Founderline

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Russ Siegelman answer listener questions including: - When you are angel investing, is there a valuation amount or structure (e.g. convertible debt vs. equity) that causes you to invest or not invest? - Knowing what we know now about the social web, what things would you like to have seen Friendster do differently? - What are some of the success stories from Startup Garage, either products or teams? What does Startup Garage do differently than Y Combinator? - It seems that big companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. have huge resources but are out-innovated by smaller startups. How does that happen? - Can you please share with us some insight into the decision process at a large VC like Kleiner-Perkins? For example, what are the steps, do the decisions have to be unanimous, what happens when there are disagreements about investing, etc.

In this episode, host Joe Beninato and guest Aydin Senkut of Felicis Ventures answer listener questions including: - What strategies do you consider when a big established company (Apple/Facebook/Google) moves into your space and encroaches very closely on your niche market? - What would you do if you met with the perfect team, fantastic recommendations, great experience, super smart... and you really want to work with them, but their product idea isn’t quite right?  Would you pass?  - Do you attend demo days (like YC or TechStars) and if so, how do you decide which companies to focus on after 2.5 minutes? - If I'm the founder of a YC company, what's the best way to get your attention at or after Demo Day? - When you receive a company intro via email, what is the one critical thing that makes you say "I want to talk to this founder" vs. ignoring it?

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Manu Kumar of K9 Ventures answer listener questions including: - Describe an instance where you had to be persistent to get a deal done or hire someone. How did you balance being persistent and not being pain in the neck at the same time? - Every investor says the best way to reach them is through their network. What is the best way a founder with engineering background who does not have a network, start building their network that will vouch for them? - Why do you require your founders to be technical as opposed to having a mix of business and technical?  Are there any drawbacks to having an all technical team? - It seems that seed stage investors have different perspectives on taking board seats. Can you please share you thoughts on this topic? - What is your stance on startups offering early exercise (83B) to their employees?

In this episode, host Joe Beninato and guest Ann Miura-Ko of FLOODGATE answer listener questions including: - How does a CEO balance his/her time given the several responsibilities/opportunities? - FLOODGATE seems to focus on business plans through referals that you trust.  Why is that? How can somebody with a great product idea and great credentials get noticed? - If the company that I'm working at does a bridge loan, what does it mean? Do they have to tell their employees when they do a bridge loan? - I am having a disagreement with one of my investors over where to take our company (strategy-wise). Any suggestions on how to best navigate this? - What is the #1 reason startups fail? How do you avoid that issue? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses the concerns of student entrepreneurs.

In this episode, host Joe Beninato and guest Heidi Roizen of DFJ answer listener questions including: - What tools are there for women entrepreneurs? What tools are missing that would help most? How can we get more women founders in Silicon Valley? - How important is the state of incorporation? There seems to be an investor preference for Delaware. Is that generally preferred or are there other good choices? - I'm a designer at a public Internet company and would like to become a startup founder. What advice would you give me for finding the right idea and partners to work with? - How does DFJ make investment decisions? Do all of you have to agree to invest in a company? - I've noticed is that all these Venture Capital companies have all their details online but no email address to contact them. How do they get to know the viable start ups on the market? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses structuring a partnership between a start-up and a larger company

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC answer listener questions including:  - What can you build into your company (e.g. policies, culture) to support failing quickly and cheaply in order to make course corrections as quickly as possible?  - What is the best way to get to know an investor before making a decision about accepting an investment?  - I'm a female startup founder and I'm finding it hard to tell if VCs aren't taking us seriously because I'm a woman, our idea is bad, or something else. What advice would you give me?  - How do most acquisitions happen? Is it the acquirer who approaches the startup or vice versa?

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest John Lilly of Greylock Partners answer listener questions including: After a startup like Tumblr or Instagram is acquired, do you still stay involved and help the founders? How many startup pitches do you receive every day and how many of those do you respond to? When Greylock makes an investment, does the decision have to be unanimous? What if one of more partners disagree? When you're deciding how to invest, what are the relative importances of the problem space, the founders, and the team? I'm a successful entrepreneur interested in moving to the VC side. What's the best way to do this? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses acquisitions

