This Week in Startups
00:40:01 · Jake Newfield, Jason Calacanis, Lon Harris
[00:40:01] S2: Yeah, we're working on that. Perfect. I think we're close. [00:40:05] S0: I mean, just incredible job. Tell me candidly, what has the reception been pre having a Lighthouse customer post having a Lighthouse customer? [00:40:16] S2: Yeah, definitely helps a lot. Everything you said, Jason, it validates what we're doing and the pain we're solving, and I think every investor is scared, rightfully so, that startups are building something which tomorrow could get eaten up by one of these labs. As an investor, I think it's a scary time to be VC because there's no moat anymore, or not the same way they used to be. So an open AI anthropic tomorrow could go create something that one of your startups has, and the investor loses all their money. And so for us to be able to say, hey, not only are they not creating what we've built, but they're paying us for it, I think it shows investors that we're doing something valuable enough that if the companies that everyone's scared of, if they're paying us to do something, I think it's a good signal that we're doing something unique and valuable. [00:41:07] S1: Jason, unpack this a little bit for us in terms of moats, like how would you answer a question for an investor like that?
00:41:14 · Jason Calacanis
[00:41:14] S0: Yeah. Well, as Jake said, you know, for investors, they're a little scared. Hey. I have no moats, etcetera. I think the new moat is that you're relentless and that people trust you, and that would fall under brand. So we should have a new focus on brand today. I'm doing this myself. And so what is uniquely human about Jake? He's Jake. What can he do to make Hermetiq, you know, be indispensable? It's that he's thinking about what the customer needs before they even know they need it. He is looking and studying them and saying, how could I make this experience even better? If you go to a truly great restaurant and they get to know you, you come in, your drink lands before you order it. They let you know, hey, Jake, Al, when I go to Boa, you know, steak house here in Austin, they say, would you like, the Alaskan king crabs? And would you like your West Home New York strip medium rare? They've put that note into their system, and they send the same waiter over each time, whether that waiter is in that section or not. And they know I like a certain booth. So nine times out of 10, I get my booth, and they kinda customize to... Makes me feel good, impresses the guest. That kind of hospitality is a moat. Most people would say, Oh, that's not a real moat. It's not a technical moat. How you make that customer feel, Jake, and how they feel you're being attentive towards them means everything. And if you're charging a fair price, which you are, and it's making them more efficient, then they're going go, Well, there's no reason for us to do this. I could start my own... I'll give you an example. I like the chicory coffee. You know, Cafe Du Monde? You may have gone?
00:43:11 · Lon Harris, Jason Calacanis, Jake Newfield
[00:43:11] S1: I've never been, but I've heard. I'm familiar. [00:43:14] S0: Yeah. Well, we we are in Austin now. We gotta make a New Orleans. It's only a forty eight [00:43:17] S2: hour run. [00:43:17] S1: Away by car, by the way. [00:43:18] S0: I don't know. Let's see what a PJ can do if we get a little Phenom 300 and zip zittery. It's much cooking. You... They make chicory coffee. Yes. Incredible. It's a really strong coffee with [00:43:31] S1: the the the other claim to fame there. [00:43:33] S0: Yes. And so you go there, you get this coffee cut with chicory bark. It makes it even richer and nuttier. It's delicious. It is very good. I order those cans of coffee, and then at some point I was like, This seems a little expensive. I'm gonna buy some chicory and then mix it into my coffee. Couldn't get it right. Didn't give me the same pleasure of having that orange can, pull up the orange cans of vacuum sealed cans of Cafe Du Yeah. Yeah. Cafe Du Monde, chicory coffee. And so the experience, even though I could do it myself and save 50%, the experience of having the Cafe Du Monde made me so happy, so pleased. I liked the brand. I liked the feeling of that top left can. Now that's $10 for whatever it is, 12, 15 ounces of coffee. I could do better, right, if I made it myself? Au contraire, mon frere. I just buy it. [00:44:28] S1: Yeah. [00:44:28] S0: I just buy it because I like it. There are [00:44:30] S1: stores in Texas I have seen it around. Can... To get in California, but in Texas, people are hip to
00:44:30 · Lon Harris, Jason Calacanis
