Jason Stoffer
General Partner, Maveron. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
investorexecutivefoundermaveron.com ↗
Since joining Maveron in 2007, Jason Stoffer has led early-stage investments in consumer tech, e-commerce, and digital marketplaces. He is known for backing companies including Zulily, General Assembly, and Everlane.
1shows
1appearances
17statements
2resolved
2supported
0contradicted
100%fully supported
1said about them ↓ Everything Jason Stoffer said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Series A pitch decks focusing on CAC and LTV should be rejected
“I actually disagree with Fred. I think if CAC and LTV is a focus on a series A deck, I essentially just want to throw the deck out.”
Most VCs are mediocre and overall VC returns are poor
“The vast majority of VCs are mediocre. That's why the asset class generally is poor, and the top funds generally perform quite well.”
More capital is usually not the solution to startup problems
“I think the dot-com crash in many ways informed my point of view that more capital is usually not the solution to problems.”
Facebook ads easily scale brands to $50M, but rarely to $500M
“It's very easy these days to Scale a brand from zero to fifty million by using hyper-targeting on Facebook. It's very hard to take a brand from fifty million to five hundred million in an enduring way, and to create billions in equity value.”
Sudden CAC spikes force online brands to sell to offline incumbents
“CAC doesn't gradually go from 20 to 25 to 30. It goes from 21 day to 80 the next, and I think in many cases where you've created a online category leader, the best solution really is to sell it to a offline previous category leader that's looking to maintain t…”
Chewy is the model consumer venture exit, not Bonobos
“I look at Chewy's as what Wright looks like, not Bonobo's, right?”
Emotional brand connection is the best weapon to beat Amazon
“I think there's the best way to beat Amazon is with heart. I think Amazon doesn't create the emotional connection with a brand that, say, a Chewy's did, or a Zappos did.”
Professional managers cannot execute strategic pivots; the CEO must lead
“You can't hire professional managers to really change the focus of a business. My biggest lesson was when you have an incredibly important strategic initiative, the CEO needs to clear everything off their plate and make it happen.”
Every Maveron portfolio Series B faces questions about Amazon
“Every single Series B that our portfolio companies raise, the question raised is, what's Amazon going to do?”
Maveron keeps investments unannounced due to competition from Amazon
“You know, my last three core investments still haven't been announced, largely out of fear of competition, both from Amazon.”
Jason Stoffer prefers startups serving Middle America over the top 1%
“I also have a deep affinity for companies that target middle America versus companies that are focused on the one percent.”
Maveron's best startups rely on repeat customers, not paid acquisition
“If there's a unique characteristic across the most successful portfolio companies we have, it's high repeat and a lack of dependence upon paid acquisition for a significant piece of your revenue.”
Coding bootcamps suffer from non-repeat purchases and high search acquisition costs
“The problem with coding bootcamps is it's a one-time purchase. It's not repeated. Customers often search for it in Google, and even if you have the best product, it's hard to make that readily apparent in the consumer's minds.”
VCs must not let personal stress affect founder communications
“Everything you say to an entrepreneur you work with has to have intent. You can't let your stress, what's in your head, or your mood impact them.”
Zulily grew from zero to $1B revenue in five years
“So I was lucky enough to be on the board of Zulily. It went zero to a billion in revenue in five years.”
Physical product brands represent only 25% of Maveron's portfolio
“Physical product companies might be a quarter of what we do.”
The other half of the tape: Jason Stoffer's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 1 time in 1 episode across the shows. every mention, with the transcript →
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One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Jason's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20VCLEDGER | General Partner, Maveron | 1 | 17 | 100% 2/2 | full record on 20VC → |