Understanding VC

In this episode, you will learn:

• How did Michael’s four years at ING Insurance fuel him to explore entrepreneurship?
• The coincidence that introduced Michael to venture capital, and made him a partner at Golden Gate Ventures.
• What are the parallels and differences between fundraising as a fund manager and as a founder?
• What are the nuances of identifying suitable investors for series A and B fundraising?
• Why should founders pitch to only a handful of their choicest VCs when they are starting off?
• What is the technique for getting certain and prompt responses from investors?
• Why does the need for diversification of investors on your cap table increase with every succeeding stage?
• What are the introverts’ strengths which have the potential of building a prolific and responsive network? How can one network effectively without speaking in front of crowds?
• Michael’s speculations about the evolution of the Southeast Asian startup landscape in 2022, and some measures that founders should start taking

About

Michael Lints has over 20 years of experience helping innovative businesses obtain the resources, insights, and expertise they need in order to be successful. Michael has been a startup operator, investor, and mentor, and is currently a Partner at the Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures. He joined the firm in 2013 and is currently leading growth venture efforts, which include LP fundraising and portfolio management for Golden Gate Venture's investments at Series B and beyond.

Michael’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2000 when he co-founded an IT managed services startup in Europe that was acquired by a large data and telecom company six years later. In 2007, Michael founded a venture fund focused on Dutch small- and medium-sized enterprises to help them with capital financing, business development, and strategy. During the same period, he was invited to join the Economic Development Board Rotterdam as Vice Chairman. In that role, he launched the Young Economic Development Board where he brought together a highly influential Dutch network to develop a sustainable framework for public-private relationships that increased local business investment while leveraging the public infrastructure.

Michael has helped support firm and portfolio-level priorities that have spanned fundraising, capital allocation, and corporate development. He has helped to raise over USD $60M for Golden Gate Ventures and its portfolio companies, including helping to raise later stage rounds from external investors as well as leading two early strategic acquisitions.

Outside of work, sport is an essential part of Michael’s life. He is a former member of the Dutch karate team and the former ambassador for Treknology (Trek bikes distributor in Singapore). Michael actively participates in Ironman 70.3 races and marathons. He is also passionate about social justice and uses sport as a vehicle to raise awareness for important issues such as civil rights, economic opportunity, and education. Besides sport, Michael is an active writer and writes articles regarding life, balance, and venture capital on michaellints.com.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

Aloke Bajpai is the Co-Founder & Group CEO of ixigo. A travel industry veteran, he has worked in various product and technology roles at Amadeus, France, prior to launching ixigo in 2007. A big supporter of entrepreneurship, Aloke is a key investor and advisor for several startups and accelerators. Aloke is an IIT Kanpur alumnus and an MBA from INSEAD.

Key Takeaways

• Aloke shares the struggles of getting ixigo off the ground and also the challenges they faced while raising their first round of investment
• How positive customer feedback and growth for their key metrics kept them going even when things were hard
• How startups can deal with a crisis like COVID and come out of it stronger
• ixigo’s work culture, how it was shaped and how startups can build a great company culture
• Aloke shares how his leadership has evolved over time learning from mistakes and key qualities that are quintessential for a startup leader
• An interesting instance where a VC made a big impact for ixigo
• How late stage fundraising is different from Seed and Series A
• How startups should think about going for IPO
• Startups Aloke likes to back and why

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

In this episode you will learn:
[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:05:15] Building an Enduring Firm

[00:08:00] Challenges of Partnership Culture

[00:10:43] Personal Brand vs Firm Brand

[00:13:00] Succession Planning

[00:17:00] Long-Term Commitment

[00:19:00] LP Relationships

[00:20:55] Advantages of a Partnership

[00:21:37] Benefits of Scale

[00:21:52] Building a Great Firm and Naming

[00:23:00] Soft Aspects of Building a Firm

[00:24:59] Unifying Themes in Firms

[00:27:00] Progression in Venture Capital

[00:29:40] Motivation and Managing a Firm

[00:31:20] Understanding Carry

[00:35:00] Managing Long-Term Careers

[00:39:07] Carry Allocation

[00:42:45] Team Dynamics and Carry Distribution

[00:43:50] Inclusion of Back-Office in Incentives

[00:44:40] Building a Successful VC Firm

[00:45:56] Firm Evolution

[00:47:32] Transition to a Bigger Institution

[00:49:25] Challenges in Talent Retention

[00:53:00] Philosophical Differences and Firm Evolution

[00:57:00] Risks in VC Industry

[01:02:00] Solo GPs vs. Venture Firms

[01:04:38] Building a Healthy VC Firm
About

Hussein is a partner at Hoxton Ventures. He currently represents Hoxton on the boards of Avantia Law, Baseimmune, BeyondRisk, Biocortex, Biotx, DruidAI, Finesse, Fy!, Giraffe360, Kbox, Kitt, Luminary, Peptone, PillSorted, Raptor Supplies, Really Clever, Rensair, Replai, Replan, Skin Analytics, TourRadar and XYZ Reality, and serves as a board observer on Behavox and Karakuri. He previously served on the boards of Babylon Health (NYSE:BBLN), bd4travel (acquired by Dnata), Campanja (acquired by 24/7 Media), Darktrace (LSE:DARK), Deliveroo (LSE:ROO), Panakeia, SOCOS (acquired by Sophos), Yieldify (acquired by Publicis) and Vidya Health.

Hussein serves on the board of UCLB, the commercialization company of UCL and also sits on the advisory board of GTO Partners, a tech mid-market buyout firm, and Landscape, a venture capital review site. Previously he served on the board of Tech Nation, a UK quasi non-governmental organization. In a personal capacity, he is an angel investor in Apex:E3, Builder.ai, Callaly, GoCardless, Mellizyme, MyGlamm, Reachdesk and Signpost.

While forming Hoxton, he helped Eros STX Global develop ErosNow, an online streaming video platform for Bollywood. Prior to Hoxton, Hussein was an associate with Accel Partners. He joined Accel from Microsoft Corporation. Earlier in his career, he worked with three startups, Safe-View (acquired by L-3), Radiance Technologies (acquired by Comcast) and Studio Verso (acquired by KPMG).

Hussein holds an MBA from London Business School and did his undergraduate studies in Symbolic Systems at Stanford University.

He stubbornly refuses to swear allegiance to a monarch and remains a proud American.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

In this episode you will learn:

[00:01:15] Purpose of Due Diligence: Caroline on the importance of due diligence for informed investment decisions and responsible investing

[00:03:00] Team Evaluation: Starting with the founding team's compatibility, execution ability, and responsiveness

[00:06:00] Advisor Relevance: Listing advisors who genuinely contribute value

[00:07:53] Confidence vs. Arrogance: Balancing self-confidence and avoiding arrogance for founders

[00:09:44] Team's Ability to Execute: Examining past experiences, references, and operational skills

[00:11:26] Team Dynamics and Skills: Assessing teamwork and complementary skills

[00:13:45] Motivation: Evaluating the team's motivation, especially in the early stages

[00:15:00] Ownership Percentage: Considering founder ownership's impact

[00:15:44] Online Background Checks: Basic online checks for red flags

[00:18:09] Professionalism and Responsiveness: Indications of founders' business approach

[00:20:00] Evaluating the Product: Understanding development, data, pricing, and product demos

[00:23:00] Competitive Differentiation: Assessing primary differentiators

[00:25:07] Finding Competitors: Methods for identifying competitors

[00:30:34] Market Sizing Strategies: Caroline's bottom-up approach to market sizing

[00:33:00] Market Size Threshold: Seeking markets greater than a billion dollars

[00:34:40] Timing Matters: Consideration of market growth timing

[00:35:24] Sales and Marketing Due Diligence: Early-stage focus on founder's vision and go-to-market strategy

[00:38:00] Red Flags in Sales and Marketing: Warning signs like high churn rates and unclear strategies

[00:40:38] Financial Due Diligence: Critical financial aspects, including balance sheets and revenue growth

[00:44:49] Financial Projections: Looking for realistic financial projections

[00:45:54] Exit Analysis: Assessing potential returns for fulfilling responsibilities to LPs

[00:49:33] Assessing Milestones: Founders' realistic funding goals

[00:51:26] References: Importance of talking to various references

[00:55:21] Timing of Due Diligence: The duration and starting point for due diligence

[00:58:00] Compromising on Due Diligence: Avoid rushing due diligence

[01:00:13] Challenges with Pre-Seed Due Diligence: Dealing with limited data

[01:02:27] Using Diligence Reports Internally: The role of diligence reports in the process

[01:04:36] Transparency with Founders: Benefits of sharing the diligence process with founders

About

Caroline is a Partner at VITALIZE Venture Capital, a seed stage venture fund that invests in the future of work. As Partner, Caroline spends her time sourcing and evaluating potential investments, managing the firm's diligence process, and supporting portfolio companies.

Prior to joining VITALIZE in 2018, Caroline worked for GE Ventures in San Francisco where she helped incubate and operate a startup in the drone space. Before transitioning into venture capital, Caroline worked in corporate finance for various GE businesses in Chicago, Atlanta, London, and San Francisco.

Caroline received a BBA with honors in math and psychology from Boston College and a Masters of Science in Management from the University of Notre Dame, where she was valedictorian of her class.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

Sony is a serial entrepreneur who founded multiple startups in the telecom & fintech space. His first startup MOBME was founded while he was half way into his engineering degree back in 2006. MOBME monetised a bouquet of B2B & B2B2C products in the telecom space, creating employment for hundreds.

His last startup Chillr, founded in 2013, was funded by Sequoia, Blume & Uniqorn. Chillr was the pioneer in seamless inter-bank mobile payments years before UPI & during this stint, he worked closely with numerous banks including the likes of HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda etc.

In 2018 Chillr was acquired by Swedish HQ Caller ID app Truecaller, post which he has been heading Truecaller's fintech arm. More recently, he took responsibility of building the Enterprise Business vertical for Truecaller from the ground up. It's now an extremely fast growing business unit that's operating like a full fledged SaaS company and is focused on making business communication safe & efficient. The division already boasts of hundreds of active clients across BFSI, Fintech, EdTech, Healthcare, Automotive etc and is becoming an indispensable tool for businesses that rely on telephones as a communication channel.

Key Takeaways

• Sony shares his entrepreneurial journey founding MobME with friends in college and innovations they brought in the telecom and banking industry
• The insightful Chillr story including its founding, Series A fundraising, and strategic reasons behind selling the business to Truecaller
• Some of the biggest lessons from Chillr and how Sony managed the Truecaller acquisition process
• Why growth is the key for a successful fundraise for any startup
• Why you should be prepared to spend a significant amount of your life(7-10 years) when you decide to build a startup
• Major trends in fintech especially credit and why financial data is the key to building inclusive products and services

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.