HOW WE INVEST€¦ · HOW WE INVEST VOLUME VII eGuide [email protected]

HOW WE INVEST VOLUME VII

eGuide www.tencapital.group

[email protected]

http://www.tencapital.group/

mailto:[email protected]

Contents Jon Trauben of Altitude Investment Management .............................. 6

Advice for Investors in the Cannabis Sector ................................................................................... 6

Advice for Startups ................................................................................................................................... 7

Industry Evolution .................................................................................................................................... 7

Challenges in the Space ......................................................................................................................... 8

Brett Commaille of Hlayisani Capital ....................................................... 9

Advice for Investing in South Africa .................................................................................................. 9

Advice for Startups ................................................................................................................................... 9

Industry Evolution .................................................................................................................................. 10

Challenges in the Space ....................................................................................................................... 10

Matt Johnson of Johnson Venture Partners ........................................ 12

Advice for Venture Investors .............................................................................................................. 12

Advice for Startups ................................................................................................................................. 12



Daniel Hallawi of KapVista ........................................................................ 15

Advice for Investors ............................................................................................................................... 15




Jason Todd of Thinker Ventures .............................................................. 18

Advice for Investors Focused on the Midwest ............................................................................. 18




Mikael Krogh of Investigate VC ................................................................. 21

Advice for Investors Focused on the Southeast Asia Market ................................................. 21




Paul O’Brien of MediaTech Ventures ...................................................... 24

Challenges Startups Face ..................................................................................................................... 24

Mediatech Space Evolution................................................................................................................. 24

Manuk Hergnyan of Granatus Ventures ............................................... 26


Advice for Entrepreneurs ..................................................................................................................... 26

Industry Evolution in Armenia............................................................................................................ 27


Henry Yoshida of Rocket Dollar ............................................................... 29

Investment Areas of Interest .............................................................................................................. 29

Investment Areas to Avoid .................................................................................................................. 29


Samara Gordon of Hyperplane Venture Capital ................................. 31





Pieter Dorsman of Angel Forum and E-Fund .....................................34





Gregory Bohlen of Union Grove Venture Partners ........................... 37

Sectors of Interest .................................................................................................................................. 37

Sectors to Avoid ...................................................................................................................................... 37

Success of Beyond Meat ...................................................................................................................... 37

Doug Doan of Hivers and Strivers .......................................................... 39





Joy Schoffler - Investor and Advisor .................................................... 42


Real Estate Investment Evolution ...................................................................................................... 42

Gaining Exposure .................................................................................................................................... 43

Vinod Jose of Konglo Ventures LLC ...................................................... 44



Challenges Startups Face in India ..................................................................................................... 45

Pedro Falcão of LC Ventures .................................................................... 47

Advice for Investors Interested in Portugal ................................................................................... 47


Industry Evolution and Challenges ................................................................................................... 48

5

6

Jon Trauben of Altitude

Investment Management

Advice for Investors in the Cannabis Sector

The cannabis industry is a different space because it's in its creation phase.

It's not about disrupting something else. With this new industry being

developed and no precedent or historicals to look at, it becomes an effort

to dig in and live this industry. It’s about understanding it on a granular,

ground up, basis because the information flow and data sets are limited.

It's hard to be a part time investor in this space as you're looking to gain

exposure to this industry. The result is that if you want to invest in the

industry, you either find and invest with managers that live and breathe this

industry every day or you have to live and breathe it yourself.

It’s also important to understand the industry is a microcosm of the world

in terms of it covering nearly all the verticals that exist.

Typically, we think about the industry in about 11 or 12 different verticals,

but the result of that is there are opportunities in:

agtech

SAS tech

supply chain

data

advertising, media and marketing

real estate

cultivation

manufacturing

retail

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Once you spend the time to start understanding this industry, you then

have to look at the different verticals. When you see an opportunity, you

need to educate yourself on the details and the opportunities of that

particular vertical. For an individual investor, it's a multipronged process of

diving in fully to understand the industry and the various verticals so you

can try to uncover where the opportunities are.

Advice for Startups

The big startup wave of the industry is pretty much over. That's not to say

that there's not interesting new opportunities being developed, because

there are always opportunities, but for the most part, the industry has gone

through a huge startup cycle already.

For an entrepreneur looking to start a cannabis company at this stage it is

important to think about:

1. What's different about you?

2. What is defensible about your strategy?

3. Why are you and your management team uniquely qualified to

execute the strategy?

The truism in this industry is management. The cannabis world is different

today than it was in 2016 and 2017 where there was room to develop a

company. Those dynamics are changing and the development of new

companies has to be about a new strategy, a unique take on it, and a

strategy that can create a defensible moat.

Industry Evolution

The industry is still figuring itself out and its path forward. The biggest

trend that we see coming out of this startup cycle is companies emerging

into their growth stage. As they do this, these companies are boxing out

the remaining startup companies and they’re starting to pull ahead and

win. This will continue to play out over the next few years.

