20VC: 2 Signs That A Company Is Ready For IPO, Why Fund Cycles Are Too Short & Why Management Teams Do Not Want To Go Public with Gene Frantz, General Partner @ CapitalG

Doug Scott has one of the largest AngelList syndicates, now with an incredible £396,000 in his. Doug is one of first investors in Techstars, Ignite.io and Entrepreneurs First in Europe ( still an investor in all 3 ). Prior to angel investing Doug founded several internet companies based in the UK, carrentals.co.uk - over 1 million rentals, discountvouchers.co.uk - 6 million subscribers, timetobreak.com - over 5 milion page views per day. In today's discussion Harry and delves into what Doug really expects from founders, how Doug would like to be pitched by prospective startups, is AngelList challenging the VC model, what investors and startups can expect from Doug's syndicate, his biggest tip to an aspiring entrepreneur and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Doug's AngelList Syndicate, Gil Dibner's AngelList Syndicate, Tim Jackson AngelList Syndicate Oxygen Accelerator, Jon Bradford, Springboard Cashkaro, Meals, Lifebox, Chew You can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Doug on Twitter here!

11 Jun 201527min

Charlie O'Donnell is the Founder and Sole Partner @ Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, the first venture capital fund based in Brooklyn. Prior to founding Brooklyn Bridge, Charlie worked at the prestigious First Round Capital, with the likes of Josh Koppelman and Union Square Ventures with Fred Wilson. If that wasn't enough Charlie is one of only a dozen to be named to Business Insider's 100 Most Influential People in NY Tech five or more times and has served on the founding board of the New York Tech Meetup and is one of the group's first 100 members. His blog, This is Going to Be BIG!, is one of the ten most widely read VC blogs in the country with over 8,000 readers. Among the many discussions Harry and Charlie delve into how to enter the VC job industry, how the seed stage fund raising environment is behaving, what Charlie learnt from Union Square and First Round, tactics that individuals can do to increase their own branding, Charlie's views on investing in hardware, investing in Kickstarter backed companies, the next five years for Charlie, what has blown Charlie's mind in the last four weeks, the marketing possibilities of Instagram for startups and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: How To Be A VC Analyst: Charlie's Post Charlie's Hardware Portfolio Companies: Ringly, GoTenna, Canary Home Security Hungryroot: Farm Fresh 7 Minute Meals Tinkergarten

8 Jun 201527min

James Altucher is a successful entrepreneur, investor, board member, and the writer of 11 books including the recent WSJ Bestseller, "Choose Yourself!" (foreword by Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter). He has started and sold several companies for eight figure exits. He's on the board of a billion $ revenue company, has written for The Financial Times, The New York Observer, he's run several hedge funds, venture capital funds, and is a successful angel investor, having invested in over 30 startups alongside Silicon Valley's Top VC's. In today's conversation Harry and James discuss how to continuously come up with great ideas, what tasks activate the 'idea muscle', what tactics have produced the greatest investing returns for James, what traits do great founders have, how has James' investing strategy developed, what is the future for Uber, the scam that is University and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Alternatives to College and Careers: Learn to Become an iOS Developer, Learn to Become a Web Developer James Altucher: Choose Yourself! Tim Ferriss: AngelList Syndicate Shyp: The Easiest Way To Ship Your Stuff

4 Jun 201528min

Jason Calacanis is arguably the world's greatest angel investor with over 60 investments including the likes of Uber (1st round), ThumbTack and Calm, just to name a few. Jason is also the Host of This Week In Startups, the world's biggest startup podcast and Founder of Launch and Launch Festival, the world's biggest startup festival. In this interview we discuss, how Jason invested in Uber's 1st round, what Jason looks for in startups, how Jason can tell whether a founder has got what it takes, which VC's Jason most likes to work with, which entrepreneurs Jason most likes to invest in, what pisses Jason off more than anything, what inspires him more than anything, what industries will see the most disruption in the coming years, what makes a great entrepreneur and how startups can position themselves best for entering a round of funding. Enjoy! All show notes, links and resources from this episode can be found at http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com and you can follow Harry, Jason and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter. Mentioned in Today's Show: Bill Gurley, Jonathan Triest, Chamath Palihapitiya Bento: Delicious Asian Food Delivered in Minutes Butterfleye: Google's Nest Meets Dropcam Birdi: Better Than A Smoke Detector

1 Jun 201555min

Scott Taylor is the CEO @ miDrive, a startup focussed on reinventing the learner driving experience. Scott is also an advisor to leading London based VC firm EC1 Capital. If that wasn't enough he is a mentor at Richard Branson's Virgin Startup Program and an investor in Coupang and Mavrx. Prior to miDrive, he was Chief Product Officer at Livedrive, one of Europe's leading cloud storage providers, assisting with its sale to j2 Global. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: TreeHouse: Learn Web Design, Web Development LifeCake Acquisition FestivalFriends App Crowdcube: Online Investing, Equity Crowdfunding The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz Into The Woods: John Yorke In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) Where it all began for Scott and how he made his move into technology and venture? 2.) Having founded several successful companies, what Scott believes the qualities required to be a good founder are? 3.) The hardest part for Scott in building companies and how he overcome them? 4.) What is Scott's role at EC1, what is he looking for in companies at EC1 and how does that differ from his own angel investments? 5.) At Virgin Start Up, what is the process like to attain funding? 6.) What are Scott's views on early stage funding? Does he agree with the friends and family round? 7.)What would you suggest to entrepreneurs looking to gain external capital? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round. Where we hear Scott's thoughts on: Next 5 years for Scott? Asian tech market? Favourite book and why? Most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Scott and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter

