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.

Helping Failing High School Students Pass: Revolution Prep Founders Ramit Varma and Jake Neuberg (Part 1)

Revolution Prep was founded 2002 by Ramit Varma and Jake Neuberg, who met at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Founded in 2002, Revolution has become the largest provider of SAT prep courses and tutoring in California and one of the largest providers nationwide, with students in 12 states. Building on the success of its SAT program, Revolution’s products and services now address a wide range of academic areas, including ACT, GRE, high-stakes No Child Left Behind testing, and online education.

SM: Ramit, to start, tell me about who you and Jake are as entrepreneurs. Where do your stories begin?

RV: I am from Maryland and I went to the University of Maryland, where I studied electrical engineering. While I was in college I started teaching for the Princeton Review, and I discovered that I really loved teaching. >>>

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Improving Healthcare Communication: Kryptiq CEO Luis Machuca (Part 1)

Luis Machuca is the president and CEO of Kryptiq Corporation, a healthcare connectivity company that facilitates an open collaborative network for healthcare. Prior to his time at Kryptiq, Machuca held several leadership positions in the tech industry. He joined Intel in 1981 and spent 15 years there, in a variety of management roles. In 1996, he became the EVP of the NEC Computer Services Division of PB-NEC Corp. In 1999, he joined eFusion Corp. as president and COO and subsequently merged the company with ITXC. He received his BS in electrical engineering in 1980 and his MS in industrial engineering in 1981 from Purdue University.

SM: Luis, to get started please tell us about your background. Where do you come from?

LM: I was born in Puerto Rico and lived there through high school. I then went to Purdue University. Since Puerto Rico is part of the United States, it was an easy transition logistically, but it was more difficult to do culturally. >>>

Helping At-Risk High School Students with Online Solutions: Apex Learning CEO Cheryl Vedoe (Part 1)

Cheryl Vedeo is the CEO of Apex Learning. Her background as a software engineer, marketer, and senior manager gave her a solid technical foundation. It was at Apple, as the head of the K-12 education division, that she was introduced to education in the technology space. Cheryl holds a BA in Mathematics from Wheaton College, in Norton, Massachusetts, and an MBA from Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts. She serves as a trustee of Wheaton College and is on the board of directors of the Washington Technology Alliance.

SM: Cheryl, to get started, could you tell me about yourself? Where are you from and what kind of upbringing contributed to where you are today?

CV: I grew up in the Northeast, in Massachusetts specifically. I was a math major in college. I went to Wheaton College. >>>

A Scalable K-12 Education Solution: K12 CEO Ron Packard (Part 1)

Ron Packard was previously a vice president of Knowledge Universe investing, incubating, and operating several charter school companies. Previously, Ron worked for both McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs. He holds a B.A. in economics and mechanical engineering (with honors) from the University of California at Berkeley. He holds an M.B.A. (with honors) from the University of Chicago, and he is a chartered financial analyst. Mr. Packard currently serves on the Department of Defense Educational Advisory Committee.

SM: Let’s start with your story. Where are you from?

RP: I grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, which is your typical suburb of Los Angeles. My father was an radar and weapon systems engineer for Hughes Aircraft. >>>

Leading Corporate Innovation: HP Labs Director Prith Banerjee (Part 1)

Prith Banerjee is senior vice president of research at HP and director of HP Labs. Prior to joining HP he served as the dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. He was the founder, chairman, and chief scientist of BINACHIP Inc. In 2000 he founded AccelChip Inc, which was sold to Xilinx in 2006. Prith is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

SM: Let’s start by reviewing your background. Could you set some context for your switch from academia to HP?

PB: I started my career in academia. After getting my PhD from the University of Illinois, I stayed at the university as a professor. I served in academia for 22 years, first at the University of Illinois and later at Northwestern. >>>

Window Into Web 3.0: Blinds.com CEO Jay Steinfeld (Part 1)

Jay is the CEO of Blinds.com, a company he founded in 1996. It has since achieved revenues surpassing $50 million and is ranked #192 of all US e-commerce companies. It is also the world’s top retailer for blinds, shades, and other window coverings.

SM: Tell me first about your personal background leading up to this venture.

JS: I was born in New Jersey and moved to Dallas when I was 11. In high school I had several businesses, but the main business was custom t-shirts. I always knew I was going to be in business for myself. >>>

Long Road From Cuba: Manny Medina, CEO of Terremark (Part 1)

SM: Manny, let’s start by talking about yourself. Where do you come from?

MM: I was born in Cuba and left in 1965, when I was 13. My parents left the Castro regime. We came to Miami, and I grew up and went to school here. I went to a junior college here, which is where I got my first interest in business. >>>

Making Serious Money From Casual Games: King.com CEO Riccardo Zacconi (Part 1)

Riccardo Zacconi is the CEO of King.com, a company that is pioneering casual gaming online. Prior to coming to King, he was EIR at Benchmark Capital and before that, managing director at Spray, a European portal company that was sold to Lycos in 2000. Before joining Spray, he was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

SM: Riccardo, where are you from, and what kind of environment did you grow up in?

RZ: I am Italian. I was born in Rome and studied economics. After I graduated I went to London briefly and then to Germany, where I worked as a consultant for eight years. >>>

Venture Capital in India: Ashish Gupta (Part 1)

Dr. Ashish Gupta is a co-founder of Helion and serves on the boards of Gridstone Research, Jivox, Kirusa, MuSigma, Naukri.com, and SMS Gupshup. He has co-founded Tavant Technologies and Junglee. His investments include Daksh (IBM), Odesk, Obongo (AOL), Speedera (Akamai), MakeMyTrip, Merittrac (Manipal Group), and Kaboodle (Hearst). Ashish is a Kauffman Fellow and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from IIT Kanpur, where he was awarded the President’s Gold Medal. He has written several patents, publications, and a book published by MIT Press.

SM: Ashish, to start could you give us a macro picture of what you have seen in the Indian venture market from 2005 to 2009?

AG: There are several things that are working. The number of people who are willing to be entrepreneurs and who have a very mature view of how to build companies as opposed to inexperienced entrepreneurs has increased. The entire ecosystem to support entrepreneurs has improved, although it is nothing like the Valley. >>>

Simulating The Brain: Baynote CEO Jack Jia (Part 1)

Jack Jia is a co-founder and CEO of Baynote. For eight years, he was SVP and CTO of Interwoven Inc. with executive responsibilities in engineering, products, marketing, strategy, and vision. Jack led operating systems and applications development at SGI, Sun Microsystems, Stratus, and NASA for over a decade. He is a board advisor for Santa Clara University and the president of HYSTA, a non-profit organization for promoting entrepreneurship.

SM: Jack, take us back to where your story begins. Where are you from?

JJ: I came from China when I was 24. I went to college in Beijing to the point of getting my master’s degree. >>>