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

Will Sacks is Co-Founder and CEO at Kindara, the fertility awareness app that provides tools to understand fertility and be in control of their own body. Kindara has achieved phenomenal success having significant press in the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Times and Forbes. Their first product Kindara Fertility for iPhone has been ranked #1 on the App Store Medical Charts. In this incredibly diverse conversation our talk ranges from wire framing and programming to vasectomies and uterus', it's a must listen! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: Why Will started Kindara and how he got the initial product off the ground, without being able to code? Should Founders learn to code or learn how to be the best CEO they can be? How and what was the wire framing process like? What advice does Will have for other non-technical co-founders? How does Will feel being a male CEO for a female product? How has Will created this community of incredibly engaged users? How has Will managed to grow his audience so effectively? What has Will learnt from raising $1.7m in angel and VC funding? What is the hardest aspect of fundraising? What advice would will give to a startup thinking of raising funds? How is Will planning to transition into the world of hardware? What theories of The Lean Startup did not work for Will? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Will's Favourite Books: Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg 4 Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win by Steve Blank Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Will's Fave Blogs Seth Godin: Circles of Marketing Brad Feld: Blog Paul Graham: How to raise money Marc Andreesen: Reasons You Won't Get Funded Will's Must Have WireFraming Tool Balsamiq

Quote of the Day: 'A great entrepreneur has the ability to bend the world to their will'. David Pakman, 20VC David Pakman is a Partner at Venrock, having spent the past 12 years as an internet entrepreneur. This includes David's appointment as CEO of eMusic, the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes. Prior to joining eMusic, David co-founded Myplay in 1999, which he later sold, in 2001, to Bertelsmann’s ecommerce Group. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service. If that wasn't enough David is also the co-creator of Apple Computer’s Music Group. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David started his career as an entrepreneur and later made the move to VC? How David found the transition from entrepreneur and CEO to being a VC? What is the main value add that both Venrock and David provides to their investments? What makes a great entrepreneur for David? How long do VCs need to know entrepreneurs before making investments? What 3 tips would David give for best sourcing deals as a VC? What areas does David believe are soon to be disrupted? How does David predict the next big industries to be disrupted? What did David think of Jay Z's launch of Tidal? Who will dominate in the music streaming sector in the coming years? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: David's Fave Book: Mindset by Carole Dweck David's Favourite Blog: Ben Thompson's: Stratechery Dollar Shave Club: Shave Time, Shave Money YouNow Tidal: High Fidelity Music Streaming As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Venrock on Twitter here!

Quote of the Day: 'Keep an open mind from an early age'. Jonathan Libov, 20VC Jonathan Libov joined the investment team at Union Square Ventures in September of 2014. Jonathan hails from New York but has lived for the last few years in Tel Aviv, where he most recently worked as a Product Manager at Appsfire. He's a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in Cognitive Science and began his career in neuroscience research. He designs and codes, with Fifty among his side projects. In Today's Show You Will Learn: How Jonathan made his move from product guy to VC at USV? What is the key determinant for USV's success? How Fred Wilson and USV use blogging to market USV as 'smart money'? Is SMS dead? What is and will it be used for in the future? What sectors are ripe for disruption? How can technology and sport be integrated? Apple Music: Success or failure? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Favourite Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions OB1: Making Trade free for everyone, everywhere

Phil Jacobson is Co-Founder At PumpUp, a community for healthy and active living, with over 2m users. Phil leads the operations, finance, marketing, business development and external relations for PumpUp, with great success having accumulated over 220,000 Instagram followers! Prior to PumpUp, Phil held brand management positions at Unilever and PepsiCo. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Phil started PumpUp? How Phil got 1,500 downloads in day one? What marketing strategies are PumpUp working on to continue growing? What social media strategies Phil recommends founders attempting to build an online presence? How did Phil accumulate the 220,000 instagram followers organically? What has Phil done to create such a heavily engaged user base? Who are Phil's biggest competitors and how does PumpUp aim to stay ahead of them? Where are PumpUp in the fundraising process, what has Phil learnt from the $2m seed round? How can startups determine how much they need to raise? What are PumpUp doing to ensure customer retention rates remain high? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: PumpUP App General Catalyst Partners Favourite Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Favourite Blog: MatterMark Daily As always you can follow Harry, Phil, The Twenty Minute VC and PumpUp on Twitter here! A new one recommended by Phil, click here to follow the awesome Instagram pages of Harry and PumpUp!

Ari Helgason is a VC at Dawn Capital in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system World on a Hanger and ecommerce clothing marketplace Fabricly.com. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Ari made his move into the VC scene? Why Ari decided to bootstrap his first business? Does Ari believe that Founders should always be fundraising? Should Founders take more money than they need, 'a war chest'? What type of goals do VCs want to see from founders? What do investors expect from startups at Series A? How can founders learn what KPI's make sense for their business? How can founders know when is the right time to fundraise? How can startup founders get their foot in the VC door? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Predictable Revenue: Aaron Ross (Mandatory Reading for All SaaS CEO's) Elon Musk: How The Billionaire of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future Saastr by Jason Lemkin AVC.com As always you can follow Harry, Ari and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Alessandra Sollberger is a VC at Mosaic Ventures, a new Silicon Valley style venture firm based in London, focussing on Series A rounds. Alessandra previously worked in private equity at Blackstone, covering sectors ranging from consumer brands to software. Prior to that, she worked in startups in the US and Europe and in M&A at Goldman Sachs. She is also the founder of Bright Mentors, an edtech non-profit teaching coding and science in secondary schools through a network of technology professionals. In todays episode you will learn: How Alessandra made her move into the VC world? What are you Mosaic looking for? What is their typical investment size? What Alessandra thinks of the different paths into venture? What advice would you give someone looking to enter venture? Why Alessandra believes there has been a resurgence in marketplaces? What is driving this growth? What startup marketplaces is Alessandra most excited about? Alessandra's thoughts on the next big sector to be disrupted and why? As always you can follow Harry, Alessandra, The Twenty Minute VC and Mosaic Ventures on Twitter here!

Today is a very special show as James Wise, Principal at Balderton Capital turns the tables on Host of The Twenty Minute VC, Harry Stebbings. In today's brilliant interview by James we delve into what has led to Harry's interest in the VC industry, why did Harry start The 20 Minute VC, how does Harry identify guests to interview, how does he approach those guests, how has Harry found his first experience in the venture industry, what has surpassed Harry about the VC industry, what traits has Harry spotted that are common among the great VCs interviewed, is Harry optimistic or not about the venture industry, what would Harry recommend for other people looking to go into venture. Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Harry's Favourite Books: Tim Ferris: 4 Hour Work Week, 4 Hour Body Shyp Crowdcube, 3DHubs, Tictail MMC Ventures, Founders Forum As always you can follow Harry, James and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Jason Lemkin is Managing Director at Storm Ventures focussing on early stage SaaS and enterprise startups. Jason is an acknowledged thought leader in SaaS through his creation of the SaaStr community, connecting thousands of SaaS entrepreneurs and generating upwards of 1,000,000 views a month around core SaaS topics, with a particular focus on accelerating revenue and early-stage SaaS sales and marketing. Prior to Storm, Jason served as CEO and co-founder of Storm Ventures-backed EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service. Jason led EchoSign from inception through its acquisition by Adobe Systems Inc. in 2011. He then served as Vice President, Web Services at Adobe, where he oversaw the growth of EchoSign and Adobe Document Services to $100,000,000+ ARR in 2013. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Jason made his way into the SaaS and VC industry? What actions did Jason do to get his blog to 1m+ page views per month? What advice would Jason give to founders thinking of selling to large companies? What type of entrepreneur does Jason like to invest in? How does Jason see SaaS valuations, with recent enormous rounds from Zenefits? What areas of the SaaS industries are neglected or undervalued? Is the 40% growth rule broadly correct and can this be applied to early stage tech companies? What is Jason's pre-investment meeting approach like? What makes a founder insane in a good way, rather than a bad way? How are SaaS companies innovating to acquire new customers? Quick Fire Round: Apple: Hit or Miss Most exciting SaaS companies and sectors Jason's favourite book and why? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: SaaStr: Jason's Blog Jason's Favourite Book: The Lion Who Shot Back Mark Suster: Both Sides Follow: @saleshacker (amazing content from VPs of Sales @ Top Tech Startups) Emergence Capital: Joe Floyd David Saks: Yammer Slack: Stewart Butterfield, Zenefits: Parker Conrad

