Lattice is valued at $3 billion and is one of the most successful SaaS startups of the last decade. But in 2016, it was a tiny company with just 2 employees.

Today, I watched their YC Demo Day pitch from 2016. I’d love to tell you I would’ve seen it then, but I’m not so sure I would’ve.

Jack’s Pitch

Jack explains that companies need to set goals in order to perform well. But it’s hard for employees to know how their work fits into those big goals.

Jack’s platform makes it easy for companies to set goals and measure how each employee contributes to them.

Jack shows us that his early customers are getting a ton of use out of the platform. The number of goals customers are putting onto Lattice is growing 80% MoM.

What I Like

For me, the team was the most impressive thing in Jack’s presentation.

Jack and Eric, his CTO, both worked together at Teespring. The fact that they’ve worked together before and want to again proves they can get along.

I’ve seen companies fall apart because the founders start arguing. But seeing Jack and Eric’s history together gives me confidence that won’t happen here.

I also like that they worked at a startup, not a big tech company.

This means they have an appetite for risk. They also know how a company is built from the ground up.

What I Don’t

Jack’s presentation is really abstract. I’d like to see him tell us how an actual customer used the platform.

What’s a real goal that a company put into Lattice? Then, how did managing that goal in Lattice help the company?

In any pitch, rip out everything vague. Replace it with something concrete.

If you can show investors the real value that a customer got from your product, you’re a lot closer to raising money.

But the biggest negative in this pitch for me is the lack of revenue.

Jack shows us that the number of goals managed on the platform is growing fast. But as far as we can tell, there’s no cash coming in the door.

Would I Have Invested?

Given what a huge success Lattice has become, I want to tell you I would’ve seen it then. But truthfully, I would not have invested in Lattice at this stage.

The lack of revenue is a dealbreaker for me. Unfortunately, that would’ve meant missing out on a multibillion dollar outcome here.

But we don’t know the future. All we can do is build a process that gives us the best chance of success.

If I made a habit of investing in pre-revenue companies, I’m pretty sure my results would be a lot worse. So requiring revenue still makes sense, even if it leads us to miss some winners.

Wrap-Up

Jack wound up raising a healthy $2.8 million seed round that spring, led by Thrive Capital. In January 2022, it raised $175 million at a $3 billion valuation.

I would’ve missed this one, no question about it. But missing some great companies is inevitable.

And so long as we hit one outlier, our misses don’t matter.

Would you have invested in Lattice?

Have a great weekend everybody!

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

More on tech:

Why I Passed: “WorkerIQ”

Meet My Latest Investment: North
Why Credentials are Overrated

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.