Conrad: Top VC brand names provide tangible 'magic pixie dust' for startups
Parker Conrad · Parker Conrad: How I Got Ousted from Zenefits and Came Back with a Vengence | 20VC #932 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 3, 2022 · at 57:15
Parker Conrad, founder and CEO of Rippling and former CEO of Zenefits, explains the primary ways venture capital firms add real value to portfolio companies.
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“There are investors that bring this sort of brand imprimatur to a company. That, you know, immediately, you know, this firm invests, and suddenly things get easier. Like people that you email from prospective employees are more likely to respond to outreach about sort of, you know, coming to interview. Other investors are more likely to respond to you when you reach out to them. Prospective customers are less skeptical about working with you. The media is more interested in speaking with you. And it, it's this sort of magic pixie dust that gets sprinkled on your company when some of these firms with really big brand names invest, and it's very real.”
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