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.

Bootstrapping A 100M+ E-Commerce Company: OpticsPlanet CEO Mark Levitin (Part 1)

Mark Levitin is the CEO and founder of OpticsPlanet, an online supplier and retailer of technical and high-performance gear. OpticsPlanet was founded in 2000 and has since been recognized as a leading online retailer by Inc. Magazine and Internet Retailer Magazine. Mark studied engineering in the Soviet Union, where he worked as a medical engineer prior to immigrating to the U.S. in 1989.

Sramana: Mark, let’s establish some background. Where do you come from?

Mark Levitin: I came to the U.S. in 1989 from the Soviet Union. My background is engineering, specifically medical engineering. >>>

Featured Videos

Managing Risk: MetricStream Chairman Gunjan Sinha (Part 1)

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

Gunjan Sinha is the chairman of MetricStream, an enterprise-wide GRC and quality solutions company with solutions aimed at global corporations. Over his career, Gunjan has spent more than 20 years in various entrepreneurial, board, and executive positions building innovative businesses. As an Internet pioneer, he was the co-founder and president of WhoWhere? Inc., an Internet directory services company acquired by Lycos in 1998, as well as eGain, an online customer service company he built from inception to post-NASDAQ IPO. Gunjan serves on the board of several Silicon Valley companies, and in 2010, he was appointed to the board of the U.S.–India Science and Technology Research Endowment by the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. He obtained his BS and MS in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and UC Santa Cruz, respectively. He also holds an MS in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University.

Sramana: Gunjan, let’s go back to your roots. What is the backdrop of your entrepreneur story?

Gunjan Sinha: I was born in India in the province of Bihar. My parents are from Patna and I spent a significant amount of time in Bihar. I did my schooling in Delhi, completing both high school and college there. >>>

Monetizing Premium Social App Ad Inventory and Scaling a Capital-Efficient Business: appssavvy CEO Chris Cunningham (Part 1)

Chris Cunningham is the CEO and co-founder of appssavvy, an activity advertising technology company. He also serves as co-chair of the IAB Social Media Committee and in 2010 and 2011 was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. Chris graduated from the University of North Carolina Greensboro with BA in economics and marketing and is based in New York City.

Sramana: Chris, let’s start where your story begins. Where do you come from? What path did you travel during the early years of your life?

Chris Cunningham: I was born in Helsinki, Finland. My father is American and my mother’s side is Scandinavian. >>>

Capital-Efficient Customer Acquisition, Company Building: ReTargeter CEO Arjun Dev Arora (Part 1)

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

Arjun Dev Arora is the founder and CEO of ReTargeter, a company that serves ads to web audiences after they leave their clients’ websites. Prior to founding ReTargeter, Arjun was the head of business development of Yahoo Real Estate. Prior to working for Yahoo, he worked as an investment banker for Jefferies Broadview. Arjun is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he studied electrical engineering and computer science.

Sramana: Arjun, tell us about yourself. Where are you from? What background do you come from?

Arjun Dev Arora: I was born in the U.S. and raised in Southern California, down in Orange County. My parents were Indian immigrants who spent time in Germany before coming to the United States. >>>

Revolutionizing the Limousine Service: Limos.com CEO T.J. Clark (Part 1)

T.J. Clark joined Limos.com as president and CEO in March 2008. He was previously vice president of business operations at IAC/InterActiveCorp, which consisted of more than 85 Internet brands with 20 million visitors per day (ranked eighth worldwide), including Expedia, Hotels.com, Ticketmaster, LendingTree, and Match.com. Mr. Clark was previously a member the Hotwire.com startup team beginning in March 2000. Hotwire.com became the fourth-ranked U.S. online travel company within two years of operations, generating more than $1 billion in travel bookings. Hotwire was acquired by IAC in 2004. Prior to joining Hotwire, Clark was a trial attorney in Chicago, most recently at Lord, Bissell & Brook. He holds a JD from Loyola Chicago School of Law and a BS from Notre Dame, where he was a member of the NCAA swimming team.