28 Mai 201517min

Simon Menashy is Investment Director at MMC Ventures where he is responsible for leading new and follow on investments as well as supporting existing MMC portfolio companies. He also sits on the board for WeDo, Boticca and Sky Futures and works closely with a number of other B2B and B2C businesses including Growth Intelligence, Mubi, Small World, Somo. Prior to MMC Simon worked in European tech and media consulting, working with clients including the BBC, Virgin Media, BT, Thompson Reuters and Ofcom as part of the Deloitte Strategy team in London Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Base79 Growth Intelligence In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Simon made his move from consulting into the world of VCs? 2.)Simon recently tweeted how not to pitch to VCs, so what should founders be doing when pitching? What are the fundamentals in terms of required documentation? 3.) Does Simon agree with Peter Thiel’s opinion that disruption is fundamentally bad for society? What industries does Simon feel will be next disrupted? 4.) With the increasing length of time it takes for venture backed companies to IPO, how does Simon feel the funding path is changing? 5.) How does Simon believe the tech eco system is going in London and what can be done to increase VC funding and engender a silicon valley esque feel to London? Today's episode finishes with a quick fire round where we hear Simon's thoughts on the apple watch, what the biggest red flags are when viewing a pitch and his most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Simon and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter.

25 Mai 201521min

Angela Tran Kingyens is an associate at Version One Ventures, where Angela manages the day to day activities of the fund from identifying new startups to advising portfolio companies on product. Prior to Version One, Angela Co-Launched Insight Data Science, a Y Combinator backed startup, helping academics transition into a career in industry. In today's episode, Angela describes the best ways to network with VCs, how you can increase employability instantly and the most effective ways to conduct market research! Items Mentioned in Today's Show: mattermark Daily Newsletter Dan Primack: TermSheet Fred Wilson: AVC Good To Great by Jim Collins Headout: Your Best Local Friend in a New City In Today's Episode you will Learn: 1.) How Angela made the transition from a career in academia to a YC backed startup to a Palo Alto Venture Fund? 2.) What can individuals do to network effectively with VCs, even if they have no existing VC contacts? 3.) What advice Angela would give to someone looking to leave the academic path for a career in tech? How can they maximise employability? 4.) What should individuals look for when considering incubators? Do they increase the validity of a startup, from the Version One perspective? 5.) Version One specialise in Marketplaces. Why is that? Is it normal for VC funds to specialise? What Angela thinks the future of marketplaces will look like? 6.) How to identify where there are up and coming areas for disruption? What resources are most effective for this market research? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round where we hear Angela's thoughts on what industry she would never invest in, whether Uber will be a $trillion company, how VCs measure their own success, Angela's favourite business book and her most recent investment and why she said yes? You can follow Harry, Angela and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here.

21 Mai 201523min

Tak Lo is Director at Techstars, helping entrepreneurs do more faster - on both sides of the Atlantic through Techstars London and Techstars NYC. Tak is also Founder at Travelst and Frontlyst. Prior to his road into entrepreneurship, Tak was a Consultant at Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton and was a specialist in the US ARMY. In today's incredible episode Tak shares his lessons from his own startup experience, the required reading for all entrepreneurs and of course when thinking TechStars, how can we not discuss the man himself, Brad Feld, and how Tak has adopted Brad's use of open office hours. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Must Read Tech Blogs: Fred Wilson, Brad Feld Thoughts, Tomas Tunguz: Redpoint Capital, Christopher Janz: Point Nine Capital Must Read Books: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Adam Grant: Give and Take, Peter Thiel: Zero to One, Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things Must Have Apps: Buffer: Save Time On Your Social Media, Feedly: The Stories You Need To Keep Ahead Networking Tools: Silicon Drinkabout, Meetup Team of Rivals Adam Grant: Give and Take Peter Thiel: Zero to One Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How and why Tak made the transition first from the army to a career in consulting and then what made Tak take the entrepreneurial route and start his own company? Tak is renknowned for the amazing service and contribution he brings to every startup. What services does Tak bring and what does Tak feel all entrepreneurs and advisors must add? Does Tak back singular founders, or does he prefer a founding team? Tak is a Specialist on Leadership, for founders wanting to gain or develop their leadership skills, what can founders do, read or learn to further their leadership skills? For individuals contemplating moving into the tech world, how do they know which is the right job? Are there any immediate aspects they must look for or be wary of? What are the biggest misconceptions of the tech industry? How can people find out about networking events What sector Tak believes is the next to be disrupted and why? What is the premise behind Brad Feld's 'Open Office Hours'? Why has Tak decided to adopt this tactic? What does Tak hope to gain from it? How is it going so far? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round, hearing Tak's thoughts on the greatest leader and why, the future of the asian tech market, his favourite book and why and his most recent investment and why he said yes? Follow Harry, Tak, The Twenty Minute VC

18 Mai 201519min