Christine

Rebel Unit Seeking (Paid!) Video Agency Interns

Rebel Unit is looking for three interns (20-40 hours/week) to support production, operations, and creative. Paid positions. Office in downtown SF, walkable to BART. (Transparency note: my husband Shannon is the CEO/co-founder and positions would report to him.)

Rebel Unit clients are primarily tech - Salesforce, Zuora, Docusign, etc – and they produce story content like this: 

They've been too busy to write up job reqs (they went straight from producing all Dreamforce content to a big Brazilian gig, and are in bleeding need of more bandwidth) but here are some standard-looking descriptions I "borrowed" online. Take them as general gist as vs actual job specifics.

Production Intern: You will work closely with our producers and editors, assisting them in all aspects of pre-production, production and post-production. Responsibilities include: assisting in the coordination of video shoots (creating call sheets and crew schedules, gathering props), serving as a production assistant and grip on set, and coordinating tapes, logs, and digitizing footage in the post-production process. You will also assist with day-to-day in-house needs. (i.e. maintaining video library, filing, archiving, etc…). You never have to go get coffee as our intern, but you do get to drink all the coffee you want, and gain some useful industry experience.

Creative Intern: Our ideal Creative Services Intern will be a talented videographer and video editor with a knack for visual storytelling. Photography skills and basic design skills will be a major plus. The more versatility the better. Beyond that, we’re looking for creativity, curiosity and the ability to thrive in our flexible, fast-paced environment.

Operations Intern: The Operations Intern will learn various aspects of how a small agency runs, while helping us keep ours running smoothly (includes both business ops and tech ops). This is a great opportunity for the entrepreneurial-minded student to get his/her career started in business administration and operations.

Please do share as you see fit! Folks should contact Shannon Newton (shannon-ta-rebelunit-dot-com) with interest/resume/portfolio or etc as is appropriate to role. 

Changing the Ratio: Can Angel Investing Drive Gender Balance?

Earlier today, Dave McClure of 500 Startups wrote a controversial (surprise, surprise) TechCrunch post, exhorting women that want more representation in tech to "shut up and put your money where your mouth is." The essential point is that you can't change the ratio just by adding women speakers to conference agendas, or by investing in a few token female founders. Rather, let any woman chip away at gender imbalance by engaging in the community as an investor, one small check at a time. Even better, commit to do so publicly by taking the WIN Challenge.

Though Dave isn't the most tactful person, there's solid logic here:

ACTIVITY: Individual women make small investments of $5,000 - $10,000

INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES:

• Individual women become more active, visible members of the startup ecosystem without waiting for someone to open a door; as angels, they would likely invest while holding a day job
• Startups and founders become more accustomed to working with women in key roles; rather than hiring one woman for a ten-person team, a founder could work with several female investors

CONDITIONS FOR DISRUPTION: It becomes common for startups to have multiple women involved, whether as founders, employees, advisors, or investors. Meaningful levels of gender balance in the industry can be achieved more quickly by leveraging all ecosystem roles, rather than limiting efforts to female founders and/or hiring women.

This is a great challenge and I'm accepting it. (Yes, I invest professionally, but I have yet to make my first personal investment in a private company. Not counting my own startup, which consumed every penny I had.) I'm actively looking for my first three deals. The biggest hurdle will be my own fear of being rejected for the small $5-10K checks that I can afford.

If you're a woman and you both (a) like tech and (b) want to get better gender balance, then join me and commit to engage. Or, as Dave puts it: "You don’t have to be an ass like me, but stop being a wallflower!"

Looking for a 'Partner in Crime' at Intel Capital

We recently announced that Intel Capital Director Baris Aksoy is headed to Turkey to lead our new Istanbul office. As suspected, this means that we are seeking a new Director to join us on the Consumer Internet team at Intel Capital. Interested? Read on.

Who are we looking for? Ideally, our new partner is based in the Bay Area, has a great network, and is known and respected as an Internet investor. You complement our diverse crew (a FEM of 67!) with collective experiences ranging from serial entrepreneur <-> seed investor <-> investment banker. The role? To identify emerging segments; source, negotiate, and structure deals; and work with management teams to build companies. Our team invests in disruptive mobile and/or social companies, consumer services, and key enabling platforms.

