Venture Capital 101 presentation on the basics of VC such as what venture capital is, and how it works. I delivered this presentation to a student group called InSITE that I belong to (mix of Columbia and NYU MBA and Law students). Enjoy!
-Brian Rothenberg
www.brianrothenberg.com
Venture Capital Unlocked (Stanford) / Venture Capital 2.0Dave McClure
slides for my "Venture Capital 2.0" opening talk at Stanford School Continuing Studies, VC101 class "Venture Capital Unlocked" #VCunlocked #500startups
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
The presentation is about valuation of a start-up and usual deal structure - term sheet.
In the presentation you can find an overview why traditional valuation methods don't work (DCF, P/E multiple,...) and what are the real life approaches. You can also find more about types of the investments and potential exits.
The second part of the presentation is dedicated to the term-sheet and most frequent terms in an equity investment, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. In the presentation are listed the most frequent provision you can stumble upon, but no term sheet includes all of them.
In the presentation you can learn about many different clauses that influence economics and control in a venture capital deal. Nevertheless you should read more on the web (Term Sheet Hacks...) and the books like Venture Deal to have a clear picture if you have a good deal on the table or not for your startup.
Venture Capital 101 presentation on the basics of VC such as what venture capital is, and how it works. I delivered this presentation to a student group called InSITE that I belong to (mix of Columbia and NYU MBA and Law students). Enjoy!
-Brian Rothenberg
www.brianrothenberg.com
Venture Capital Unlocked (Stanford) / Venture Capital 2.0Dave McClure
slides for my "Venture Capital 2.0" opening talk at Stanford School Continuing Studies, VC101 class "Venture Capital Unlocked" #VCunlocked #500startups
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
The presentation is about valuation of a start-up and usual deal structure - term sheet.
In the presentation you can find an overview why traditional valuation methods don't work (DCF, P/E multiple,...) and what are the real life approaches. You can also find more about types of the investments and potential exits.
The second part of the presentation is dedicated to the term-sheet and most frequent terms in an equity investment, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. In the presentation are listed the most frequent provision you can stumble upon, but no term sheet includes all of them.
In the presentation you can learn about many different clauses that influence economics and control in a venture capital deal. Nevertheless you should read more on the web (Term Sheet Hacks...) and the books like Venture Deal to have a clear picture if you have a good deal on the table or not for your startup.
Startany.com. Remote Acceleration Program.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Founder’s Guide to Early-Stage Valuation
Presented by Stephen R. Poland, co-founder 1x1 Media.
For many early-stage entrepreneurs assigning a valuation to your startup is one of the more intimidating tasks encountered during the fundraising quest. Based on the popular Founders’ Pocket Guide: Startup Valuation, this webinar provides a quick reference to all of the key topics around early-stage startup valuation and provides step-by- step examples for several valuation methods.
This webinar helps startup founders learn:
What a startup valuation is and when you need to start worrying about it.
Key terms and definitions associated with valuation, such as pre-money, post-money, and dilution.
How investors view the valuation task and what their expectations are for early-stage companies.
How the valuation fits with your target raise amount and resulting founder equity ownership.
How to do the simple math for calculating valuation percentages.
How to estimate your company valuation using several accepted methods.
Stephen R. Poland
Stephen R. Poland has worked with hundreds of startups and entrepreneurs, mentoring them on startup mechanics, funding plans, pitch decks, financial models, and due diligence documentation for the angel funding process.
Steve brings more than 20 years' experience in startups and entrepreneurship to his career. Leveraging leadership roles with the Walt Disney Company, MacMillan Publishing, and Bertelsmann, Steve co-founded startups in the digital music and on-demand media manufacturing sectors, as well an early days anti-virus product.
Along with being co-founder of 1x1 Media, Steve works as a venture growth advisor in Western North Carolina.
VC Bootcamp By DFJ Gotham Ventures and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & RosatiMark Davis
Slides from the Venture Capital Bootcamp event hosted by DFJ Gotham Ventures and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati at Columbia University on June 3, 2009. A video of the 3 hour event is available at www.dfjgotham.com.
