This document provides advice and lessons learned from Dave McClure's experience as an angel investor and founder of 500 Startups accelerator. It outlines the key steps needed to successfully invest as an angel, including having sufficient capital, deal flow, expertise in evaluation and negotiations, support for portfolio companies, and connections for follow-on funding. McClure discusses his early investments from 2004-2008, noting most failures but a few large exits. The document also provides tips for new angel investors and what it takes to run a successful accelerator, including funding, branding, programs/services, deal flow, mentors, downstream capital, and proof points from past wins.
Strategies for Accessing the US Market (Feb 1-2, 2016)Gil Ben-Artzy
In this talk, I try to offer practical advice for you to implement based on real case studies from the past 10 years of working with and investing in dozens of Israeli startups that have successfully brought their companies to the US.
Some of the topics covered include:
* Plans for creating momentum in the US, even while you are based in Israel
* Considerations and best practices for establishing your US office
* If, when and how to begin fundraising in the US
Accessing Silicon Valley: A Primer for the Israeli EntrepreneurGil Ben-Artzy
When should you visit the US with your startup? How do you make your visit worthwhile and begin to gain momentum? When and how should you fundraise in the US? We’ll discuss what you need to think about when answering these questions, as well as best practices and common pitfalls. Some of the topics that will be covered include:
- Best timing to access the US (product mock-up stage, post-launch, etc)
- Fundraising best practices, differences from Israel
- Cultural nuances and why you it really matters
- East Coast vs. West Coast considerations
Angel investing is a great way to participate in the growing trend of entrepreneurship. Responsible investing is very important for the health of your portfolio and for your relationships with founders. Don't invest without understanding a few simple things. Equity investments are long term relationships. Investors must do their part to be good investment partners.
Summary presentation of the critically acclaimed book on venture capital and entrepreneurship by Flybridge general partner Jeff Bussgang (www.jeffbussgang.com)
How to define and position your VC brand to attract funding and dealflow.
* note: more recent updated version below:
https://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/branding-strategies-for-better-dealflow-and-fundraising-aka-the-helpful-vc
Strategies for Accessing the US Market (Feb 1-2, 2016)Gil Ben-Artzy
In this talk, I try to offer practical advice for you to implement based on real case studies from the past 10 years of working with and investing in dozens of Israeli startups that have successfully brought their companies to the US.
Some of the topics covered include:
* Plans for creating momentum in the US, even while you are based in Israel
* Considerations and best practices for establishing your US office
* If, when and how to begin fundraising in the US
Accessing Silicon Valley: A Primer for the Israeli EntrepreneurGil Ben-Artzy
When should you visit the US with your startup? How do you make your visit worthwhile and begin to gain momentum? When and how should you fundraise in the US? We’ll discuss what you need to think about when answering these questions, as well as best practices and common pitfalls. Some of the topics that will be covered include:
- Best timing to access the US (product mock-up stage, post-launch, etc)
- Fundraising best practices, differences from Israel
- Cultural nuances and why you it really matters
- East Coast vs. West Coast considerations
Angel investing is a great way to participate in the growing trend of entrepreneurship. Responsible investing is very important for the health of your portfolio and for your relationships with founders. Don't invest without understanding a few simple things. Equity investments are long term relationships. Investors must do their part to be good investment partners.
Summary presentation of the critically acclaimed book on venture capital and entrepreneurship by Flybridge general partner Jeff Bussgang (www.jeffbussgang.com)
How to define and position your VC brand to attract funding and dealflow.
* note: more recent updated version below:
https://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/branding-strategies-for-better-dealflow-and-fundraising-aka-the-helpful-vc
Brandeis & Babson - Fundraising 101: How to raise a seed roundDavid Chang
Brandeis Innovation Speaker Series: Overview of tech/startup fundraising basics, some how-to tactics on raising a seed round, and general pitch tips/lessons learned for entrepreneurs who are current students and recent grads.
Babson & Brandeis - Fundraising 101: How to raise a seed roundDavid Chang
Brandeis Innovation Speaker Series: Overview of tech/startup fundraising basics, some how-to tactics on raising a seed round, and general pitch tips/lessons learned for entrepreneurs who are current students and recent grads.
Venture Lane Studio - Fundraising ABC's - Jan 2022David Chang
Fundraising ABC’s: How to raise a seed round for B2B SaaS
Overview of fundraising basics, a 3-step how-to guide on seed round raising tactics, and pitch tips/resources
Inside Venture: How to Package Your Startup for FundraisingJoy Randels
Raising angel and venture capital startup funding isn't easy but you can gain a distinctive advantage through research, preparation and taking appropriate steps in advance. These are real world tips that helped me raise over $350M.
