In this episode of "20 Minutes VC," host Harry Stebbings interviews Vlad Magdalin, founder and CEO of Webflow, a no-code platform for building business websites. Magdalin shares his entrepreneurial journey, from the inception of Webflow in 2004 as an intern at a web design agency to its current success, having raised over $73 million in funding. He discusses the challenges of fundraising, the importance of company culture, and his approach to work-life balance as a parent. Additionally, the episode features discussions on customer experience automation with shoutouts to Activecampaign and Intercom, and highlights Ezra's full-body MRI scans for early cancer detection. Magdalin emphasizes the value of partnerships with investors that go beyond financial support, focusing on mutual respect and shared vision.
Welcome back to the 20 Minutes VC and founders Friday with me, Harry Stebbings at H Stebbings 1996 with two B's on Instagram. And I could not be more excited.
This quote introduces the podcast episode and the host, Harry Stebbings, expressing his excitement for the episode.
A startup that is totally taking our world by storm.
This quote emphasizes the significant impact Webflow is having on the startup world.
I want to start today with a big shout out to my friends over at Activecampaign.
This quote acknowledges the sponsors of the podcast and introduces Activecampaign's role in customer experience automation.
It is my absolute pleasure to be here. I'm an equal fanboy of yourself, so I think we have some mutual respect here.
This quote captures the mutual admiration between Harry and Vlad at the beginning of their conversation.
The whole spark hit of like this creative team should have the tools to take their vision and put it into production so that it doesn't require this translation step.
Vlad's quote explains the initial inspiration for Webflow, highlighting the need for tools that empower creative teams to realize their visions without intermediaries.
In 2012, randomly at my house in Sacramento, an envelope arrived with a trademark certificate from the US Trademark Office with apparently our application from 2007, five years before, somehow got in some queue.
Vlad's quote recounts a pivotal moment when an unexpected trademark approval revived the Webflow project, demonstrating how unanticipated events can significantly influence a startup's trajectory.
For me it was just blind optimism that this has to exist, that it will become a thing at some point.
This quote from Vlad captures the essence of his perseverance, driven by optimism and the conviction that his vision for Webflow was necessary and would eventually succeed.## Luck and Privilege in Success
"But I also just want to acknowledge how much kind of luck and privilege and all these intangible factors go into something that at the end of the day, looks like it's successful."
This quote highlights Vlad's awareness of the role external factors play in personal achievements and cautions against attributing success solely to hard work.
"It changed everything, honestly. Like going into starting the startup with kids, it forces you to think about prioritizing."
This quote reflects how becoming a parent influenced Vlad's perspective on work and life, leading to a more balanced approach to running his company.
"So for me, it was like, I just remember waking up with panic attacks. That's the first time I learned what panic attacks were."
Vlad candidly shares the intense stress he experienced during fundraising, which was a significant learning period in his entrepreneurial journey.
"That forced us to think like, wow, we're default dead if we keep doing what we're doing, if we're not going to be able to raise something else."
Vlad explains the realization that led to a strategic pivot towards profitability, which was driven by necessity rather than preference.## Fundraising Timing
We never actually started a process. We were always skeptical around, if we were to raise, what would we use the money for? And really, honestly, the biggest concern for us was does partnering with a vc fundamentally change sort of a values driven and a mission driven and a purpose driven organization?
The quote explains that Vlad's team did not initiate the fundraising process and had concerns about how VC involvement could potentially impact the company's core values and mission.
Honestly, for me, it has nothing to do with tactics. It has nothing to do with quote unquote value add. What can a VC firm bring or whatever. It's honestly, and this is going to sound really foofy, but it's how do you make me feel?
Vlad emphasizes that the personal connection and how the investor makes the founder feel are more important than the strategic benefits or resources the investor can provide.
I think a great investor is a similar type of mindset. If they truly care about the founders and the mission of the company, they're going to approach it, not from are you meeting your numbers, of course, that stuff is important for accountability and to make sure the mission succeeds. But they're coming at it from like, I truly first and foremost care about you as a person and the people that are at webflow in this example and about the mission of the company.
Vlad stresses that the best investors prioritize the founder's personal well-being and the company's mission over strictly financial metrics, fostering a supportive and caring relationship.
None of that should come down to exactly how is voting control structured, et cetera. But I definitely understand when founders try to optimize for that stuff. I just think sometimes they over optimize for that stuff and wait way too long and not find this partner that can really amplify your trajectory and your ability to hire really amazing talent and all that stuff.
Vlad suggests that founders should not overly focus on retaining control through legal terms, as true partnership with investors can be more beneficial for the company's growth and success.## Role of a Great Board Member
So I expect every board member, everybody who's in that board meeting, to come with the perspective of how do I make this company's mission succeed faster?
This quote emphasizes the expectation that board members should be dedicated to advancing the company's mission.
That is the pinnacle of being a very effective board member in terms of that psychological safety piece.
The quote highlights the importance of board members creating a safe environment for open discussion and support.
I think it's equally important to keep reminding founders... to treat every board member as somebody who equally has responsibilities to do things for the business.
This quote suggests that founders should view board members as active contributors to the business, not just overseers.
Leaders eat last. Why is the pinnacle of a servant leadership?
This quote references the book "Leaders Eat Last" as a fundamental resource for understanding servant leadership.
When you have this mindset of, how can I, as a leader, make your life easier and make you empower you more, versus this more traditional command and control.
This quote contrasts servant leadership with traditional command-and-control leadership, favoring the former for its positive impact on team performance and morale.
Perfection is the death of innovation.
This quote underscores the idea that seeking perfection can be detrimental to the innovative process.
Well, I would decentralize the valley first and foremost because I think tech has saturated so much in Silicon Valley that makes it completely unaffordable to live here.
This quote expresses the need to distribute the tech industry more broadly, beyond Silicon Valley, due to local saturation and affordability issues.
I think it personally removes focus. It introduces another thing to worry about.
This quote reflects the belief that founders engaging in angel investing may lose focus on their primary venture.
So Webflow started as a visual website building tool... the next five years are all about expanding that into broader software use cases.
This quote outlines Webflow's vision for the next five years, aiming to transition from website building to a more comprehensive software development platform.