radical candour from a deep generalist
Looking forward to this:
Southeast Asia’s been home to almost half of the biggest growth drivers in the past half-century. To keep investors interested, it’ll have to make the right moves across technology, education and infrastructure, according to Diaan-Yi Lin, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co.
Good read for founders.
Especially the stuff around bridges.
Second Seeds: The New Normal But Know This… – Hunter Walk – Medium
A good read. Something founders should always consider.
The Basecamp guys usually bash VC’s as evil and the root of all startup problems but I don’t agree.
However I do agree with the premise that NOT all companies should raise money. It is not the only path.
Always find it funny when founders are surprised that a VC would say to a founder – don’t raise money. You don’t need to.
VC money should be used to make the outcome bigger by a huge factor than if you didn’t raise money.
Basecamp is a rarity in this day and age and some of the biggest exits for founders are when they don’t raise money.
Everyone has a different need or use case but founders should always think of all options.
I am gonna check this out…
FOR: LEVEL3 FOUNDERS
An exclusive forum where startup founders can be inspired, share ideas and
knowledge, learn about opportunities, and make vital connections within the
startup ecosystem. We have Michael Smith Jr., Partner at SeedPlus to lead
the session.
One of my fave founder’s dropping some knowledge and giving some hints into the future.
Worth a read.
Southeast Asia’s startups suffering from Series B crunch, says Kredivo’s Garg
Awesome read. I need to pick up The Economist this week.
I think this one comment sums up what no other ecosystem in the world has.
The density. And he even misses of few of the players in the density – the VC’s, the lawyers and even the companies (many used to be startups) that buy the startups – all are in one big area.
Maybe this shouldn’t be what makes an ecosystem thrive since we all talk about the power of tech in decentralisation and distribution but it seems in this case – density really does matter.
Silicon Valley has always had one important advantage over other regions when it comes to the tech sector. There is a much higher density of talent, capital, employment opportunity, and basic research in Silicon Valley versus other locations. When I say density, I mean physical density. If you walked a mile, how many tech companies would you pass along the way? That metric in Silicon Valley has always been higher than elsewhere and still is. So even though the return on capital (human and invested) has significant headwinds in today’s Silicon Valley, it is still a lot easier to deploy that capital there. And I think that will continue to be the case for a long time to come.
Peng is always honest and to the point, I like the last line in the part I highlighted.
This is not a fly-in game.
For this VC, being an investor wasn’t an obvious career choice:
If I’m a VC who wants to come into Southeast Asia, what trends should I look out for? I think more important than the trends is what you need to do. If you’re an existing VC in some other geography, you would want to look for people who understand the local scene and know entrepreneurship.
Southeast Asia has several countries. One advantage of the region is that most of its cities are used to international businesses. So, it’s not as difficult as it was in China 10 or 15 years ago. VCs would be flying in from Hong Kong and, especially, from The Valley, and that worked for maybe a year or two. But then it stopped working because you were not there when the contacts were being made.
It’s the same thing with Southeast Asia. There are a lot of local nuances that you probably don’t understand, and that’s why you need a local person for each country. This is not a fly-in game.
Watch our interviews with founders and investors like An Evening with the VC Community – in Partnership with Brinc at the global Startup Grind community and find a startup event near you now.
Interesting interview.
I like this answer to this question.
Benchmark’s Sarah Tavel: Startup Mega-Rounds Are ‘Double-Edged Sword’ | Fortune:
Do you think your operating experience has made you a better investor?
TAVEL: Without a question. One, you have an immediate level of empathy for the founders because it’s so freaking hard. Two, I’m much more interested than I used to be in the thought process that got to the metric they’re focused on today because that reflects how they’re running their company.
It’s important to remember that no company that goes through hyper-growth is always up and to the right. There are always these moments where you’re asking, “Are we going to lose this?”
I remember by the end of my time at the Pinterest, I joked that I felt like one of these veterans that you see in World War II movies. They would be sitting there, smoking their cigarettes when a little bomb goes off. All the new recruits run for their guns or jump for cover, while the veterans are still smoking their cigarettes. By the end of your experience at a high-growth company, you’re the veteran smoking the cigarette. And that’s who you want on your board. You don’t want the person who is going to be jumping for their gun or running for cover when there’s a little bump in the road because there will always be bumps. You want the person who isn’t frazzled by it and is always focused on the long-term. You can get that from 20 years of being a venture investor or from a few years of being an operator.
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