The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Once per week, 20VC Host, Harry Stebbings is also joined by one of the great founders of our time with prior founder episodes from Spotify's Daniel Ek, Linkedin's Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake's Frank Slootman.

If you would like to see more of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), head to www.20vc.com for more information on the podcast, show notes, resources and more.

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1,490 episodes
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Aug 14, 2015 · 23 min
FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
Pierre Valade is Co-Founder and CEO @ Sunrise, the beautiful calendar app, acquired by Microsoft for $100m in February 2015, where he now works on Outlook Mobile for Microsoft. Prior to Sunrise, Pierre worked as a UX designer @ Foursquare following a successful hackathon in which he built an app in 6 hours, called Agora. Agora impressed Foursquare Founder, Dennis Crowley to the extent that Pierre was hired in the same month. As a result of Pierre's success he was named on the Innovators Under 35. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Pierre came up with the idea for Sunrise? What made Sunrise standout above all calendar apps as the best calendar? What features are most requested by Sunrise users? How was the design process in altering the design from a iPhone to a Apple Watch? What was Pierre and Sunrise approach to testing and iterating products? Having raised VC funding prior to acquisition, how did Pierre meet his initial investors, what was his fundraising experience like? Were there any surprises or challenges? How did the Microsoft Acquisition come about? How has Pierre's role and Sunrise changed since the acquisition? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Pierre's Fave Book: Zero To One: Peter Thiel Pierre Most Impactful Purchase: iPhone 6 Pierre's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Aug 12, 2015 · 26 min
20 VC 062: Shaking Up London's VC Scene with Fede Pirzio-Biroli, Founder @ Playfair Capital
Fede Pirzio-Biroli is Founder @ Playfair Capital, a leading investor in seed level, technology based startups. Fede founded Playfair Capital from his first investment in December of 2010 and the portfolio quickly grew to 20 investments by the end of 2012, including the likes of Duedil, AppearHere and On Device Research. During this period, Fede was an angel in residence at White Bear Yard. After working closely with Passion Capital, he built the Playfair Capital team and moved into Warner Yard, Playfair's current home. Prior to Playfair, he spent several years in Africa working for the UN, Oxfam and PharmaSecure, after which he lobbied government and large aid organisations to increase the transparency of aid flows. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Fede made his move into angel investing and then transitioned to form his own fund? 2.) What is the mission at Playfair? What is the average ticket size? Does Playfair have any preferred sectors? 3.) What do startups need to have to get the Playfair stamp of approval? What are Playfair looking for? 4.) How has Fede seen the seed funding environment change in London? 5.) How does Fede and Playfair stave off competition for the 'hot' startups looking to raise VC money? 6.) What benefits do founders get for working in a co-working space? How important is it for VCs to offer this service? 7.) How does Fede create a united company culture in a co-working space with so many different companies? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Fede's Fave Book: The Circle by David Eggers Fede Fave Newsletter or Blog: Dojo, AngelList Fede's Most Recent Investment: Knytton (Techstars London W14) As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Fede on Twitter right here!
Aug 10, 2015 · 30 min
20 VC 061: Roxanne Varza on Pitching A VC in 10 Minutes and Maximising Media Exposure For Your Startup
Roxanne Varza is currently the startup lead for Microsoft in France, running both Microsoft Ventures Paris and Bizspark. Prior to Microsoft, Roxanne was Editor of TechCrunch France and has been a guest author for the likes of The Telegraph and Business Insider. Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Tech.eu, one of the few publications to cover the European tech industry as a whole, with the brilliant Robin Wauters. If that wasn't enough Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Girls In Tech both in Paris and London, which aims to raise the visibility of women in technology,entrepreneurship and innovation though monthly events, leadership programmes and much more. Roxanne has won a range of accolade including Top 30 Women Under 30 In Tech, Coolest 25 Women in Tech and 10 Women Shaking Up Tech In Their 30s. P.S. If you are looking for an amazing new podcast on the Tech Scene in Europe, check out Tech.eu's new show here: Tech.eu Podcast #4 In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Roxanne made her move into the tech industry and then made the move from TechCrunch to running Microsoft's Accelerator in Paris? What would Roxanne recommend to people in tech contemplating moving countries? What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch? What is the mission at Microsoft Ventures? What is the deal? What are the benefits? In the 10 minute pitch to Roxanne, what does Microsoft want to hear? How does Microsoft determine product-market fit? What does the increase in US funds entering the European market suggest? What are the benefits for startups of having global investors? What can startups do to increase their media exposure in the sea of new startups? What do journalists look for in emails from founders? How can founders be successful through submitting guest posts? What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Roxanne's Fave Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Roxanne's Reading Material: News.me: Digg Fred Wilson: Investing In Startups In Europe Microsoft Ventures Alumni: Zocdoc: Find a Doctor, Xobni: Your Smarter Address Book Is Waiting As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Roxanne on Twitter right here!
