Greatest Hits #4 - How To Sell Your Company for $750M - Meet Vun…
About This Episode
Shaan Puri interviews Jack Smith, the co-founder of Vungle, about his unconventional journey from selling playground 'itchy bombs' to building and exiting an $800 million ad network. The conversation explores Jack's unique ability to 'reverse engineer' systems, using clever hacks like hyper-targeted LinkedIn ads to land investors and becoming a top user on nascent platforms to build valuable networks.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- * (1:05) Episode Intro by Sam
- * (4:10) Who is Jack Smith?
- * (9:30) How Jack hustled as a 12-year-old
- * (13:55) Jack on productivity and procrastination
- * (21:26) How Jack raised for Vungle
- * (31:13) How Shaan got his in at Monkey Inferno
- * (35:16) The early iterations of Vungle
- * (41:37) How Jack leveraged his beginner's mindset
- * (45:19) Jack on VC norms & selling his stock
- * (49:44) What Jack would do if he was 20 again
Key Takeaways
Hyper-Targeted Outreach: Use nascent platform features to reach high-value individuals directly, such as using LinkedIn's early ad system to target a specific investor.
The 'Cancer' vs. 'Itch' Framework: When developing a product, ensure you are solving a critical, 'life-or-death' problem for the customer rather than just a minor inconvenience.
First-Mover Platform Advantage: Identify new platforms early (like Product Hunt or YouTube in their infancy) and become a power user to gain disproportionate influence and networking opportunities.