Spencer Lazar is a Principal at General Catalyst Partners, based in New York City. He focuses on early stage software & internet investments, with a particular interest in online marketplaces, mobile applications, web services, and enterprise IT. Spencer was previously the cofounder of Spontaneously, Inc - an iOS development studio. Prior to that he was an early stage software & internet investor at Accel in London, where he sourced and worked with companies including Hailo, Birchbox, Bonobos, ForgeRock, and Qriously. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How is the roads into the venture industry changing? What young people can do to make themselves more attractive to VCs? What would make Spencer's perfect founder? How important is geography when investing in startups? How does Spencer feel the education technology space is developing? What metrics Spencer examines when investing in a startup? What sectors is Spencer most interested in? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Spencer's Favourite Book: The Everything Store on Jeff Bezos Spencer's Latest Investment: CampusJob Insight Venture Partners How Lightspeed's Jeremy Liew invested in Snapchat? Hot EdTech Startups: Lynda.com, PluralSight, General Assembly, Grovo, ClimbCredit Oscar, Sensio As always you can follow Harry, Spencer and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Anand Sanwal is the CEO and Co-Founder of CB Insights. Specifically, CB Insights tracks financing trends and private companies in the healthcare, industrial, technology, software, energy & utilities, renewable, internet and mobile industries. CB Insights works primarily with venture capital, private equity, angel investors, corporate development, corporate strategy and family offices. Formerly, Sanwal was the Vice President at American Express. Sanwal was responsible for managing three primary functions which included the (1) Chairman’s $50 Million Innovation Fund, (2) CFO’s strategic planning function and (3) Enterprise Investment Optimization group. He is the author of “Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management” which features a forward by former American Express and Citigroup CFO, Gary Crittenden. In Todays Episode You Will Learn: Why Anand chose not to take VC funding for CB Insights? Should all subscription based companies be revenue funded? What one key determinant has contributed to the success of CB Insights? How has Anand's hiring strategy changed over time? How strategies does Anand use to create this company culture? What is the biggest challenge facing Anand today? What tactics have not worked when trying to create a good working environment? Is CB Insights replacing VCs, potentially losing their core customers? What metrics Anand would most look for in a startup? We then delve into a quick fire round and discover what is Anand's favourite business book, what gets Anand excited, what advice Anand would give to himself 10 years ago starting out in the industry and finally the next 5 years for Anand and CB Insights.

Quote of the Day: "Capital is a crappy differentiator". Dustin Dolginow Christian Claussen is a Managing Partner with Ventech, a VC firm with offices in Munich and Paris. He has 16 years of experience investing in innovation and he leads Ventech investment activities in the German-speaking regions of Europe. He serves as a board member for Picanova and TV Smiles. In today's amazing episode with Christian we learn: Which value adds are most important for founders to look for? How can Founders determine whether VCs will carry out on their 'Value Add'? What are the signs of VC bulls***? Will we see all VCs transition to Andreesen Horowitz service based VC model? How have VCs offerings to startups changed over time? What advice would Christian provide to founders entering a round of funding? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Christian's Favourite Book: Phillip Roth: Everyman Christian's Article on VC Value Add Speex: Online Language Training That Really Works Andreesen Horowitz As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Rob Moffat is Principal at Balderton Capital, one of London's leading VC firms. At Balderton Rob specialises in Fintech, Martech, Gaming and Marketplaces. Rob is currently a board director or observer with six portfolio companies: Qubit, Wooga, Housetrip, Carwow, Rentify and Nutmeg. Other investments Rob has been involved with at Balderton include Citymapper, Top10, Scoot and Archify. Prior to joining Balderton Rob worked for Google in London, as a Manager in the European Strategy and Operations team. He started his career with five years in strategy consulting with Bain, working mostly with financial services clients. In today's amazing discussion with Rob we discover: What characteristics make a great VC? How VCs assess incoming business plans and investment opportunities? The biggest problem facing Rob today, as Principal at Balderton? How the structure of VC firms is changing to a service based environment? Does Crowdfunding pose a threat to VC as a alternative method of finance? For individuals wanting to move into Venture, what can they do to optimise their employability in the VC world? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Rob Moffat: Medium Rob's Favourite Book: The Circle: Dave Eggers Crowdcube Just Park Nutmeg: Online Investment Management As always you can follow Harry, Rob and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Alan Chiu is a Partner at XSeed Capital, with a strong background in enterprise software and data storage. Alan is currently Vice President for Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, an alumni association that seeks to strengthen Stanford’s startup community by fostering relationships among entrepreneurs and alumni investors. Prior to XSeed, Alan was previously Director of Product Management at Bycast (acquired by NetApp), and was engineering manager at Creo, which was acquired by Kodak for $1B in cash. In todays amazing discussion with Alan we discover: What the checklist is for Alan when investing in startups? Why Stanford is the amazing place it is for startups? What is the most important value add that VCs can bring to a startup? When is the right time to pivot and how important is a product roadmap? As always you can follow Harry, Alan and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Alan Jones is Chief Growth Hacker at Bluechilli, who have set the incredible goal of building 100 startups by 2016! Alan is also Founding Investor and Mentor at Startmate, an Australian Y Combinator style accelerator. If that wasn't enough Alan also invests and advises through Blackbird Ventures, Pollenizer and Startmate. In Today's Amazing Discussion with Alan We Discover: What you should do when you have a great idea? How to validate a market? How to figure out if it is a viable business? What can non technical co-founders do to get their idea of the ground? What individuals can do to meet technical co-founders? What are the biggest tips for entrepreneurs when facing a pitch? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Dan Ariely: Predictably Irrational Tzukuri: Bluetooth Wearable Technology TreeHouse Quora OtherLevels: Mobile Marketing Automation Platform

Doug Scott has one of the largest AngelList syndicates, now with an incredible £396,000 in his. Doug is one of first investors in Techstars, Ignite.io and Entrepreneurs First in Europe ( still an investor in all 3 ). Prior to angel investing Doug founded several internet companies based in the UK, carrentals.co.uk - over 1 million rentals, discountvouchers.co.uk - 6 million subscribers, timetobreak.com - over 5 milion page views per day. In today's discussion Harry and delves into what Doug really expects from founders, how Doug would like to be pitched by prospective startups, is AngelList challenging the VC model, what investors and startups can expect from Doug's syndicate, his biggest tip to an aspiring entrepreneur and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Doug's AngelList Syndicate, Gil Dibner's AngelList Syndicate, Tim Jackson AngelList Syndicate Oxygen Accelerator, Jon Bradford, Springboard Cashkaro, Meals, Lifebox, Chew You can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Doug on Twitter here!

