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Jun 12, 2016 · 23m · top-founders

EP 323: He took his company public for $1b

Kenny Hawk · 13m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Mojio CEO Kenny Hawk about his journey founding iGo, navigating a billion-dollar dot-com IPO, and scaling his connected vehicle platform through global telecom partnerships.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 37.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.4 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 3.4
05100:0010:0020:001:37–5:33 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Founding iGo and the Road to IPO Nathan establishes rapport and inquires into Kenny's founding of iGo at Stanford. Kenny gives an agreeable narrative tracing his early bootstrapping, Draper venture funding, relocation to Nevada, and IPO.5:33–11:19 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Market Cap Swings, Valuation Realities, and Tax Traps Nathan aggressively drills into peak valuations and asks Kenny directly whether he netted over ten million dollars. Kenny deflects personal wealth figures and educates Nathan on dot-com lockups and phantom tax traps on exercised options.11:19–15:22 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Mojio's Connected Car Platform and Business Model Nathan questions Mojio's business model and poses potential threats from smartphone ubiquity. Kenny reframes the market advantage around OBD diagnostic ports and telco revenue shares.15:22–18:14 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Scaling Mojio and Strategic Operator Partnerships Nathan pushes hard when Kenny refuses to share unit volume numbers, claiming the episode would be useless without data. Kenny yields slightly by providing a multi-million unit forward projection.18:15–22:51 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Personal Presence, Giveaway Information, and HostGator Promotion The segment encompasses website clarification, promo ad reads, and the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cooperative tone.1:37–5:33 · Guest teaching 1/10 Founding iGo and the Road to IPO Nathan establishes rapport and inquires into Kenny's founding of iGo at Stanford. Kenny gives an agreeable narrative tracing his early bootstrapping, Draper venture funding, relocation to Nevada, and IPO.5:33–11:19 · Guest teaching 5/10 Market Cap Swings, Valuation Realities, and Tax Traps Nathan aggressively drills into peak valuations and asks Kenny directly whether he netted over ten million dollars. Kenny deflects personal wealth figures and educates Nathan on dot-com lockups and phantom tax traps on exercised options.11:19–15:22 · Guest teaching 4/10 Mojio's Connected Car Platform and Business Model Nathan questions Mojio's business model and poses potential threats from smartphone ubiquity. Kenny reframes the market advantage around OBD diagnostic ports and telco revenue shares.15:22–18:14 · Guest teaching 2/10 Scaling Mojio and Strategic Operator Partnerships Nathan pushes hard when Kenny refuses to share unit volume numbers, claiming the episode would be useless without data. Kenny yields slightly by providing a multi-million unit forward projection.18:15–22:51 · Guest teaching 1/10 Personal Presence, Giveaway Information, and HostGator Promotion The segment encompasses website clarification, promo ad reads, and the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cooperative tone.1:37–5:33 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Founding iGo and the Road to IPO Nathan establishes rapport and inquires into Kenny's founding of iGo at Stanford. Kenny gives an agreeable narrative tracing his early bootstrapping, Draper venture funding, relocation to Nevada, and IPO.5:33–11:19 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Market Cap Swings, Valuation Realities, and Tax Traps Nathan aggressively drills into peak valuations and asks Kenny directly whether he netted over ten million dollars. Kenny deflects personal wealth figures and educates Nathan on dot-com lockups and phantom tax traps on exercised options.11:19–15:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Mojio's Connected Car Platform and Business Model Nathan questions Mojio's business model and poses potential threats from smartphone ubiquity. Kenny reframes the market advantage around OBD diagnostic ports and telco revenue shares.15:22–18:14 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Scaling Mojio and Strategic Operator Partnerships Nathan pushes hard when Kenny refuses to share unit volume numbers, claiming the episode would be useless without data. Kenny yields slightly by providing a multi-million unit forward projection.18:15–22:51 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Personal Presence, Giveaway Information, and HostGator Promotion The segment encompasses website clarification, promo ad reads, and the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cooperative tone.1:37–5:33 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Founding iGo and the Road to IPO Nathan establishes rapport and inquires into Kenny's founding of iGo at Stanford. Kenny gives an agreeable narrative tracing his early bootstrapping, Draper venture funding, relocation to Nevada, and IPO.5:33–11:19 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Market Cap Swings, Valuation Realities, and Tax Traps Nathan aggressively drills into peak valuations and asks Kenny directly whether he netted over ten million dollars. Kenny deflects personal wealth figures and educates Nathan on dot-com lockups and phantom tax traps on exercised options.11:19–15:22 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Mojio's Connected Car Platform and Business Model Nathan questions Mojio's business model and poses potential threats from smartphone ubiquity. Kenny reframes the market advantage around OBD diagnostic ports and telco revenue shares.15:22–18:14 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Scaling Mojio and Strategic Operator Partnerships Nathan pushes hard when Kenny refuses to share unit volume numbers, claiming the episode would be useless without data. Kenny yields slightly by providing a multi-million unit forward projection.18:15–22:51 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Personal Presence, Giveaway Information, and HostGator Promotion The segment encompasses website clarification, promo ad reads, and the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cooperative tone.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%3:00 · Nathan 25.9% · guest 74.1%3:00 · Nathan 25.9% · guest 74.1%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%9:00 · Nathan 24.7% · guest 75.3%9:00 · Nathan 24.7% · guest 75.3%12:00 · Nathan 11.3% · guest 88.7%12:00 · Nathan 11.3% · guest 88.7%15:00 · Nathan 20.1% · guest 79.9%15:00 · Nathan 20.1% · guest 79.9%18:00 · Nathan 71.1% · guest 28.9%18:00 · Nathan 71.1% · guest 28.9%21:00 · Nathan 62.2% · guest 37.8%21:00 · Nathan 62.2% · guest 37.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:51 Kenny resists disclosing private company unit numbers

