The problems that you see startups tackling are dramatically different in different cities. Silicon Valley is unlikely to produce the same set of companies as New York or Cleveland because the region has a different set of strengths and defining institutions.
Seed stage is an investment area that is really important for early stage startups. It feels like there is a need for trusted, experienced people to work with and to guide startups at this level.
I hear so many startups talking about how they can raise VC instead of questioning whether they need it in the first place.
It’s hard to tell with these Internet startups if they’re really interested in building companies or if they’re just interested in the money. I can tell you, though: If they don’t really want to build a company, they won’t luck into it. That’s because it’s so hard that if you don’t have a passion, you’ll give up.
Founders have continually struggled with and adapted the ‘big business’ tools, rules, and processes taught in business schools when startups failed to execute ‘the plan,’ never admitting to the entrepreneurs that no startup executes to its business plan.
Geeks are a critical driver of America’s innovation ecosystem, from the entrepreneurs launching startups in Silicon Valley to the scientists experimenting in university research labs to the whiz kids building gadgets in their parents’ garages.
The market is ridiculously overcrowded with early stage investors. This results in a talent drain, where the best talent gets diffused and work for their own startups.
At Andreessen Horowitz, we talk about the notion of being ‘too hungry to eat.’ That’s to say, we often see startups that are so entrenched in the product that the founders forget they need muscle to grow.
If we didn’t have Net neutrality, carriers could do things like penalize companies that use a lot of bandwidth or create high-speed lanes and charge Internet companies extra fees to send their stuff over them. That would give an advantage to big companies and make life harder for startups.
You want people who choose to follow because they genuinely believe in ideas, not because they’re afraid to be punished if they don’t. For startups, there’s so much pivoting that’s required that if you have a bunch of sheep, you’re in bad shape.
As with early internet startups, some token models don’t make sense. For every 1 huge hit, there will be 3 minor successes and 100 failures, so we shouldn’t be surprised when some fail.
Axilor Ventures helps startups to improve their odds of success, and I look forward to supporting the executive management of Axilor with this vision.
Minority founders often feel like they are on the outside looking in when it comes to Silicon Valley and tech startups in general.
The reality is that unless you understand the regulatory environment and payment structure, you can’t revolutionize it. I think most tech companies and startups have come to this realization: that you have to partner with people in the ecosystem.
It’s a lot easier to gain traction when there is such a great proliferation of Internet access. The velocity at which some of these startups are gaining traction is mind-boggling. Companies like ShoeDazzle, Stella & Dot, Gilt, Groupon – these companies are going from zero to hundreds of millions in revenue in three years.
At the intersection of food science and technology, food replacement startups are creating substitutes for the basic components of meals as well as replacements for complete meals.
Slow investing can have the same impact on startups that slow food has had on cuisine: good things come to those who wait.
Life is short, youth is finite, and opportunities endless. Have you found the intersection of your passion and the potential for world-shaping positive impact? If you don’t have a great idea of your own, there are plenty of great teams that need you – unknown startups and established teams in giant companies alike.
When people say they can’t find African-American startups to invest in, it just sounds a little crazy to me.
Startups, in some sense, have gotten so easy to start that we are confusing two things. And what we are confusing, often, is, ‘How far can you get in your first day of travel?’ with, ‘How long it is going to take to get up to the top of the mountain?’
Too many startups get in the habit of continually raising more and more money, which has the deleterious effect of both pushing out profitability and limiting your exit options. The less rounds of capital you need to raise, the more of your company you get to own.
I’m a creature of startups. For example, I don’t want government interference in the startup ecosystem.
Every year, thousands of startups are founded – not only in technology, but increasingly also in health care, education, and energy.
I have a particular relationship with Vinod Khosla because he’s got a lot of very interesting science-based energy startups.
Sometimes people think Y Combinator has big ideas about themes. But really, we just fund the best startups.
I was always really interested in startups and fascinated by what they were working on.
With tech startups, it’s all loose-goosie. You raise money as you go, often from friends, family and investors.
Company naming is a key part of the branding process, but it’s subject to contrasting tastes and an illiquid domain name market that results in startups wasting their time during the branding process.
Startups allow technologists and scientists to take risks and change plans in a way that would be frowned upon in a big company. Having said that, big companies will play a key role in certain areas and in partnerships with little companies. Each has its strengths.
2017 will be the year that NewSpace startups will hit their stride.
Fundly is at the dynamic intersection of high-growth technology startups, social entrepreneurship, and the exploding world of social media. Kapor Capital is proud to back this passionate team, their product, and Fundly’s impressive customer base.
I’ve been all over the world meeting with companies and startups and entrepreneurs. And I tell you, they are more similar than different.
We’re seeing a lot of major companies as well as startups coming up with smartwatches that replicate a lot of the functionality you might have in your smartphone. Will it be as big a market as smartphones? Probably not, but it still can be a very substantial market.
For most people, startups are a risky endeavor and something to be avoided. Many are hesitant to quit their secure jobs and try to start a company from scratch.
Since most startups operate at a break-neck pace, with a concept to prove or a product to launch within a rapidly shortening runway of financing, company culture often gets shoved aside. This is a big, big mistake: Nobody serious about their business should put culture in the corner.
In the past, when venture-funded startups told their investors they’d found a profitable business model, the first thing VCs would do is to start looking for an ‘operating exec’ – usually an MBA who would act as the designated ‘adult’ and take over the transition from Search to Build.
I have seen a lot of now-great companies at their earliest stages, and these early-stage startups are not built by the senior people who know how to run and scale big-company machines.
Cool innovation might happen in startups, but they often lack the resources or the deep expertise in the problems they want to address.
Rules that may be easy for Wall Street are a death sentence for startups. They are easy to break accidentally and the penalty for noncompliance is severe.
Blockchain startups are suffering from a crippling, archaic, and antiquated state regulatory system – and it’s driving innovation abroad. Many blockchain start-ups trigger or may trigger money transmitter laws and regulations.
In the commercial world, big companies mostly die within a few decades because they cannot maintain an internal system to keep them aligned to reality plus startups pop up.
It suddenly occurred to me that the hottest tech startups are solving all the problems of being 20 years old, with cash on hand, because that’s who thinks them up.
The biggest problem is startups in search of a problem. Chase what you’re passionate about; you’ll probably already have knowledge in the space.
We want to nurture startups on our platform, just like we did in the old world.
I played with different words like ‘home run,’ ‘megahit,’ and they just all sounded kind of ‘blah.’ So I put in ‘unicorn’ because they are – these are very rare companies in the sense that there are thousands of startups in tech every year, and only a handful will wind up becoming a unicorn company. They’re really rare.
The thing that I often ask startups on top of Ethereum is, ‘Can you please tell me why using the Ethereum blockchain is better than using Excel?’ And if they can come up with a good answer, that’s when you know you’ve got something really interesting.
When the venture industry started, it was enough to just have money and then it was enough to sort of have this big fuzzy brand. But now startups are getting a lot smarter.
I’m supporting the School for Creative Startups because the project’s ambition – to boost innovation and the culture of entrepreneurship – is something I feel strongly about.
We are already seeing the creation of a new kind of network based on friendships: Startups, which are often founded by friends, are the beginning of something that could reshape social relations.