Aug 7, 2015 · 22 min
FF 007: Founding Europe's Largest Trading App with Nick Bortot, Founder @ Bux
Nick Bortot is the Founder & CEO at Bux, Europe's largest mobile trading platform with an incredible 175,000 active users. In his former life he was one of the driving forces behind the Dutch market leader in online brokerage, BinckBank. There he held several commercial positions before he was elected member of the executive board. After having spent five years in the boardroom, Nick started dreaming about a new company that would make the financial markets both fun and exciting. This dream turned into BUX. Bud has attained many incredible mentions and awards including being named on the Fintech50 2015. You can also check out their first TV add right here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Nick made the move from broking to founding Bux? What are the benefits of being a slightly older founder? What Nick would recommend to anyone looking for a technical co-founder? How to build a team of individuals with complimentary skills? What are the drivers for the incredible growth to 175,000 users? How is Nick planning to convert an audience of non trader to start trading? What advice would Nick give founders entering into heavily regulated markets? How Bux have built a great brand in a competitive market? Having raised funds from Orange Growth Capital, what was surprising and challenging for Nick about raising angel and VC money? What would Nick do differently if he was raising funds again? Does Nick agree with the concept of building a 'war chest' of funds? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Nick's Fave Book: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: VICE News Nick's Fave App: BRAINTOSS: Toss your thoughts straight into your inbox As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Nick and Bux on Twitter right here!
Aug 5, 2015 · 21 min
20 VC 060: 12 Acquisitions, $1bn In Exits, Mike Jones, Former MySpace CEO on Life At Science Inc.
Mike Jones is the Founder and CEO at Science Inc. a disruptive media, marketing and commerce company that creates, invests, acquires and scales successful digital businesses. Their incredible portfolio includes the likes of Medium, DollarShaveClub and DogVacay and their leadership is responsible for an astonishing 12 acquisitions and over $1bn in exits. Prior to Science Inc, Mike was the CEO at Myspace, where he was responsible for the relaunch, one of the most high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry, before selling MySpace to SpecificMedia on behalf of NewsCorp. Mike is also an active early stage investor having personally invested in over 30 startup businesses including Klout, Betterworks, Formspring, ShoeDazzle to name a few. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Mike began his entrepreneurial career, how MySpace came about then how Mike made the move to Science Inc? 2.) What is the mission at Science, what does Science provide and how do they differ from the likes of YC and Techstars? 3.) Science have a specific methodology to identify the best startups and the best sectors. What is involved in this methodology? Has it changed since the start of Science? 4.) What can a startup founder do or show you to impress you? Are there any real red flags for you when meeting startup founders? What are the commonalities of the great founders? 5.) What is Science's involvement with the companies, what are their key value adds at Science? 6.) On Twist Mike said ‘growth is the most important thing, without growth there is no money’? So what at Science how do they approach growth and what are the challenges posed by this need for growth? Items Mentioned in Todays Episode: Mike's Fave Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do by Chris Duhigg Mike's Fave News Source: FlipBoard
Aug 3, 2015 · 29 min
20 VC 059: How To Approach VCs with Arteen Arabshahi, VC @ Karlin Ventures
Arteen Arabshahi is a VC at Karlin Ventures, where he specialises in enterprise software, commerce platforms, and marketplaces. Prior to Karlin Ventures, Arteen spearheaded the launch of Built In LA, an online community for digital entrepreneurs and innovators. However, his passion for startups flourished while helping run operations at Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago. In today's incredible interview we delve into the best strategies for contacting any VC you want, how to make the approach, how to deal with the emotional and psychological pressure of starting a company and the rise of marketplaces. When not with startups, Arteen sits on the board of TEDxVenice Beach and is a supporter of TWLOHA, a non-profit raising awareness