Intel Capital works with startups like 500 Friends, Ark, betaworks, Jelli, Kabam!, Urban Airship, Voxer, and YuMe. You can see a broader sampling on my Internet deals board. (We invest globally, too.)

Want to help us find and grow more great companies like these? Drop us a line and introduce yourself. Share helpful links. (Your AngelList or LinkedIn profile, twitter stream, blog posts, etc.) Tell us what next Big Thing excites you, and let's help make it happen.

UPDATE: Given the number of offline requests, I thought it might be helpful to share exactly why I took a role at Intel Capital. 18 months in to the job, and everything is ringing true. Five new investments, plus three assumed via follow-on; four seeds, two Series As, two Series Bs. Awesome entrepreneurs that I'm able to get special advantages for by leveraging the Intel brand.

Why It Could Make Sense for Instagram to Take Sequoia Funding During Facebook Acquisition Talks

Debate is already starting around Instagram's recently-announced acquisition by Facebook. e.g., Why the heck would Instagram sell a stake of its soon-to-be-acquired company to Sequoia (and Thrive, and Greylock, and Benchmark?) The reason is simple: playing chicken with a potential acquirer can drive a much higher valuation. And more importantly, the acquistion is more likely to close quickly and successfully if the target company has a war chest of cash and a strong, fresh investor group.

If you don't know the basics of the Facebook-Instagram acquisition already, here's the writeup from Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch:

"I’m as shocked as you are, namely because I was working on this as a funding story all morning. Anyways, right before its billion dollar acquisition from Facebook, Instagram closed a $50 million Series B round from Sequoia, Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital, Greylock and Benchmark at a $500 million valuation. The round was led by Sequoia, as first reported by AllThingsD’s Liz Gannes.

"Investors, many of whom didn’t know about the Facebook acquisition, literally doubled their money (which was wired to Instagram last Thursday) overnight.

"Instagram last raised funding a little over a year ago, in a modest $7 million round from from angels Adam D’Angelo, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca, Baseline Ventures and Benchmark Capital."

As noted, it's smart to use an impending investment valuation to drive a higher acquisition valuation. Strategic/acquisition values are typically much higher than investment values. eg, as of today, Instagram is worth more to Facebook than it is to Sequoia, because Facebook gets strategic value in addition to market value. If the company was able to use the Sequoia deal to drive its Facebook acquisition value higher, then in theory the founding team's smaller share of a larger $ pie is greater than the larger share of a smaller $ pie. A nice play if you can make it.

What about Sequoia and the investor syndicate? Investors with a signed term sheet would be fully aware that acquisition discussions were taking place, as well as what valuation range they were in. I would be surprised if Instagram's investment group did not go into this with eyes wide open. Investors win either way - an instant 2X multiple on investment (and a crazy high IRR), or a highly desirable company that they believe has growth potential.

I'm even more green-eyed than usual today. Call me jealous impressed.

NOTE: To be clear, I am not privy to the boardroom conversations around this deal. I'm simply opining on why it could make sense, based upon experience with my own investments.

Yummly Raises $6M for Hiring (and Gratuitous Bacon)

Love food? Delicious semantic search engine Yummly has just raised $6M in Series A financing to continue expanding into a complete digital kitchen platform. (Disclosure: Intel Capital is an investor in Yummly.) I'm happy to welcome Physic Ventures and Unilever to the board, and even more excited that the team can start expanding. (Note: Giant gratuitous bacon photo courtesy of Cathy Brooks on Flickr.)

Towards that end, we're looking for great developers, UX designers, researchers, and marketers that have a passion for food. There's a great post by Kevin Fitchard on GigaOm that touches on Yummly's product roadmap:

"Yummly’s core technology, which breaks down recipes and ingredients into raw culinary data, from which it extracts everything from calorie and saturated fat content to more conceptual notions of saltiness, sourness or bitterness. If it knows you’re a vegetarian, the Yummly search engine will weed out recipes that contain an ingredient that once walked, flew or swam.

