His First Company Went Public For $3.5 Billion, Now He’s Reversing Type 2 Diabetes For 100 Million from The Eric Ries Show

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His First Company Went Public For $3.5 Billion, Now He’s Reversing Type 2 Diabetes For 100 Million

1 hour 35 minutes Posted May 16, 2024 at 1:00 pm.

) Welcome to the first episode of the Eric Ries Show

) Meet our guest Sami Inkinen

) Sami reflects on Trulia’s IPO

) How Sami started in entrepreneurship

) Sami’s founding story for Trulia (acquired by Zillow for $2.5 billion)

) Why most people never end up starting a business

) How to find better talent as a founder

) Sami shares how much money he raised for Zillow and Virta

) Sami’s lessons on how to get momentum for your startup

) What changed when Sami took his company public

) Why Sami decided to start Virta and take on type 2 diabetes

) How type 2 diabetes can affect anyone, even a high-performing endurance athlete

) Sami shares what he tells each founder when they ask for his investment

) The importance of defining your mission that is both simple and ambitious

) Trust leads to success

) A mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company

) How Sami built an economic model built on helping his customers

) More details on how Sami set up Virta’s company structure

) What is a GLP-1 drug and how Virta is a GLP-1 off-ramp

) Sami’s approach to leadership

) Why Finland maximizes human capital better than most

) What are Sami’s thoughts on AI

) How to become one with your pain

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In this first episode of The Eric Ries Show, I sit down with serial entrepreneur and intrepid explorer, Sami Inkinen. Sami has co-founded two companies: Trulia and Virta Health. After Trulia was acquired by Zillow for $3.5 billion, he rowed from California to Hawaii with his wife, unassisted. What can’t this guy do? Now, he’s on a mission to reverse type 2 diabetes in 100 million people with his latest venture, Virta Health. In this episode, we discuss:

In the interview, we cover:

• How Sami got started as an entrepreneur coming over to America with no experience

• What it was like to IPO during his time at Trulia

• What he’s learned raising money after a market crash and a zero-interest environment

• The best way he found to get great talent

• Why Virta is a mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company

• What he learned rowing unassisted to Hawaii from California

• Why he says you should create a mission that is both simple and ambitious

• And so much more

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Brought to you by:

Mercury – The art of simplified finances https://mercury.com/

DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike https://try.digitalocean.com/eric/

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Where to find Sami Inkinen:

• X: https://twitter.com/samiinkinen

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samiinkinen/

• Website: https://www.samiinkinen.com/

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/

• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/

• X: https://twitter.com/ericries

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow

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In This Episode We Cover:

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Referenced:

• Virta Health: https://www.virtahealth.com/

• Virta Health YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VirtaHealth

• Trulia Acquired By Zillow: https://zillow.mediaroom.com/2014-07-28-Zillow-Announces-Acquisition-of-Trulia-for-3-5-Billion-in-Stock

• Type 2 Diabetes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_2_diabetes

• GLP-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLP-1_receptor_agonist

• Ozempic: https://www.ozempic.com/

• Buddhist Parables Of The Arrow: https://grandrapidstherapygroup.com/second-arrow-of-suffering/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected]

Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.

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