This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Seminars, Video Seminars.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
2 Responses to “Video Replay: Seminar #1 – Assessing the Opportunity”
Bob de Witts 2010 seminar on assessing the opportunity is a pretty well rounded “task outline” of doing the pre-registration “gut check” and “tech/biz check” before you jump in and sign on to this six, almost seven month hazing exercise in “fear-proofing” your new venture.
The funding realities and the vagaries of the current Angel/VC market cycle is even a little more daunting north of the 49th Parallel than it was last year. The grim burn rate of R&D expenses thus complicating the ROI facts-of-life have been evidenced in a disconcerting three year progressive slump. As a consequence, there are now much more conservative valuations for any deals that are getting done and a serious depletion of risk appetite, if not full blown funding-anorexia in some sectors, notably biotech. The word is develop your business as inexpensively as possible, execute without hesitation once you are sure of your own firm trajectory, and polish your story so it shines as bright as your forehead should.
Even the big California boys like Sequoia Capital, the ultimate mandarins of VC and the genuflect-able financiers of the biggest tech success story in Silicon Valley gave closed door presentations last year on the 2010 to 2012 funding depression with the mantra of … survive … forget thrive!
The easy money is gone, and every body better get used to low(er) valuations, drip irrigation funding, which is likely be doled out at micrometer rates. as the principle meme of getting through the post apocalypse US banking meltdown. The psychic shock of the main US and Euro banks almost going under shook tech to the core, and the shock waves are still being felt, even here in Lotus Land.
Given that we have been little isolated here in BC with the amphetamined loonie and a counter current economy that keeps real estate and rust estate in high camp, it only makes the venture market even more surreal.
Given these strange times were it, makes it even more imperative to keep you capital powder dry and conserve all resources to fight, yet again, another day. It sort of like the siege of Leningrad, but with silicon chips instead of bullets. Anyway, this seminar does provide the best starting line up of the required rules and best attitudes, and optimum preparation needed to make it past the first cut, other wise take your fungible Louis St. Laurants’ and blow them on a Starbuck binge with your dispirited team and try to suck as much joy out of the day that you can.
The only thing that was not clear in Bob’s presentation and I wish he elaborated a little more was the “Call To Action.” the last part of the next round Questionnaire sequence. This could have used a little more explaining as to what exactly does this entail for the next phase? It seemed conceptually a little vague as to what that actually means in real time execution. But basically a really good solid intro to this years innovation race. Bob seemed more laconic and much more relaxed in this presentation than last year’s 2009 presentation. I suspect therefore that he took his Louis St. Laurants and stopped buying his caffeine fix at Starbuck, Hey , maybe he entered the contest? Ya Think?
April 15th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Bob de Witts 2010 seminar on assessing the opportunity is a pretty well rounded “task outline” of doing the pre-registration “gut check” and “tech/biz check” before you jump in and sign on to this six, almost seven month hazing exercise in “fear-proofing” your new venture.
The funding realities and the vagaries of the current Angel/VC market cycle is even a little more daunting north of the 49th Parallel than it was last year. The grim burn rate of R&D expenses thus complicating the ROI facts-of-life have been evidenced in a disconcerting three year progressive slump. As a consequence, there are now much more conservative valuations for any deals that are getting done and a serious depletion of risk appetite, if not full blown funding-anorexia in some sectors, notably biotech. The word is develop your business as inexpensively as possible, execute without hesitation once you are sure of your own firm trajectory, and polish your story so it shines as bright as your forehead should.
Even the big California boys like Sequoia Capital, the ultimate mandarins of VC and the genuflect-able financiers of the biggest tech success story in Silicon Valley gave closed door presentations last year on the 2010 to 2012 funding depression with the mantra of … survive … forget thrive!
The easy money is gone, and every body better get used to low(er) valuations, drip irrigation funding, which is likely be doled out at micrometer rates. as the principle meme of getting through the post apocalypse US banking meltdown. The psychic shock of the main US and Euro banks almost going under shook tech to the core, and the shock waves are still being felt, even here in Lotus Land.
Given that we have been little isolated here in BC with the amphetamined loonie and a counter current economy that keeps real estate and rust estate in high camp, it only makes the venture market even more surreal.
Given these strange times were it, makes it even more imperative to keep you capital powder dry and conserve all resources to fight, yet again, another day. It sort of like the siege of Leningrad, but with silicon chips instead of bullets. Anyway, this seminar does provide the best starting line up of the required rules and best attitudes, and optimum preparation needed to make it past the first cut, other wise take your fungible Louis St. Laurants’ and blow them on a Starbuck binge with your dispirited team and try to suck as much joy out of the day that you can.
The only thing that was not clear in Bob’s presentation and I wish he elaborated a little more was the “Call To Action.” the last part of the next round Questionnaire sequence. This could have used a little more explaining as to what exactly does this entail for the next phase? It seemed conceptually a little vague as to what that actually means in real time execution. But basically a really good solid intro to this years innovation race. Bob seemed more laconic and much more relaxed in this presentation than last year’s 2009 presentation. I suspect therefore that he took his Louis St. Laurants and stopped buying his caffeine fix at Starbuck, Hey , maybe he entered the contest? Ya Think?
April 15th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Rees – thanks for the detailed review! I will pass it over to Bob.