Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #196 (7/29) with TJ Parker. TJ previously started PillPack, which scaled to become one of the largest online and direct to consumer pharmacies. PillPack raised $100M+ in venture capital from top investors like CRV and Accel, before eventually being acquired by Amazon for $1B in 2018. TJ is now a General Partner at Matrix and also started General Medicine, which is a one-stop shop for healthcare.
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0:05 Intro
‍1:09 TJ's background
‍3:08 The founding story & first steps for starting PillPack
‍5:02 Some of the early challenges for PillPack
‍7:33 How PillPack evolved & scaled
‍9:11 Challenges building in healthcare
‍11:26 Fundraising learnings from raising $100M+ in capital & being acquired by Amazon for $1B
‍13:49 Key learnings from PillPack
‍15:08 Starting General Medicine
‍16:56 Going narrow vs. broad when starting a marketplace
‍18:25 How General Medicine is leveraging AI
‍21:51 Aligning incentives when building a marketplace
‍23:46 Tips for early-stage marketplace founders
‍24:38 Group Q&A on finding PMF when starting PillPack
‍26:22 Group Q&A on competition
‍27:13 Group Q&A on the biggest mistakes founders make when building in healthcare
‍28:05 Group Q&A on team building & hiring
‍32:23 Group Q&A on how AI is impacting marketplaces
‍34:36 Group Q&A on how TJ evaluates startups when investing
‍36:31 Parting marketplace advice
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TJ on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/tjparker
TJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjparker1
General Medicine: https://www.generalmedicine.com
Mike (Yoroomie) on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/yoroomie
Mike (Yoroomie) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoroomie
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You can also find this group chat in audio format as an episode on our Everything Marketplaces podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also connect with marketplace founders & leaders from our group chats in the Everything Marketplaces community.