and support for those struggling with mental health. As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Arteen and Karlin Ventures on Twitter right here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Arteen made the jump into the world of Venture Capital, from originally wanting to be a plastic surgeon!! How did Arteen approach VCs when applying for positions? What did Arteen say in those emails to achieve such a high response rate? What tools did Arteen use to ensure he got the VCs real email address? Does Arteen agree with the traditional routes into Venture: Startup Founder, Consultant, Investment Banking? Why is Arteen so excited about marketplaces? Are there any in particular that Arteen is doubling down on? How big a market does a market have to be to get Arteen excited? What would Arteen advise founders potentially struggling from self doubt or lacking in confidence? What mental health tools would Arteen recommend to help with this? The biggest red flags for Arteen when being pitched to? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Email Address Tools: Rapportive Arteen's ProductHunt Collection Arteen's Fave Book: Fightclub Arteen's Marketplace Investments: Laurel & Wolf, ShipHawk Arteen's Fave Newsletter: Ben Evans Blog, Strictly VC Artene's Most Recent Investment: Policy Genius
Jul 31, 2015 · 22 min
FF 006: Acquired by Amazon, CEO @ Digg, EIR @ a16z and now Founder @ Pro.com with Matt Williams
Matt Williams is Founder and CEO of Pro.com. Prior to Pro.com, Matt served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz, following his time at Digg where he led the complete overhaul of Digg which he joined as CEO in 2010 to rebuild the site from the ground up and contributed to its successful acquisition by Betaworks in 2012. Before Digg, Matt spent 12 years at Amazon where he managed Amazon’s Auctions and Marketplace, Community and Cross Merchandising, Tech Alliances, Web Store, and Consumer Payments divisions. Prior to Amazon, Matt founded and was the CEO of Livebid, which was acquired by Amazon in 1999. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Matt made his way into entrepreneurship and then later the VC world? 2.) How did LiveBid come about when Matt was only 23 and how did he build the product and the initial user base? 3.) What was the hardest aspect of the entire LiveBid journey and how did Matt overcome it? 4.) How did Matt's life and work change moving from your own startup to working in a massive organization like amazon? What would Matt advise founders who have sold or are thinking of selling their companies to large corporations? 5.) Following a number of years at Amazon. How did you attempt to turn Digg around as CEO and was their anything you would have done differently? 6.) As EIR at Andreessen Horowitz what was it like, for Matt, working at a16z? Was there anything that surprised Matt about the move to venture? 7.) What would Matt say was the biggest lesson from working at these tech titans was? How has that affected how Matt runs Pro.com today?
Jul 29, 2015 · 23 min
20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
David Wu is a General Partner at Maveron, which he joined in 2012 to help identify new investments in Web companies that have the potential to become leading consumer brands. He sourced and led Maveron's investment, Eargo and Darby Smart, also serving on their board. David is very much founder focussed and you’ll often find him coaching entrepreneurs at top Bay Area incubators such as Y Combinator, AngelPad, 500 Startups, and Stanford’s StartX and was previously EIR at Redpoint Ventures. His close ties to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community have led him to invest personally in over 30 start-ups, including Practice Fusion, Postmates, Tile, Jaunt VR, and SeatMe. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David made his move into the world of venture capital? How David perceives the current seed funding environment? What makes Stanford the breeding ground of tech unicorns that it is? How to create a bay area style culture? What is the most frequent problem David sees startups encounter and how do they overcome it? How can entrepreneurs know which funding source to go for? Crowdfunding, VC, Angel? Why should startups take seed VC money over angel money? What is the difference? What are the key traits required to be a great founder? How can products with early adopter usage transition to a mass market product? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: David's Fave Books: Game Of Thrones David's Most Recent Investment: Jott As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Maveron on Twitter right here!