"...[CEO Dave] Feller said that the semantic technology Yummly has built has a lot more potential than the search engine lets on. Its current staff of 10 just doesn’t have the resources to build new products to tap into that potential. So Yummly plans to use its new $6 million to go on hiring spree and roll out new cooking applications and features. Some of those products will be the typical tablet apps and shopping list services we see proliferating on cooking sites and services today, but others will make more specific use of the vast food vocabulary Yummly has spent two years learning.

"Feller said Yummly first needs to build upon its core search engine, which he characterized as being more a proof-of-concept –- though it's a proof-of-concept that gets 4 million unique visitors a month. It currently aggregates more than 600,000 recipes from 15 sites, ranging from the Food Network to AllRecipes, but it will expand its scope into further culinary corners of Web."

As someone who loves to cook, I'm a happy user (you can find me under "tribal kitchen goddess") and eager to see the company's deep understanding of food extended into other services and across additional platforms. Can you help? Check out their jobs page and join the kitchen brigade!

GTD meets SXSW! Where Founders and VCs Will Meet

SXSW Interactive enables the usual tech crowd license to follow fascinations for a few days....like a clean (I mean this both literally and figuratively) version of Burning Man, or an enormous, structured version of FOO Camp. But let's not pretend we aren't also here to Get Things Done. Here are a few great places to start building connections this week in Austin:

1. 10 Minute VC  - Sunday 3/11, 2:00-5:00 PM. Hosted by Intel Capital (yep, I'll be hosting a table) and Blumberg Capital.

Are you an entrepreneur, someone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, or a talented maker who would like to join a startup? Join Blumberg Capital and Intel Capital in Austin for 10 Minute VC, Texas-style. On Sunday, March 11th, Christine Herron, Carey Lai, and Lucy McQuilken from Intel Capital, along with David Blumberg, Bruce Taragin, Jon Soberg, and Ankur Jain of Blumberg Capital, will be your hosts in Austin. We'll be available for 10-minute chats, and you set the agenda. (Hat tip to Kent Goldman from First Round Capital for galvanizing the investor community around this concept!) Feel free to give us your quick pitch, ask questions, or just start a relationship. If you can't get a meeting time, then come join us for a drink - Vince Young's has five local beers on tap and the bar will be open.

Make sure to register to attend as capacity for both meeting and mixing is (sadly) limited. Grab your time slot when you register, and plan to arrive at least 10 minutes early so that the good folks from Venture Further can get you checked in and ready.

2. Startup Village. Daily during Interactive from 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM. Organized by SXSW.

Startup Village brings together the startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and cutting-edge digital tastemakers within the 2012 SXSW Interactive Festival. Located primarily on the fourth floor of the Downtown Austin Hilton, this space showcases the various startup events at SXSW Interactive (including SXSW Accelerator, as well as startup-related panels, Meet Ups, lounges, pitch events and mentoring / coaching sessions).

A new addition to the 2012 schedule, Startup Village consolidates much of what already happens at SXSW Interactive into one location. Current and future entrepreneurs will benefit from learning and networking with investors, technology trailblazers, media representatives, as well as digital creatives from the three exciting industries that come to Austin for SXSW (Interactive, Music and Film). Startups are an important part of the world economy as well as an important element of SXSW Interactive -- we are very excited about all that Startup Village will bring to the 2012 event.

3. Co-Founder Speed Dating. Saturday - Sunday 3/10-11, multiple sessions. Organized by Capital Factory and DreamIt Ventures.

What better place to find your co-founder than at SXSW where tens of thousands of like-minded people from around the world are mashed up together? On both Saturday and Sunday afternoon Capital Factory & DreamIt Ventures will be running multiple sessions of co-founder speed dating. You tell us what you are looking for and we will play the matchmaker. In just an hour, you’ll meet a dozen potential co-founders hand-picked for you.

4. SXSW Accelerator. Monday - Tuesday 3/12-13, 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM. Organized by SXSW and Microsoft Bizspark. (Yours truly MC'ing on Monday afternoon!)

The fourth annual SXSW Accelerator will take March 12-14 at the 2012 SXSW Festival in Austin Texas. A live audience, as well as a panel of expert judges will be discovering advancements in social media, mobile applications, web entertainment, and more. The best part? Product demonstrations by the most ambitious talents in the world with the most creative new ideas to change it. We will catch a glimpse of the industry's future, with a guided tour by our emcees and judges.

