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. 

11 Podcasts with VCs Interested in Indian Startups

Indian entrepreneurs should listen to this set of podcasts to get into the minds of investors who offer invaluable insights.

Naren Gupta, Nexus Ventures – As a co-founder of a firm with an excellent track record of investing in the Silicon Valley – India corridor, but with a global market point of view, Naren shares his insights, nuggets, and interesting wisdom.

Ashish Gupta, Helion Ventures – Co-Founder of one of the key players in India’s venture capital eco-system, Ashish shares his valuable perspectives throughout this crisp and insightful conversation.
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Featured Videos

The Imminent Death of Indian Outsourcing

On February 29, 2008, Forbes published my column that remains a highlight in my career in tech journalism: The Coming Death of Indian Outsourcing. I found myself on the receiving end of a deluge of hate mail on a scale that I have never encountered before or after. I am known as a relatively balanced, objective, and fair commentator on the state of the industry. I don’t sensationalize issues unnecessarily. This article, that I thought was sound in its logical analysis, triggered an immense defensive reaction.
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Can You Use Services to Bootstrap a Product Company?

Can you bootstrap a Product company using Services?

Most certainly you can.

Watch this inspiring 1 minute 27 seconds video and learn how:

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Man and Superman: A Case for Human Happiness

By Guest Author Ajit Narayanan

This Man-Superman terminology smells like some adolescent Ayn Rand-ian fantasy, but I agree that humanity will bifurcate into two types of people: the Happy and the Not-Happy. And entrepreneurship or capital (or even skill) will not be the dividing line here.
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Can You Enhance Your Negotiating Power in Fundraising?

Can you enhance your negotiating power in fundraising?

Most certainly you can.

Watch this inspiring 1 minute 14 seconds video and learn how:

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Man and Superman: Is There an Action Item?

In order to give focus to some major changes she sees on the horizon, Sramana Mitra has written several pieces that grew out of her original article, Man and Superman: Human History Bifurcates. The previous articles in this series: Two Distinct Species; What CAN Be Controlled?; Rationalizing Populations; How Long Does Democracy Survive?; The Environmental Time Bomb; Role of Religion, and Will There Be Revolution? Please share your thoughts and help get the conversation going.

As this series has developed, I’ve had the privilege of listening to various perspectives about the possibilities. I’ve also had very interesting exchanges about questions, alternatives, and ramifications.

One particular point of view, over a beautiful luncheon at my friend Enrica’s, concerned online learning.

Clearly, the distinction between Man and Superman is largely in intellectual capacity.
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Is Venture Capital Needed to Grow Fast?

Do you need Venture Capital to grow fast?

Conventional wisdom says yes.

VCs would like you to believe yes.

But it’s not true.

Watch this inspiring 1 minute video and learn why:

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Man and Superman: Will There Be Revolution?

In order to give focus to some major changes she sees on the horizon, Sramana Mitra has written several pieces that grew out of her original article, Man and Superman: Human History Bifurcates. The previous articles in this series: Two Distinct Species; What CAN Be Controlled?; Rationalizing Populations; How Long Does Democracy Survive?; The Environmental Time Bomb; Role of Religion. Please share your thoughts and help get the conversation going.

I’ve had several conversations about this series at various dinner parties, and a few points that have come up are worth further discussion.

One of them is the rebuttal that if Superman stops supporting Man through extensive welfare, there will be revolution.

I agree. This is a very logical possibility.

So let’s do a thought experiment on what leads up to revolution and what happens in the event of revolution.
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Why is Customer Financing, Revenue or Equity, Great News?

Whether it is customers buying your products or customers investing in your company, it’s great news!

Watch this inspiring 1 minute 39 second video and learn why:

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Man and Superman: Role of Religion

In order to give focus to some major changes she sees on the horizon, Sramana Mitra has written several pieces that grew out of her original article, Man and Superman: Human History Bifurcates. The previous articles in this series: Two Distinct Species; What CAN Be Controlled?; Rationalizing Populations; How Long Does Democracy Survive?; and The Environmental Time Bomb. Please share your thoughts and help get the conversation going.

In recent times, Islam is facing a tremendous backlash because of the mindshare that ISIS and Al-Qaeda have managed to garner. Anti-Islam sentiments are appealing political fodder for populist candidates.

But the religion that actually holds humanity together is one that cuts across all major religions: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and most other smaller sects. In fact, that religion is one that even the Atheists and Agnostics subscribe to.

Humanism.
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