James Borow is Chief Product Officer at Brand Networks which delivers social marketing and advertising to 650 enterprise customers, following their acquisition of Shift where James was CEO and Co-Founder and led the business to being the No 1 marketing software company for social advertisers with clients such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. James was named a semi-finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in 2014, and is a thought leader in digital advertising, with articles in Forbes, The New York Times, Bloomberg and Business Insider. James is also an active angel investor, having invested in Kixer, a mobile advertising platform, Gradient X, a mobile DSP (acquired by SingTel) and Conversion Logic, an online advertising attribution platform.   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) What were James' entrepreneurial origins and what was his aha moment? 2.) How did James get his first clients and what were the hardest aspects of growing the business? 3.) What was it like working with these tech titans like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin? 4.) Shift obtained $14m in VC funding. How did James meet his investors? How was the fundraising experience for James? What were the surprises and challenging aspects? 5.) Shift was acquired by Brand Networks for $50m but what were James' reasons for selling? Was there any clash between James and his investors when it came to the sale? 6.) What advice would James give to founders contemplating selling their business to larger acquirers?   Items Mentioned In Today's Show: James' Fave Book: John Adams by Dave McCullough James' Fave Apps: Snapchat, Business Insider and ProductHunt As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and James on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!  

Fabrice Grinda is among the world’s leading Internet entrepreneurs and investors with over $300 million in exits and 200 angel investments including the likes of Alibaba, LendingClub and BrightRoll. Fabrice is currently investing in startups and building companies through FJ Labs, which he cofounded with business partner Jose Marin. Fabrice is also co-founder and executive chairman of Beepi, a next generation used car marketplace which recently raised $60 million in series B funding. Prior to FJ Labs and Beepi, Fabrice was co-founder and co-CEO of OLX, one of the largest websites in the world with over 200 million unique visitors per month. Submit Your Startup To Fabrice In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Fabrice make his entry into the world of investing? 2.) How important is it for investors to have entrepreneurial experience? 3.) What are the most common problems Fabrice's portfolio companies face? 4.) What is Fabrice's selection criteria for startups when investing and what determines the valuation of a startup? 5.) How does Fabrice respond to the allegation that he is a clone collector? 6.) With Fabrice's $1m syndicate, does he believe syndicates have the potential to replace VC?   Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Fabrice's Fave Book: What If by Randall Munroe, Think Like A Freak by Stephen Dubner Fabrice's Fave Newsletter: TechCrunch Fabric's Most Recent Investment: Flexport As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Fabrice on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!  

Nicholas Chirls is the Founder and Partner @ Notation Capital, one of New York's genuine pre-seed funds investing in pre-growth startups with huge potential. Prior to Notation, Nichoas was Head of Investment at Betaworks, leading investments in companies such as Electric Objects, Estimote, URX, Namo Media (acquired by Twitter) and Grand St. (acquired by Etsy).   If you would like to email Nick, his email is [email protected] In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Nick made his move into the venture industry? 2.) Who does Nick consider a mentor and thought leader in the VC industry? 3.) Why now is the best time to be a pre-seed fund in NYC? 4.) At the pre-seed stage what metrics does Notation focus on? 5.) How does Nicholas evaluate the valuation ecosystem? 6.) How does Nicholas handle deal sourcing? Where does he find startups to invest in? 7.) Does crowdfunding act as a competing finance method at the pre-seed stage?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Nick's Fave Book: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante Nick's Fave Newsletter: Wait But Why Nick Most Recent Investment: Zipdrug: Your Prescriptions Delivered on Demand Best Meditation Apps: Headspace, Calm   As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Nick and Notation on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many mojito sessions, you can follow him on Instagram here!  

Eric ver Ploeg has sat on both sides of the table as an entrepreneur and a VC. Eric started his career as an entrepreneur with the founding of Adknowledge, the 1st internet ad serving company, which was sold for $193m. He then went on to Angara, a Kleiner Perkins backed startup which led to his move into venture with VantagePoint, where he led VantagePoint's investment activities in the mobile arena, leading over $160m in investments. Eric is also a fantastic writer and his articles can be found on Medium here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Eric made the move from Angara, Kleiner Perkins company, to his role in venture? 2.) How being a founder affected how Eric interacted and invested in startups? 3.) How can founders learn the skills of interacting with their investors and board? 4.) What makes the hot companies, hot and the others struggle? 5.) Does Eric agree with startups raising a 'warchest' of funds if they can? How can startups determine what is the right amount to raise? 6.) Why are SF angels so much more successful than other investors? What do they have that other do not? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Eric's Fave Book: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Crossing The Chasm by Geoffrey Moore Eric's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Tomasz Tunguz Research and analysis provided by CB Insights As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Eric on Twitter here? To see a more colourful side to Harry's personality and a few mojito sessions, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!

Jeff Clavier is the Founder and Managing Partner of SoftTech VC, one of the most established seed VC firms in Silicon Valley, having closed 150 investments since 2004. An early angel investor in Web 2.0, Jeff and his team have backed successful startups like Mint (Intuit), Milo (eBay), Bleacher Report (Turner), Fitbit, Eventbrite, Sendgrid, Postmates and Vungle. The portfolio has also seen acquisitions by Groupon, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and AOL. The firm is currently investing out of its $85M Fund IV, making 16 commitments of $850K per year in mobile/cloud saas, consumer hardware, marketplaces and healthcare IT. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Jeff made his entry into the world of VC? 2.) In a time when hardware was not heavily invested in, what attracted Jeff to Fitbit? 3.) How did Jeff convince Brad to invest in Fitbit? 4.) What can startups do to standout in the crowded market that exists today? 5.) What do startups need to have to get a meeting with you at SoftTech? 6.) What VCs does Jeff most like to invest alongside? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Jeff's Fave Book: June by Gerbrand Bakker As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Jeff and SoftTech VC on Twitter here! For a more colourful look into Harry's life, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Javier Soltero is Corporate Vice President of Outlook @ Microsoft. This position arose due to Javier's startup, Acompli, being acquired by Microsoft for $200m in 2014. Prior to Acompli, Javier spent a year at Redpoint Ventures, where he assisted in helping the firm extend their reach into both enterprise and mobile markets. However, Javier's entrepreneurial career did not start with Acompli, as he co-founded Hyperic, which he bought for $1 and within 5 years turned into a $10m+ revenue generating company. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Javier start his entrepreneurial career and what were the origins of Acompli? 2.) What was Javier's biggest takeaway from the failure of his first startup, back by Sequoia? 3.) How did Javier control his burn rate once large amounts of VC money was in his company? 4.) How does Javier approach product market fit? 5.) How did Javier meet his investors for Accompli and how did Javier find the fundraising process? 6.) What were Javier's reasons for selling Acompli? Was there any conflict with his investors in selling the company?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Javier's Fave Book: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez  Javier's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Wait but Why? As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Javier right here on Twitter! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!  

Ben Nader is Founder and CEO at Butterfleye, the most advanced wireless home monitoring system. In other words, Google Nest meets Dropcam. Butterfleye's investors include some of the biggest and most prominent names in the industry including our friends and past guests Brad Feld and Jason Calacanis. Butterfleye currently have a campaign on Indiegogo, which you can support here!   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Ben come up with Butterfleye? 2.) How does Butterfleye differentiate itself from other competitors like Dropcam? 3.) How much better does a new product have to be to beat the existing incumbents? 4.) Does Ben prefer mass market testing or small targeted testing with fewer individuals? 5.) How did Ben get his first customers? 6.) What has Ben done to drive the success of his Indiegogo campaign? What tips would he give to founders looking to raise on these platforms? 7.) How did Ben get Jason Calacanis as an angel? How did Ben find the fundraising process?                  Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Ben's Fave Book: The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho Ben's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Brad Feld's Feld.com, Jason Calacanis' Launch Ticker Ben's Fave Productivity Apps: Asana, Sunrise Calendar, Calm Meditation App As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Ben and Butterfleye on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with some mojito sessions to come, you can follow him on Instagram here!  

