3. Silicon Valley Bank
• Commercial bank
• checking/savings accounts, debit/credit card, loans, merchant
services
• 30 years
• 2 main markets
• Tech startups / companies
• VC / PE firms
• Global
• Israel, UK, China, India, US (26 cities)
4. Background
• Since 2001 - worked with
• several hundred startups
• several hundred VC firms
• Bay Area and NYC
• Fundraising, community building, business development
5. Startups
• Most startups fail (90%+) :(
• How do you increase likelihood of success?
• How do you decrease likelihood of failure?
13. Cap Table
• Giving away too much equity to investors
• Preferences
• Not giving enough equity to employees
14.
15. Cash
• Not raising enough $$
• Don’t get caught in the fundraising circle of death
• Raising enough for 18 months, ideally 24 months
16.
17.
18. Events
• Don’t be the guy/gal who everyone sees on
the party/event circuit
• Attend with a purpose - network with
• Investors
• Recruits
• Customers
22. In Summary
• Time is money
• Don’t screw up your cap table
• Raise enough money
• Network
• Surround yourself with mentors/advisors
• Know the market you are targeting
23. ....if you do these things you can still fail
but you reduce the probability of failure