Play Your Cards Right: The Israeli Playbook for Breaking Into the US MarketGil Ben-Artzy
After investing in dozens of Israeli startups that launched, scaled and set up their headquarters in the US, we have seen first-hand how founders planned and executed their US market strategy. Join us as we share the best practices and lessons learned from six years of helping Israeli founders break into the US market and raise over $400M.
This session will cover what works, what to avoid, and what American customers, partners, and investors actually care about. (Hint: it's not your military background...)
Topics will include:
- How and when to find US-based customers and partners while still operating out of Israel
- How Israeli startups should go about raising capital from US-based investors. Do you even need to?
- Should you set up a US office? And If so, when and where?
- Mistakes you can avoid if splitting your team between Israel and the US
* About Gil Ben-Artzy
Gil co-founded UpWest Labs in 2012, opening up the firm’s Silicon Valley Office. Previously, Gil was the VP of Operations Management at Yahoo! for two years after working with the Corporate Development group for four years. He also served as a consultant advising Fortune 500 companies for the Boston Consulting Group in New York. He holds a BA in Economics & Business Administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MBA with Honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
* About UpWest Labs
UpWest invests in Israel’s most promising entrepreneurs. Based in Silicon Valley, we have backed dozens of companies and helped them grow through our hands-on approach. UpWest Labs provides the essential ingredients for success: seed funding, proximity and access to markets and capital, a supportive community of talented peers, and a workspace conducive to rapid development and deployment.
Brandeis & Babson - Fundraising 101: How to raise a seed roundDavid Chang
Brandeis Innovation Speaker Series: Overview of tech/startup fundraising basics, some how-to tactics on raising a seed round, and general pitch tips/lessons learned for entrepreneurs who are current students and recent grads.
Babson & Brandeis - Fundraising 101: How to raise a seed roundDavid Chang
Brandeis Innovation Speaker Series: Overview of tech/startup fundraising basics, some how-to tactics on raising a seed round, and general pitch tips/lessons learned for entrepreneurs who are current students and recent grads.
Venture Lane Studio - Fundraising ABC's - Jan 2022David Chang
Fundraising ABC’s: How to raise a seed round for B2B SaaS
Overview of fundraising basics, a 3-step how-to guide on seed round raising tactics, and pitch tips/resources
Inside Venture: How to Package Your Startup for FundraisingJoy Randels
Raising angel and venture capital startup funding isn't easy but you can gain a distinctive advantage through research, preparation and taking appropriate steps in advance. These are real world tips that helped me raise over $350M.
Play Your Cards Right: The Israeli Playbook for Breaking Into the US MarketGil Ben-Artzy
After investing in dozens of Israeli startups that launched, scaled and set up their headquarters in the US, we have seen first-hand how founders planned and executed their US market strategy. Join us as we share the best practices and lessons learned from six years of helping Israeli founders break into the US market and raise over $400M.
This session will cover what works, what to avoid, and what American customers, partners, and investors actually care about. (Hint: it's not your military background...)
Topics will include:
- How and when to find US-based customers and partners while still operating out of Israel
- How Israeli startups should go about raising capital from US-based investors. Do you even need to?
- Should you set up a US office? And If so, when and where?
- Mistakes you can avoid if splitting your team between Israel and the US
* About Gil Ben-Artzy
Gil co-founded UpWest Labs in 2012, opening up the firm’s Silicon Valley Office. Previously, Gil was the VP of Operations Management at Yahoo! for two years after working with the Corporate Development group for four years. He also served as a consultant advising Fortune 500 companies for the Boston Consulting Group in New York. He holds a BA in Economics & Business Administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MBA with Honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
* About UpWest Labs
UpWest invests in Israel’s most promising entrepreneurs. Based in Silicon Valley, we have backed dozens of companies and helped them grow through our hands-on approach. UpWest Labs provides the essential ingredients for success: seed funding, proximity and access to markets and capital, a supportive community of talented peers, and a workspace conducive to rapid development and deployment.
Investors historically sit through pitches and evaluate early stage startups on three primary metrics: 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling presentations, and 3) a strong team. Steve Blank, the Godfather of the Lean Startup movement said in his Customer Development Manifesto: “There’s no formal way for an investor to assess project maturity or quantify risks. Other than measuring engineering progress, there’s no standard language to communicate progress.”
What has been missing is a common language to communicate objectives and data that investors and entrepreneurs can use to communicate startup readiness.
Fortunately, the principles developed in the Lean Startup movement can be utilized to help entrepreneurs assess their Investor Readiness Level in a way that allows them to demonstrate “evidence” of their readiness. In this session, Max Green and Heath Naquin, both of the IC2 Institute, will share this new method for entrepreneurs to gauge their own investor readiness using the principles of Steve Blank's Investment Readiness Level and LeanLaunchpad.
Entrepreneurs attending this session will learn a valuable approach helping their start-up team prove their competence and validate their ideas by showing investors “evidence” that there’s a repeatable and scalable business model.