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On a global basis, the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes

continues to pick up steam with countries also starting to legalize

recreational use. The lesson that we learned from the North American

market is that after a couple of years of medical legalization, recreational

legalization will follow. Overall this is a global industry and a global

opportunity for startups.

Challenges in the Space

The biggest impediment to the industry is regulation at a state and national

level. This is also a global issue and the reason for this is because the

customer base exists, but they want to buy a quality product.

However, over time, as you deliver the opportunity to buy a quality product,

things will migrate from the illegal channel to the legal channel.

Jon Trauben’s Background

Prior to getting involved in the cannabis industry as

an investor, Jon came out of a 25 year career in

commercial real estate finance.

He was an MD at Barclays and Credit Suisse.

Contact Information

Web: Altitude Investment Management

LinkedIn: Jon Trauben

Listen to the full interview here

http://altitudein.com/

about:blank

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-jon-trauben-of-altitude-investment-management/

9

Brett Commaille of Hlayisani

Capital

Advice for Investing in South Africa

Don't go into the space to learn. Always try to work with experienced

investors or investment groups. This allows you to spread your risk.

Spend time developing the discipline to not fall in love with the company

right away. Figure out when to put in money and when you shouldn't. It’s

also important to not let a win or a loss go to your head.

This is an exciting sector, but it's certainly not the instant wealth that you

often hear about with other spaces. There are more risks here than most

people expect. Learning to take the time to do proper due diligence is key.

Advice for Startups

Do your work and do the research. You’ve got to be very motivated.

You also have to be flexible enough to know when it's not the right

approach and be able to pivot relatively quickly and easily. Being able to

understand when you're going down the wrong path is very important, so

that you can correct the path as quickly as possible.

Understand that sometimes, you may have a perfect idea, but it might be

the wrong time or the wrong market. There are any number of things that

could be messing with your investment thesis, so the ability to adjust is

critical. The power of luck and good timing can also play a big role in the

space. This means you've got to stay in the market and you've got to make

things work. Be persistent.

10

Industry Evolution

In terms of the venture side of investing, South Africa is at least 20 years

behind some of the more developed markets. When it comes to having a

properly functioning ecosystem, many other markets have had a kickstart

from governments who put in money to create funds. Whereas most of the

African countries venture capital was created by entrepreneurs trying to

fund the entrepreneurs.

South Africa still only has a fraction in terms of the international numbers,

but those numbers are bigger than ever. The South African market, for

example, used to be on the African continent and used to take the most

transaction numbers along with the largest amounts. This is starting to shift.


One of the biggest things to consider is that Africa is not a homogenous

market.

Every country and territory is very different and very diverse.

If you make it in one country, it does not mean that you can make it in

another,

Understanding each market is important and makes this a challenging

space to be in. It's not easy to jump from one market to the next. This also

means that if you look at your local market, most of the time the local

market is relatively small. You may have a large population, but to find the

middle class, for example, as a target population, it's very seldom that you

have that as your only market.

You need to found your company already looking into other territories

where you can grow. The company needs to be born with an

internationalization mindset. You have to put effort into finding networks to

assist with global growth and funders who are prepared to support getting

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enough traction in your local market to show that you deserve that support

to move into the other territories.

Brett Commaille’s Background

Brett has a background as a chartered accountant, then moved into

the world of banking in various areas such as the Middle East and

South Africa.

He came to the realization that he was better at being entrepreneurial

in the finance space and assisting those who were trying to build

companies.

Brett has an obsession with trying to figure out how people build

businesses and how they grow those businesses.

Contact Information

Web: Hlayisani Capital

LinkedIn: Brett Commaille


http://hlayisani.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/brettcommaille

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-brett-commaille-of-hlayisani-capital/

12

Matt Johnson of Johnson Venture

Partners

Advice for Venture Investors

You don't have to do it alone.

There are ways to leverage the power of technology and network effects so

that you can find like-minded investors with similar strategies and goals.

Today it’s much easier to source great deal flows with other individuals and

learn from one another.

There are a lot of ways to join groups if you want active returns and want to

get involved with startups that you're interested in.

If you're seeking passive returns and find the asset class interesting, then

invest through a fund and let a professional fund manager or professional

go out and find the opportunities for you.

Advice for Startups

If you’re looking to raise capital, get to know your audience, which in this

case, is the investor. It's either going to be a professional fund manager, an

individual angel or an institution.

Get to know what their goals are because, in a way, they're your customer.

Industry Evolution

Technology is starting to shift the industry.

A lot of platforms are focused on investment management and assisting

fund managers to be better organized. The platforms also focus on:

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sharing of information

sharing of due diligence

document control

executing fund transfers

funding transactions

These are difficult problems to solve and there are a handful of platforms

that are getting close to solving these issues. It’s important to keep a

watchful eye on these platforms to see which one emerges as the market

leader and which one provides the best solution for investors to better

manage the process of deal tracking and sharing of information.


There's a tendency to overcomplicate things. There's also a lot of noise in

the space.

