Away from RusValley hackerkast Anna Dvornikova - audio podcast and article text
And again, on Hackercast RusValley.com (the collective blog of the inhabitants of Silicon Valley). In our next issue, we communicate with the charming and influential woman of Silicon Valley - Anna Dvornikova, who recently received the honorary award Silicon Valley Women of Influence 2014, along with other outstanding women resident in Silicon Valley (100 in total).
Anna is the president of the AmBAR business association, the organizer of the SVOD invest-entrepreneurial conference and the managing partner of the TEC Ventures fund .
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In this issue we discussed:
- What is invest-entrepreneurial conference SVOD ( Silicon Valley Open Doors )
- What do startups get from the conference if they do not intend to stay in the Valley
- What startups shot after speaking on SVOD
- How did the idea of ​​the “set of necessary people” become an international platform?
- Star Guests of SVOD 2014 - George Zachary (Twitter's own investor), Alfred Lin (partner of Sequoia Capital, WhatsApp main investor), Trip Hawkins (founder of Electronic Arts) and others (full list on svod.org )
- AmBAR Business Association - an ecosystem for Russian-speaking professionals in America and beyond
- To whom Anna is grateful for the award Silicon Valley Women of Influence
- Where TEC Ventures invests
- Hungry working days startup SupportMe
- Unknown Paypal Story
- Failures are the key to success.
- Lack of focus for Russian startups
Interview text:
Alex: Hello everyone. This is RusValley hackerkast with the support of the American Business Association of Russian-speaking Professionals AmBAR. And with you the leading podcast - Alex Erokhin, Ivan Tsybaev and Alexander Protsyuk.
Today we have guests Anna Dvornikova, President of the American Business Association of Russian- speaking Professionals AmBAR and the founder of the annual investment-business conference SVOD . As well as the managing partner of the venture fund Tec Ventures . Good afternoon, Anna.
Anna: Good afternoon guys.
Alex: Let's start with questions about the SVOD conference. Anna, remind in a few words to our listeners what SVOD is and what is behind the words invest-entrepreneurial conference?
Anna: Decoding SVOD - open doors to Silicon Valley. Initially, the idea was to serve as a springboard for international start-ups in the Valley. Bring startups, show them to investors and acquaint with local entrepreneurs. So that these companies could find here partners, investors, marketers, lawyers, people who sell. All professionals who are involved in the construction of a technology startup.
Initially (since we are Russians), start-ups came from Russia, Ukraine and the countries of the former USSR. But over time, companies from Israel, Canada, the UK and other countries began to be condoned. In the future, SVOD became a kind of springboard in search of funding and partners not only for international companies, but also for local startups.
For us, this was a kind of success, because our main specialization was on companies that come from outside the Valley. But now the conference has become so popular that many local companies founded by students at Stanford and Burkeley come to the conference, speak to an audience of investors in order to receive funding.
What are we doing for this and how have we come to this?
We invite Top Investors from the Valley Top Funds to come and look at startups. What is important for investors here? First, they see what is happening in the Valley and beyond - they hold their hand on our pulse. For them we made some pipeline, i.e. we specifically select companies that interest them. Therefore, they come to SVOD year after year and get information about new startups that they haven’t seen before. Such a mutually beneficial exchange. On the other hand, businessmen come to meet with investors. So it turns out investment-entrepreneurial conference.
Ivan: That is, the conference stands for Silicon Valley Open Doors. But in Russia they say more - Silicon Valley, and here in the Valley, more often they say - Silicon. And on this subject a lot of holivar.
Anna: It's true, but not a big deal. In addition, SVOD is a business conference. This is not about politics ... this is just about business. We are happy to see guys from anywhere in the world, if they make an interesting product or service and believe that their service or product may be global. And also, if they want to understand how potentially what they are doing is interesting.
For example, we had companies that are not our target audience. Companies that want to return to their country after the conference and open a business there. Nevertheless, they come to SVOD and get an opinion from the investor about how correct what they are doing is correct. Communicating in the audience, they get new tips and ideas. Come back with a new worldview and completely change either the product or the direction of the business, which is also very important.
When you are spinning in your small surroundings, you do not understand what is happening outside. And coming to SVOD, the guys are starting to see a global picture and understand where to move the company.
It is also very important that SVOD is a boutique conference. In the sense that about a thousand people gather at SVOD-e, and therefore any participant has the opportunity (if he is active enough) to communicate with everyone who attends the conference. With speakers, with investors, with their colleagues in the audience. Usually, when you come to large conferences (from 4 thousand people), you do not have the opportunity to talk with everyone, including speakers. they are most often removed from the stage after the performance.