Charlie O'Donnell is the Founder and Sole Partner @ Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, the first venture capital fund based in Brooklyn. Prior to founding Brooklyn Bridge, Charlie worked at the prestigious First Round Capital, with the likes of Josh Koppelman and Union Square Ventures with Fred Wilson. If that wasn't enough Charlie is one of only a dozen to be named to Business Insider's 100 Most Influential People in NY Tech five or more times and has served on the founding board of the New York Tech Meetup and is one of the group's first 100 members. His blog, This is Going to Be BIG!, is one of the ten most widely read VC blogs in the country with over 8,000 readers. Among the many discussions Harry and Charlie delve into how to enter the VC job industry, how the seed stage fund raising environment is behaving, what Charlie learnt from Union Square and First Round, tactics that individuals can do to increase their own branding, Charlie's views on investing in hardware, investing in Kickstarter backed companies, the next five years for Charlie, what has blown Charlie's mind in the last four weeks, the marketing possibilities of Instagram for startups and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: How To Be A VC Analyst: Charlie's Post Charlie's Hardware Portfolio Companies: Ringly, GoTenna, Canary Home Security Hungryroot: Farm Fresh 7 Minute Meals Tinkergarten

James Altucher is a successful entrepreneur, investor, board member, and the writer of 11 books including the recent WSJ Bestseller, "Choose Yourself!" (foreword by Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter). He has started and sold several companies for eight figure exits. He's on the board of a billion $ revenue company, has written for The Financial Times, The New York Observer, he's run several hedge funds, venture capital funds, and is a successful angel investor, having invested in over 30 startups alongside Silicon Valley's Top VC's. In today's conversation Harry and James discuss how to continuously come up with great ideas, what tasks activate the 'idea muscle', what tactics have produced the greatest investing returns for James, what traits do great founders have, how has James' investing strategy developed, what is the future for Uber, the scam that is University and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Alternatives to College and Careers: Learn to Become an iOS Developer, Learn to Become a Web Developer James Altucher: Choose Yourself! Tim Ferriss: AngelList Syndicate Shyp: The Easiest Way To Ship Your Stuff

Jason Calacanis is arguably the world's greatest angel investor with over 60 investments including the likes of Uber (1st round), ThumbTack and Calm, just to name a few. Jason is also the Host of This Week In Startups, the world's biggest startup podcast and Founder of Launch and Launch Festival, the world's biggest startup festival. In this interview we discuss, how Jason invested in Uber's 1st round, what Jason looks for in startups, how Jason can tell whether a founder has got what it takes, which VC's Jason most likes to work with, which entrepreneurs Jason most likes to invest in, what pisses Jason off more than anything, what inspires him more than anything, what industries will see the most disruption in the coming years, what makes a great entrepreneur and how startups can position themselves best for entering a round of funding. Enjoy! All show notes, links and resources from this episode can be found at http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com and you can follow Harry, Jason and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter. Mentioned in Today's Show: Bill Gurley, Jonathan Triest, Chamath Palihapitiya Bento: Delicious Asian Food Delivered in Minutes Butterfleye: Google's Nest Meets Dropcam Birdi: Better Than A Smoke Detector

Scott Taylor is the CEO @ miDrive, a startup focussed on reinventing the learner driving experience. Scott is also an advisor to leading London based VC firm EC1 Capital. If that wasn't enough he is a mentor at Richard Branson's Virgin Startup Program and an investor in Coupang and Mavrx. Prior to miDrive, he was Chief Product Officer at Livedrive, one of Europe's leading cloud storage providers, assisting with its sale to j2 Global. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: TreeHouse: Learn Web Design, Web Development LifeCake Acquisition FestivalFriends App Crowdcube: Online Investing, Equity Crowdfunding The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz Into The Woods: John Yorke In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) Where it all began for Scott and how he made his move into technology and venture? 2.) Having founded several successful companies, what Scott believes the qualities required to be a good founder are? 3.) The hardest part for Scott in building companies and how he overcome them? 4.) What is Scott's role at EC1, what is he looking for in companies at EC1 and how does that differ from his own angel investments? 5.) At Virgin Start Up, what is the process like to attain funding? 6.) What are Scott's views on early stage funding? Does he agree with the friends and family round? 7.)What would you suggest to entrepreneurs looking to gain external capital? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round. Where we hear Scott's thoughts on: Next 5 years for Scott? Asian tech market? Favourite book and why? Most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Scott and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter

Simon Menashy is Investment Director at MMC Ventures where he is responsible for leading new and follow on investments as well as supporting existing MMC portfolio companies. He also sits on the board for WeDo, Boticca and Sky Futures and works closely with a number of other B2B and B2C businesses including Growth Intelligence, Mubi, Small World, Somo. Prior to MMC Simon worked in European tech and media consulting, working with clients including the BBC, Virgin Media, BT, Thompson Reuters and Ofcom as part of the Deloitte Strategy team in London Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Base79 Growth Intelligence In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Simon made his move from consulting into the world of VCs? 2.)Simon recently tweeted how not to pitch to VCs, so what should founders be doing when pitching? What are the fundamentals in terms of required documentation? 3.) Does Simon agree with Peter Thiel’s opinion that disruption is fundamentally bad for society? What industries does Simon feel will be next disrupted? 4.) With the increasing length of time it takes for venture backed companies to IPO, how does Simon feel the funding path is changing? 5.) How does Simon believe the tech eco system is going in London and what can be done to increase VC funding and engender a silicon valley esque feel to London? Today's episode finishes with a quick fire round where we hear Simon's thoughts on the apple watch, what the biggest red flags are when viewing a pitch and his most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Simon and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter.

Angela Tran Kingyens is an associate at Version One Ventures, where Angela manages the day to day activities of the fund from identifying new startups to advising portfolio companies on product. Prior to Version One, Angela Co-Launched Insight Data Science, a Y Combinator backed startup, helping academics transition into a career in industry. In today's episode, Angela describes the best ways to network with VCs, how you can increase employability instantly and the most effective ways to conduct market research! Items Mentioned in Today's Show: mattermark Daily Newsletter Dan Primack: TermSheet Fred Wilson: AVC Good To Great by Jim Collins Headout: Your Best Local Friend in a New City In Today's Episode you will Learn: 1.) How Angela made the transition from a career in academia to a YC backed startup to a Palo Alto Venture Fund? 2.) What can individuals do to network effectively with VCs, even if they have no existing VC contacts? 3.) What advice Angela would give to someone looking to leave the academic path for a career in tech? How can they maximise employability? 4.) What should individuals look for when considering incubators? Do they increase the validity of a startup, from the Version One perspective? 5.) Version One specialise in Marketplaces. Why is that? Is it normal for VC funds to specialise? What Angela thinks the future of marketplaces will look like? 6.) How to identify where there are up and coming areas for disruption? What resources are most effective for this market research? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round where we hear Angela's thoughts on what industry she would never invest in, whether Uber will be a $trillion company, how VCs measure their own success, Angela's favourite business book and her most recent investment and why she said yes? You can follow Harry, Angela and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here.