This means it's difficult to know who to turn to, where to turn, and what to

take to heart?

There's a lot of conflicting data, advice and information that the space is

bombarded with every day.

This makes it imperative for investors to stay disciplined and set parameters

around their strategy.

For entrepreneurs, staying focused on delivering a quantifiable value prop

for your customer and being obsessed with the customer is key. Try to

eliminate noise and distractions by staying laser-focused and disciplined on

execution.

Matt Johnson’s Background

Matt always knew he wanted to be an early stage investor.

14

Out of sheer curiosity, he discovered the world of early stage startup

investing.

He is self-educated and acquired enough knowledge to gain capital

from high net worth friends and family which allowed him to start

doing deals.

Contact Information

Web: Johnson Venture Partners

LinkedIn: Matt Johnson


http://jvpfund.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/mattjohnsonlinkedin

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-matt-johnson-of-johnson-venture-partners/

15

Daniel Hallawi of KapVista

Advice for Investors

Look for a team and/or founders that click.

You should invest in people over products, especially at the early stage.

Once you've found that team:

understand the company

understand the industry

do research on the space

Invest in companies with a substance. If these individuals are trying to build

a company and just acquire users with no real revenue in the future, stay

away.

Advice for Startups

In terms of the structure, guidance, and compliance, make sure that you are

worth investing in from day one and are focused on investors because the

right investor can make or break your business.

Not having the right investor can almost guarantee your business will fail.

You need to manufacture serendipity to find the right investor, either by

hustling your way into the view of every investor or utilizing every available

resource possible to get your offer out there.

First impressions matter.

Make sure that you seize your opportunity with the investors in front of

you.

Be transparent.

Be punctual.

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If you say you are going to do something, do it.

Be courteous of the investor’s time and the effort they’ve gone through to

meet you.

Industry Evolution

There's more of a focus on the VC and PE space. You have people with a

sizeable bank balance that are now looking at the VC/PE space as opposed

to other traditional investment options.

This means there is more money coming into the space. There's more

money to fund innovation and there is a greater nurturing of talents. In the

last few years, there's been an influx of brilliant companies that are

attractive to investors.

There are a lot more talented people out there who are willing to try their

hand at entrepreneurship, which can only benefit them and the sector.

We're going to see an uplift in, not only the talent side of things and

incredible companies, but also there's going to be a lot more money

coming in to fuel new companies.


With more funding available comes increased competition.

There's a lot more people in the space and more talented individuals that

are out there starting companies. So, in terms of your peers, one of the

biggest challenges is going to be startups attempting to stand out when

there is already so much talent to choose from.

Daniel Hallawi’s Background

Daniel has 10+ years in funds and wealth management for global

financial institutions.

17

He stepped away from the corporate grind and became a founder.

He later moved into the investment space where he now wears

multiple hats and runs a family office for his own family assets.

Contact Information

Web: KapVista

LinkedIn: Daniel Hallawi


https://kapvista.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/danielhallawi

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-daniel-hallawi-of-kapvista/

18

Jason Todd of Thinker Ventures

Advice for Investors Focused on the Midwest

You need to know a bit about the space that you’re going to get involved

in.

Many investors fall into sharing the excitement with the entrepreneur and

getting wrapped up in that excitement. The problem is that this can lead to

the investor having no clear grasp of the space that the entrepreneur wants

to operate in.

At the end of the day, excitement doesn't mean anything if you don't have

a solid business plan.

Advice for Startups

Market validation is key.

It's important to talk to the people who don't love you.

There are 2 types of people who are going to do business with you.

1. The people who love you.

2. The people who are not yet sure they should love you.

All too often, entrepreneurs fall into the trap of running their concepts by

people who love them. However, the people who love you, by and large,

are lying to you.

Get to the people who don't love you and have no vested interest in your

success. These are the people that will tell you the truth. If you make it a

comfortable space for them to tell you the truth, you can learn a lot from

them. If your idea doesn't change after having talked to those people who

19

don't love you yet then you're on the wrong path because your idea should

change once it hits the marketplace.

Industry Evolution

The Midwest has been a challenging startup space, particularly for areas

outside of some of the larger Metro centers like Chicago. The challenge is

finding entrepreneurs who have good ideas and want to do something

impactful in smaller areas.

There is a vacuum of opportunity in the area that is significant enough and

exciting enough to get a high volume of quality businesses coming

through.

There is also a lot of hype around certain sectors and people using words

that they don't mean. Since certain sectors have become so popular and

there are people moving in and out of them, you run into a lot of

companies who are saying things that aren't true and trying to get money

for solutions that are outright false.


Money is one of the most ubiquitous commodities in the world.

You can come across money.

The challenge is, in order to get to money; you need to have a good story.

Many times people just don't have a compelling story and this is a hard

thing for new companies to recognize.

Additionally, some people, when they're talking about the size of the

market, use bogus numbers to get people excited. At the end of the day,

this is not something you can bank on. You have to come in with better

research and treat it more conservatively.

