Sex & the Investor - revisited Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I'd forgotten about the presentation I did below at Barcamp London Feb 06 until I got a email today telling me someone had marked it as a favourite on Slideshare.com. So, when I checked the site I was thrilled to see that it had now been viewed over 8900 times [thanks Mom]. Reviewing it for the first time in a long while, I was still happy with the content and believe it's still relevant to entrepreneurs seeking funding.

Hope you agree.

SlideShare | View | Upload your own

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posted by John Wilson @ 8:38 PM Permanent Link ,

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The Accelerator Group says no thanks to newbies Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I was a little shocked to read the following comment from Robin Klein on The Accelerator Group's (TAG) blog today

"Funding business plans from first time entrepreneurs just won't happen anymore!"

As I commented in response, I'm assuming this just means TAG. Otherwise, if applied universally, then entrepreneurs will soon be an extinct species given that people cannot move between zero and two/three ventures. Of course, Robin may be including folks who've tagged along in management roles with founders in his eligible for funding category.

I can understand why TAG might use this filter, but entrepreneurs repeating previous success is also not a given. Whilst second time round entrepreneurs may have learnt lessons [from failure or success], you can also buy-in experience in support of a great proposition.

TAG have done incredibly well with their formula and have great relationships with the larger VCs, as well as having invested time in community initiatives. However this sends a dispiriting message to new entrepreneurs and undermines efforts of groups like Seedcamp, Y-Combinator etc who advocate that good ideas from quality people can get funding.

UPDATE : Robin responded
"sorry. Wasn't clear enough. My point was that just funding a 'business plan' ie a powerpoint plan with a 3year blue-sky financial model won't happen. Of course, first time entrepreneurs who bootstrap and build something, demonstrate consumer or trade engagement are always going to be of great interest."

That makes more sense.

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Speed date a VC Friday, March 16, 2007

This is an excellent idea

Company founders spent six minutes with each VC - three to pitch them and three for feedback - as part of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, a first-time national effort sponsored by hundreds of organizations to encourage entrepreneurialism in the United States.

I was chatting on skype to Sam Sethi (vecosys and formerly techcrunch uk) tonight and commenting that this is exactly what we need in the UK. Having been to the first three Open Coffee meetups, 80% of the entrepreneurs I meet are looking for funding. You may not be surprised by this, but Open Coffee was seemingly set up just as a place for entrepreneurs to hang out with each other rather than being either a networking event or a chance for "talent to meet money". Unfortunately the format of the event means that the Investors are indistinguishable in the scrum of this very popular event and aren't "famous" faces that every entrepreneur would recognise.

I had mistakenly believed that Imperial College Entrepreneurs would implement something like this when it was set up, but sadly not as yet.

Personally, I'd be very happy to participate in such an event.

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