FLOODGATE
Ann Miura-Ko is a co-founding partner at FLOODGATE, where her investment interests include innovations in ecommerce, security, and big data.
In addition to serving at FLOODGATE, Miura-Ko is a lecturer in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, where she also received her PhD focused on mathematical modeling of computer security. She teaches High-tech Entrepreneurship with Steve Blank and she is a frequent lecturer in courses such as Technology Venture Formation, High-tech Entrepreneurship, and the Mayfield Fellows Program. Many of her students have gone on to secure Angel and VC funding for their ideas.
Prior to joining FLOODGATE and her stint at Stanford, Ann worked at Charles River Ventures and McKinsey and Company.
Miura-Ko grew up in Palo Alto, California and, as a result, she was exposed at an early age to the world of start-ups, technology, and venture capital. She developed an early passion for robotics and went on to major in electrical engineering at Yale University, where she received her BS degree. For her senior project, she was part of a five-person team that designed four robots to autonomously play soccer. That team placed fourth at the second annual Robocup competition held in Paris, France in 1998.
Related Links: http://www.floodgate.com/
Last Updated: Mon, Sep 20, 2010
| Category | Title | Author/Speaker | Organization | Length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podcast | Funding Thunder Lizard Entrepreneurs | Ann Miura-Ko | Floodgate Fund | 58:21 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Funding Thunder Lizard Entrepreneurs [Entire Talk] | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 57:40 | 10/2010 |
| Video | The Internet is Under-Hyped | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 01:52 | 10/2010 |
| Video | The Collapsing Cost of Product Building | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 02:26 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Rapid Business Model Testing | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 03:22 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Running Out of Iterations | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 01:19 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Investing in Thunder Lizards | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 01:08 | 10/2010 |
| Video | "Lean" Does Not Mean "Small" | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 02:21 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Business Models Matter | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 02:26 | 10/2010 |
| Video | Is Work/Life Balance Possible? | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 02:08 | 10/2010 |
| Video | The Importance of a Technical Co-founder | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 01:18 | 10/2010 |
| Video | The Entrepreneurship of Venture Capital | Ann Miura-Ko | FLOODGATE | 05:12 | 10/2010 |
Stanford Engineering lecturer and FLOODGATE partner Ann Miura-Ko offers insight into the democratization of innovation in the Internet age, and its affect on investment cycles. Additionally, Miura-Ko speaks candidly about the need to test business models, her firm's desire to be an advocate for "thunder lizard" entrepreneurs, and the challenges of achieving true work/life balance.
Stanford Engineering lecturer and FLOODGATE partner Ann Miura-Ko offers insight into the democratization of innovation in the Internet age, and its affect on investment cycles. Additionally, Miura-Ko speaks candidly about the need to test business models, her firm's desire to be an advocate for "thunder lizard" entrepreneurs, and the challenges of achieving true work/life balance.
We talk about the Internet as a series of tools, says FLOODGATE Fund partner Ann Miura-Ko, but we are too quick to dismiss its influence on history, and how our history will be written. Miura-Ko cites how the Internet democratizes our ability to innovate, and how these innovations will come to be seen as having impacts on the level of those made by the Ford Model T and the Gutenberg press.
Price drops in mass market technology, open-source software, crowd-sourcing, and cloud computing have vastly reduced the costs necessary to build new products in the Internet age. In this clip, FLOODGATE Fund co-founding partner Ann Miura-Ko points out how these elements have converged to create rapid prototyping flexibility, and a never-before-seen ease and ability to tailor new products to market.
A successful startup does not flower solely from a great product or idea, says Ann Miura-Ko, partner at FLOODGATE Fund. She argues that success stems from the ability to grow a business around that great idea. The venture ecosystem, a flush customer base, accessible distribution channels and manufacturing - all of these factors must converge into a business model that is both viable and scalable. Fortunately, the Internet allows companies to rapidly test business models, for example, through the use of social media leveraged with demand creation and flexible pricing structures.
The lean startup operates with a business plan that can reshape until a successful business model develops. By quickly pivoting based on market feedback, a company can extend their runway without additional dilution from raising greater amounts of capital, according to FLOODGATE Fund partner Ann Miura-Ko. She explains entrepreneurs can then make dollars last longer, which allows for an increase in possible product iterations. In today's business climate, Miura-Ko states, an entrepreneur never wants to run our of chances to iterate.
In this colorful clip, FLOODGATE Fund co-founder Ann Miura-Ko describes the ideal venture to invest in: one whose team and ambition closely resembles Godzilla. They are huge, hungry, and spawn from "radioactive", best-in-class technology DNA. These companies emerge on the scene with an attitude, and have the passion to devour a market at will.
The amount of capital that you take in has nothing to do with the size of a company's ambitions, says Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner at FLOODGATE. Historically, some of today's largest technology brands, such as Ebay, Microsoft, Apple, raised relatively low amounts of capital early on. Smart business models, data, and vision steer a company, regardless of its size, to scale sensibly and remain capital efficient.
FLOODGATE Fund co-founding partner Ann Miura-Ko believes it's the business model that matters most, rather than the business plan. A well-thought out business model that is data-driven and scenario-focused will be seriously considered. According to Miura-Ko, models do a better job of unearthing assumptions about a company's users, customers, pricing, demand creation, sales channels, supply chain, and overall logistics - all critical components to building a successful venture. 
The myth of work/life balance, says FLOODGATE Fund partner Ann Miura-Ko, is that one can actually strike a balance. As a mother of two, she advises anyone with a family, who also seeks to carve a path in entrepreneurship, to recognize that it is a struggle to achieve balance. Knowing how much time and energy a new venture can demand, she states the importance of feeling passion for your business mission. Only a great venture will make taking time away from family feel like a worthy trade-off.
In this clip, FLOODGATE Fund partner Ann Miura-Ko discusses the importance of technical expertise intrinsic to a startup team. Miura-Ko states it is necessary to have this knowledge onboard and in-house, whenever possible. However, she has witnessed incidences of skilled technical managers who have successfully outsourced their engineering needs, though she notes this is an exception to the rule.
Ann Miura-Ko shares the origin story of FLOODGATE Fund, where she is a co-founding partner with angel investor Mike Maples. In this poignant clip, Miura-Ko shares how she decided to step into investing when she saw that FLOODGATE could make a meaningful and innovative impact on the venture capital industry. Miura-Ko also shares some important value-driven moments from her career, and her ingrained need to be world class at every possible turn.