Ivan: Well, yes. I noticed that SVOD is very easy to talk with many speakers or special guests. And, for example, at TechCrunch Disrupt, where I was when Mark Zuckerberg and Marisa Meyer performed, there was no such possibility. After the performance, they immediately retired to the backstage.
Anna: Of course. With us you can say 2-3 words about your company, exchange a business card or make an appointment. And again, if you are active enough, you will be able to communicate with all the participants, meet and continue the interaction. SVOD is about making contacts and connections.
Ivan: Can you say a few words about Russian start-ups who came to the SVOD conference and shot? For example, Zingaya. What else?
Anna: Another WikiMart, OkToGo - these are all startups, the first performances of which took place at our conference.
Alex: OkToGo is a travel startup competitor to the well-known Ostrovok.ru, as I recall?
Anna: Yes, you are right.
Ivan: I'll add about EverNote. I met his CEO and founder, Phil Libin. He said that participation in SVOD was an important stage in the life of a startup and helped to fly.
Anna: Well, yes. They were just speaking on the first SVOD, it was a company from Russia, and it turned out that the investor (Troika Dialog) noticed them and later invested them.
Alex: I have a question, Anna. What was the original idea of ​​the SVOD conference, and what did it transform with over time?
Anna: The main idea was to somehow create the infrastructure to help entrepreneurs find investors in the Valley. Imagine, 2005, 10 years ago. Historically there have been startups from Russia and Ukraine. But evolution took place, and the conference became more famous. Success stories became noticeable, and, accordingly, companies began to come not only from the countries of the former USSR, but also from Europe, Canada and even start-ups from the Valley.
Ivan: This year, as far as I know, among the guests are CEO of Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson. How will the performances take place? Who else of the interesting guests will be?
Anna: We are building a conference in different ways, so it often happens that the speech is held simply in the format of a conversation with an invited guest. Sometimes it happens that we talk on a predetermined topic. And see how the whole conference is built.
The main idea is the performance of startups in front of an audience of venture capitalists. We select startups, about twenty. This is usually very difficult, because there is a large flow of applications. Again, what was the evolution of the conference - at first there were very few applications from companies that knew about SVOD and submitted applications, and their quality was not the highest. And now we see a stream of very interesting companies. And sometimes it is very difficult to select these 20 applications. But the program is built in such a way that we can’t just take more.
Then we invite Top Investors and successful entrepreneurs to talk about how they came to life such as what trends exist. We ask them to tell what is happening in the area in which they work, what awaits this area, as they see further development. That same Phil Libin (CEO of Evernote, a company worth 2 billion now) came in and told how he builds the company, how he sees his role as CEO, what would he recommend to other entrepreneurs.
We had the same thing when Max Levchin (founder of PayPal) came to us. And very often to the children, this gives an idea of ​​what investors are sitting in the audience. By the way, PayPal was sold to eBay for 1.5 billion. and now Max is sitting on the board of Yahoo. He is also the founder of Yelp and many other companies. Now Max is an angel investor.
Therefore, when there is a conversation with an investor on the stage, entrepreneurs understand that this investor is what his interests are, what his focus of activity is. Because every investor has his own focus. They do not do “everything.”
Also in a conversation with an entrepreneur, it is important to see that this person was once the same as you. Understand who he was now, what happened, what was important to him in this life. Compare your path and vision with the vision of this person. Such discussions are very popular and help children move further in life.
Ivan: Who comes here this year?
Anna: From investors, George Zachary, managing partner of the venture fund Charles River Ventures, which is included in the Midas list (list of the 100 coolest venture investors). He is the first investor in Twitter, Yammer and several others. He has a special flair for startups. On the guys who later will be successful.
For example, in the history of Twitter: he invested more in the previous company, which was before Twitter. That is, he invested in the guys-entrepreneurs. And this company was not successful. The guys are great, they understood it in time and decided to return the money to investors. And all the investors took the money, but George did not take it. He encouraged the guys and said that they would definitely succeed. I asked them to leave him $ 100 thousand and do something else. And their next project was Twitter.
What discussion will we have with him? We will talk about what a successful investment in start-ups is at an early stage: luck, knowledge, or some special vision. My personal opinion is a cross between all of this. But let's see what George will answer.
Alfred Win, partner at Sequoia Capital, a member of the board of directors of Airbnb, Qiwi and some other campaigns, also comes to us. And he was also chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Zappos. And with Alfred we will talk about the future of consumer internet, what is happening in this area. To him, we will certainly have a lot of other questions from the moderator, but this is the main topic.
