Playing With Unicorns

Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to evaluate if the idea is worth pursuing. I detail which hypothesis you need to validate and how to go about providing or disproving them. Vivian Graves (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivian-graves/), an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at FJ Labs, joins to share how she evaluated whether to pursue a temporary veterinarian labor marketplace idea.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I discuss how to quickly determine whether the idea is worth pursuing further. I also share tips and tricks on ideation and early validation. Arne Halleraker , who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, joins to share the startup ideas he came up with for our most recent FJ Labs ideation session this past August.

Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff Weinstein who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to explain the history of venture capital. He details how VC firms operate, how they are funded, and shares his take on the future of the industry. The episode is a must watch for aspiring venture capitalists, prospective investors in venture funds, and entrepreneurs raising from VCs.

Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. As a follow-up, I wanted to present the specifics of the FJ Labs startup studio model. Anthony Valente, Andrea Xu, and Charles Gorra join to describe their experiences at the various stages of our program.

This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. Nancy Dong (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancydong/), our first ever guest on Playing With Unicorns, joins to share the framework she used to decide whether she should join FJ Labs (www.fjlabs.com) as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) after stints at Uber and Harvard Business School (HBS).

Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried a “Ask Me Anything” session for the week. It was a resounding success with very varied questions. We covered: • The impact of antitrust laws on the venture ecosystem • The differences between being an angel and running an early stage fund • How we acquired the first customers at OLX • Whether marketplaces should start by building supply or demand • How to build your brand in VC • Much more!

In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, deal terms and whether the idea fits with their thesis to decide whether to invest or not. In this episode, I present FJ Labs’ Investment thesis. I start by covering why we focus on marketplaces, then detail:   Our current marketplace theses: Verticalization of horizontals Transition to supply pick marketplaces B2B marketplaces The Future of Food The Future of Work The Future of Real Estate The Future of Lending

In the first episode I covered how and when to fundraise. In this episode, I cover how venture capitalists (VCs) evaluate you once you are in front of them the help you refine your approach and pitch.

I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving an in depth and specific example of how I would go about building a mobile golf application allowing golfers to find partners to play with at their handicap, in their region and/or club, with the same availability. I cover how to use various tools and services such as Balsamiq, Awesome Screenshot and Upwork.

Given that it's episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this podcast before covering everything there is to know in terms of fundraising for venture backed startups • Common mistakes when fundraising • The unwritten rules of venture capital • How and when to approach venture capitalists • Much more!