Brad Feld is one of the world's leading VCs having Co-Founded Foundry Group, Brad has made investments in the likes of Zynga, Makerbot and Fitbit, just to name a few. Brad is also Co-Founder of Techstars, one of the world's most prominent startup accelerators, whose portfolio companies have raised over $1.3bn in funding.

If that wasn't enough Brad is also a best selling author having co-athoured Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and VC, alongside Dick Costolo and Startup Communities: Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your Community. In addition to his investing and writing, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and co-chair of Startup Colorado. Brad is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship and writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts, Startup Revolution, and Ask the VC.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Brad made his move from entrepreneurship to VC and later co-founding, The Foundry Group.

2.) Does Brad agree with the view that it is important for entrepreneurs to fail?

3.) Why did Brad turn Fitbit down on 1st opportunity and what changed the 2nd time?

4.) What gets Brad excited in a startup? What areas are Brad most interested in?

5.) What is the main characteristic that makes the Foundry Group the huge success it is?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Brad's Fave  Business Books: 

1.) Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

2.) Hot Seat by Dan Shapiro

Brad's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Fred Wilson's Blog, Dan Primack: TermSheet, MatterMark Daily

Brad's Most Recent Investments: GlowForge: The 3D Laser Printer, Sphero

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Brad and Foundry Group on Twitter here!

Sarah Schupp is the CEO and founder of UniversityParent. UniversityParent is the #1 site for college parents to find everything they need to help their children succeed. The company, which began with a single print guide for the University of Colorado Boulder, now prints parent guides for more than two hundred colleges, features information for 3,000 colleges and universities on its website, and distributes a weekly e-newsletter. In May 2014, UniversityParent celebrated its 10th anniversary and was named to the Mercury100, BizWest’s ranking of the 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Boulder Valley.

Sarah has been named one of Inc. Magazine's Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30, Businessweek's top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25, and one of the Denver Business Journal's Top Women Under 40. She’s been named a "Player to Watch" by the Gates Foundation, and was recognized by the White House and the United Nations as one of the country's top young entrepreneurs.

In Today's Show You Will Learn:

How the idea for UniversityParent came about?

How did Sarah manage to juggle a growing business with a University degree?

How individuals can leverage their university network to grow their business?

How important is it for entrepreneurs to be surrounded by like minded entrepreneurs?

In what circumstances should founders confide and not confide in their team?

How does Sarah as a leader show her support for her team?

How has Sarah found the fundraising process and what would Sarah change if she could start over?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Harry's Fave Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Sarah's Fave Book: The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo

Sarah's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Think With Google

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Sarah on Twitter here!

Nick Beim is a Partner @ Venrock where he focuses on internet, mobile, SaaS, big data and fintech investments. Nick blogs on the economics of innovation at www.nickbeim.com. Nick led the initial venture investments in a number of pioneering consumer internet companies including the Gilt Groupe, and Care.com (IPO). He also led the initial investments in a number of today’s leading big data innovators including Dataminr and Intent Media. Prior to joining Venrock, Nick was a General Partner at Matrix Partners and worked in the technology groups at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Nick’s primary passion outside of venture investing is international development, in particular accelerating international development through entrepreneurship. Nick serves on the board of Endeavor, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries that Tom Friedman has called “the best anti-poverty program of all.”

In 2011, Forbes named Nick one of the “Elite 8″ to watch in Venture Capital.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Nick made his move into venture and started a bidding contest between two funds a bank for him!
• How Nick got to be involved with DataMinr and how Nick believes society will use data in the future?
• How does Nick standout in the super competitive rounds? What is Nick's value add?
• Is it still harder for female founders to get VC funding? Why? 
• What can be done to improve this imbalance in the tech ecosystem?
• What is impact investing? How do you balance LP returns with social impact improvements?
• Our friend @ August Capital, David Hornik asks Nick, what is the difference between investing in NY compared to SF? 

Items Mentioned in Today's Show:

Nick's Fave Book: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Reid Hoffman, Essays on Entrepreneurship

Ezra Galston is a VC @ Chicago Ventures, where he focuses on consumer facing and marketing tech investments and is actively involved with Blitsy, BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, and Zipments. Ezra’s thoughts on startups, have been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Re/code.
Prior to Chicago Ventures, Ezra was a Young Entrepreneur at Foundation Capital. Before business school, Ezra served as the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming – the parent company of CardRunners, Hold’em Manager and DraftDay – and before then earned a living as a professional poker player. If that wasn't enough he is also the author of one of our fave VC blogs www.breakingvc.com.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Ezra became a Poker Player and then transitioned to the world of Venture Capital?
• What is the mission with Chicago Ventures? Average ticket size? Preferred sector? 
• How important is it for startups to be close to their investors, geographically and relationship wise?
• For marketplace startups, what metrics does Ezra really deep dive on?
• With the likes of Instacart raising huge rounds, why are we seeing this huge increase in food tech?
• In hugely crowded markets, how does Ezra sort the wood from the trees?
• What advice would Ezra recommend to individuals looking to enter the VC industry?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Ezra's Fave Book: The Little Prince

