Venture Hacks

Mike Cassidy’s talk on building companies fast is a must-read for all entrepreneurs:

(The slides are here if you don’t see them embedded above.)
Mike founded Stylus Innovation (sold 2 years after launch for $13M), Direct Hit (sold 500 days after launch for $500M), and Xfire (sold 2 years after launch for $110M).
I originally saw Mike’s talk [...]

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In 4 Things to Do After You Get Your First Term Sheet, Bill Burnham, a former partner at Mobius and Softbank Capital, writes,
“I’ve recently been involved in helping a couple companies with their first major round of VC financing. It’s actually been pretty interesting for me because I have historically been on the [...]

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There is lots of wisdom in John Doerr’s (Kleiner Perkins) introduction to Inside Intuit (emphasis added):
“Inside Intuit is a tale of missionaries, not mercenaries. It’s about a founding team that prevails through tenacity, frugality, and an obsession with the customer experience…
“Kleiner Perkins first learned about Intuit in 1985… But when it came to large numbers [...]

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The latest great quotes from the Venture Hacks Twitter feed: twitter.com/venturehacks (RSS):
Boards
“Don’t let conflicts get in the way of selecting the ideal board member.” – Fred Wilson
“Avoid ‘big names.’ For the most part, they are useless.” – Fred Wilson
“I was on the Spectra board and I think I nearly drove… the company CEO nuts with [...]

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“We took the approach of wanting to get to know the different partners and the different possibilities and to see where there was the best fit. Partnerships take a lot of work—you want to go out on a few dates before you get married. Yes, we dated a few people but didn’t get married… and [...]

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“Once the term sheet is signed, the power shifts away from the startup to the purchaser. The typical term sheet will give the purchaser the discretion to step away from the deal if due diligence is unsatisfactory, or if the necessary internal approvals are not obtained.”
— Suzanne Dingwall Williams, on M&A
“… there is a wide [...]

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How many similarities can you find between hacking fund-raising and hacking a car purchase? Watch this video:
The best answer gets a coveted Venture Hacks mug.
(Via Lifehacker.)

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“Things are worth what people pay for them.”
– Head of M&A at a Fortune 500 Company
Summary: You need strong alternatives to hack a term sheet. Create alternatives with focus: pitch and negotiate with all your prospective investors at once. Focus compounds scarcity and social proof, which closes deals. Focus also yields a quick yes or [...]

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