[00:44:30] S1: stores in Texas I have seen it around. Can... To get in California, but in Texas, people are hip to [00:44:36] S0: it. It's it's available. So that's my point. Brand, Jake, is now a function of how... Brand is the moat, and then how relentless and trusted your brand is, is why people will buy it. You know, like I I... I've told people this with Teslas for for a long time. One of the great things about having a Tesla is you get these over the air updates. Every time you get an over the air update, you feel like, oh, wow. And Apple has the same thing. You look at the change log and you're like, oh, I got more free software? Oh, the value of this product increased. So I love this company. And they're not saying, hey, would you like to buy the fact that we now have Spotify or Apple Music? They didn't say like, Unlock Apple Music for $10. They're just like, Apple Music now works. Scan the barcode, now you can connect your Apple Music. Okay, well that's great. I'm paying for that already. Great job, Jake. I'm really excited to be on the cap table. I'm... Man, you know, we got this syndicate, thesyndicate.com. When we have a company in the top two or three of the cohort and you got six weeks left, sometimes, Jay Cal likes to share the wealth and send it to 4,000 active family offices and angels. And, man, just the branding of that alone is worthy of, consideration, Jake. So let's, let's finish the Accelerator Strong and I will see you in New York the first week. First week of December, we're going to New York. Is that right, Jake? Is that the date?
00:44:36 · Jason Calacanis, Jake Newfield
[00:44:36] S0: it. It's it's available. So that's my point. Brand, Jake, is now a function of how... Brand is the moat, and then how relentless and trusted your brand is, is why people will buy it. You know, like I I... I've told people this with Teslas for for a long time. One of the great things about having a Tesla is you get these over the air updates. Every time you get an over the air update, you feel like, oh, wow. And Apple has the same thing. You look at the change log and you're like, oh, I got more free software? Oh, the value of this product increased. So I love this company. And they're not saying, hey, would you like to buy the fact that we now have Spotify or Apple Music? They didn't say like, Unlock Apple Music for $10. They're just like, Apple Music now works. Scan the barcode, now you can connect your Apple Music. Okay, well that's great. I'm paying for that already. Great job, Jake. I'm really excited to be on the cap table. I'm... Man, you know, we got this syndicate, thesyndicate.com. When we have a company in the top two or three of the cohort and you got six weeks left, sometimes, Jay Cal likes to share the wealth and send it to 4,000 active family offices and angels. And, man, just the branding of that alone is worthy of, consideration, Jake. So let's, let's finish the Accelerator Strong and I will see you in New York the first week. First week of December, we're going to New York. Is that right, Jake? Is that the date? [00:46:01] S2: That's right. That's right.
00:46:01 · Jake Newfield, Jason Calacanis, Lon Harris
[00:46:01] S2: That's right. That's right. [00:46:02] S0: Okay. And then also the first week of December when I'm there, Jake, this hasn't been announced, so you don't know about this yet. I didn't tell you. Thesyndicate.com is gonna host dim sum for the top 100 syndicate members. We're gonna invite them in order. It's gonna be like my little holiday party in New York. So... [00:46:19] S2: You're a dim sum fan. That's your thing. [00:46:22] S0: -I'll tell you why I like dim sum and why I do dim sum a lot. Dim sum, you don't have to think. Great food comes to your table, and you share it on the Lazy Susan. What does that do when you want to do networking or talking? -Nice. [00:46:35] S2: Conversational. Conversational. Oh, that's lot [00:46:37] S1: of sense. I I didn't even think of it. [00:46:38] S0: Spin it. [00:46:39] S2: That's smart. That's smart. You. Bringing it you. [00:46:41] S0: That's me. That's my brand. [00:46:43] S2: That's how I... That's what I like. I want them to bring me the food, they keep bringing it so I don't have to feel shame when I ask for more and more. [00:46:49] S1: They just keep coming with the cart. [00:46:50] S0: It's like the omocase of Chinese food. Yeah. You think about it, right? It's like omocase, they bring the cart by. Unfortunately, when we did it at Yank Sing, who does the best job, that's my favorite. There's two locations. We did it in the restaurant where they don't have the roundtables. We got to go back to the other one where they have the roundtables and the logistics. The idea. Spinning is critical.