Ezra's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Stratechery by Ben Thompson, Carpool.vc

Ezra's Fave Productivity Tools: Rapportive, Bitmoji

Ezra's Most Recent Investment: Luxury Garage Sale, Attendant

Bill Gurley: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces

HungryRoot: Charlie O'Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ezra on Twitter right here! 

Pierre Valade is Co-Founder and CEO @ Sunrise, the beautiful calendar app, acquired by Microsoft for $100m in February 2015, where he now works on Outlook Mobile for Microsoft. Prior to Sunrise, Pierre worked as a UX designer @ Foursquare following a successful hackathon in which he built an app in 6 hours, called Agora. Agora impressed Foursquare Founder, Dennis Crowley to the extent that Pierre was hired in the same month. As a result of Pierre's success he was named on the Innovators Under 35.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Pierre came up with the idea for Sunrise?
• What made Sunrise standout above all calendar apps as the best calendar?
• What features are most requested by Sunrise users?
• How was the design process in altering the design from a iPhone to a Apple Watch?
• What was Pierre and Sunrise approach to testing and iterating products?
• Having raised VC funding prior to acquisition, how did Pierre meet his initial investors, what was his fundraising experience like? Were there any surprises or challenges?
• How did the Microsoft Acquisition come about? How has Pierre's role and Sunrise changed since the acquisition?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Pierre's Fave Book: Zero To One: Peter Thiel

Pierre Most Impactful Purchase: iPhone 6

Pierre's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Stratechery by Ben Thompson

Fede Pirzio-Biroli is Founder @ Playfair Capital, a leading investor in seed level, technology based startups. Fede founded Playfair Capital from his first investment in December of 2010 and the portfolio quickly grew to 20 investments by the end of 2012, including the likes of Duedil, AppearHere and On Device Research. During this period, Fede was an angel in residence at White Bear Yard. After working closely with Passion Capital, he built the Playfair Capital team and moved into Warner Yard, Playfair's current home. Prior to Playfair, he spent several years in Africa working for the UN, Oxfam and PharmaSecure, after which he lobbied government and large aid organisations to increase the transparency of aid flows.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Fede made his move into angel investing and then transitioned to form his own fund?

2.) What is the mission at Playfair? What is the average ticket size? Does Playfair have any preferred sectors?

3.) What do startups need to have to get the Playfair stamp of approval? What are Playfair looking for?

4.) How has Fede seen the seed funding environment change in London?

5.) How does Fede and Playfair stave off competition for the 'hot' startups looking to raise VC money?

6.) What benefits do founders get for working in a co-working space? How important is it for VCs to offer this service?

7.) How does Fede create a united company culture in a co-working space with so many different companies?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Fede's Fave Book: The Circle by David Eggers

Fede Fave Newsletter or Blog: Dojo, AngelList

Fede's Most Recent Investment: Knytton (Techstars London W14)

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Fede on Twitter right here!

Roxanne Varza is currently the startup lead for Microsoft in France, running both Microsoft Ventures Paris and Bizspark. Prior to Microsoft, Roxanne was Editor of TechCrunch France and has been a guest author for the likes of The Telegraph and Business Insider. Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Tech.eu, one of the few publications to cover the European tech industry as a whole, with the brilliant Robin Wauters. If that wasn't enough Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Girls In Tech both in Paris and London, which aims to raise the visibility of women in technology,entrepreneurship and innovation though monthly events, leadership programmes and much more. Roxanne has won a range of accolade including Top 30 Women Under 30 In Tech, Coolest 25 Women in Tech and 10 Women Shaking Up Tech In Their 30s. 

P.S. If you are looking for an amazing new podcast on the Tech Scene in Europe, check out Tech.eu's new show here: Tech.eu Podcast #4

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Roxanne made her move into the tech industry and then made the move from TechCrunch to running Microsoft's Accelerator in Paris?
• What would Roxanne recommend to people in tech contemplating moving countries?
• What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch?
• What is the mission at Microsoft Ventures? What is the deal? What are the benefits?
• In the 10 minute pitch to Roxanne, what does Microsoft want to hear?
• How does Microsoft determine product-market fit?
• What does the increase in US funds entering the European market suggest?
• What are the benefits for startups of having global investors?
• What can startups do to increase their media exposure in the sea of new startups?
• What do journalists look for in emails from founders?
• How can founders be successful through submitting guest posts?
• What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch?

