How to get into 500 startups? How to raise money in Silicon Valley? How to start a startup if you're an engineer? How to get 1,500+ upvotes on Product Hunt? How to enter the US market with B2B product?

1. IMAGURU STARTUP HUB, MINSK. JAN 17, 2018
H O W T O S T A R T A D E E P T E C H S T A R T U P
M I C H A E L R U M I A N C A U , C E O @ F R I E N D LY D ATA
michael@friendlydata.io

2. FRIENDLYDATA: THE NATURAL LANGUAGE INTERFACE TO DATABASES

3. I N V E S T O R S A N D PA R T N E R S
F U N D I N G : $ 6 0 0 K
T E A M
O F F I C E S : S F, M I N S K
T O P P R O D U C T I N A P R I L , 2 0 1 7 S TA R T U P O F T H E Y E A R I N B E L A R U S , 2 0 1 7

4. • Raising money
• Hiring great people
• Building a product roadmap
• Managing well
• Training new employees
• Selling
MOST OF US ARE NOT BORN WITH THESE SKILLS

5. STARTUP = GROWTH

6. • Advertising = you are buying leads.
• Spend a $1.00 to acquire a customer, make > 1$
• The most expensive.
THE PAID ENGINE OF GROWTH

7. • Word of mouth, your product advertise itself.
• 10 customers bring you 11 new customers.
• Difficult to build intentionally.
THE VIRAL ENGINE OF GROWTH

8. • Focus on a long term retention and low churn rate.
• CAC > 2-3x LTV.
• The slowest.
THE STICKY ENGINE OF GROWTH

9. • Solving a major problem
• Big (Rich) Market
• Entry barrier
• Scalable business model
• Team
B2B/DEEP TECH SUCCESS CRITERIA

10. HOW TO WIN COMPETITION
• Create a strong Brand
• 10x times better/faster Technology
• Network Effect
• Community
• Team

12. • It’s OK to pay 3x more for a resource that is 3x better.
• Hire key experts in your field as soon as possible.
• Team is your main asset.
HOW TO HIRE

13. • It sales is not selling it’s about explaining your value
• You have to be in a full-time sales mode
• Build - > Sale Sale - > Build
HOW TO SALE

14. THE [STARTUP] WORLD IS
CHANGING

15. 2003 2013 2018

17. DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO GO TO ACCELERATOR?
• YC, 500 Startups - shut up and apply!
• Alchemist,AngelPad, (Techstars) - maybe.
• Corporate, Industry and everything else - it depends.

18. HOW TO CHOSE AN ACCELERATOR
• Determine your own goals
• Research their team and mentors
• Research their portfolio and ask feedback

20. HOW TO RAISE MONEY

21. AI/Data/Deep Tech startups are never going to grow like
consumer ones, and they need a different approach to
investing and go2market.
DEEP TECH STARTUPS ARE DIFFERENT

22. • Talk to relevant investors (fund size, stage, vertical,
geography).
• How much? To achieve the next milestone and raise
next round (or to profit).
• Fundraising is a number game.
FUNDRAISING

23. THE MATHS BEHIND
VENTURE CAPITAL

24. A TYPICAL SEED VC FUND
• $50M fund (Cost ~ $10M)
• $40M left to be invested in 20 startups ($2M/company)
• The min respectable return on a Fund is 120% in 5 years
• Expected $60M in 4-5 years

25. A TYPICAL OUTCOME
• 10 companies dead. 10x0=0
• 5 will return the investment. 5x$2M=$10M
• 3 will provide ROI (at least 2x). 3x2x$2M=$12M
• The last 2 should return ~$40M ($60M-$22M), eg 10X

26. VC RULES OF THUMB
• The goal is to reach a 10X return on at least one of 10
investment.
• Fund size ~ desired valuation at exit.

27. • TEAM & TECH. $5-50M
• PRODUCT. $25-250M
• BUSINESS. $100M - $XXB
M&A TYPES

28. HOW TO GET PRESS FOR
YOUR STARTUP

30. • Warm intros, cold emails
• News events: funding, product launch, accelerator
• Tell a story
• Find the right journalists
• Determine your own goals
HOW TO GET PRESS FOR YOUR STARTUP

32. IF YOU’RE NOT HERE… YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH

33. THANK YOU!
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