Tech Deciphered

Tech Deciphered


#1 – Lessons from the grandfather of Venture Capital, evolution of the VC landscape and how big is big (in markets)

March 09, 2020

We get Tech DECIPHERED started by discussing the lessons learnt from the grandfather of Silicon Valley Venture Capital and founder of Sequoia Capital, Don Valentine… learn what the Don Valentine jacket was all about. 
We go behind the curtain on how the Venture Capital landscape has systematically changed in terms of stages of investment, risk taking and across consumer vs enterprise and software vs hardware … and why VCs have actually benefited from angel investors. 
We discuss common pitfalls in pricing your products & services and the importance of gross margin or “If you truly mispriced [your product or service] by 10X, you are probably a dead company or soon to be dead”. 
We share our “no bs” views on obvious and less obvious lessons on pitching to a VC firm and, in gadgets, we discuss the death of the Red Phone and the new Airpods Pro.
Navigation:

Don Valentine’s Passing and his Jacket (01:29)
The importance of targeting Big Markets (02:41)
Example of a big market: the app Industry (04:16)
How big is your market? (06:00)
When Silicon Valley gets markets wrong (08:02)
The new early stage landscape - from pre-seed to series A (09:31)
The Gross Margin Problem (19:47)
Non-obvious lessons on pitching (27:34) 
Airpods Pro (34:06)

Resources:

Jeff Morris Jr., Don Valentine, target big markets: http://bit.ly/2Q8cnL9
Pear VC, Navigating The New Seed Landscape: http://bit.ly/2TMoz6G 
Craft Ventures, The Gross margin Problem: Lessons for Tech-Enabled Startups: http://bit.ly/2vlLQ6a
James Currier, Fundraising is not natural: http://bit.ly/2TMp14S
The Verge, Airpods Pro launch: http://bit.ly/39OvOjY 
Inverse, Red Phone getting killed: http://bit.ly/2wVEh6k  

Our co-hosts:

Bertrand Schmitt, Tech Entrepreneur, co-founder and Chairman at App Annie, @bschmitt
Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, co-Founder and Managing Partner of Strive Capital, @ngpedro 

Our show:
 
Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news.

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Full transcription: may contain unintentionally confusing, inaccurate and/or amusing transcription errors
Bertrand: Hi Nuno, how are you? 
Nuno: I'm well. 
Don Valentine's passing and his jacket (01:29)
So today we're going to start with some news, some sad news around venture capital with the passing of Don Valentine, the founder of Sequoia capital, obviously one of the household names in the venture capital community here in the Bay area and around the world.
Sequoia capital having become one of the most significant players in the venture capital space.  And Bertrand you actually met Don and Sequoia was an investor in your company? Some words around Don and around Sequoia?
Bertrand: Yes, I met him a few years back  at a private Sequoia event where he was, giving his jacket, the Don Valentine jacket to one exec who did a lot for  a Sequoia family portfolio company.
Nuno: And what is the Don Valentine jacket? 
Bertrand: It's a nice looking colorful jacket, if I remember well .
Nuno: Does it have a specific meaning attached to it? Is it like someone that's helped Sequoia or the portfolio company? 
Bertrand: I think it's about someone who not only helped a portfolio company, but if I remember well, this person also helped quite a few other Sequoia portfolio companies, was available and open to meet with other fellow entrepreneurs, and that seemed to have been a tradition at Sequoia. 
The importance of targeting big markets (02:41)