Jul 27, 2015 · 25 min
20 VC 057: The Investor Checklist with Nicolas Wittenborn, VC @ Point Nine Capital
Did you know: The name Point Nine Capital originates from the 0.9 version of a product that is early but has great potential. Nicolas Wittenborn is a VC at Point Nine Capital, one of the leading seed funds in Europe. Prior to Point Nine, Nicolas worked for the Team Europe Seed Fund. You can follow Nicolas' incredible blog here, which include my favourite ever blog post, outlining the exemplar pitch deck that startups should follow! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Nicolas made the move from iPhone sales arbitrage to VC analyst!! How big does a market have to be to get VCs excited? Do VCs have preferences with regards to teams? Technical or not? Multiple founders or not? At the Seed stage what do VCs expect in the product itself? What are the key metrics investors look for when viewing startups for the 1st time? What are the different types of competition and how can founders determine whether they are a real threat? How can startups and mobile apps in particular, grow organically in the early stages? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Nicolas' Fave Book: What Makes Sami Run?: Budd Schulberg Nicolas Fave Newsletters: Benedict Evans Newsletter, Point Nine Newsletter Nicolas' Most Recent Investment: Green Blender: Superfood Smoothie Ingredients Delivered To Your Door As always you can follow Harry, Nicolas, The Twenty Minute VC and Point Nine Capital right here! Similarly if you want to see Harry in a more colourful light, head over to Instagram for copious amount of mojitos!
Jul 24, 2015 · 21 min
Founding WIRED 2014's Winner, with Mutaz Qubbaj, Founder @ Squirrel
Mutaz Qubbaj is Founder @ Squirrel, a financial wellbeing platform that allows employees to regain control of their financial lives. Mutual has celebrated much recent success with Squirrel having been named winner of WIRED 2014 and Pitch @ The Palace. Mutaz is also an expert on all things accelerator having been an alum at Barclays Techstars London with Squirrel, which you may remember from our interview with Greg Rogers, where Greg named Squirrel the next company to disrupt an industry. Prior to Squirrel, Mutaz has had a financial career that includes an LBS Masters in Finance and more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and PIMCO as a trader, strategist and marketer. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Mutaz made his movement from banking to being a startup founder? Was it difficult for Mutaz to leave the security of banking for the risky journey of entrepreneurship? What would Mutaz advise anyone looking to make the jump into the world of entrepreneurship? How did joining Techstars, help Squirrel as a company and Mutaz as a Founder? What is the Barclays Techstars process like? How can Founders decide which accelerator is right for them? What red flags should founders look for when investigating accelerators? How much equity do traditional accelerators take? What tips does Mutaz have to get the most out of the accelerator experience? How do individuals know when to give up the day job and become an entrepreneur? Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Mutaz's Fave Book: Exponential Organisations: Why New Organisations Are 10 Times Cheaper, Faster and Better Than Yours by Salim Ismail and Michael Malone Mutaz's Fave Reading Material: TechCrunch As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Squirrel on Twitter here!
