Startup  Galore  …    …  -­‐  the  best  way  for  founders  to  ramp  up  financing.  

   Thomas  Grota,  Investment  Director  T-­‐Venture  (Deutsche  Telekom)                                                                                                    @thomasgr          Blog:  thomasgr.tumblr.com        

Thomas  Grota,  Investment  Director  T-­‐Venture  Venture  Capital  Firm  of  Deutsche  Telekom  AG  

§ CTO  of  Pironet  AG  for  7  years    (IPO  2000)  § Dynamic  CMS  &  Digital  Asset  Management    

§ Deutsche  Telekom  2003  -­‐  today:    § VP  MarkeSng  &  Strategy  (Paris,  London)    §  IPTV  Expert  at  Detecon  (Asia,  MENA)    §  Investment  Director  at  T-­‐Venture  

§  Exited  apprupt  to  Opera    §  Exited  Swoodoo  to  Kayak  §  Exited  6Wunderkinder  to  Sequoia  §  Raised  +$250m  for  his  por`olios  

Thomas Grota – Investment Director T-Venture Holding GmbH – @thomasgr

My  current  por`olio  and  areas  of  VC  experSse:  

Mobile  Internet,  Big  Data  &  Cloud  based  Pla`orms    

Thomas Grota – Investment Director T-Venture Holding GmbH – @thomasgr

E  X  I  T  S  

Selected  successful  exits  of  T-­‐Venture  

E-Commerce solution 1998: IPO

@motion Wireless internet access

2000: trade sale to Openwave (formerly: phone.com)

Web conference provider

2000: IPO

Internet payment services 2010: trade sale to Deutsche Telekom

Online Flight Search and Bookings 2010: trade sale to KAYAK

Optical Networking Applications 2010: trade sale to Cisco

Fabless Semiconductors 2010: trade sale to Broadcom

Real-Time Collaboration Software 2011: trade sale to Citrix

Search Portal for Discount Offers of Local Retailers

2011: trade sale to Axel Springer

Wireless Access Technology 2012: trade sale to Ericsson

"On-Demand" E-Commerce 2012: IPO

Wireless Systems for Home Networks 2012: IPO

Security Solution for Mobile Enterprise Devices

2012: trade sale to Rapid7

Mass calling service 2002: trade sale to Deutsche Telekom

Femtocell Technology 2013: trade sale to Cisco

Customer experience management solution. 2009: trade sale to Tektronix

Communications Mobile messaging solutions

2008: trade sale to Nokia Web based calling company

2010: trade sale to Telefonica End-to-end wireless internet solution

2008: trade sale to Microsoft

E-Commerce 2006: shares sold to

Holtzbrinck + Weltbild Multimedia core solutions

2007: IPO

Core networking infrastructure provider. 2008: trade sale to

Nokia Siemens Networks

Social P2P media networking platform 2006: trade sale to

Sony Pictures Entertainment

M-commerce infrastructure solution

2006: trade sale to Amdocs

Mobile broadband 2005: trade sale to

QUALCOMM

Transit application 2013: trade sale to Apple

Multi-platform productivity solution 2013: trade sale to Sequoia

Mobile advertising 2014: trade sale to Opera Software

5

     1st  Stage:      Equity  is  the  most  valuable  asset  you  have.    

Don't  run  for  the  big  check  -­‐  at  least  in  the  begining.    

7

   Keep  your  costs  low:  office,  travel,  opex,  etc.  a  lot  is  for  free  out  there  or  share  from  friends    

8

   Always  ask  for  advise  -­‐  not  for  money.    (money  will  come  if  advisor  is  interested)  

9

   When  taking  investors  on  Board,  let  them  pay  with  connecSon,  operaSons,  biz  dev,  sales,  markeSng...    

10

   2nd  Stage:    Be  carefull  …  when  taking  on  financial  investors  

11

Prefer  more  parSes,  at  least  two  parSes  from  start.  (Google  took  SeqCap  &  KPCB)        

12

 Aeer  first  round  always  seek  new  investors.      Don't  get  depended  on  your  current  investors.  

13

   You  will  be  in  fundraising  mode  allways  &  at  all  Smes  Never  stop,  Never  give  up.    

14

Consider  secondaries  whenever  possible.    Exit  for  early  investors  to  protect  your  own  equity.    

15

3rd  Stage:      Think  about  Exit  as  a  precausion      

16

Opportunity  for  Exit  can  come  every  day,  be  prepared  Have  made  up  your  mind  -­‐  'No'    is  always  an  opSon.  

17

     Consider:  Early  Exit:  lower  price,  big  stake                                    vs.  Late  Exit:    higher  price,  small  stake    

Opportunity  for  New  Venture  is  in  Early  Exit.    

18

   Stay  in  driver  seat  during  Exit  process  –        it  will  consume  ressources  but  is  worth  while.    

19

Breakup  could  happen  –  so  be  prepared.  

20

Have  enough  runSme  for  your  exit  road.    

T-­‐Venture  Por`olio  contains  currently  100  companies.  Two  Funds  managed  for  Deutsche  Telekom  AG  

Thomas Grota – Investment Director T-Venture Holding GmbH – @thomasgr