20

Entrepreneurs, many times, get caught up in the excitement and believe

that just because they think it's a great idea that everybody else should

think it's a great idea, too. This causes them to throw numbers out that

don't make any sense.

Jason Todd’s Background

Jason spent some time in sales and marketing then moved into

technology.

He is a self-taught programmer.

He started an eCommerce company that sold residential heating and

air conditioning equipment to consumers.

Contact Information

Web: Thinker Ventures

LinkedIn: Jason Todd


http://thinkerventures.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/jasonatodd

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-jason-todd-of-thinker-ventures/

21

Mikael Krogh of Investigate VC

Advice for Investors Focused on the Southeast Asia

Market

Always pay attention to the founders.

Of course, the business idea has to have merit, but great founders are the

foundation of any worthy company.

A company with the world's greatest idea or product and bad founders is

more likely to end up a bad investment.

Founders are the foundation of everything.

A lot of businesses tend to jump across industry sectors, especially when

you have early stage focus. Since movement is likely, it doesn't make too

much sense to have an industry focus if you’re looking at early stage

investing.

Advice for Startups

Find the product market fit.

Also find a go to market strategy that's not based on advertisements. As a

general rule, try to remember that advertisement doesn't always work.

Consider looking at a strategy that acquires the customers outside of

regular advertisement.

Industry Evolution

In Southeast Asia regular VC investing has grown tremendously, but early

stage VCs are lagging behind.

22

What this means is there hasn’t been a lot of growth in the region. This

makes early stage investments a bit trickier to obtain. There's misalignment

in the market because the VCs started out smaller then became successful,

so these funds became much larger. By virtue of size, they are much more

focused on series B, and beyond, so seed to series A ends up lagging

behind.


The biggest challenge is the go to market strategy. Acquiring customers in

an innovative and smart way isn’t easy because we are so overwhelmed by

information.

The problem with approaching any business with a value proposition today

is that people are so overwhelmed that they can't even think about

changing a supplier, for example, just to save half a percentage of their

total cost.

In order to get the attention of customers today, you have to approach

them with how you can make their lives easier and their processes simpler.

Mikael Krogh’s Background

Mikael started out in a large fund in Norway as an equity analyst.

He has also worked in operational roles, but mostly stayed on the

investor side of things throughout his career.

Contact Information

Web: Investigate VC

LinkedIn: Mikael Krogh

http://investigatevc.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/themik

23


https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-mikael-krogh-of-investigate-vc/

24

Paul O’Brien of MediaTech

Ventures

Challenges Startups Face

What we typically see is that depending on where the startup grew up,

rather that be New York, Silicon Valley or Austin, they tend to get different

advice.

They also tend to get a different perspective from the community, and that

advice is neither right nor wrong. The advice is attuned to how that

particular region tends to work.

The mistake that's made is as the startup matures, they are still fixated on

the advice and the experience that they had in their own region. They don't

appreciate that when you get into that next stage of series A and series B,

you have to start talking to other markets to raise capital. As you start

talking to those other markets, you've got to appreciate that they may have

completely different experiences and expectations with regard to what

happens at that next stage.

Mediatech Space Evolution

Media will always play a pivotal and critical role in our world.

It shapes our culture.

It shapes our economy.

It shapes what we know.

It shapes how we connect with people.

Whether or not the economy is stronger or weaker, there will always be

demand for media. What we've seen recently is an affirmation of that. A lot

of the big companies are looking to participate in more innovation.

25

Likewise a lot of private groups, public funds, grants, and federal money,

are coming into the space looking to participate in the immediate industry

at large because we know that the media industry plays an important part

in what we all do.

Paul O’Brien’s Background

Paul works in Venture Capital Economic Development, serving

investment in entrepreneurs.

He has a passion for media innovation and investment.

Contact Information

Web: MediaTech Ventures

LinkedIn: Paul O’Brien


http://mediatech.ventures/

http://linkedin.com/in/paulobrien

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-paul-obrien-of-media-tech-ventures/

26

Manuk Hergnyan of Granatus

Ventures


Every startup and every team is different.

Often, early startup teams spend little time in understanding the market

and whether they are serving or trying to solve the real human problem.

There's a lot of hype out there and a lot of startups are just focused on the

technology side of the company. A lot of times, this means they are

overlooking the real need and the type of problem they're trying to solve.

Make sure the entrepreneurs understand the market and the need they're

trying to serve and pay attention to team composition and the team

dynamics. The team should have the ability to change the course of the

company and not be broken in the process.

Advice for Entrepreneurs

Execution and discipline are keys to success.

Remember that once you get external funding, you have to deliver. All too

often founders lack the execution capabilities or the discipline needed to

move a company forward.

Spend as much time as you possibly can sharpening your skills in these

areas.

27

Industry Evolution in Armenia

Granatus Ventures was the first venture capital firm in Armenia and was

started in 2013. At that time, there were just a handful of startups. The

industry was transitioning from being a destination for outsourcing

contracts or custom software development to real product development

and tech entrepreneurship.

