The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

To win a signed copy of Venture Deals by Brad Feld, click the link below and like our Facebook page and you will be entered into the competition. https://www.facebook.com/The-Twenty-Minute-VC-769935093077190/timeline/ Chad Fowler is the CTO at 6Wunderkinder (acquired by Microsoft), the company behind the wildly successful Wunderlist, previously cited by Michael Treskow and Mattias Ljungman on the show as their must have productivity app. Prior to 6Wunderkinder, Chad was the Senior VP of technology of the daily deals site, Living Social and before that we was CTO at InfoEther, a Ruby and Ruby-On-Rails consultancy firm. Fowler is also the host and organiser of numerous tech conferences and wrote "The Passionate Programmer", a career guide for software developers. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) Where did it all begin for Chad and how did he make the move from his musician dreams to CTO of tech startups? 2.) As an American, working in Europe, how does Europe's tech community compare to the US? 3.) Wunderlist was the App of the Year, what does Chad believes makes it so special? 4.) Is there more to go in improving the consumer feel of enterprise software? 5.) How did Chad go about creating a product with such habit forming ability? 6.) Question from Carolina Brochado @ Atomico: What is it like moving from a small manned startup to a giant corporation like Microsoft? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Chad's Fave Book: The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Chad on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side of Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Kamal Ravikant, Silicon Valley tech and investing icon, discusses the future of venture capital and his concerns about the tech scene. He also shares how he navigates the frothy market of tech startups and his favorite books and blogs. Topics include the rise of angel investing, recent investment in Bolt, balancing LP returns and impact investing, and legal advice for startups.

Kamal Ravikant, an absolute hero and bestselling author, discusses his journey into venture capital and shares his insights on entrepreneurship. He delves into what makes a great VC and the future of venture capital. Kamal also highlights the advantages of being an entrepreneur in the digital age and the value of learning by doing. Amidst the discussion, the podcast also touches on frustrating investors and the frothy market of tech startups.

Eric Glyman, Co-Founder and CEO @ Paribus (Y Combinator S15), the service which scans your inbox for receipts and automatically saves you money when the items you bought drop in price. Stores often guarantee that you will get the lowest prices. But they don’t follow through unless you work for it. Paribus does the work for you. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) What was Eric's career before Paribus and what was his a-ha moment was for the idea? 2.) How did Eric do things differently from the typical startup? Was this effective or would it have been more productive to go full in? 3.) What were Paribus' testing hypotheses like? Does Eric prefer mass market testing or niche 100 person testing? 4.) How was the admissions process for YC, why did Eric choose YC and why were YC attracted to Paribus? 5.) What would Eric advise founders looking to get into YC? Is there anything they can do or know that will increase their chances of getting into YC? 6.) What were the breakthrough moments for Paribus? What were the most challenging elements and how did Eric overcome them? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Eric's Fave Book: I, Robot Eric's Fave Blog: AppSumo by Noah Kagan As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Eric and Paribus on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, follow Harry on Instagram here!

Aaron Harris is a Partner at Y Combinator and also newly one of my favourite podcast hosts with his brilliant show, Startup School Radio, for all startup lovers it is a must listen. Prior to YC, Aaron was cofounder of Sequoia backed Tutorspree, which was funded by Y Combinator in 2011. Before Tutorspree he worked at Bridgewater Associates, where he managed product and operations for an analytics group. He also writes an awesome blog which can be found here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Aaron make his move into the world of entrepreneurship with Tutorspree and then become a YC Partner? 2.) Why did Aaron join YC and why does he believe the biggest potential lies at this stage of the cycle? 3.) Now at YC, Aaron is a Partner, what does that entail, what level of interaction do you have with the founders, where does YC look to add serious value? 4.) With the mass of startups now in the 100s coming out of each YC demo day, how does YC assure the same quality and level of value add? 5.) With regards to testing what is YC’s opinion? How does YC assess whether a product does have product market fit? What are the YC requirements for growth whilst in YC? 6.) What happens after the YC experience, does YC maintain conversations and communication? How does YC try to maintain valuations at a reasonable level to stop YC price inflation? 7.) What is the future for YC? Are we going to see another funding round? Is the YC model scalable? Could we have a YC Europe? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Aaron & YC's Podcast: Startup School Radio Aaron's Fave Book: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Founder's At Work by Jessica Livingston As always you can follow Harry, Aaron, The Twenty Minute VC and YC on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Kirsty Nathoo is the CFO of Y Combinator. As CFO, she holds the keys to the kingdom – literally. Not only does she control and manage Y Combinator’s internal finances, from paying bills to helping organize demo days to actually making sure Y Combinator’s money is wired to startups from the proper accounts; but she helps YC startups coordinate outside financings, tax issues, incorporation and other fiscal matters. She’s the financial brains behind the entire operation, with YC partner Harj Taggar stating that ‘YC would cease to operate if Kirsty was not around’. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Kirsty made her move from PWC in Cambridge to CFO at the World’s Most Successful Accelerator? 2.) Joining YC permanently in 2010, how has Kirsty seen it develop to today’s current state? What has been the key drivers to the success and growth of YC? 3.) As CFO Kirsty has developed a certain pattern recognition with regards to what investors and VCs like to see in the terms of startups. What are they? 4.) Kirsty has seen the progression of many startups, what are the most common problems startups face in the fundraising cycle? What are the commonalities in those that are successful? 5.) How does YC address the issue of potentially inflated valuations for their alum? 6.) What are some financials that all founders should know all the time? 7.) What is the future for YC? Are we going to see another funding round? Is the YC model scalable? Could we have a YC Europe? As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Y Combinator on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Alice Bentinck is Co-Founder at Entrepreneurs First, the accelerator program that puts founders first! Previously, Alice worked at prestigious consultancy firm McKinsey & Co, before turning down an offer from Google to found Entrepreneur First alongside Matt. She taught herself to code, and founded Code First Girls in 2013 to help more women get into tech. She sits on the board of Sherry Coutu's Founders4Schools, is on Imperial College London's Department of Computing Industrial Liaison Board, and acted as the Prime Minister's expert on startups at the Northern Future Forum. She has been recognised in Management Today’s 35 under 35 and the Evening Standard’s Top 1000 most influential Londoners. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Alice came up with the idea for EF and why she decided to found the company? 2.) What would Alice recommend is the best way to build a company from scratch? EF is for technical individuals, what can non technical individuals do? 3.) What would Alice say makes a great founder? Has she seen any commonalities in the great founders that have exited EF? 4.) What is Alice's opinion on equity divisions within startups? What is the right way to approach the topic? 5.) What should teams focus on in the first 100 days of their startup? What is the 20% that produces 80% of the results? 6.) What has been the hardest aspect of growing the business and how did Alice overcome it? As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Alice on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry and many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Bob Kocher is a Partner at Venrock and focuses on healthcare IT and services investments. He currently serves on the Boards of Aledade and Jiff, and is a Board Observer at Grand Rounds and Doctor on Demand. Prior to Venrock, Bob served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy on the National Economic Council. In the Obama Administration, Bob was one of the shapers of the Affordable Care Act. Before the White House, Bob was a Partner at McKinsey & Company where he led McKinsey Global Institute’s healthcare economics work and Center for United States Health System Reform. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Bob made his way from The White House to Venrock as a VC? 2.) How did working at The White House prepare Bob for his career as a VC, where does Bob have the biggest opportunity to change the healthcare system? 3.) What are the barriers to entry that a preventing full scale innovation and business growth in the healthcare IT space? 4.) Why have we seen a large increase in healthcare startups? What more would you Bob like to see in the healthcare space, either from the side of the startups or VC’s? 5.) How does Bob perceive the integration of software and healthcare in the future? 6.) As a healthcare professional, what would Bob recommend an individual with a high powered, demanding job in order to lead a healthy lifestyle? Items Mentioned In Todays Episode: Bob's Fave Book: The System Bob's Most Recent Investment: Lyra Health As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Bob on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito night, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Michael Treskow is a VC @ Accel Partners, one of the world's most successful venture firms having funded the likes of Facebook, Dropbox, Spotify, Etsy and many more. At Accel, Michael is responsible for the firm’s investments in SpaceApe, a mobile games developer, and GoCardless, an online direct debt provider. Michael was also instrumental in Accel's investments and ongoing work with Funding Circle, Packlink, Qubit, Semmle, Trufa and WorldRemit. Prior to Accel, Michael focused on early-stage investments in technology companies at Warburg Pincus in San Francisco, invested in publicly traded technology companies at Highside Capital, and helped advise technology companies as part of Morgan Stanley's investment banking team in New York. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Michael made his way into the VC industry? Do you think it is very important for VCs to have entrepreneurial experience? 2.) How does Michael compare the investing environments between London and SF? What was his biggest takeaway from Warburg Pincus in SF? 3.) Accel is stage agnostic, why is that? What size market attracts Michael? How can Michael tell whether founders have the ability to exploit the market? 4.) What Michael believes are his key value adds? Have these changed over time? 5.) We often hear startups being described as ‘uber for’, ‘tinder for’. Do VCs like this simplification of business? How else would Michael suggest a complex concept can be broken down into something easily digestible? 6.) Does Michael still believe there is room for improvement in the consumerisation of enterprise software? Does Emergence Capital's pivot signal a turning tide? Items Mentioned In Todays Episode: Michael's Fave Book: The Innovator's Dilemma, Crossing The Chasm Michael Productivity Tools: Wunderlist Michael's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Dan Primack, Term Sheet Michael' Most Recent Investment: CartoDB As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Michael on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito night, you can follow him on Instagram here!

James Borow, former CEO and Co-Founder of Shift, discusses his entrepreneurial journey, acquiring major clients like Linkedin and Facebook, fundraising challenges, reasons for selling Shift to Brand Networks, and advice for founders contemplating selling their business to larger companies.