Understanding How Venture Capital Works | Kirsten Leute and John Lee | Lunch ...UCICove
About UCI Applied Innovation:
UCI Applied Innovation is a dynamic, innovative central platform for the UCI campus, entrepreneurs, inventors, the business community and investors to collaborate and move UCI research from lab to market.
About the Cove @ UCI:
To accelerate collaboration by better connecting innovation partners in Orange County, UCI Applied Innovation created the Cove, a physical, state-of-the-art hub for entrepreneurs to gather and navigate the resources available both on and off campus. The Cove is headquarters for UCI Applied Innovation, as well as houses several ecosystem partners including incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, mentors and legal experts.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook: @UCICove
Twitter: @UCICove
Instagram: @UCICove
LinkedIn: @UCIAppliedInnovation
For more information:
cove@uci.edu
http://innovation.uci.edu/
How do you value a pre-revenue startup?
This is an introduction to some of the methods that are typically used to value a startup, detailing what is important to establish before carrying out a valuation and how it relates to the chosen fundraising strategy and your local market.
In this SlideShare, we provide an overview of what are Funding Rounds, the Series of Financing involved. It covers briefly each of the Series (A, B, C). Companies in life sciences often pursue financing rounds to raise capital from one or multiple investors, in exchange for equity (stake) in the company. Series funding enables capital market players to support innovators with the proper funds to carry out their R&D while enjoying profits down the line.
Venture Financings 101 (SAFEs, Convertible Notes, Seed and Series A) | Bardia...UCICove
An introductory crash course on the typical legal and business terms involved with, and negotiated in, venture capital fundraising including SAFE, Convertible Note, Series Seed and Series A financings.
A short presentation on early-stage financing with a primer on how angel investors consider risk and reward for equity investments in high-growth companies at their earliest stages.
VC Fundraising Deck Template: Carta x Kauffman FellowsNihar Neelakanti
Carta and Kauffman Fellows present a venture capital fundraising deck template highlighting the various components a GP should include as part of their fundraising story to attract limited partners.
AWS works with many leading VC's in the UK. Join AWS as we share our learnings about venture capital, how it works and provide tips and tricks on how to pitch with the goal to successfully get funding for your startup.
Startany.com. Remote Acceleration Program.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Founder’s Guide to Early-Stage Valuation
Presented by Stephen R. Poland, co-founder 1x1 Media.
For many early-stage entrepreneurs assigning a valuation to your startup is one of the more intimidating tasks encountered during the fundraising quest. Based on the popular Founders’ Pocket Guide: Startup Valuation, this webinar provides a quick reference to all of the key topics around early-stage startup valuation and provides step-by- step examples for several valuation methods.
This webinar helps startup founders learn:
What a startup valuation is and when you need to start worrying about it.
Key terms and definitions associated with valuation, such as pre-money, post-money, and dilution.
How investors view the valuation task and what their expectations are for early-stage companies.
How the valuation fits with your target raise amount and resulting founder equity ownership.
How to do the simple math for calculating valuation percentages.
How to estimate your company valuation using several accepted methods.
Stephen R. Poland
Stephen R. Poland has worked with hundreds of startups and entrepreneurs, mentoring them on startup mechanics, funding plans, pitch decks, financial models, and due diligence documentation for the angel funding process.
Steve brings more than 20 years' experience in startups and entrepreneurship to his career. Leveraging leadership roles with the Walt Disney Company, MacMillan Publishing, and Bertelsmann, Steve co-founded startups in the digital music and on-demand media manufacturing sectors, as well an early days anti-virus product.
Along with being co-founder of 1x1 Media, Steve works as a venture growth advisor in Western North Carolina.
VC Bootcamp By DFJ Gotham Ventures and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & RosatiMark Davis
Slides from the Venture Capital Bootcamp event hosted by DFJ Gotham Ventures and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati at Columbia University on June 3, 2009. A video of the 3 hour event is available at www.dfjgotham.com.