Now, it is a completely different industry. A lot of startups, some success

stories, and international capital came into the country. Significant rounds

have been raised, so there are now a lot of copycats in the first stage.

Currently, more startups are focused on developing technologies,

particularly AI and machine learning.

One particular aspect of the Armenian ecosystem is that there are links with

advanced business ecosystems, particularly within the US. Trends and

patterns of development in the U S ecosystem are quickly transmitted into

Armenia.

It is not uncommon for new companies to start with having consumer

facing offices in the US while the back offices reside in Armenia. This

creates a lot of interesting opportunities given that Armenia is a small

market.

The majority of the startups don't try to solve local problems.

They try to solve global problems.

In other words, they are turning the disadvantage of being a small country

into the advantage of a global mindset from the outset of development.


Armenia is a small market and somewhat detached from larger markets.

The biggest challenge is market access. Most Armenian companies are

developing solutions for global markets. Developing linkages to the global

28

market is one of the most important challenges that Armenian startups

face. They try to fill this gap and address the challenge through networks

and partnerships or partners in other countries.

There is also an increasing demand for high quality technical talent. This is

becoming a challenge for startups, particularly when more and more

international companies are being attracted to Armenia due to the

availability of talent which is still affordable.

Manuk Hergnyan’s Background

Manuk has a background in the management consulting industry.

Contact Information

Web: Granatus Ventures

LinkedIn: Manuk Hergnyan


http://granatusventures.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/manuk-hergnyan

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-manuk-hergnyan-of-granatus-ventures/

29

Henry Yoshida of Rocket Dollar

Investment Areas of Interest

Henry prefers to stick close to what he was professionally trained in, which

is in the financial services retirement space.

There are still a lot of opportunities for people to build great companies.

Generally, there are two ways to make this happen:

1. They can build new products in the financial services and retirement

space.

2. They can build technology enabled workflows to make the above

products more efficient and accessible to a larger group of people at

a lower cost.

Henry is passionate about Fintech. He notes this particular area of interest

for the purposes of creating new and innovative products and its ability to

enable the existing workflows and products to become more accessible and

available to people at either lower price points or lower cost overall.

Investment Areas to Avoid

Henry notes the importance of staying away from things you don’t

understand. Because of this, he prefers to avoid investing in hospitality and

real estate particularly.

While lack of understanding is a driving force, Henry does believe that early

stage investing is very much about betting on the execution abilities of a

team. However, while the team may be more than capable of solving a

problem, their skills shouldn’t cloud your judgement.

30


The number one thing that hurts early stage startups is a lack of singular

focus. In other words, they have a big idea and they're trying to do 4 or 5

different things.

Ideally, startups should become good at one very specific thing and then

expand from there.

In the early phases, it's easy to get distracted and try to do too many things

at once, whereas you should just focus on that one thing that could make

your business work or be viable at this early stage. No one is expecting you

to have a 25 products services platform on day one. However they probably

expect you to have identified a niche, product, or market opportunity and

be good at solving a problem in that specific space.

Henry Yoshida’s Background

Henry is a successful entrepreneur and an experienced angel

investor.

He was the founder of the venture capital-backed robo-advisor

retirement plan platform Honest Dollar (acquired by Goldman

Sachs), and MY Group LLC (acquired by CAPTRUST), a $2.5

billion assets under management investment firm.

He is a former Merrill Lynch Vice President.

Contact Information

Web: Rocket Dollar

LinkedIn: Henry Yoshida


http://rocketdollar.com/

http://linkedin.com/in/henryyoshida

https://investorconnect.org/henry-yoshida-of-rocket-dollar/

31

Samara Gordon of Hyperplane

Venture Capital


If you are going to invest regularly, try to commit to a strategy around a

check and round size in addition to the target ownership that you're going

after.

If you want to write a larger check on a company that's really taking off,

that's one thing, but there's often a trap that investors fall into when they

lack conviction.

Instead of digging in deeper or working with a company to fix some of the

things that they see as problems with either the business or the product

side, the investor will just write a smaller check and attempt to derisk.

You should be clear on what your strategy is for how you want to invest in

terms of mechanics of the deal.

Advice for Startups

It's never too early to think about:

business fundamentals

go to market strategy

sales

There is no such thing as hiring a salesperson too early.

One of the biggest differences between the ways that experienced

entrepreneurs build their business versus newer ones is when and how they

make that first business and sales hire. Companies should think about

commercialization as they're specking out the product.

32

Industry Evolution

Rounds are getting messy and it's causing a lot of confusion for funds and

for founders who are trying to navigate the fundraising space. We're likely

going to see some clarity be forced upon investors and founders as to what

they really need to raise.

Funds and investors are also getting stricter on what milestones they want

to see for the stage they are investing in.

As these things come into play, this landscape will get a little less messy

than it is today.


