EP10: Alanna Gregory, founder VIVE and Sr Director at Afterpay, on marketplace economics, growth marketing at Afterpay, and how NFTs could become lot more mainstream

In this conversation with Alanna we talked about pivotal moments in Alanna’s journey from working on emerging markets research on Wall St, to founding a YC backed marketplace startup, to growth marketing leader at Afterpay. Alanna has a broad and unique perspective on startups, fintech and crypto, and in this conversation we cover a wide range of topics across all three. Episode HighlightsStarting her career on Wall St during the 2008 financial crisisCulture working in finance vs techFounding VIVE — what drove her to marketplacesVision to build a marketplace that helps salons acquire customersExplosive early demand — 14,000 customer waitlistChallenging unit economics — trade-offs between unlimited usage and credit systemExplorations — marketplace vs SaaS vs bundling CPG productsKey learning — PMF is about finding and meeting demand in a scalable way, unit economics and margins important even at early stagesJoining AfterPay to lead growth marketing for engagement and retentionApproach towards consumer vs merchant, and checkout product vs standalone appThoughts on fintech and potential risks in the systemHow startups build/validate a new lending product as a startup and risks to manageThoughts on DeFi and NFTs — both quickly going more and more mainstreamHow NFTs and e-commerce could merge and enable new products and marketing leversThoughts on what might happen if interest rates go up — mental model on opportunities if markets retreat or become more volatileSuper powers on spotting talent and hiring, people who have her a break, and booksLinksFollow Alanna @alannaeve on TwitterHit subscribe to keep up with new episodes!Follow Ashish and Zane on Twitter for summariesClick here to give feedback — it only takes a minute.