Podcast Episode
Sold My Startup for $780M: the Good, Bad, Ugly with Jack Smith, Vungle
Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital·Sarah Chen-Spellings·16 July 2026·40 min

About this episode
This week we went deep on the growing pains of a startup, from PR nightmares to co-founder breakups, the challenge of shifting from a scarcity to growth mindset, and so much more with Jack Smith, serial entrepreneur & investor. @_jacksmith has co-founded multiple startups: Vungle, Coin, Shyp and advised many others. We talk everything from his startup outgrowing him to his lack of focus getting him to the right place & right time.--👊🏻 5 THINGS YOU'LL LEARN:- How Jack's curiosity from a tender age carried him through as an entrepreneur- The value of an incubator - should you join one?- What it takes to get to product-market fit, and then scale- What it means to outgrow your startup, and what you can do- The harsh reality of a startup's PR nightmare
⏳ TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro02:29 - Jack's early start in entrepreneurship05:03 - Mediaroots evolution into Vungle08:36 - Hacking screen record & how that led to San Francisco10:49 - Should I join an incubator? Jack's learning from AngelPad16:31 - The crappy engineer, launching to the next few stages21:33 - What metrics mattered, that affirmed the Vungle vision?24:42 - Jack's reflection on how the startup outgrew him28:06 - Micromanaging to enabling others30:50 - Handling a PR nightmare, and standing by his co-founder32:40 - Jack's reflection on "making it" with the BIG exit—Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious; featuring the top US-Asia founders, funders and execs. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we cover it all in the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.PODCAST INFO:Podcast websiteWatch on YoutubeJoin the communityFOLLOW SARAH:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobalInstagram: instagram.com/sarahchenglobalTwitter: twitter.com/sarahchenglobal