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.

Taking On Microsoft And Google From India: InstaColl Founders Sumanth Raghavendra, Kaushal Cavale, And Their Mentor Sabeer Bhatia (Part 1)

Kaushal Cavale and Sumanth Raghavendra are childhood friends from Bangalore and the cofounders of InstaColl. After graduating from BMS College of Engineering and the University of Phoenix (Thunderbird), respectively, they worked in technical IT positions in the United States. They returned to India in 2000 to fulfill their dreams of starting a business. In 2005, they persuaded Sabeer Bhatia to invest in the company and become their mentor. The result is InstaColl, a collaborative online service competing with Microsoft Office.

SM: I would like to start at the point of the story where the entrepreneurs came together. Where does this story start?

SR and KC: We were childhood friends. >>>

Featured Videos

Building One Of The World’s Biggest Tech Blogs From New Zealand: ReadWriteWeb Founder Richard MacManus (Part 1)

Richard MacManus is the founder and co-editor of ReadWriteWeb, which he founded in April 2003. Today ReadWriteWeb has millions of readers and is syndicated by the New York Times. Through his blog, Richard has become well known for forecasting technology trends and how they will be adopted or used throughout the world. Richard was born, raised, and continues to live in New Zealand. He has a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

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

RM: I come from Wellington, New Zealand. I was actually born on the South Island, but we moved to Wellington when I was 11. >>>

Putting China On The Silicon Valley Map: NetScreen And Fortinet Founder Ken Xie (Part 1)

Ken Xie started his first network security company, Stanford InfoSystem, Inc., in 1993. A few years later, he realized the performance limitations of a software firewall and started NetScreen. NetScreen later was acquired by Juniper for $3.5 billion. At the end of 2000, Xie founded Fortinet, which pioneered Unified Threat Management (UTM). Ken earned his BS and MS in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University in China and attended Stanford University, where he pursued a graduate degree in electrical engineering.

SM: Ken, take me back to the beginning of your story. What is the genesis of your entrepreneur spirit?

KX: I am from Beijing, China. I have been here 20 years. I came here to study in 1990. I had earned my bachelor’s and master’s in China. My parents were both professors at home. >>>

IPO In China: Made-In-China.com President Joseph Wong (Part 1)

Joseph Wong is the vice president of Made-In-China.com, which was developed and is operated by Focus Technology Co, Ltd. Focus Technology is a pioneer and leader in the field of electronic business in China and was founded in 1996 with the mission of enabling clients to decrease costs and increase sales and profits with effective Web-based solutions

SM: Joseph, where do you come from? What is the story that led you to Made-In-China.com?

JW: I come from Hong Kong and I joined this company in 1999 as an engineer. I have been responsible for the operation and quality side of Made-In-China.com since 2000. >>>

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. >>>

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. >>>