Ivan: I see. Guests will pick up very top, very eminent, it will be possible to communicate with them without problems after their performance.
Alex: Anna, tell me, what does the AmBAR organization do and what do you directly do?
Anna: AmBAR is a bit different. This is an ecosystem of Russian-speaking professionals. The idea was to unite the Russian-speaking professionals, industry and technology in the Valley. But the idea has grown and developed into such an international movement and international platform.
The idea of ​​AmBAR is not new. She was on the surface. In the Valley, almost every nation has its own association. Probably No. 1 is an association of Hindus, the so-called Tai.
Ivan: Yes, there is a Hindus, Germans, Scandinavians. Scandinavians have a funny name called Silicon Valley Vikings - the Vikings of Silicon Valley.
Anna: Absolutely everyone. But if you look objectively, AmBAR is probably number 2 after Ty. The most powerful group.
Ivan: So there are a lot of Russians in Silicon Valley. According to the latest survey, there are almost as many Russians, even a little more than the Indians, to the surprise of many.
Anna: So, the idea is to create some kind of platform on which people could communicate about business. There are various interesting speakers, but the basis is about business.
Alex: Very interesting indeed. I still have information that you received a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence award. Congratulations on this. What does such recognition mean? How can you characterize the contribution of women to IT?
Anna: Thank you. For me it was a great surprise and great honor that such a famous magazine in the Valley (Silicon Valley Business Journal - ed.) Recognized me as one of the most influential women in the valley. For me, this is not only a personal reward, but also a reward for the whole team. It is especially important because it shows that the work of our entire team is worth a lot, and that we are doing the right things in general.
I would never have received an award if there were no people next to me with whom we move together with AmBAR, and SVOD, and TecVentures. This is my partner Stas Kirman , who has been working with me in all projects for many, many years. And Tanya Fedorova , who recently joined AmBAR CEO and became the basis of our team. Of course, such a recognition is very nice. Particularly pleased because many more people have learned about what we are doing. We are moving in the right direction.
Alex: In fact, the team is very important, I know from myself. I now hold the opinion that you need to delegate, share your vision, your goals. And people who believe in the same can join you and become your team. Based on this, I put together a command in getStart.me .
Anna: Exactly. A lot of people go through our organizations. And, in most cases, there remain only those people who share with you your vision and your goals, life principles. And everyone specializes in his own way, everyone has strengths, and these sides are complimentary. Therefore, such a wonderful team was created.
Alexander: Anna, we have not yet touched on the topic of your foundation. Please tell me where you are investing and what projects do you have?
Anna: The foundation is called TecVentures and we invest in startups at a very early stage of development. The idea is that the company must be in the Valley. Most of all, we can help a local company because we are here and the company is here. But the founder does not have to be from America - Europe, Russia, India, China, it does not matter to us at all.
There is one company whose founder is a Russian-speaking young man, whose parents took to New Zealand. He grew up there, then came to Stanford to receive business education. Prior to that, he already had a company that he sold. And I was absolutely bribed by what he spent the money from the sale of the company. I bought a house for my parents and paid for my education at Stanford. This immediately suggests that for a person is important in life.
He had the idea to create a project, which is now called Transcribe Me. We met him here in the Valley. We talked, worked, looked at how he and his team developed, what their progress was. We really liked the team and what they were doing, and we invested them.
I, basically, communicating with the companies, I look at people. Trying to understand how these people can achieve something. I think this is the most important thing. You can have a great idea, a great product. But if you cannot prolong the difficulties, if you are not a leader, if you do not have a vision for the future, if you cannot be flexible in different circumstances, it is very difficult to achieve something. On the one hand, be flexible, and on the other hand, clearly see where you are going. See and clearly follow what you believe.
Alex: That is, “I see a goal - I see no obstacles”.
Anna: There will always be obstacles. One ends, the other begins. Here it is important to master them.
Ivan: I recall a picture of the path to success. We think that this is a straight line uphill, and in fact - ravines, mountains and obstacles.
Anna: Yes, in fact, this is a very big job. Here we were the first investors in the company Support Me, the founder - a woman. We invested, everything was fine, but then the company was dying. The product is made remarkably, it was necessary to raise the following money, but nothing went. A lot of reasons can be in such situations.
The leader spoke at various conferences, contests, and everyone said a completely wonderful idea. We naturally supported as best we could. It got to the point that she accidentally admitted to me in a conversation that she was ready to submit for state support. In America, people who have nothing to eat, apply and receive support from the state, ration cards for food.
