Chinaccelerator, in cooperation with Tech Temple and GWC, once again hosted their program-annual 10X10 Beijing on March 8th, 2014.
The Geeks on a Train tour takes the Chinaccelerator startups on a ride from Shanghai to Beijing, then back down to Hangzhou before returning to Shanghai.
As part of the tour, the 10x10 conference brings attendees 10 tech pioneers (in this case we had 12!) and top VC's from the startup ecosystem in China. This is an amazing opportunity for attendees to have a peek at the first startup accelerator program in China, meet interesting people and listen to amazing speakers.
As always, each of them takes attendees on a 10-minute tour of their own startup trials and tribulations, wins and losses, then give some great advice and maybe a secret or two about what they learned to help make them the superstars they are today.
These are their slides, we hope you enjoy them. Thank you for supporting Chinaccelerator and entrepreneurship worldwide.
4. Because we promote and nurture hi-tech entrepreneurship in China
through a MENTORSHIP driven ecosystem, which returns benefits to all
participants.
We Are A World Class Launchpad
Founders
Executive
Board
Mentors
And we’re the best. Why?
MENTORSHIP is what MATTERS
Investors
5. Proof in the Pudding
After ‘graduating’ in Oct
2011 OrderWithMe won
TechCrunch Disrupt in
Nov 2011 and raised
$3mm in funding
Others that are still killing it:
7. Cyril Ebersweiler: Visionary punk who founded Chinaccelerator and
H.axlr8r; mentor at Techstars 500Startups; Investor / advisor
at LEAP MOTION and 80+ startups
http://www.crunchbase.com/person/cyril-ebersweiler
https://angel.co/cyril
Sean O’Sullivan: Creator of things and eternal entrepreneur
x investor x geek
Founder of Mapinfo, Avego, SOSventures
Dragon at Dragon’s Den
Co-coined the term ‘cloud computing’
http://www.crunchbase.com/person/sean-osullivan-2
Who is behind this madness?
Todd Embley: Director at Chinaccelerator. Mentor like a hockey
coach. Opinionated philosoraptor. Technology, marketing,
coconuts, fantasy sports - my passions. Entrephilosophy is
everything.
https://angel.co/todd-embley
8. • Chinaccelerator helps kickstart early-stage entrepreneurs into
success!
• We offer extensive support for startups including seed funding,
mentorship, networking; the most important fuel for startups to grow
and succeed
• The fund will target exclusively startups focusing on web, mobile, AR,
SaaS and other emerging technologies
• DO MORE FASTER - curate a peer-to-peer working environment and
personally facilitate access and introductions to over 70 amazing
mentors from around the world
• Help founders understand proper “entrephilosophy” and get educated
on the finer points of financing - raising money the terminology
therein
• How to PITCH LIKE A PRO
PROPULSION
9. • A 3-month call to apply. Applications are vetted on a rolling basis by
committee.
• 6% equity is returned for acceptance into the program (including all
provisions therein) and $16k USD
• We also cover the costs of out-of-town mentors, the ‘Geeks on a Train’
tour and Demo Day, and provide a “home” all expenses paid
We are Looking for POP:
• Amazing teams (People)
• Globally innovative ideas (Opportunity)
• Disruptive biz models (Path)
THE INTAKE
11. Member of the Global Accelerator Network
• 6 Countries
• 63 Cities
• 50 Accelerators
• ONE standard for entrepreneurial excellence
“Look no further than within a GAN accelerator. Beside the fact that they’ve been
vetted according toGAN standards, our accelerators follow industry best practices
and are supported by experienced mentors working alongside each of their
founders.” - http://gan.co/join-us
PERKS
• $60k in Microsoft Azure Credits
• $10k in PayPal Transaction Credits
• $3k in HR Support from Premier
Employer Services
• $12k in Softlayer Hosting Services
• $6k in Rackspace Hosting Credits
• $1k in Amazon Web Services
44. Lion Partners 2014
”Blueprint to a Billion“
The Data*
n All the US companies that
have gone Public Between
1980 – 2006
n In total 7 454
n Out of these a Billion dollar
revenue mark has been
reached by 387 (5%)
n Do these companies have
common features?
