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| |  Image Credits: Nigel Sussman | | I asked Alex Wilhelm to dial back the profanity he used this morning to describe Oscar Health’s proposed valuation, but perhaps I was too conservative. In March 2018, the insurtech unicorn was valued at around $3.2 billion. Today, with the company aiming to debut at $32 to $34 per share, its fully-diluted valuation is closer to $7.7 billion. “The clear takeaway from the first Oscar Health IPO pricing interval is that public investors have lost their minds,” says Alex. His advice for companies considering an IPO? “Go public now.”
We’re expanding our growth marketing coverage, so I wanted to spotlight two posts with actionable advice for early-stage startups: Caryn Marooney’s article on creating messaging frameworks, and an article by Fractl Marketing Director Amanda Milligan that offers three strategies for building brand authority. Thanks very much for reading Extra Crunch. Have a great week! Walter Thompson
Senior Editor, TechCrunch
@yourprotagonist Read more | | | |
| |  | | Tomorrow on Extra Crunch Live, Justworks founder Isaac Oates and Bain Capital Ventures partner Matt Harris will discuss the steps leading up to their $13 million Series B in 2016. At the time, “Justworks hadn't even hit $1 million in annual revenue,” says host Jordan Crook. During the chat, they’ll also talk about how their working relationship has evolved in the intervening years before reviewing pitch decks submitted by members of the audience. The conversation kicks off at 2 p.m. PST/3 p.m. EST/8 p.m. GMT, but it’s only open to Extra Crunch members. Read more | | | |
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| |  Image Credits: Nigel Sussman | | Last week, Alex wrote about how cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase was being valued at $77 billion in the private markets. As of yesterday, “it's now $100 billion, per Axios' reporting.” He reviewed Coinbase’s performance from 2019 through the end of Q3 2020 “to decide whether Coinbase at $100 billion makes no sense, a little sense or perfect sense.” Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Alla Aramyan / Getty Images | | A skilled software sales team devotes a lot of resources to pinpointing potential customers. Poring through LinkedIn and reviewing past speaker lists at industry conferences are good places to find decision makers, for example. Despite this detective work, GGV Capital investor Oren Yunger says sales teams still need to identify the deal-blockers who can spike a deal with a sing;e email. “I call this person the Chief Objection Officer.” Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images | | Every startup wants to raise its profile, but for many early-stage companies, marketing budgets are too small to make a meaningful difference. “Providing real value through content is an excellent way to build authority in the short and long term,” says Amanda Milligan, marketing director at growth agency Fractl. Read more | | | |
| |  Image Credits: luchezar / Getty Images | | The most effective marketing uses good storytelling, not persuasion. According to Caryn Marooney, general partner at Coatue Management, every compelling story is relevant, inevitable, believable and simple. “Behind most successful companies is a story that checks every one of those boxes,” says Marooney, but “this is a central challenge for every startup.” Read more | | | |
| |  | | On a recent episode of Extra Crunch Live, Ironclad founder and CEO Jason Boehmig and Accel partner Steve Loughlin discussed the pitch that brought them together almost four years ago. Since that $8 million Series A, Loughlin joined Ironclad’s board. “Both agree that the work they put in up front had paid off” when it comes to how well they work together, says Jordan Crook. "We've always been up front about the fact that we consider the board a part of the company," said Boehmig. Read more | | | |
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