E3: Chris Bakke on Negotiating with Elon Musk and Setting Up An M&A from Day One (3x exits)

Ever wonder what it's like to get a call from Elon Musk, wanting to buy your company? In this episode, Sasha sits down with serial entrepreneur Chris Bakke to find out. Chris is the co-founder behind several successful startups, including Laskie, which was acquired by Elon Musk's X, and Interviewed, acquired by Indeed. Chris shares insights on: building a content-driven growth strategy as a founder that's led to his 200k+ follower base, navigating the M&A process and negotiating a deal directly with Musk, transitioning from founder to his current role in building X's job search platform, and much more. This show is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: www.turpentine.co --- SPONSORS: Attio is the next generation of CRM. It’s powerful, flexible and easily configures to the unique way your startup runs, whatever your go-to-market motion. The next era deserves a better CRM. Join ElevenLabs, Replicate, Modal and more at https://bit.ly/attioturpentine --- Recommended Podcast: Company Breakdowns Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episode is on Rubrik - which just IPO'd. Coming up this season: Databricks, Reddit + more, Spotify Apple 📈 ECON 102 W/ NOAH SMITH - Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mos4VE3figVXleHDqfXOH Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1753399812https://podcasts.apple.com/id1753399812 --- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected]. --- X/Twitter: @sashaorloff (Sasha) @chrisjbakke (Chris) @turpentinemedia TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Chris Bakke Intro (02:49) Laskie and what got Chris excited about it (04:03) Content as a growth strategy (07:29) How Chris found his content voice (12:50) What’s the next thing in content (19:32) Best practices as a founder to set up M&A as a future path (24:36) Getting Indeed as a partner, investor, and acquirer of Interviewed (26:51) Laskie’s M&A Story (29:13) How Chris ended up talking to Elon about Laskie and Twitter recruiting (35:11) What Chris would’ve done differently at Indeed (37:12) Common mistakes and misconceptions during the M&A process (45:00) Chris’ most memorable X post, not of his own (46:22) Wrap