Relay on Demand Deal Memo (Closing Date: 2021-04-22)

Muhan Zhang -

Deal Abstract

Invest in Relay On Demand
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In the months following Fleeting, a new trucker-on-demand marketplace has emerged with higher revenue, lower valuation, but also, smaller team and less institutional investors. Who will win the Uber for trucker driver war?

Financials (VRB)

|Question|Notes|
|---|---|---|
|1. Fundraising Target? |$1070000|
|2. Fundraised So Far?|$195715|
|3. Pre-Money Valuation?|$8000000|
|4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue |$461117|
|5. Previous Year's Annual Net Income (+ Profitable, - Burning Cash) |~$-229101|

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? False: Norco, CA
2. Has at least 2 founders? False: Two
3. Has product in the market? True: Revenue generating
4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? True: Impressive growth from 2018 to 2019
5. Notable investors? False: No one I recognize
6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? True: Needs $400k
Source

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

Question Score Notes
1. Engineering? 2 Better than nothing, but curious to compare to Fleeting
2. Timing? 2 Is now the right time to start a truck driver labor aggregation platform?
3. Monopoly? 4 Incredible revenue of $2m ARR on $8m valuation
4. People? 2 Good founder though he doesn't appear to have much of a team
5. Distribution? 3 Definitely able to sell/build the two sided marketplace
6. Durability? 1 This is what I don't know. Need to ask about Fleeting.
7. Secret? 2 Relay will be able to build a faster two sided marketplace than Fleeting.

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

1. Build faster and get tight network effects; 2. Scale a team to get more aggressive customer acquisition; 3. Anticipate the coming trucking automation and figure out how to get ahead

What the Risks Are

1. Over half a year later than Fleeting, which has star studded investors; 2. Trucking automation; 3. Payroll expense for 2019 was only 133k which means two employees, so I wonder if they'll be able to compete against Fleeting's team size

Bonus Muhan's Notes

Very, very cool. $2m ARR to $8m valuation may be one of the strongest revenue businesses I've seen. Going to ask the founder some key questions.

Updates

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