Rising Above the Noise in Consumer VC with Kirsten Green of Forerunner | E1961

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Vanta - Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at http://www.vanta.com/twist Oracle - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist. Mercury - With Mercury, you can simplify your financial operations with banking and software that power your critical financial workflows, all within the one thing every business needs, a bank account. And with new bill pay and accounting integrations, you can pay bills faster and stay in control of company spend. Apply in minutes at ⁠https://www.Mercury.com * Todays show: Kirsten Green joins guest host Mark Suster to discuss Forerunner’s framework on making investments (8:33), how AI will change how consumer companies and applications are built (16:28), cultural shifts that are investable (33:38), and more! * Timestamps: (0:00) Kirsten Green joins guest host Mark Suster. (2:49) Kirsten’s advice to stand out in consumer venture with only seven percent of VC dollars being allocated to consumer. (8:33) Forerunner’s framework on making investments. (11:16) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist (12:09) The value of searching for where businesses are missing the mark, and the “wow” factor of the Oura Ring. (16:28) How AI will change how consumer companies and applications are built (19:46) Oracle - Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist. (20:50) The current state of the consumer search experience and the power of personalization that AI can bring. (24:16) The disruptive lesson from mobile and the next level of being context aware. (28:24) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://www.mercury.com (31:57) Forerunner Ventures lives within the intersection of invention and culture. (33:38) Cultural shifts that are investable. (36:36) The consumer shift from large to small screen. (40:42) The importance of the mix between direct and indirect revenue. (42:32) Discussing the relevance of “freemium”. (55:48) What the exit environment is like going forward. (1:02:55) What will it take to bring back the small and mid-cap market? * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp * Check out Forerunner Ventures: https://www.forerunnerventures.com/ * Follow Kirsten: X: https://x.com/kirstenagreen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstengreen/ * Follow Mark: X: https://twitter.com/msuster LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksuster/ * Thank you to our partners: (11:16) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist (19:46) Oracle - Take a free test drive of OCI at https://www.oracle.com/twist. (28:24) Mercury - Join 200K startups who use Mercury to operate at their best at http://www.mercury.com * Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast