More Related Content Similar to Lifting the Venture Capital Skirt: Insights into Funding Startups Similar to Lifting the Venture Capital Skirt: Insights into Funding Startups (20) More from RAMP Group (20) 2. - Henk Kleynhans
- founder
- CEO CTO
5. - 3 parts
- - my past
- - my (short) VC experience
- - Venture Capital Aptitude Test
7. - student
- financial aid
- UCT
11. - 2003
- wifi
- adsl
- becoming mainstream
12. - ADSL cost R1200 per month
- Capped at 3GB usage
13. - SHARE
- adsl
- wifi
- $
14. - looked far and wide
21. - only what they eat
- NOT how much time they take to eat it
22. - simply didn’t exist
23. - So...
- I decided to
- build it!
24. - scratch my own itch
26. - laptop
- broadband
- cheap
- share - convenient
- neighbours - no modems
- no line rentals
- $$$
- no contracts
28. - end-users == Skyrovers
29. - start their own Skyrove hotspot
30. - virally
- spread affordable and convenient
internet access
34. - small entrepreneurs
37. - who does NOT think
- this was a brilliant idea?
39. - competition
- Big Ideas
40. - National Innovation Competition
41. - my buddy Al
- marketing student
43. - this thing called
- a Business Plan!
44. - Al was busy writing his thesis
46. - “If you want something done...
- ask a busy man!”
47. - worked days and nights
- this thing called:
- Market Research!
48. - & a thing called...
- Financial Projections!
51. - by Year 2
- 100 Million Dollars
55. - brilliant
- world-changing
- earth-shattering
- paradigm-shifting
- business plan
60. - clearing a path to the stage
63. - cried a little
- hugged each other
- moved on...
65. - market research
- financial projections
66. - we were onto something big!
67. - looking for funding
- raised $20,000
- overseas investor
- hired first programmer
68. - launched 2006
- raised a million 2007
69. - 9500 20,000 customers
- 300 600 hotspots
70. - 8 employees
- Honours or Masters Degrees
72. - community
- largest Hotspot network
- continent
73. - 2005
- Top ICT Entrepreneur
- Business Report / Enablis
74. - 2006
- TT100 Minister’s Award
- Most Promising Emerging Enterprise
75. - 2008
- Mail & Guardain
- 200 Young South Africans
- You Must Take To Lunch
79. - (thank you Minister)
81. - proved
- young South Africans
- leaders in innovation
- technology
- commercialization
83. - Rotterdam
- Berlin
- Vancouver
- Silicon Valley
85. - My meandering VC experience
86. - have raised SOME money
87. - failed to raise MUCH more
88. - first investor: Silicon Valley
- $20,000
90. - but get shares upfront
92. - family member
- R100k
98. - pulled out last minute
- when principal left
102. - found investor
- zero bullshiitake
- “gets it”
105. - will NOT accept an offer
106. - gives majority board control
107. - to minority shareholder
108. - I know my market and my product
better
109. - I will NOT accept an offer
110. - for more money than I need
111. - especially in tranches
- = stock options
112. - I will not accept VC before
113. - 2-minute noodle profitable
115. - phone the founders
- BEFORE
- serious talks with any VC
117. - GRILL the VC at first presentation
118. - portfolio companies
- successes
- experience
120. - pay for Due Diligence costs
121. - spending time with you...
122. - is more expensive to me...
123. - than it is to you!
125. - give shares to “Mentor Capitalists”
126. - will work harder for you
- give better advice
- keep your interests at heart
127. - if it puts its money
- where its mouth is
129. - the Venture Capital Aptitude Test
130. - (credit to Guy Kawasaki)
131. - “You know you’re in a bubble when
young people get into VC”
132. - “VC should be your last job, not your
first.”
133. - “When you’re young, you should work
80 hours a week to create a product or
service that changes the world. You
should not sit in board meetings
listening to an entrepreneur explaining
why she missed her numbers while you
read mail on a Blackberry and
intermittently spew forth gems like:
134. - ‘You should partner with MySpace! I
can also introduce you to some of the
losers in our portfolio’
135. - entrepreneurs
- aspirant VCs
- existing VCs
136. - 3.1 Work Background
137. - Engineering
- plus 5 points
138. - understand technology
- does it defy the laws of physics?
139. - Sales
- plus 5 points
140. - introduce a product and
- sell it
141. - “sales fixes everything”
142. - Management Consulting
- minus 5 points
143. - Investment Consulting
- minus 5 points
144. - Accounting
- minus 5 points
145. - 3 worst backgrounds
- Consulting, Banking, Accounting
146. - Management Consulting
- “implementation is easy,
- insights are hard”
147. - opposite is true in startups
148. - Investment Banking
- “everything can be reduced to
- cells on a spreadsheet”
149. - P/Es
- Build companies for JSE, not customers
- do deals, don’t build companies
150. - accounting
- belief that history not only
- repeats itself...
151. - but it predicts the future
152. - financial models are almost totally
irrelevant because there’s no financial
wizardry involved in making a good
product and selling the heck out of it.
153. - MBA
- minus 5 points
155. - tools and knowledge may help
156. - e.g. 25% of $1.6 billion
- is $400 million
158. - hollow arrogance of someone
- who’s never been tested
159. - 3.2 The Right Stuff
- (First Hand Experience)
161. - but have you been
- KICKED
- in the right places?
162. - kicked in the groin by
- major, long-lasting economic downturn
- plus 1 point
163. - worked at a successful startup
- plus 1 point
164. - worked at a failed startup
- plus 3 points
165. - you’ll understand 3 things:
- 1. how hard it is to achieve success
- 2. world doesn’t owe you a thing
- 3. what it’s like to be fired or laid off
166. - worked at a public company
- plus 1 point
- (know the end goal, warts & all)
167. - held a CEO position
- plus 2 points
169. - been an angel investor...
170. - with your OWN money
- plus 2 points
171. - understand the responsibility of
investing other people’s money
172. - 3.3 Necessary Knowledge
173. - Can you answer the following questions
for entrepreneurs?
174. - How do I...
- introduce a product with no budget?
- plus 2 points
175. - How do I...
- determine if there really is a market
demand for my product?
- plus 1 point
176. - What do I do...
- if customers hate our first product?
- plus 1 point
177. - How do I...
- get Walt Mossberg to return my call?
- plus 2 points
178. - How do I...
- get to the folks who run DEMO?
- plus 1 point
179. - How do I...
- get a plug in TechCrunch?
- plus 2 points
180. - How do I...
- dominate a segment with 5 competitors
doing essentially the same thing?
- plus 2 points
181. - How much...
- time, energy & money
- should I spend on patent protection?
- plus 1 point
182. - What do I do now...
- if I bet on the wrong architecture for
our product?
- plus 2 points
183. - What kind of...
- people should I hire?
- Young, old, proven, unproven, cheap,
expensive, local, remote?
- plus 1 point
184. - How do I...
- get them to leave their jobs
- without throwing money
- plus 2 points
185. - How do I...
- tell my friend that he cannot
- be CFO
- just because he’s a co-founder?
- plus 2 points
186. - How do I get...
- the Buyer at Incredible Connection
- to return my call?
- plus 1 point
187. - How do I...
- handle a customer who wants to send
back his purchase for a full refund?
- plus 1 point
-
188. - How do I ...
- fire people?
- plus 2 points
189. - How do I ...
- lay people off?
- plus 2 points
192. - start your own fund!
194. - call Sequoia, Kleiner, Perkins
195. - let them know you’re available...
197. - send your resume to
- 2,000 VCs
200. - work until you score more
- and in the meantime
206. - stand out from all the other
- full-of-**it artists
- who entered VC when they were young
207. - you’ll be really able to help
- your portfolio companies
208. - which is what VC is all about
210. - Henk Kleynhans
- www.skyrove.com
- henk@skyrove.com
- 0861 ROVERS
- Blog: www.geekrebel.com