Sean Seton-Rogers is a founding Partner at PROfounders Capital, a venture capital fund for entrepreneurs powered by entrepreneurs. Their investors and principals number some of the best-known players within the digital media space -- people who have built some of Europe's most successful companies. Prior to PROfounders, Sean has been investing in technology companies across both the US and Europe, when he was at both Balderton Capital and Commonwealth Capital Ventures in Boston. In addition to the PROfounders portfolio companies, he has in the past worked closely with others such as Bebo, Wonga.com, and ConstantContact. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Sean make his entry into the VC world at the peak of the first tech bubble? 2.) What was the biggest lesson Sean learnt from experiencing the bubble imploding? 3.) Why are we seeing this trend of US VC funds investing in Europe? 4.) What are the key drivers to the growth of the European tech ecosystem? 5.) Why is there a serious decline in the amount of Series C rounds, only 7 in Q2 2015? 6.) Is Sean concerned by the rise of Crowdfunding? Does Sean see it as a competing finance model to VC? 7.) Do investors on Crowdfunding platforms experience the same deal terms as VCs?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Sean's Fave Book: Robert Cialdini: Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion, Neal Stevenson: Cryptonomicon Sean's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Benedict Evans Newsletter Sean's Must Have Productivity Tools: Evernote, Google Apps Sean's Most Recent Investment: Made.com   As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Sean and PROfounders on Twitter right here! For a more colourful view of Harry and maybe a few mojito sessions follow Harry on Instagram here! 

Mattias launched Atomico in 2006 alongside Niklas Zennström. In that time, Mattias has been involved with exits including Supercell (sold a majority stake to SoftBank), 6Wunderkinder (acquired by Microsoft in 2015), The Climate Corporation (acquired by Monsanto for $1.1B in 2013), Xobni (acquired by Yahoo! in 2013). Mattias works closely with a number of portfolio companies on their expansion, including Truecaller, Klarna, Hailo, and ChemistDirect.  Carolina is Vice President @ Atomico, working on sourcing, evaluation and due diligence of investments. Carolina is based in London, however she travels frequently to Latin America to evaluate opportunities for Atomico to help companies in the region to scale. Prior to Atomico, Carolina started her career at Merrill Lynch's investment banking division before moving to private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. Did you like the double guest show today? If so click here! If you prefer a single guest click here!  In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Mattias and Carolina made their way into the VC industry with Atomico? 2.) How important is it for VCs to have entrepreneurial backgrounds? 3.) What advice would Mattias and Carolina give to anyone looking to enter the VC industry? 4.) What is Atomico's selection criteria? Average cheque size? Round preference? Sector preference? 5.) Why is now the best time to be a European entrepreneur? What has changed? 6.) What does it take for a tech ecosystem to thrive and grow? 7.) What is required for startups to scale from small markets to mass market adoption? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Mattias' Fave Book: The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson Carolina's Fave Book: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt Mattias' Fave Blog or Newsletter: Benedict Evans Carolina's Fave Newsletter: The Skim, Dan Primack: TermSheet Atomics's Most Used Productivity Tools: Wunderlist, Evernote, Pocket, SmartNews Atomics's Most Recent Investments: TrueCaller, GymPass As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Carolina and Mattias on Twitter here! For a more colourful image of Harry and maybe some mojito sessions, follow Harry on Instagram here!

Carl Waldekranz is the CEO and co-founder of Tictail. With the vision of creating the worlds most used and loved e-commerce platform Tictail has been called the Tumblr of e-commerce and been celebrated as one of Europe's hottest startups. The vibrant community now hosts more than 85,000 stores on their service. Due to this phenomenal growth Tictail recently closed a $22m Series B from Balderton, Acton, Thrive and Creandum. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) What were Carl's entrepreneurial origins and how did Tictail get started? 2.) What does Carl's idea creation process look like? How does Carl brainstorm? 3.) Tictail now sells 2m products on their platform but how did they get their first customers? 4.) At what moment in the Tictail journey was Carl the most worried or frightened? 5.) What would Carl say are the essentials for funding? How did Carl meet his investors? What is the difference between the different funding rounds for startups? 6.) Why did Carl pitch other startups before pitching VCs? 7.) Question from Daniel Waterhouse @ Balderton: How has Tictail maintained the magic company culture in Sweden, whilst expanding to NY? 8.) If Carl could start his time with Tictail again, is there anything he would have done differently?   Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Carl's Fave Book: The Score Takes Care of Itself, My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh Carl's Fave Blog or Newsletter: First Round Capital Blog As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Carl and Tictail on Twitter right here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry and a few mojito sessions, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!

Seth Levine is one of the most successful VCs on the planet having Co-Founded Foundry Group, Seth has made investments in the likes of Fitbit (IPO), Admeld (acquired by Google), Zynga (IPO) and Gnip (acquired by Twitter). The Foundry Group now has 5 funds, 4 early stage and 1 growth fund, totalling over $1bn in assets. Prior to Foundry Group, Seth started his career in venture with Mobius Venture Capital and lead the IPO of FirstWorld in 2000. Seth writes an awesome blog on technology, venture capital and colorado at www.sethlevine.com. If you enjoyed today's show, share the love on Twitter by clicking here!  In Today's Show You Will Learn: 1.) Where it all started for Seth and how he made his move into the technology and venture industry? 2.) Question from James Altucher: Do you have to be in Silicon Valley to get the best access to deal flow? 3.) How has Foundry group developed since 2006 as VC firm? 4.) Why are all funds raised by Foundry the same, $225m? How is VC fundraising the same as startup fundraising? 5.) Question from Elizabeth Kraus: How does Seth stay motivated having enjoyed so much financial success with Foundry Group? 6.) What areas of tech is Seth most excited about?   Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Most Used Apps: Slack, Voxer, DarkSky Seth's Fave Book: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway Seth's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Hidden Brain Seth Most Recent Investment: Sourcepoint As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Seth and Foundry Group on Twitter here! For a more colourful view of Harry's world and maybe a few mojito sessions, check out Harry's Instagram here!

Brad Feld is one of the world's leading VCs having Co-Founded Foundry Group, Brad has made investments in the likes of Zynga, Makerbot and Fitbit, just to name a few. Brad is also Co-Founder of Techstars, one of the world's most prominent startup accelerators, whose portfolio companies have raised over $1.3bn in funding.   If that wasn't enough Brad is also a best selling author having co-athoured Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and VC, alongside Dick Costolo and Startup Communities: Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your Community. In addition to his investing and writing, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and co-chair of Startup Colorado. Brad is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship and writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts, Startup Revolution, and Ask the VC. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Brad made his move from entrepreneurship to VC and later co-founding, The Foundry Group. 2.) Does Brad agree with the view that it is important for entrepreneurs to fail? 3.) Why did Brad turn Fitbit down on 1st opportunity and what changed the 2nd time? 4.) What gets Brad excited in a startup? What areas are Brad most interested in? 5.) What is the main characteristic that makes the Foundry Group the huge success it is?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Brad's Fave  Business Books:  1.) Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig 2.) Hot Seat by Dan Shapiro Brad's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Fred Wilson's Blog, Dan Primack: TermSheet, MatterMark Daily Brad's Most Recent Investments: GlowForge: The 3D Laser Printer, Sphero   As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Brad and Foundry Group on Twitter here!

