Social Leverage Letter | Issue #39

Taking the Downturn Seriously, Deal Flow & Crypto Corner

Author

Pete Weishaupt
May 29, 2022

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UPFRONT

Social Leverage portfolio company (Fund III) Staytuned has completed the acquisition of Moonship, a Shopify app that creates AI-based personalized discounts.

Details: Moonship was founded in November of 2020 to help Shopify merchants convert reluctant buyers browsing their online stores. The purpose-built app will help Staytuned customers profitably and effortlessly scale their businesses.

  • Increases revenue with one-time personalized pop-up discount codes tailored to customers site interaction.

  • Conversions increased 20 to 30 percent for those merchants deploying Moonship.

  • Merchants can install, customize, and go live with the app in minutes.

Why it matters: DTC operators require new channels to grow sales with merchant-friendly tools that can unlock additional revenue. Top merchants like Aura Bora, ILYSM, and Nutracelle have already experienced an uplift in revenue within days of installing Moonship.

The bottom line: Moonship is the best product of its kind in the ecosystem and allows merchants to offset the growing costs of paid marketing while diversifying growth channels.

READING

Sequoia Capital is warning founders not to expect the recovery from the current downturn to happen quickly and are providing portfolio companies advice on how to avoid the “death spiral”. The combination of turbulent markets, inflation, and geopolitical conflict is a “crucible moment” of uncertainty which requires founders to move fast and cut costs.

Sequoia is the latest VC firm telling you to take the downturn seriously – TechCrunch

Sequoia’s advice largely followed the same script that other venture firms have been using: extend runway, focus on sustainable growth and recognize that an economic recovery may be a ways away.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/28/sequoias-52-slide-deck-about-this-crucible-moment-in-tech/

WHAT ELSE WE'RE READING

Here's a few other stories that caught our eye over the past week.

LISTENING

Sir Martin Sorrell has been a titan of global capitalism over the last 40 years. He made his name building WPP into an advertising juggernaut, and went on to found S4 Capital. At 77 years old, Sir Martin is showing no signs of slowing down.

Sir Martin Sorrell on deal making, motivation & holding power in advertising

Listen now (51 min) | Get your unique link below to win rewards

https://aloadofbs.substack.com/p/sir-martin-sorrell-on-deal-making

WHAT ELSE WE'RE LISTENING TO

A few more podcasts you might like:

  • Mike Dudas of 6th Man Ventures on Crypto, LinksDAO, and Applying a DAO Model to Biotech (Panic with Friends)

  • Edward O. Thorp, A Man for All Markets — Beating Blackjack and Roulette, Beating the Stock Market, Spotting Bernie Madoff Early, and Knowing When Enough Is Enough (The Tim Ferriss Show)

  • Smart Managers Don’t Compare People to the “Average” (HBR IdeaCast)

  • Peter Saddington — Love of Learning (Infinite Loops)

DEAL FLOW

The latest venture funding from around the globe:

CRYPTO CORNER

News on Crypto/web3:

JOB BOARD

Explore openings at our portfolio companies:

Social Leverage Job Board

Search job openings across the Social Leverage network.

https://jobs.socialleverage.com/companies

Featured Jobs:

Logistics Partnership Manager

Remote - India

https://boards.greenhouse.io/narvar/jobs/4273879#content

Beyond - Client Revenue Manager

It is with that in mind that Beyond is looking for a Client Revenue Manager to join our growing team. Reporting to our Manager of Customer Success, you will have the opportunity to manage our customers who need an outsourced revenue manager as part of our Guidance offering. As a Client Revenue Manager, you will play a pivotal role in delivering white glove customer experience. The role will also provide cross-functional business exposure to the Revenue Management team. You will work to ensure that these customers are successful and long lasting customers of Beyond to allow us to maintain our foothold as the market leader in this industry. As the world and travel landscape shift around us, so too do the needs of our customers, and this role plays a key component in ensuring that they not only survive but thrive in this environment. Before reading further… Beyond is passionate about diversity and cultivating our team’s potential. If you’re hungry for a good opportunity, but don't meet

https://jobs.lever.co/beyondpricing/50f057bf-0440-49c9-807f-6d98e398dc1d#content

1upHealth - Growth Lead, Digital Solutions

1upHealth is one of the fastest growing Health Tech companies in the country - and we're looking to build out our sales team with world class industry experts who are hungry, humble, and wired to make an impact. 1up's core product is a fully-managed FHIR platform that brings modern data infrastructure (cloud-based, serverless, restful API, and more) along with the FHIR interoperability standards to help transform the industry. 1up sells across all segments - health plans, providers, pharma, digital health companies, and more. This position will be an integral piece to the 1upHealth growth strategy providing interoperability solutions for digital health companies in the provider and adjacent markets. Come join our mission-driven team, and be a part of the future of healthcare.

https://jobs.lever.co/1up-health/f4f8f527-7175-4dc5-a37c-9bb3704fb039#content

Check out all of our portfolio companies at Social Leverage.

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Affiliate Disclosure: Social Leverage Group, LLC ("SLG"), Social Leverage Capital Fund I, LP ("SLC"), Social Leverage Capital Fund II, LP ("SLCII"), Social Leverage Capital Fund III, LP ("SLCIII") and Social Leverage Capital Fund IV, LP ("SLCIV") are all distinct entities from Social Leverage, LLC ("SL"). Social Leverage is not a registered investment advisor. SLC, SLCII, SLCIII, SLCIV, SLG and SL have used the logo and branding of Social Leverage with the permission of Social Leverage Group, LLC.