Conference Presentation, Keynote
The Most Important Decision is Getting Started – Laura Behrens Wu
- Company Overview: Shippo, founded by Laura Behrens-Wu and Simon in 2013, is an API connecting e-commerce merchants to a network of shipping providers to optimize costs and streamline integration.
- Growth Metrics: The company currently processes millions of shipments monthly, has grown its shipping volume by 300% annually since inception, and serves 16,000 customers with a team of 70.
- Product Strategy: The pivot to Shippo was triggered by advice from LendUp CEO Sasha to build "painkillers" (essential tools) rather than "vitamins" (nice-to-have features); the founders identified shipping rates, transparency, and legacy technology as critical pain points for e-commerce.
- Fundraising Rejections: The initial fundraising journey involved rejection from Y Combinator and 500 Startups before acceptance into 500 Startups Batch 8; the subsequent Series Seed pitch involved 125 investors with 115 rejections before raising $2 million from 10 investors.
- Series A Execution: The Series A round raised $7 million from Union Square Ventures via a self-driven timeline that compressed the process into four weeks (meetings, partner meetings, and due diligence) to generate competitive term sheets.
- Founding Team Dynamics: The original team experienced turnover, including the departure of a third co-founder and the separation from a senior technical leader during due diligence.
- Crisis Management: During both fundraising rounds, the company handled founder departures and a lawsuit during due diligence by communicating transparently and directly with investors to build trust.
- Key Performance Indicators: Early growth was defined by focusing on a single KPI, shipping volume, which remains the primary metric for the company despite optimizing other metrics today.
- Fundraising Advice: Behrens-Wu advises founders to do diligence on investors by seeking back-channel references regarding how they behave when things go wrong, noting that investors are "employees you can't fire."
- Cultural Philosophy: The company adheres to a culture of hiring slowly and firing fast to avoid "assholes" in the organization, prioritizing complementary skills between co-founders over trying to be great at everything.
- Personal Sustainability: Behrens-Wu emphasizes that self-care is business maintenance, advising founders to identify energy-draining activities and to ask for help, including executive coaching and peer support.
- Industry Observation: Behrens-Wu notes the scarcity of female founders in B2B sectors, citing instances of being mistaken for non-leadership roles or having her company described as "cute" despite its serious technical nature.
- Systemic Change: Her perspective on gender in tech has shifted from "be so good they can't ignore you" to recognizing that discrimination is a systemic issue requiring founders to build inclusive cultures and support other women to drive change.
- Future Outlook: The company remains in a growth phase, actively hiring, with the goal of generating outstanding returns for investors while supporting the next generation of female entrepreneurs.