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.

College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 1)

Siamak Taghaddos and David Hauser are both serial entreprenuers and co-founders of Grasshopper, which offers advanced phone capabilites to small businesses. Siamak oversees the strategic direction of Grasshopper and serves as the company’s brand visionary while David oversees the strategic direction and operations of Grasshopper and serves as the company’s technology visionary. They met as students at Babson College.

SM: Let’s start with your personal backgrounds. Tell me where you are from and how you came together.

ST: I am originally from Iran. I was born in Tehran in 1981 and I moved to Boston in 1986. I was doing a lot of different things related to business in junior high and high school. In high school I ran a pager business. I distributed pagers to students all over the United States. >>>

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A Serial Entrepreneur’s Playbook: ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo (Part 1)

Scot Wingo is the president, CEO, and co-founder of ChannelAdvisor. Prior to launching ChannelAdvisor, was a co-founder of AuctionRover.com, which was acquired by GoTo.com and became GoTo Auctions. Prior to AuctionRover he was the CEO and co-founder of Stingray Software, which was acquired by RogueWave. Scot received a BS in computer science from the University of South Carolina and a master’s in computer science degree from North Carolina State University.

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

SW: It all started in 1968. I’m from a little town in South Carolina called Aiken, and our only claim to fame is that we’re near Augusta, Georgia, where the Masters golf tournament is. Most golf people know where Aiken is, but nobody else does. >>>

Running Online Middle And High Schools: Caprice Young, CEO of KC Distance Learning (Part 1)

Caprice Young is the president and CEO of KC Distance Learning and was formerly vice president of business development and alliances of Knowledge Universe. Prior to joining KU in September 2008, Caprice was president and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. From 1999–2003, Caprice served as a member and president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. She serves on numerous boards, including the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Education Excellence, the Chime Institute, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. She is a recipient of the Coro Foundation Crystal Eagle Award for Achievement in Public Service. Caprice earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University, her master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California, and her doctorate in education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

SM: Caprice, first let’s talk about your background. Where are you from?

CY: I am a sixth-generation Californian. I was raised in a foster family where my parents were the foster parents and I was one of the biological kids in the family. I have one biological brother and three adopted siblings; two sisters and a brother. >>>

On The Way To 100 Million Dollars In SaaS Revenue: Vocus CEO Rick Rudman (Part 1)

Rick Rudman is the co-founder, CEO, president, and chairman of Vocus. Prior to founding Vocus he was one of the co-founders of Dataway Corporations, which developed software applications for large corporations. He earned a degree in accounting after spending four years in the Air Force and is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland.

SM: Rick, tell me about your background. Where do you come from?

RR: I was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. I went into the Air Force right out of high school. >>>

Servicing IT: ServiceNow CEO Fred Luddy (Part 1)

Fred Luddy founded ServiceNow.com in early 2004 and has served as chief executive and technology officer since the company’s inception. He was CTO at Peregrine Systems from 1990 to 2003. Prior to Peregrine, he founded Enterprise Software Associates (ESA), and worked at Boole and Babbage, and the Amdahl Corporation. Fred tried to attend Indiana University and Sir George Williams University, but he found part-time programming for these institutions to be far more compelling than the classroom experience.

SM: Fred, give me some background about your childhood and early career.

FL: When I was 16 years old, which was in the early ’70s, I had a part-time job as a purchasing guy at American Standard. They bought a high-end computer, and I walked into the data center where the Hewlett-Packard computer was and never wanted to leave. >>>

How To Get a 20 Million Dollar Pre-Money Valuation for Series A: Tableau Software CEO Christian Chabot (Part 1)

Christian Chabot is CEO and co-founder of Tableau Software. Prior to Tableau he was an associate partner at Softbank Venture Capital, where he specialized in enterprise applications. Before Softbank, Christian was CEO and co-founder of BeeLine Software, which was acquired by Vicinity Corporation. Christian started his career as a data analyst at Cornerstone Research, an economics consulting firm. He is the author of “Understanding the Euro: The Clear and Concise Guide to the Trans-European Currency” and holds an MBA and a BS in engineering from Stanford University.

SM: Let’s start at the beginning of your story. What is your background?

CC: I am from a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had a typical American upbringing. I came to Silicon Valley to attend Stanford as one of two people from my high school to be admitted. The other is my wife. >>>

Educating Working Adults: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan (Part 1)

Jonathan A. Kaplan has served as president of Walden University since September 2007. Prior to joining Walden University, Jonathan had a distinguished career in government, public policy, and law. He served in the White House as chief of staff of the National Economic Council and special assistant to the president for economic policy under President Clinton. Prior to his government service, he practiced law as an associate at Covington & Burling, a leading international law firm.

SM: Jonathan, what is your personal history leading up to this company?

JK: I was born in Boston and come from a long line of educators. My grandmother was a high school teacher, my mother chaired our local school committee, and my father headed the state board of education for many years. >>>

How A Rocket Took Off: Juniper Founder Pradeep Sindhu (Part 1)

Dr. Pradeep Sindhu founded Juniper Networks in February 1996 and served as its CEO until September 1996. He has since served as the company’s vice chairman of the board and chief technical officer. From 1984 to 1996, he worked at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) as a member of the research staff. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hawaii, and his PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon. >>>

Built To Enjoy: eClinicalWorks CEO Girish Navani (Part 1)

Girish Navani is the CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks, which offers unified electronic medical records and practice management solutions. eClinicalWorks has maintained high profitability and has over 25,000 providers as clients spanning all 50 states. Girish has also worked for Teradyne and Fidelity Investments, and he was part of the founding team of PetroVantage on behalf of Aspen Technologies. He has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and, from Boston University, a master’s in manufacturing engineering.

SM: What is your personal story? Where do you come from, and what prepared you for this path?

GN: I am originally from India. I moved to the United States in 1988 to pursue higher education. I earned my master’s in manufacturing engineering from Boston University. My bachelor’s in India was in mechanical engineering. >>>

Online Tutoring Still In Its Infancy: Sylvan Learning CEO Jeff Cohen (Part 1)

Jeff Cohen is the president of Sylvan Learning, a leading provider of tutoring services to students of all ages, grades, and skill levels. Before rejoining Sylvan, he served as president of Catapult Learning, which he grew from $65 million to more than $130 million. Prior to joining Catapult Learning, he was the senior vice president for business unit management at Prometric, Inc.

SM: Jeff, can you give me an overview of your background to set the stage?

JC: I have been in my current position of CEO for about 18 months. >>>