Dec 17, 2020
“Talent is everywhere,
opportunity is not”.
This is a quote from my
latest Escape Velocity Podcast guest, Marvin Liao, formerly a
partner at
500 Startups.
500 Startups is a
venture capital fund that runs an accelerator in San Francisco and
invests in seed rounds for tech startups.
At the time of
recording this interview, they backed a lot more than 500 tech
companies as their name suggests...
How many? 2300+
and
counting.
Investing in seed-stage
startups is risky, too.
When many startups
first ask for funding, they’ve often only just assembled their
MVP.
They may have a handful
of customers, but they’re still testing their product-market fit
and hoping to grow.
This is where investors
like Marvin have to evaluate the SaaS and decide:
“Is the risk of investing worth
it?”
Securing a great
round of seed financing can help turn your rough idea into a
polished, growth-ready business.
I sat down with Marvin to ask how he picks which startups are worth that
risk - and which
aren’t.
Check it out.
Although Marvin has
moved on from 500 Startups, the company still flourishes with an
ever-expanding portfolio.
They are proudly considered the
most active early-stage investment fund in the world, with over
5000+ entrepreneurs from 75+ countries on their portfolio.
In our interview,
Marvin reveals:
- The structure of their
accelerator program
- Which investment risks paid
off the fastest (and which didn’t)
- The 500 Startups investment
thesis
- Why they are seed
only… and won’t invest in your series
A
- How to let your SaaS “die
honourably”
- How the HBO show Silicon
Valley is surprisingly accurate
- The necessity for executive coaching
- The entrepreneurial business
of investing
This is an eye-opening interview.
I’ve met many SaaS founders that
hold investors on a pedestal, treating them like the gods of
success.
It helps to realize
that investment funds are run by living, breathing humans with
interests, questions and faults just like everyone else.
If you’re interested in accelerator
programs and seed financing, make sure you tune
in to this episode here.
--
Dan Martell has advised more
startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders
like you how to scale. (Get the free 3
videos to grow your business here.)
He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully
exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should
follow him on twitter @danmartell for
tweets that are actually awesome.
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