Tak Lo is Director at Techstars, helping entrepreneurs do more faster - on both sides of the Atlantic through Techstars London and Techstars NYC. Tak is also Founder at Travelst and Frontlyst. Prior to his road into entrepreneurship, Tak was a Consultant at Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton and was a specialist in the US ARMY. In today's incredible episode Tak shares his lessons from his own startup experience, the required reading for all entrepreneurs and of course when thinking TechStars, how can we not discuss the man himself, Brad Feld, and how Tak has adopted Brad's use of open office hours. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Must Read Tech Blogs: Fred Wilson, Brad Feld Thoughts, Tomas Tunguz: Redpoint Capital, Christopher Janz: Point Nine Capital Must Read Books: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Adam Grant: Give and Take, Peter Thiel: Zero to One, Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things Must Have Apps: Buffer: Save Time On Your Social Media, Feedly: The Stories You Need To Keep Ahead Networking Tools: Silicon Drinkabout, Meetup Team of Rivals Adam Grant: Give and Take Peter Thiel: Zero to One Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How and why Tak made the transition first from the army to a career in consulting and then what made Tak take the entrepreneurial route and start his own company? Tak is renknowned for the amazing service and contribution he brings to every startup. What services does Tak bring and what does Tak feel all entrepreneurs and advisors must add? Does Tak back singular founders, or does he prefer a founding team? Tak is a Specialist on Leadership, for founders wanting to gain or develop their leadership skills, what can founders do, read or learn to further their leadership skills? For individuals contemplating moving into the tech world, how do they know which is the right job? Are there any immediate aspects they must look for or be wary of? What are the biggest misconceptions of the tech industry? How can people find out about networking events What sector Tak believes is the next to be disrupted and why? What is the premise behind Brad Feld's 'Open Office Hours'? Why has Tak decided to adopt this tactic? What does Tak hope to gain from it? How is it going so far? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round, hearing Tak's thoughts on the greatest leader and why, the future of the asian tech market, his favourite book and why and his most recent investment and why he said yes? Follow Harry, Tak, The Twenty Minute VC

Stephan von Perger is an Early Stage VC at Wellington Partners where his primary role is identifying investment opportunities and building lasting relationships with the entrepreneurs behind these companies. Stephan started his career at McKinsey before moving to Stylistpick.com as Head of Operations, he then progressed to setup and run the business operations at CityMapper.com. In today's interview Stephan walks us through the pitching process from the first email to signing the term sheet! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How and why Stephan made his move from the world of startups to the venture industry? What are the right reasons for a founder to enter a round of venture funding? How should founders go about meeting and connecting with VCs? What can founders actively do to position themselves well and how should founders phrase their emails and communication? Are there any aspects or buzzwords in emails which instantly make VCs interested? What documentation is required for the initial meeting? Is there anything founders must bring? How can founders make the most out of their meeting with VCs? Are there any questions founders should ask? How should founders respond to a question they do not know the answer to? What happens if a VC says they will contact you but a week later the founder has heard nothing? What should the founder do? We then finish todays episode with a quick fire round where we hear Stephan's thoughts on which pitch or communication has impressed him the most, what single thing Stephan most looks for in founders and his most recent investment and why he said yes?

Jay Acunzo is NextView Ventures VP of Platform and runs the View from Seed blog. At NextView, he leads the creation of business development and educational resources for startups, from board deck templates to mobile workshops to the popular Hitchhiker's Guide to Boston Tech (bostontechguide.com). Prior to NextView, Jay led content marketing and production teams at HubSpot (IPO) and Dailybreak Media (acquired). A former sports journalist, he began his career in tech at Google. As a result of Jay's tremendous success Jay has been named Top 10 B2B Marketer in Boston, 70 Rising Social Media Stars and 100 Most Influential Content Marketers. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain Jay's Article in TechCrunch a16z GoDaddy Wordpress The Weird Things Business People Do On Twitter The Content Marketing Institute In Today's Episode you will Learn: How Jay made his move into the world of tech with Google and how he then transitioned into the world of venture with NextView? What does VP of Platform really entail? Why has it become an emerging trend in the venture industry? How is the structure of VCs firms changing, with the likes of a16z moving to a much more service orientated venture fund. Are there any individuals or sections of society that should or should not be blogging? How can individuals drive traffic to their blog and what tactics Jay uses to get visitors to his blog? What Jay would suggest to business and startup founders thinking about whether to start blogging? What is the best platform to market your content or startup? Is Twitter really an effective marketing tool? How can individuals and businesses increase engagement on Twitter? What not to do on Twitter? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round where we hear Jay's thoughts on the best and worst aspects as VP of Platform, his best resource for content marketing, his favourite book and why.

Jon Staenberg is one of the most experienced venture capitalists in the Pacific Northwest, having made over 250 startup investments and having raised two funds totaling over $100 million. Jon's investments include the likes of AngelList, StubHub, SAPHO, KitchenBowl (through AngelList syndicates) and many more. If that wasn't enough Jon sits on the boards of Class.com, Micropath and even owns his own vineyard! Previously, Jon worked in the marketing area at Microsoft for six years and is a Stanford alum! Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: KitchenBowl Kindara In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Jon started off in the tech industry and then made his move into venture? 2.) Having established 5 companies, what was the hardest element of the process and how did Jon overcome it? 3.) Having invested in over 250 startups what is Jon's investment strategy? What is Jon looking for in startups? 4.) Once invested in a startup, what is Jon's role and what services can VCs bring to a startup? 5.) Whether Jon feels AngelList syndicates are going to change the funding environment? Does it present a challenge to the more traditional VC model? We then finish with a quick fire round where we hear Jon describe the highlight of his glittering career, the biggest tip Jon would give to an aspiring entrepreneur and his most recent investment and why he said yes?

Quote of the Day: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." John F. Kennedy Chris Dark is President International at C2FO, the Union Square Ventures backed company is the priceline for working capital where companies 'name their own price'. Prior to C2FO, Chris was VP at Atomico, the London based venture fund founded by Nicklas Zennstorm. At Atomico, Chris was on the boards of Chemist Direct, Fab, Hailo, Quipper, Wrapp, Knewton, Bebestore, and Gengo. If that wasn't enough Chris has also held roles at AOL, Bain & Co and started his own company GameReplays.org, an early esports community, which Chris built to 1 million uniques per month! Items Mentioned in Today's Show Niklass Zennstorm Kazaa The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz Supercell In Today's Show You Will Learn: Where it all began for Chris and how he made his move into venture? What skills Chris learnt from founding his company and how he applied them to the venture industry? What were the hardest aspects of building Chris' company and how did he overcome them? What are the best reasons to want to join the venture industry? What made Chris leave his VP role at Atomico to rejoin the entrepreneurial game with C2FO? Having both invested in startups and raised funds as a startup, what tips would Chris give to founders potentially entering a round of funding? How does Chris feel the tech eco system in London is developing and what Chris believes can be done to further improve it? We finish today's show with a lightning round where we hear Chris' thoughts on whether university is necessary or not, the next 5 years for him and his most recent investment and why he said yes?

In today's show I am joined by the immensely talented Nicolas Michaelsen, Founder & CMO at AirHelp, the go to place if you have grievances during air travel. Nicolas draws back the curtain on the exclusive world of Y Combinator, this includes the admissions process, the infamous interview, the tutoring available to YC startups, the effects of YC on the valuation of startups and the key takeaways from his time at YC. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Kevin Hale: Founded @ Wufoo, Partner @ Y Combinator Paul Buchheit: Creator of Gmail, Partner @ Y Combinator In today's show you will learn: How Nicolas got AirHelp started? At what point did Nicolas realise that Y Combinator was the place to go? Had Nicolas considered other more local incubators? What was the admissions process like? Is there any specific documentation required to apply? How is the YC interview structured? What type of questions do the partners ask? What percentage of the partners need to say yes for a startup to be accepted? How does the tutoring system work at YC? Who did Nicolas receive as tutors for AirHelp? What is a typical day in the life of a YC startup? We then finish today's episode by hearing Nicolas' thoughts on his most valuable takeaway from YC, the impact of YC on the valuation of a startup, what the future holds for AirHelp? If you would like to follow The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter, click here! If you would like to stay up to date with Nicolas and AirHelp, click here!

