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!
24 Jul 201521min
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
22 Jul 201523min
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
20 Jul 201524min
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
17 Jul 201521min
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!
15 Jul 201520min
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
13 Jul 201529min
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!
10 Jul 201520min
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!
8 Jul 201520min