Understanding How Venture Capital Works | Kirsten Leute and John Lee | Lunch ...UCICove
About UCI Applied Innovation:
UCI Applied Innovation is a dynamic, innovative central platform for the UCI campus, entrepreneurs, inventors, the business community and investors to collaborate and move UCI research from lab to market.
About the Cove @ UCI:
To accelerate collaboration by better connecting innovation partners in Orange County, UCI Applied Innovation created the Cove, a physical, state-of-the-art hub for entrepreneurs to gather and navigate the resources available both on and off campus. The Cove is headquarters for UCI Applied Innovation, as well as houses several ecosystem partners including incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, mentors and legal experts.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook: @UCICove
Twitter: @UCICove
Instagram: @UCICove
LinkedIn: @UCIAppliedInnovation
For more information:
cove@uci.edu
http://innovation.uci.edu/
How do you value a pre-revenue startup?
This is an introduction to some of the methods that are typically used to value a startup, detailing what is important to establish before carrying out a valuation and how it relates to the chosen fundraising strategy and your local market.
In this SlideShare, we provide an overview of what are Funding Rounds, the Series of Financing involved. It covers briefly each of the Series (A, B, C). Companies in life sciences often pursue financing rounds to raise capital from one or multiple investors, in exchange for equity (stake) in the company. Series funding enables capital market players to support innovators with the proper funds to carry out their R&D while enjoying profits down the line.
Venture Financings 101 (SAFEs, Convertible Notes, Seed and Series A) | Bardia...UCICove
An introductory crash course on the typical legal and business terms involved with, and negotiated in, venture capital fundraising including SAFE, Convertible Note, Series Seed and Series A financings.
A short presentation on early-stage financing with a primer on how angel investors consider risk and reward for equity investments in high-growth companies at their earliest stages.
VC Fundraising Deck Template: Carta x Kauffman FellowsNihar Neelakanti
Carta and Kauffman Fellows present a venture capital fundraising deck template highlighting the various components a GP should include as part of their fundraising story to attract limited partners.
AWS works with many leading VC's in the UK. Join AWS as we share our learnings about venture capital, how it works and provide tips and tricks on how to pitch with the goal to successfully get funding for your startup.
Après-midi - Track 3 - S2 - Funding & Pitching How to do it Right
Cette session vous a plû ? Si c'est le cas, n'hésitez pas à vous inscrire à notre Summit !
[Webinar] AWS Activate Webinar Series for Startups, Funding, Pitching and Ven...Amazon Web Services
Startups are always looking for ways to grow and often, capital is one of the most important aspects which is needed to fuel that growth. This webinar provides an overview of Venture Capital and how it has evolved with emergence of Open Source and Cloud.
The webinar also focuses on funding, how to pitch throughout the funding process and provides answers to some of the most commonly asked questions like "What does a good pitch look like" or "What are some of the best practices in pitching". The session will also cover tips from top VC's and startups that raised funds successfully.
Come costruire servizi di Forecasting sfruttando algoritmi di ML e deep learn...Amazon Web Services
Il Forecasting è un processo importante per tantissime aziende e viene utilizzato in vari ambiti per cercare di prevedere in modo accurato la crescita e distribuzione di un prodotto, l’utilizzo delle risorse necessarie nelle linee produttive, presentazioni finanziarie e tanto altro. Amazon utilizza delle tecniche avanzate di forecasting, in parte questi servizi sono stati messi a disposizione di tutti i clienti AWS.
In questa sessione illustreremo come pre-processare i dati che contengono una componente temporale e successivamente utilizzare un algoritmo che a partire dal tipo di dato analizzato produce un forecasting accurato.
Big Data per le Startup: come creare applicazioni Big Data in modalità Server...Amazon Web Services
La varietà e la quantità di dati che si crea ogni giorno accelera sempre più velocemente e rappresenta una opportunità irripetibile per innovare e creare nuove startup.
Tuttavia gestire grandi quantità di dati può apparire complesso: creare cluster Big Data su larga scala sembra essere un investimento accessibile solo ad aziende consolidate. Ma l’elasticità del Cloud e, in particolare, i servizi Serverless ci permettono di rompere questi limiti.
Vediamo quindi come è possibile sviluppare applicazioni Big Data rapidamente, senza preoccuparci dell’infrastruttura, ma dedicando tutte le risorse allo sviluppo delle nostre le nostre idee per creare prodotti innovativi.
Ora puoi utilizzare Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) per eseguire pod Kubernetes su AWS Fargate, il motore di elaborazione serverless creato per container su AWS. Questo rende più semplice che mai costruire ed eseguire le tue applicazioni Kubernetes nel cloud AWS.In questa sessione presenteremo le caratteristiche principali del servizio e come distribuire la tua applicazione in pochi passaggi
Vent'anni fa Amazon ha attraversato una trasformazione radicale con l'obiettivo di aumentare il ritmo dell'innovazione. In questo periodo abbiamo imparato come cambiare il nostro approccio allo sviluppo delle applicazioni ci ha permesso di aumentare notevolmente l'agilità, la velocità di rilascio e, in definitiva, ci ha consentito di creare applicazioni più affidabili e scalabili. In questa sessione illustreremo come definiamo le applicazioni moderne e come la creazione di app moderne influisce non solo sull'architettura dell'applicazione, ma sulla struttura organizzativa, sulle pipeline di rilascio dello sviluppo e persino sul modello operativo. Descriveremo anche approcci comuni alla modernizzazione, compreso l'approccio utilizzato dalla stessa Amazon.com.
Come spendere fino al 90% in meno con i container e le istanze spot Amazon Web Services
L’utilizzo dei container è in continua crescita.
Se correttamente disegnate, le applicazioni basate su Container sono molto spesso stateless e flessibili.
I servizi AWS ECS, EKS e Kubernetes su EC2 possono sfruttare le istanze Spot, portando ad un risparmio medio del 70% rispetto alle istanze On Demand. In questa sessione scopriremo insieme quali sono le caratteristiche delle istanze Spot e come possono essere utilizzate facilmente su AWS. Impareremo inoltre come Spreaker sfrutta le istanze spot per eseguire applicazioni di diverso tipo, in produzione, ad una frazione del costo on-demand!
In recent months, many customers have been asking us the question – how to monetise Open APIs, simplify Fintech integrations and accelerate adoption of various Open Banking business models. Therefore, AWS and FinConecta would like to invite you to Open Finance marketplace presentation on October 20th.
Event Agenda :
Open banking so far (short recap)
• PSD2, OB UK, OB Australia, OB LATAM, OB Israel
Intro to Open Finance marketplace
• Scope
• Features
• Tech overview and Demo
The role of the Cloud
The Future of APIs
• Complying with regulation
• Monetizing data / APIs
• Business models
• Time to market
One platform for all: a Strategic approach
Q&A
Rendi unica l’offerta della tua startup sul mercato con i servizi Machine Lea...Amazon Web Services
Per creare valore e costruire una propria offerta differenziante e riconoscibile, le startup di successo sanno come combinare tecnologie consolidate con componenti innovativi creati ad hoc.
AWS fornisce servizi pronti all'utilizzo e, allo stesso tempo, permette di personalizzare e creare gli elementi differenzianti della propria offerta.
Concentrandoci sulle tecnologie di Machine Learning, vedremo come selezionare i servizi di intelligenza artificiale offerti da AWS e, anche attraverso una demo, come costruire modelli di Machine Learning personalizzati utilizzando SageMaker Studio.
OpsWorks Configuration Management: automatizza la gestione e i deployment del...Amazon Web Services
Con l'approccio tradizionale al mondo IT per molti anni è stato difficile implementare tecniche di DevOps, che finora spesso hanno previsto attività manuali portando di tanto in tanto a dei downtime degli applicativi interrompendo l'operatività dell'utente. Con l'avvento del cloud, le tecniche di DevOps sono ormai a portata di tutti a basso costo per qualsiasi genere di workload, garantendo maggiore affidabilità del sistema e risultando in dei significativi miglioramenti della business continuity.
AWS mette a disposizione AWS OpsWork come strumento di Configuration Management che mira ad automatizzare e semplificare la gestione e i deployment delle istanze EC2 per mezzo di workload Chef e Puppet.
Scopri come sfruttare AWS OpsWork a garanzia e affidabilità del tuo applicativo installato su Instanze EC2.
Microsoft Active Directory su AWS per supportare i tuoi Windows WorkloadsAmazon Web Services
Vuoi conoscere le opzioni per eseguire Microsoft Active Directory su AWS? Quando si spostano carichi di lavoro Microsoft in AWS, è importante considerare come distribuire Microsoft Active Directory per supportare la gestione, l'autenticazione e l'autorizzazione dei criteri di gruppo. In questa sessione, discuteremo le opzioni per la distribuzione di Microsoft Active Directory su AWS, incluso AWS Directory Service per Microsoft Active Directory e la distribuzione di Active Directory su Windows su Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). Trattiamo argomenti quali l'integrazione del tuo ambiente Microsoft Active Directory locale nel cloud e l'utilizzo di applicazioni SaaS, come Office 365, con AWS Single Sign-On.
Dal riconoscimento facciale al riconoscimento di frodi o difetti di fabbricazione, l'analisi di immagini e video che sfruttano tecniche di intelligenza artificiale, si stanno evolvendo e raffinando a ritmi elevati. In questo webinar esploreremo le possibilità messe a disposizione dai servizi AWS per applicare lo stato dell'arte delle tecniche di computer vision a scenari reali.
Amazon Web Services e VMware organizzano un evento virtuale gratuito il prossimo mercoledì 14 Ottobre dalle 12:00 alle 13:00 dedicato a VMware Cloud ™ on AWS, il servizio on demand che consente di eseguire applicazioni in ambienti cloud basati su VMware vSphere® e di accedere ad una vasta gamma di servizi AWS, sfruttando a pieno le potenzialità del cloud AWS e tutelando gli investimenti VMware esistenti.
Molte organizzazioni sfruttano i vantaggi del cloud migrando i propri carichi di lavoro Oracle e assicurandosi notevoli vantaggi in termini di agilità ed efficienza dei costi.
La migrazione di questi carichi di lavoro, può creare complessità durante la modernizzazione e il refactoring delle applicazioni e a questo si possono aggiungere rischi di prestazione che possono essere introdotti quando si spostano le applicazioni dai data center locali.
Crea la tua prima serverless ledger-based app con QLDB e NodeJSAmazon Web Services
Molte aziende oggi, costruiscono applicazioni con funzionalità di tipo ledger ad esempio per verificare lo storico di accrediti o addebiti nelle transazioni bancarie o ancora per tenere traccia del flusso supply chain dei propri prodotti.
Alla base di queste soluzioni ci sono i database ledger che permettono di avere un log delle transazioni trasparente, immutabile e crittograficamente verificabile, ma sono strumenti complessi e onerosi da gestire.
Amazon QLDB elimina la necessità di costruire sistemi personalizzati e complessi fornendo un database ledger serverless completamente gestito.
In questa sessione scopriremo come realizzare un'applicazione serverless completa che utilizzi le funzionalità di QLDB.
Con l’ascesa delle architetture di microservizi e delle ricche applicazioni mobili e Web, le API sono più importanti che mai per offrire agli utenti finali una user experience eccezionale. In questa sessione impareremo come affrontare le moderne sfide di progettazione delle API con GraphQL, un linguaggio di query API open source utilizzato da Facebook, Amazon e altro e come utilizzare AWS AppSync, un servizio GraphQL serverless gestito su AWS. Approfondiremo diversi scenari, comprendendo come AppSync può aiutare a risolvere questi casi d’uso creando API moderne con funzionalità di aggiornamento dati in tempo reale e offline.