Sarah Schupp is the CEO and founder of UniversityParent. UniversityParent is the #1 site for college parents to find everything they need to help their children succeed. The company, which began with a single print guide for the University of Colorado Boulder, now prints parent guides for more than two hundred colleges, features information for 3,000 colleges and universities on its website, and distributes a weekly e-newsletter. In May 2014, UniversityParent celebrated its 10th anniversary and was named to the Mercury100, BizWest’s ranking of the 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Boulder Valley. Sarah has been named one of Inc. Magazine's Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30, Businessweek's top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25, and one of the Denver Business Journal's Top Women Under 40. She’s been named a "Player to Watch" by the Gates Foundation, and was recognized by the White House and the United Nations as one of the country's top young entrepreneurs. In Today's Show You Will Learn: How the idea for UniversityParent came about? How did Sarah manage to juggle a growing business with a University degree? How individuals can leverage their university network to grow their business? How important is it for entrepreneurs to be surrounded by like minded entrepreneurs? In what circumstances should founders confide and not confide in their team? How does Sarah as a leader show her support for her team? How has Sarah found the fundraising process and what would Sarah change if she could start over? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Harry's Fave Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Sarah's Fave Book: The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo Sarah's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Think With Google As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Sarah on Twitter here!

Nick Beim is a Partner @ Venrock where he focuses on internet, mobile, SaaS, big data and fintech investments. Nick blogs on the economics of innovation at www.nickbeim.com. Nick led the initial venture investments in a number of pioneering consumer internet companies including the Gilt Groupe, and Care.com (IPO). He also led the initial investments in a number of today’s leading big data innovators including Dataminr and Intent Media. Prior to joining Venrock, Nick was a General Partner at Matrix Partners and worked in the technology groups at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Nick’s primary passion outside of venture investing is international development, in particular accelerating international development through entrepreneurship. Nick serves on the board of Endeavor, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries that Tom Friedman has called “the best anti-poverty program of all.” In 2011, Forbes named Nick one of the “Elite 8″ to watch in Venture Capital.   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Nick made his move into venture and started a bidding contest between two funds a bank for him! How Nick got to be involved with DataMinr and how Nick believes society will use data in the future? How does Nick standout in the super competitive rounds? What is Nick's value add? Is it still harder for female founders to get VC funding? Why?  What can be done to improve this imbalance in the tech ecosystem? What is impact investing? How do you balance LP returns with social impact improvements? Our friend @ August Capital, David Hornik asks Nick, what is the difference between investing in NY compared to SF?    Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Nick's Fave Book: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Reid Hoffman, Essays on Entrepreneurship  

Ezra Galston is a VC @ Chicago Ventures, where he focuses on consumer facing and marketing tech investments and is actively involved with Blitsy, BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, and Zipments. Ezra’s thoughts on startups, have been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Re/code.Prior to Chicago Ventures, Ezra was a Young Entrepreneur at Foundation Capital. Before business school, Ezra served as the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming – the parent company of CardRunners, Hold’em Manager and DraftDay – and before then earned a living as a professional poker player. If that wasn't enough he is also the author of one of our fave VC blogs www.breakingvc.com. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Ezra became a Poker Player and then transitioned to the world of Venture Capital? What is the mission with Chicago Ventures? Average ticket size? Preferred sector?  How important is it for startups to be close to their investors, geographically and relationship wise? For marketplace startups, what metrics does Ezra really deep dive on? With the likes of Instacart raising huge rounds, why are we seeing this huge increase in food tech? In hugely crowded markets, how does Ezra sort the wood from the trees? What advice would Ezra recommend to individuals looking to enter the VC industry? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Ezra's Fave Book: The Little Prince Ezra's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Stratechery by Ben Thompson, Carpool.vc Ezra's Fave Productivity Tools: Rapportive, Bitmoji Ezra's Most Recent Investment: Luxury Garage Sale, Attendant Bill Gurley: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces HungryRoot: Charlie O'Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ezra on Twitter right here! 

Pierre Valade is Co-Founder and CEO @ Sunrise, the beautiful calendar app, acquired by Microsoft for $100m in February 2015, where he now works on Outlook Mobile for Microsoft. Prior to Sunrise, Pierre worked as a UX designer @ Foursquare following a successful hackathon in which he built an app in 6 hours, called Agora. Agora impressed Foursquare Founder, Dennis Crowley to the extent that Pierre was hired in the same month. As a result of Pierre's success he was named on the Innovators Under 35.   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Pierre came up with the idea for Sunrise? What made Sunrise standout above all calendar apps as the best calendar? What features are most requested by Sunrise users? How was the design process in altering the design from a iPhone to a Apple Watch? What was Pierre and Sunrise approach to testing and iterating products? Having raised VC funding prior to acquisition, how did Pierre meet his initial investors, what was his fundraising experience like? Were there any surprises or challenges? How did the Microsoft Acquisition come about? How has Pierre's role and Sunrise changed since the acquisition?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Pierre's Fave Book: Zero To One: Peter Thiel Pierre Most Impactful Purchase: iPhone 6 Pierre's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Stratechery by Ben Thompson  

Fede Pirzio-Biroli is Founder @ Playfair Capital, a leading investor in seed level, technology based startups. Fede founded Playfair Capital from his first investment in December of 2010 and the portfolio quickly grew to 20 investments by the end of 2012, including the likes of Duedil, AppearHere and On Device Research. During this period, Fede was an angel in residence at White Bear Yard. After working closely with Passion Capital, he built the Playfair Capital team and moved into Warner Yard, Playfair's current home. Prior to Playfair, he spent several years in Africa working for the UN, Oxfam and PharmaSecure, after which he lobbied government and large aid organisations to increase the transparency of aid flows.   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Fede made his move into angel investing and then transitioned to form his own fund? 2.) What is the mission at Playfair? What is the average ticket size? Does Playfair have any preferred sectors? 3.) What do startups need to have to get the Playfair stamp of approval? What are Playfair looking for? 4.) How has Fede seen the seed funding environment change in London? 5.) How does Fede and Playfair stave off competition for the 'hot' startups looking to raise VC money? 6.) What benefits do founders get for working in a co-working space? How important is it for VCs to offer this service? 7.) How does Fede create a united company culture in a co-working space with so many different companies?   Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Fede's Fave Book: The Circle by David Eggers Fede Fave Newsletter or Blog: Dojo, AngelList Fede's Most Recent Investment: Knytton (Techstars London W14) As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Fede on Twitter right here!

