GroupMe founder on his $80M exit (and why he’s building his new company differently)
I’m so excited about today’s guest. Years ago he created a software that allowed a group of people to talk to one another over text. It was called GroupMe and it felt like as soon as I even heard about the company it was sold in a life-changing exit. I always admired how they did it.
Well, today we have the founder of GroupMe, Jared Hecht. He has a new company now and the thing I love about it is how he started it. He understood a pain point and started doing research. But he researched it in a way that I think most founders would be too afraid to do. He started going door to door and asking business owners about their freaking financial situation. And they told him!
That’s how he built his business. He’s here to tell us how he did it. Jared Hecht is the founder of Fundera which helps business owners understand their creditworthiness and get loans and other financial solutions.
Jared Hecht is the founder of Fundera which helps business owners understand their creditworthiness and get loans and other financial solutions.
Andrew: Hey, everyone. My name is Andrew Warner. I’m the founder of Mixergy, where I interview entrepreneurs about how they built their businesses. I’m so excited to have this guest on today. I don’t even think he knows how excited I am to have him.
Here’s the deal. Years ago, I remember being at South by Southwest. I remember in my mind where I saw someone introduce me to this piece of software that allowed everyone to communicate with each other, you know, like a group texting software.
And it was so perfect for South by Southwest because (a) at the time, you know, the internet was kind of wonky over there, and (b) you want to talk to as many people as possible when you’re at South by Southwest. You want to communicate with them. You want to connect with them and get together and have all the free food that they offer there.
Anyway, the company was called GroupMe, and like no time at all, the freaking thing just sold, and it...
Continue reading the transcript...