Acknowledgments
We are truly grateful to all those who have assisted with this project, and we’d like to express our sincere thanks for the generous help and support we’ve received along the way.
This book would not have happened without Trevor Boehm’s tireless work and creativity. He served as our quarterback, led the writing and research efforts, and conducted countless interviews. Our names are on the cover, but Trevor is the true hero of Get Backed.
We’d also like to express our deepest gratitude to Harvard Business Review Press. Our first e-mail from Tim Sullivan, editorial director at the Press, said, “The good news is that I took the project to our acquisitions meeting this morning. The better news is that the committee was wildly enthusiastic about the book—and how often can you say that any committee is wildly enthusiastic about anything?” From the get-go, the Press has been a joy to work with, and we are deeply indebted to Tim for believing in us and seeing the importance of a book like this. We are especially grateful to a few folks on his team, namely, Jennifer Waring, Stephani Finks, Julie Devoll, Kevin Evers, and Nina Nocciolino.
Showing your investor pitch deck to strangers is a bit like giving the world a key to your front door. It is courageous and an extreme act of generosity. Most of the entrepreneurs we interviewed simply said, “No, you cannot publish my pitch deck . . . are you crazy?” It is for that reason that we are so grateful to the thirteen founders who said “Yes”: Brad McNamara, Cofounder and CEO, Freight Farms; George Arison, Founder and CEO, Shift; Jonathan Beekman, Founder and CEO, Man Crates; Justin McLeod, Founder and CEO, Hinge; Kegan Schouwenburg, Founder and CEO, SOLS Systems; McKay Thomas, Cofounder and CEO, First Opinion; Michael McDaniel, Founder and CEO, Reaction, Inc.; Russ Heddleston, Cofounder and CEO, DocSend; Ryan Allis, Cofounder and Chairman, Connect; Steven van Wel, Cofounder and CEO, Karma; Wade Eyerly, Cofounder and CEO, Beacon; Zvi Band, Cofounder and CEO, Contactually; and Will Haughey, Cofounder and Chief Blockhead, Tegu.
A few other people without whom this labor of love simply would not have been possible: Curtis Eggemeyer, CEO of Lemi Shine, who gave us a lot of encouragement and the seed capital needed to continue our work. A book is quite possibly the worst investment you can make, so we’re hopeful that Get Backed provides social returns for Curtis; Steve Nelson, at Harvard Business School, who first introduced us to Tim Sullivan; Charlie Hoehn and Tucker Max for their marketing genius; Erin at Able Lending and Lori of 33Vincent for taking care of the small details so we could keep our sights set on the bigger picture; Steven Tomlinson, who opened our imaginations to the idea of “play”; Steven Eggert, former designer at frog, who took on the first designs of the book; Dave Blanchard, Josh Kwan, Jon Hart, Jason Locy, Jon Tyson, and Dr. Steve Graves—our dear friends at Praxis who provided friendship, insight, and encouragement along the way; Francis Pedraza, our hero of the Friendship Loop, for allowing us to dig into his methodology and crack the code on relationship fundraising; Mike Rothenberg, Founder, Rothenberg Ventures, who made countless introductions to founders of startups along the way; Jason Bornhorst, Founder and CEO, Filament Labs; Will Sauer, Director of Finance and Operations, Skycatch; Sanjay Dastoor, Cofounder, Boosted Boards; Adam Tichauer, former President and CEO, Play-button; Deena Varshavskaya, Founder and CEO, Wanelo; Jeff Avallon, Cofounder, IdeaPaint; Jason Seats, Partner, Techstars; Scott Harrison, Founder, charity: water; Dan Martell, Founder, Clarity.fm; Nancy Duarte, author, slide:ology; Tommy Leep, Chief Connector, Rothenberg Ventures; and Chi-Hua Chien, venture capitalist, Good-water Capital, and Twitter, Facebook, and Spotify investor.
Evan Loomis would also like to thank:
Mom and Dad for always saying “go for it” and funding every crazy startup idea I’ve had—from lawn mowing to pressure washing and even wedding videography (what the heck was I thinking? I was terrible). I’ll pay you guys back soon . . . Yes, soon . . . I promise . . .
Former President George H. W. Bush for inviting me to serve as his assistant during college. Watching him genuinely care for people and write countless handwritten notes humbled me and helped me understand why he was one of the most powerful people in the world.
Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and senior lecturer Jim Olson, two former cold war spies and professors at Texas A&M University, for casually suggesting that I look into investment banking after graduation. Their counsel changed the course of my life.
Ian Sugarman, now Vice Chairman of Retail Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, for giving me my first job on Wall Street. Ian meticulously taught me how to create pitch decks and helped me realize that I love people more than cubicles and Microsoft Excel.
Scott Erwin, an American hero and friend, who got shot in Iraq, almost died, and lived to complete an Ironman Triathlon and swim the English Channel. He constantly inspires me to dream bigger and keep going when I get knocked down.
Dr. Steven Garber and Mark Rodgers, my former colleagues at Wedgwood Circle, for showing me how to advance “goodness, truth, and beauty for the common good” through the critical sectors of media and entertainment.
Judi McQueary, my aunt and boss at Corinthian, for being the very first investor in TreeHouse at a time when there was nothing but the proverbial notes on a napkin. But I’m most thankful for her friendship, laughter, and joyful spirit.
My cofounders and investors at TreeHouse, for teaching me everything I know about startups and giving their hearts and souls to get our first store launched: Jason Ballard, Kevin Graham, Paul Yanosy, Peter Ackerson, and Brian Williamson. Simply put, TreeHouse would have been a pipe dream without a few key investors backing us: Garrett Boone, Cofounder, The Container Store; Greg King, former President, Valero Energy Corporation; Bruce Hill, private investor and co-owner, San Antonio Spurs; Justin Cox, Partner, Cox Partners; Thomas Lehrman, Founder, Haystack Partners; Brad Allen, private investor. You’re all mentors and I’m thankful for your wisdom.
The last section of the book, titled “Introduction to the Friendship Loop,” would have been hollow without my closest friends, who embody true friendship. C.S. Lewis said that “Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods,” and I could not agree more. Here are the people who have made me better simply by being my friends: Taylor Jackson, Dave Thompson, Jason Ballard, Jonathan Lusk, Jared Fuson, Yobany Mayen, Trevor Brock, Jon Wolfshohl, David Hollon, Ryan Nixon, Brent Baker, Brad Dunn, Will Haughey, Brock Dahl, Hunter Grunden, Sean Clifford, David Vennett, Justin Yarborough, Dave Blanchard, Duncan Sahner, Clayton Christopher, Reese Ryan, Jay Kleberg, David Mebane, Jeff Harbach, Brian Haley, Curtis Eggemeyer, Kevin Robnett, Noah Riner, Jared Jonker, Kevin Patterson, AJ Gafford, Kevin Peterson, Derick Thompson, Sly Majid, Trey Arbuckle, and Tim Cleveland.
Evan Baehr would also like to thank:
Ms. Hess, my high school debate coach, who taught me the basics of speech and rhetoric and embedded in me my lifelong passion for communication.
Kenny Trout, for creating Excel Communications, giving me my first chance to sell something—and yes, it was door-to-door long-distance phone service.
Kate Reilly, my Princeton college debate partner, with whom I disagree on nearly every possible topic . . . which, of course, made us unstoppable.
Robert George and Cornel West, two Princeton professors who teach the world that two men of goodwill but diverging opinions not only can but must have civil discourse to advance the cause of humanity.
My cofounder, Will Davis, who puts up with my antics and is always a source of encouragement. Will extended perhaps the most generous invitation to me five years ago when he said, “I want to do this with you because I know that if something ever happened to me you’d care for my family.” And I absolutely would.
Tony Deifell, who introduced me to one of the biggest and most important questions of my life: “Why do you do what you do?”
Sheryl Sandberg, who introduced me to Mark Zuckerberg by saying, “Evan is the only person I’ve ever hired because he asks great questions.”
Peter Thiel, whose intellectual rigor demands answers to questions such as: “What is something you believe that no one else does?”
Mike Maples, our first major investor, who has been the ultimate supporter and encourager at every turn, and who commented after our Series A: “You could sell ice to Eskimos.”
Dylan Hogarty, who was the first person to ever say, “You know, you might actually want to try out this entrepreneurship thing.”
And finally to Dave Crabbe, Brett Gibson, Joel Bryce, Will Davis, Mark Gundersen, and Mike Lage: You inspire, congratulate, coach, and help me become the person I was made to be.
The achievement of this publication is as much for each of you as it is for us. Thank you, thank you!