Jul 22, 2015 · 23 min
20 VC 056: The Life Cycle of Startups with Guy Turner, Partner @ Hyde Park Venture Partners
Quote of the Day: 'Invest in people who do what they say they are going to do and have done what they said they would do'. Guy Turner, 20VC Guy Turner is a Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners where he focuses on fast growing companies run by ambitious entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas. All of his incredible findings can be found through his blog at vcwithme.co. Guy joined Hyde Park Venture Partners in 2011 from Boston Consulting Group where he focused on corporate strategy across a variety of industries; he started his investing career as an Associate and then actively investing Member of Hyde Park Angels in 2009. Guy has led investments in numerous B2B software companies and is a Director at Geofeedia, InContext Solutions and Iris Mobile. Guy is also a Siebel Scholar, Kauffman Fellow and a co-inventor on two US Patents. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Guy made his move into the investing industry? How did Guy find the transition from academia to venture? Why is it crucial for startups to innovate, test and sell quickly? How can a startup determine whether their project is successful or if they should pivot? What are the three steps to the 18 month runway, all startups need? Do investors mind providing more financially to increase the runway? What can startups do to maximise the hype surrounding their business? Can hype ever be detrimental to a startup? What are Guy's preferences in terms of founders? How can a startup know when VCs are subtly rejecting them? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Guy's Fave Book: Thinking in Time Guys Most Recent Investment: 250ok FarmLogs
Jul 20, 2015 · 24 min
20 VC 055: VC Done Right with Jonathon Triest @ Ludlow Ventures
Quote of the Day: 'Advisors are the most crucial element to success for the young generation'. Jonathon Triest, 20 Min VC Jonathon Triest is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ludlow Ventures and Sandwich Fund. Prior to launching Ludlow, Jonathon worked as creative director for New York’s Discovery Productions. He founded and operated Triest Group, a design firm with a deep UI/UX focus. In addition to his role at Ludlow, Jonathon is a Kauffman Fellow and a mentor at numerous technology accelerators including Silicon Valley’s Up West Labs, Cincinnati’s The Brandery, and San Francisco’s Highway 1. He is board member of The Trico Foundation and Venture for America. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Jonathon made his unorthodox way into starting his own fund at the age of 27? What was Jonathon's first investing strategy and how has it developed? What Jonathon believes is wrong with the typical VC? How are Ludlow different? How does Jonathan find the fundraising process as a VC? Other than capital what are the benefits of fundraising? How does Jonathon differentiate Ludlow from the huge amount of seed funds? What are the benefits of accelerators for Jonathon and Ludlow? How does Jonathon approach deal flow? What does Jonathon look for in founders? Does Jonathon have design input in his investments? How important are advisors for the young generation coming into this community? How Jonathon managed to convince the likes of Brad Feld and Eric Ries to mentor him? Items Mentioned In Todays Show Jonathon's Fave Book: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker Jonathon's Most Recent Investment: Rapify
Jul 17, 2015 · 21 min
Founders Friday 004: Life As A Non-Technical Co-Founder with Will Sacks, The Fertility King @ Kindara
Will Sacks is Co-Founder and CEO at Kindara, the fertility awareness app that provides tools to understand fertility and be in control of their own body. Kindara has achieved phenomenal success having significant press in the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Times and Forbes. Their first product Kindara Fertility for iPhone has been ranked #1 on the App Store Medical Charts. In this incredibly diverse conversation our talk ranges from wire framing and programming to vasectomies and uterus', it's a must listen! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: Why Will started Kindara and how he got the initial product off the ground, without being able to code? Should Founders learn to code or learn how to be the best CEO they can be? How and what was the wire framing process like? What advice does Will have for other non-technical co-founders? How does Will feel being a male CEO for a female product? How has Will created this community of incredibly engaged users? How has Will managed to grow his audience so effectively? What has Will learnt from raising $1.7m in angel and VC funding? What is the hardest aspect of fundraising? What advice would will give to a startup thinking of raising funds? How is Will planning to transition into the world of hardware? What theories of The Lean Startup did not work for Will? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Will's Favourite Books: Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg 4 Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win by Steve Blank Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Will's Fave Blogs Seth Godin: Circles of Marketing Brad Feld: Blog Paul Graham: How to raise money Marc Andreesen: Reasons You Won't Get Funded Will's Must Have WireFraming Tool Balsamiq
Jul 15, 2015 · 20 min
20 VC 055: David Pakman @ Venrock on The Future Of The Music Industry
Quote of the Day: 'A great entrepreneur has the ability to bend the world to their will'. David Pakman, 20VC David Pakman is a Partner at Venrock, having spent the past 12 years as an internet entrepreneur. This includes David's appointment as CEO of eMusic, the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes. Prior to joining eMusic, David co-founded Myplay in 1999, which he later sold, in 2001, to Bertelsmann’s ecommerce Group. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service. If that wasn't enough David is also the co-creator of Apple Computer’s Music Group. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David started his career as an entrepreneur and later made the move to VC? How David found the transition from entrepreneur and CEO to being a VC? What is the main value add that both Venrock and David provides to their investments? What makes a great entrepreneur for David? How long do VCs need to know entrepreneurs before making investments? What 3 tips would David give for best sourcing deals as a VC? What areas does David believe are soon to be disrupted? How does David predict the next big industries to be disrupted? What did David think of Jay Z's launch of Tidal? Who will dominate in the music streaming sector in the coming years? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: David's Fave Book: Mindset by Carole Dweck David's Favourite Blog: Ben Thompson's: Stratechery Dollar Shave Club: Shave Time, Shave Money YouNow Tidal: High Fidelity Music Streaming As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Venrock on Twitter here!
