Posts Tagged startups
Part 4 of 5: The Startups for Tech Wildcatters
Posted by Steve in Miscellaneous, Pitch on October 22, 2009
The last three days, I introduced Tech Wildcatter micro-seed project, their program, and some of their philosophy for a successful fundraiser. Today, we look at the startup selection program and how discussed their program for entrepreneurs.
Gabriella Draney and Jon Feld started Tech Wildcatters. On Sept 3, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Gabriella and talk about her new venture. I organized her responses into each of these general question categories.
What types of companies are they looking for?
Tech Wildcatters will target IT professionals: one to two people with a good idea and some prototype.
What areas of interest?
In no particular order or priority:
- Transportation and logistics
- Energy
- Retail/Consumer Goods
- Education
- Real Estate
- Travel/Leisure
What stage should the startup be at?
They would like to do something that has an alpha or prototype already developed but can do a pre-seed company.
Does the product need to be patentable?
Not necessarily! The idea is to get early to market, and be best in market.
What are the characteristics of the team?
Two or three founders with the skills of business, product development, and designer spread between them. They need to have the entrepreneurial spirit.
A big question for them will be their ability to devote 100% of their time to this endeavor. This is not something that can be done in a typical 40 hour work week. Will their other commitments be manageable? Will their spouse be able to handle it and be supportive?
Key questions they will consider:
- How well have you thought out your idea?
- How much have you worked on it?
- How dedicated are you, especially when the 12 weeks end?
- Can you develop your own product? (If it is going to take 30 programmers, this will not work.)
- Can you be in Dallas for three months? (After the program ends, you can be anywhere)
Two or three people? Why not one?
Gabrielle described how Tech Wildcatters do not want someone working in a vacuum. “Companies are not built in isolation,” she said. It is unlikely to find someone that is great in the business, development, and design. With two people, they have the other person who can review their ideas and offer critical feedback.
What will be their selection process?
Their criteria they are keeping to themselves for now, but the process is fairly simple. They will have three passes. The first will be whether or not the entrepreneurs fit the criteria. Based on these criteria, Tech Wildcatters will select who they will contact.
The second will be an email to the entrepreneurs and their response. See other comments in this article about the biggest mistake being lack of follow-up. If you are applying to be a part of this, definitely return all email as fast as possible.
Finally, they will do phone calls and interviews. They will narrow it down to 10 to 15 companies for the first group.
Ultimately, there will be a selection process and it will start soon. They plan on selecting companies starting December 2009. Tomorrow, I will tell you how to contact them (if you have not already done a web search for the name Tech Wildcatters).
Part 3 of 5: Tech Wildcatters’ Suggestions for the Successful Fundraiser
Posted by Steve in Experience, Miscellaneous on October 21, 2009
The last two days, I introduced Tech Wildcatter micro-seed project and discussed their program for entrepreneurs. One of the areas of conversation focused around what made entrepreneurs successful at fundraising. This will give you a little insight into not only how to get their attention but also how to be a successful business person.
Gabriella Draney and Jon Feld started Tech Wildcatters. On Sept 3, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Gabriella and talk about her new venture. I organized her responses into each of these general question categories.
What is the best way to stand out from the rest of the pack?
This can also be looked at, “What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs do?” Our discussion actually started on this point first and Gabrielle was quick to respond, “Lack of follow up.” One would think that at the funding stage the most important action would be to follow up with potential investors, contacts to investors, or with customers. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs do not do this.
The best way to be “written off” is to not do follow-up. Respond to emails. Call back if someone leaves voice mail. If you do not have the answers yet, at least call back to let them know you received their message and when you can deliver the answers.
What are some of the other mistakes that entrepreneurs do when they look for money?
Gabrielle sees a lot of mistakes. In addition to not following up with phone calls and emails she listed off the following. Start-ups are:
- Not thinking about customers and revenue.
- Focused too much on raising money and not enough on running the company.
- Not being aware of what investors do, not looking at their website, and generally being unprepared for the interview process.
- Not being able to strategize. If you have been turned down by too many investors rethink your strategy. If you do not know why you are not getting any money, then get help.
Two ideas stand out. The first is that although these points seem like common sense, there are a lot of people are obviously not doing it. The other is that you need to run your business like your life depends on it. Balance between making money and raising money. Stay focused and in contact with people. Ultimately, standing out is not as much about doing something new and different but more like doing what the successful businesses do.
Tomorrow, we look at what Startups Tech Wildcatters will pursue.
Part 2 of 5: The Tech Wildcatters’ Program
Posted by Steve in Miscellaneous on October 20, 2009
Yesterday, I introduced the Tech Wildcatters micro-seed project in Dallas. Today, we review the program.
Gabriella Draney and Jon Feld started Tech Wildcatters. On Sept 3, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Gabriella and talk about her new venture. I organized her responses into each of these general question categories.
What is the program?