Maha Ibrahim is General Partner at Canaan Partners. Maha is renowned in the venture industry for her ability to to spot technology trends extremely early, proven through Maha being one of the 1st investors to recognise the huge potential of social gaming. As a result, Maha led Canaan's early investment in social games pioneer PicksPal (acquired by Liberty Media) and was a seed investor in Kabam, the world's largest developer of massively multiplayer social games. Due to Maha's incredible success in venture, she was included in Silicon Valley the '40 Under 40' award by The Silicon Valley Business Journal and is a regular on Bloomberg TV. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: The Real Real ClusterHQ Lending Club In today's episode you will learn: How Maha made her transition into the world of Venture Capital? As one of the 1st investors in social gaming, what did Maha see that other people did not? With the gaming industry being as fast moving and fickle as it is, shown through the likes of Zynga's troubles, is Maha concerned for her gaming portfolio companies, in their ability to maintain their dominant presence in the sector? Maha is an investor in The Real Real, a company which had revenues of over $100m last year. What does Maha believe is the reason for this incredible success and where does she see the future for The Real Real? Increasing amounts of capital means increasing competition for VCs, what does Maha believe VCs can bring to the table to beat off the competition? What is Maha most impressed by, in terms of entrepreneurs pitching to her? Where does Maha believe the next big forms of disruption are coming from? We finish today's episode with a quick fire round where we hear Maha's thoughts on the hardest part about being a VC, how Maha measures her success as a VC and her most recent investment and why she said yes? You can follow Maha on Twitter here!

In today's show I am joined by John Taylor, a nationally recognised authority in the venture capital and entrepreneurial finance sector. Currently, John is Head of Research at the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). In 2003, he co-founded the NVCA CFO Task Force which focuses on regulation and emerging issues dealing with a diverse range of Some of the many gems of this conversation include: where venture funds actually obtain their funds from, what is the main difference between an angel and a VC, what investors expect from their VCs, how has the IPO market changed since 2000, what do VCs look for in potential investments, how do VCs manage their time, what is the typical workload of a VC, can University students go straight into the VC industry? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Dave McClure | Lean VC | 500 Startups Andreeson Horowitz

The debate over whether or not we are in a tech bubble is dominating the minds of many in the tech world and today Harry talks to major player, Brandon Lipman, Co-Founder of 3DLT and writer of the recent TechCrunch Article: The Potential Upside To A Technology Bubble. Brandon shares his views on why seed deals have decreased by 300%, following from Scott Nolan's TechCrunch article, Brandon answers Does Burn Rate Really Matter, what sectors will survive or thrive in a tech bubble and why companies are preferring to raise later rounds rather than go public. They also dive into the dogfight between Meerkat and Periscope, the biggest winners from a bubble and the companies Brandon is most excited about. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Chris Sacca and Tony Hawk with Jason Calacanis on TWIST 500 Startups: Dave McClure on Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders MatterMark Complete Report Meerkat vs Periscope

Keith Teare is the Founder of Palo Alto incubator, Archimedes Labs whose incubated startups include the likes of M.Dot (acquired by GoDaddy), TechCrunch (acquired by AOL) and Ivan Kalanick's Red Swoosh. Keith is also the Co-Founder of TechCrunch alongside Michael Arrington. Prior to TechCrunch Keith founded RealNames Corporation raising more than £130m of venture funding before filing for an IPO with an implied valuation of £1.5bn. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Michael Arrington The Lean Startup by Eric Ries Chat Center: Universal Chat for Everyone on the Planet DownTown App: Your Personal Waiter Weendy: Sunshine App What you will learn in todays show: How did Keith get into the tech world at a time when technology was not mainstream? A venture of Keith's, Cyberia was heavily used by women. Does Keith believe that there have been improvements in balancing the gender gap? What Keith believes can be done to reduce the gender inequality that persists throughout the tech sector? How did Keith's Co-Founding of TechCrunch with Michael Arrington come about? Why did Keith try and persuade Michael not to create TechCrunch? What are the benefits of bootstrapping your startup and not raising venture funding? Why Keith was never able to raise venture funding in the UK? How is the valley different from creating a company in the UK? Keith's beliefs on the barbell venture capital ecosystem that persists in the US? We then finish today's episode with a quick fire round where we hear the best advice Keith has ever been given, the highlight of his career so far and the 3 companies that he is most excited about and why?

Greg Rogers is Managing Director at Techstars, the world’s leading accelerator programme for early stage technology start-ups and is responsible for the Barclays Accelerator. Prior to joining Techstars, he spent eleven years in New York City as an entrepreneur and senior manager. Most recently, he was founder and CEO of Pictela, a super rich media technology company that was acquired by AOL in 2010. An active angel, Greg was an early investor in Schedulicity and has recently co-founded SmartUp, a new ed-tech company with Frank Meehan (Siri), Brent Hoberman (Lastminute.com), and Barry Smith (Skyscanner). Items Mentioned in Today’s Show: The Fundraising Rules by Mark Peter-Davis Brent Hoberman, Frank Meehan, Jon Bradford LastMinute.com Aire DoPay Squirrel In today’s episode you will learn: 1.) How Greg got into the TechStars world? 2.) What attracted Greg to the the Fintech space and how has he seen Fintech develop over the last 5 years? 3.) What areas within the Fintech space Greg finds most interesting and why? 4.) What does Greg see the future of Fintech looking like? Does he see any trends arising in the space in 2015? 5.) What does Techstars offer startups and what do they take in return? 6.) What does Greg think are the characteristics of effective mentors? Are mentors necessary for startups in their early growth? 7.) What is Greg’s new venture, SmartUp. Who is involved and what are his plans for the future of SmartUp? We finish today’s episode with a quick fire round where we hear Greg’s plans for the next five years, what tip Greg would give Fintech entrepreneurs and the 3 companies from TechStars or Barclays Accelerator that Greg is most excited about and why?

Chris Redlitz is Managing Partner at Transmedia Capital, an early stage venture fund specializing in digital media. Their portfolio includes the likes of Snapchat, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook, just to name a few. Chris also Co-Founded The Last Mile with his wife Beverly, a program that integrates the nation’s penal system with the technology business. Prior to Transmedia and The Last Mile, Chris launched the first online independent yellow page directory, automated coupon platform and content syndication system. As a result, he received Ad Age's prestigious i20 award for his contributions to the development of interactive marketing and advertising. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Scan.me (acquired by Snapchat) SnappyTV (acquired by Twitter) Newsle (acquired by Linkedin) Josh James: Domo, Omniture Richard Branson: Losing my Virginity Good to Great by Jim Collins The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman Newco: John Battelle In today’s Episode you will learn: 1.) How Chris made his transition into the Venture Capital industry? 2.) How do VCs compete to be involved in the funding rounds of such attractive startups, such as, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook etc? 3.) How has Chris’ investment strategy changed over the years? What were his early deals? What did he learn from them? What does he do differently now? 4.) What is the premise of The Last Mile? 5.) How does Chris plan to scale the Last Mile to be nationally adopted in all prisons in the US? 6.) What has been the most challenging aspect of Chris’ journey with the Last Mile and how did he overcome it? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round where we hear Chris plans for the next five years for The Last Mile, the resource he would most recommend to aspiring entrepreneurs and his most recent investment and why he said yes?

