Erik Allebest: Scaling to $100M Revenue, 150M Members and 700 People, All with No Vc Funding | E1113

-Public.com is doing something no other brokerage has done before… they're sharing 50% of their options revenue directly with you… the customer. Get something back on every options trade. Oh, and there are no commission or per-contract fees, either. Go to Public.com and activate options trading by March 31st to lock in your lifetime rebate. -Merge is the leading product integration platform, offering a suite of unified APIs across key software categories—from HRIS to CRM—that allow organizations to offer hundreds of customer-facing integrations. Visit merge.dev/20vc to receive $5000 off your annual plan! ----------------------------------------------- Erik Allebest is the CEO @ Chess.com, the #1 online chess service on the planet with more than 150+ million members and 15+ million games played each day. Erik has scaled the company to over 700 people and $100M+ in revenue with no venture funding. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:12) Early Entrepreneurial Ventures (04:44) MBA Journey and Embracing Risk (09:41) The Origin of Chess.com (13:52) Reaching the First Million Users (15:54) Achieving Product-Market Fit (17:54) Boost from Queen’s Gambit & COVID (18:30) Fundraising Challenges for Chess.com (20:49) Money's Impact on Self-Worth (23:20) Transformation Through Ayahuasca Retreat (29:37) Creative Acquisitions Strategy (32:16) Leveraging Affiliates and Ambassadors (33:39) Hosting the First Live Chess Event (34:25) Social Media Expansion Strategies (35:49) Unexpected Improvements by Keith Rabois (38:13) Evolution of Retention Rates (39:56) Defining Success Beyond Metrics (47:31) Capitalizing on Momentum (52:37) Transition to Post-Investment Phase (53:48) Remote Work Dynamics (58:20) Chess.com's Salary Insights (01:00:39) Discussing Capitalism 2.0 (01:06:05) Dealing with an FBI Call Over a Threat (01:08:39) Balancing Parenthood with Entrepreneurship (01:14:16) Insights on Maintaining a Great Marriage (01:19:45) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Erik Allebest: 1. From Unemployable to $100M+ Revenue Founder: How did Erik make his way into the world of tech and startups? Was his MBA worth it? How does he advise others on whether to get one or not? What does Erik know now that he wishes he had known when he started? 2. Scaling to $100M Revenue with No Venture Funding: Why did no one want to invest in Chess.com in the early days? What did Erik do differently as a result of not raising any venture funding? What would Erik have done if he had money from the start? What are Erik’s biggest pieces of advice to founders with funding today? 3. Hard Lessons Scaling to 150M Members: What are 1-2 of Erik’s biggest lessons on how to scale users with zero budget? What customer acquisition worked? What did not work? How important was COVID and The Queen’s Gambit to memberships and sign-ups? What are the single biggest mistakes Erik sees founders make on customer acquisition today? 4. Parenting, Marriage, Metrics and Money: Why does Erik not care about money or capitalism today? How has Erik’s style of parenting changed over the years? What works? What does not? What does Erik believe is the secret to marriage? What have been his biggest lessons? Why does Erik hate metrics? If so, how does he run the business towards goals and output? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Chess.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chesscom Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #harrystebbings #20vc #venturecapital #business #podcast #youtuber #chessdotcom #chess #erikallebest #founderstories