The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Bootstrapping

Over the course of two years, we have released over 70 courses on Udemy with the aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally. This series of posts aims to help you find the one you need easily and provide you with discount coupons.

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Todd Hitchcock, COO of Pearson Embanet (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

The Higher Education industry is going through massive adoption of online education. This conversation highlights the trends, as well as areas where Pearson is looking for partners.

Sramana Mitra: Todd, let’s start with introducing our audience to yourself as well as to the Pearson Embanet unit so that we have some context set for the conversation.

Todd Hitchcock: Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with us today. I’m Todd Hitchcock and I currently manage our managed-program business at Pearson Embanet. I’ve been in education since 1990. I’ve been an educator myself and have run online programs. I came to Pearson just over six years ago to essentially build out our online learning strategy. Prior to managing our Pearson Embanet business, I was responsible for our US Higher Education online learning strategy and our content and courseware.  >>>

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Building a Pre-IPO Company Over 10 Years: Centrify CEO Tom Kemp (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Tom Kemp founded Centrify in 2004 with a PowerPoint financing of $7 million. The company managed to survive the terrible recession of the late 2000 decade and is on its way to an IPO. Here, Tom discusses the highlights of his journey.

Sramana: Tom, to begin, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What is the genesis of your entrepreneurial journey?

Tom Kemp: I was born in Chicago. I grew up in Michigan and I went to the University of Michigan. Right after college, I decided to head to Silicon Valley. I started my career at Oracle and from there, it has been a series of startups. My first startup went okay and I learned a lot. After that, I did another startup called NetIQ, which went great and we went public. I was with that company for eight years and we got to $250 million in sales with a billion dollar market cap. >>>

Finding a Viable Monetization Model: wefi CEO Zur Feldman (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

8 million users and no revenue. What do you do? Find out from Zur Feldman.

Sramana Mitra: Zur, let’s start with your personal story. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of circumstances?

Zur Feldman: I’m originally from Israel. I spent all my youth in Israel. I ended up spending 26 years in different places in the US. Through different paths, which I can later talk about, I ended up studying in New York. My first degree is in Photojournalism and Television. I then went to Los Angeles and joined UCLA. I studied Business Administration and spent a big part of my time there – nine years. I made a switch from the diplomatic core into high-tech industry in 1986. >>>

Scaling a Pre-IPO Enterprise Software Company: Anaplan CEO Fred Laluyaux (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

This story traces the mechanics of scaling an enterprise software company that is close to $100 million in bookings in 2014, and is contemplating an IPO soon.

Sramana: Fred, let’s start out this story by learning a bit more about you. What is your backstory?

Fred Laluyaux: I was born and raised in Paris, France. I started my first business as a DJ when I was in college. I went to a business school in France between 1988 and 1992. I tried to launch a company around the music business and I was tempted to run that as a business. I enjoyed technology although my degree was in business. I did, however, do a training program in the US with a technology company as part of my college work. That is how I gained my passion for technology. I stayed in touch with the CEO of that company and he acquired the exclusive rights for their technology, which was developed by some folks from MIT and Harvard. >>>

Buliding a Venture Scale Analytics Platform Company: Birst CEO, Brad Peters (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Birst’s beginnings had many of the same principles that we espouse in 1M/1M, engaging customers in paying relationships early on being the foremost. Today, the company has raised four rounds of venture capital, and is growing fast as a regular Silicon Valley-style pre-IPO company.

Sramana Mitra: Brad, let’s do your back story first. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? >>>

Building a Healthcare Company from Rhode Island: ShapeUp CEO Rajiv Kumar (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

You wouldn’t think of Rhode Island as a hot bed of startups. However, a very nice eco-system is coming together, and success stories are emerging. Read ShapeUp’s wonderful journey …

Sramana: Rajiv, let’s begin this story by exploring your background. Where are you from? What kind of environment did you grow up in? >>>

Serial Entrepreneur, Self-Financing to $50 Million: GoGrid CEO, John Keagy (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

John spent $200,000 to get to his first million in 18 months with GoGrid. One year from that, the company got to $5 million. Today, they are at over $50 million in revenue run-rate, all organically grown. Read John’s insights on a tightly managed entrepreneurial journey.

Sramana Mitra: John, let’s start with introducing our audience to you personally. Where are you from? What’s your background?

John Keagy: I was born in Evanston, Illinois. I went to University of California, Berkley. I came to the West to chase gold like the miners did, because Silicon Valley is a great place to forge a career.

>>>

Bootstrapping a $7 Million Company in Houston: Gaurav Khandelwal, CEO of ChaiOne (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

This is an interesting strategy discussion about a company that is doing substantial revenue based on services, has productized a piece of its services business that is also generating over a million in revenue. Where next?

Sramana: Gaurav, let’s go to the beginning of your story. Where were you born? What kind of background were you raised in?

Gaurav Khandelwal: I was born in Kolkata, India. I came to the US for my undergrad. I grew up in a large city and I really wanted to experience something different, so I applied and went to school in a very small town in northern Indiana that was in an Amish community called Goshen College. Different universities come through India and interview students and applicants. That gives students a chance to meet with deans and hear about the schools. I met with several of them and this particular school was very interesting. They had a program that required every single student to spend a semester abroad to graduate. I had never heard of that before. I thought it was fantastic to know that every single student at that school had spent a semester in Indonesia, China, or some other country. >>>

Trying to Turn Carriers and Retailers Into Google: Azzimov CEO Benoît l’Archevêque (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

We normally only feature companies that have proven concepts in the Entrepreneur Journeys series. This concept, however, is not entirely proven. It is interesting and bold.

Sramana Mitra: Benoit, where are you from? Where were you born and raised? Give us some back story of the Azzimov journey.

Benoît l’Archevêque: It’s a rather peculiar story because I’m a French Canadian. I come from a very low class family from Montreal, Canada. I was actually raised by a plumber and my mother was a Customs Officer – very creative people but not really much into businesses. I was surrounded by people that never really did anything to create a company. They’re not entrepreneurs. I come from a weird place where I didn’t know, at a young age, what an entrepreneur was. The only thing I wanted to do in life was cartoons. I studied Art. >>>

Crossing the Desert, Hitting the Jackpot: Taboola CEO Adam Singolda (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Taboola had to sustain four years of zero-revenue, until it hit a million dollar revenue year in 2012. In 2013, their revenue run-rate is $100 million.

It’s an amazing story! Read on…

Sramana: Adam, let’s start with a bit of your personal background. What kind of family did you grow up in?

Adam Singolda: I was born in Israel, just south of Tel Aviv. I am 32 now. My family is still in Israel and they have split origins between Morocco and Europe. I joined the Israeli Army but I did it a bit different than most. In Israel, everyone has to go through the Army for 2 or 3 years. I was there for close to 7 years and I worked for a unit that was in charge of protecting Israel’s information using encryption. It was a great opportunity for me because I learned the importance of people as opposed to the problem you are trying to solve. >>>