Roxanne Varza is currently the startup lead for Microsoft in France, running both Microsoft Ventures Paris and Bizspark. Prior to Microsoft, Roxanne was Editor of TechCrunch France and has been a guest author for the likes of The Telegraph and Business Insider. Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Tech.eu, one of the few publications to cover the European tech industry as a whole, with the brilliant Robin Wauters. If that wasn't enough Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Girls In Tech both in Paris and London, which aims to raise the visibility of women in technology,entrepreneurship and innovation though monthly events, leadership programmes and much more. Roxanne has won a range of accolade including Top 30 Women Under 30 In Tech, Coolest 25 Women in Tech and 10 Women Shaking Up Tech In Their 30s.  P.S. If you are looking for an amazing new podcast on the Tech Scene in Europe, check out Tech.eu's new show here: Tech.eu Podcast #4   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Roxanne made her move into the tech industry and then made the move from TechCrunch to running Microsoft's Accelerator in Paris? What would Roxanne recommend to people in tech contemplating moving countries? What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch? What is the mission at Microsoft Ventures? What is the deal? What are the benefits? In the 10 minute pitch to Roxanne, what does Microsoft want to hear? How does Microsoft determine product-market fit? What does the increase in US funds entering the European market suggest? What are the benefits for startups of having global investors? What can startups do to increase their media exposure in the sea of new startups? What do journalists look for in emails from founders? How can founders be successful through submitting guest posts? What are the best and most effective ways to learn code from scratch?   Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Roxanne's Fave Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Roxanne's Reading Material: News.me: Digg Fred Wilson: Investing In Startups In Europe Microsoft Ventures Alumni: Zocdoc: Find a Doctor, Xobni: Your Smarter Address Book Is Waiting As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Roxanne on Twitter right here!

Nick Bortot is the Founder & CEO at Bux, Europe's largest mobile trading platform with an incredible 175,000 active users. In his former life he was one of the driving forces behind the Dutch market leader in online brokerage, BinckBank. There he held several commercial positions before he was elected member of the executive board. After having spent five years in the boardroom, Nick started dreaming about a new company that would make the financial markets both fun and exciting. This dream turned into BUX. Bud has attained many incredible mentions and awards including being named on the Fintech50 2015. You can also check out their first TV add right here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Nick made the move from broking to founding Bux? What are the benefits of being a slightly older founder? What Nick would recommend to anyone looking for a technical co-founder? How to build a team of individuals with complimentary skills? What are the drivers for the incredible growth to 175,000 users? How is Nick planning to convert an audience of non trader to start trading? What advice would Nick give founders entering into heavily regulated markets? How Bux have built a great brand in a competitive market? Having raised funds from Orange Growth Capital, what was surprising and challenging for Nick about raising angel and VC money? What would Nick do differently if he was raising funds again? Does Nick agree with the concept of building a 'war chest' of funds? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Nick's Fave Book: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: VICE News Nick's Fave App: BRAINTOSS: Toss your thoughts straight into your inbox As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Nick and Bux on Twitter right here!

Mike Jones is the Founder and CEO at Science Inc. a disruptive media, marketing and commerce company that creates, invests, acquires and scales successful digital businesses. Their incredible portfolio includes the likes of Medium, DollarShaveClub and DogVacay and their leadership is responsible for an astonishing 12 acquisitions and over $1bn in exits. Prior to Science Inc, Mike was the CEO at Myspace, where he was responsible for the relaunch, one of the most high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry, before selling MySpace to SpecificMedia on behalf of NewsCorp. Mike is also an active early stage investor having personally invested in over 30 startup businesses including Klout, Betterworks, Formspring, ShoeDazzle to name a few. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Mike began his entrepreneurial career, how MySpace came about then how Mike made the move to Science Inc? 2.) What is the mission at Science, what does Science provide and how do they differ from the likes of YC and Techstars? 3.) Science have a specific methodology to identify the best startups and the best sectors. What is involved in this methodology? Has it changed since the start of Science? 4.) What can a startup founder do or show you to impress you? Are there any real red flags for you when meeting startup founders? What are the commonalities of the great founders? 5.) What is Science's involvement with the companies, what are their key value adds at Science? 6.) On Twist Mike said ‘growth is the most important thing, without growth there is no money’? So what at Science how do they approach growth and what are the challenges posed by this need for growth? Items Mentioned in Todays Episode: Mike's Fave Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do by Chris Duhigg Mike's Fave News Source: FlipBoard  

Arteen Arabshahi is a VC at Karlin Ventures, where he specialises in enterprise software, commerce platforms, and marketplaces. Prior to Karlin Ventures, Arteen spearheaded the launch of Built In LA, an online community for digital entrepreneurs and innovators. However, his passion for startups flourished while helping run operations at Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago. In today's incredible interview we delve into the best strategies for contacting any VC you want, how to make the approach, how to deal with the emotional and psychological pressure of starting a company and the rise of marketplaces. When not with startups, Arteen sits on the board of TEDxVenice Beach and is a supporter of TWLOHA, a non-profit raising awareness and support for those struggling with mental health. As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Arteen and Karlin Ventures on Twitter right here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Arteen made the jump into the world of Venture Capital, from originally wanting to be a plastic surgeon!! How did Arteen approach VCs when applying for positions? What did Arteen say in those emails to achieve such a high response rate? What tools did Arteen use to ensure he got the VCs real email address? Does Arteen agree with the traditional routes into Venture: Startup Founder, Consultant, Investment Banking? Why is Arteen so excited about marketplaces? Are there any in particular that Arteen is doubling down on? How big a market does a market have to be to get Arteen excited? What would Arteen advise founders potentially struggling from self doubt or lacking in confidence? What mental health tools would Arteen recommend to help with this? The biggest red flags for Arteen when being pitched to? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Email Address Tools: Rapportive Arteen's ProductHunt Collection Arteen's Fave Book: Fightclub Arteen's Marketplace Investments: Laurel & Wolf, ShipHawk Arteen's Fave Newsletter: Ben Evans Blog, Strictly VC Artene's Most Recent Investment: Policy Genius  

Matt Williams is Founder and CEO of Pro.com. Prior to Pro.com, Matt served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz, following his time at Digg where he led the complete overhaul of Digg which he joined as CEO in 2010 to rebuild the site from the ground up and contributed to its successful acquisition by Betaworks in 2012. Before Digg, Matt spent 12 years at Amazon where he managed Amazon’s Auctions and Marketplace, Community and Cross Merchandising, Tech Alliances, Web Store, and Consumer Payments divisions. Prior to Amazon, Matt founded and was the CEO of Livebid, which was acquired by Amazon in 1999. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Matt made his way into entrepreneurship and then later the VC world? 2.) How did LiveBid come about when Matt was only 23 and how did he build the product and the initial user base? 3.) What was the hardest aspect of the entire LiveBid journey and how did Matt overcome it? 4.) How did Matt's life and work change moving from your own startup to working in a massive organization like amazon? What would Matt advise founders who have sold or are thinking of selling their companies to large corporations? 5.) Following a number of years at Amazon. How did you attempt to turn Digg around as CEO and was their anything you would have done differently?  6.) As EIR at Andreessen Horowitz what was it like, for Matt, working at a16z? Was there anything that surprised Matt about the move to venture? 7.) What would Matt say was the biggest lesson from working at these tech titans was? How has that affected how Matt runs Pro.com today?

David Wu is a General Partner at Maveron, which he joined in 2012 to help identify new investments in Web companies that have the potential to become leading consumer brands. He sourced and led Maveron's investment, Eargo and Darby Smart, also serving on their board. David is very much founder focussed and you’ll often find him coaching entrepreneurs at top Bay Area incubators such as Y Combinator, AngelPad, 500 Startups, and Stanford’s StartX and was previously EIR at Redpoint Ventures. His close ties to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community have led him to invest personally in over 30 start-ups, including Practice Fusion, Postmates, Tile, Jaunt VR, and SeatMe. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David made his move into the world of venture capital? How David perceives the current seed funding environment? What makes Stanford the breeding ground of tech unicorns that it is? How to create a bay area style culture? What is the most frequent problem David sees startups encounter and how do they overcome it? How can entrepreneurs know which funding source to go for? Crowdfunding, VC, Angel? Why should startups take seed VC money over angel money? What is the difference? What are the key traits required to be a great founder? How can products with early adopter usage transition to a mass market product? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: David's Fave Books: Game Of Thrones David's Most Recent Investment: Jott As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Maveron on Twitter right here!