Items Mentioned in Today's Show:

Roxanne's Fave Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Roxanne's Reading Material: News.me: Digg

Fred Wilson: Investing In Startups In Europe

Microsoft Ventures Alumni: Zocdoc: Find a Doctor, Xobni: Your Smarter Address Book Is Waiting

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Roxanne on Twitter right here!

Nick Bortot is the Founder & CEO at Bux, Europe's largest mobile trading platform with an incredible 175,000 active users. In his former life he was one of the driving forces behind the Dutch market leader in online brokerage, BinckBank. There he held several commercial positions before he was elected member of the executive board. After having spent five years in the boardroom, Nick started dreaming about a new company that would make the financial markets both fun and exciting. This dream turned into BUX. Bud has attained many incredible mentions and awards including being named on the Fintech50 2015. You can also check out their first TV add right here!

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Nick made the move from broking to founding Bux?
• What are the benefits of being a slightly older founder?
• What Nick would recommend to anyone looking for a technical co-founder?
• How to build a team of individuals with complimentary skills?
• What are the drivers for the incredible growth to 175,000 users?
• How is Nick planning to convert an audience of non trader to start trading?
• What advice would Nick give founders entering into heavily regulated markets?
• How Bux have built a great brand in a competitive market?
• Having raised funds from Orange Growth Capital, what was surprising and challenging for Nick about raising angel and VC money?
• What would Nick do differently if he was raising funds again?
• Does Nick agree with the concept of building a 'war chest' of funds?

Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Nick's Fave Book: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: VICE News

Nick's Fave App: BRAINTOSS: Toss your thoughts straight into your inbox

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Nick and Bux on Twitter right here!

Mike Jones is the Founder and CEO at Science Inc. a disruptive media, marketing and commerce company that creates, invests, acquires and scales successful digital businesses. Their incredible portfolio includes the likes of Medium, DollarShaveClub and DogVacay and their leadership is responsible for an astonishing 12 acquisitions and over $1bn in exits. Prior to Science Inc, Mike was the CEO at Myspace, where he was responsible for the relaunch, one of the most high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry, before selling MySpace to SpecificMedia on behalf of NewsCorp. Mike is also an active early stage investor having personally invested in over 30 startup businesses including Klout, Betterworks, Formspring, ShoeDazzle to name a few.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Mike began his entrepreneurial career, how MySpace came about then how Mike made the move to Science Inc?

2.) What is the mission at Science, what does Science provide and how do they differ from the likes of YC and Techstars?

3.) Science have a specific methodology to identify the best startups and the best sectors. What is involved in this methodology? Has it changed since the start of Science?

4.) What can a startup founder do or show you to impress you? Are there any real red flags for you when meeting startup founders? What are the commonalities of the great founders?

5.) What is Science's involvement with the companies, what are their key value adds at Science?

6.) On Twist Mike said ‘growth is the most important thing, without growth there is no money’? So what at Science how do they approach growth and what are the challenges posed by this need for growth?

Items Mentioned in Todays Episode:

Mike's Fave Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do by Chris Duhigg

Mike's Fave News Source: FlipBoard

Arteen Arabshahi is a VC at Karlin Ventures, where he specialises in enterprise software, commerce platforms, and marketplaces. Prior to Karlin Ventures, Arteen spearheaded the launch of Built In LA, an online community for digital entrepreneurs and innovators. However, his passion for startups flourished while helping run operations at Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago. In today's incredible interview we delve into the best strategies for contacting any VC you want, how to make the approach, how to deal with the emotional and psychological pressure of starting a company and the rise of marketplaces. When not with startups, Arteen sits on the board of TEDxVenice Beach and is a supporter of TWLOHA, a non-profit raising awareness and support for those struggling with mental health.

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Arteen and Karlin Ventures on Twitter right here!

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Arteen made the jump into the world of Venture Capital, from originally wanting to be a plastic surgeon!!
• How did Arteen approach VCs when applying for positions?
• What did Arteen say in those emails to achieve such a high response rate?
• What tools did Arteen use to ensure he got the VCs real email address?
• Does Arteen agree with the traditional routes into Venture: Startup Founder, Consultant, Investment Banking?
• Why is Arteen so excited about marketplaces? Are there any in particular that Arteen is doubling down on?
• How big a market does a market have to be to get Arteen excited?
• What would Arteen advise founders potentially struggling from self doubt or lacking in confidence?
• What mental health tools would Arteen recommend to help with this?
• The biggest red flags for Arteen when being pitched to?

Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Email Address Tools: Rapportive
• Arteen's ProductHunt Collection
• Arteen's Fave Book: Fightclub
• Arteen's Marketplace Investments: Laurel & Wolf, ShipHawk
• Arteen's Fave Newsletter: Ben Evans Blog, Strictly VC
• Artene's Most Recent Investment: Policy Genius

Matt Williams is Founder and CEO of Pro.com. Prior to Pro.com, Matt served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz, following his time at Digg where he led the complete overhaul of Digg which he joined as CEO in 2010 to rebuild the site from the ground up and contributed to its successful acquisition by Betaworks in 2012. Before Digg, Matt spent 12 years at Amazon where he managed Amazon’s Auctions and Marketplace, Community and Cross Merchandising, Tech Alliances, Web Store, and Consumer Payments divisions. Prior to Amazon, Matt founded and was the CEO of Livebid, which was acquired by Amazon in 1999.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Matt made his way into entrepreneurship and then later the VC world?

2.) How did LiveBid come about when Matt was only 23 and how did he build the product and the initial user base?

3.) What was the hardest aspect of the entire LiveBid journey and how did Matt overcome it?

4.) How did Matt's life and work change moving from your own startup to working in a massive organization like amazon? What would Matt advise founders who have sold or are thinking of selling their companies to large corporations?

5.) Following a number of years at Amazon. How did you attempt to turn Digg around as CEO and was their anything you would have done differently? 

6.) As EIR at Andreessen Horowitz what was it like, for Matt, working at a16z? Was there anything that surprised Matt about the move to venture?

7.) What would Matt say was the biggest lesson from working at these tech titans was? How has that affected how Matt runs Pro.com today?

David Wu is a General Partner at Maveron, which he joined in 2012 to help identify new investments in Web companies that have the potential to become leading consumer brands. He sourced and led Maveron's investment, Eargo and Darby Smart, also serving on their board. David is very much founder focussed and you’ll often find him coaching entrepreneurs at top Bay Area incubators such as Y Combinator, AngelPad, 500 Startups, and Stanford’s StartX and was previously EIR at Redpoint Ventures. His close ties to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community have led him to invest personally in over 30 start-ups, including Practice Fusion, Postmates, Tile, Jaunt VR, and SeatMe.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How David made his move into the world of venture capital?
• How David perceives the current seed funding environment?
• What makes Stanford the breeding ground of tech unicorns that it is?
• How to create a bay area style culture?
• What is the most frequent problem David sees startups encounter and how do they overcome it?
• How can entrepreneurs know which funding source to go for? Crowdfunding, VC, Angel?
• Why should startups take seed VC money over angel money? What is the difference?
• What are the key traits required to be a great founder?
• How can products with early adopter usage transition to a mass market product?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

• David's Fave Books: Game Of Thrones
• David's Most Recent Investment: Jott

As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Maveron on Twitter right here!

Did you know: The name Point Nine Capital originates from the 0.9 version of a product that is early but has great potential.

Nicolas Wittenborn is a VC at Point Nine Capital, one of the leading seed funds in Europe. Prior to Point Nine, Nicolas worked for the Team Europe Seed Fund. You can follow Nicolas' incredible blog here, which include my favourite ever blog post, outlining the exemplar pitch deck that startups should follow!

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Nicolas made the move from iPhone sales arbitrage to VC analyst!!
• How big does a market have to be to get VCs excited?
• Do VCs have preferences with regards to teams? Technical or not? Multiple founders or not?
• At the Seed stage what do VCs expect in the product itself?
• What are the key metrics investors look for when viewing startups for the 1st time?
• What are the different types of competition and how can founders determine whether they are a real threat?
• How can startups and mobile apps in particular, grow organically in the early stages?

Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Nicolas' Fave Book: What Makes Sami Run?: Budd Schulberg
• Nicolas Fave Newsletters: Benedict Evans Newsletter, Point Nine Newsletter
• Nicolas' Most Recent Investment: Green Blender: Superfood Smoothie Ingredients Delivered To Your Door

As always you can follow Harry, Nicolas, The Twenty Minute VC and Point Nine Capital right here!

Similarly if you want to see Harry in a more colourful light, head over to Instagram for copious amount of mojitos!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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!

