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Month: September 2019

Investor Stories 122: Lessons Learned (Ajao, Bahat, Cheng)

by Nick Moran

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

  • Adeyemi Ajao
  • Roy Bahat
  • Cheryl Cheng

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Investor Stories 122: Lessons Learned (Ajao, Bahat, Cheng)

by Nick Moran

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

  • Adeyemi Ajao
  • Roy Bahat
  • Cheryl Cheng

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.

To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes.

Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

A Taxonomy of Moats

by Jerry Neumann
This post is by Jerry Neumann from Reaction Wheel

Value is created through innovation, but how much of that value accrues to the innovator depends partly on how quickly their competitors imitate the innovation. Innovators must deter competition to get some of the value they created. These ways of deterring competition are called, in various contexts, barriers to entry, sustainable competitive advantages, or, colloquially, moats. […]

194. Special Edition! The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures (John Gannon interviews Nick Moran)

by Nick Moran

John Gannon of Going VC interviews Nick to discuss The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures. In this episode, we cover:

  • How did you get Brad Feld on early on?
  • How did you stay true to your vision when you were getting asked early on by entrepreneurs to feature them on the podcast? (you mentioned this in episode 10, w/Brad Feld)
  • If you were starting TFR again, in 2019, what would you do differently?
  • Why the podcast format vs blogging vs. ... ?
  • When did you know that the podcast was "working" ... bringing deal flow or whatever you thought was a strong signal that things were clicking for your audience?
  • What surprised you once the podcast got "big"? Anything unexpected on the positive or negative side?
  • How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too?
  • How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too? Do you measure deal flow that is podcast related, and how much of your deal flow is it? How many completed investments came from the TFR community?
  • I have heard from multiple Angel List employees re: Angel List syndicates that it's very hard to get people to back a deal unless the deal has a lead like Sequoia or KPCB or another top firm attached to it. Has that been true for your syndications? If no, (Read more...)

194. Special Edition! The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures (John Gannon interviews Nick Moran)

by Nick Moran

John Gannon of Going VC interviews Nick to discuss The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures. In this episode, we cover:

  • How did you get Brad Feld on early on?
  • How did you stay true to your vision when you were getting asked early on by entrepreneurs to feature them on the podcast? (you mentioned this in episode 10, w/Brad Feld)
  • If you were starting TFR again, in 2019, what would you do differently?
  • Why the podcast format vs blogging vs. ... ?
  • When did you know that the podcast was "working" ... bringing deal flow or whatever you thought was a strong signal that things were clicking for your audience?
  • What surprised you once the podcast got "big"? Anything unexpected on the positive or negative side?
  • How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too?
  • How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too? Do you measure deal flow that is podcast related, and how much of your deal flow is it? How many completed investments came from the TFR community?
  • I have heard from multiple Angel List employees re: Angel List syndicates that it's very hard to get people to back a deal unless the deal has a lead like Sequoia or KPCB or another top firm attached to it. Has that been true for your syndications? If no, (Read more...)

OpenView’s 2019 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks Report Explores the Gender Gap in Software Companies, the Rise of Product Led Growth and Smashing SaaS Founder Stereotypes

by Bayley Dietz
This post is by Bayley Dietz from OpenView

Today, OpenView, the expansion stage venture capital firm, released the results of the 2019 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks survey. This year’s report was based on data from more than 500 SaaS companies, ranging from pre-revenue to $150M+ in ARR.

The 2019 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks Report culls data from SaaS organizations of all sizes and stages to help these businesses understand what does and does not work when it comes to building a generational software company.

From the survey data, it’s clear that there’s still a large parity gap when it comes to leadership positions and seats in the boardroom.

OpenView has been benchmarking gender parity in leadership positions for the past three years, and found that gender parity in leadership positions has increased from 12% in 2017 to 14% in 2019. While there has been growth, there is still a long way to go. At this rate, there won’t be full gender parity in leadership positions until 2055.

Devon McDonald, Partner at OpenView, explains, “We saw a big spike in women taking on leadership positions during the height of the #MeToo movement. Unfortunately, it seems like things have slowed down a bit and that initiative has once again taken a back seat. We’re hoping that legislation will force companies to rethink their leadership and board strategy. Our data shows that companies with an equal or female-dominated leadership team grew at faster rates than their male dominated peers (115% vs. 99% year-on-year growth). The proof is in the numbers, yet people are (Read more...)

Cloudflare, Sprung from HBS, is Quietly Worth $5 Billion

by Jeff Bussgang
This post is by Jeff Bussgang from SEEING BOTH SIDES

Disclosure: I am not an investor in Cloudflare. I have no ties to the company other than a friendship with the two founders.cloudflare-co-founders-matthew-prince-and-michelle-zatlyn_750xx4522-2544-0-236

Amidst all the WeWork IPO hoopla, Cloudflare’s incredibly successful IPO was lost in the shuffle. That’s a shame because the amazing journey that these two founders have undertaken to build a business now worth $5 billion is worth studying.

As depicted in what has become a classic HBS case written by my colleague Professor Tom Eisenmann, Cloudflare founders Michelle Zatlyn and Matthew Prince met as students at Harvard Business School in 2008 and started the company as they were graduating. The two were a powerful combination:  Matthew was a hard-charging, technical visionary while Michelle was a skilled operator with an off-the-charts emotional IQ.

The company’s intense culture resulted in a rocky start. Attrition was high and morale low at the time of the case, despite the company’s early success. What happened next is a great lesson in leadership. The founders doubled down on culture and created a more welcoming, nurturing environment while retaining accountability and ambition. Prince and Zatlyn matured as founders and executives alongside the company’s maturing business model. Importantly, they stayed together as co-founders, even as Zatyln’s role evolved with the company’s meteoric growth and despite her taking time off for maternity leave. This summer, in the midst of the intense IPO process, the NY Times portrayed the company’s decision to ban 8chan in the wake of the El Paso massacre. Read the NY Times (Read more...)

193. SaaS Acceleration, Sales Savvy Founders & The Rise of Tech-Enabled Services (Michael Cardamone)

by Nick Moran

Michael Cardamone of Acceleprise joins Nick to discuss SaaS Acceleration, Sales Savvy Founders & the Rise of Tech-Enabled Services. In this episode, we cover:

  • What is Aaron Levie like to work for?
  • Backstory and path to Acceleprise
  • When you started Acceleprise a lot of folks told you not to -- the world doesn't need another accelerator. Why did you proceed?
  • Why an Accelerator and not a traditional VC fund?
  • Check size then and now?
  • The biggest criticism of accelerators that I'm hearing from investors is that accelerators admit companies that need a lot of help and can't figure things out on their own -- and those are not the companies that one wants to invest in. What's your response to these folks?
  • You've mentioned your interest in working w/ founders that have a "willingness to sell." How specifically do you develop the sell-skills of founders that are willing but green w/regards to sales. What are some the best demand-gen techniques that you use?
  • Talk to us about how you think through pricing models and strategies at early-stage SaaS businesses.
  • ACV initial vs. expansion rev opportunity
  • Lemkin.. TAM... initial traction in SOM/Beachhead niche market is most important. Any company that gets traction here can find a $1B market. Agree, disagree?
  • We talk a lot, on this show, about either why SF is the best place to build a company or why any place but SF is the best place to build a company. You've done both -- Objectively, can you break (Read more...)