Invest in Progress

The instant commerce company Gopuff delivers groceries and other must-haves to shoppers' homes within minutes of an online order. Co-founder and co-chief executive Yakir Gola tells Scottish Mortgage manager Tom Slater how he developed the business from a dorm-room experiment into a service relied on by millions, and the changes he’s made to prepare for the next phase of growth.Background: Scottish Mortgage first invested in Gopuff in 2021.The US-based company speedily delivers groceries, hot coffee and alcohol, among other items, without charging premium prices. Unlike rivals that send gig workers to pick up goods from third-party stores, Gopuff runs its own warehouses. Gola explains how that decision, taken in the firm’s early days, helps it deliver exactly what customers ordered and keeps its prices competitive with the major supermarkets.In this interview, Gola discusses Gopuff’s partnerships with Amazon and Starbucks, why it has started offering free deliveries to US households receiving food stamps, and what’s next on his to-do list.“Consumers are price-sensitive, so if [Gopuff] can match the prices they experience outside of the convenience category or get closer and closer to those price points, then that just brings more and more users to them,” says Tom Slater.Timecodes: 00:03  Coming up…00:48  Introduction02:28  Yakir Gola interview begins02:44  “5,000 products delivered in as fast as 15 minutes”03:31  Making the family business millions of dollars04:56  A better way to get stuff delivered07:20  Capital from California10:33  Keeping control of its own warehouses13:20  The FAM membership scheme14:44  Free deliveries to families on food stamps18:22  Fresh produce and everyday essentials21:06  Partnering with Starbucks23:37  An alliance with Amazon UK24:52  Focusing on the long term27:24  Recalibrating after Covid30:55  A lesson from Steve Jobs33:06  In growth mode, again35:15  Sharing ownership37:39  Drawing on expert advice41:13  Taking the hassle out of shopping44:09  Tom Slater on the investment case51:26  Podcast lookaheadGlossary (in order of mention): Instant commerce:The category of online retail focused on delivering goods within minutes of an order, rather than within hours or the next day. Bootstrapped:When an entrepreneur starts and grows a business using his or her own money and cash generated by operations rather than outside investors. Free cash flow:Cash left after paying for operating costs and investment needed to run the business. Venture capital:Money invested by specialist investors in early-stage or high-growth private companies. Vertically integrated:When a company owns and controls more of the supply chain itself, such as inventory and warehouses.Series A:An early major round of external fundraising. Inventory integration:The systems that let a company know what products are actually in stock and available to sell or deliver.FAM membership:Gopuff’s paid subscription programme, which waives delivery fees and offers discounted prices in return for a monthly charge.Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):A US government food support scheme for people on low incomes.Private label: Products sold under a brand owned by the retailer.Capital markets:The financial markets where companies raise money from investors.Unit economics:The profit or loss made on each order, customer or unit.Same-store sales growth:Sales growth from existing locations, excluding new ones.Read the transcript. Check the podcast description to ensure this content is suitable for you. Your capital is at risk. Presenter: Claire ShawExecutive Producer: Leo KelionLine producer: Jessica RooneyBroadcast Technician: Samual O’Hare Editor: Jody Black Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a compressed version of Scottish Mortgage’s interview with the buy-now, pay-later service’s chief executive and co-founder Max Levchin.Listen to the full episode here. Affirm offers shoppers a transparent alternative to credit cards. It tells consumers upfront what monthly charge they face, promises no late fees or hidden charges, and in many cases offers a 0 percent interest rate. Levchin tells Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust manager Tom Slater what drove him to create the business and why it has an edge over rivals.Background:Scottish Mortgage first invested in Affirm in 2019, when it was still a private company.Today, the listed business provides credit to millions of customers across the US, Canada and the UK when they make online and offline purchases. It now has its sights set on further expansion and is taking a greater share of business away from the incumbents in the credit card industry.In this podcast, Levchin reveals how he came to build Affirm after his prior success at PayPal, Affirm’s appeal to merchants and consumers, and why its underwriting technology gives it an enduring advantage. Timecodes:00:02  Introduction00:56  Max Levchin interview begins01:03  A transparent alternative to credit cards01:24 Lessons from PayPal02:55  A painful credit card experience05:50 How Affirm works08:35  Underwriting data provides a ‘powerful moat’Glossary (in order of mention):Point-of-sale lending: Credit offered at the moment a customer buys something, either online or in a shop.Network effects: The phenomenon whereby a product or service becomes more valuable as more people or businesses use it.Charge-off: When a lender writes off a debt as unlikely to be repaid, usually damaging the borrower’s credit record.Delinquent/delinquency: A loan or credit account becomes delinquent when the borrower is late making required payments.IPO: Initial public offering – the process by which a private company lists its shares on a public stock market.Accrued interest: Interest that has built up over time on a loan or balance.Underwriting: A lender's process of assessing whether to grant credit to a borrower, and on what termsCompetitive moat: A durable advantage that makes it hard for competitors to copy or overtake a business.Check the podcast description to ensure this content is suitable for you. Your capital is at risk. Presenter: Claire ShawExecutive Producer: Leo KelionLine producer: Jessica RooneyBroadcast Technician: Samual O’Hare Editor: Jody Black Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Affirm’s buy now, pay later service offers shoppers a transparent alternative to credit cards. It tells consumers up-front what monthly charge they face, promises no late fees or hidden charges – and in many cases offers a zero percent interest rate. Co-founder and chief executive Max Levchin reveals how the business originated in his own “painful” experiences with credit cards, and how AI-powered shopping agents could supercharge its future.Background:Scottish Mortgage first invested in Affirm in 2019, when it was still a private company.Today, the listed business provides credit to millions of customers across the US, Canada and the UK when they make online and offline purchases, and it has its sights set on further expansion and taking a greater share of business away from the incumbents in the credit card industry.