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Jeffrey BussgangGeneral PartnerFlybridge Capital Partnerswww.jeffbussgang.com

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Entrepreneurship is about Passion

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Why I Wrote The Book

• As an entrepreneur, I found venture capital to be a black box

• As a VC, having seen the other side, I wanted to help entrepreneurs understand how to finance and build great companies

• The book’s mission: to demystify the VC world for entrepreneurs and help them bring their dreams to fruition

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• $2.9 trillion – VC-backed businesses combined sales (20% of total business revenues in US)

• 12 million – jobs at venture-backed companies (12% of US work force)

• 1,000 – number of active VCs who make investment decisions in the US

Give me a lever long enough, and I will move the Earth. - Archimedes

Impact of Venture Capital: Huge Leverage

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• Visionary• Paranoid optimism• Huge passion• Magnet for talent

What Makes a Great Entrepreneur

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Why Raise Money from VC

Deep Pockets:High risk tolerance and additional funding for follow-on rounds

Swing Big:VCs don’t invest in niches, they invest in transformative ideas that can build large companies

Experience Matters:VCs have “seen the movie” over and over again and can help avoid pitfalls to find the path to success

Value-Add:VCs provide domain experience, industry contacts, and strategic planning

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• VC with healthy deal flow: opportunity to review 300-500 deals per year

• Most of the deals that enter the process get nixed along the way

• Most “active” VCs—typically have capacity to do no more than two deals a year(.2%-.7% chance of funding per partner)

Chances

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The Historical Trend

New Venture Deals (1995 – 2008)

Year

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• Scope out the firm – size matters, as does the individual

• Arrange for a warm introduction

• Prepare, Be Brief (VCs Blink), Don’t Downplay the Risk

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Raising $ from VCs: Find the Sweet Spot

• Ideas are a dime a dozen• Having a world-class team is golden• Laser focus of the young entrepreneur is very powerful

– E.g., Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Mark Zuckerberg• Golden rule:

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The Right People: an Unfair Advantage

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Being in Over Your Head

It’s OK

Follow the 80/20 rule

Get help

Communicate

with the

Board

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• Lifelong fascination with mapping real-time movements (bicycle couriers)• Founded dNET• Worked for Odeo• Created Twitter

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Apply Your Passion: Twitter

Jack Dorsey

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• Joined as CEO of Constant Contacts in 1999• Pitched to over 100 VCs to secure financing• Led her company through Internet bubble collapse• IPO in 2007• Nearly 500K customers and $130M in revenue

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Never Give Up: Constant Contact

Gail Goodman

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• Novel invention in cancer diagnostics• Sought VC help to build company• Staged capital in discrete pieces• Hired great CEO and founding team to take company forward

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Run Experiments: Predictive Bio

Marsha Moses

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Jeffrey BussgangGeneral PartnerFlybridge Capital Partnerswww.jeffbussgang.com