20VC: Hims & Hers: $4.3BN Market Cap on $2.3BN of Revenue: The Comeback | Why Being Public is 10x Better | The Death of the "Strategy" Hire | Why Performance Marketing is Worse than Brand Marketing with Andrew Dudum

Key Takeaways

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  Public markets drive higher team performance

  “I think running the company in the public markets is more fun than being private.”

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  Hire for grit over elite credentials

  “I seek out grit. I seek out a lot of grit. Because I think when you're disrupting an industry, which we are... you have to have a team that is used to being uncomfortable.”

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  Replace yourself with better talent every year

  “In order to do that, you have to replace yourself every 12 months with talent equal or better always.”

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  Avoid over-hiring strategic non-builders

  “I think as you scale, there's a pressure to go hire that big strategy person who has more credentials than you. And I think you have to fight that at all costs.”

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  Brand marketing requires long-term consistency

  “I think what you gain confidence in with brand marketing over time is that consistency is required.”

Episode Description

Andrew Dudum is the Founder and CEO of Hims, the company reshaping consumers relationship to healthcare. It has been a rocky ride over the last 6 months, the company is down 66%, their market cap today is $4.3BN on $2.3BN of revenue. They just bought their largest international competitor, Eucalyptus for $1.5BN.  AGENDA: 00:00 — Why Being Public Is Better Than Private  02:50 — My Advice to The Collisons on Taking Stripe Public 07:15 — How to Hire for the Most Gritty People: The Test  10:55 — How AI Will Reshape All of Customer Acquisition  15:30 — What Did Hims Do That Andrew Wishes They Had Not Done  20:15 — What is the Least Profitable but Most Important Hims Product 27:10 — The $1.5BN Acquisition: Why Hims Bought Their Biggest Global Competitor  33:45 — Why Brand Marketing Beats Performance Marketing  39:40 — The Future of Prevention: Why Your Next Blood Test Should Be Free  46:50 — Disrupting the PBMs: How We Are Breaking the Corrupt US Healthcare System