How young outsiders changed the shipping industry by finding product-market fit again and again | Laura Behrens Wu (Shippo)
In Depth
Shownotes Transcript
Laura Behrens Wu is the Founder & CEO at Shippo, a company that has raised $100m+ and was last valued at $1b in 2021. Shippo provides an API and dashboard that makes shipping easy for e-commerce businesses, marketplaces, and platforms. Prior to starting Shippo, Laura graduated from Harvard University, and was heavily influenced by a short internship at LendUp, which exposed her to Silicon Valley and startup culture.
In today’s episode we discuss:
Shippo’s pivot-stricken origin story
Finding product-market-fit, again and again and again
Laura’s unique take on founder-market-fit
Advice on talking to users
The 3 Horizons Framework for prioritizing resources across a core business and longer-term bets
The email Laura sends every Sunday because of Frank Slootman’s advice
Referenced:
Amp It Up by Frank Slootman: https://www.amazon.com/Amp-Unlocking-Hypergrowth-Expectations-Intensity/dp/1119836115)
Expedia: https://www.expedia.com/)
FedEx: https://www.fedex.com/)
Frank Slootman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankslootman/)
Jerry Colonna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-colonna-reboot/)
Josh Koppelman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkoppelman/)
Khalid Halim: https://review.firstround.com/the-science-of-speaking-is-the-art-of-being-heard)
LendUp: https://www.lendup.com/)
Shippo: https://goshippo.com/)
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/)
SMBs: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/small-business/articles/smb-business/)
Stripe: https://stripe.com/)
70/20/10 rule from Google: https://www.itonics-innovation.com/blog/702010-rule-of-innovation)
Where to find Todd Jackson:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tjack)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0)
Where to find Laura Behrens Wu:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraBehrensWu)
Personal website: https://laurabehrenswu.com/)
Where to find First Round Capital:
Website: https://firstround.com/)
First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstround)
This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast)
Timestamps
(02:36) The Shippo origin story
(06:57) Why they pivoted into Shippo
(11:01) How they got their first customers
(13:27) The role of timing in Shippo's early success
(14:40) The value of being an outsider
(17:49) When founder-market-fit is and isn't necessary
(19:07) The path to product-market-fit
(22:06) What kept the Shippo team persisting
(24:41) Advice on talking to users
(29:28) Shippo's fundraising journey
(34:26) Finding product-market-fit again and again
(37:54) The 3 Horizons Framework
(45:04) Shippo's culture and early team
(49:17) Hiring people you can learn from
(50:40) Laura's most impactful hires
(52:12) Frank Slootman's "Sunday Email”
(55:43) Laura's #1 piece of advice for founders
(57:34) The most memorable influences on Laura's career