She invested all the money, and the company was on the verge of complete closure. Worked non-stop, I do not know when she was sleeping. At any time of the day or night, I could call and she answered me. It was evident that she worked. And recently, the company raised more than a million dollars, although initially targeted at 750 thousand. And many still had to refuse, just top investors have invested money.
Alex: Some kind of success is on the verge of a foul. But the girl got the pressure.
Anna: Very often it happens. We in AmBAR and Techlub have an association aimed at combining business interests. And we very often arrange mini-performances for investors. Also come interesting guys, entrepreneurs, talk about their fate, success. There is no company that would not survive the crisis times. Take at least Levchin with Paypal - they almost bent, slept in the office. Any, absolutely any company take - there will be a story.
Ivan: Interesting story about Paypal, by the way. Allegedly, they were going to close the company. The whole team of the village, decide on the closure. And one employee says: “Now there seems to be a positive trend from a company called EBAY. Let's work with them for another month and see how it goes. ” And they did not close the company, and their cooperation went away. And then they were bought for 1.5 billion.
Anna: Very interesting. Never heard of this story. Max came to us in 2005, we even have a recording of this performance. Absolutely awesome. Although I do not remember him talking about it. Yes, such stories constantly happen.
Alexander:That is, if everything is good, then, most likely, you have a non-working business, and you will not sell it for one and a half billion. And in general, wait for difficulties if you want to create a good startup.
Anna: You know, here, probably, some kind of flair and faith is important. There is something that you vehemently believe in, within reasonable limits, of course. After all, there are a lot of people with initially impracticable ideas. If you are a sensible person, you really, really believe, invest a lot, then it surely shoots. The stars add up this way, you work, work, work and think: everything, that's all, there is no more strength - and at that moment something is sure to happen. But for this to happen, it is necessary to invest incredible efforts. It happens to me.
Alex:I have a question about success and failure. I heard that in the Valley it is very easy to share their failures. And in this - the key to success. Do not be afraid to share with people, discuss, hear tips, etc. Russian entrepreneurs only come to this. How can you comment on this? Is it at all?
Anna: I think that a person who had no failures in life ... again, I don’t want one measure ... this is a failed person. We, only passing through failures and difficulties, can achieve something. And in the Valley this is absolutely correct. A man, having gone through failures, got experience and clearly made some conclusions. By doing his next company he will build on this experience, conclusions, and will not make these mistakes.
Who do they like to hire? Of course, they take guys from universities ... But experience is appreciated. And experience comes with age. It was when a person went through many difficulties and failures. This is completely natural. Do not be shy that there were failures in life. It's great if you managed to overcome them.
Alexander: Here in the Valley they already ask - how many companies have you filled up with?
Anna: Yes, here is Levchin. Paypal - it seems his fifth company.
Alex: I heard somewhere saying: “Your fifth company will be successful.” If you make 1 company per month, you will succeed in 5 months. And if every week - then after 5 weeks.
Anna:Doing the 1st company a week is unlikely. I will touch on this topic: in Russia, the guys are doing a startup, then they are still doing something. Sprayed. Having a few startups is great. But for the investor - this is a red flag. If you do a startup, you should be focused at 200 percent. If this is the 25th startup, then maybe if you're in an incubator is another matter. But if you are a young entrepreneur, and you have an idea, then this idea should be practiced day and night. Nothing else should worry you. The company that you do once a week is not serious.
Alexander: That case with the girl-leader, who had nothing to eat ... That's how we do in Russia, my friends and colleagues. They work in web studios, earn money, and invest in startups. Do you think this spray?
Anna: In short, yes. Life, again, is different, you have to spin, do a lot of other things. But, of course, you can't focus on a startup at 200%. Maybe someday he will shoot ... But there will definitely be someone who will run and do it all day and night, and he will simply be ahead of you.
Alexander: So, the recipe is to quickly learn how to earn money or go for an investment in a venture fund?
Anna: Both. A venture fund is not a charity, it looks at how quickly you can earn. Again, you can make money today or in the future, but this should be very, very likely.
Alex: Thank you, Anna. There was a very interesting conversation, I hope to see you soon at a conference in June.
Anna: Be sure to come in June. There will be our SVOD conference on June 11-12 at the computer history museum, by the way. So you can go, the museum to see everything else.
Alexander: I’m talking to colleagues and many people say to me: “I’ll definitely come to SVOD, there is such a familiar get-together party, you can find new friends.
Anna: Yes, let's guys. We are waiting for you and all listeners 11-12 numbers. We will be very happy to see everyone. And we hope that SVOD will bring success to everyone too.
