Sold My Startup for $780M: the Good, Bad, Ugly with Jack Smith, Vungle
This week we went deep on the growing pains of a startup, from PR nightmares to co-founder breakups, the challenge of shifting from a scarcity to growth mindset, and so much more with Jack Smith, serial entrepreneur & investor. @_jacksmith has co-founded multiple startups: Vungle, Coin, Shyp and advised many others. We talk everything from his startup outgrowing him to his lack of focus getting him to the right place & right time.
👊🏻 5 THINGS YOU'LL LEARN:
- How Jack's curiosity from a tender age carried him through as an entrepreneur
- The value of an incubator - should you join one?
- What it takes to get to product-market fit, and then scale
- What it means to outgrow your startup, and what you can do
- The harsh reality of a startup's PR nightmare
⏳ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
02:29 - Jack's early start in entrepreneurship
05:03 - Mediaroots evolution into Vungle
08:36 - Hacking screen record & how that led to San Francisco
10:49 - Should I join an incubator? Jack's learning from AngelPad
16:31 - The crappy engineer, launching to the next few stages
21:33 - What metrics mattered, that affirmed the Vungle vision?
24:42 - Jack's reflection on how the startup outgrew him
28:06 - Micromanaging to enabling others
30:50 - Handling a PR nightmare, and standing by his co-founder
32:40 - Jack's reflection on "making it" with the BIG exit
About Jack Smith
Jack Smith is a serial entrepreneur, investor and advisor. Originally from England, he founded his first startup at 13 years old, studied at King’s College London, where he founded an incubator named IdeaBox and moved to San Francisco several years later, in 2011, to attend one of the best accelerators in the world.
With his idea Vungle, the leading mobile in-app video advertising platform, Which later sold to Blackstone in 2019 for $ 780 million. Jack also co-founded Shyp, which reached a peak of $ 250m valuation and then went to $0.
He sits on the board of COVA Acquisition Corp, (next to Austin Russell, the youngest self-made billionaire to date) and The Hustle, Which was acquired by HubSpot, Both companies are listed on the NYSE. He is an advisor to various startups (Survios, UJET, Coin (acquired by Fitbit), Intricately, Onfleet, RCI (acquired by Addepar), Ameelio) and most recently has helped shape The Prison Mathematics Project, a non-profit which teaches maths to prisoners.
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𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 is THE show for the audacious next-gen leaders.
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𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬
The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network
In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.
From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.
Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.
This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.
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