*Thompson 2006
45. Lion Partners 2014
The Seven Essentials
1. Find or create a great value proposition.
2. Find a quickly growing market.
3. Get some marquee customers.
4. Leverage a Big Brother Partner.
5. Be capital efficient.
6. Get paired management teams.
7. Have at least one board member on your board,
outside of your investor or management team that
has grown a company to a billion.
Thomson (2006)
46. Lion Partners 2014
”Blueprint to a
Billion”: The Data
n Research shows that if a
company did not have
ONE of Seven Essential
traits, it'd take 14 years to
hit a billion in revenues,
vs 7 years that a billion
dollar company would
take on average if it had
all 7 traits.
n And if a company failed to
have TWO of these 7 traits
then the likelihood of
scaling to a billion in
revenues fell to non
existent.
47. Lion Partners 2014
Puhakka Seppänen
Approach:
‘’ Time-to-Something’’
n Time-to-product?
n Time-to-market?
n Time-to-revenue?
n Time-to-profitability?
n Test compare your
business model around
these metrics
benchmark against
competition
54. The Startup Scene in 2014:
Bigger and better than ever?
Andy Mok
CEO/Founder, Red Pagoda Resources
Organizer, Beijing Tech Hive
55. About Red Pagoda Resources
Helping entrepreneurs in China accelerate their
success
• People - The hardest problem startups face
o Who are the right people?
o Where do I find them?
o How do I persuade them to join?
• Beijing Tech Hive - a weekend startup
accelerator
o Sharpen idea
o Bridge from ‘dating’ to ‘marriage’
o Connect with investors
• Advisory - Introductions to investors and other
key resources
56. About me
• Wharton
MBA,
Johns
Hopkins
School
for
Advanced
Internaonal
Studies
MA
in
China
Studies
• Ex-‐think
tank
and
investment
background
o RAND
Corp
-‐
United
States
and
A
Rising
China:
Strategic
and
Military
Implicaons
o Morningside
Ventures
晨星创投资本
o China-‐focused
technology,
media
and
telecommunicaons
• So what?
o Policy level focus on macroeconomic,
geopolitical and technological trends
o Hands-on experience in business
strategy, marketing, operations and
finance
o Broad global and local network of
advisors and partners
2013 年诺⻉贝尔奖获得
者罗伯特·希勒
前美国财政部部⻓长、
前⾼高盛投资⾸首席执⾏行
官汉克·保尔森
前休斯顿⽕火箭队员 姚
明
57. Ripped from today’s headlines
• Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19B
• Founded in 2009: 450M users vs 1.2B
for FB
• Each user worth $42 ($40 for Line)
• 55 employees ($345M/employee vs GS
$2.4M)
• 500M photos shared per day - 150M
FB
• Acton saw VC funding as a bailout.
Raised $250K from ex-Yahoo
colleagues but Sequoia invested $8M
for 15% - now worth $3.5B (437x return)
• Biggest VC-backed exit ever
58. How did they get there?
• Not young, tons of experience: Jan
Koum (38), ex-EY, Brian Acton (42),
employee 44 at Yahoo, lost money
investing in dotcom boom
• Lots of history together: Knew each other
for 9 years before starting What’s App,
Koum’s mother’s death
• Started with an observation, not
product: App Store created new markets
• Moments of despair: After a game of
ultimate frisbee with Acton, Koum
grudgingly admitted he should probably fold
up and start looking for a job. Acton balked.
“You’d be an idiot to quit now,” he said.
“Give it a few more months.”
Koum realized he’d
inadvertently created a
messaging service
59. Implications for us entrepreneurs
• What’s App not an anomaly, not even end of
beginning
• Money more and more readily available
• Experience matters - Insight first then team then
product
• Innovation increasingly coming from Asia and
China in particular
• Start with global perspective from Day One
60. Seattle as first step to global market
• Home to top innovative organizations:
Amazon, Boeing, Costco, Microsoft,
Starbucks, T-Mobile, Gates Foundation
• Vibrant startup ecosystem
o Entrepreneurs: Rich Barton,
Expedia, Zillow; Glenn Kelman,
Redfin; Brian McAndrews,
aQuantive
o Investors: Ignition, Maveron,
Madrona, angels, angels, angels
• Key industries: aviation, environmental,
gaming, IT, health care
• Quality of life: Housing, education,
activities
• Long-standing ties to China - Boao
Forum (Davos of Asia) Sept 4-6 in
Seattle
4 bedroom/2.5 baths. Single Family: 3,030 sq ft.