Did you know: The name Point Nine Capital originates from the 0.9 version of a product that is early but has great potential. Nicolas Wittenborn is a VC at Point Nine Capital, one of the leading seed funds in Europe. Prior to Point Nine, Nicolas worked for the Team Europe Seed Fund. You can follow Nicolas' incredible blog here, which include my favourite ever blog post, outlining the exemplar pitch deck that startups should follow! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Nicolas made the move from iPhone sales arbitrage to VC analyst!! How big does a market have to be to get VCs excited? Do VCs have preferences with regards to teams? Technical or not? Multiple founders or not? At the Seed stage what do VCs expect in the product itself? What are the key metrics investors look for when viewing startups for the 1st time? What are the different types of competition and how can founders determine whether they are a real threat? How can startups and mobile apps in particular, grow organically in the early stages? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Nicolas' Fave Book: What Makes Sami Run?: Budd Schulberg Nicolas Fave Newsletters: Benedict Evans Newsletter, Point Nine Newsletter Nicolas' Most Recent Investment: Green Blender: Superfood Smoothie Ingredients Delivered To Your Door As always you can follow Harry, Nicolas, The Twenty Minute VC and Point Nine Capital right here! Similarly if you want to see Harry in a more colourful light, head over to Instagram for copious amount of mojitos!

Mutaz Qubbaj is Founder @ Squirrel, a financial wellbeing platform that allows employees to  regain control of their financial lives. Mutual has celebrated much recent success with Squirrel having been named winner of WIRED 2014 and Pitch @ The Palace. Mutaz is also an expert on all things accelerator having been an alum at Barclays Techstars London with Squirrel, which you may remember from our interview with Greg Rogers, where Greg named Squirrel the next company to disrupt an industry.  Prior to Squirrel, Mutaz has had a financial career that includes an LBS Masters in Finance and more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and PIMCO as a trader, strategist and marketer. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Mutaz made his movement from banking to being a startup founder? Was it difficult for Mutaz to leave the security of banking for the risky journey of entrepreneurship? What would Mutaz advise anyone looking to make the jump into the world of entrepreneurship? How did joining Techstars, help Squirrel as a company and Mutaz as a Founder? What is the Barclays Techstars process like? How can Founders decide which accelerator is right for them? What red flags should founders look for when investigating accelerators? How much equity do traditional accelerators take? What tips does Mutaz have to get the most out of the accelerator experience? How do individuals know when to give up the day job and become an entrepreneur? Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Mutaz's Fave Book: Exponential Organisations: Why New Organisations Are 10 Times Cheaper, Faster and Better Than Yours by Salim Ismail and Michael Malone Mutaz's Fave Reading Material: TechCrunch As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Squirrel on Twitter here!  

Quote of the Day: 'Invest in people who do what they say they are going to do and have done what they said they would do'. Guy Turner, 20VC Guy Turner is a Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners where he focuses on fast growing companies run by ambitious entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas. All of his incredible findings can be found through his blog at vcwithme.co. Guy joined Hyde Park Venture Partners in 2011 from Boston Consulting Group where he focused on corporate strategy across a variety of industries; he started his investing career as an Associate and then actively investing Member of Hyde Park Angels in 2009. Guy has led investments in numerous B2B software companies and is a Director at Geofeedia, InContext Solutions and Iris Mobile. Guy is also a Siebel Scholar, Kauffman Fellow and a co-inventor on two US Patents. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Guy made his move into the investing industry? How did Guy find the transition from academia to venture? Why is it crucial for startups to innovate, test and sell quickly? How can a startup determine whether their project is successful or if they should pivot? What are the three steps to the 18 month runway, all startups need? Do investors mind providing more financially to increase the runway? What can startups do to maximise the hype surrounding their business? Can hype ever be detrimental to a startup? What are Guy's preferences in terms of founders? How can a startup know when VCs are subtly rejecting them? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Guy's Fave Book: Thinking in Time Guys Most Recent Investment: 250ok FarmLogs

Quote of the Day: 'Advisors are the most crucial element to success for the young generation'. Jonathon Triest, 20 Min VC Jonathon Triest is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ludlow Ventures and Sandwich Fund. Prior to launching Ludlow, Jonathon worked as creative director for New York’s Discovery Productions. He founded and operated Triest Group, a design firm with a deep UI/UX focus. In addition to his role at Ludlow, Jonathon is a Kauffman Fellow and a mentor at numerous technology accelerators including Silicon Valley’s Up West Labs, Cincinnati’s The Brandery, and San Francisco’s Highway 1. He is board member of The Trico Foundation and Venture for America. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Jonathon made his unorthodox way into starting his own fund at the age of 27? What was Jonathon's first investing strategy and how has it developed? What Jonathon believes is wrong with the typical VC? How are Ludlow different? How does Jonathan find the fundraising process as a VC? Other than capital what are the benefits of fundraising? How does Jonathon differentiate Ludlow from the huge amount of seed funds? What are the benefits of accelerators for Jonathon and Ludlow? How does Jonathon approach deal flow? What does Jonathon look for in founders? Does Jonathon have design input in his investments? How important are advisors for the young generation coming into this community? How Jonathon managed to convince the likes of Brad Feld and Eric Ries to mentor him? Items Mentioned In Todays Show Jonathon's Fave Book: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker Jonathon's Most Recent Investment: Rapify

Will Sacks is Co-Founder and CEO at Kindara, the fertility awareness app that provides tools to understand fertility and be in control of their own body. Kindara has achieved phenomenal success having significant press in the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Times and Forbes. Their first product Kindara Fertility for iPhone has been ranked #1 on the App Store Medical Charts.  In this incredibly diverse conversation our talk ranges from wire framing and programming to vasectomies and uterus', it's a must listen!   In Today's Episode You Will Learn: Why Will started Kindara and how he got the initial product off the ground, without being able to code? Should Founders learn to code or learn how to be the best CEO they can be? How and what was the wire framing process like? What advice does Will have for other non-technical co-founders? How does Will feel being a male CEO for a female product? How has Will created this community of incredibly engaged users? How has Will managed to grow his audience so effectively? What has Will learnt from raising $1.7m in angel and VC funding? What is the hardest aspect of fundraising? What advice would will give to a startup thinking of raising funds? How is Will planning to transition into the world of hardware? What theories of The Lean Startup did not work for Will? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Will's Favourite Books: Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg 4 Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win by Steve Blank Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Will's Fave Blogs Seth Godin: Circles of Marketing Brad Feld: Blog Paul Graham: How to raise money Marc Andreesen: Reasons You Won't Get Funded Will's Must Have WireFraming Tool Balsamiq  

Quote of the Day: 'A great entrepreneur has the ability to bend the world to their will'. David Pakman, 20VC David Pakman is a Partner at Venrock, having spent the past 12 years as an internet entrepreneur. This includes David's appointment as CEO of eMusic, the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes. Prior to joining eMusic, David co-founded Myplay in 1999, which he later sold, in 2001, to Bertelsmann’s ecommerce Group. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service. If that wasn't enough David is also the co-creator of Apple Computer’s Music Group. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David started his career as an entrepreneur and later made the move to VC? How David found the transition from entrepreneur and CEO to being a VC? What is the main value add that both Venrock and David provides to their investments? What makes a great entrepreneur for David? How long do VCs need to know entrepreneurs before making investments? What 3 tips would David give for best sourcing deals as a VC? What areas does David believe are soon to be disrupted? How does David predict the next big industries to be disrupted? What did David think of Jay Z's launch of Tidal? Who will dominate in the music streaming sector in the coming years? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: David's Fave Book: Mindset by Carole Dweck David's Favourite Blog: Ben Thompson's: Stratechery Dollar Shave Club: Shave Time, Shave Money YouNow Tidal: High Fidelity Music Streaming As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Venrock on Twitter here!  