John Henderson is Principal at White Star Capital, a VC firm helping exceptional entrepreneurs build great technology companies, with a presence in Europe and North America. Prior to White Star, John was Head of Business Development and Operations at Summly, playing a crucial role in the build up to their acquisition by Yahoo in May 2013. John has also spent time at Facebook working in strategy and business development and was a strategy consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Items (and incredible people!) Mentioned in Today's Show: Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (THE TWENTY MINUTE VC BOOK CLUB: WEEK ONE) The Innovators by Walter Isaacson Shakil Khan, Christian Hernandez, Nick D'Aloisio, Frank Meehan Bloglovin Nuzzel PandoDaily TechCrunch What you will learn in today's episode: How John got into the technology industry and later made his transition into the world of Venture Capital? As Head of Business Development and Operations at Summly, what was it like for John working with Nick D'Aloisio? How did his role change in the buildup to the acquisition by Yahoo? What does John think about Summary's evolution into Yahoo News Digest? What has been the biggest difference between John's life as a entrepreneur compared to his life as a VC? Does John believe it is crucial for startups to find a well-suited VC for their startup? What does John advise startup founders to do or ask to ensure that a VC is the right match for them and their company? Having made angel investments of his own, does John approach these personal investments in a different manner to his professional investments? What advice John would give to anyone contemplating angel investing? The episode then finishes with a quick fire round where we hear John's thoughts on the future of bitcoin, John's personal news reading preferences and his most recent investment and why he said yes?

Marc Bernegger is Venture Partner at Orange Growth Capital, a Fintech investment firm with notable investments in the likes of Bux, Knip and Zopa. Prior to OGC, Marc was Partner at Next Generation Finance Invest (today Ayondo Holdings). However, Marc has experienced both sides of the table, as he was only 20 when he founded usgang.ch (trade sale to Axel Springer) and later went on to be founder of amiando (trade sale to Xing). As a result of these many successes Marc was awarded 'Newcomer of the Year 2010' by Swiss ICT. Items mentioned in today's show: Bux Startup Bootcamp Fintech Robin Hood Trading App In today's show you will learn: 1.) How and why Marc made his entry into the VC world in 2010? 2.) Marc specializes in the Fintech sector and has done since 2010, when it was really a very niche sector. How has Marc seen Fintech develop over the last 5 years? What did Marc see that everyone else did not? 3.) Which areas within the Fintech space Marc finds most interesting? 4.) What Marc sees the future of Fintech to look like? Does Marc see any trends arising in the space in 2015? 5.)In recent years Switzerland has trailed behind the likes of London and Scandinivia in Fintech, this seems to be changing with the recent Fintech hackathon held in Zurich, what does Marc think is bringing about this change? 6.)Where does Marc stand on the social integration of mobile payments? 7.) OGC is a investor in Bux, the social gamified trading platform, is this the way Marc believes stock market trading is moving? How does Marc respond to critics who suggest Bux allows the mass market who do not have the significant investing knowledge to gamble recklessly. The episode will then finish with a quick fire round where we hear Marc's thoughts on the future of Bitcoin, what tips Marc would give to aspiring entrepreneurs and what the biggest difference between being an entrepreneur and an investor.

Tom Britton is Co-Founder and CTO of Syndicate Room, an equity crowdfunding platform that allows it's members to co-invest alongside professional investors. To date Syndicate Room have raised an incredible £20m for 30 companies. Prior to Co-Founding Syndicate Room, Tom was a professional football player playing in a number of countries including the US and UK. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Nesta Report: Crowdfunding Page 52 Crowdcube Ego Airplanes Inn Style Salty by Simon West In today's episode you will learn: 1.) How Tom got into the technology industry and then moved into the very early concept at the time of, equity crowdfunding? 2.)How does SynidcateRoom operate and does their process differs from the likes of Crowdcube? 3.) How much of the £19m was invested by people on the Syndicate Room network rather than the anchor angels? 4.) Does Tom believe with the rise of crowdfunding in recent years, the crowd are a competing finance model to the traditional VC model? 5.) Having witnessed numerous successful campaigns to date, what does Tom believe are the recipes for a successful crowdfunding campaign? 6.) For startups contemplating raising funds for their business, what are the largest benefits of raising seed capital through SyndicateRoom? 7.) CrowdCube is the No 1 equity crowdfunding site in the UK, how does SyndicateRoom treat this competitive threat? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round where we hear Tom's plans for the next 5 years, the hardest obstacles Tom has faced in building Syndicate Room and the 3 companies that Syndicate Room has funded that Tom is most excited about?

Matthew McCall is a Partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital and was previously a Partner with DFJ Portage. He has been involved with investments with Feedburner (acquired by Google), Playdom (acquired by Disney) and EverDream (acquired by Dell), just to name a few. Matt has been named in Chicago's '40 under 40' and their Top Tech 25 list. He has been named as one of the Top 100 VCs in the US, a Media 100 and a Hollywood 100 Power Player. Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Matt's Blog: Beyond the Profit Line SMS Assist Bill Gurley predicts dead unicorns Steve Job's Commencement Speech Finding Joe with Joseph Campbell Hello Giggles with Zooey Deschanel Jessica Alba: The Honest Company BigFrame with Sarah Penna Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Stephen King:On Writing Robert McKee: Story, Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting Christopher Voglar: The Writers Journey Viv: The Global Brain In todays show, you will learn: How Matt got into the VC world? What is Matt's normal investment size? When investing does Matt have a mental timeline of the startup with a clear strategy of when a desired exit will take place? Matt has been named to the AlwaysOnTop 100 VCs list, leading me to ask how has Matt's investment strategy changed over the years? What were his early deals? What did Matt learn from them? What does Matt do differently now? Matt has written about the 15 year tech cycle and has quoted Steve Juvertson ‘if you can see it, it isn’t the revolution’, leading me to ask where does Matt stand on a ‘tech bubble’. Is it occurring and why does he say that? Has Matt seen a rise in the emergence of the female entrepreneur? Matt LOVES commencement speeches. Why is that and are there any Matt would recommend in particular? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round where we hear the resource that Matt would most recommend to an aspiring Founder and Matt's recent investment and why he said yes? *Shortly after the interview Matt strongly recommended to me Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

Sharon Wienbar invests in Mobile and Internet companies at Scale Venture Partners, where she sits on the board of Actiance, Applause, BeachMint, Everyday Health, PlayPhone, Reply.com and uTest. Prior to working at Scale Venture Partners, Sharon was VP of Marketing for Amplitude Software and Critical Path. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Applause Kate Mitchell National Venture Capital Association Why Software is Eating the World? CloudHealth What you will learn in Today's Show: How Sharon made her entry into the technology world and later the Venture Capital sector? Why is there gender misrepresentation in both the tech and the VC industry and what can be done to improve this gender inequality. What Sharon's views are on investing outside of the valley? What are the necessary aspects required for a startup located outside of the valley? With such large amounts of capital creating extremely high valuations, is it possible to make money investing in startups? With increasing competition between VC firms for startups, what else can VC's bring to the table other than capital? What sector is Sharon most excited about and why? We then move on to a quick fire round where we hear Sharon's thoughts on what Sharon likes and dislikes about being a VC? The most recent investment Sharon has made and why she said yes?