Lot:0.33 acre. Asking RMB5.4M
Courtesy Zillow
61. Music - expression of and catalyst for creativity
Musicians connected to Seattle
7 Year Bitch
A Fine Frenzy
Abney Park
Acceptance
Aiden
Allen Stone
Alice in Chains
Amber Pacific
Ann and Nancy
Wilson
Anomie Belle
Aury Moore Band
Axis
Ayron Jones and
The Way
Band of Horses
Bathtub Gin
Ben Bruce
Big Sur, The
Bill Frisel
Bing Crosby
Blake Lewis
The Blood Brothers
Bloodgood
Blue Scholars
BOAT
Bonnie Guitar
Botch
Bradford Loomis
Brandi Carlile
Brite Futures
Bundle of Hiss
Candlebox
Carissa's Wierd
Cave Singers, The
Chris Cornell
Classic Crime, The
Common Market
Critters Buggin
Daily Flash
Danger Radio
Damien Jurado
Dave Lewis
Dave Matthews
(currently resides in
the Seattle Area)
David Bazan
Death Cab For Cutie
Demon Hunter
DIONVOX
Disfiguring the
Goddess (Cameron
Argon/Big Chocolate
(musician) currently
resides in the Seattle
Area)
Donald Glaude
Doug Martsch
Duff McKagan
Eddie Vedder
Eriam Sisters
Fall of Troy, The
Fartz, The
Fastbacks, The
Fire Theft, The
Fleet Foxes
Flop
Gabor Hun
Gabriel Mintz
Gas Huffer
Gatsbys American
Dream
Gerald Brashear
Gits, The
Glis
Goodness
Grand Archives
Gravel
Green Apple
Quick Step
Green River
Grunttruck
Grieves
Hammerbox
Harvey Danger
Hater
He Is We
Hoot Hoots,
The
Head and the
Heart, The
Heart
Hey Marseilles
Himsa
Ivan Alyosha
I Declare War
(Band)
Jack Endino
Jeremy Enigk
Jerry Cantrell
Jesse Brand
Jesus Rehab,
The
Jim Allchin
Jim Black
Jimi Hendrix
John Roderick
Jon Yoon
Judy Collins
Joseph
Katrina Charles
Kenny G
Kind of Like
Spitting
Kyle Townsend
Layne Staley
76. Two valuable investments for the entrepreneur
David Ben Kay, Yuanfen~Flow, Beijing
For Chinaccelerator 10X10 March 8, 2014
77. What I’ll talk about:
Two Ends of the Investment Spectrum
ž Legal Advice - Easy
ž Mindfulness – Difficult
Both have potential big pay-offs
78. Legal Advice
ž Takeaway: Invest in trusted legal advice.
— First Timers vs Serial Entrepreneurs
○ Knowing the value
— 贵不贵,便宜不便宜 – You get what you pay for.
— How are you compensating other contributors?
($? Equity?) – Treat your lawyer the same way.
79. Main areas for legal advice
ž Intellectual Property
ž Structuring
ž Relationships
82. Legal: Relationships
ž Among co-founders
ž With team members
ž With investors
— Potential Actual
ž With licensors/licensees
83. From the mundane to the sublime
ž Legal advice? You can pay for it and
someone else does the heavy lifting.
ž Mindfulness? It’s totally up to you.
84. Mindfulness
ž Many names
— 无心之心,正念, awareness, attention,
coping strategies, presence, The Flow, “no
mind”, smṛiti !म#$त
ž Practioners
— From mountain-top monks, to C-Suite execs
ž Techniques/Methodologies
— Multiple forms of meditation; Drugs (DMT/
Ayahuasca, Adderall, Peyote, LSD, etc.)
85. Spiritual? Psychological?
Physiological? – Doesn’t matter.
ž Discovery of Quantum Vibrations in ‘Microtubules’ Inside Brain Neurons
Supports Controversial Theory of Consciousness by Matt Staggs on
January 20, 2014 in News
ž Experimental Tool Uses Light To Tweak The Living Brain by JON
HAMILTON
ž In the U.S. business world, interest in mindfulness is rising dramatically.