Inoltre, impareremo come Sky Italia utilizza AWS AppSync per fornire aggiornamenti sportivi in tempo reale agli utenti del proprio portale web.
Database Oracle e VMware Cloud™ on AWS: i miti da sfatareAmazon Web Services
Molte organizzazioni sfruttano i vantaggi del cloud migrando i propri carichi di lavoro Oracle e assicurandosi notevoli vantaggi in termini di agilità ed efficienza dei costi.
La migrazione di questi carichi di lavoro, può creare complessità durante la modernizzazione e il refactoring delle applicazioni e a questo si possono aggiungere rischi di prestazione che possono essere introdotti quando si spostano le applicazioni dai data center locali.
In queste slide, gli esperti AWS e VMware presentano semplici e pratici accorgimenti per facilitare e semplificare la migrazione dei carichi di lavoro Oracle accelerando la trasformazione verso il cloud, approfondiranno l’architettura e dimostreranno come sfruttare a pieno le potenzialità di VMware Cloud ™ on AWS.
Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) è un servizio di gestione dei container altamente scalabile, che semplifica la gestione dei contenitori Docker attraverso un layer di orchestrazione per il controllo del deployment e del relativo lifecycle. In questa sessione presenteremo le principali caratteristiche del servizio, le architetture di riferimento per i differenti carichi di lavoro e i semplici passi necessari per poter velocemente migrare uno o più dei tuo container.
2. Why does AWS talk about this?
• Work with many startups & EMEA’s leading VCs
• Discuss with VCs their portfolio and other interesting companies
• Not biased, no agenda, helping AWS startup customers succeed
3. What is Venture Capital?
How has the Cloud Impacted Venture Capital?
5. Two-sided Platform Model
Startups
With need for capital and
growth potential
Capital & Value Creation
connections, biz dev, GTM,
mentoring, etc
Risk & Return
Reduce Risk & deliver
Financial Returns
Limited Partners
Institutional, Government &
High Net Worth Individuals
VC Fund
8. “2 and 20”
Management Fee. VC raises a fund of e.g.
$100M and gets $2M per year to operate
the fund (staff, expenses, etc.)
2%
Performance Fee. VC returns the profits
from the fund to the LP’s but gets to keep
20% of these profits
20%
13. 01 04
idea MVP monetizescale
Product Risk Market Risk Financial Risk
02 03
• Incubator / Angel: $0-250K for ‘Product Viability’
• Seed: $250-$1M to ‘Expand Market Distribution’
• Venture: $1M-$5M+ to ‘Maximize Revenue’
14. 01 04
idea MVP monetizescale
Seed Round
Series A, B, C, etc.
Incubator / Angel
Product Risk Market Risk Financial Risk
02 03
$0-250K
$250-$1M
$1M-$5M, or more
15. How the Cloud has Impacted
Venture Capital?
“Amazon changed the VC industry. This is mind boggling. That online book
company. Not … or anybody else. Amazon. 100% of the credit.”
Mark Suster, serial entrepreneur and
Partner at Upfront Ventures (US)
16. 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011+
1995 – .com
Technology Startups require physical hardware and proprietary
software to build their business
Typical Series A Spent on… Innovation
$5-10M
•$2.5: marketing,
sales, etc.