Sramana: T.J., let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where does your journey begin?

T.J. Clark: I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended Notre Dame before becoming a lawyer. I started out in a non-entrepreneurial environment, which ultimately was beneficial. >>>

Online Audience Sampling Scaling Super Fast: uSamp CEO Matt Dusig (Part 1)

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

Matt Dusig, a serial entrepreneur, is the co-founder and CEO of uSamp™. Before jump-starting uSamp, Dusig logged into the [survey] industry with goZing, a pioneer in online sampling acquired by Greenfield Online in 2005. He was a finalist for the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and attended Cal State Northridge.

Sramana: Matt, let’s start with the beginning of your story. Where did you grow up?

Matt Dusig: I grew up in Los Angeles. I went to Cal State Northridge. Everything I have done in terms of being an entrepreneur has tied in with my business partner, Greg Lavin. >>>

Helping Publishers Monetize Premium Ad Inventory: isocket CEO John Ramey (Part 1)

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

John Ramey is the founder and CEO of isocket, a company that offers premium ad inventory solutions. Prior to founding isocket, he was one of the founders of Maven Ventures, which offered direct marketing software for real estate investment. He founded his first company, Lythargic Media, during high school. He studied business economics at Indiana University.

Sramana: John, let’s start with the beginning of your story. Where were you born and raised?

John Ramey: I was born in Tampa, Florida, and spent the first 12 years of my life there before moving to a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I was fortunate to live in areas that had unique pilot programs in their school systems. >>>

Testing the Cloud: SOASTA CEO Tom Lounibos (Part 1)

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

Tom Lounibos is the co-founder, president, and CEO of SOASTA, which provides cloud based web testing to optimize the functionality, performance, scalability, and reliability of websites and web applications. Prior to SOASTA, Tom served as president and CEO of Kenamea. Prior to Kenamea, he was CEO of Dorado Corporation, a financial services software provider. Previous to Dorado, he was EVP of Sagent Technology through its 1999 IPO and entrepreneur-in-residence at Crosspoint Venture Partners. He has held executive positions at Digitalk Corporation, Knowledgeware (KWI), and Encore Financial Services. Tom also serves on several boards in the Silicon Valley.

Sramana: Tom, let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where do you come from?

Tom Lounibos: I am from the Bay Area. I grew up as the youngest of nine kids. My father was a lawyer. I went to the University of San Francisco. My journey to technology was a bit different from most. >>>

From Croatia to Silicon Valley, Cleaning Up The Environment: Neno Duplan, CEO of Locus Tech (Part 1)

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

Neno Duplan is the founder, president, and CEO of Locus Technologies, a provider of on-demand environmental data and information management solutions. Prior to starting Locus Technologies, Dr. Duplan held senior management positions with Canonie Environmental (W.R. Grace Company), The IT Group and D’Appolonia Consulting Engineers. Dr. Duplan holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, an M.S. in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon, and a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Split, Croatia. He also attended advanced management training at Stanford University.

Sramana Mitra: Neno, tell me a bit about your background. Where do you come from?

Neno Duplan: I was born in Croatia, which used to be Yugoslavia. I grew up on the Adriatic. After I graduated from college, I got a job with an American company in Italy. >>>

Building a Virtual World from Berlin: Smeet CEO Sebastian Funke (Part 1)

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

Sebastian Funke is the CEO and co-founder of Smeet, a free browser-based 3-D social chat game. He co-founded Smeet in 2006 directly out of college. Sebastian was born in East Germany and moved to Berlin when he was nine. Today Smeet is based in Berlin with a small office in New York. Sebastian studied business administration at WHU.

Sramana: Sebastian, where do you come from?

Sebastian Funke: I grew up in East Germany until I was nine years old. That is when the wall came down and we were able to relocate to Berlin. I did my studies at a small university called WHU-The Otto Beisheim School of Management, which is a popular school for entrepreneurs in Europe. >>>