This shows in the popular business press, including books such as
Awake at Work (Carroll, 2004) and Resonant Leadership: Renewing
Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and
Compassion.[32]
ž The link between mindfulness practice and leadership development, in
particular, was strengthened with the introduction of Scouller's
Three Levels of Leadership model (Scouller, 2011). His model, which
emphasizes psychological self-mastery, includes mindfulness meditation
as one of its main self-development techniques.[33]
87. Tips
ž Don’t try to visualize – just remember
— Where you are in the universe
○ Download the Bjork app
○ Use Google World
○ Use Google/Baidu maps
— People – particularly those to whom you react
negatively
○ Make a slide show of their faces
ž Learn to convert negative to positive
— The Green Box
ž Breath … deeply
88. Frequencies – A Practice
ž OM – Opens you to the Positive
ž MA – Makes you a source of the
Positive
ž NI – Balances the left/right brain; 阴阳
ž PAAD – Aligns you
ž MEI – Activates the frontal lobe
ž HOM – Activates the whole body
ž REEE – Connects
105. About
Me
§ 2x
Entrepreneur
§ CEO
Co-‐founder
of
SmarTots
§ 14
years
experience
in
the
Internet
and
mobile
sectors
§ Father
of
Two
§ Past-‐Danish
Champion
in
Gymnascs
§ Past-‐European
Champion
in
fastpitch
so]ball
106. My
Career
§ Nokia
–
For
comfort
§ Patent
into
about
a
billion
phones
§ Club
Beauful
–
For
money
§ SmarTots
–
For
passion
§ Building
educaonal
games
that
connect
the
family
107. Nail
it….
As
an
entrepreneur!!!
Get
3
right
and
you
are
golden!
ü Big
Market
ü A-‐Team
ü Solve
a
real
problem
And
also
some
blind
luck
…
108. Market
Two
choices:
Do
what
everybody
else
is
doing
Pick
on
upcoming
and
me
it
well
OR
124. Example: data entry
Problem: need to extract data from ______ and import to database in ____ format
Technology solution: write script to ____ and _____ then ____
Simple solution: copy-paste the data - outsource through odesk.com
128. Our tasks outsourcing team
30+ people in Philippines, India, US
content writers
designers
SEO
etc…
129. Lessons learned
Employees of outsourcing companies in non-major cities are overworked and
underpaid
Hire from smaller cities
If possible hire full time
Be fair, give an unexpected perks
Pay on time
No second chances for bad performance
132. Trilogy
Ventures
“Don’t
just
start
a
career
–
START
a
Business
hbp://www.trilogyvc.com
hbp://t.sina.com.cn/stevebell
hbp://stevebell.renren.com
RenRen:
史蒂夫
steve
bell
133. Startup - First Year
• 3 Startups - Less is More
• What Trilogy VC invests in.....
134. Steve
Bell
• B.
ChE
–
Georgia
Instute
of
Technology
1985
• Founder
/CEO
CORE
Products
GmbH
• Founder
/
CEO
SupplySoluon
Inc
• Founder
/
CEO
ShangBy
Inc.
• VC
–
Trilogy
Ventures
–
Founder
and
MD
135. How much Startup #2
• 500,000 from trusted industry insider (angel)
for 25%?
or
• 7,500,000 for TOP BIG NAME VC’s for 40%?
141. ✤ Only external proof matters!
✤ need 10,000,000 something (RMB, users)!
✤ show the business can be HUGE!
✤ before running out of money!
✤ “many tries” do do do do....
142. Trilogy
Ventures
Criteria
• Great
Team
of
“
– Doers”
– Expert
–
know
the
customer
– Curious
• Speed
of
product
release
/
iteraon
• Low
spend
rate
-‐
can
get
to
10,000,000
• Space
-‐
Mobile/Web
143.
144. Don't invest here
Date: FEBRUARY 16, 2011 1:39:34 PM GMT+08:00
To: Stephen Bell steve@trilogyvc.com
Subject: Re: Throw Out Your Business Cards, xxxxx iPhone
App Is Now Live
sure, but for 10x less we dont need investment, we can
invest ourself
And we can forget about a nice office, hiring 2nd group Eng
people, all the symbian version, all the marketing, all the IP,
legal and so on..
