1/11/2024 0 Comments Lightspeed vc![]() When I meet with a founder, I'm looking to get a sense of what really drives them. Those founders who have an unfair set of technical or business insights will also have an unfair advantage in attracting investor capital. In some cases, these are founders who have built a better/faster/cheaper technology before (either inside a large company or at another startup), who have a unique insight around how to change the business model, or who have a unique outlook on what customers need and want today and in the future. Here's a killer combination that will impress a VC every time: a founder or founding team with a unique insight or set of experiences that give them an unfair advantage in disrupting the status quo. Founder and CEO Sanjay Beri took a game-changing technical vision - that a cloud-first world demands a new kind of security platform - and married it with exceptional storytelling abilities to attract investors, a world-class executive team, and a customer base that includes 25 percent of the Fortune 100. ![]() Take, for example, cloud security company Netskope, which in February closed on a $340 million round and achieved a valuation of nearly $3 billion. The most gifted entrepreneurs can weave compelling narratives that earn the trust and excitement of their investors, their team, and their customers. Can this founder express their vision in a way that captures customers' imaginations and convinces them to buy from a startup? Can the founder attract top talent to join a risky early-stage startup? Can they convince investors to help scale the business? And can they motivate their teams to keep pushing, even in difficult or uncertain times? I look to work with founders who can go beyond describing a technology and instead have a gift for articulating a compelling vision.įounders need to constantly convince three key sets of people: their customers, their employees, and their future investors. Here are the top five qualities I look for in a founder or founding teams. Backing the right leaders has never mattered more. While that human factor was critical before 2020, this year has been a dramatic reminder of how unpredictable events can completely turn a company's strategy on its head and provide an ultimate test of leadership. Besides a solid technology story, I look for entrepreneurs with the right personality, background, and passion to build an enduring business. ![]() Something else is equally influential when I evaluate a startup: the founders and what drives them. But the biggest lesson I've learned in my 12 years as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley is that great technology is merely one ingredient in building a great enterprise technology company. Look, I love interesting technology as much as anyone and it's a prerequisite for a conversation about funding. ![]() In a hot funding environment, it's easy for tech startup founders to believe that simply having standout technology gives them the upper hand in securing funding. Hot areas for investment include companies in the cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence spaces. Overcoming the sluggish early months of the coronavirus crisis, the year's total deal value reached $112 billion by the end of the third quarter, according to Pitchbook-NCVA Venture Monitor, and is likely to exceed the record $136.5 billion invested in US-based companies last year.Īmong the biggest beneficiaries are technology startups involved in the digital transformation that already was sweeping industries such as financial services, healthcare, and retail and is now accelerating due to COVID-19.
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