{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"START","title":"START pod: Chris Bakke, Founder with exits to X, Indeed, and Zillow","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":903,"description":"Chris Bakke never pitched Elon. He just posted good ideas in public for nine months straight.\nLaskie was sourcing engineers on Twitter while everyone else lived on LinkedIn.\nAlong the way Chris started tweeting his own takes on how Twitter should fix recruiting.\nNot as a pitch - just because he had strong opinions about what was broken.\nElon liked one. Then followed him. For the next nine months Chris kept the takes sharp on purpose, knowing exactly who was watching.\nThen the DM came. A phone number and a note to call that Saturday. His wife was sure he was getting catfished. \nHe called anyway, and Elon picked up on the first ring.\nSix minutes later it was an invite to dinner at the Tesla Fremont factory that week.\nDeal closed in 45 days - Elon's first acquisition at Twitter\nThen Twitter became X, X got acquired by xAI, xAI got acquired by SpaceX.\nChris came out the other side holding SpaceX shares\nNone of it happens if he builds quietly. The ideas did the outreach for him.\n🎙️ Chris Bakke, Founder with exits to @X @Indeed @Zillow to on Fondo START pod\n02:08 Building Laskie as a recruiting startup in the COVID remote-work wave\n03:24 The thesis: reverse-arbitrage engineering talent outside the US\n04:41 Why being in an exponentially growing space matters more than anything\n05:17 The Twitter takes that got Elon to follow, then DM\n06:33 What it's like getting a DM from the richest man in the world\n07:06 The Saturday phone call and the Tesla Fremont dinner\n08:29 Why you never take the acquirer's first number\n09:14 Using optionality as leverage\n10:48 Selling from a point of weakness as the hiring market collapsed\n11:22 Two years at X and xAI, and a deal around $50M\n12:05 The acquisition chain: shell company to Twitter to X to xAI\n13:19 SpaceX deal, and the shares he kept\nVisit www.chrisbakke.com to learn more","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q-E1hh7K6IS4AfZiNy2p4MYVGcUOO8lQP92h8QbOEOA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NzVj/MDEzNjkxNjU1N2Uy/NDFhMDQ3M2ZhNWI3/NWY0MS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}