What is the reputation of the Founder’s Fund as a VC firm?
Founder’s Fund is definitely seen as a top-tier fund. Perhaps even more importantly, it has truly top-tier results over multiple funds in a row. Again and again. That is much more rare than you would think. View original question on quora
Can a CEO who chooses to remain hidden from the limelight lead his company successfully?
Yes you can win in many cases by remaining “hidden” as CEO — but the more enterprise your customer base is, the more important getting and being out there is. Let’s contrast Box and Dropbox. Both grew into huge wins and highly successful public companies. But Box...
How much would it cost to hire Jason M. Lemkin as the VP of sales for one year?
I’m not actually that good at it. Instead, I’m a good student of it. I love working with great VPs of Sales and continuing to learn how they do it, how the playbook evolves, etc. But myself, I was pretty bad at managing more than a handful of reps. This is part of the...
Why is Dropbox valued so high given that Google Drive is such a strong competitor? Who uses Dropbox anyway? Does Dropbox have any USP that makes them so valuable?
Because it is at a $1,500,000,000 revenue run-rate, growing quickly, and generating significant free cash flow. It is a very, very, very good business. Irrespective of who and what the competition is and does. View original question on quora
Would you hire an investment banker to buy or sell a tech company with valuation less than $100m? Who would you recommend in Silicon Valley?
Always hire a banker if you can. Yes, it will seem expensive, especially on a smaller deal. And yes, they almost never will bring a great second offer in with a bona fide, written, better offer. Unless that second offer was already sort of in play anyway. But they do...
Do successful entrepreneurs have the best lives?
Hmmm. What is Elon Musk, the most successful entrepreneur of our generation, doing now? He’s sleeping in a sleeping bag at the production line of Tesla. Again. He probably rarely sees his brood of children, and has to deal with constant management team turn-over....
How will Spotify’s direct IPO listing disrupt the business model of Wall Street, given that investment bankers have been bypassed and will not be able to earn any fees if future listings follow Spotify?
Not yet. Spotify’s direct listing took advantage of 3 factors: They did not need or want the money an IPO brings in. An IPO brings in money, often hundreds of millions or even more to invest. Most companies want the capital, at least as a cushion. The large brand...
What are early signals that founders should walk away from a potential investor?
This is a tougher question than it sounds. Many VCs are at their most charming and accommodating when you are raising money — they are in sales too, after all. So the larger question is, where does VC-founder disalignment come from, and can you spot it early?...
How vesting or any other system can help, if co-founder refuses to leave and refuses to work at same time?
The simple answer is you need to fire them — assuming you can legally. Ask your lawyers. The longer answer is you may need help to do it without excessive drama, and ideally, they resign and step away and you don’t try have to fire them. Usually, it helps to...
Why is Dropbox eight to 10 times more valuable than Box?
Box is an amazing company. It is at $600m-ish ARR and $800m annualized bookings, and cash-flow positive. Amazing. Truly. https://www.boxinvestorrelations… But Dropbox is >2x larger by revenue, at ~$1.3b in ARR vs. $500m for Box. Both are huge success stories....
What does it mean to be a partner in a venture capital firm?
It varies widely. Most firms will have: Managing Directors / Partners. They make the decisions, and often, control the “Management Company.” And control all the fees, which flow into the Management Company. The Management Company is often very tightly controlled,...
What is the logic of employee stock options expiring (say unexercised, fully-vested stock options granted ten years ago)?
I believe the main historical reason is that tax-advantaged stock options — so called “ISOs” — have a maximum 10-year term under the tax code. A smaller, but related issue even for NSOs is that the longer the term, the more valuable the imputed value of...
I work for a saas company. They have contracts that can be renewed annually as well as contracts for 1 time projects (non-renewable after 1st year). Should both be included in MRR, or just those that can renew?
Include everything in your Revenue; and Include only recurring contracts/revenue in your MRR. It’s really that simple. Everything that brings in a dollar this month is revenue for this month. Just segment in. And use stacked charts to show the difference, e.g. 75% of...
Are VC firms in the US willing to invest in overseas startups with huge potential?
Yes. But the later stage you are, the easier it is. (Personally, I’ve invested in the “late seed” stage in companies from France (5), Estonia, UK, Portugal, Sweden, Armenia, etc. Although in almost all cases, the CEO was already here at least part-time.) Once you...
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