Building a Multi-Billion Dollar Company
Interview with Jack Greco co-founder of ACV Auctions and Far Out VC
B2B Marketplaces, Angel Investing, and Hiring Only Happy People…
In our latest Sobremesa episode, Jack Greco, co-founder of one of the few B2B marketplaces out there which actually had a successful exit, shares how they’ve done it. ACV Auctions, which went public in 2021 and currently boasts a ~$3bn market cap, belongs to a new breed of marketplaces following the footsteps of consumer-focused giants like Airbnb and Uber. In comparison, online B2B marketplaces are still early and there aren’t many examples of companies that reached a similar scale and success in the public markets. It’s still a category in the making…
Enter Jack Greco… Sporting a Buffalo Bills t-shirt, Jack will be quick to let you know he’s not from Silicon Valley or another tech metropolis and that he intends to keep the conversation real. He’ll tell it like it is: why has ACV succeeded where others failed; explaining how no founder in their right mind would ignore the opportunity of using investor updates the right way; hiring only happy people; allowing a greater segment of the population to angel invest, and focusing on tier 2 and 3 cities in the US.
Beyond ACV, Jack has made nearly 200 angel investments throughout his career and recently launched Far Out, an early-stage VC. I indulged myself and switched back and forth from an entrepreneur’s and an investor’s point of view to try and get the most out of each topic.
This episode offers many valuable takeaways, and I won’t spoil all of them here (so tune in!). However, I particularly enjoyed Jack’s take on when and how to automate transactions in a marketplace. Human interactions should be used as an exotic spice thrown in an otherwise predominantly tech-based salad. This is especially true in B2B marketplaces, where trust and longstanding relationships underpin the majority of transactions. Too little “human spice”, and you’ll have a bland salad that no one will want to order. Too much of it, and you’ll be driving the cost of this dish through the roof… and it’ll soon be off the menu - after all, you can’t eat negative contribution margin!
You can listen now on Spotify, Apple or watch the video
In this Sobremesa, we chat about:
(00:00) Coming Next
(00:40) Introducing Jack Greco
(01:19) The idea behind ACV Auctions
(09:23) One of the few successful exits in B2B marketplaces
(14:17) When hiring and culture are not just buzzwords
(19:22) When to use human interactions and when to use tech instead?
(24:28) What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
(27:36) The importance of doing investor updates right
(32:28) When is leaving as a co-founder a red flag?
(37:42) Angel investing is the best asset class in the world
(41:45) Controversy around accredited investor definition
(45:49) Forget Silicon Valley: investing in tier 2 and 3 cities in the US
(50:36) VC as an agent of change
(53:11) Optimistic closing remarks