The document discusses challenges facing startups and venture capital. For startups, it identifies problems with co-founder matching, speed to monetization, and finding mentors. For VCs, it notes branding problems and issues with the traditional venture capital model requiring huge financial returns. It suggests VCs may focus more on platform exits and smaller $50-150 million deals. The document provides sources and advice on creative business models to help with startup challenges.

1. Challenges in Startup Ecosystem For Stanford Innovation Group 3/29/2010

2. Why am I talking? Co-Founder of [Startup Digest] 20k+ subscribers in less than 3 months Insight into 32 local startup hubs worldwide

3. Unsolved Problems in Ecosystem VC Branding problem VC Math Problem Platform exits Startups Co-Founder matching problem Speed to monetization Mentor advisor problem

4. VC

5. VC: Branding Problem Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/vc100/stage/early.html

6. VC: Branding Problem

7. VC: Math Problem VC’s paid thru (2%) mgmt fee + carry Incentive to be larger = $ Risky so 3x gross returns. Ie $600m fund needs to generate $1.8b return Investor owns on avg 20% of company Assume most companies will fail (7/10) Need to assume $1b+ exits Source: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/04/the-venture-capital-math-problem.html

8. VC: Math Problem Source: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2006/03/22/no_more_billion.html

9. VC: Math Problem Point: Traditional VC is a hard game.

10. VC: Platform Exits (tangential) Creating industries vs. Platform Exits New focus on $50-$150m deals Platform buys working model then adds distribution New focus product risk, minimize customer risk, relationships with acquirers

11. Startups

12. Startups: Co-Founder Matching Problem Consistently most clicked items in Digest No real market solution out their right now Source: http://entrepreneurialactivism.com/2010/03/25/the-co-founder-matching-problem/

13. Speed to Monetization You have $25k investment per founder. At $2k a month that’s 12 months NOT including travel, dev, exp, etc

14. Speed to Monetization We need to think of creative business models Subscriptions Transactions Job Boards Events T-Shirts ETC

15. New Words to Live By "Make money don't stop.“ - Krutal Desai, aka "Brutal with a K"

16. Mentor/Advisor Problem Mentors and Advisors are the most consistently asked question How do you find great mentors with experience in your space? Operational vs. Experiential advice No market mechanism for this

17. Contact / Q&A How to I come up with a business idea? How do I get more involved at Stanford? Where can I meet cool people? Best sources for funding? Contact: Chris@thestartupdigest.comTwitter: @cmccann7Signup at: www.thestartupdigest.com Have you heard of Startup Waffles? Why should I go to in person events? What are some of the most exciting platforms? How do I meet a business co-founder How do I get people to use my product?