It's By U Deal Memo (2020-12-31)

Muhan Zhang -

Deal Abstract

Invest in It’s By U
Republic is a startup investing platform where you can invest as little as $10 in impactful startups
Republic

D2C (Direct 2 Consumer) subscription for flowers! Cuts out middlemen, increases stability of demand for growers, gets more gorgeous flowers to consumers in a sustainable away. Sort of like the Blue Apron for flowers.

Financials (VRB)

|Question|Notes|
|---|---|---|
|1. Fundraising Target? |$1070000|
|2. Fundraised So Far?|$35279|
|3. Pre-Money Valuation?|$8000000|
|4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue |$246367|
|5. Previous Year's Annual Burn |~$-211666|

Source

The 6 Calacanis Characteristics ("Sow Passion, Not easy mediocrity", or S2 P6 N18)

Criteria Yes/No
1. A startup that is based in SV? ****: New York, NY
2. Has at least 2 founders? True: Two
3. Has product in the market? True:
4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? True: Grew from 172k in 2018 to 246k in 2019
5. Notable investors? True: Target, Techstars, and other Angels
6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? ****: At present, $35k is not enough to cover a year of funding. If they get $1m, then yes they'd be fine.
Source

The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)

Question Score Notes
1. Engineering? 2 I don't know of a single subscription for farm to consumer direct flowers, so def better than incremental
2. Timing? 2 Subcription boxes is good time, is this when flower purchase and arrangement goes exponential, unknown.
3. Monopoly? 2 I don't know anyone who is an avid flower arranger, so uncertain.
4. People? 3 Sisters, and with passion for flowers, good.
5. Distribution? 2 Good in that this B2B2C
6. Durability? 3 Network effects and 2 sided marketplace for subscription
7. Secret? 1 There is a venture sized demand for flowers that has been unaddressed from consumers due to farms not having a direct line to their customers

What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:

1. Maintain good margins; 2: Grow the flower market; 3: Get a beachhead in flowers and then eventually enter other farm-adjacent subscription markets (e.g. Hungry Harvest?)

What the Risks Are

1. Market risk, 2. Painkiller vs. Vitamin, 3. Primarily distribution play with ambiguous tech innovation

Bonus Muhan's Notes

Beautiful business and eager to see how the campaign develops

Updates

This is where I’ll post updates about the company. This way all my notes from offering to post-offering updates will be on one page.

Review these deal memos every time the startup raises a new round

Test if original thesis still applies

So, did I invest?

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Other thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns? Write me at mail@muhanzhang.com and let me know.