This is a belated live blog post for the Early Stage VC and Angle Investor Event I attended yesterday in downtown Seattle. The event was organized by FundingPost and sponsored by Perkins Coie LLP.
In afternoon, Ben Straughan a partner at Perkins Coie, moderated a panel discussion with the following VC/angel investors:
- Petra Franklin, Managing Director, Vault Capital
- Bill McAleer, Managing Director, Voyager Capital
- Cathi Hatch, Founder and CEO, ZINO Society
- Janis Machala, Founder and Managing Partner, Paladin Partners
- Lucinda Stewart, Managing Director, OVP Venture Partners
- Bill Bryant, Venture Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
- Saqib Rasool, CEO and Angel Investor, Conceivian
For their background and expertise, check out their bios here.
There was a lot of useful information, especially for new entrepreneurs and folks considering approaching angel investors. I’m not going to rehash the event. Instead I’m going to focus on one question asked by Ben Straughan: “If you had one thing to say to these entrepreneurs, what would it be?”
Here’s their paraphrased responses from my notes:
Pick a good partner. ― Petra Franklin
Persistence and focus. ― Bill McAleer
Listen to your investors. ― Cathi Hatch
Why you? Why are you born to do this? ― Janis Machala
Find two to three CEOs to coach you. ― Lucinda Stewart
It’s about the team. ― Bill Bryant
Raise the least amount possible, build your product fast and keep your budget low. ― Saqib Rasool
Good advice indeed and for those of us with limited resources, Saqib Rasool’s point could be a daily scrum for CEOs:
- Are we raising the least amount possible?
- Are we building the product as fast as we can?
- Are we keeping our budget low?
Do you have any advice to share?