Luke Lang is Co-Founder and CMO of Crowdcube, the world's leading investment Crowdfunding platform. Crowdcube enables anyone the opportunity to invest alongside professional investors in start-up, early-stage and growth businesses. They have raised over £67m for an incredible 207 companies and have an amazing 150,000 registered investors Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Escape The City JustPark Love Righteous | Salad Dressings EdenProject What you will learn in today's episode: How Luke got into the technology industry and really came to be Co-Founder to the world's 1st quit Crowdfunding platform in the world? Other than capital what else will Balderton bring to you to aid your growth and development? Does Luke believe Crowdfunding is a competing finance model to the traditional VC model? Having seen 207 companies experience successful Crowdfunding campaigns, Luke describes what he believes the formula to be for a successful campaign? For businesses thinking about Crowdfunding, what are the biggest benefits to businesses of raising seed capital through the Crowd? With the increasing number of Crowdfunding sites, how does Crowdcube treat the competitive threat? Is there an opportunity to attract more institutional style money to Crowdcube through retail bonds, which might appeal to income funds. As the interview comes to a close we engage in a quick fire round where we hear Luke's views on the hardest obstacle Luke has faced in building Crowdcube? Where Luke sees Crowdcube in 5 years time? 3 companies funded by Crowdcube that Luke is most excited about?

James Wise is Principal at Balderton Capital, one of Europe's most successful venture funds. At Balderton, James invests and advises early-stage technology start-ups, holding board member positions at Crowdcube.com, Surnrise.am, 3Dhubs.com and many more... Prior to Balderton, James helped build one of the UK's first social venture funds and was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, working with entrepreneurs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Items Mentioned in Todays's Show: Crowdcube.com JustPark Sunrise.am Chilango MyTomorrows.com An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin What you will learn in today's show: How James made his entry into the world of Venture Capital? How does James feel the VC model differs in the UK compared to the US? Does Silicon Valley deserve the plaudits it receives for producing revolutionary tech companies? Following Balderton's recent investment in Crowdcube.com, how does James believe the crowd will become more involved in the future? Is Crowdfunding not a competing method of financing to Venture Capital? What is Balderton's competitive advantage for winning deals? What James believes makes the perfect Series A round? Does James believe the mini-bond, introduced by Crowdcube.com have the potential to revolutionise funding for businesses? Which sector James is most excited about and why? When thinking of success who is the first person that comes to James' mind and why? We then move into a rapid fire round where we hear James' thoughts on his latest investment and why he said yes? Does James experience a fear of missing out (FOMO) when passing on investments? Finally, James' favourite book and why?

Stefan Glaenzer is Founding Partner at Passion Capital an early stage VC fund who have invested in the likes of DueDil, GoCardless and CarThrottle. He is also Co-Founder of White Bear Yard, a co-working space in London's East End. Prior to Passion, Stefan was Chairman of Last.fm, an early investor in Wahanda and remains an active member of their board and founder of Ricardo, which went public in 1999. Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Passion Capital: The First Two Years Lendable Smava What you will learn in today's episode: How Stefan got into the technology industry and later pivoted into the VC world? What is Stefan's preferred stage to enter into an investment and what is the standard amount invested in a startup? How much equity Stefan would look for in an investment? What interaction is typical for VCs following investing in a startup? How individuals should pitch their idea to Stefan? How many startups does Passion typically invest in on an annual basis? Does Stefan encounter the fear on missing out on a startup? What is it about the Peer to Peer lending sector that excites Stefan so much? Does Peer to Peer have a brighter future than Crowdfunding? What sector is Stefan most excited about and why? How can an entrepreneur show their enthusiasm and make an awesome pitch? Is there a formula for making a successful pitch? What are Stefan's red flags when a startup pitches to him? As the interview concludes we ask Stefan some quick fire questions where we hear his thoughts on the hardest decision of his life? The best piece of advice Stefan has been given and his most recent investment and why he said yes? For all the resources mentioned in today's show head on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com Likewise, if you have a suggestion for a VC that you would like us to interview please do let me know by emailing [email protected]

Nektarios Liolios is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Startupbootcamp Fintech, the leading innovation program in the financial industry providing access to a global network of investors and VCs for up to 10 lucky startups selected. Nektarios himself has more than 15 years in business, having spent the last three with InnoTribe, running the Innotribe Startup Challenge. Items mentioned in today's show: 500 Startups: How to Pitch investUP: The Crowdfunding Supermarket What you will learn in today's episode: How Nektarios got into the world of tech accelerators? How Startupbootcamp Fintech varies from the traditional VC model? What makes the best pitches at Demo Days? What is the selection process to get accepted at Startupbootcamp? What can startups prepare to do before pitching to Startupbootcamp? What is the most common reason Nektarios says no to startups? What would Nektarios advise someone who is looking to find a co-founder? What sector is Nektarios most excited about for the future? What Nektarios thinks about the future of bitcoin? We then complete todays interview by having a quicker round where we hear Nektarios' thoughts on his favourite entrepreneur? The happiest moment Nektarios has enjoyed in his career? A day in the life of a Managing Director of a Startupbootcamp? What was Nektarios' most recent investment and why he said yes? For all the resources mentioned in today's show, head on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com For any suggestions about future guests or questions you would like to hear, we would love to hear from you. If so email [email protected]

Mike Seibel has enjoyed the most incredible career in the technology industry on both the Founder and the VC side of the table. He was Co-Founder and CEO of Justin.TV which was part of the Y Combinator Winter Class of 2007, and was later acquired as Twitch.TV by Amazon for $970 million. In that time Mike also created a spin off from Justin.TV, SocialCam, where he was Co-Founder and CEO, culminating in their acquisition in 2012 for $60 million by Autodesk. Items mentioned in Todays' Show: Twitch.TV SocialCam Y Combinator Dropbox What you will learn in this episode? How Mike got into the technology industry and later the tech accelerator business with Y Combinator? Why Mike did not learn to code? Mike's own experiences in Y Combinator. What is it that Y Combinator does to produce such amazing and revolutionary companies? What does Demo Day look like at Y Combinator? What is the selection process for choosing which companies to back and which not to? What do you look for in the interviews with the Founders? Are top level University degrees necessary for entry into the Y Combinator class? What are Mike's biggest red flags when looking at startups? Why Mike would never outsource engineering? What can startups do to prepare themselves for the Y Combinator process? What sector is Mike really excited about and why? What is a day in the life of a Y Combinator partner? We then finish todays episode with a rapid fire round where we hear Mike's thoughts on the best piece of advice Mike has received, the hardest decision Mike has had to make in his career, how can an individual start a company with no technical skills or experience? For all the resources mentioned in today's show, check out www.thetwentyminutevc.com Likewise, we would love to hear from you, so if you have any questions you would like asked or VCs you would like to have on the show, send an email to [email protected]

Lisa is Vice President at Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), where she focuses on early to late stage investments with emphasis on consumer internet. Before joining NVP, Lisa worked in Amazon's Worldwide Corporate Development Team, in which she evaluated acquisition targets and identified strategies for potential expansion. Prior to Amazon, Lisa was at Bessemer Venture Partners. If that wasn't enough Lisa also founded her own startup, Banzaa! Fresh, providing high quality nutritious foods to schools and hospitals in Northern California. Items Mentioned in Todays show: Etsy Lending Club SkyBox FireEye Jet DoubleClick What you will learn in today's show: How Lisa got into the investing game? Why Lisa is investing in marketplaces? What Lisa's normal investment size is? Lisa's most recent investment and why Lisa said yes? Does Silicon Valley deserve the accolade it gets? Or is NYC fast approaching? Do VCs investment attitudes differ when comparing SF to NYC? How early is too early for Lisa to invest? What was the one thing that propelled Lisa's career? We then move into a quick fire round where we hear Lisa's thoughts on the best advice she has ever been given, the number 1 reason Lisa says no to startups and what Lisa would do if all she had was a laptop and $100!

