20VC: GOAT's Eddy Lu on Pivoting From Failing Social Dining App To The World's Largest Sneaker Marketplace, How The Best Founders Pick Their Investors & Why It Is Better To Be Hated than Unknown

Ifty Ahmed, General Partner at Oak Investment Partners. Ifty started his career with Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Ventures before joining Oak Investment Partners in 2003. He currently focuses on investing across the technology sector with an active interest in Consumer Internet companies. *This episode was recorded before Google's anouncement to stop producing Google Glass prototypes, making Ifty's prediction even more impressive. Items mentioned in today's show: Super Crunchers: How Anything Can Be Predicted by Ian Ayers Blueprint to a Billion: 7 Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth by David Thompson In this episode you will learn: How Ifty got into the Venture Capital industry? What does Ifty believe are the must haves for startups, in order for them to gain funding? Why Ifty prefers to invest in a founding team rather than a single founder? What Ifty would recommed to to an individual founder starting a company? What are the uncomfortable questions companies should ask VCs before they accept VC funding? What Ifty believes a startup should do before a pitch, in order to increase the chances of success? What book would Ifty give to an aspiring entrepreneur? What advice Ifty would give a graduate wanting to get into the VC industry? What tips Ifty would give to about where to network with VCs? We finish the episode with a quick fire round where we hear Ifty's views on the future of Google Glass, the valuation of Snapchat and the potential for Bitcoin.

22 Jan 201521min

In episode 5 of The Twenty Minute VC, we are joined by Kent Godfrey, General Partner at Pond Ventures. Prior to entering into the VC industry Kent was Chairman and CEO of Andromedia before merging it with MacroMedia. Kent was also CEO of Frictionless Commerce concluding with the sale of the company to SAP in 2006. Kent has previously served on the board of numerous companies including LiveRail (acquired by Facebook), TRM Corporation (Nasdaq:TRMM), HipBone Communications (acquired by Kana) and Vocal Point Inc (acquired by Telecom Italia). In this session you will learn: What is the most challenging aspect of being a CEO? Should CEO's have a clear and precise strategy for the future? What can a CEO do to position themselves to be more successful? How can an individual develop the skills to be a successful CEO? What Kent learnt from his meetings with Steve Jobs? What is the most challenging aspect of transitioning from CEO to VC? What do VCs do when concerned about an investment? What is the best aspect of being a Venture Capitalist? Is it possible to go straight into the Venture Capital industry from University? We end the episode with a quick fire round where Ken describes the future of the Internet Of Things (IOT). Why Founders are better than a Founder? Plus, what the biggest misunderstanding of the Venture Capital industry is? For all the resources mentioned in today's show heav on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com

19 Jan 201516min

Welcome to Session 4 of The Twenty Minute VC, on today's incredible show, I am hugely excited to present David Hornik. David started his career as legal attorney to some of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley before making his foray into the Venture Capital Industry with August Capital in 2000. If that wasn't enough, David created the 1st Venture Capital blog, VentureBlog and is also the presenter of VentureCast. In today's episode you will learn: Why David made the transition from the legal world into the VC industry? What is so special about Stanford that enables a continuous flow of revlolutionary companies? Whether legal skills are attributable to the funding industry? What David looks for when investing in a company? Does it always have to be a big market opportunity for VCs to invest? What the best piece of business advice David has ever received? What book David would recommend to a Startup Founder? We then progress into a quick fire round where we hear David's views on Peter Thiel's 20 Under 20 and the 1st $Trillion business.

18 Jan 201522min

On today's episode I am thrilled to welcome Bob Ghoorah, Managing Director at Columubus Nova Technology Partners. Bob has experienced both sides of the table having been an early employee at three technology companies in Silicon Valley; LoudCloud (Nasdaq: LDCL), Opsware (Nasdaq: OPSW) and Ning, a privately-held software platform (sold to Glam Media in 2011). In this episode we find out: The benefits of having a legal knowledge in the Startup community. What characteristics make the best entrepreneurs? Who does Bob think of, when the word 'success' is mentioned and why? Where Bob sees the future of Uber? What aspects of a Startup are essential in order to obtain VC funding? Is it important for Startups to be located in Silicon Valley? What books Bob woulg give to an aspring entrepreneur and startup founder? What advice Bob would give to anyone looking to get into the Venture Capital Industry? Finally, we head to the quick fire round. Here, we get Bob's immediate reactions to the latests tech topics including tech bubble, company valuations and the first trillion dollar company. For all the resources mentioned in todays show head over to The Twenty Minute VC.

13 Jan 201522min

In this session of The Twenty Minute VC, I'm so excited to have the opportunity to interview Kris Jones. Kris has enjoyed an amazing career in the technology industry, founding PepperJam, an internet marketing agency in 1999 and later selling it to Ebay in April of 2010. More recently, Kris has made his transition into the Venture Capital Industry through the founding of an early stage technology investment fund, KBJ Capital, which includes portfolio companies Highlighter.com, French Girls App, ReferLocal.com, LSEO.com and many more incredible companies. In this session you'll learn: Why Kris decided to make the transition from the Startup ecosystem to the world of Venture Capital. How did it feel for Kris, selling his company to Ebay? What was the most important lesson Kris learnt in the journey from having the idea for PepperJam to being acquired by Ebay? What is the key characteristic a Founder must have? What can an individual do to get employed in the Venture Capital industry. Kris is also a prolific writer here are some of his articles, you can check out! Forbes: 15 Steps to Set Your Company Up for a Successful M&A Mashable: 9 Ways Social Media Marketing Will Change in 2014 Citibank: How to Impress a Potential Investor

13 Jan 201522min

Welcome to the 1st episode of The Twenty Minute VC, on today's show we have Guy Kawasaki, Guy is the Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures, a seed & early stage venture capital fund investing in extraordinary entrepreneurs with unique technologies. Previously, he was Chief Evangelist of Apple Inc and an advisor to the Motorala Business Unit of Google. Guy is also the author of many best selling books including the recent best seller, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users. In this episode we delve into: Why Guy made the transition into the VC industry? What is the most important aspect for a startup to have? What drives Guy insane about startup founders today? What books Guy gives to aspiring entrepreneurs? What software & apps Guy cannot live without? We then finish on a quick fire round where we discover Guy's thoughts on the future of Amazon, Tesla and whether we really are in the midst of a tech bubble. All of the products mentioned in todays show can be found at www.thetwentyminutevc.com If you love the show, please do leave a review on the iTunes store and don't forget to subscribe!

13 Jan 201519min