eric olden guest lecture uc berkeley march 2013
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Symplified
Everything You Wanted To Know About Launching A Startup At Cal But Didn’t
Know Who To Ask
Eric Olden
Symplified
Who Am I?http://www.linkedin.com/in/boughtnotsold
UC Berkeley Class of 1995
Self-taught engineer and geek – Founder, CEO and CTO
Securant Technologies - Web security• Founded first company my senior year on campus• Moved to San Francisco and grew to ~300 employees• Raised $40,000,000 and acquired a few months later for $140,000,000
Became active angel investor focused on infrastructure, enterprise software and security
Symplified – Cloud SecurityCEO, Chairman and Founder
Raised $38,000,000 building cloud security and identity
Total venture capital raised - $78,000,000
Total enterprise value created - nearly $225,000,000Eric Olden
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What I Do Now
Founder Veloci Partners
Helping startups kick ass faster
Strategy | Lean startups | Bought Not Sold
Angel investments, capital raising, team building and company formation
Eric Olden
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Agenda
1. What it takes to succeed
2. Show me the money
3. If I could do it over again...
4. Questions and answers
Eric Olden
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What it takes1. Guts
2. Great team
3. Ideas are free - execution is the key
4. Innovation is overrated - don't fall in love with your idea
5. Resilience - know when to pivot
6. Bootstrapping - do it the old fashioned way, earn it
7. Money - best from customers, or angels or VC (last resort)
8. Culture is king - no jerks
9. Know the difference between success and winning a lottery
10. Help others - what goes around comes around
Eric Olden
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Guts
Eric Olden
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Startups are like train wrecks
where a lucky few survive
(chaos means opportunity)
Eric Olden
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Startups are HARD and SCARY
Eric Olden
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Great Teams Mean Everything
Eric Olden
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Ideal Blend Of Specialists And Generalists
Look For Cultural Fit and IQ
Eric Olden
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Team and culture eats strategy
for breakfast
Tom Curren
Eric Olden
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Ideas are free
It’s the EXECUTION that matters
Eric Olden
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Find a really painful thing to fix
The more painful the bigger the potential
Eric Olden
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Know When To Change (pivot)
Be Data Driven & Intellectually Honest
Eric Olden
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The Money
Bootstrap
Prove It
Nail It
Scale It
Eric Olden
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The Valley Of Death
Eric Olden
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The Valley Of Death
Eric Oldenhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/02/18/10-ways-for-startups-to-survive-the-valley-of-death/
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Bootstrap
1.Do
2.Spend
3.Wait
4.Hire Slowly
Eric Olden
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Angel investors are more common than ever
Look for investors that can bring more than money – networks, advice, recruiting
Cost of startups has never been lower in history. Use this!
Eric Olden
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The Valley Of Death
Eric Oldenhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/02/18/10-ways-for-startups-to-survive-the-valley-of-death/
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Angel List Amazon Meets Venture Capital
Eric Olden
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Kick Starter Sell Your Product Not Your Company
Eric Olden
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Indie GoGo Sell Your Product Not Your Company
Eric Olden
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The Funded Yelp For Venture Capital
Eric Olden
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If I Could Do It Over Again
Change- Don’t take too much money
- Don’t get obsessed with being 1st
- Grow slowly and smart
- Protect culture!
- Build a great board
- Sell when value created – founders and VC have totally different motivators
Wouldn’t Change- Just Do It
- Great teams
- Learn and leverage others’ experience
Eric Olden
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Pay It Forward
Give Before You Ask
What Goes Around Comes Around
Eric Olden
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Questions?
If you have an idea or a startup that you’d like to take to the next level email me.
Most seed startup initial engagements are free for Cal students and alumni.
This presentation will be on SlideShare.com
ericolden@gmail.com Eric Olden
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