Spencer Rascoff & Sophia Rascoff - Founders of Recon Food | The Evolution of Social Media

Spencer Rascoff is an entrepreneur who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, and dot.LA, Pacaso, Recon Food, Queue, and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. Spencer is an active angel investor and is starting new companies through his Los Angeles startup studio “75 & Sunny.” Spencer is co-chair of Supernova, a family of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) which have raised over $1 billion in capital. He is also on the Board of Directors of Varo Money. In spring 2022, Spencer was a Visiting Professor. He taught Harvard College’s first-ever startup class “Startups from Ideation to Exit,” and in the Fall of 2019, co-created and co-taught the Harvard Business School course, “Managing Tech Ventures. Spencer is the host of "Office Hours,” a podcast featuring candid conversations between prominent executives on leadership, diversity and inclusion, and startups.Sophia Rascoff is co-founder and CEO of Recon Food, the vertical social media app where people can reconnect over a shared love of food. Sophia is a student at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where she is a leader in the entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving organization; a leader in the Latin American/Hispanic Student Organization; a recipient of the presidential volunteer service award.

➡️ Talking Points

00:00 — Intro

04:16 — Sophia Rascoff's origin story

07:45 — Spencer Rascoff's origin story & his starting a company with his daughter

11:23 — Starting up a social media app

13:52 — Vertical-driven social media

20:23 — Some ways of growing and building up a community

23:06 — Turning a community into a successful business model

25:24 — What are the benefits and drawbacks of working in a family?

30:16 — Managing her studies and her business at the same time

33:16 — Sophia’s future education plans & Spencer’s thoughts on them

36:17 — Learning to code at such a young age & Sophia’s role at the company

38:49 — The most important traits to be a successful entrepreneur

41:37 — How did the Rascoffs find the founder-product fit?

45:28 — How did Sophia accomplish all that she did at a young age and how did social media affect it?

54:16 — Where can people connect with Sophia Rascoff and Spencer Rascoff?

55:08 — The biggest challenges faced by Spencer and Sophia Rascoff

57:08 — The most impactful person in Sophia’s and Spencer’s lives

59:44 — Sophia and Spencer’s book or podcast recommendations

1:01:04 — What would Spencer and Sophia tell their younger selves?

1:02:47 — What does success mean to Sophia and Spencer Rascoff?