Angel Knowledge Series
Keynote SpeakerTim Draper
"HARNESSING INNOVATION AND
EARLY STAGE FUNDING TRENDS."
Bio.
Tim Draper is the Founding Partner of leading venture capital firms Draper Associates and DFJ. His successes include Skype, Overture, Baidu, Tesla, Theranos, Parametric, Hotmail, Digidesign, Twitch.tv, and hundreds of others. He was ranked 7 on the Forbes Midas List, has also founded BizWorld, a non-profit for children to learn entrepreneurship, and Draper University of Heroes, a school for young entrepreneurs. Tim is a Harvard alumnus.
Agenda.
- Ideas on Driving Innovation from an angel/vc perspective.
- Output and lessons learned from Draper University.
- Tim's predictions on future key angel/vc areas.
- Thoughts on the future of early stage funding.
Interview Questions.
A. INSPIRING PROJECTS THAT ARE VERY INTERESTING.
- You founded BizWorld. Can you tell us a little about it? What inspired you to start it? How do you teach kids to be great entrepreneurs? What have you discovered from the experience so far?
- Draper University of Heroes looks inspiring! First can you take a minute to describe the program? Can you share your thoughts and ideas on how to unlock and channel innovation? Your thoughts on what activities or processes have worked best? What are your aspirations for the program?
B. THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF EARLY STAGE FUNDING.
- What are your thoughts on the future of early stage funding. Is it further democratization a la AngelList, Crowdfunding and thousands of angels, accelerators and microVCs or do you foresee other new paths? Do you think there will be a kickback to more regulation in some of these where losses are high or the regulators have reduced the amounts at risk per person and will stand clear?
- Your thoughts on crowd-funding and what do you think of it? Will it become a promising pipe into the angels and vc's or inherently different?
- VCs have steadily moved downstream, will that reverse itself or will it continue due to the nature of partner fee structures and economies of scale?
- The number of startups, the number of Accelerated companies and number of angel investments have plateaued, in your opinion have we reached max fundable early stage deal density or plenty of head room? Do you predict any corrections coming?
B. THOUGHTS ON FUTURE HOT ANGEL AND VENTURE SECTORS.
- The next big sectors -- your predictions on future hot angel and venture segments and areas ripe for disruption?
- Current sectors that you think will likely not pan out or are likely oversaturated at this point?
- Your thoughts on geography: will US tech remain SV centric? Asia has cooled and Europe has slumped, just temporary and next geographies of growth?
- Any advice on ways to identify new/future trends?
C. THOUGHTS ON RECOGNIZING AND LANDING GOOD DEAL FLOW.
- Advice to your partners and associates on the best ways to generate quality deal flow?
- What do you look for in the founder and leadership team?
- In addition to venture deals, you have made plenty of angel investments. What do you think are the most common causes of early stage company failures and what have you learned to avoid or seek over the years?
- Advice on managing brinksmanship, keep engagement and harness emotions during the negotiation process?
D. THOUGHTS ON TRENDS.
- Venture returns have traditionally been driven by batting for the bleachers, angel returns have more recently been driven by early exits and the occasional outlier that goes venture in a biforcated deal path. Do you think both will continue in this direction or any changes you foresee?
- What are your personal non-negotiables, importants and nice-to-haves when negotiating a term sheet?
- Your thoughts on equity vs convertible notes within early stage and your personal preference at that stage?
- Early stage valuations have mostly continued to bump up slightly since 2009, how long do you think that will continue?
- Acquirers keep buying at earlier and earlier stages: do you see this trend continuing and what should angels and vcs do differently to adjust for this?
E. THOUGHTS ON BEING AN EFFECTIVE BOARD MEMBER
- Many angel and venture board members spend the majority of their portfolio time on the squeeky wheel, but we know we should spend the most time on the ones that are doing the best. Have you found any way to resist those human tendencies and spend the most time where it might be most impactful?
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Last, this posting would be incomplete if we did not provide a link to Tim singing "RiskMaster". Thanks for all the wonderful initiatives that help so many Tim!  Watch Riskmaster
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