Jul 13, 2015 · 29 min
20 VC 053: Inside Union Square Ventures with Jonathan Libov @ Union Square Ventures
Quote of the Day: 'Keep an open mind from an early age'. Jonathan Libov, 20VC Jonathan Libov joined the investment team at Union Square Ventures in September of 2014. Jonathan hails from New York but has lived for the last few years in Tel Aviv, where he most recently worked as a Product Manager at Appsfire. He's a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in Cognitive Science and began his career in neuroscience research. He designs and codes, with Fifty among his side projects. In Today's Show You Will Learn: How Jonathan made his move from product guy to VC at USV? What is the key determinant for USV's success? How Fred Wilson and USV use blogging to market USV as 'smart money'? Is SMS dead? What is and will it be used for in the future? What sectors are ripe for disruption? How can technology and sport be integrated? Apple Music: Success or failure? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Favourite Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions OB1: Making Trade free for everyone, everywhere
Jul 10, 2015 · 20 min
Founders Friday 003: 2m users, $2m Seed Round, 220,000 Instagram Followers with Phil Jacobson, Founder @ PumpUp
Phil Jacobson is Co-Founder At PumpUp, a community for healthy and active living, with over 2m users. Phil leads the operations, finance, marketing, business development and external relations for PumpUp, with great success having accumulated over 220,000 Instagram followers! Prior to PumpUp, Phil held brand management positions at Unilever and PepsiCo. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Phil started PumpUp? How Phil got 1,500 downloads in day one? What marketing strategies are PumpUp working on to continue growing? What social media strategies Phil recommends founders attempting to build an online presence? How did Phil accumulate the 220,000 instagram followers organically? What has Phil done to create such a heavily engaged user base? Who are Phil's biggest competitors and how does PumpUp aim to stay ahead of them? Where are PumpUp in the fundraising process, what has Phil learnt from the $2m seed round? How can startups determine how much they need to raise? What are PumpUp doing to ensure customer retention rates remain high? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: PumpUP App General Catalyst Partners Favourite Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Favourite Blog: MatterMark Daily As always you can follow Harry, Phil, The Twenty Minute VC and PumpUp on Twitter here! A new one recommended by Phil, click here to follow the awesome Instagram pages of Harry and PumpUp!
Jul 8, 2015 · 20 min
20 VC 052: How To Make The Leap From Seed To Series A with Ari Helgason @ Dawn Capital
Ari Helgason is a VC at Dawn Capital in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system World on a Hanger and ecommerce clothing marketplace Fabricly.com. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Ari made his move into the VC scene? Why Ari decided to bootstrap his first business? Does Ari believe that Founders should always be fundraising? Should Founders take more money than they need, 'a war chest'? What type of goals do VCs want to see from founders? What do investors expect from startups at Series A? How can founders learn what KPI's make sense for their business? How can founders know when is the right time to fundraise? How can startup founders get their foot in the VC door? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Predictable Revenue: Aaron Ross (Mandatory Reading for All SaaS CEO's) Elon Musk: How The Billionaire of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future Saastr by Jason Lemkin AVC.com As always you can follow Harry, Ari and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!