A general challenge that founders face is that they're getting conflicting

advice about needing to have 100% conviction around what they’re

building and the approach they’ve taken to solve a problem.

You need to be really flexible and adapt to market dynamics and/or

customer needs.

So, what investors are looking for, and what you need to think about on a

day to day is:

Am I the right person to do it?

Is this the right solution?

You need to go out and convince customers, investors, and new employees

that you want to join the team, that you have nailed it and have come up

with something that is going to work.

At the same time, you need to wake up every day questioning if your

assumptions were wrong.

Think about what you need to change.

33

The truth is, these are hard things to balance at the same time. It can be a

lonely job constantly trying to juggle these priorities, so make sure you

always have someone you can talk to rather it is a coach or your CEO.

Samara Gordon’s Background

Samara started her career in product after graduation where she

joined as an early employee at a Fintech startup in Boston. She was

the first person working on their product as a product manager.

While with the startup, she was spending nights and weekends

working with a predictive analytics company that she started with a

professor from Penn.

She’s also worked with a European management consulting firm and

moved to New York to help start their US office.

She spent a few years traveling the world and working on different

strategy projects for larger companies.

Contact Information

Web: Hyperplane Venture Capital

LinkedIn: Samara Gordon


http://hyperplane.vc/

http://linkedin.com/in/samaragordon

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-samara-gordon-of-hyperplane-venture-capital/

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Pieter Dorsman of Angel Forum

and E-Fund


Realize that you're in it for the long haul.

Be mindful that you're dealing with people who are working under great

amounts of pressure.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the people. Get comfortable, not

just with the company, the technology and the business plan, but with the

people as well. Get to know the founders. Get to know the entrepreneurs.

Go out with them for dinner; have a coffee with them.

Know the people you are working with and see how they operate under

various circumstances because, no matter what, you're investing in people.

If the technology doesn't work out or the market has changed and the

company has to pivot, you're banking on the people to make that change

and pivot the business in another way.

You’ll go through many ups and downs, so you better be sure that you

have a good relationship with the entrepreneur.

Advice for Startups

Investigate what you need.

What do you need in terms of resources to get your company off the

ground?

Do you need developers?

Can you do it on your own?

What is it going to cost you?

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How long are you able to go without a salary or without money?

There is this image that startups are run by young people, but more and

more people in their 50s and 60s are starting companies after a corporate

career and these people invest quite a bit of their life savings. It often ends

up being a larger amount than they had planned. Take time to plan your

financial resources and see how quickly you can get a product ready.

Industry Evolution

There are a lot of companies in different sectors.

It started out with software and biotech. Now every other sector in the

world, you'll see incredibly interesting startups, but you also see a lot of

capital coming out of different areas.

For example, angel investors used to be a very small group. Now, it's gone

mainstream, so you see many different angels, but you also see many

different angel funds, especially for people who cannot invest a large

amount of money. Unlike before, these people can now participate through

a fund.

There's also a lot more collaboration in the space, which means you can do

deals much quicker and you can be much more successful in leveraging the

expertise that exists in different geographical areas.


For a lot of startups it's very hard to go to market.

Believe it or not, it's not very hard to come up with a technology if you're a

bright individual or you come out of an industry where you see a certain

problem that you want to solve. However, it is very hard once you've got

your product ready to take it to market. This is where a lot of companies

fail.

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Some companies can take their product to a certain level of, say, a few

million dollars, but to really scale it into a $200 million company, that

requires a different skill set. This is generally where you see a lot of the

original founders begin to peel off because you have to bring in a senior

executive management team with the right skillset.

Pieter Dorsman’s Background

Pieter started his career as an investment banker in London doing

corporate finance.

He later moved to Hong Kong for Barclays Bank doing large

corporate finance transactions all across Asia.

Contact Information

Web: Angel Forum & E-Fund

LinkedIn: Pieter Dorsman


http://angelforum.org/cpages/home

http://e-fund.ca/

http://linkedin.com/in/pdorsman

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-pieter-dorsman-of-angel-forum-and-e-fund/

37

Gregory Bohlen of Union Grove

Venture Partners

Sectors of Interest

Union Grove Venture Partners are in a wide and diverse group of sectors.

Their primary drivers in making investment decisions are that an investment

should add either transparency or efficiency to a process or a marketplace.

They’re in areas such as:

1. Progyny - a women's fertility insurance company.

2. Poshmark - a women's apparel trading platform.

3. Beyond Meat - which they have recently exited from.

Sectors to Avoid

Union Grove Venture Partners tries to avoid the energy sector. They made

one investment there and thought that they had a company that was going

to lead the efficiency in solar and CPVC. As it turns out, the company did

lead efficiency, but nobody cared. They also avoid investing in pre-clinical

risks in healthcare companies.

Another area they try to avoid is Bitcoin, although they’ve invested in some

funds that have made Bitcoin investments. Union Grove Venture Partners

tries to avoid high capital intensity companies or companies that have

taken huge rounds of capital and are now starting to run out of money and

are trying to re-strengthen themselves.

