[Guest post by Sid covering highlights of Day 2 @ TES]
Session: Are you ready for venture capital?
- Canaan partners:slowdown has caused the bar to be raised – slowdown in tech spending by customers
- nea indo us:public markets have taken a hit and valuations have come down
- narasimha suresh, ceo, telibramha:
1. figure out most of ur business and only go to investors when you require financial muscle
2. figure out monetization and financial model fast
3. and investors why/why not he will fund you
4. ensure draft termship is given ( saves a lot of legal hassle)
5/ build higher differentiating barriers between you and your competitors
Would you invest in seed funding?
NEA: @$2-8m fund, not likely to spend $500-700k types
Session: Funding for growth
Why do VCs not invest?
A. You need to convince them that there is a market for your product and tell them that the benefits outweigh the risks
team is very very important
Qualities looked for in a good team:
1. integrity & ethics
2. can investors work with them?
Update from Ashish
In general, most of the VCs I spoke to are not so okay with less than a mn$ investment – so seed/angel funds are the best choice.
Also, a welcome change is VCs mindset on new age startups – they are just fine (i.e. ready to look at your business plan) with somebody working on the product without leaving their job – i.e. moonlighting. Once you have validated your product, it’s time to talk to VCs/seed investors.
Ashish Sinha