By Sara Deshpande @ Maven Ventures

1. Consumer Unicorns:
The art of building billion dollar startups
@saraannet
@mavenvc
SaraThomas

2. Consumer software + transportation
6 exits + 20 active companies
5 Billion-Dollar Successes
$1B sale to GM $1B+ valuation $6B IPO $850M sale to AOL$1B valuation
About MavenVentures

3. About Me
Sara Thomas Deshpande
Partner, Maven Ventures
Former Founder
9 years Supporting Startups

4. Seed
6-8
Companies
Per Year
Hands-On
$250K-
$500K
Checks
Silicon Valley
New York
Tel Aviv
LA
Our Strategy

5. Our Portfolio: A Few Examples

6. TopTenTips for Success in ConsumerTech

7. 1. A vision worth fighting for

8. 6th FastestVC Exit to $1Bn…ever
Source: CB Insights, Quick Flips

9. 2016 Was JustThe Beginning!

10. Time to Self Driving Production, CEOs say…
Source: Driverless Car Market Watch
2020 20212020 2018

11. Does the problem really need fixing?

12. Does the problem really need fixing?

13. Beware of Road Kill

14. Hacker Designer Hustler
2. Founding team

15. 2. Founding team
Designer
Hacker
Hustler

16. 3. Culture

17. Culture: an example
Mission
Maven is the premier incubator and early stage investor for hyper-growth consumer founders
Values
1. Collaborative: We are not political, willing to share praise, and honest and transparent
with each other. We put the team and company first.
2. No jerks: We are happy, positive, and fun to work with.
3. Accountable: We are high-performing, get stuff done, and value attention to detail.
4. Curious: We are always willing to learn. We are knowledgeable and strive to be experts in
our field.
5. Self-starters: We take initiative, work autonomously, and are resourceful.

18. 4. Product/market fit

19. 5. Growth hacking

20. What is Growth Hacking?
The process of acquiring new customers through:
• Data-driven marketing
• Creative (often free/ unpaid) strategies and channels
• Organized experimentation
• Cross-functional work by engineering, product, and marketing

21. Growth hacking: focus

22. Growth hacking: find your “one metric that matters”
Weekly Active
Re-Pinner
“WARP”
Net Deposits
(Deposits – Withdrawals)
7 Friends in
7 Days

23. No silver bullet

24. 6. Language/market fit
I Agree

25. Naming Zoom
SaasBee vs.

26. 7. Focus

27. B2B vs B2C

28. 8. Mentor whiplash

29. 9. Investors

30. 9. Investors
Seed Consumer
Software
Hands-On

31. 10. Luck and timing

32. Recap
1. A vision worth fighting for
2. Founding team
3. Culture
4. Product/market fit
5. Growth hacking
6. Language/market fit
7. Focus
8. Mentor whiplash
9. Investors
10. Luck and timing

33. Stay in touch!
@saraannet
@mavenvc
sara@mavenventures.com