Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
VC Secret Decoder Ring
Search
Calibrate
September 21, 2018
Business
75
0
Share
VC Secret Decoder Ring
Marcy Swenson
Calibrate
September 21, 2018
More Decks by Calibrate
See All by Calibrate
(2019 - 1 of 10) Opening Keynote: The Product Triangle
calibrate
0
200
(2019 - 2 of 10) Making the Unknown Manageable
calibrate
0
89
(2019 - 3 of 10) Why Great 1-on-1s Are Like Perfect Formula 1 Pit Stops
calibrate
0
130
(2019 - 4 of 10) How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Grow High-Performance Teams
calibrate
0
120
(2019 - 5 of 10) Reshaping the Leadership Model - How Introverts Are Redefining What it Means to Lead
calibrate
0
190
(2019 - 6 of 10) The Platinum Rule: Manage Others as They Need/Want to be Managed
calibrate
0
170
(2019 - 7 of 10) Building Impact Through Essentialism
calibrate
0
260
(2019 - 8 of 10) Lessons From the Trenches
calibrate
0
98
(2019 - 9 of 10) How to Keep Up Your Technical Skills Without Annoying Your Teams
calibrate
1
100
Other Decks in Business
See All in Business
20260331更新_会社説明資料_slideshare_speakerdeck__.pdf
thecoo
0
190
SDVの真髄:Software First実現のためのHardware First(公開スライドのみ)
manji3
0
230
2025年度ICT職専門研修(海外派遣研修)報告書 No.4
tokyo_metropolitan_gov_digital_hr
0
380
株式会社カウシェ Company Deck
kauche
2
220k
malna-recruiting-pitch
malna
0
17k
Ambientnavi Company Deck
ambientnavi0329
0
730
ワンキャリア 会社説明資料 / Company Deck
onecareer
7
290k
アジャイル原則を「使える言葉」にする / Making the Agile Principles Usable
fkino
5
740
株式会社SunAsterisk-CompanyDeck(採用向け/会社紹介資料)
sunasterisk
PRO
1
1.8k
会社紹介資料
gatechnologies
2
160k
SANU Regenerative Action Report 2026
sanu
0
8.3k
その仕事、 ブルシット・ジョブじゃない?
szkm555
0
870
Featured
See All Featured
The Pragmatic Product Professional
lauravandoore
37
7.2k
What’s in a name? Adding method to the madness
productmarketing
PRO
24
4k
Stewardship and Sustainability of Urban and Community Forests
pwiseman
0
170
SEO in 2025: How to Prepare for the Future of Search
ipullrank
3
3.4k
Introduction to Domain-Driven Design and Collaborative software design
baasie
1
690
I Don’t Have Time: Getting Over the Fear to Launch Your Podcast
jcasabona
34
2.7k
ピンチをチャンスに:未来をつくるプロダクトロードマップ #pmconf2020
aki_iinuma
128
55k
Lessons Learnt from Crawling 1000+ Websites
charlesmeaden
PRO
1
1.2k
Into the Great Unknown - MozCon
thekraken
40
2.3k
Un-Boring Meetings
codingconduct
0
250
Marketing to machines
jonoalderson
1
5.1k
Agile Leadership in an Agile Organization
kimpetersen
PRO
0
120
Transcript
VC DECODER RING VC Secret Decoder Ring
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
1. VC secret levers drive many decisions 2. what is
required for next fundraise? 3. how will your company exit? 4. insider info is powerful & dangerous VC DECODER RING
1. VC secret levers drive many decisions GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS VCs Promise *their* investors 12% yearly invested
over 10+ years VC DECODER RING 1.12^10 = 3.10 12% annual return fund length 3x return
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS $100M 10 year fund must return $300M
(3x) for the VC to raise another fund from LPs VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Startup Outcomes dead or zombie: 50% acquisition:
45% IPO: 5% VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS given that 50% fail the other 50%
have to return $300M+ VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS VC DECODER RING >3x 5% 2-3x 10%
1-2x 35% < 1x 50% VC Fund Returns
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS VC job: raise money invest in companies
push CEOs to grow/exit pay investors back at least 3x {repeat} VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS CEO job: vision & strategy great team
enough cash VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Investment Stages: angel / F&F Seed A
B C, D, … IPO or Acquisition VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS CEO under crazy pressure to grow VC
DECODER RING
2. What is required for next fundraise? GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Why is my CEO asking for more
& faster revenue & more users? VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Why is my CEO asking me to
ignore tech debt & hack together features? VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Why is my CEO asking me to
cut costs *while* building more features? VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Why is my CEO asking me to
“make it social”? VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Why am I spending cycles on an
integration with this lame partner? VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS How do I explain all this to
MY team? VC DECODER RING
3. How will your company exit? GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS possible exits… dead or zombie: 50% acquisition:
45% IPO: 5% VC DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Does partner XYZ have “strategic value”? VC
DECODER RING
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS Diligence looks like: • meetings w/key staff
• senior people OOO • requests for tech docs • hiring freeze • no decisions VC DECODER RING
4. Insider info is powerful & dangerous GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS
GROWING YOUR HAPPINESS