Thank you for your attention and for the positive feedback. Subscribe to our blog on Habré , Twitter , Facebook , Google+ , VK , YouTube channelto follow updates from Silicon Valley. Previous posts can be viewed at RusValley.com .
Anna is the president of the AmBAR business association, the organizer of the SVOD invest-entrepreneurial conference and the managing partner of the TEC Ventures fund .
')
In this issue we discussed:
- What is invest-entrepreneurial conference SVOD ( Silicon Valley Open Doors )
- What do startups get from the conference if they do not intend to stay in the Valley
- What startups shot after speaking on SVOD
- How did the idea of ​​the “set of necessary people” become an international platform?
- Star Guests of SVOD 2014 - George Zachary (Twitter's own investor), Alfred Lin (partner of Sequoia Capital, WhatsApp main investor), Trip Hawkins (founder of Electronic Arts) and others (full list on svod.org )
- AmBAR Business Association - an ecosystem for Russian-speaking professionals in America and beyond
- To whom Anna is grateful for the award Silicon Valley Women of Influence
- Where TEC Ventures invests
- Hungry working days startup SupportMe
- Unknown Paypal Story
- Failures are the key to success.
- Lack of focus for Russian startups
Interview text:
Alex: Hello everyone. This is RusValley hackerkast with the support of the American Business Association of Russian-speaking Professionals AmBAR. And with you the leading podcast - Alex Erokhin, Ivan Tsybaev and Alexander Protsyuk.
Today we have guests Anna Dvornikova, President of the American Business Association of Russian- speaking Professionals AmBAR and the founder of the annual investment-business conference SVOD . As well as the managing partner of the venture fund Tec Ventures . Good afternoon, Anna.
Anna: Good afternoon guys.
Alex: Let's start with questions about the SVOD conference. Anna, remind in a few words to our listeners what SVOD is and what is behind the words invest-entrepreneurial conference?
Anna: Decoding SVOD - open doors to Silicon Valley. Initially, the idea was to serve as a springboard for international start-ups in the Valley. Bring startups, show them to investors and acquaint with local entrepreneurs. So that these companies could find here partners, investors, marketers, lawyers, people who sell. All professionals who are involved in the construction of a technology startup.
Initially (since we are Russians), start-ups came from Russia, Ukraine and the countries of the former USSR. But over time, companies from Israel, Canada, the UK and other countries began to be condoned. In the future, SVOD became a kind of springboard in search of funding and partners not only for international companies, but also for local startups.
For us, this was a kind of success, because our main specialization was on companies that come from outside the Valley. But now the conference has become so popular that many local companies founded by students at Stanford and Burkeley come to the conference, speak to an audience of investors in order to receive funding.
What are we doing for this and how have we come to this?
We invite Top Investors from the Valley Top Funds to come and look at startups. What is important for investors here? First, they see what is happening in the Valley and beyond - they hold their hand on our pulse. For them we made some pipeline, i.e. we specifically select companies that interest them. Therefore, they come to SVOD year after year and get information about new startups that they haven’t seen before. Such a mutually beneficial exchange. On the other hand, businessmen come to meet with investors. So it turns out investment-entrepreneurial conference.
Ivan: That is, the conference stands for Silicon Valley Open Doors. But in Russia they say more - Silicon Valley, and here in the Valley, more often they say - Silicon. And on this subject a lot of holivar.
Anna: It's true, but not a big deal. In addition, SVOD is a business conference. This is not about politics ... this is just about business. We are happy to see guys from anywhere in the world, if they make an interesting product or service and believe that their service or product may be global. And also, if they want to understand how potentially what they are doing is interesting.
For example, we had companies that are not our target audience. Companies that want to return to their country after the conference and open a business there. Nevertheless, they come to SVOD and get an opinion from the investor about how correct what they are doing is correct. Communicating in the audience, they get new tips and ideas. Come back with a new worldview and completely change either the product or the direction of the business, which is also very important.
When you are spinning in your small surroundings, you do not understand what is happening outside. And coming to SVOD, the guys are starting to see a global picture and understand where to move the company.
It is also very important that SVOD is a boutique conference. In the sense that about a thousand people gather at SVOD-e, and therefore any participant has the opportunity (if he is active enough) to communicate with everyone who attends the conference. With speakers, with investors, with their colleagues in the audience. Usually, when you come to large conferences (from 4 thousand people), you do not have the opportunity to talk with everyone, including speakers. they are most often removed from the stage after the performance.
