Paradigm Shift

EP4: Brian Ma, founder Divvy ($2b), on his early startups, building and scaling Divvy into a real estate unicorn, and investing in Southeast Asia

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Conversation with Brian Ma - who interned at Zillow when it was 15 people, joined as employee #32, and went on to become a prolific serial entrepreneur. We talk about his entrepreneurial journey founding Decide.com, Weave, Divvy Homes ($2b unicorn), and most recently, a SE Asia focused Seed fund and accelerator.

Some highlights from the conversation include how he skipped high school, why he joined Zillow, his first few companies, going on a "vision quest", his approach to exploring new ideas, the early days at Divvy Homes, and his recent fund and why he is excited about investing in South East Asia.

Episode Highlights:

  1. Brian's life mission and how it led him into startups
  2. Skipping high school and doing early-entry and Univ of Washington
  3. Interning at Zillow when it was 15 people and being an early employee
  4. First company: Decide.com
  5. Moving to Silicon Valley, starting Weave, and YC experience
  6. Going on a vision quest
  7. Approach to exploring new ideas
  8. Working with Max Levchin to incubate Divvy Homes
  9. Early days and finding PMF at Divvy Homes (now $2b unicorn)
  10. Why he started Iterative.VC and is excited to invest in SE Asia


Links:

  • Follow Brian on Twitter at @zealoustiger
  • Read more about Divvy Homes and how rent-to-own works
  • If you're a startup in South East Asia, apply to the next cohort of Iterative.VC

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Paradigm ShiftBy Ashish Kundra and Zane Salim
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