•$2.5M on
infrastructure
•Not a lot, since
experimentation was
costly
17. Typical Series A Spent on… Innovation
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011+
2000: Rise of Open Source
Open source software drove technology costs down by 90%,
which spurred innovation in technology
$3-5M
•Less on Software–
LAMP
•More on development
•Still on infrastructure
•A lot more, as
experimentation is
less costly now
18. Typical Series A Spent on… Innovation
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011+
2005: Enter the Cloud
Pioneered by Amazon drove total operating costs
down significantly
$500K-
$3M
•Staff – the battle for
talent
•Customer Acquisition
•Explosion in
experimentation,
innovation, and
Startups
19. 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011+
2007: Micro VC / Seed
Public Cloud led to explosion in the number of Startups
and the emerging of “micro VCs”
Angels Incubators VC’s
Angels unite in ‘Super
Angels’ for Seed
investments thru VC-
like setup
Boom in incubator
programs, with micro
investments,
mentoring, etc.
Venture funds that
back early-stage
startups with <$1M
20. Why do VC’s care?
Faster Experimentation
More available deals
Shorter time to scale
Faster time to revenue (or fail)
Lower ‘burn rate’
Higher valuation at exit
21. Other Reading
Books
• Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist - Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
• Term Sheets & Valuations: A line by line look at the Intricacies of Term Sheets and Valuations – Alex Wilmerding
• The Hard Things about Hard Things – Ben Horowitz
• The Lean Startup: Eris Reis
Blogs & Newsletters
• Dan Primack’s Term Sheet
• Mark Suster’s Both Sides of the Table
• Data Soources - CB Insights / Crunchbase / Dealroom
• New cool products/apps - Product Hunt
Tweets
• @awsstartups - obviously
• @firstround – solid early stage fund, platform
• @karaswisher– Re/Code, breaks a lot of news
• @benedictevans – A16Z, data hound
Work across many startups, working with many leading VC’s
Key activity = connect VC’s and startups on AWS
I see many pitch decks & actually get the feedback from VC’s
So…I know what they like and don’t like
Not biased, no agenda, helping AWS startup customers succeed
We win when you win – and only when you win
Professional investors. They get paid to invest.
Subset of PE
Not all businesses are right for VC. You should always consider other options first depending on your business, your growth plans and your ultimate goals for your business. Can get more into the pros and cons of taking VC dollars later
VCs are willing to invest in private businesses with massive growth potential because of the outsized returns that are possible. High Risk, High Growth, High Reward
Unlike most PE investments, VC almost never takes a majority (>50%) ownership stake. Typically, a VC will own 15-25% of a company when they initially invest (and more on this later, too).
MOST STARTUP FAIL
Fred Wilson - The 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule
Venture Capital is a portfolio of distributed, probalistic outcomes
Its all about your one or two big winners!
Commitment Period – 5 years + time supporting the portfolio to exit (fingers crossed)
Investment period – total life of the fund.
Anna Vital
You need to decide whether VC funding is the right thing for you (i.e. Bootstrapping, Angel networks, crowdfunding options)
A hypothetical startup will get about $15,000 from family and friends, about $200,000 from an angel investor three months later, and about $2 Million from a VC another 6 to 12 months later.
Splitting of a pie. When you start, your pie is really small. You have a 100% of a really small, bite-size pie. When you take outside investment and your company grows, your pie becomes bigger.
When Google went public, Larry and Sergey had about 15% of the pie, each. But that 15% was a small slice of a really big pie.
Angel = <250K
Seed = 250k-1M
Series A = 1-5M
Invest in startups using incremental investment, iterative development. Start with lots of small experiments, filter out failure, and expand investment upon success.
Oracle database licenses, UNIX servers, a Sun Solaris operating system, web servers, load balancers, EMC storage
1-3 year fixed hosting agreements
LAMP stack: Linux (instead of UNIX), Apache (web server software), MySQL (instead of Oracle) and PHP.
Open source became a movement. We paid 10% of the normal costs - for software support (e.g. Red Hat)
Started with Storage & Virtual Servers in the Cloud – then database, tools, etc
Retail mentality – large volumes, low margins. Driving scale economies to lower prices continuously
Amazon allowed 22-year-old tech developers to launch companies without even raising capital. Amazon sped up the pace of innovation because in addition to not having to raise capital to start I also didn’t need to wait for hosting to be set up, servers to arrive, software to be provisioned.