Ivan: Well, yes. I noticed that SVOD is very easy to talk with many speakers or special guests. And, for example, at TechCrunch Disrupt, where I was when Mark Zuckerberg and Marisa Meyer performed, there was no such possibility. After the performance, they immediately retired to the backstage.
Anna: Of course. With us you can say 2-3 words about your company, exchange a business card or make an appointment. And again, if you are active enough, you will be able to communicate with all the participants, meet and continue the interaction. SVOD is about making contacts and connections.
Ivan: Can you say a few words about Russian start-ups who came to the SVOD conference and shot? For example, Zingaya. What else?
Anna: Another WikiMart, OkToGo - these are all startups, the first performances of which took place at our conference.
Alex: OkToGo is a travel startup competitor to the well-known Ostrovok.ru, as I recall?
Anna: Yes, you are right.
Ivan: I'll add about EverNote. I met his CEO and founder, Phil Libin. He said that participation in SVOD was an important stage in the life of a startup and helped to fly.
Anna: Well, yes. They were just speaking on the first SVOD, it was a company from Russia, and it turned out that the investor (Troika Dialog) noticed them and later invested them.
Alex: I have a question, Anna. What was the original idea of ​​the SVOD conference, and what did it transform with over time?
Anna: The main idea was to somehow create the infrastructure to help entrepreneurs find investors in the Valley. Imagine, 2005, 10 years ago. Historically there have been startups from Russia and Ukraine. But evolution took place, and the conference became more famous. Success stories became noticeable, and, accordingly, companies began to come not only from the countries of the former USSR, but also from Europe, Canada and even start-ups from the Valley.
Ivan: This year, as far as I know, among the guests are CEO of Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson. How will the performances take place? Who else of the interesting guests will be?
Anna: We are building a conference in different ways, so it often happens that the speech is held simply in the format of a conversation with an invited guest. Sometimes it happens that we talk on a predetermined topic. And see how the whole conference is built.
The main idea is the performance of startups in front of an audience of venture capitalists. We select startups, about twenty. This is usually very difficult, because there is a large flow of applications. Again, what was the evolution of the conference - at first there were very few applications from companies that knew about SVOD and submitted applications, and their quality was not the highest. And now we see a stream of very interesting companies. And sometimes it is very difficult to select these 20 applications. But the program is built in such a way that we can’t just take more.
Then we invite Top Investors and successful entrepreneurs to talk about how they came to life such as what trends exist. We ask them to tell what is happening in the area in which they work, what awaits this area, as they see further development. That same Phil Libin (CEO of Evernote, a company worth 2 billion now) came in and told how he builds the company, how he sees his role as CEO, what would he recommend to other entrepreneurs.
We had the same thing when Max Levchin (founder of PayPal) came to us. And very often to the children, this gives an idea of ​​what investors are sitting in the audience. By the way, PayPal was sold to eBay for 1.5 billion. and now Max is sitting on the board of Yahoo. He is also the founder of Yelp and many other companies. Now Max is an angel investor.
Therefore, when there is a conversation with an investor on the stage, entrepreneurs understand that this investor is what his interests are, what his focus of activity is. Because every investor has his own focus. They do not do “everything.”
Also in a conversation with an entrepreneur, it is important to see that this person was once the same as you. Understand who he was now, what happened, what was important to him in this life. Compare your path and vision with the vision of this person. Such discussions are very popular and help children move further in life.
Ivan: Who comes here this year?
Anna: From investors, George Zachary, managing partner of the venture fund Charles River Ventures, which is included in the Midas list (list of the 100 coolest venture investors). He is the first investor in Twitter, Yammer and several others. He has a special flair for startups. On the guys who later will be successful.
For example, in the history of Twitter: he invested more in the previous company, which was before Twitter. That is, he invested in the guys-entrepreneurs. And this company was not successful. The guys are great, they understood it in time and decided to return the money to investors. And all the investors took the money, but George did not take it. He encouraged the guys and said that they would definitely succeed. I asked them to leave him $ 100 thousand and do something else. And their next project was Twitter.
What discussion will we have with him? We will talk about what a successful investment in start-ups is at an early stage: luck, knowledge, or some special vision. My personal opinion is a cross between all of this. But let's see what George will answer.
Alfred Win, partner at Sequoia Capital, a member of the board of directors of Airbnb, Qiwi and some other campaigns, also comes to us. And he was also chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Zappos. And with Alfred we will talk about the future of consumer internet, what is happening in this area. To him, we will certainly have a lot of other questions from the moderator, but this is the main topic.
