Tuesday, 17 May 2016

Take-aways from the investment 101 part 2

Another great event even though only three people turned up (12 said they would).

But that was two more than I expected, looking at the event on meetup.com

Turns out others had booked directly on Eventbrite.

Now I have used Eventbrite before but mainly go to meetup.com

So, on my return home I made sure the app was loaded on my iPhone (my main phone now, ladies) and had a butcher's (= look).

There is a lot of stuff on there.

The VC speaking was from a clean tech VC firm but his points were still pertinent. Here are the takeaways  (omitting any ones that have been mentioned by others before):

Things VCs like:


  • fast market entry
  • early adopters
  • short sales cycles
  • fast feedback
  • steady growth (they love them some steady growth)
  • coffee kitchen culture
  • kiss
also:

  • don't follow every opportunity
  • when communicating with key or potential stakeholders, CC the others who should (but maybe aren't) aware that you are in contact with their colleagues

  • revenue x up to 10 as valuation
  • Munich Venture Partners invest 1 -5m€, then 3- 5m€ often with other investors.
  • Expected 3 to 5 times investment as return, ideally 10x
  • Accept a lower valuation rather than impossible milestones, crappier liquidation preferences and persuade your exiting investors likewise. Also a valuation which is too high leads to a down round at the next funding series.

  • Talk with VCs before you need investment, keep it informal
  • Growth expectation is officially 10x but lower growth acceptable

  • Aim for 50 - 100m€ to arouse the VCs interest
VC equity:

  • 10 - 50%
  • 15 -25% is healthy
  • call the ball park 20%



No comments:

Post a Comment