Kenny firmly puts his foot down against sharing private sales metrics until Nathan demands at least an approximate range.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:54 Nathan rejects non-disclosure of sales volume

Nathan directly challenges Kenny's privacy stance by stating the interview would be worthless if listeners get zero visibility into unit traction.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:45 Kenny explains the 90s phantom gain tax trap

Kenny explains the mechanism of exercising stock options during the dot-com era, showing how founders went bankrupt paying taxes on paper gains before shares collapsed.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:41 Nathan challenges Mojio's moat against smartphones

Nathan challenges the premise of dedicated connected car hardware by pointing out that smartphones and ride-sharing apps already connect drivers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Founding iGo and the Road to IPO 3101 Nathan establishes rapport and inquires into Kenny's founding of iGo at Stanford. Kenny gives an agreeable narrative tracing his early bootstrapping, Draper venture funding, relocation to Nevada, and IPO.
Market Cap Swings, Valuation Realities, and Tax Traps 4535 Nathan aggressively drills into peak valuations and asks Kenny directly whether he netted over ten million dollars. Kenny deflects personal wealth figures and educates Nathan on dot-com lockups and phantom tax traps on exercised options.
Mojio's Connected Car Platform and Business Model 4423 Nathan questions Mojio's business model and poses potential threats from smartphone ubiquity. Kenny reframes the market advantage around OBD diagnostic ports and telco revenue shares.
Scaling Mojio and Strategic Operator Partnerships 4247 Nathan pushes hard when Kenny refuses to share unit volume numbers, claiming the episode would be useless without data. Kenny yields slightly by providing a multi-million unit forward projection.
Personal Presence, Giveaway Information, and HostGator Promotion 2111 The segment encompasses website clarification, promo ad reads, and the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cooperative tone.

Statements from this episode (7)

Assertion Open · timeframe Dec 1999
Hawk: iGo raised less than $10 million before its 1999 IPO
“We raised less than ten million before we went public.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 3:17
Assertion Partly supported
Hawk: iGo bit off too much acquiring three companies post-IPO
“We ended up acquiring three companies in nine months, you know, bit off more than we can chew.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 3:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hawk: 31 of 33 employees relocated when iGo moved to Nevada
“And we ended up having 31 out of 33 employees move with us.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 4:43
Assertion Contradicted
Hawk: iGo reached a peak market cap of nearly $1 billion
“The peak of market cap was just under a billion.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 5:38
Assertion Supported
Hawk: iGo's valuation crashed below $100 million before its acquisition
“We were below a hundred million by the time we got acquired.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 5:54
Assertion Not yet assessed · timeframe Jun 2016
Hawk: iGo achieved profitability during its first three years in business
“We were profitable our first three years in business.”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 7:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hawk: Dot-com founders went bankrupt paying taxes on phantom stock gains
“I had good friends that had you know, gone public, actually exercise their options to pay the tax on the lower tax basis saw their value go all the way up and then down to zero. And they'd already paid tax on a phantom gain and, you know, were bankrupt, lost t…”
Kenny Hawk Jun 12, 2016 ▶ 9:27
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