“No one loves thinking about money because it’s a drag, it’s complicated,” Levchin tells investment manager Tom Slater in this interview. “It doesn’t have to be this way. And we’ve proven that for our little niche, big as it is… we can alleviate the burden.”In this podcast, the two discuss how Levchin came to build Affirm after his prior success at PayPal, the technology that underpins the company’s ability to tailor loans to each customer and purchase, why merchants are keen to cover the cost of zero percent credit from a third party, and how AI-powered shopping agents could impact the firm. Timecodes:00:03 Coming up…00:48 Introduction02:25 Max Levchin interview begins02:51 A transparent alternative to credit cards04:05 A threatened amputation08:52 Lessons from PayPal11:44 Returning to the world of fintech14:28 A terrible credit card experience18:15 Attracting early investors22:14 How Affirm works25:48 The appeal to merchants28:36 Focusing on the Affirm Card31:23 Underwriting data provides a ‘powerful moat’35:41 Why permit credit for luxury purchases?39:25 Listening to your gut42:20 How big could Affirm get?45:39 AI agentic shopping48:54 What the world looks like if Affirm fulfils its mission50:38 Claire Shaw and Tom Slater on the investment case57:35 Podcast lookaheadGlossary (in order of mention):Point-of-sale lending: Credit offered at the moment a customer buys something, either online or in a shop.Network effects: The effect where a product or service becomes more valuable as more people or businesses use it.Fintech: Technology-driven financial services, such as digital payments, lending or banking tools.Charge-off: When a lender writes off a debt as unlikely to be repaid, usually damaging the borrower’s credit record.Delinquent/delinquency: A loan or credit account becomes delinquent when the borrower is late making required payments.IPO: Initial public offering: the process by which a private company lists its shares on a public stock market.Accrued interest: Interest that has built up over time on a loan or balance.CMO: Chief marketing officer, the executive responsible for a company’s marketing strategy.Competitive moat: A durable advantage that makes it hard for competitors to copy or overtake a business.Cash flow: The movement of money into and out of a person’s or company’s accounts.Total addressable market: The total revenue opportunity available if a company could reach all possible customers for its product.Operating expense: Day-to-day business spending, such as salaries, rent or marketing.AI agent: An AI system that can carry out tasks or make decisions on a user’s behalf.Net promoter score: A customer loyalty measure based on how likely users are to recommend a company or product.Flywheel: A business dynamic where one improvement drives another, creating self-reinforcing growth.Read the transcript.Check the podcast description to ensure this content is suitable for you. Your capital is at risk. Presenter: Claire ShawExecutive Producer: Leo KelionLine producer: Jessica RooneyBroadcast Technician: Samual O’Hare Editor: Jody Black Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a compressed version of Scottish Mortgage’s interview with the biotech’s founder Viswa Colluru, for those of you wanting just the highlights.Listen to the full episode here.The biotech company Enveda has developed a new approach to explore and ‘decode’ nature’s chemistry. Its goal is to discover molecules that could underpin a new generation of blockbuster drugs. In this podcast, the firm’s founder and chief executive, Viswa Colluru, explains why Enveda has the potential to become a trillion-dollar business, and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust manager Tom Slater considers the risks and opportunities the portfolio company faces. Background:Scottish Mortgage first invested in Enveda in November 2024. The US-headquartered company uses a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) large language model to discover and develop new medicines from natural sources. At the time of writing, it has a pipeline of 12 drug candidates in various stages of development that could form the basis of new therapies to treat dermatitis, obesity, inflammation and chronic pain. Enveda’s founder, Viswa Colluru, has reimagined the drug discovery process from first principles based on his insight that natural molecular compounds should have a better safety profile than engineered ones.“Healthcare is the biggest industry in the world, and if you can increase the odds of success in drug discovery, there are so many unmet needs that its opportunity is effectively unbounded,” says Scottish Mortgage manager, Tom Slater. Timecodes:00:00    Introduction01:00    Interview starts01:10    “Things that work in the lab [often] don’t work in people”02:30    A mission grounded in a family death04:25    Investing his life savings08:45    Partnering with Microsoft and Sanofi Glossary (in order of mention):Chronic myeloid leukaemia:A type of blood cancer that affects white blood cells.Mass spectrometer:A lab instrument that measures the mass of molecules to help identify them.SaaS:Software as a service – software accessed online via a subscription.Cost of capital:How expensive it is for a company to raise money from investors or lenders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.