Lucky Timing How We Built Social Media in 2021 Jesse Zhang, a repeat founder, discusses his experience building startups, highlighting the importance of customer feedback and validating market problems. He shares insights on investor selection, team building, and the journey to securing funding from top-tier investors for his latest venture, Decagon. What this video coversIn the fast-paced world of startups, Jesse Zhang stands out as a thoughtful builder who has learned from experience and applied it repeatedly. A repeat founder, he has navigated the messy early days and experienced the adrenaline of product-market fit.Jesse’s latest venture, Decagon, has secured funding from top-tier investors like Andreessen Horowitz, A* and BOND Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Accel.Jesse Zhang emphasizes starting startups with customer feedback, rather than fixed ideas, to avoid wasting time and effort.His first company, Lowkey, was acquired by Niantic after strong user growth, but it taught him the pitfalls of intuition-driven building.With Decagon, Jesse prioritized signal over hype, landing six-figure contracts before generating revenue.Decagon’s AI agents autonomously handle customer interactions, improving efficiency and experience across support channels.Jesse emphasizes the importance of selecting investors based on trust, drive, and long-term alignment.Building a fast-scaling team with a high “clock speed” culture has been key to Decagon’s execution and growth.His biggest advice: move fast, but only after deeply validating the problem and market with real customers. More from the libraryThe Future of Jobs Rewarding Creativity, Not RepetitionSeed Round Fundraising Second Time Founder's Unique Strategy 1Superblocks Revolutionary AI App Generation for EveryoneFrictionless Customer InteractionWave Energy Uncovering Insights and Avoiding FailuresWhy Machine Learning My Journey & CMU Professors Watch on Startup Fundraising · Open on YouTube · More shorts
