Goodwater

We are thrilled to announce our latest investment in Howbout, a social scheduling app transforming how friends connect and find time to meet in real life. Howbout uniquely enables users to easily share their personal calendars with friends, making social planning more seamless and fun. The app, with over 4 million monthly active users and 50 million events created, targets casual, friend-centered scheduling rather than professional planning. "Successful social platforms often have a core element at their foundation—Facebook had updates from friends, Musical.ly had looping videos. For Howbout, that element is time. We’re excited to support the Howbout team on this journey to create a new kind of social platform built around real-world connections." - Chi-Hua Chien, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital Congratulations to Neil Tanna, Jake Jenner, Duncan Cowan, and the entire Howbout team! 🚀 Full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/g7YyFWwD

🤔Are you prioritizing the most important decisions as a founder? One of the most impactful frameworks I’ve learned from Jeff Wilke (former CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon) has been the difference between two-way and one-way door decisions.🚪 Two-way doors are reversible—you can step back or revert if things don't work out. But one-way doors? They're irreversible and can define your company’s trajectory. As you scale, it's crucial to delegate the smaller, reversible calls to others on your team and focus your energy on those one-way doors that truly matter. 🎯 Bottom line: Not every decision needs your input. Focus on the few that could make or break the future of your business. This is so good. Listen to Jeff’s full advice to our Goodwater CEOs below: #consumertech #consumerexperts #amazon #CEO #startup

💡At what point does coordination become the enemy of progress? Instead of focusing on building great products, teams can get bogged down by complexity. Jeff Wilke, former CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon and one of the best in the world at operational efficiency, gives this advice: Empower single-threaded leaders. These are individuals who wake up every day with a singular focus on building and improving, backed by the resources of the larger organization. 🛠️ By eliminating unnecessary coordination points, these leaders are free to scale, iterate, and move fast. It’s a powerful strategy for streamlining innovation in fast-moving organizations 🚀 Watch the full clip below ⬇ #consumertech #consumertechexperts #amazon #startups

I'm thrilled to welcome Donnie Clay to Goodwater as our new Head of Legal! Having known Donnie for many years, it’s a dream come true to work with him again. He embodies all the qualities that make Goodwater’s culture so special, and we're psyched to see the huge impact he'll have across the organization. Let's goooo! 🚀

If you EARN your users ➡ your users become your marketers. Sean Rad, Founder and Former CEO of Tinder spoke to our Goodwater CEOs about speed in the context of constraints. He reminded our CEOs that customer acquisition does not automatically = customer loyalty, and to focus on building a GREAT product. #consumertech #consumerexpert

✅ Interested in AI? ✅ Engineer? ✅ Looking for a new opportunity? Read AI is hiring! https://lnkd.in/giJWMUqZ #hiring #openroles #engineer #ai #consumertech

👉 As a founder, are you setting up your business to handle multiple growth opportunities? Amazon's success across multiple domains—devices, studio/video, and retail—all built simultaneously, challenges the conventional wisdom that startups must focus on just one thing to succeed. ❓ But how did they pull it off? Jeff Wilke, Former CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon shares that the key was strategic structuring. Amazon ensured that each business unit could operate independently while leveraging the resources and culture of the larger organization. While it can be crucial to focus on one thing at a time early on, Jeff challenged our CEOs to use strategic organizational design to achieve Amazon-level growth 🚀 #consumertech #consumerexpert #jeffwilke #amazon #growth

This week's round-up of #openroles at growing #consumer tech companies features a few in the health and wellness sector. Check them out or tag someone who is looking! Marketing Lead (Poland, Italy, Remote) at Hallow: https://lnkd.in/gApwjCij Lead Data Analyst, Product and Growth at Rise Science: https://lnkd.in/gzYwW2i7 Senior Finance Manager at Everly Health: https://lnkd.in/g2kmc6J6 #openroles #jobsearch #consumertech #growth #marketing

⚡There are two types of people who are the most valuable to have within your organization, according to Jeff Wilke, Former CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon: 💻Engineers who don’t just write code—they immerse themselves in the business, engage with customers, and provide innovative product feedback. 📊Business leaders who learn code (through tools like co-pilot) so that they can more easily bridge the gap between strategy and execution. 💯 You will be able to execute with greater efficiency when your tech and business teams collaborate and understand each other's roles. Watch the full clip below ⬇️ #consumertech #amazon #team #goodwater

Is it a good time to raise in Consumer Tech? July 2024 witnessed robust investment activity across multiple sectors across the UK/Europe in consumer technology. Seed and Series A dominated the deal count. Here are the top five deals for the month based on amount raised, congrats to these companies: Huma (UK, Health) - $80 million, Series D Exoticca (Spain, Travel) - €60 million, Series C Amity (UK, Workplace/Social) - $60 million, Series C NALA (UK, Finance) - $40 million, Series C Indie Campers (Portugal, Travel) - €35 million, Series B #Keytakeaways: Significant investments in health, travel, workplace, and finance show that these sectors are worth watching. The health sector is showing resilience, and the travel sector is recovering well post-COVID. There is sustained interest in consumer financial services, and platforms enhancing workplace productivity and social interaction are growing in importance. As we move into the heart of August/Summer, will these trends persist? The momentum suggests a favorable environment for founders to raise capital, especially in sectors showing robust growth and investor interest. Founders should capitalize on this positive trend and seek opportunities to align with these investment themes.