DISQUS

Prior success together is something I look for always when choosing a startup. I joined my current one (www.tungle.com) in large part because the CEO and CTO had a prior exit together. In fact, throughout the management team there were direct and indirect prior successes. ie. the CEO used to be a VC and invested in my 3rd startup which we sold for $47M. So, I'm in full agreement with you. Bringing the band back together is key.

Brutal. I had the exact same experience (minus the spousal affiliation) last time I went to SF. I feel (or felt) your pain!

Amazing. Funny, a great illustration that the fundamental rules for startups still apply. Product, user experience, simplicity. Period.

Fred, Glad to see some positive posts this week. Ironically, just before the Accel announcement, I posted along the same lines - good companies will always get funded - http://startupcfo.ca/2008/12/sky-is-not-falling...

P.S. It would be amazing if the tumblr folks would post on some of the tactics they have followed to generate such crazy numbers.

Hey Trevor,

Thanks for sharing this.

Mark

Thanks for sharing this Fred. I do think you hit the nail on the head though: the companies you are referring to here are not the ones feeling the most pain. Anyone selling big tickets items to the enterprise customer is feeling the pain. Similarly, any established B2C company that is selling to mainstream and not just early adopters will be hurting.

I agree that the need for a biz model is more important now than ever, but I do see Twitter as a valuable property even without it. If I could invest in it at the right terms I would. I'm with Fred on this.

I believe Garage is alive, though perhaps not well. They have some news regarding the fund coming out soon. Also, last time I checked Paul the VC whisperer was not a partner.

Heri,

Being more creative is a good suggestion, but let's face the facts:

1.) A Canadian tech company's primary market is the U.S.
2.) Tech buying is heavily cyclical (when times are good we feel it, when they're not, we feel it)
3.) Canadian VCs do not typically lead financings after the 2nd round. Good companies that need more than 2 rounds of financing have typically had to go to the US for money.
4.) The Canadian VC industry isn't particularly strong at this point either.

We cannot avoid the US market. When it coughs, we catch a cold.

Mark

I'm excited to see this. Brightspark was an investor in my last startup. They are very operational and technical - so this should not be a stretch for them. A few challenges I see though:

1.) You can't be a little bit pregnant - at some point, you need full time committed and incented management at each company they start.

2.) Do they have some conflicts of interest? i.e. I would hesitate in outsourcing dev to an organization with the capital and talent to turn around and build something competitive and kick my ass. Also, they're wearing several hats - they are still a traditional VC, now they're an incubator and also a service provider.

To Mark's comment - this is still great for the Canadian tech scene. Bring it on!

Mark

RE: Jacqui's comment on financials - I think the difference for Wellington is that as a venture debt player (a lender) they have more interest in financials and how they will be repaid than a traditional VC would...

Mark missed one big sin. Serial pitching. This is when people pitch a fund or two and see these discussions through before adding new funds to the pipeline.

(Most) VCs can't say "no". Inexperienced entrepreuners might actually think they are in a deal cycle, when in reality they're not.

As a result they lose time and burn cash. A big sin!

Sweet! I wish all companies would do that. And yes, he is just that good!

I read her piece with my mouth aghast in horror. What a train wreck of a piece. She really showed herself to be a bit of a dinosaur. And for someone with apparently only a finite # of words which she does not want to waste on blogging, she can be verbose.

Hey Ben,

I may be a masochist, but I truly enjoy fundraising. I've been raising VC since 1999. Many of Paul's points are bang on, but you can get good at it (in fact, as you point out - you have no choice - you're either good at it or you don't get funded).

The rejection sucks, but it is possible to become highly effective at raising VC$.

I may put together my own version of a survival guide soon.

Mark

Do you ever get pressure from LPs who would like their money put to work sooner? Since they have to invest it productively until you make a capital call

Jevon,

Thanks for the links again! Really appreciate it. And thanks for getting us all talking in the last week after your rallying cry post.

Cheers,

Mark

Jevon,

Thanks for the links again! Really appreciate it. And thanks for getting us all talking in the last week after your rallying cry post.

Cheers,

Mark

Roger,

Thanks for the list. Given that JLA is lead in my current company I should have known about a couple of them at least. I thought Standout was last year. Glad to see Growthworks is active. Wish you could be in Quebec. We have some interesting stuff going on here.

Mark

Roger,

Thanks for the list. Given that JLA is lead in my current company I should have known about a couple of them at least. I thought Standout was last year. Glad to see Growthworks is active. Wish you could be in Quebec. We have some interesting stuff going on here.

Mark

Jevon,

Great post! I was just thinking about local community yesterday (http://startupcfo.ca/2008/07/canadian-tech-mob-...)

Looking back, I can't think of one new VC funding in Canada in 2008. VCs are definitely licking their wounds. We can't wait for them to feel better. We need to just get on with building great companies. The good thing is that it's much cheaper to do that than it used to be.

Mark

Jevon,

Great post! I was just thinking about local community yesterday (http://startupcfo.ca/2008/07/canadian-tech-mob-...)

Looking back, I can't think of one new VC funding in Canada in 2008. VCs are definitely licking their wounds. We can't wait for them to feel better. We need to just get on with building great companies. The good thing is that it's much cheaper to do that than it used to be.

Mark

Jonas, thanks for including my post!

Mark

Jonas, thanks for including my post!

Mark

Ben,

There are 2 reasons why we buy from startups:

1.) Access to new, cool technology
2.) Inspired customer service that a "big" company could or would never provide.

You're right on the money here. Keep making your customers ridiculously happy.

Mark