Alessandra Sollberger is a VC at Mosaic Ventures, a new Silicon Valley style venture firm based in London, focussing on Series A rounds. Alessandra previously worked in private equity at Blackstone, covering sectors ranging from consumer brands to software. Prior to that, she worked in startups in the US and Europe and in M&A at Goldman Sachs. She is also the founder of Bright Mentors, an edtech non-profit teaching coding and science in secondary schools through a network of technology professionals.

                     In todays episode you will learn:

• How Alessandra made her move into the VC world?

• What are you Mosaic looking for? What is their typical investment size? 

   

• What Alessandra thinks of the different paths into venture? 

•  What advice would you give someone looking to enter venture?

•  

  Why Alessandra believes there has been a resurgence in marketplaces? What is driving this growth? 

• What startup marketplaces is Alessandra most excited about? 

   

• Alessandra's thoughts on the next big sector to be disrupted and why?

As always you can follow Harry, Alessandra, The Twenty Minute VC and Mosaic Ventures on Twitter here!

Today is a very special show as James Wise, Principal at Balderton Capital turns the tables on Host of The Twenty Minute VC, Harry Stebbings. In today's brilliant interview by James we delve into what has led to Harry's interest in the VC industry, why did Harry start The 20 Minute VC, how does Harry identify guests to interview, how does he approach those guests, how has Harry found his first experience in the venture industry, what has surpassed Harry about the VC industry, what traits has Harry spotted that are common among the great VCs interviewed, is Harry optimistic or not about the venture industry, what would Harry recommend for other people looking to go into venture.

Items Mentioned in Todays Show:

Harry's Favourite Books: Tim Ferris: 4 Hour Work Week, 4 Hour Body

Shyp

Crowdcube, 3DHubs, Tictail

MMC Ventures, Founders Forum

As always you can follow Harry, James and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here! 

Jason Lemkin is Managing Director at Storm Ventures focussing on early stage SaaS and enterprise startups. Jason is an acknowledged thought leader in SaaS through his creation of the SaaStr community, connecting thousands of SaaS entrepreneurs and generating upwards of 1,000,000 views a month around core SaaS topics, with a particular focus on accelerating revenue and early-stage SaaS sales and marketing. Prior to Storm, Jason served as CEO and co-founder of Storm Ventures-backed EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service. Jason led EchoSign from inception through its acquisition by Adobe Systems Inc. in 2011. He then served as Vice President, Web Services at Adobe, where he oversaw the growth of EchoSign and Adobe Document Services to $100,000,000+ ARR in 2013.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How Jason made his way into the SaaS and VC industry?

What actions did Jason do to get his blog to 1m+ page views per month?

What advice would Jason give to founders thinking of selling to large companies?

What type of entrepreneur does Jason like to invest in?

How does Jason see SaaS valuations, with recent enormous rounds from Zenefits?

What areas of the SaaS industries are neglected or undervalued?

Is the 40% growth rule broadly correct and can this be applied to early stage tech companies?

What is Jason's pre-investment meeting approach like?

What makes a founder insane in a good way, rather than a bad way?

How are SaaS companies innovating to acquire new customers?

Quick Fire Round:

1. Apple: Hit or Miss
2. Most exciting SaaS companies and sectors
3. Jason's favourite book and why?

Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:

SaaStr: Jason's Blog

Jason's Favourite Book: The Lion Who Shot Back

Mark Suster: Both Sides

Follow: @saleshacker (amazing content from VPs of Sales @ Top Tech Startups)

Emergence Capital: Joe Floyd

David Saks: Yammer

Slack: Stewart Butterfield, Zenefits: Parker Conrad

Spencer Lazar is a Principal at General Catalyst Partners, based in New York City. He focuses on early stage software & internet investments, with a particular interest in online marketplaces, mobile applications, web services, and enterprise IT. Spencer was previously the cofounder of Spontaneously, Inc - an iOS development studio. Prior to that he was an early stage software & internet investor at Accel in London, where he sourced and worked with companies including Hailo, Birchbox, Bonobos, ForgeRock, and Qriously.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How is the roads into the venture industry changing?

What young people can do to make themselves more attractive to VCs?

What would make Spencer's perfect founder?

How important is geography when investing in startups?

How does Spencer feel the education technology space is developing?

What metrics Spencer examines when investing in a startup?

What sectors is Spencer most interested in?

Items Mentioned in Today's Show:

Spencer's Favourite Book: The Everything Store on Jeff Bezos

Spencer's Latest Investment: CampusJob

Insight Venture Partners

How Lightspeed's Jeremy Liew invested in Snapchat?

Hot EdTech Startups: Lynda.com, PluralSight, General Assembly, Grovo, ClimbCredit

Oscar, Sensio

As always you can follow Harry, Spencer and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!