Today’s episode features world-class insight on driving revenue growth from investors behind some of the most successful startups in recent history. We offer perspectives from both Venture Capital and Private Equity with our guests, Neeraj Agrawal, General Partner Battery Ventures, Dave Tiley, Senior Operating Partner Align Capital Partners, and Izhar Armony, General Partner CRV.

Tune in for tips on what to look for when investing in early-stage companies, the attributes investors seek when making leadership hires, and the four key dimensions of investing: market, team, technology, and the deal itself. Learn all of this and more in this conversation with our hosts John Kaplan and John McMahon.

Here are some key sections to check out:

01:42 Successful versus unsuccessful start-ups

7:50 How CEO selection determines success

16:47 The investor’s “Rule of 40”

21:47 Differences between VC and PE investors

29:47 Focus on growth or earnings?

35:10 Attributes to look for when hiring leaders

45:10 Common mistakes of early-stage companies

53:07 Product-market fit in early-stage companies

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Neeraj on looking for a strong sales mentality when hiring CEOs: “The art of sales is more important than it was a few years ago because there's scrutiny in every decision. Having somebody who can connect the dots between the business problem, the value property or product, ROI, dealing with CFO scrutiny… that's all gone from “nice-to-haves” to super important right now.”

Dave on the mindset of going from good to great: “If we're not getting better each and every day in every phase of the business, and we think somebody else is, then we're not putting our best foot forward for our employees, shareholders and investors… You're just trying to optimize it and take it to the next level. Building companies to get to $20 million is one thing, but to get to $50 and then $100, you know, they're just different stages and steps; there's a different playbook for each.”

Connect with our amazing guests in the links below:

Neeraj Agrawal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajagrawal2000/
Dave Tiley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetiley/
Izar Armony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izhararmony/

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

HOST: John McMahon

GUESTS: Neeraj Agrawal, Dave Tiley, and Izhar Armony

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