The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Bootstrapping

Over the course of two years, we have released over 70 courses on Udemy with the aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally. This series of posts aims to help you find the one you need easily and provide you with discount coupons.

Helping Publishers Monetize Premium Ad Inventory: isocket CEO John Ramey (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

John Ramey is the founder and CEO of isocket, a company that offers premium ad inventory solutions. Prior to founding isocket, he was one of the founders of Maven Ventures, which offered direct marketing software for real estate investment. He founded his first company, Lythargic Media, during high school. He studied business economics at Indiana University.

Sramana: John, let’s start with the beginning of your story. Where were you born and raised?

John Ramey: I was born in Tampa, Florida, and spent the first 12 years of my life there before moving to a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I was fortunate to live in areas that had unique pilot programs in their school systems. >>>

Featured Videos

Testing the Cloud: SOASTA CEO Tom Lounibos (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Tom Lounibos is the co-founder, president, and CEO of SOASTA, which provides cloud based web testing to optimize the functionality, performance, scalability, and reliability of websites and web applications. Prior to SOASTA, Tom served as president and CEO of Kenamea. Prior to Kenamea, he was CEO of Dorado Corporation, a financial services software provider. Previous to Dorado, he was EVP of Sagent Technology through its 1999 IPO and entrepreneur-in-residence at Crosspoint Venture Partners. He has held executive positions at Digitalk Corporation, Knowledgeware (KWI), and Encore Financial Services. Tom also serves on several boards in the Silicon Valley.

Sramana: Tom, let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where do you come from?

Tom Lounibos: I am from the Bay Area. I grew up as the youngest of nine kids. My father was a lawyer. I went to the University of San Francisco. My journey to technology was a bit different from most. >>>

From Croatia to Silicon Valley, Cleaning Up The Environment: Neno Duplan, CEO of Locus Tech (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Neno Duplan is the founder, president, and CEO of Locus Technologies, a provider of on-demand environmental data and information management solutions. Prior to starting Locus Technologies, Dr. Duplan held senior management positions with Canonie Environmental (W.R. Grace Company), The IT Group and D’Appolonia Consulting Engineers. Dr. Duplan holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, an M.S. in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon, and a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Split, Croatia. He also attended advanced management training at Stanford University.

Sramana Mitra: Neno, tell me a bit about your background. Where do you come from?

Neno Duplan: I was born in Croatia, which used to be Yugoslavia. I grew up on the Adriatic. After I graduated from college, I got a job with an American company in Italy. >>>

Building a Virtual World from Berlin: Smeet CEO Sebastian Funke (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Sebastian Funke is the CEO and co-founder of Smeet, a free browser-based 3-D social chat game. He co-founded Smeet in 2006 directly out of college. Sebastian was born in East Germany and moved to Berlin when he was nine. Today Smeet is based in Berlin with a small office in New York. Sebastian studied business administration at WHU.

Sramana: Sebastian, where do you come from?

Sebastian Funke: I grew up in East Germany until I was nine years old. That is when the wall came down and we were able to relocate to Berlin. I did my studies at a small university called WHU-The Otto Beisheim School of Management, which is a popular school for entrepreneurs in Europe. >>>

How To Build A Profitable Gaming Company: Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO of Arkadium (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Kenny Rosenblatt is the co-founder and CEO of Arkadium, a casual games developing company with more than 300 titles in its portfolio. Prior to co-founding Arkadium, Rosenblatt worked for On2 Technologies managing their databases, and with Systems and Computer Technology Corporation as a consultant. He co-founded Arkadium in 2001 with Jessica Rovello, to whom he is now married. He has a degree in information technology management from Syracuse University.

Sramana: Hi, Kenny, tell me about yourself. Where do you come from?

Kenny Rosenblatt: I grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. I was always a little rebellious and fidgety. I could never sit still in a classroom. At the same time, I always had a strong passion and desire to build a company. I went to Livingston High School, after which I went to Syracuse University in 1992. >>>

Bootstrapping to 25 Million, Then Raising A 23 Million Series A: Coverity Cofounder Andy Chou (Part 1)

Andy Chou is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Coverity, a development testing company. Prior to co-founding Coverity, Andy was instrumental in developing the core intellectual property behind the Coverity platform while earning his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University. He has also developed key innovations in Coverity’s industry-leading static analysis technology. He also has a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sramana Mitra: Andy, tell us a bit about yourself and the genesis of Coverity.

Andy Chou: Back in 1999, I was a Ph.D. student at Stanford University studying computer science. I was researching methods to improve software quality and software security. >>>

Making Millions in Alabama: SlimWare Utilities CEO Chris Cope (Part 1)

Chris Cope is the founder and CEO if SlimWare Utilities, a company that provides cloud-based software to clean, repair, update and maintain personal computers. He is a serial entrepreneur who wrote his first video game when he was 12 years old, and was the founder of Click Ad Equalizer and MP3 Advance.

Sramana Mitra: Chris, let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from?

Chris Cope: I was born in Alabama. I have lived there and in Los Angeles. I now live near Biloxi, Mississippi which is on the Gulf Coast. That is where I live and work now. I had two step fathers who ran businesses. One ran a trucking business and the other ran a construction business. >>>

Innovating in Payment Technology: Plimus CEO Hagai Tal (Part 1)

Hagai Tal is the CEO of Plimus as well as a serial entrepreneur and active angel investor. He began his career with the Jerusalem Post, where he created their online presence and established their online business strategy during the late 1990s. He then was an early member of JDate.com before heading off to serve as an active angel investor and serial entrepreneur. Today he leads Plimus which offers companies a total service e-business platform. Plimus allows companies of all sizes to create online sales and affiliate partnerships through the Plimus e-commerce system and affiliate network.

Sramana: Hagai, let’s begin at the beginning of your story. Where do you come from?

Hagai Tal: I was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel. >>>

Democratizing Marketing Automation: Act-On CEO Raghu Raghavan (Part 1)

Raghu Raghavan is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Act-On Software, which provides a cloud-based integrated marketing platform. Prior he was the co-founder and CTO of Responsys, Inc., a market leader in on-demand email and life cycle marketing solutions for high-end retailers. Raghu holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Minnesota and a B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

Sramana: Raghu, let’s start off by talking about your personal story. Where do you come from?

Raghu Raghavan: I am from India and am a graduate of IIT Bombay. I thought I would go into academia, so I got a PhD in computer science from the University of Minnesota. I studied the complexity of routing problems. >>>

How To Make Freemium Work: Niccolo de Masi, CEO of Glu Mobile (Part 1)

Niccolo de Masi is the president and chief executive officer of Glu a 3-D mobile social gaming company. Prior to joining Glu, Niccolo was the chief executive officer and president of Hands-On Mobile, a mobile technology company and developer and publisher of mobile entertainment. Niccolo was previously the chief executive officer of the London-listed mobile entertainment company Monstermob Group PLC from June 2006 to February 2007. Prior to joining Monstermob, Mr. de Masi worked in a variety of corporate finance and operational roles within the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector, beginning his career with JPMorgan on both the TMT debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions teams in London. He has also worked as a physicist with Siemens Solar and within the Strategic Planning and Development divisions of Technicolor. Mr. de Masi holds an MA in physics and an MSci in electronic engineering—both from Cambridge University.

Sramana: Niccolo, please tell us about your background as well as some of the history of Glu Mobile to establish the context for this story.

Niccolo de Masi: I am originally a physicist, although I was an investment banker very briefly. I have spent most of my career in the mobile entertainment space. >>>