Quote of the Day: 'Keep an open mind from an early age'. Jonathan Libov, 20VC Jonathan Libov joined the investment team at Union Square Ventures in September of 2014. Jonathan hails from New York but has lived for the last few years in Tel Aviv, where he most recently worked as a Product Manager at Appsfire. He's a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in Cognitive Science and began his career in neuroscience research. He designs and codes, with Fifty among his side projects. In Today's Show You Will Learn: How Jonathan made his move from product guy to VC at USV? What is the key determinant for USV's success? How Fred Wilson and USV use blogging to market USV as 'smart money'? Is SMS dead? What is and will it be used for in the future? What sectors are ripe for disruption? How can technology and sport be integrated? Apple Music: Success or failure? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Favourite Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions OB1: Making Trade free for everyone, everywhere  

Phil Jacobson is Co-Founder At PumpUp, a community for healthy and active living, with over 2m users. Phil leads the operations, finance, marketing, business development and external relations for PumpUp, with great success having accumulated over 220,000 Instagram followers! Prior to PumpUp, Phil held brand management positions at Unilever and PepsiCo. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Phil started PumpUp? How Phil got 1,500 downloads in day one? What marketing strategies are PumpUp working on to continue growing? What social media strategies Phil recommends founders attempting to build an online presence? How did Phil accumulate the 220,000 instagram followers organically? What has Phil done to create such a heavily engaged user base? Who are Phil's biggest competitors and how does PumpUp aim to stay ahead of them? Where are PumpUp in the fundraising process, what has Phil learnt from the $2m seed round? How can startups determine how much they need to raise? What are PumpUp doing to ensure customer retention rates remain high?   Items Mentioned In Today's Show: PumpUP App General Catalyst Partners Favourite Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Favourite Blog: MatterMark Daily As always you can follow Harry, Phil, The Twenty Minute VC and PumpUp on Twitter here! A new one recommended by Phil, click here to follow the awesome Instagram pages of Harry and PumpUp!  

Ari Helgason is a VC at Dawn Capital in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system World on a Hanger and ecommerce clothing marketplace Fabricly.com. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Ari made his move into the VC scene? Why Ari decided to bootstrap his first business? Does Ari believe that Founders should always be fundraising? Should Founders take more money than they need, 'a war chest'? What type of goals do VCs want to see from founders? What do investors expect from startups at Series A? How can founders learn what KPI's make sense for their business? How can founders know when is the right time to fundraise? How can startup founders get their foot in the VC door? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Predictable Revenue: Aaron Ross (Mandatory Reading for All SaaS CEO's) Elon Musk: How The Billionaire of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future Saastr by Jason Lemkin AVC.com As always you can follow Harry, Ari and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Alessandra Sollberger is a VC at Mosaic Ventures, a new Silicon Valley style venture firm based in London, focussing on Series A rounds. Alessandra previously worked in private equity at Blackstone, covering sectors ranging from consumer brands to software. Prior to that, she worked in startups in the US and Europe and in M&A at Goldman Sachs. She is also the founder of Bright Mentors, an edtech non-profit teaching coding and science in secondary schools through a network of technology professionals.                      In todays episode you will learn: How Alessandra made her move into the VC world? What are you Mosaic looking for? What is their typical investment size?    What Alessandra thinks of the different paths into venture?   What advice would you give someone looking to enter venture?   Why Alessandra believes there has been a resurgence in marketplaces? What is driving this growth?  What startup marketplaces is Alessandra most excited about?    Alessandra's thoughts on the next big sector to be disrupted and why?   As always you can follow Harry, Alessandra, The Twenty Minute VC and Mosaic Ventures on Twitter here!  

Today is a very special show as James Wise, Principal at Balderton Capital turns the tables on Host of The Twenty Minute VC, Harry Stebbings. In today's brilliant interview by James we delve into what has led to Harry's interest in the VC industry, why did Harry start The 20 Minute VC, how does Harry identify guests to interview, how does he approach those guests, how has Harry found his first experience in the venture industry, what has surpassed Harry about the VC industry, what traits has Harry spotted that are common among the great VCs interviewed, is Harry optimistic or not about the venture industry, what would Harry recommend for other people looking to go into venture. Items Mentioned in Todays Show: Harry's Favourite Books: Tim Ferris: 4 Hour Work Week, 4 Hour Body Shyp Crowdcube, 3DHubs, Tictail MMC Ventures, Founders Forum As always you can follow Harry, James and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here! 

Jason Lemkin is Managing Director at Storm Ventures focussing on early stage SaaS and enterprise startups. Jason is an acknowledged thought leader in SaaS through his creation of the SaaStr community, connecting thousands of SaaS entrepreneurs and generating upwards of 1,000,000 views a month around core SaaS topics, with a particular focus on accelerating revenue and early-stage SaaS sales and marketing. Prior to Storm, Jason served as CEO and co-founder of Storm Ventures-backed EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service. Jason led EchoSign from inception through its acquisition by Adobe Systems Inc. in 2011. He then served as Vice President, Web Services at Adobe, where he oversaw the growth of EchoSign and Adobe Document Services to $100,000,000+ ARR in 2013. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Jason made his way into the SaaS and VC industry? What actions did Jason do to get his blog to 1m+ page views per month? What advice would Jason give to founders thinking of selling to large companies? What type of entrepreneur does Jason like to invest in? How does Jason see SaaS valuations, with recent enormous rounds from Zenefits? What areas of the SaaS industries are neglected or undervalued?   Is the 40% growth rule broadly correct and can this be applied to early stage tech companies? What is Jason's pre-investment meeting approach like? What makes a founder insane in a good way, rather than a bad way? How are SaaS companies innovating to acquire new customers? Quick Fire Round: Apple: Hit or Miss Most exciting SaaS companies and sectors Jason's favourite book and why? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: SaaStr: Jason's Blog Jason's Favourite Book: The Lion Who Shot Back Mark Suster: Both Sides Follow: @saleshacker (amazing content from VPs of Sales @ Top Tech Startups) Emergence Capital: Joe Floyd David Saks: Yammer Slack: Stewart Butterfield, Zenefits: Parker Conrad  