Success of Beyond Meat

Anybody who thinks meat substitutes are a fad doesn't understand the

underlying economics of the marketplace. In protein efficiency, if you're

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using feed stocks for livestock, you have an efficiency ratio that is

somewhere between 7% and 14%. Beyond Meat was able to achieve

higher than 90% efficiency of protein conversion.

You can essentially feed the entire world on protein from Iowa, Illinois,

Indiana, and Ohio which is a shocking transformation of food stocks.

Gregory Bohlen’s Background

Gregory’s experience and relationships in the venture capital and

investment banking communities have been developed over the past

30 years.

He has invested in over 50 venture-backed companies.

Contact Information

Web: Union Grove Venture Partners

LinkedIn: Gregory Bohlen


https://ugvp.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-bohlen-0768232/

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-gregory-bohlen-of-union-grove-venture-partners/

39

Doug Doan of Hivers and Strivers


It's all about the leadership team.

You can do due diligence, but in an early stage company, this is often

difficult because there's not a lot to dig into.

Doing due diligence on an early stage company is very fraught with

problems because there's just not enough history to guide you. On the

other hand, you can and should do due diligence on the entrepreneur

because it's really all about the entrepreneur to begin with.

A great entrepreneur will find a way to bust through walls, pivot the

company and succeed.

Advice for Startups

It's all about fierce commitment. Starting a business is one of the most

difficult things a person can do and the failure rate for being an

entrepreneur is quite high.

We're in a world where it's so interesting and buzzworthy to be an

entrepreneur. We hear a lot about people who started a company in their

basement and 2 months later they were a billion dollar company.

The problem is these stories are not as relevant as a lot of people believe.

Starting a business is going to challenge everything about you as an

individual.

It's going to be one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do.

However, it may also be the most rewarding, too.

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Industry Evolution

There's the Silicon Valley and then there’s everybody else. If you're in

Silicon Valley, the perception, at least for those who are outside of it, is that

in Silicon Valley, you've got an ace in your hand when you're at the table.

That's a powerful advantage.

It's a formidable ecosystem that they have created there. The end result of

this is that they are hyper-connected and companies that are seeking

funding in that space have some advantages. However, there's also a

culture that is different from the rest of the country.

The companies that are outside Silicon Valley generally have lower

valuations. They are also going to be a little more humble and a lot more

focused on getting customers and getting the revenue machine started.

The perception that you can outrun the competition and be successful if

you spend a lot of money isn’t going to be a working scenario for the

future. In the coming years, the quality and the character of the leader and

of the CEO is going to count a lot more than it does now because you're

going to need people that can do difficult things, tell hard truths, and that

can survive problems when they appear.


Depending on where you are and what you're trying to do, the challenges

are different.

For example, in the military world that Doug focuses on, there are a lot of

things you learn coming out of one of the military academies, but how to

raise capital is not one of them. Former military members generally have no

tradition of investing back into younger military members that are just

getting out of the service.

Raising money and how to raise money is not something these people have

much experience with. However, if you're coming out of Stanford, you have

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an advantage because you’re right there in Silicon Valley. The individuals

here tend to learn about capital so quickly because they have an ecosystem

that supports it. This means their ability to understand and attract capital is

high. On the other hand, if you're somewhere outside of a major

ecosystem, your ability to attract and understand capital might be much

lower.

The bottom line is the ability to attract capital. This ability is going to vary

depending on your experience and where you're located.

Doug Doan’s Background

Doug is a military veteran who graduated from West Point.

He invests exclusively in companies led by military veterans,

especially graduates of the US service academies.

Contact Information

Web: Hivers and Strivers

LinkedIn: Doug Doan


https://hiversandstrivers.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-doan-75156bb/

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-doug-doan-of-hivers-and-strivers/

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Joy Schoffler - Investor and

Advisor


Cash flow is important.

There are a lot of sponsors out there who are still underwriting for a lot of

growth in the market, and depending upon the asset class, that growth may

or may not come.

It's really easy to have a good track record over the last 10 years with how

well the market's done, but when times are rough, you want an operator

who:

Has a lot of cash

Isn't overleveraged

Isn't going to just walk away

Also make sure that you're not utilizing growth assumptions from the last

couple of years, but modifying it to show a potential downturn in the

future.

Real Estate Investment Evolution

There’s a better use of technology in the space.

There's a lot of room for operational efficiency within the real estate

industry, and we're seeing that adoption happening, but there is still a lot

more room to grow.

New real estate technology platforms are starting to make use of

algorithms and AI that make the initial due diligence process easier,

especially on the debt side of things.

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Gaining Exposure

The most important thing for startups to remember when trying to gain

exposure is being in the right room, both on and offline.

The 2nd most important thing is having the right message when you're

there. As a brand, you get to control perception. In that controlling of

perception, you really have the opportunity to tell a story and make sure

that people understand:

What it is you're doing

How you're doing it

Make sure you're in the right places talking to the right audiences. You

want to be able to take people through a journey and automatically answer

a lot of the questions and objections they have with your messaging.

