Episode 25: The Open Book Investor with Jeff Morris Junior, Founder Chapter One Ventures, former VP Revenue @ Tinder
The Most Important Thing
Jeff recently started a list called Future Founders for individuals affected by COVID-19 layoffs who would like to use this as an opportunity to start a new company.
Otherwise, you can follow Jeff’s journey at Chapter One Ventures on Twitter.
About Jeff Morris Jr.
Jeff Morris is the founder and Managing Partner of Chapter One. He was previously the VP of Product, Revenue at Tinder. In the role, he led the revenue team to the #1 top grossing app in the App Store and directed one of the top grossing products in mobile history.
As a product leader, Morris is passionate about building high performing teams and creating profitable products that delight customers. He is known as being one of the most passionate product minds in the subscription space.
At Tinder, Morris built the revenue team and led the creation of multiple blockbuster hits including Tinder Gold and Boost. These products broke industry records and helped increase the Match Group market cap by $8B+.
Morris is an active angel investor through Chapter One and has invested in companies like Lyft, Lambda School, Superhuman, Roman, Mercury and Branch Metrics.
Episode Overview
Although Jeff was formerly VP of Product at Tinder and currently an early stage venture investor, we don’t focus much on this experience or his investment framework. Instead, we discuss the human element of start-up life.
Jeff shares the origins of Tinder and the impact that online dating has on our relationships and mental health. Jeff’s philosophy is to share himself publicly without concern for stigma. He is truly an open book and discussed his personal relationship to technology, work-life-balance, his experience with therapy, his definition of luck & success, why he left Lambda School, and so much more.
This episode will be helpful for entrepreneurs or anyone deciding your next career move.
My Favorite Quotes:
“Every internet product eventually becomes a dating app”
“Many of the most successful people in the world, are completely obsessed with their craft”
“I was going down a career path of trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be”
“There’s more to life than playing the vesting game. I’ve seen a lot of people waste the prime of their careers just ‘resting and vesting’”
“The more you open up about what’s going on in your mind / personal life, the more people will reach out and try to meet you”
“The first step of trying to solve the digital addiction problem is individual awareness that there is a problem”
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 – Origins of Tinder
06:00 – The impact of online dating
13:00 – Digital Wellness
18:00 – Designing products that enhance the human condition
24:00 – How Jeff manages his relationship to technology
29:00 – Going down the crypto rabbit hole
33:00 – Work-life balance
36:00 – On Defining Success
40:00 – Why Jeff Left Lambda School
48:00 – Resting and Vesting
54:00 – Luck
1:04:00 – On Therapy, stigma, and mental health
1:10:00 – On Podcasting
Episode Links:
JMJ’S Info
Chapter One Ventures
Other Info
Marc’s Info:
