Startups

Doerr offers advice on pursuing initial VC funding, including how many firms to approach, how to evaluate the firms, and what kinds of questions to ask. He also reminds us to treat all negotiations with respect and fairness.

Fleury talks about how along with financial backing, VC's have a unique body of knowledge that is highly useful for anyone starting their own business.

The logic behind backing a company that does not charge anything for their product is sometimes hard to understand. Fenton explains the unique relationships between a venture capital firm and an open source company they fund.

Verma talks about how the biggest mistake when identifying a market segment is not identifying the customer with the purchasing power. Your original market can be narrow, and will eventually grow, he says, but only if the correct customers are targeted. Find out who is making the final decisions about a purchase.

When listing his first two lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, Verma says you must love what you're doing, and you must listen to the customer. The customer is always right, he adds.

Verma explains the different situations in which venture capital might be a better funding option, including the desire to scale quickly. He also points out some of the drawbacks as well.

Verma talks about how the initial idea of wanting to track children to cut down on kidnappings and lost children led to Savi's current technology. Along the way, they learned about marketing, R&D, and funding.

Amidst all of the bad stories circulating about venture capital funding, Randy insists that there are many VCs who are truly interested in the success of a company and will treat entrepreneurs fairly and with respect.

Failure is a good thing, says AuctionDrop's Randy Adams, as it can be a much needed catalyst to make the budding business person strong, humble, and innovative. Think of it as a reset, he says, and something to make one re-evaluate and reset a current course of action. And furthermore, he advises, never, ever quit. Stick around until you get thrown out. And if you get thrown out, compete.

Kawasaki talks about marketing and product design simplified. Kawasaki explains why this theory is all an entrepreneur will need to know about marketing. A simple chart illustrates his point - how to be the creator of a unique product or service and is valuable to a customer.

If a product or services is worthwhile, then evangelists will come to you, says Kawasaki. He believes that if you are having a hard time finding someone to spread the message about your product, then you may need to re-evaluate your product or your goals. Build something great, and the evangelists will be there.

Kawasaki talks about two examples of early-stage funding, bootstrapping and venture capital, and the benefits and drawbacks of both. Ultimately, he believes that too much money is worse than not enough money, and that both methods can be successful of a smart approach is taken with the funds that are received.

There are typical ways to approach sales, but Kawasaki has three other ideas. These include the unintended users, allowing test drives, and the suck down theory - chances are the CEO is not going to be the one buying your product, but rather the people at lower levels.

A successful product is easy for everyone to use, immediately. Flatten the learning curve, never ask someone to do something you would not, and recruit evangelists to spread your message.

In addition to handling the legal work, lawyers help companies get off the ground by making introductions for founders of start-ups to potential investors, mentors, and accountants. They also help negotiate licenses, execute customer contracts, public offerings, and mergers, sit in on board meetings, and give advice.

Mandelbaum is optimistic about the opportunities in the market today based on her assessment of holiday parties, which she believes are a valuable indicator of market climate.

Though Fluidigm is essentially a tool company, which is not very glamorous, says Worthington, they were successful in raising funding because they were a real, functioning company that already had customers and were able to prove a real market. Worthington recommends not wasting time with venture capitalists that are not immediately enthusiastic about the company. Once they make up their mind against the company, there is no use pursuing it. On the other hand, when there is that mutual connection, pursue the VC relentlessly.

After bringing together the best team, raising money in tough environments, and establishing and living by core values, says Worthington, Fluidigm focused on launching the product. The product development went much faster than anyone could have hoped and soon they had a product with many important features, including an immediate economic benefit to the customers, he notes.

Winblad talks about how VCs are generally optimistic about market uptake, so in due diligence it is important to assess whether the customers are real or imaginary. The source of most bad investments is misjudging the market risk from competitors or timing, she says.

Winblad talks about how VCs spend a lot of time with the leaders of major technology companies to find out what they are looking for. It is important to talk to consumers early rather than late, she notes. Today's leaders are technologically-savvy, know what they need, and are willing to tell you if you ask, she adds.

Winblad explains that very few Series A investments were done in 2002. However, a lot more were done in 2003 and will be done in 2004, she says. The reasons for the decline since 2000 include: restart dollars were competing with the A round dollars; corporate investors disappeared (excpet Intel); and individual investing declined. Additionally, during this era, VCs were doing deals individually, creating twice as many A round deals and putting only one person on the board. Now, A round deals are syndicated to provide more coaching, she adds.

Winblad talks about how the market is driven by consumers who want connectivity across devices, customizable products, and fair prices. Communication and collaboration are key to delivering the product the consumers want, she notes. The pricing structure cannot just be made up -- a company must demonstrate they can deliver undeniable short-term return on investment to the customer in order to justify the price.

According to Winblad, the intellectual capital in your company and the coaching it gets is more important than money. There is a high bar for hiring employees. Most companies die of self-inflicted wounds rather than from competition or lack of opportunity, she says.

The founders acknowledge that they were very lucky in that their first venture investor was from a man who was also a technologist. He understood the vision for the product and was able to assist the founders in solving technical problems, as well as entrepreneurial problems, which proved valuable in the growth of the venture.