Raised $70M and Exited: Why Product-Market Fit Outweighs Early VC Pursuit
Tom Coburn, co-founder of Jebbit, will share his entrepreneurial journey from dropping out of Boston College in 2013 to building Jebbit into the world’s first declared data platform. Jebbit helps marketing and sales teams capture critical consumer data directly from users, bypassing unreliable third-party sources. With major clients such as Cathay Pacific Airways, LifeLock, and the New England Revolution, Jebbit was recognized as one of CNBC’s Top 25 Most Promising Companies and earned accolades for its culture and innovation.
Tom will reflect on his journey raising $70M from Vista in 2020, and eventually selling Jebbit to a Vista portfolio company in 2022. He’ll share pivotal lessons learned, including the challenges of chasing VC funding and CMO buy-in over focusing on the end-user experience. After enduring a difficult period in 2019 that included layoffs and customer churn, Tom shifted focus to product-market fit, an approach he’ll adopt for his next startup. This event will provide valuable insights for founders and investors on scaling companies, navigating growth challenges, and the importance of aligning product strategy with user needs.
Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT
Join us for opening remarks with Dina Fattom, Member Success Manager at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.
Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT
Tom Coburn is the co-founder and CEO of Jebbit. He is also a General Partner at Soaring Startup Circle Venture Partners (SSC Venture Partners). Tom co-founded Jebbit while studying at Boston College, dropping out to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions full-time.
He has been recognized with several prestigious honors, including Forbes 30 Under 30, the Upstart 100, and as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Tom is passionate about mentoring and has co-founded two non-profit organizations. His work continues to inspire startups in the tech and venture space, blending his expertise in marketing technology with a focus on helping emerging companies scale.
Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT
Community Partners:
Jeff leads the Partnerships Team at Forecastr — a leading FP&A software company that helps startups create kick-butt financial models to impress investors, confidently raise capital, and effectively run their businesses better.
Jeff serves on the advisory boards of several startup companies and is an active angel investor. He's passionate about startups and enjoys working with founders and mentoring entrepreneurs.
Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur and was the founder and CEO of a successful consumer goods company that he rapidly grew from $1M in sales its first year to over $40M in annual revenue in its fourth year of operations and was ranked #138 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.
Prior to founding his own company, Jeff was a partner at Beanstalk Partners where he led the sales and business development activities. He also served as the National Sales Director for a venture-backed tech startup where he generated over $45M in client contracts and developed the company’s channel partner program.
Jeff has a degree in accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah. After receiving his MBA in Finance from the University of Utah he served as the Vice President of Investments for Sentry Financial Corporation.
Guests Are Welcome!
Please bring a guest! Every member can bring one (1) guest to each event. Each guest must be a full-time tech startup founder so they can bring new perspectives, skillsets, and experience to your chapter.
All guests must be full-time tech startup founders and you can register them directly on this function page. See How to Register a Guest here.
Confidentiality Policy:
All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.