"We are wrong more often than we're right"
Ok, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. My meagre knowledge of venture capital or VC as the kids in the know say – comes entirely from the TV show Shark Tank.
Entrepreneurial hopeful with sweaty palms and aspirations of being ‘the next Uber’ or [insert unicorn company here] stands before a panel of investors and pitches their idea in the hopes of securing the funding to make their dreams come true.
Sure…makes for great TV, but what’s the reality for most start ups looking for that cash injection to help get their ideas of the ground? What is that special something that the VCs look for to guide their decisions.
Here’s another secret, their decisions - Scott Kupor tells us when he joined us for the latest #MarketingBookClub episode to chat about his book ‘Secrets of Sandhill Road’ - are more often wrong, than they are right.
Why We Loved It
If you’re trying to get a new company off the ground or trying to scale an existing business – you should probably have more than reality TV knowledge of the VC world.
Enter Scott Kupor managing director at Andreesen Horowitz a VC firm whose portfolio includes companies such as Twitter, Instagram, Groupon, Twitter, Airbnb, Lyft and BuzzFeed.
Secrets of Sandhill Road is filled with Kupor's own experiences, takeaways and insider tips that serve as a practical guide for navigating the VC journey. From the basics like term sheets and IPOs through to handling "down rounds", why you need to become a storyteller, how to manage a VC who oversteps and plenty more it's the perfect starting point for start-ups and scale-ups alike on their road to becoming the next unicorn.
RELATED: Ep #19 The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway
"Strong beliefs, but weakly held"
Check out a preview of the latest episode of the Marketing & Tech Book Club with Scott Kupor:
Full interview with Scott Kupor
In this ep: