Fireside with a VC

Episode #67, ​Mike Smerklo, cofounder, Next Coast Ventures, $600m+ Austin-based VC and author on Fireside with a VC discussing:

· Moving from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas

· Cofounding a VC in Austin, Texas with over $600m in AUM focused on Series A and B rounds within 6 years currently investing out of a $310m Fund IV closed in early 2022

· Timing of a perfect vintage within the macro-economy

· Author of 2020 published book - Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - https:a//rb.gy/4qfdq3

· How Mike got into startups and venture being recruited by Marc Andreessen

· Building a company from 30 to 3,000 employees, $300m revenue to nearly $1bn valuation and IPO’ing

· Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley in the early dot-com days

· Dynamics of raising fund II compared to funds III and IV

· Are we going into a further recession or recovery in the startup world?

· Valuations and dynamics of A, B, and C rounds over the next 24 months and how to prepare

Book: Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - https:a//rb.gy/4qfdq3

Blog: www.mikesmerklo.com

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesmerklo

Twitter: mikesmerklo

Facebook: smerklo

Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions

New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com

Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com

Planning 10 other cities in key tech corridors across the U.S.

Get in touch if you would like to host an event or sponsor and become part of the tour.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=6f51aad36d47450a

YouTube: https://youtu.be/EkF219SkWI0

All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/

Episode #66, ​Mark diTargiani, Venture Debt and Startup Banking, Pacific Western Bank on Fireside with a VC. Mark presented to Andrew Romans’ venture capital class at Chapman University as a guest speaker discussing:

· Explaining how Venture Debt works, when it makes sense and when it does not make sense.

· Startup banking and general advice on startups and raising capital.

· The importance of relationships and understanding how to help people in your network to develop your relationships and achieve success.

· Networking within the startup VC ecosystem.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markditargiani/

https://www.pacwest.com/

Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions

New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com

Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com

Planning other cities in key tech corridors across the U.S.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRomansVC/videos

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn

All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/

Episode #65, Fireside with a VC speaking with Alex Moore, 1st employee of Palantir ($14.5bn market cap), cofounder of Backplane (one of my investments), cofounder of Nodeprime (one of my investments), Partner at 8VC with $6bn+ of AUM discussing:

• Early days of Palantir up to today where he is a board member

• Focusing on defense related tech startups when most of Silicon Valley did not or does not want to support the U.S. defense industry

• Creating startups with a dual defense + commercial revenue / customer model

• Selling into government / intelligence / military

• Culture of recruiting engineers and founders to focus on military / defense tech

• Startups leveraging data in vertical models

• Venture Studio / incubation models that work within the VC machine, ownership models, founder equity, engineering equity / ESOP pool, attracting follow on funding from classic VCs

• Vesting schedules for founders and employees

• How to retain high value engineers and employees

• Valuations in today’s current market for funding and exits

• How many months runway should startups raise for in today’s uncertain market

• How real is the conflict between the West and Russia & China

• Working with Joe Lonsdale & Peter Thiel

• Opportunity to build software for most of the economy that is not leveraging technology yet, but must

• How the demise of crypto is good for real tech startups

• What makes a great entrepreneur and what makes a fundable founding team

• Succeeding in the current economic environment and growing individual careers

Video on Spotify and YouTube https://youtu.be/SScCtPD_awE.

Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC.

Special thanks to Mark diTargiani & the Venture Debt & Startup Banking team at Pacific Western Bank for sponsoring this episode. https://www.linkedin.com/in/markditargiani/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/

[email protected]

Episode #64, Fireside with a VC speaking with Greg Coquillo, 2x Top Voice on Linkedin for AI, Data Science, Technology and Innovation with 160k followers on LinkedIn, senior exec reducing cognitive overload for users by delivering AI/ML solutions at large FAANG in Seattle. Discussing:

· How he got 160k followers on LinkedIn.

· Having the confidence to be right but also to be wrong and learn via engagement with LinkedIn community talking technology.

· Latest trends in Generative AI, what it means, what works now, and what needs to happen for many breakthroughs for humanity and business.

· Update on AI, ML and Cognitive AI.

· How coming from the world of manufacturing taught him to think differently about the world of software.

· Most fulfilling achievements as a Pricing Optimization Product Manager for one of the largest companies in the world.

· His latest angel and advisory investment DAGsHub.

· Quantum computing and technologies that will take the world by storm.

· Personal journey of moving from Haiti to tech at a top FAANG in Seattle and the drive to give back.

Video on Spotify and https://youtu.be/PIKGjlriFh4.

Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC.

Special thanks to Mark diTargiani & the Venture Debt & Startup Banking team at Pacific Western Bank for sponsoring this episode. https://www.linkedin.com/in/markditargiani/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-coquillo/

https://twitter.com/GaryCoquillo

[email protected]

Episode #63, Fireside with a VC speaking with Dan Harvey, Vice Chairman of CBRE discussing WaaS Workplace as a Service and all the changes in a post-Covid world on how to maximize PIC (Productivity, Innovation & Collaboration). Discussing how startups and large companies can get the correct mix of in-office, work from home (#WFH) & offsite events mixing office space, technology and techniques for maximal results. What to measure and how to measure various outputs impacting how companies attract and retain talent in a talent war and how can startups or corporates get the best results from their teams? Money is not free any more. EBITDA matters. Productivity matters. Is it cheaper to build the best mix of technology and methods in-house or outsource any of this.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-harvey-ba7ba726/

Video on Spotify and https://youtu.be/un5Dpqup27E.

Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC.

Special thanks to the Venture Debt & Startup Banking team at Pacific Western Bank for sponsoring this episode.

[email protected]

Episode #62, Fireside with a VC speaking with Brandon Metcalf, CEO of Place discussing challenges for creating and scaling SaaS companies. Brandon is an Austin-based 4x founder, podcast host, board director, advisor, software creator, Salesforce expert and investor. Discussing:

· Fundraising from angels and VCs

· How to track key SaaS metrics for success and tying that to growth, staffing and fundraising

· The balance of investing in more product engineering or growth vs milking what you have for sales and profitability

· Going from point solutions to adding modules, reaching end-to-end solutions and how that impacts customer win rates, changes whom you are selling to and closing business

· “Must have” vs “nice to have” technology in today’s macro-economic environment

· What has changed in fundraising, cash runways, how to deal with investors and employees

· Hiring, firing and growth during an economic downturn

· Lessons learned from fundraising and M&A exits from previous startups

· Working with Salesforce and how to be successful in this massive ecosystem

Podcast: Cash & Burn: https://www.placetechnology.com/cash-and-burn-podcast/

LinkedIn: Brandon Metcalf: https://www.linkedin.com/in/metcalf/

SaaS glossary: Little Black Book of SaaS: https://www.placetechnology.com/little-black-book-of-saas/

Company website: Place: https://www.placetechnology.com/

Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/uGOmN_WQmHk and Spotify. Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC

[email protected]

Episode #61 Fireside with a VC speaking with Kyle Kling, Head of MDI Ventures, the CVC of Telekom Indonesia at Chapman University in Southern California. Discussing:

· The evolution of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)

· Specifics around “on the balance sheet” vs “off the balance sheet” issues around CVC

· Unique issues for Telekom Indonesia with a board of commissioners including government voting, Singtel and Singapore minority ownership of Telekom Indonesia ownership

· Conglomerate culture, privately held family office culture in South East Asia

· The conglomerate Telekom Indonesia, owns not only a mobile network operator more than twice the size of Verizon, but also pharmaceutical, healthcare clinics, IT services, data centers, financial services, music and entertainment, and 30 other major businesses

· Investing in US companies and other companies outside of South East Asia

· Methodologies for valuing startups in a VC portfolio

· Working at a CVC vs an independent VC

· Compensation and other issues for CVCs

Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/2O343fJPA-w and Spotify. Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC

[email protected]

Episode #60 Fireside with a VC speaking with Charles (Chuck) Newhall, III, a 3rd generation venture capitalist. Newhall cofounded New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 1977 with Dick Kramlich and Frank Bonsal. NEA is the largest VC fund in the world. Newhall is a U.S. warrior who served in Vietnam commanding an independent platoon. His decorations include the Silver Star and Bronze Star. Newhall is also the author of a new book - Dare to Disturb the Universe, A Memoir of Venture Capital.

Discussing:

· Fighting on Hamburger Hill in Vietnam and revelations of a career in VC.

· Founding a VC firm built to last 100+ years and specifics of how he built NEA.

· Origins of venture capital dating back to Phoenicians and how Christopher Columbus was a VC-backed founder with an 80/20 split of the gains or what he “carried”.

· Wisdom from Marcus Aurelius, the 2&20 model, and aligning interests.

· Stories of VC investing and startups including persistent seed investing in Apple Computer. Buying 10% of Apple Computer for $400k by sleeping at the Apple office and refusing to go home.

· Investing based on DD from experts versus investing from passion.

“You’re only one person away from a great company at any point in time.” - Charles (Chuck) Newhall, III

For more buy the books:

1) Dare to Disturb the Universe, A memoir of Venture Capital (https://rb.gy/g1izrc).

2) Brightside Gardens - A Dialogue Between The Head and The Heart (https://rb.gy/qcphsn)

3) The Chronicles of Stanley the Pug (https://youtu.be/uwjq7kInKlY)

[email protected]

Episode #59 Fireside with a VC talking to Arthur Andrew Bavelas, Managing Partner, Family Office Insights, discussing why the recession is making the current vintage of VC perform better, talking about secondaries, VC strategies to return LP capital back faster via SPVs and secondaries and how to involve LPs in the VC process.

Video on YouTube and Spotify - https://youtu.be/AHv4F7t2uWE. Audio on all podcast platforms - https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC

[email protected]

Play this video back at 2x speed if you are proficient in English.  Fund performance is now up since recording this video. Our first fund has a MOIC of 4.11x and expects to return a minimum 7x cash on cash return. Fund II MOIC of 4.41x and expects a 12x to 15x cash on cash return. Fund III is already up 1.27x and newest investors still get in at cost.  Talking to some old friends in the Washington DC area about 7BC Venture Capital related to our 506c VC fund which allows for general solicitation.