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.

Toward Zero-Energy Buildings: Kevin Surace, Serious Materials (Part 1)

Kevin Surace is on a mission to significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels and their effect on the environment. As CEO of Serious Materials, Kevin leads the company in its mission to reduce energy use and CO2 generation of the world’s largest contributor, our buildings.

SM: Take us back to where your personal story begins. Where are you from?

KS: I am from upstate New York, and I grew up in Herkimer until third or fourth grade. Herkimer is a suburb of Utica and has about 5,000 people. My father was an executive with GE so we moved to the suburbs outside of Syracuse. >>>

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Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 1)

Imagine the scenario of a senior executive on a business trip. Before the executive heads out to dinner a restaurant selection is in order. Enter Rearden Commerce and their virtual personal assistant. The executive simply opens the platform and receives restaurant recommendations. How? The platform already knows meal preferences, price ranges (per diem rate) which are approved for the trip, and how far away each restaurant is from his current location (think GPS here). Rearden Commerce offers a virtual personal assistant which offers corporations a value proposition of significant savings in travel budgets, and offers travelers a single interface for their entire trip (plane, car, hotel, food, entertainment, taxi, and the list goes on). Patrick Gradey, CEO and founder of Rearden shares his story with us.

SM: Where do you come from?

PG: I grew up in the suburbs of New York. My parents were immigrants from Ireland. My mother was from England and was a nanny. It was the great American dream. >>>

Mark Hoffman’s Fourth Run: Enquisite (Part 1)

SM: Mark, where does your story begin? What is the genesis of your incredible career?

MH: I grew up in a very small town in the southwest corner of Minnesota. It was a farming community of 3,000 people. It had a good school system. I had a Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer existence while I was younger. >>>

Streamlining Hospitals: Omnicell CEO Randy Lipps (Part 1)

SM: Start out with your background. Where are you from and where does your story start?

RL: I grew up in Texas and Louisiana. My father was a chemical engineer who ran research at a large minerals and gold development company. I came from a very engineering-oriented family. >>>

Shervin Pishevar’s Dream: Social Gaming Network (Part 1)

SM: Let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where are you from?

SP: I was born in Iran, and my parents immigrated to America the first time in 1976. My father came here for his master’s degree. We went back to Iran in 1978, right before the revolution. >>>

Terry Cunningham’s Adventures: Crystal and Coral8 (Part 1)

SM: Let’s start by talking about your background. Where are you from?

TC: I am from Vancouver, Canada. My family grew up in Montreal and my father moved to the west coast in the 1960s. In Montreal there was a group called the FLQ [Front de libération du Québec] that started to terrorize the city for the French separatist movement. It got ugly, so in 1966 he decided to move.

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Prospering Amidst the Real Estate Meltdown: Trulia CEO Pete Flint (Part 1)

SM: Take me back to where your story begins. What is your background?

PF: I was born just outside of London. My father is a professor of chemistry and my mother is an ancient history high school teacher. >>>

Healthcare Reform Through Entrepreneurship: Phytel CEO Steve Schelhammer (Part 1)

SM: What is your background? Where did you grow up and where do you come from?

SS: I grew up all over because my father was in the US military. I lived in a half dozen different states in the US as well as in Europe before I even got out of high school, and I went to school in Minnesota. I taught in public school and coached football and track before I got into business. >>>

Engine For Green Jobs: Premier Power CEO Dean Marks (Part 1)

SM: Let’s start where your story begins. Where did you grow up, and what is your background?

DM: I was born in Nebraska and moved around quite a bit. I lived in North Dakota, Illinois and New York, and I ended up going to college in Alabama. I joined the Boy Scouts along the way. My Eagle Scout project was related to renewable energy, which is what got me involved in helping the environment. >>>

Green Grants To Xunlight: CEO Xunming Deng (Part 1)

SM: Tell me where your journey begins. Where are you from and how did you end up at the University of Toledo?

XD: I was born in Nanchang, China in 1963. I grew up there and went to college at the University of Science and Technology of China. In China we have a nationwide college entrance exam that you must take in order to attend university. I happened to be lucky enough to be ranked first out of 100,000 students in my province, which allowed me to get into a prestigious college. >>>