejandro: So Im completely there with you. So that was great. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Get 5 free searches. And did you diversify this responsibility with the other cofounders or was there one of you guys that has always been leading the chart on the financing side? If you guys are Zumper website, you can kind of kind at zumper.com the Contact Us or on Twitter I am just @anthemos, A-N-T-H-E-M-O-S on Twitter and yeah, I respond to people. 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. 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. Since 2012, Anth has grown Zumper to over 100 employees and raised $90 million in venture capital for the company. We both wanted to be entrepreneurs. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. So if the story has changed in a way that merits the focus of the company but what is consistent every single time weve raised is that for six months in a row, we had really, really quick growth. 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. Zumper - Contacts, Employees, Board Members, Advisors & Alumni - Crunchbase Alejandro: Fantastic. 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. 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. And it is the culture that keeps people here, not the compensation or anything else. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. You know its interesting that you mentioned the chicken and the egg. My friend have had to camp out overnight outside the property management office to get access to the new apartment and this is [01:09] you know things coming online, you can order a cab via phone, you can book a hotel online. How did you find these investors? I was just talking to a friend of mine about this. Got it. So we bought them. Yeah. Anthemos Georgiades: Yes, weve raised $90 million in capital including a series C that we just closed three months ago. 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. For me, its Zumper, an apartment rental platform. Got it. 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. She was our original CPO and after the series A, she moved on to roller, another company and we promoted someone internally to CPO. In the first two or three years you will kill your marketplace if you create any barriers to entry from either side. I have no experience doing that. 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? Anthemos was an undergrad at Oxford when he noticed how problematic renting an apartment . 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. Make sure tenants understand why things are . Saying that to your point, we see the deal was a successful and yet M&A is really hard to integrate. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. So we tell the small landlords, Hey, dont just advertise in Zumper. Youre supposed to try six things that dont work. Alejandro: Got it. Thank you so much. 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. June 12, 2022 . 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. You can filter down by city and . 1.4.1 - Provisions of this Code Declared . Got it. Like many of our most successful entrepreneurs. In the early days, youre going to need to take all the capital you can get. I mean if you could give some kind of like tips you know both fronts it would be really fantastic. A lot of that is in the bank. 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. It is ultimately the culture. Were incredibly grateful for everything she did and she remains kind of shareholder in the company. 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 kind of looked through in Crunchbase which connections I have into which fund. It seemed crazy that the real estate industry wasnt moving towards on demand. Theres never like an exact number you need like when Uber raised money or you know Zillow raised money, theres never like a number they have to be at. Zumper which is a little bigger in terms of audience now caters more to urban professionals moving within cities. So we bought them. Its hard. So it was never I want to be an entrepreneur journey. Yeah. At Zumper, based in San Francisco, he leads the company in its mission to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. So the way we monetize this is we either monetize the landlord mainly and we either charge them to leads. We raised like a million dollars in seed money, that was running out so we tried various things that didnt work and I think the fabric of our culture that is still true today when we have a hundred people is built in the dark days and those days where your stuff is not working, your users arent growing, and how you look at your teammates and how you guys turn up on a Monday morning after a really crappy week the week before where maybe someone quit or maybe the metrics went south. Shalin Amin Chief Experience Officer. 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. So Id say your first month you spend like getting first, second, third meeting. Got it and before we actually dive in to the journey here, so consulting and. Zumper Board Member Related Hubs [06:54] the early days and it worked where there was just all hands to the pump. So M&A are strategic [33:48]. I dont think theres a startup I could have launched that taught me more. Got it. I guess the question that I would ask you and perhaps some advice for some of those that are listening, that are building a business that is more around the network effects, the marketplaces, should they walk the other way if the investor is asking too much about revenue early on on the financing cycles? You just get to this kind of motion of you all feel the same and you kind of pull in the same direction. And then as we looked at the C round, Axle Springer are fantastic good example [19:59]. 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. Saying that, in the early days you kind of need to bring on all the capital that you can. Think Masterclass for Management. I guess the question that I would ask you and perhaps some advice for some of those that are listening, that are building a business that is more around the network effects, the marketplaces, should they walk the other way if the investor is asking too much about revenue early on on the financing cycles? For every successful fundraise, every single company have a lot of nos. So I as British person moving to Silicon Valley in 2012 I have never run a startup before. And investors love that story because its easy to believe that you can continue to do that. 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. My friend have had to camp out overnight outside the property management office to get access to the new apartment and this is [01:09] you know things coming online, you can order a cab via phone, you can book a hotel online. I grew up in London. Taylor Glass-Moore Co-Founder. I mean I called it like a cheat [33:33] my team. A lot of that is in the bank. I really enjoyed it and great stuff. Everyone in Boston, everyone in New York were straight nos and [25:15] didnt get second meetings but then a month later we came to Silicon Valley and we found a much better product market set for the kind of investor who was prepared to come early and invest early and we got a lot of yeses very quickly. So I saw for example Axle Springer which is you know more kind of like the corporate. Whats your story and most importantly, how did you get started with the entrepreneurial bug? Member profile: Zumper's founders - Anthemos Georgiades and Russell anthemos georgiades net worth 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? Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. Ckg1 Ckp1 - Ckg1a63-100 Of course. So you know I think Axle Springer very used to appraising companies that match their scale. How do you scale like 20 million in revenue to 200 million in revenue and we didnt need the more product set investors because we already have fantastic people at that. You are going to get a bunch of nos so I wouldnt rule people out too early. 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. Over-Communication. Township Of Ocean Police Department. Budget in my opinion perhaps should be allocated to something else. He's raised $39.2 million in venture capital, grown the team to 70+, and completed the acquisition of apartment search platform PadMapper. Then behind the scenes, Zumper will close the transaction with the landlord and set the renter up with kind of rent payment. Yeah, sure. rex harrison audrey hepburn relationship. 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. Your job as the CEO and the founder is to convince your investors of the reason to do this. Alejandro: So I guess like I have one thing to follow up on this. anthemos georgiades net worth. How do you take a company with those tractions, 10 million in revenue. At Zumper, based in San Francisco, he leads the company in its mission to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. In the first two or three years you will kill your marketplace if you create any barriers to entry from either side. Two sided marketplaces are so difficult. Anthemos Georgiades: So Zumper is the vision for the company is to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel. So thats how Zumper got started. So I think as your company matures, you look for investors that have something that you dont have and so for us, were not yet doing $100 million in revenue. 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. There could be investors who are fantastic. How many landlords did we have on the site? Got it. Alejandro: Got it. The other large investor in this round [20:05] scale so once you have product market set, how do you scale that? Back to Meet the San Francisco Business Times' 40 under 40 Class of 2018. So I guess for those listeners that are looking at acquiring other companies to perhaps grow a little bit faster, what kind of advice would you give to them? Its a good question. Yeah. Anthemos Georgiades On Building A Marketplace That Helps Millions of No. 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? And we built this website using an outsource development shop in Europe that just tested one assumption of the end game which was can we get users in 2011, 2012 just as mobile was coming online to apply and close apartments from their phone. 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. I think if you set these expectations from the very beginning that are super important. All of it is going to be important and it will come out at the right stage. 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. And so I wouldnt be too pressured. Absolutely. 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. Rear mounted 3" standard exhaust port, and 2" standard air intake Exterior dimensions of unit are 24" wide, 26" deep, and 40" high with mounted controller. So Id say your first month you spend like getting first, second, third meeting. 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]. 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. They wanted to close apartments like they book a hotel and so took the status of like 35 different apartments we leased using the technology in San Francisco to VCs and said, Hey, were really going to rebuild all of this but heres some data that shows this really can work at scale, and thats how we raised the first million dollars from some of the names that you mentioned. Got it. Weve only been working with Axle Springer for four months now but they are fantastic. Anthemos Georgiades, Zumper Inc: Profile and Biography Anthemos Georgiades: Hey, thanks for having me. It looks better for investors and it makes your life easier. Get Anthemos Georgiades's email address (a*****@zumper.com) and phone number (646398..) at RocketReach. And in terms of preparation, Anthemos, how has the preparation like preparing before going to market to start engaging investors, how have you seen with your business, with Zumper, how have you seen that changed over time as the rounds were maturing? Got it. You always have more nos that more yeses in fundraising but it was ultimately about just hustling my network as much as possible. Its not about the ski trips and any of that you know. So what is the best way, Anthemos, for people that are listening to reach out and say hi? One is I wouldnt be too pressured about it too early. hendrick motorsports hats; anthemos georgiades net worth I mean your job moves from doing jobs in the first few years. I mean I think at seed round its like an [26:02]. Of course. Got it. Of course and I agree with you there, Anthemos. So yes, we have a great cap table. 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. anthemos georgiades net worth And so back to your point, yes, we want investors who are supportive of the fact that we didnt try to monetize the platform for the first three years because it would have created a barrier to entry. Thats your job. At college in the UK, Ive had like multiple [00:58] renting apartments. Yes, weve raised $90 million in capital including a series C that we just closed three months ago. Anthemos Georgiades Current Workplace Zumper Location 555 Montgomery St Ste 1300, San Francisco, California, 94111, United States Industry Information Collection & Delivery, Media & Internet Description Discover more about Zumper Anthemos Georgiades Work Experience and Education Work Experience Manager, Summer Investment Atomico 2009-2010 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. Saying that, in the early days you kind of need to bring on all the capital that you can. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah. It was not something Ive really ever thought about before. You just cant get spooked. It was like $46 million. Yeah. So you acquire not long ago Pat Mapper and how did this come together? It was incredibly difficult. And as you know as and your listeners know, youre going to get a lot of nos on the way. And were just a little earlier than obviously a public company so our gross is spikier. Its not about the ski trips and any of that you know. So lets talk about Zumper here. It just really helps to divide and conquer like that while I was meeting new investors again. His passion for relieving the stress for others in . 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. How much respect is there? Youre exactly right. 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. Anthemos Georgiades: Yeah, I think its probably the DNA of your culture is I think a lot of it is built in the tough times. 1. For us, I think they fully understand the entrepreneurial journey and were really excited to have them on board. So we tell the small landlords, Hey, dont just advertise in Zumper. So one is weve always promoted within so whenever we needed a role, we always prefer to promote someone instead of hiring from outside. Were incredibly grateful for everything she did and she remains kind of shareholder in the company. How does the day to day at Zumper work? Try for free at rocketreach.co I think if you hire four cofounders like yourself, thats difficult and luckily we didnt have that problem. 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.