1. Funding your ideas… T.A. McCann

2. I just like to start things, go fast and push the technical limits, and work with great teams to create incredible results Background

3. Incubation Microsoft - Hosted Exchange, MS Anti-spam, Exchange 2003, Mobile SDP (think iPhone app store), MSR Polaris - started Message Gate and worked on ideas like Evenflow, OutlookBI and HelpShare New companies including MOD Systems and Jump2Go Vulcan (Evri – Virtual Worlds, Faceweb, Gist) 30-60-90 plan Triage, Plan, Prototype, 4Ps of marketing, Company or Kill Lessons learned: it always takes longer, pick a customer you want to embrace, Know your own space

4. Where does it come from… Your bank account Bootstrap (work for hire) Bootstrap from customers Strategic investment by partners/customers Angels VCs Choose what you need and can get… The bigger the idea, the more latitude and connections and experience you will need to succeed

5. So, you really want investors…. Angles take just as much time as VCs Relationships are key; develop them now with all funding sources vet your ideas, early and often, discover your champions Other CEOs are your friends, leverage them Your plan is your plan Raise money at the right time Plan – Promise – Prototype – Product – Performance

6. VC is about smart money… Accelerates value as soon as they get involved Brings smarts and experience to help to drive Actively engages with your product and market Brings credibility, higher likelihood of more funding Brings people, knowledge, connections Know what you are looking for (skills)

7. It’s a sales process Qualify your prospects Who you know, focus on personal intros Previous investments/success in the space General beliefs about future innovation (in your space) Key connections with thought leaders (in your space) Fund progress $ total size, allocation, room for new investments, stage focus Current success Decision makers and process Board member – how many boards, of what type, activity, commitment Do your diligence on the person, find other CEOs Drive the process and timeline Align to the calendar (your milestones, their rhythm) Show a vision (not too much) Define a horizon and hit it Create competition for your deal Gang up your work, you need to drive the process

8. Why you… 25% of the VC decision is out of your control Wrong space, wrong size, wrong partner, wrong metrics, wrong time, already invested, once burned… You have the goods, act like it – exude confidence My read on their decision 50% is the guy/team – smart, passionate, credible, connected, leader, motivator, tactical/strategic…. 25% is the space/idea – how big, how much risk, how many other players, capital risk, likely exits… 25% is the progress, execution – can you get stuff done, good decisions, efficient with capital…

9. Summary If it were easy everyone would do it Love your customers more than your idea Raise the smartest money you can Know where to spend and save If you were rich, would you still be doing it?

10. T.A. McCann tam@gist.com http://tamccann.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/tamccann http://www.linkedin.com/in/tamccann 206.229.9991

11. Strategy – magic quadrant Create the smallest circle that is big enough You can only change 1 thing/quarter This is your elevator pitch Lessons learned: it should not be complicated

12. Strategy – know your customer Personify your customer Focus on pain vs. opportunity Know 10-50 by name Sell them your PPT Make sure they pay Understand their toolset Determine their buying habit and timeline Lessons learned: this is the fun part and you should love it, iterate quickly

13. Operations Plan and Pitch in PPT (lies), Operate in Excel (truth) Time bound and list your goals – stay honest with yourself Deliver email status updates every 2 weeks to your investors/board/advisors Always cut yourself off one quarter earlier than you need and 2 quarters before you think you should Lessons learned: good entrepreneurs will make too many sacrifices

14. Team Winning the Americas Cup is like running a startup Value = 5(passion) + 2(brains) + 1(experience) The best advisors are only one small step away from conflict of interest Outsource routine tasks, hire for thought leadership Know your service providers (Atlas, Fenwick…) Startups should never partner with startups

15. You are the VP of Marketing Make yourself a brand and thought leader Goto and present at conferences Become a guest contributor Communicate online and in-person Blog (1-2 per month) Twitter (1-2 per day, blend of personal, content and business) Facebook (connect to Twitter and your blog) LinkedIn Understand what resonates, the message the space and timing, the competition Sell, Sell, Sell your idea and yourself

16. Tools that cost very little money Open source stack Prototype + LowPro, Ruby/Rails, Java, AMQ, MySql Textmate/Netbeans, SVN, Rspec, CruiseControl Google is our friend Google Domains (mail and docs) Google forms (interview and VC feedback tracking) App engine – web site hosting Analytics – web data tracking PBWiki – corporate plans and broad strategy, Unfuddle – bug and feature database and Skitch – screen caps and comments Soft Layer – hosting, Amazon S3 – storage Survey Monkey - end user surveys, Vertical Response – keeping the beta users engaged and GotoMeeting- presentations, TweetDeck– monitoring the Twitter stream