Spencer Lazar is a Principal at General Catalyst Partners, based in New York City. He focuses on early stage software & internet investments, with a particular interest in online marketplaces, mobile applications, web services, and enterprise IT. Spencer was previously the cofounder of Spontaneously, Inc - an iOS development studio. Prior to that he was an early stage software & internet investor at Accel in London, where he sourced and worked with companies including Hailo, Birchbox, Bonobos, ForgeRock, and Qriously. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How is the roads into the venture industry changing? What young people can do to make themselves more attractive to VCs? What would make Spencer's perfect founder? How important is geography when investing in startups? How does Spencer feel the education technology space is developing? What metrics Spencer examines when investing in a startup? What sectors is Spencer most interested in? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Spencer's Favourite Book: The Everything Store on Jeff Bezos Spencer's Latest Investment: CampusJob Insight Venture Partners How Lightspeed's Jeremy Liew invested in Snapchat? Hot EdTech Startups: Lynda.com, PluralSight, General Assembly, Grovo, ClimbCredit Oscar, Sensio As always you can follow Harry, Spencer and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Anand Sanwal is the CEO and Co-Founder of CB Insights. Specifically, CB Insights tracks financing trends and private companies in the healthcare, industrial, technology, software, energy & utilities, renewable, internet and mobile industries. CB Insights works primarily with venture capital, private equity, angel investors, corporate development, corporate strategy and family offices. Formerly, Sanwal was the Vice President at American Express. Sanwal was responsible for managing three primary functions which included the (1) Chairman’s $50 Million Innovation Fund, (2) CFO’s strategic planning function and (3) Enterprise Investment Optimization group. He is the author of “Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management” which features a forward by former American Express and Citigroup CFO, Gary Crittenden. In Todays Episode You Will Learn: Why Anand chose not to take VC funding for CB Insights? Should all subscription based companies be revenue funded? What one key determinant has contributed to the success of CB Insights? How has Anand's hiring strategy changed over time? How strategies does Anand use to create this company culture? What is the biggest challenge facing Anand today? What tactics have not worked when trying to create a good working environment? Is CB Insights replacing VCs, potentially losing their core customers? What metrics Anand would most look for in a startup? We then delve into a quick fire round and discover what is Anand's favourite business book, what gets Anand excited, what advice Anand would give to himself 10 years ago starting out in the industry and finally the next 5 years for Anand and CB Insights.

Quote of the Day: "Capital is a crappy differentiator". Dustin Dolginow Christian Claussen is a Managing Partner with Ventech, a VC firm with offices in Munich and Paris. He has 16 years of experience investing in innovation and he leads Ventech investment activities in the German-speaking regions of Europe. He serves as a board member for Picanova and TV Smiles. In today's amazing episode with Christian we learn: Which value adds are most important for founders to look for? How can Founders determine whether VCs will carry out on their 'Value Add'? What are the signs of VC bulls***? Will we see all VCs transition to Andreesen Horowitz service based VC model? How have VCs offerings to startups changed over time? What advice would Christian provide to founders entering a round of funding? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Christian's Favourite Book: Phillip Roth: Everyman Christian's Article on VC Value Add Speex: Online Language Training That Really Works Andreesen Horowitz As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Rob Moffat is Principal at Balderton Capital, one of London's leading VC firms. At Balderton Rob specialises in Fintech, Martech, Gaming and Marketplaces. Rob is currently a board director or observer with six portfolio companies: Qubit, Wooga, Housetrip, Carwow, Rentify and Nutmeg. Other investments Rob has been involved with at Balderton include Citymapper, Top10, Scoot and Archify. Prior to joining Balderton Rob worked for Google in London, as a Manager in the European Strategy and Operations team. He started his career with five years in strategy consulting with Bain, working mostly with financial services clients.   In today's amazing discussion with Rob we discover: What characteristics make a great VC? How VCs assess incoming business plans and investment opportunities? The biggest problem facing Rob today, as Principal at Balderton? How the structure of VC firms is changing to a service based environment? Does Crowdfunding pose a threat to VC as a alternative method of finance? For individuals wanting to move into Venture, what can they do to optimise their employability in the VC world? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Rob Moffat: Medium Rob's Favourite Book: The Circle: Dave Eggers Crowdcube Just Park Nutmeg: Online Investment Management As always you can follow Harry, Rob and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!  

Alan Chiu is a Partner at XSeed Capital, with a strong background in enterprise software and data storage. Alan is currently Vice President for Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, an alumni association that seeks to strengthen Stanford’s startup community by fostering relationships among entrepreneurs and alumni investors. Prior to XSeed, Alan was previously Director of Product Management at Bycast (acquired by NetApp), and was engineering manager at Creo, which was acquired by Kodak for $1B in cash. In todays amazing discussion with Alan we discover: What the checklist is for Alan when investing in startups? Why Stanford is the amazing place it is for startups? What is the most important value add that VCs can bring to a startup? When is the right time to pivot and how important is a product roadmap? As always you can follow Harry, Alan and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

Alan Jones is Chief Growth Hacker at Bluechilli, who have set the incredible goal of building 100 startups by 2016! Alan is also Founding Investor and Mentor at Startmate, an Australian Y Combinator style accelerator. If that wasn't enough Alan also invests and advises through Blackbird Ventures, Pollenizer and Startmate. In Today's Amazing Discussion with Alan We Discover: What you should do when you have a great idea? How to validate a market? How to figure out if it is a viable business? What can non technical co-founders do to get their idea of the ground? What individuals can do to meet technical co-founders? What are the biggest tips for entrepreneurs when facing a pitch?  Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Dan Ariely: Predictably Irrational Tzukuri: Bluetooth Wearable Technology TreeHouse Quora OtherLevels: Mobile Marketing Automation Platform  

Doug Scott has one of the largest AngelList syndicates, now with an incredible £396,000 in his. Doug is one of first investors in Techstars, Ignite.io and Entrepreneurs First in Europe ( still an investor in all 3 ). Prior to angel investing Doug founded several internet companies based in the UK, carrentals.co.uk - over 1 million rentals, discountvouchers.co.uk - 6 million subscribers, timetobreak.com - over 5 milion page views per day.  In today's discussion Harry and delves into what Doug really expects from founders, how Doug would like to be pitched by prospective startups, is AngelList challenging the VC model, what investors and startups can expect from Doug's syndicate, his biggest tip to an aspiring entrepreneur and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Doug's AngelList Syndicate, Gil Dibner's AngelList Syndicate, Tim Jackson AngelList Syndicate Oxygen Accelerator, Jon Bradford, Springboard Cashkaro, Meals, Lifebox, Chew You can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Doug on Twitter here!

Charlie O'Donnell is the Founder and Sole Partner @ Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, the first venture capital fund based in Brooklyn. Prior to founding Brooklyn Bridge, Charlie worked at the prestigious First Round Capital, with the likes of Josh Koppelman and Union Square Ventures with Fred Wilson. If that wasn't enough Charlie is one of only a dozen to be named to Business Insider's 100 Most Influential People in NY Tech five or more times and has served on the founding board of the New York Tech Meetup and is one of the group's first 100 members. His blog, This is Going to Be BIG!, is one of the ten most widely read VC blogs in the country with over 8,000 readers. Among the many discussions Harry and Charlie delve into how to enter the VC job industry, how the seed stage fund raising environment is behaving, what Charlie learnt from Union Square and First Round, tactics that individuals can do to increase their own branding, Charlie's views on investing in hardware, investing in Kickstarter backed companies, the next five years for Charlie, what has blown Charlie's mind in the last four weeks, the marketing possibilities of Instagram for startups and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: How To Be A VC Analyst: Charlie's Post Charlie's Hardware Portfolio Companies: Ringly, GoTenna, Canary Home Security Hungryroot: Farm Fresh 7 Minute Meals Tinkergarten

James Altucher is a successful entrepreneur, investor, board member, and the writer of 11 books including the recent WSJ Bestseller, "Choose Yourself!" (foreword by Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter). He has started and sold several companies for eight figure exits. He's on the board of a billion $ revenue company, has written for The Financial Times, The New York Observer, he's run several hedge funds, venture capital funds, and is a successful angel investor, having invested in over 30 startups alongside Silicon Valley's Top VC's. In today's conversation Harry and James discuss how to continuously come up with great ideas, what tasks activate the 'idea muscle', what tactics have produced the greatest investing returns for James, what traits do great founders have, how has James' investing strategy developed, what is the future for Uber, the scam that is University and much more... Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Alternatives to College and Careers: Learn to Become an iOS Developer, Learn to Become a Web Developer James Altucher: Choose Yourself! Tim Ferriss: AngelList Syndicate Shyp: The Easiest Way To Ship Your Stuff  