Heath Naquin serves as Executive Director for the SW I-Corps Node at The University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as the Managing Director for a multi-university NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) the Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics. Heath was a founding member of three different start-up business initiatives across sectors. He has helped companies raise more than $30 Million in funding from private and government sources.
Heath actively works on international commercialization initiatives and efforts focusing on industry collaboration, new project development and deployment along with building linkages between industry, government, academia and the venture capital community. Heath has worked in more than 20 countries on international commercialization and entrepreneurship initiatives in countries such as Colombia, Jordan, Iraq, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Armenia, and Turkey. Heath has extensive experience with the NSF, EPA and NIH SBIR programs as an active commercial reviewer for many years. Heath also currently serves as Faculty for the Concordia University Executive MBA program.
WeWork provides small businesses, startups, and freelancers with beautiful workspace, inspiring community, and meaningful services. With weekly events, personalized support, flexibility, and access to thousands of like-minded entrepreneurs around the world - WeWork is the perfect place to grow your business in 2015.
The WeWork Congress location sits in the heart of downtown Austin at 6th St. and Congress Ave. To learn more about joining the community, email joinus@wework.com or call 855.593.9675.
Drilling down into business fundamentals, founders and fit, here are some effective questions Angels ask to see which startups stand-out.
An updated edition with expanded content prepared for https://www.sandboxph.org/
Marty Kaszubowski, Old Dominion University. Oops!... Another Startup Did It A...IT Arena
Martin Kaszubowski currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institution for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Old Dominion University. Marty has over 35 years of experience with a broad spectrum of public- and private-sector organizations promoting new venture formation, early-stage investment, technology commercialization, and innovation-led economic development. Marty has traveled with the CRDF Global STEP team since 2010, having made 12 separate trips to the former Soviet States: Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. In addition, he has spent significant time with CRDF mentoring entrepreneurs remotely, reviewing program applications, judging entrepreneurship competitions, and working with incubators, accelerators, and others interested in promoting innovation-based entrepreneurship in the region. Marty holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s Degree in Technology Management from George Washington University.
Introduction to Business Angel Investing'Tomi Davies
This presentation is Based on the book “Angel Investing - The Gust Guide to Making Money & Having Fun Investing In Startups” by David S. Rose @davidsrose CEO of Gust and Founder of New York Angels angelinvesting.com
It is for a Masterclass designed for practising and potential business angels who want to understand the basics of angel investing. It is a comprehensive guide that walks students through every step of the way to becoming a successful angel investor.
The class exposes students to fundamental strategies and specific tools required to take full advantage of this rapidly growing asset class, from building your reputation as a smart investor, to negotiating fair deals and adding value to your portfolio of companies through to helping them implement smart exit strategies.
From the Women Helping Women in Entrepreneurship on July 24, 2013 at MassChallenge
The Boston entrepreneurial community is home to some of the strongest and most successful women in entrepreneurship. Join the women of Golden Seeds and several local serial entrepreneurs for a discussion on sources of capital for your business. The discussion will be followed by small breakout sessions that focus on the challenges your company may be facing.
www.thecapitalnetwork.org
This presentation was delivered to a group of 40 Founders/CEO's and a few salespeople who want to know what they should be thinking about before they hire salespeople.
Broad address of the prevailing thought processes, techniques and methodologies for early adopter sales.
Seed Fundraising and Angels; Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA)Thomas Wisniewski
This is a presentation from a recent workshop I led at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator for the current (Summer 2014) class of start-up founders. New format; content from prior presentations of mine.
Some examples of bridges between scarcity and abundance.
The bridge needed is in people's minds, to see that bridges are possible, and that like minded folk might join with them to try and make a difference.
Networked membership organisations are often still operating the way they did last century, especially in the UK, where a closed attitude to innovation hampers both growth and change.
Here we explore a UK perspective to some of the old network organisations, and how things have moved on, often leaving old school organisations struggling to stay relevant.
We should also mention the attack now needed on the original blight of "lazy" network organisations: the fear that throwing out the "bad practitioners" will have a negative affect on public relations and organisational reputation, whereas in the 21st century the opposite is often true.
"The business plan doesn't survive first contact with the customer"
Why wait this long ?
Surely it's better to test an idea much, much earlier to see if it can become a business?
This is a London workshop delivered by an experienced lifelong innovator who has helped bring great new products to market.
Come along, bring an open mind, and be prepared to help your fellow startups.
Also works if you are a corporate product developer!
Whether established or a start up, business always brings fresh challenges.
If you are stuck, maybe you should come and talk to us here at Blue Oyster.
UK Employment needs to change radically to achieve full employment.
One of its best resources, already skilled over 50s, do not have an easy path back into recruitment, and some never make it.