Ivan: I see. Guests will pick up very top, very eminent, it will be possible to communicate with them without problems after their performance.
Alex: Anna, tell me, what does the AmBAR organization do and what do you directly do?
Anna: AmBAR is a bit different. This is an ecosystem of Russian-speaking professionals. The idea was to unite the Russian-speaking professionals, industry and technology in the Valley. But the idea has grown and developed into such an international movement and international platform.
The idea of ​​AmBAR is not new. She was on the surface. In the Valley, almost every nation has its own association. Probably No. 1 is an association of Hindus, the so-called Tai.
Ivan: Yes, there is a Hindus, Germans, Scandinavians. Scandinavians have a funny name called Silicon Valley Vikings - the Vikings of Silicon Valley.
Anna: Absolutely everyone. But if you look objectively, AmBAR is probably number 2 after Ty. The most powerful group.
Ivan: So there are a lot of Russians in Silicon Valley. According to the latest survey, there are almost as many Russians, even a little more than the Indians, to the surprise of many.
Anna: So, the idea is to create some kind of platform on which people could communicate about business. There are various interesting speakers, but the basis is about business.
Alex: Very interesting indeed. I still have information that you received a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence award. Congratulations on this. What does such recognition mean? How can you characterize the contribution of women to IT?
Anna: Thank you. For me it was a great surprise and great honor that such a famous magazine in the Valley (Silicon Valley Business Journal - ed.) Recognized me as one of the most influential women in the valley. For me, this is not only a personal reward, but also a reward for the whole team. It is especially important because it shows that the work of our entire team is worth a lot, and that we are doing the right things in general.
I would never have received an award if there were no people next to me with whom we move together with AmBAR, and SVOD, and TecVentures. This is my partner Stas Kirman , who has been working with me in all projects for many, many years. And Tanya Fedorova , who recently joined AmBAR CEO and became the basis of our team. Of course, such a recognition is very nice. Particularly pleased because many more people have learned about what we are doing. We are moving in the right direction.
Alex: In fact, the team is very important, I know from myself. I now hold the opinion that you need to delegate, share your vision, your goals. And people who believe in the same can join you and become your team. Based on this, I put together a command in getStart.me .
Anna: Exactly. A lot of people go through our organizations. And, in most cases, there remain only those people who share with you your vision and your goals, life principles. And everyone specializes in his own way, everyone has strengths, and these sides are complimentary. Therefore, such a wonderful team was created.
Alexander: Anna, we have not yet touched on the topic of your foundation. Please tell me where you are investing and what projects do you have?
Anna: The foundation is called TecVentures and we invest in startups at a very early stage of development. The idea is that the company must be in the Valley. Most of all, we can help a local company because we are here and the company is here. But the founder does not have to be from America - Europe, Russia, India, China, it does not matter to us at all.
There is one company whose founder is a Russian-speaking young man, whose parents took to New Zealand. He grew up there, then came to Stanford to receive business education. Prior to that, he already had a company that he sold. And I was absolutely bribed by what he spent the money from the sale of the company. I bought a house for my parents and paid for my education at Stanford. This immediately suggests that for a person is important in life.
He had the idea to create a project, which is now called Transcribe Me. We met him here in the Valley. We talked, worked, looked at how he and his team developed, what their progress was. We really liked the team and what they were doing, and we invested them.
I, basically, communicating with the companies, I look at people. Trying to understand how these people can achieve something. I think this is the most important thing. You can have a great idea, a great product. But if you cannot prolong the difficulties, if you are not a leader, if you do not have a vision for the future, if you cannot be flexible in different circumstances, it is very difficult to achieve something. On the one hand, be flexible, and on the other hand, clearly see where you are going. See and clearly follow what you believe.
Alex: That is, “I see a goal - I see no obstacles”.
Anna: There will always be obstacles. One ends, the other begins. Here it is important to master them.
Ivan: I recall a picture of the path to success. We think that this is a straight line uphill, and in fact - ravines, mountains and obstacles.
Anna: Yes, in fact, this is a very big job. Here we were the first investors in the company Support Me, the founder - a woman. We invested, everything was fine, but then the company was dying. The product is made remarkably, it was necessary to raise the following money, but nothing went. A lot of reasons can be in such situations.
The leader spoke at various conferences, contests, and everyone said a completely wonderful idea. We naturally supported as best we could. It got to the point that she accidentally admitted to me in a conversation that she was ready to submit for state support. In America, people who have nothing to eat, apply and receive support from the state, ration cards for food.