Joy Schoffler’s Background

Joy previously owned Leverage PR.

Her company worked with a lot of early stage and mid stage

companies, primarily in tech, financial technology, and real estate.

Contact Information

Web: Joy Schoffler

LinkedIn: Joy Schoffler


http://www.joyschoffler.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyschoffler/

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-joy-schoffler-investor-and-advisor/

44

Vinod Jose of Konglo Ventures

LLC


Investors have to look at investing from a portfolio perspective. That means

there are other asset classes that you should have in your portfolio before

you get into startup investing.

For the average person, when you look at your entire portfolio, an

allocation of 5-10% is likely something that you can put into startups where

you know that risk, but also has the opportunity for an outside return.

If you follow a systematic process in identifying and building a pipeline

followed by evaluating the startups in that pipeline, then you're emulating

what a VC fund does. The best way to do this is through an angel network

and not trying to do it all by yourself.

Find other investors who have similar interests that you can work with and

learn from. You can leverage each other's capabilities, network, and add

value to the company.

Advice for Startups

It's important to understand what you are trying to solve. A lot of

companies end up doing something incremental. They might be solving a

problem, but it is not large enough or sustainable enough to build into a

billion dollar business. The reason this happens is because there are so

many solutions and competitors in the market that there isn’t enough of a

moat to build around the business.

The solution to this is targeting large markets and large problems.

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Additionally, new entrepreneurs typically lack market experience. They

might be very good at building the product, but they tend to overestimate

the size of the market. The key to solving this issue is to spend time getting

to know the market and being careful not to overestimate its size.

Challenges Startups Face in India

Entrepreneurship, in itself, is a tough journey.

Indian entrepreneurs have a much harder time because of the environment

and the government or the regulatory issues they face. In this sense, US

startups have a much better success rate than many other places around

the world.

Another challenge we are seeing is large companies like Amazon, Google

and Facebook dominating the market to such an extent that there are not a

lot of opportunities for new companies. Almost anything that the new

company tries to do, if they're successful, is quickly bought out.

The chances of building a large company like Amazon from scratch are

becoming more and more difficult. This is simply because these large

companies that are operating now got ahead when the internet took off

and this offers them an unfair advantage.

Vinod Jose’s Background

Vinod comes from a consulting background.

Contact Information

Web: Konglo Ventures

LinkedIn: Vinod Jose

http://kongloventures.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-jose-04805b11/

46


https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-vinod-jose-of-konglo-ventures-llc/

47

Pedro Falcão of LC Ventures

Advice for Investors Interested in Portugal

One thing to look at is the interesting characteristics of startups in

particular regions. Compared to companies in other areas, in Portugal, with

the same amount of money you can do 3x more. It can be developing a

product, software, or even hiring sales and marketing people; you’re able to

do much more with less.

The country has been focused on producing more for a longer period of

time with less money. Another thing that sets Portugal apart is that because

they are a small country, it is great for testing people and is especially good

for testing new technologies and products.

However, being a small country also has drawbacks. For example, from the

very beginning, startups in a smaller country need to think about

messaging internationally and be focused on an international market. After

a couple of months most startups here have to go abroad. This is a huge

difference from other countries like the US where you can stay for 2-3 years

working exclusively in your country.

This means that from the ground up, Portugal has to think internationally in

terms of supporting different languages and different needs because each

country has specificities.

Advice for Startups

There are some caveats that you must consider. There are risks with the

currency and there are risks with the culture of the country. Keep in mind

that each country has people that work with very different values from one

another. It's not necessarily bad, but they are different, and it's something

that you must consider when investing in those other countries.

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Industry Evolution and Challenges

Investing used to be a small environment. Portugal didn't have more than

20 relevant entities in the investing market. After about 20 years the

country has seen huge growth. While they are still small, they now have

more than 50 risk capital firms.

What has happened is that you can typically find investment sizes of 200-

300k in Portugal. However, above that, you have to bring in foreign

investors.

Portugal knows that it still has to grow, which is no easy feat. Generally,

revenue is a concern and they still have to grow their base of VCs and

business angels in order to be at the same level as countries such as Spain

or the US.

Pedro Falcão’s Background

Pedro started working as a programmer during the 80s.

He later became an analyst and strategic consultant.

Pedro became an early-stage investor and has invested in over

100 startups.

Contact Information

Web: LC Ventures

LinkedIn: Pedro Falcão


http://www.lcventures.pt/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedromfalcao/

https://investorconnect.org/investor-connect-pedro-falcao-of-lc-ventures/

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Band of Angels

About TEN Capital Network

TEN Capital Network provides funding as a service to

companies anywhere raising venture capital. Its network of

over 11,000 accredited investors represents venture capital,

angels, family offices, and high networth individuals.

©2020 TEN Capital Network

www.tencapital.group

[email protected]

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