With the appointment of a UK "Over 50s Tsar", @rosaltmann, we perhaps have a chance to make a difference to the social infrastructure at this pivotal point in social media capabilities.
As event and content management mature and seep into business consciousness, potentially a good move for business growth, companies like LoYakk are pushing the boundaries of what they call "community engagement".
Because for every business, audience engagement is key, and the best way to understand this is to know what audiences are talking about, what they like, and what they don't.
And of course, engaging speakers who can tell a new story is a must.
For more in-depth insight into LoYakk, or for news from the forefront of innovation, please follow or contact Blue Oyster Business Growth via Twitter:
@innov8tor3
Global Mobility Solutions from Derek Watson
Derek is a serial global entrepreneur, with a string of connected and integrated businesses that facilitate global business.
More from Peter Jones [LION: li.blueoyster~@~gmail.com] (20)
3. Investing 101:
9 steps to not fuck it up
1) enough money (to write checks)
2) good branding / good dealflow (to see good deals)
3) selection intelligence (to choose good deals)
4) valuation sensitivity / negotiation expertise (for reasonable prices)
5) document execution & financial/legal support (to get deals done)
6) some domain of expertise / access to mentors (to help co's win)
7) connections to downstream capital (to help co's get next round)
8) connections to buyers (to help co's find an exit)
9) patience (to wait until they exit)
* on Quora: What does it take to run a successful angel syndicate or fund?
4. Angel Investing
How I Got Started
• Started investing in 2004, as i was leaving PayPal — got to co-invest with folks like Ron Conway, Josh
Kopelman / First Round, Reid Hoffman, Jeff Clavier (SoftTech), Aydin Senkut (Felicis), Mark Goines,
Esther Dyson, other PayPal/Google employees
• Made 13 investments between 2004-2008, total ~$300K, avg $25K each (altho spent $150K on first 2
investments in first year). Most things failed, a few small exits, some advisory wins, and ultimately 3
big (>10X) wins; overall up ~3-5X in 10 years
• Mint ($140M, Intuit, 2009)
• SlideShare ($119M, LinkedIn, 2012)
• Mashery (~$180M+?, 2013)
• Mostly had no idea what i was doing (valuation, legal, etc); some ideas about whether the company doing well (product,
marketing, etc). Was successful mostly because i co-invested with other smart people, and because i got in early on a
few good deals.
• Didn’t allocate any money for follow-on; not sure it mattered all that much.
• Didn’t distribute investments equally or over time; definitely mattered a lot.
• Fortunate to be investing in a market where i had access to good dealflow, reasonable valuations
5. Angel Investing
tips for n00bs & rookies
• Be prepared to lose all the money you invest. (“One can only go to Zero!”)
• Co-Invest w/ Other Smart / Famous Angels & VCs
• Invest small $ in many deals (min 20, ideally 50+) — or focus exclusively on
your expertise, but if so why not just be a founder?
• Develop an area of focus or expertise; build your brand around this
• Bias towards lower-valuation deals, OR higher-valuation deals with proven
metrics / investors
• By default, don’t double-down — but if/when you do, focus on increasing
relative ownership % + clear path to exit.
• Continue to re-evaluate your strategies based on current market conditions +
structural changes to environment
* on Quora: How do angel investors gain traction?
6. Accelerators / Incubators
What does it take?
• Funding / Capital / Budget
• Story / Branding / Focus / Expertise
• Region / Stage / Industry
• Programs & Services
• Product, Design, Market[ing], Metrics, Funding, Recruiting, Pitch Prep, etc
• Dealflow: Access, Selection, Ability to Close
• Mentors / Community
• Downstream Capital
• Wins / Proof Points
7. • pre-2000: worshipping Idealab, Garage.com, etc
• 2001-2004: work at PayPal; meeting angels & VCs
• 2005/6: watching Paul Graham / YC, TechStars
• 2007: teaching Stanford Facebook class
• 2008-10: Founders Fund (Twilio, Credit Karma, SendGrid), ran
Facebook fbFund incubator (Zimride/Lyft, Wildfire, TaskRabbit,
Life360)
• 2010-2015: 500 Startups, 18 acc cohorts (13 US + 5 MX) = 400+
companies, 2-3 $100M+ co’s; 100+ Series A co’s
Accelerators / Incubators
How did Dave/500 get started?
8. Accelerator Economics
tough to be sustainable
• historical: invest $50-100K @ $250K-$2.5M valtn; for
3-10%; keep $10-25K program tuition for overhead
• B14: invest $125K for 5%, keep $25K program tuition
• ~2/3 raise $500K-$2M; ~1/3 Series A; ~15% Series B
• estimate ~10-20% get to an exit in 3-7 yrs; ~5-10% get
to meaningful outcome (>10X) — these #’s will be
worse if you’re new and/or not in Silicon Valley
• current winners: $200M+, $100M+, several @ $50M+