Kyle Lui is Principal at DCM Ventures where he helps entrepreneurs scale their companies and advise on product development across IOT, consumer internet and mobile and enterperise Saas. Prior to DCM, Kyle was Co-Founder at ChoicePass, a enterprise perks and rewards Saas company backed by prominent angel investors, later acquired by Salesforce.com and Rypple. At Salesforce, Kyle served as Director of Product Management on the founding product team for Work.com, growing the business to over 1,000 enterprise customers. Items mentioned in this episode: Learn Python the Hard Way AnyPerk Eaze In this episode you will learn: How Kyle made the leap from Startup Founder to Venture Capitalist? How did Kyle learn to code? How did Kyle feel on selling ChoicePass to Salesforce? What was it like working in such a large company, such as Salesforce? How did your role change when Salesforce was acquired? What was the most difficult element faced by Kyle in his time at ChoicePass? Where does Kyle see the future of incentivising employees and how important is this aspect of corporate life? When investing in a company what aspects really attract you to a deal and what can be a real red flag? Are University and College degrees necessary for you to invest in a founder? Is Kyle concerned that a potential increase in regulation could damage his investment in Eaze, medical marijuana delivery startup? We conclude today's show with a quick fire round where we hear Kyle's thoughts on what Kyle would do if all he had was a laptop and $100, what advice Kyle would give to entrepreneurs starting a company? For all the resources and items mentioned in todays show, head on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com If there are any VCs you would like us to interview, send an email to [email protected] and we will arrange it!

Frank is Co-Founder and General Partner at Spark Labs Global seed fund where he has invested in 40 companies in the US, UK and Asia. Previously, Frank was part of Horizon Ventures where he represented them on the boards of Siri, Summly and Spotify, just to name a few. Items mentioned in today's show: SparkLabsGlobal Horizon Venture Brent Hoberman Smartup Youth Digital Castle.io Clinkle In today's episode you will learn: How Frank made his entry into the technology industry and later the world of venture capital? What Frank would recommend someone who is trying to learn to code? Is coding necessary for a Founder to be successful? What does Frank believe makes the perfect Series A round? How early is too early to invest for Frank? How do VCs compete for the most competitive rounds? What was Frank's most recent investment and why he said yes? What sector is Frank most excited about and why? When thinking of success, who is the 1st person that comes to Frank's mind? What Frank learnt from working at Horizon? We then finish today's episode with a quick fire round where we hear Frank's thoughts on the future of the Asian tech market and the hardest decision of Frank's career. For all the resources mentioned in today's show, head over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com Likewise we would love to hear from you, if you have any questions you would like us to ask, send us an email [email protected]

Clark Landry is Founder and Chairman at Shift, the leading social advertising network for brands. He is also Executive Chairman of GraphEffect, a prominent social media marketing firm. In recent years Clark has made his foray into the investing industry with investments in the likes of AngelList and Lettuce. In his short time investing in startups, Clark has achieved an incredible 10 exits. Items Mentioned in today's show: Shift Platform Burstly DSTLD Jeans Limitless by Alan Glynn The Black Tux BloomNation In today's episode you will learn: How Clark made his entry into the world of tech and what caused his transition into angel investing? The most valuable insight Clark has learnt from being both a Founder and an Investor? How does Clark pick which startups to back, does he focus on any particular aspects of the company? What sector Clark is most excited about and why? How can someone make an entry into the tech startup world without having any coding ability? We then finish the interview by hearing Clark's thoughts the effectiveness of tech accelerators, his most recent investment and his favourite book. For all the reasons mentioned in today's show, head on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com If you have a question you want answered, send it in to [email protected] and we will ask it on an upcoming show.

A very exciting day on the 11th episode of The Twenty Minute VC as we welcome our 1st London based guest on the show, Thomas Jones. Thomas is Founder and Partner at Charlotte Street Capital, who invest up to £200,000 in early stage UK technology companies. Their impressive portfolio includes the likes of Chilango, GoSquared and SeedCamp, just to name a few. Prior to Charlotte Street Capital, Thomas was Founder and Executive Director of SMARTS Group International, offering a real time market surveillance platform, now used in dozens of stock exchanges around the world. Items Mentioned in todays show: Crowdcube Seedcamp Kidslox In today's session you will learn: How Thomas made his entry into the world of Venture Capital? When investing in a startup, do you have a mental timeline of the startup's journey in your head with a clear strategy of when a desired exit will occur? When it comes to investing, what really gets Thomas excited about the potential of a company? What Thomas believes the main differences to be between VCs in Europe compared to the USA? With the evolution of funding methods, how does Thomas see the 'crowd' becoming more involved in the future of early stage funding? What advice Thomas would give to a graduate looking to make their entry into the industry? We finish today's episode with a quick fire round, where we hear Thomas' immediate thoughts on the future of disruption and the all time best business book! For all the resources mentioned in today's show head over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com where you can sign up for you free 7 DAY BUSINESS PLAN COURSE We would love to hear from you, so if you have a VC you would like to hear from, send us an email: [email protected] and we will see what we can do!

It is a great pleasure to have Niko Bonatsos on today's episode of The Twenty Minute VC. Niko is Principal at General Catalyst Partners where he specialises in mobile, consumer and healthcare technology. At General Catalyst Partner, Niko has been involved in the investments in the likes of Snapchat, TuneIn and SpoonRocket, just to name a few. Niko is also reknowned for being the 1st Angel Investor in Yik Yak, recently valued between $300-400 million. In today's episode you will learn: How Niko made the jump into the world of Venture Capital? What were the fundamental lessons Niko learned when his startup failed? Why Niko prefers to invest in founding teams instead of individual founders? How Niko determines whether a startup will be successful or not? What Niko looks for in startups? Does Niko ever experience FOMO (fear of missing out) on an investment? How do you value a company, in particular a startup with no revenue? Does Niko think Silicon Valley will continue to be the dominant hub for innovation and investment? What parts of the world have seen large growth in both funding and innovation? What Niko would advise graduates looking to make the entry into the Venture Capital industry? What is the best piece of business advice Niko has ever received? We then move onto a quick fire round where Niko tells us his thoughts on the future of education technology and the primary reason Niko says no to startups. For all the resources mentioned in today's show, check out www.thetwentyminutevc.com We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions you would like to ask the VCs, drop us an email at [email protected] Likewise if you have a VC you would like us to interview, send us an email and we will arrange it.

On today's show I am hugely excited to welcome Joe Floyd to the hotseat. Joe is Principal at Emergence Capital Partners. His expertise in building cloud startups has evolved over 10 years of advising and investing in startups. Prior to Emergence, Joe worked in American Capital's technology group where he focused on fast growing internet companies. At American Capital Joe was involved in their investments with the likes of PeopleMedia and HomeAway. Items Mentioned In Today's Show The Lean Startup by Eric Ries Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into a Sales Machine with the $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and HappinessNudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness What you will learn in today's show: How Joe made his transition from the world of tech investment banking into the Venture Capital industry? What Joe would advise an individual looking to get into the industry? What Joe believes to be the most important aspect that a startup must have in order to attain VC funding? Whether Joe prefers a founder or a founding team? Joe describes what the main red flags are when startups pitch? When Joe thinks of success, who is the first person that comes to mind? What business books have been the most transformative to Joe? We then delve into a quick fire round where Joe gives his immediate thoughts on the future of Amazon and Tesla and whether we really are in a tech bubble or not? As always thank you so much for listening to today's show, for furthr details and resources, head on over to www.thetwentyminutevc.com. Likewise we would love to hear who you would like to have on the show, if you have any suggestions please do email [email protected] with your suggestions.