Jul 6, 2015 · 18 min
20 VC 051: The New Silicon Valley Style VC in London with Alessandra Sollberger @ Mosaic Ventures
Alessandra Sollberger is a VC at Mosaic Ventures, a new Silicon Valley style venture firm based in London, focussing on Series A rounds. Alessandra previously worked in private equity at Blackstone, covering sectors ranging from consumer brands to software. Prior to that, she worked in startups in the US and Europe and in M&A at Goldman Sachs. She is also the founder of Bright Mentors, an edtech non-profit teaching coding and science in secondary schools through a network of technology professionals. In todays episode you will learn: How Alessandra made her move into the VC world? What are you Mosaic looking for? What is their typical investment size? What Alessandra thinks of the different paths into venture? What advice would you give someone looking to enter venture? Why Alessandra believes there has been a resurgence in marketplaces? What is driving this growth? What startup marketplaces is Alessandra most excited about? Alessandra's thoughts on the next big sector to be disrupted and why? As always you can follow Harry, Alessandra, The Twenty Minute VC and Mosaic Ventures on Twitter here!
Jul 3, 2015 · 21 min
Founders Friday 002: Balderton's James Wise interviews 20VC Founder, Harry Stebbings
Today is a very special show as James Wise, Principal at Balderton Capital turns the tables on Host of The Twenty Minute VC, Harry Stebbings. In today's brilliant interview by James we delve into what has led to Harry's interest in the VC industry, why did Harry start The 20 Minute VC, how does Harry identify guests to interview, how does he approach those guests, how has Harry found his first experience in the venture industry, what has surpassed Harry about the VC industry, what traits has Harry spotted that are common among the great VCs interviewed, is Harry optimistic or not about the venture industry, what would Harry recommend for other people looking to go into venture. Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Harry's Favourite Books: Tim Ferris: 4 Hour Work Week, 4 Hour Body Shyp Crowdcube, 3DHubs, Tictail MMC Ventures, Founders Forum As always you can follow Harry, James and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!
Jul 1, 2015 · 23 min
20 VC 050: Starting, Building and Selling in SaaS with the King of SaaS, Jason Lemkin, Managing Director @ Storm Ventures
Jason Lemkin is Managing Director at Storm Ventures focussing on early stage SaaS and enterprise startups. Jason is an acknowledged thought leader in SaaS through his creation of the SaaStr community, connecting thousands of SaaS entrepreneurs and generating upwards of 1,000,000 views a month around core SaaS topics, with a particular focus on accelerating revenue and early-stage SaaS sales and marketing. Prior to Storm, Jason served as CEO and co-founder of Storm Ventures-backed EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service. Jason led EchoSign from inception through its acquisition by Adobe Systems Inc. in 2011. He then served as Vice President, Web Services at Adobe, where he oversaw the growth of EchoSign and Adobe Document Services to $100,000,000+ ARR in 2013. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Jason made his way into the SaaS and VC industry? What actions did Jason do to get his blog to 1m+ page views per month? What advice would Jason give to founders thinking of selling to large companies? What type of entrepreneur does Jason like to invest in? How does Jason see SaaS valuations, with recent enormous rounds from Zenefits? What areas of the SaaS industries are neglected or undervalued? Is the 40% growth rule broadly correct and can this be applied to early stage tech companies? What is Jason's pre-investment meeting approach like? What makes a founder insane in a good way, rather than a bad way? How are SaaS companies innovating to acquire new customers? Quick Fire Round: Apple: Hit or Miss Most exciting SaaS companies and sectors Jason's favourite book and why? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: SaaStr: Jason's Blog Jason's Favourite Book: The Lion Who Shot Back Mark Suster: Both Sides Follow: @saleshacker (amazing content from VPs of Sales @ Top Tech Startups) Emergence Capital: Joe Floyd David Saks: Yammer Slack: Stewart Butterfield, Zenefits: Parker Conrad