20VC: Why Every Successful Company Pivots and Good Companies Get Funded in Good & Bad Markets with John Frankel, Founding Partner @ ff Venture Capital

John
Frankel is the founding partner of ff Venture Capital and
has been an early-stage investor since 1999. He has served on the
boards of more than 35 companies and has led investments in more
than 80 companies, including Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD),
Indiegogo, Ionic Security, Unikey, Socure, Skycatch, Plated, 500px,
Distil Networks, and Bottlenose. Prior to founding ffVC, John
worked at Goldman Sachs for 21 years in a variety of roles that
involved technology development, reengineering and capital markets.
At Goldman Sachs, he worked closely with some of the world’s
leading hedge fund managers and developed a keen understanding of
emerging technologies and portfolio risk/return
management. 

In Today's Episode You
Will Learn:

1.) How did John make the move from
Oxford grad to NYC venture capitalist?

2.) How has the massive decrease in
startup costs affected the seed funding environment? How does
David identify the startups he invests in with the plethora that
are now available?

3.) How much of an extent is portfolio
a branding tool for VCs? In recent years we have seen the rise of
the operational VC model with the likes of Andreesen, will this
continue as a prominent model in VC?

4.) How as a seed investor does John
advise his founders when chasing a valuation that will only
lead to a down round? What is John's views on the dreaded down
round?

5.) Many companies pivot in the
process? Does John like to see pivots? If pivoting what is it
important for founders to remember and focus on?

Items Mentioned In Today's
Episode: 

John's Fave
Book: The Accidental Superpower

John's Most Recent
Investment: Wade and Wendy

As always you can
follow The
Twenty Minute VC, Harry and John on Twitter here!
If you would like to see a more
colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you
can follow him on Instagram here!
 
The Twenty Minute VC is brought to
you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the
mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress
showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam
mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your
doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered
with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including
2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam
called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are
100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they
donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo
code VC75 to get $75 off!
 

John
Frankel is the founding partner of ff Venture Capital and
has been an early-stage investor since 1999. He has served on the
boards of more than 35 companies and has led investments in more
than 80 companies, including Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD),
Indiegogo, Ionic Security, Unikey, Socure, Skycatch, Plated, 500px,
Distil Networks, and Bottlenose. Prior to founding ffVC, John
worked at Goldman Sachs for 21 years in a variety of roles that
involved technology development, reengineering and capital markets.
At Goldman Sachs, he worked closely with some of the world’s
leading hedge fund managers and developed a keen understanding of
emerging technologies and portfolio risk/return
management. 

In Today's Episode You
Will Learn:

1.) How did John make the move from
Oxford grad to NYC venture capitalist?

2.) How has the massive decrease in
startup costs affected the seed funding environment? How does
David identify the startups he invests in with the plethora that
are now available?

3.) How much of an extent is portfolio
a branding tool for VCs? In recent years we have seen the rise of
the operational VC model with the likes of Andreesen, will this
continue as a prominent model in VC?

4.) How as a seed investor does John
advise his founders when chasing a valuation that will only
lead to a down round? What is John's views on the dreaded down
round?

5.) Many companies pivot in the
process? Does John like to see pivots? If pivoting what is it
important for founders to remember and focus on?

Items Mentioned In Today's
Episode: 

John's Fave
Book: The Accidental Superpower

John's Most Recent
Investment: Wade and Wendy

As always you can
follow The
Twenty Minute VC, Harry and John on Twitter here!
If you would like to see a more
colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you
can follow him on Instagram here!
 
The Twenty Minute VC is brought to
you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the
mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress
showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam
mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your
doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered
with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including
2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam
called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are
100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they
donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo
code VC75 to get $75 off!