Sami Inkinen Episode

In this first episode of The Eric Ries Show, I sit down with serial entrepreneur and intrepid explorer, Sami Inkinen. Sami has co-founded two companies: Trulia and Virta Health. After selling Trulia to Zillow for $3.5 billion, he rowed from California to Hawaii with his wife, unassisted. What can’t this guy do? Now, he’s on a mission to reverse type 2 diabetes in 100 million people with his latest venture, Virta Health. In this episode, we discuss:

• How Sami got started as an entrepreneur coming over to America with no experience

• What it was like to IPO during his time at Trulia 

• What he’s learned raising money after a market crash and a zero-interest environment

• The best way he found to get great talent

• Why Virta is a mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company

• What he learned rowing unassisted to Hawaii from California

• Why he says you should create a mission that is both simple and ambitious  

• And so much moreYou can watch and listen on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple. 

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Where to find Sami Inkinen:

• X: https://twitter.com/samiinkinen 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samiinkinen/ 

• Website: ​​https://www.samiinkinen.com/ 

Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/ 

• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/ 

• X: https://twitter.com/ericries 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/ 

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow 

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In This Episode We Cover:

00:00 Welcome to the first episode of the Eric Ries Show

00:35 Meet our guest Sami Inkinen

05:20 Sami reflects on Trulia’s IPO

08:20 How Sami started in entrepreneurship

11:10 Sami’s founding story for Trulia (acquired by Zillow for $2.5 billion)

16:40 Why most people never end up starting a business

18:57 How to find better talent as a founder

23:15 Sami shares how much money he raised for Zillow and Virta

25:20 Sami’s lessons on how to get momentum for your startup

30:30 What changed when Sami took his company public

38:00 Why Sami decided to start Virta and take on type 2 diabetes

41:55 How type 2 diabetes can affect anyone, even a high-performing endurance athlete

47:36 Sami shares what he tells each founder when they ask for his investment

53:20 The importance of defining your mission that is both simple and ambitious

57:30 Trust leads to success

1:03:07 A mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company

1:08:10 How Sami built an economic model built on helping his customers

1:14:00 More details on how Sami set up Virta’s company structure

1:17:08 What is a GLP-1 drug and how Virta is a GLP-1 off-ramp

1:24:32 Sami’s approach to leadership

1:26:02 Why Finland maximizes human capital better than most

1:28:00 What are Sami’s thoughts on AI

1:30:15 How to become one with your pain

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Referenced: 

• Virta Health: https://www.virtahealth.com/ 

• Virta Health YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VirtaHealth 

• Trulia Acquired By Zillow: https://zillow.mediaroom.com/2014-07-28-Zillow-Announces-Acquisition-of-Trulia-for-3-5-Billion-in-Stock 

• Type 2 Diabetes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_2_diabetes 

• GLP-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLP-1_receptor_agonist 

• Ozempic: https://www.ozempic.com/ 

• Buddhist Parables Of The Arrow: https://grandrapidstherapygroup.com/second-arrow-of-suffering/ 

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.