Jason Calacanis is arguably the world's greatest angel investor with over 60 investments including the likes of Uber (1st round), ThumbTack and Calm, just to name a few. Jason is also the Host of This Week In Startups, the world's biggest startup podcast and Founder of Launch and Launch Festival, the world's biggest startup festival. In this interview we discuss, how Jason invested in Uber's 1st round, what Jason looks for in startups, how Jason can tell whether a founder has got what it takes, which VC's Jason most likes to work with, which entrepreneurs Jason most likes to invest in, what pisses Jason off more than anything, what inspires him more than anything, what industries will see the most disruption in the coming years, what makes a great entrepreneur and how startups can position themselves best for entering a round of funding. Enjoy! All show notes, links and resources from this episode can be found at http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com and you can follow Harry, Jason and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter. Mentioned in Today's Show: Bill Gurley, Jonathan Triest, Chamath Palihapitiya Bento: Delicious Asian Food Delivered in Minutes Butterfleye: Google's Nest Meets Dropcam Birdi: Better Than A Smoke Detector

Scott Taylor is the CEO @ miDrive, a startup focussed on reinventing the learner driving experience. Scott is also an advisor to leading London based VC firm EC1 Capital. If that wasn't enough he is a mentor at Richard Branson's Virgin Startup Program and an investor in Coupang and Mavrx. Prior to miDrive, he was Chief Product Officer at Livedrive, one of Europe's leading cloud storage providers, assisting with its sale to j2 Global. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: TreeHouse: Learn Web Design, Web Development  LifeCake Acquisition FestivalFriends App Crowdcube: Online Investing, Equity Crowdfunding The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz Into The Woods: John Yorke In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) Where it all began for Scott and how he made his move into technology and venture? 2.) Having founded several successful companies, what Scott believes the qualities required to be a good founder are? 3.) The hardest part for Scott in building companies and how he overcome them? 4.) What is Scott's role at EC1, what is he looking for in companies at EC1 and how does that differ from his own angel investments? 5.) At Virgin Start Up, what is the process like to attain funding? 6.) What are Scott's views on early stage funding? Does he agree with the friends and family round? 7.)What would you suggest to entrepreneurs looking to gain external capital? The episode will then finish with a quick fire round. Where we hear Scott's thoughts on: Next 5 years for Scott? Asian tech market? Favourite book and why? Most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Scott and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter

Simon Menashy is Investment Director at MMC Ventures where he is responsible for leading new and follow on investments as well as supporting existing MMC portfolio companies. He also sits on the board for WeDo, Boticca and Sky Futures and works closely with a number of other B2B and B2C businesses including Growth Intelligence, Mubi, Small World, Somo.  Prior to MMC Simon worked in European tech and media consulting, working with clients including the BBC, Virgin Media, BT, Thompson Reuters and Ofcom as part of the Deloitte Strategy team in London   Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Base79 Growth Intelligence In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Simon made his move from consulting into the world of VCs? 2.)Simon recently tweeted how not to pitch to VCs, so what should founders be doing when pitching? What are the fundamentals in terms of required documentation?  3.) Does Simon agree with Peter Thiel’s opinion that disruption is fundamentally bad for society? What industries does Simon feel will be next disrupted? 4.) With the increasing length of time it takes for venture backed companies to IPO, how does Simon feel the funding path is changing? 5.) How does Simon believe the tech eco system is going in London and what can be done to increase VC funding and engender a silicon valley esque feel to London? Today's episode finishes with a quick fire round where we hear Simon's thoughts on the apple watch, what the biggest red flags are when viewing a pitch and his most recent investment and why he said yes? You can follow Harry, Simon and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter.  

Angela Tran Kingyens is an associate at Version One Ventures, where Angela manages the day to day activities of the fund from identifying new startups to advising portfolio companies on product. Prior to Version One, Angela Co-Launched Insight Data Science, a Y Combinator backed startup, helping academics transition into a career in industry. In today's episode, Angela describes the best ways to network with VCs, how you can increase employability instantly and the most effective ways to conduct market research! Items Mentioned in Today's Show: mattermark Daily Newsletter Dan Primack: TermSheet Fred Wilson: AVC Good To Great by Jim Collins Headout: Your Best Local Friend in a New City In Today's Episode you will Learn: 1.) How Angela made the transition from a career in academia to a YC backed startup to a Palo Alto Venture Fund? 2.) What can individuals do to network effectively with VCs, even if they have no existing VC contacts? 3.) What advice Angela would give to someone looking to leave the academic path for a career in tech? How can they maximise employability? 4.) What should individuals look for when considering incubators? Do they increase the validity of a startup, from the Version One perspective? 5.) Version One specialise in Marketplaces. Why is that? Is it normal for VC funds to specialise? What Angela thinks the future of marketplaces will look like? 6.) How to identify where there are up and coming areas for disruption? What resources are most effective for this market research? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round where we hear Angela's thoughts on what industry she would never invest in, whether Uber will be a $trillion company, how VCs measure their own success, Angela's favourite business book and her most recent investment and why she said yes? You can follow Harry, Angela and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here.  

Tak Lo is Director at Techstars, helping entrepreneurs do more faster - on both sides of the Atlantic through Techstars London and Techstars NYC. Tak is also Founder at Travelst and Frontlyst. Prior to his road into entrepreneurship, Tak was a Consultant at Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton and was a specialist in the US ARMY. In today's incredible episode Tak shares his lessons from his own startup experience, the required reading for all entrepreneurs and of course when thinking TechStars, how can we not discuss the man himself, Brad Feld, and how Tak has adopted Brad's use of open office hours. Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Must Read Tech Blogs: Fred Wilson, Brad Feld Thoughts, Tomas Tunguz: Redpoint Capital, Christopher Janz: Point Nine Capital   Must Read Books: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Adam Grant: Give and Take, Peter Thiel: Zero to One, Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things Must Have Apps: Buffer: Save Time On Your Social Media, Feedly: The Stories You Need To Keep Ahead Networking Tools: Silicon Drinkabout, Meetup  Team of Rivals Adam Grant: Give and Take Peter Thiel: Zero to One Ben Horowitz: The Hard Thing About Hard Things In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How and why Tak made the transition first from the army to a career in consulting and then what made Tak take the entrepreneurial route and start his own company? Tak is renknowned for the amazing service and contribution he brings to every startup. What services does Tak bring and what does Tak feel all entrepreneurs and advisors must add? Does Tak back singular founders, or does he prefer a founding team? Tak is a Specialist on Leadership, for founders wanting to gain or develop their leadership skills, what can founders do, read or learn to further their leadership skills? For individuals contemplating moving into the tech world, how do they know which is the right job? Are there any immediate aspects they must look for or be wary of? What are the biggest misconceptions of the tech industry? How can people find out about networking events  What sector Tak believes is the next to be disrupted and why? What is the premise behind Brad Feld's 'Open Office Hours'? Why has Tak decided to adopt this tactic? What does Tak hope to gain from it? How is it going so far? We then finish today's episode with a lightning round, hearing Tak's thoughts on the greatest leader and why, the future of the asian tech market, his favourite book and why and his most recent investment and why he said yes? Follow Harry, Tak, The Twenty Minute VC