My firstminute | Cristina Fonseca, Talkdesk, Indico Capital Partners | Fabrice Grinda, OLX, FJ Labs | Paul Forster, Indeed.com
May 8, 2020
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Three unicorn founders turned investors, Cristina Fonseca, Fabrice Grinda, and Paul Forster, discuss imposter syndrome, acquiring market share globally, lessons from successful and unsuccessful startups, and transitioning to investors post-exits.
Transitioning from founders to investors requires a mindset shift towards assessing team skills and commitment.
Investment decisions demand a holistic approach focusing on team quality, unit economics, deal terms, and market trends.
Deep dives
Finding Success in Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship
Transitioning from successful unicorn founders to investors, the podcast guests, Fabrice, Christina, and Paul, share insights on their journey. Their fund, First Minute Capital, thrives on sharing wisdom from successful entrepreneurs with the next generation. They discuss their early entrepreneurial careers, key lessons, and team-building experiences that shaped their success. Paul emphasizes the importance of executive balance and building resilient teams. Christina highlights the role of mentors and quality investors, while Fabrice stresses the critical factors of team, business model, deal terms, and market trends in his investment decisions.
Lessons from Entrepreneurial Journeys and Investment Strategies
The podcast delves into the lessons learned by the guests from their entrepreneurial experiences and investment strategies. Paul highlights the shift from an execution mindset as an entrepreneur to evaluating team skills and commitment as an investor. Christina values personal mentors, smart investor choices, and diverse business exposure as critical aspects. Fabrice discusses the importance of team quality, solid unit economics, reasonable deal terms, and alignment with market trends in investment decision-making.
Balancing Early-Stage Scrappy Ventures and Public Companies
Christina discusses balancing early-stage entrepreneurial ventures with mature public companies, including her role as a venture partner at Indico Capital Partners and a board member at GELP. She addresses the shift in mindset required to engage with diverse stakeholders. Her ability to transition between scrappy startups and public firms showcases adaptability and varied perspectives in the investment landscape.
Investment Criteria and Avoiding Pitfalls in Startups
Fabrice outlines his investment criteria focused on team storytelling, financial acumen, and reasonable deal structures. He emphasizes the importance of pre-unit economics and alignment with marketplace trends in evaluating startups. By demanding a holistic approach to potential investments, Fabrice mitigates risks and clarifies his stance on what makes a startup investment-worthy.
Paul Forster (Co-founder & former CEO Indeed.com [$1bn acquisition by Recruit])
They discussed a variety of topics that are personal to them but also topics for anyone looking to start a business. These ranged from struggling with imposter syndrome as a founder, acquiring initial market share in countries, lessons learned from successful but mainly, less-successful startups and their shared transitions to investors following booming exits.
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