The program will put entrepreneurs through a 12 week program that will be like a mini MBA/entrepreneurial boot camp. Rather than just letting the entrepreneurs get money and go on their own, Tech Wildcatters will start with the basics and examine if the company has the right product. Most inventors/entrepreneurs never take this time and think they have a product. Gabriella’s background with her MBA and experience at a venture fund taught her a lot of the strengths of weaknesses of a typical startup. Realizing that all startups have some weaknesses, typically in product development, Tech Wildcatters want to address these up front. In month 1, they will explore who the entrepreneurs are, why the entrepreneurs are, and the fundamental strategy of their company. They do not want the founders to touch the keyboard again until they figured out something along these lines. They will complete this within the first month.
What is the advantage of using Tech Wildcatters?
Best-in-class big companies use business intelligence, voice of the customer, stage-gate product development processes to create their next products. How can two people working in a garage do this? That is the point with Tech Wildcatters. With their approach they want to bring the big time product development to the small startup.
Why 12 weeks?
The intent is to speed up the first year of business. It takes time for prospects to respond, product development and to market your products. It takes longer to make the right connections because these are often done at events, via introductions that take time, and as relationships are developing. Startup owners often do not have the experience and connections to know how to take advantage of every single day and week. There is a lot of time lost as this is developed. Tech Wildcatters intends to make every day count in an accelerated approach by providing guidance and connections through their own network and knowledge base.
The Tech Wildcatters’ environment will be one of camaraderie and teamwork, but also of high competition. Competition keeps things rolling quickly as teams will feel pressure to perform and make decisions. The environment of working closely with other startup teams will lend itself to speeding up the company’s development. Fear of making the wrong decision often delays many businesses, and this is definitely the case with startups. One of the advantages of working with others is that when you see someone else dealing with similar issues and making decisions it helps dissuade the fear you may have in making a similar decision.
Instead of just giving money, they are going to stack the odds in the entrepreneurs’ favor: close guidance, mentors and collaborators. The program has structure, focus, and the intention of putting the entrepreneurs in the best possible positions for success.
Tomorrow, we will look at their suggestions for the successful fundraiser, which will provide insight into how to get their attention.
The microseed accelerator model
Posted by Steve in Capitalization, Execution on September 14, 2009
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview the founder of a new venture in Dallas, a microseed accelerator. This is a relatively new business model for venture capitalists.
Originally, there were incubators, which were venues that provide office space and a variety of business office and infrastructure back office services to startups. The idea was that by providing these specialized needs to startups they could focus the startup on what they do best, create and sell a product. The result would be rapid growth.
The biggest weakness of incubators was that while they treated all startups the same and did not provide them much in training, mentoring, and/or coaching. Also, the startups themselves did not necessarily recognize they needed anything other than a place and support. The reality is that startups have a different mix of skill sets and experience levels. Some need more help than others in their core competency: creating and selling a product.
In comes the accelerator. Accelerators took the incubator idea one step further. Accelerators would also provide two key elements: some funding and a lot of coaching/mentoring to the startups. The startups joining would take the money and be receptive to the idea of being coached.
More recently, the microseed accelerator is emerging. These companies or portfolio management firms differentiate themselves by invest a small amount of money, focus on idea/prototype stages, focus on specific niches, and provide very customized support to a small team. Some of them, such as the one I interviewed, have a program that puts the startup through a “boot camp”. The boot camp helps them complete out the rationalization of their business plan: make it even more focused on what customers need (not just want) and put them in touch with prospective customers. Rather than “hope and pray” as the earlier incubators, they stack the odds in their favor by fostering growth and success proactively.
To read more about check out the article at www.firstascentventures.com titled: New Venture Capital Models – The Rise of Business Accelerator Seed Funds (Part 1) – 01/13/2009. Check in later this week to learn more about one starting in Dallas: Tech Wildcatters.
Angel Investors vs. Venture Capitalists
Posted by Steve in Capitalization, Introduction, Valuation on March 31, 2009
I was asked, “What is the difference between Angels and VCs?”
Angel and venture capitalist investors differ in size of investment and business structure. However, they both use similar criteria for qualifying a company.
Angel investors typically invest up to one million dollars individually, or eight million dollars as a group. Obviously, this could be more, but above eight million, you typically end up talking to VCs. Angels use their own money (or family funds) and do not have a charter of rules to follow. Angels are only answerable to themselves (and of course, their family).
Venture capitalists invest from about two million dollars to as high as two hundred million dollars, depending on the size of the fund they raise. They manage funds composed of investments from individuals, companies, and other managed funds (i.e. Fireman’s Fund). The largest fund to date is by Oak Investment at $2.56 billion dollars. VCs have a charter of rules they must follow, and are answerable to these investors.
Both angels and VCs have a targeted amount they invest. Startups should target angels and entry level VCs (or startup VCs) because the size of the investment would be typically under eight million dollars.