She invested all the money, and the company was on the verge of complete closure. Worked non-stop, I do not know when she was sleeping. At any time of the day or night, I could call and she answered me. It was evident that she worked. And recently, the company raised more than a million dollars, although initially targeted at 750 thousand. And many still had to refuse, just top investors have invested money.
Alex: Some kind of success is on the verge of a foul. But the girl got the pressure.
Anna: Very often it happens. We in AmBAR and Techlub have an association aimed at combining business interests. And we very often arrange mini-performances for investors. Also come interesting guys, entrepreneurs, talk about their fate, success. There is no company that would not survive the crisis times. Take at least Levchin with Paypal - they almost bent, slept in the office. Any, absolutely any company take - there will be a story.
Ivan: Interesting story about Paypal, by the way. Allegedly, they were going to close the company. The whole team of the village, decide on the closure. And one employee says: “Now there seems to be a positive trend from a company called EBAY. Let's work with them for another month and see how it goes. ” And they did not close the company, and their cooperation went away. And then they were bought for 1.5 billion.
Anna: Very interesting. Never heard of this story. Max came to us in 2005, we even have a recording of this performance. Absolutely awesome. Although I do not remember him talking about it. Yes, such stories constantly happen.
Alexander:That is, if everything is good, then, most likely, you have a non-working business, and you will not sell it for one and a half billion. And in general, wait for difficulties if you want to create a good startup.
Anna: You know, here, probably, some kind of flair and faith is important. There is something that you vehemently believe in, within reasonable limits, of course. After all, there are a lot of people with initially impracticable ideas. If you are a sensible person, you really, really believe, invest a lot, then it surely shoots. The stars add up this way, you work, work, work and think: everything, that's all, there is no more strength - and at that moment something is sure to happen. But for this to happen, it is necessary to invest incredible efforts. It happens to me.
Alex:I have a question about success and failure. I heard that in the Valley it is very easy to share their failures. And in this - the key to success. Do not be afraid to share with people, discuss, hear tips, etc. Russian entrepreneurs only come to this. How can you comment on this? Is it at all?
Anna: I think that a person who had no failures in life ... again, I don’t want one measure ... this is a failed person. We, only passing through failures and difficulties, can achieve something. And in the Valley this is absolutely correct. A man, having gone through failures, got experience and clearly made some conclusions. By doing his next company he will build on this experience, conclusions, and will not make these mistakes.
Who do they like to hire? Of course, they take guys from universities ... But experience is appreciated. And experience comes with age. It was when a person went through many difficulties and failures. This is completely natural. Do not be shy that there were failures in life. It's great if you managed to overcome them.
Alexander: Here in the Valley they already ask - how many companies have you filled up with?
Anna: Yes, here is Levchin. Paypal - it seems his fifth company.
Alex: I heard somewhere saying: “Your fifth company will be successful.” If you make 1 company per month, you will succeed in 5 months. And if every week - then after 5 weeks.
Anna:Doing the 1st company a week is unlikely. I will touch on this topic: in Russia, the guys are doing a startup, then they are still doing something. Sprayed. Having a few startups is great. But for the investor - this is a red flag. If you do a startup, you should be focused at 200 percent. If this is the 25th startup, then maybe if you're in an incubator is another matter. But if you are a young entrepreneur, and you have an idea, then this idea should be practiced day and night. Nothing else should worry you. The company that you do once a week is not serious.
Alexander: That case with the girl-leader, who had nothing to eat ... That's how we do in Russia, my friends and colleagues. They work in web studios, earn money, and invest in startups. Do you think this spray?
Anna: In short, yes. Life, again, is different, you have to spin, do a lot of other things. But, of course, you can't focus on a startup at 200%. Maybe someday he will shoot ... But there will definitely be someone who will run and do it all day and night, and he will simply be ahead of you.
Alexander: So, the recipe is to quickly learn how to earn money or go for an investment in a venture fund?
Anna: Both. A venture fund is not a charity, it looks at how quickly you can earn. Again, you can make money today or in the future, but this should be very, very likely.
Alex: Thank you, Anna. There was a very interesting conversation, I hope to see you soon at a conference in June.
Anna: Be sure to come in June. There will be our SVOD conference on June 11-12 at the computer history museum, by the way. So you can go, the museum to see everything else.
Alexander: I’m talking to colleagues and many people say to me: “I’ll definitely come to SVOD, there is such a familiar get-together party, you can find new friends.
Anna: Yes, let's guys. We are waiting for you and all listeners 11-12 numbers. We will be very happy to see everyone. And we hope that SVOD will bring success to everyone too.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/224413/
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