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
0
74
VC Secret Decoder Ring
Marcy Swenson
Calibrate
September 21, 2018
Tweet
Share
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
86
(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
110
(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
97
(2019 - 9 of 10) How to Keep Up Your Technical Skills Without Annoying Your Teams
calibrate
1
96
Other Decks in Business
See All in Business
【新卒採用資料】Natee Company Deck _202601
nateehr
0
2.7k
PoliPoli_CompanyDeck
polipoli
1
28k
RDRAで価値を可視化する
kanzaki
2
360
akippa株式会社|Company Deck
akippa
0
570
enechain company deck
enechain
PRO
10
160k
エピックベース株式会社_会社概要資料_202601
takayoshimatsuda
PRO
1
530
re:Invent2025 re:Cap 〜技術的負債解消と AWS Transform Customと わたし〜
maijun
0
110
プロダクトにAIを。 確率的なふるまいと向き合う。
sugitlab
1
360
ノッカリアドベントカレンダー全記録まとめ
szkm555
0
130
急成長プロダクトを支える「組織の検査と適応」—— SmartHR 労務ドメイン Scrum@Scale 導入半年間のリアルと展望
wadak8sk
1
320
AI × アジャイルで、エンタープライズを動かす:文化に寄り添い、ビジネス価値を拡大する実践知 / AI × Agile: Driving Enterprise Transformation
yosuke_matsuura
PRO
1
1.4k
会社説明資料
xinghr
0
150
Featured
See All Featured
Leadership Guide Workshop - DevTernity 2021
reverentgeek
1
200
Ecommerce SEO: The Keys for Success Now & Beyond - #SERPConf2024
aleyda
1
1.8k
My Coaching Mixtape
mlcsv
0
46
Stewardship and Sustainability of Urban and Community Forests
pwiseman
0
110
Exploring the Power of Turbo Streams & Action Cable | RailsConf2023
kevinliebholz
37
6.3k
How Software Deployment tools have changed in the past 20 years
geshan
0
32k
世界の人気アプリ100個を分析して見えたペイウォール設計の心得
akihiro_kokubo
PRO
66
36k
Keith and Marios Guide to Fast Websites
keithpitt
413
23k
How To Stay Up To Date on Web Technology
chriscoyier
791
250k
Fashionably flexible responsive web design (full day workshop)
malarkey
408
66k
技術選定の審美眼(2025年版) / Understanding the Spiral of Technologies 2025 edition
twada
PRO
117
110k
VelocityConf: Rendering Performance Case Studies
addyosmani
333
24k
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