Deal Abstract
Shoot My Travel
Marketplace connecting customers and professional photographers across the world
Financials (VRB)
| Question | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1. Fundraising Target? | $1070000 |
| 2. Fundraised So Far? | $242246 |
| 3. Pre-Money Valuation? | $6000000 |
| 4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue | $37213 |
| 5. Previous Year's Annual Net Income (+ Profitable, - Burning Cash) | ~$-542625 |
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: Miami, FL |
| 2. Has at least 2 founders? | True: Two |
| 3. Has product in the market? | True: Has revenue |
| 4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? | False: Rev declined from 2019 to 2020, $174 to $37 |
| 5. Notable investors? | True: Jason Calacanis |
| 6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? | True: Needs $750k for 1.5 years of runway |
The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)
| Question | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Engineering? | 2 | Verified marketplace for photographers, more of a market than an engineering innovation |
| 2. Timing? | 2 | Marketplaces for dayz |
| 3. Monopoly? | 1 | Revenue low and decreased from 2020 to 2019 |
| 4. People? | 3 | Good team, but no one who appears to have marketplace experience |
| 5. Distribution? | 3 | Online marketplace that controls distribution |
| 6. Durability? | 2 | What are the sticky features of the platform keeping things to Angle instead of Thumbtack or other gig platforms? |
| 7. Secret? | 2 | In the age of the selfie, the demand of photographers on demand and verified platforms is going to grow at a venture scale |
What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:
1. Revenue has to grow; 2. Sticky features to staying on the platform; 3. Booking recurring revenue/partnerships with certain types of events
What the Risks Are
1. Nothing defensible and nothing unique services being offered to photographers; 2. Photographers on demand are a feature/complement for a bigger platform (e.g. TheKnot.com); 3. Size of demand for photography services is not growing at venture size
Bonus Muhan's Notes
I know this company from Miami! Will need to ask more and get more insight into their business.
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
Notice trends in how you think
So, did I invest?
Click here to find out.Other thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns? Write me at mail@muhanzhang.com and let me know.