Thursday, July 31, 2008
Featured in Entrepreneur and US News
One of our DreamIt teams, Beanstockd, was featured in an article in the August issue of Entrepreneur Magazine as well as the July 30th issue of US News. Congrats to Beanstockd and thanks for the DreamIt mention!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Busy Day - Gil Beyda, David Speers and Steve Barsh Visit
Steve Barsh, frequent visitor and mentor extraordinaire, spent the afternoon meeting with a number of the DreamIt companies while David Speers of Phillypreneurs conducted interviews. David will be posting a series of stories on Phillypreneurs featuring DreamIt Ventures and the companies currently involved in the program.
Gil Beyda, co-founder of Real Media (acquired by 24/7 in 2001), inventor of Open AdStream, and CTO of Tacoda (acquired last year by AOL), joined us in the evening to discuss Internet advertising, eCommerce and his perspective on pitching to seed stage venture groups. Gil is currently a managing partner of Genacast Ventures, a seed stage fund founded in partnership with Comcast Interactive Capital that specializes in new media, digital marketing, consumer Internet and web x.0 companies.
Gil was able to combine his experiences as a developer of technology, entrepreneur and investor in early stage companies to develop a series of “lessons learned” to share with our Innovators. His tips included how to select a strategic partner and raising capital/seeking an exit in difficult markets, recounting his experiences finding an exit as the “bubble burst” in 2000. The Innovators were particularly engaged as Gil described Tacoda and behavioral targeted online advertising. He described the shift that is occurring away from targeting pages toward targeting people. There is not enough diversity on a single site to get value. In his opinion, the value comes from tracking behavior over multiple sites. He also discussed how to monetize this information.
A self proclaimed “lover of technology,” Gil stated that technology is important for one reason—it should make you more capital efficient, creating value. In determining which technology to focus on, he recommended that Innovators focus their developers on “the nugget,” that aspect which is new, different and unique. It is that element which creates value.
The last part of his speech focused on his own journey of self-discovery that led him to the role of investor. After Tacoda and meeting with more than 30 start ups, Gil decided that he enjoyed figuring out who would be successful.
Thank you, Gil, for providing an opportunity to peek behind the curtain of online advertising and behavior.
Gil Beyda, co-founder of Real Media (acquired by 24/7 in 2001), inventor of Open AdStream, and CTO of Tacoda (acquired last year by AOL), joined us in the evening to discuss Internet advertising, eCommerce and his perspective on pitching to seed stage venture groups. Gil is currently a managing partner of Genacast Ventures, a seed stage fund founded in partnership with Comcast Interactive Capital that specializes in new media, digital marketing, consumer Internet and web x.0 companies.
Gil was able to combine his experiences as a developer of technology, entrepreneur and investor in early stage companies to develop a series of “lessons learned” to share with our Innovators. His tips included how to select a strategic partner and raising capital/seeking an exit in difficult markets, recounting his experiences finding an exit as the “bubble burst” in 2000. The Innovators were particularly engaged as Gil described Tacoda and behavioral targeted online advertising. He described the shift that is occurring away from targeting pages toward targeting people. There is not enough diversity on a single site to get value. In his opinion, the value comes from tracking behavior over multiple sites. He also discussed how to monetize this information.
A self proclaimed “lover of technology,” Gil stated that technology is important for one reason—it should make you more capital efficient, creating value. In determining which technology to focus on, he recommended that Innovators focus their developers on “the nugget,” that aspect which is new, different and unique. It is that element which creates value.
The last part of his speech focused on his own journey of self-discovery that led him to the role of investor. After Tacoda and meeting with more than 30 start ups, Gil decided that he enjoyed figuring out who would be successful.
Thank you, Gil, for providing an opportunity to peek behind the curtain of online advertising and behavior.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
No One Wants to Pitch Prematurely
As a special 2nd session this week, Steve Barsh, experienced CEO, entrepreneur and senior executive, led a discussion tonight on De-Risking Your Business Model. Steve is currently an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at First Round Capital and an active Guru for several DreamIt Ventures companies.
Steve’s presentation was a how-to for de-risking your business; building upon the insights shared by many of our other speakers. According to Steve, entrepreneurs often seek capital before adequately de-risking their businesses. Investors consider the attractiveness of the business (return) as well as uncertainty (risk). For most investors, it is a balance act. He encouraged Innovators to think outside the box. For financing he offered bootstrapping, angels, and customers as alternatives to Venture Capital. “Customers financed many of my new products.” Not only did they provide real feedback; but they also required no equity.
To dissuade doubt, he recommends entrepreneurs stop waiving their hands and start pointing-- turning assumptions into facts. Two methods he recommends are hypothesis testing and use of proxies, a capital efficient method for de-risking. One company Steve is mentoring shared their experience with a recent product introduction. They were interested in determining how much someone would pay for their product.
The remainder of his presentation focused on types of risk and techniques he’s used to reduce uncertainty. Main areas to focus on include the management team, product development, competition, market size, customer/market demand, pricing, marketing, the sales cycle, capital demand, execution and exit value. Steve opined that programs like DreamIt Ventures help entrepreneurs in the de-risking process by providing an environment for providing feedback. One advantage is the exposure to other entrepreneurs and seasoned mentors who may all out assumptions. They provide an opportunity for unbiased brainstorming as well as challenges in a safe environment.
Thank you, Steve, for your continued insights. Click here to read Steve’s blog or review the presentation.
Steve’s presentation was a how-to for de-risking your business; building upon the insights shared by many of our other speakers. According to Steve, entrepreneurs often seek capital before adequately de-risking their businesses. Investors consider the attractiveness of the business (return) as well as uncertainty (risk). For most investors, it is a balance act. He encouraged Innovators to think outside the box. For financing he offered bootstrapping, angels, and customers as alternatives to Venture Capital. “Customers financed many of my new products.” Not only did they provide real feedback; but they also required no equity.
To dissuade doubt, he recommends entrepreneurs stop waiving their hands and start pointing-- turning assumptions into facts. Two methods he recommends are hypothesis testing and use of proxies, a capital efficient method for de-risking. One company Steve is mentoring shared their experience with a recent product introduction. They were interested in determining how much someone would pay for their product.
The remainder of his presentation focused on types of risk and techniques he’s used to reduce uncertainty. Main areas to focus on include the management team, product development, competition, market size, customer/market demand, pricing, marketing, the sales cycle, capital demand, execution and exit value. Steve opined that programs like DreamIt Ventures help entrepreneurs in the de-risking process by providing an environment for providing feedback. One advantage is the exposure to other entrepreneurs and seasoned mentors who may all out assumptions. They provide an opportunity for unbiased brainstorming as well as challenges in a safe environment.
Thank you, Steve, for your continued insights. Click here to read Steve’s blog or review the presentation.
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