Ep 72: From (almost) DropKick to Scaling Fast-Growing Startups | Vincent Wei (Head of Growth, VEED.IO)

Vincent Wei is the Head of Growth (Product & growth) at VEED.IO, one of the fastest growing startups by revenue in the world. He was first introduced to the world of startups when he began CodeCreate, one of Australia’s first coding school for kids, while still at university. The school generated 6-figure revenue but his next startup unfortunately didn’t do so well. Burnt out, Vincent decided to take a break and travel the world before returning as Employee #3 on the growth team at AirTasker - which later became one of Australia’s largest marketplace for services. That was no mean feat, given that the startup was burning $35 million annually and on the verge on collapse then! They managed to turn the startup around but Vincent left before AirTasker IPOed in 2021 (and we discuss why in this episode!) to join VEED.io - the Canva of video editing - as Head of Growth. VEED recently raised $35M from Sequioa and is currently going through an exciting growth phase, so this is definitely a startup to keep an eye on! Highlights: 3:32 How Harry Potter helped Vincent learn English 5:20 Being driven to succeed 8:41 Not wanting to be a dropkick 13:51 Founding CodeCreate to teach kids how to build Minecraft 18:48 How CodeCreate’s cohort went from 3 to 86 kids 23:00 Getting a contract role at Suncorp 29:29 Founding his 2nd startup 32:37 How Lambda School inspired them 35:48 Why Cody failed 38:16 Travelling the world 42:35 The power of LinkedIn outreach 47:26 Joining AirTasker when it was burning $30 million annually 49:27 How they turned AirTasker around 54:51 Why Vincent left AirTasker 56:25 How Vincent’s role at VEED has evolved over time 59:09 What Vincent looks for when he hires 1:01:08 Influencing others virtually 📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/72 💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605 🪙 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sothisismywhy P/S: "Dropkick" is an Australian slang that refers to someone who isn't very smart & hasn't made it very far in life.