148. Don’t
just
start
a
career
Start
a
Business
hbp://www.trilogyvc.com
hbp://t.sina.com.cn/stevebell
hbp://stevebell.renren.com
RenRen:
史蒂夫
steve
bell
151. SOME PAPERS
South China Morning Post
China Economic Review
Gamasutra
Baltic Observer
China Tech News
TechRice
TechNode
Games In Asia ( Tech In Asia)
Articles on Tech Crunch and Venture Beat
152. THE JOURNALIST
Underpaid
On deadline
Pressured by Editor
Juggling multiple stories
Used to rejection by sources
Paranoid that friends just want converage
Telling the stories of others not their own
Deals with critics, trolls and haters daily
Credibility always on the line
153. IF ONLY
…..If only we can get media coverage
Getting media coverage may not be the solution, it may even
make your problems worse.
It may crash your servers
It will let the world know how unfinished you are
The story may not be covered the way you want it
The story may haunt you forever, the internet never forgets
154. BUT IF YOU DO
These are the steps to consider.
1) Angle
2) Contact
3) Package
4) Message
155. ANGLE AND HOOK
What will their readers be interested in?
What will their editors approve
What stories to they cover or have over-covered
New features are not enough…
What trend are you part of and represent
Pitch a story , not a specification or announcement
156. FIND A CONTACT WHO
COVERS YOUR BEAT
Make Contacts before you need to pitch a story
Try to be referred
Be a source and educate
Introduce to others
Create a relationship, not a one off free advertisement
157. PACKAGE A STORY
INTERESTING TO THEIR
READERS
1) A white paper
2) An Infographic
3) Some study or research
4) Funding / Partnerships / Awards
5) New Trends or unknown areas
6) Events or Contests
7) Pictures, charts graphs
8) Ready made text or story
9) Lists and Link baiting
158. THE MESSAGE
The Internet is forever
Answer in Sound Bites
Be a Knowledge Leader
Don’t make a sales pitch
Know your Goals
Links, Videos and Demoes
161.
Stand-‐up
ß
à
Start-‐up
What
Being
a
Stand-‐up
Comedian
Taught
Me
About
Start-‐ups
Richard
Robinson
10X10
Beijing
March
8th,
2014
162. • Co-founder of 5 startups –
3 exits, 1 mercy killing, 1 still active
• Senior exec in 2 startups which went public
• Advisor and/or angel investor in 15+ other startups
• Loving China’s /Asia’s Geek-o-system
§ Co-founder and President, Yolu
§ Co-founder and Chairman (formerly CEO), Kooky Panda
§ Founder/CEO, Dada Asia acquired by Milan-listed Co.
§ Co-Founder, Shouji Mobile acquired by Tencent
§ Founder and CEO, MIG acquired by Glu Mobile
(NASDAQ:GLUU)
Serial
Entrepreneur
in
China
163.
164. Asia’s 1st North American Comedy Show!
è Focus on world-class, North American
live comedy performances
è Started in Hong Kong in 1998
è Expanded to major Asian cities in 2001
è Developed large loyal following in China
165. Working with the Best in the Business
World’s Largest Comedy Festival
World’s Longest-Running Improv Troupe
166. Top Comics from North America
Russell Peters
Louis CK
Jim Gaffigan
167. #1:
Fear
• Chewing
glass
looking
into
the
abyss
• Jumping
off
cliff
building
airplane
on
way
down
• Catch
22
• Seinfeld
eulogy
• Failure
/
Bombing
–
only
mabers
how
you
react,
just
marinate
in
it
168. #2:
Small
Bets
/
Ship
Early
/
Ship
OEen
• Users/Audience
Collecng
data
Live
Audience
171. #3:
AuthenGcity
/
Truth
And I thought, well OK,
when you're done telling
jokes about airplanes and
dogs and you throw those
away, what do you have left?
You can only dig deeper,
start talking about your
feelings and who you are.
172. #3:
AuthenGcity
/
Truth
• Point
of
view
/
True
Voice
• Truth
speaks
to
people
• Go
to
your
passion
/
truth
• Scratch
own
itch
• Get
a
small
group
REALLY
into
what
you’re
doing
173. And I thought, well OK,
when you're done telling
jokes about airplanes and
dogs and you throw those
away, what do you have left?
You can only dig deeper,
start talking about your
feelings and who you are.
174. Thank
you
very
much!
I’ll
be
here
all
week.
Please
tip
your
waitstaff
;-‐).
richrob@gmail.com
@richardrobinson
linkedin.com/in/richardrobinson