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Karl Jacob of Hangtime answer listener questions including: How many angel investments do you make each year and what are the deciding factors when you make those investments? We've raised $1 million in seed funding, but are running low on cash and having trouble raising more money. Any advice on the best way to do this? What are some of the lessons learned at Hangtime in becoming a viral social app? How do you take a social mobile company to profitability? What's the most difficult situation you've ever faced as a founder/CEO and how did you manage it? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses setting up initial terms for founders.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and his guest, angel investor Mark Goines, answer listener questions including: Founders may find themselves self-funding the business from personal savings and drawing no salary during early days. If the business makes it to a professional funding round, are there ways for the founders to fairly recover some or all of their investment? Angels seem to take a lot of risk. Why do they do it? What's happening in the education startup space? What is the #1 reason you've seen companies fail? Is it founders disagreeing? Lack of product/market fit? Inability to raise money? Do you have any advice on the best way to find the right investors for my startup? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses making board meetings productive.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest David Hornik of August Capital answer listener questions including: What are the most important ("Top 5"?) Key Performance Indicators for a consumer eCommerce company? What is the biggest investment mistake you've ever made, either putting money in or missing an opportunity? I'm an experienced founder looking at moving to the VC side. Any advice for how to go about that process? What percentage of deals come in your door with a women as CEO?  How much of your investment decision is product vs. team vs. market?  

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Marie Ekeland of Elaia Partners & France Digitale answer listener questions including: How did you (Marie) discover Criteo and what led to you investing? I am looking for a technical cofounder in Paris. Any suggestions on how to find the right person? What improvements to the French startup ecosystem would you recommend? Any changes in governmental rules? How can we get more women founders?  What can VCs do to help increase the number of women founders? What are your thoughts about the importance of an advisory board, how to pick who should be on it, and how to compensate them? In the "Ask the Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses US companies and foreign employees.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Roberto Bonanzinga of Balderton Capital broadcast from London, answering listener questions including: What advantages are there to starting up a company in England--or Europe--as opposed to the US?  Legal, regulatory, financial, resources… How different is it working in a European startup vs a Silicon Valley startup? In the US, it is our perception that Europeans have a bit more work/life balance, and I'm wondering if that is true with startups. There seems to be little collaboration between the US startup community and the European startup community. Why is that? What can be done to change that? If I am looking to join a startup in Europe, what are some of the hottest, most rapidly growing companies right now? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses the top considerations for U.S. companies doing business in Europe.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Josh Elman of Greylock Partners answer listener questions including: What are the verticals you are most interested in exploring from an investment standpoint? How does having a strong product background help you in picking a company to invest in? What do you consider the ideal founding team in terms of engineers, designers, business people, etc. When you start a company, what is the ideal time to bring in a product manager?  How much of a role should the product manager have? How do you keep the pace of innovation after a startup is acquired by another company? In the "Ask the Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses how best to work with consultants.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Ariel Poler answer listener questions including: How do angel investors find investments? What about launching a company into a space where there have been multiple entrants but no successes? What about some of the online services like Kickstarter and Indiegogo? Are those a viable way to launch a product? At the very early stages of our company, should we do a convertible note or an equity round? What target IRR do investors look for when looking at an opportunity to invest? Does that number differ inversely with the assessed likelihood of the company being successful? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses corporate structures.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Robert Stephens, founder of The Geek Squad and former CTO of Best Buy, answer listener questions including: How do you split time between technology and business? Are you more passionate about technology or the business problem you are trying to solve? How did you select your executive team and what did you offer them to get them to come on board? What technological waves do you see impacting Silicon Valley over the next five years that a new startup could take advantage of? What are some of the things that venture capitalists can do to increase the number of women founders?  

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Geoff Ralston of Y Combinator and Imagine K12 answer listener questions including: Why haven't we seen any big exits yet in Education Tech? How will broadband penetration affect MOOCs, especially in developing world? How can an entrepreneur with a great idea but without a Silicon Valley network and qualifications get funding? What is it like for a startup to be acquired by a large conpany? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses acquisition escrow.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Greg Sands of Costanoa Venture Capital answer listener questions including: Is it better to build a large user base, even though users are non-paying, or to charge customers, though it slows user base growth? What is the process of an IPO, and why might a company delay IPO? How do you determine the right price for the product/service you're offering? When should you avoid an incubator? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses participating preferred stock.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Paul Martino of Bullpen Capital answer listener questions including: How can a startup know when to pivot...and what to pivot to? For two cofounders, how should equity be divided, and what controls should be put in place? Is there a rule of thumb for offers made to non-founder early executives? Do you think there's a bubble in consumer mobile? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick discusses the pros/cons of raising capital using convertible debt vs equity.

FounderLine host Joe Beninato and guest Saar Gur of CRV answer listener questions including: How is a business idea validated? How can you determine the potential of a business idea? What qualities should I look for in the founders of a company I might join? In the "Ask The Lawyer" segment, Mitch Zuklie of Orrick comments on situations in which a CEO can be removed by the Board.