This competition will be unlike any other. On March 12, forty-eight companies battle for your taste-making, trend-setting attention, leading to a fireworks display of innovation. Connections will be made and careers launched. On Tuesday March 13, the top eighteen companies will be invited back, and at the end of the day winners of SXSW Accelerator will be announced. 

5. Startup America Live. Daily during Interactive from 9:45 AM - 6:00 PM. Organized by Startup America.

4 full days of programming featuring iconic entrepreneurs and brand new startups remaking iconic game shows like “The Price is Right,” “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and “Minute to Win It”. Startups will compete for amazing prizes that will help their companies. Mornings with Jesse Draper recapping the coolest stuff going on in Startup Village. The chance to hang with people like: Steve Blank, Kay Koplovitz, Gary Shapiro, and Eric Ries. One on one time with leading experts during all-day office hours, schedule here: http://www.s.co/content/startup-america-live-sxsw-office-hours/

Note that I haven't posted private events...there are a bunch of these to attend as well, if you can wrangle invitations. Austin-based accelerator Capital Factory has also put together the Ultimate Startup Guide to SXSW 2012 - definitely check it out for more tips.

If you see other great VC-entrepreneur connection opportunities, please share in the comments. See you here in Austin!

 

 

How to Compensate Next-Gen Venture Capitalists

 

It must be hiring season for venture capitalists - VC compensation talk has been coming up recently. If you're a partner, VC compensation is pretty straightforward - you get a piece of the partnership's profits, aka a "carried interest" in the fund. (See my presentation on VC 101 to dig in more on this.) But how can you provide the best incentives for your other investment staff? How can you get your analysts, associates, principals, and vice presidents to all contribute the success of the portfolio? In an ideal world, every person an entrepreneur talks to at a venture fund will have a stake in the entrepreneur's success.

I have the unique advantage of an inside view on non-partner compensation across multiple investment funds. There isn't one model established as best practice for the industry, but there are a few that are either common or make common sense. Not necessarily both at the same time. Here are the top three:

• Vested Interest. This model is very similar to stock options:
  • The fund creates a small pool of "carry points" that can be issued to associates (or other non-partner staff.)
  • An associate is a issued a set number of "carry points" each year. Like stock options, these points take four years to vest, have a one year cliff, and vest monthly or annually thereafter. They also disappear if unvested if/when the associate leaves the fund. Unlike stock options, the associate doesn't have to pay for them.
  • Each year is considered a vintage year, and each year the associate gets another batch of points that will correspond to the deals made in that year. Associate kicking butt? Increase the size of their grant. Slacking off? Decrease it.
  • The fund sets up the spreadsheet that keeps track of "vintage year" performance in addition to fund performance. (Most funds do this anyway.) 
  • Both during employment and after the associate leaves the fund, the associate gets payouts based upon their share of profitable, in-the-money (vintage year principal has been returned) exits.

• Phantom Carry. A less-common model that looks like cashless angel investing:
  • For each investment, the associate is given a 'phantom investment' amount, as if they were a invisible angel investor in the deal. So this doesn't show up on the investment's cap table, but rather lives in the fund's back end accounting.
  • The amount of phantom investment varies based upon the role the associate is playing. For example: Sourced the deal? You get $25K phantom carry. Helped close it? $15K. Just on the team at the time the deal closed? $5K.
  • The fund sets up the spreadsheet that keeps track of "phantom carry" amounts assigned to each investment.
  • Both during employment and after the associate leaves the fund, the associate gets payouts based upon the return for each individual investment.

• Exit Bonus. This popular model is most like a traditional bonus:
  • The associate is given a share of carried interest in the current fund, and any future funds that the associate works on.
  • When the current fund begins returning a profit during the asociate's employment, the associate receives distributions according to his/her carried interest.
  • After the associate leaves the fund, they no longer receive any distributions.

Of these three, I believe that the vested interest model provides the best outcomes - the associate has a long-term incentive to provide ongoing support for companies, which benefits both the entrepreneur and the fund. The longer the associate is working at the fund to support the investment, the greater his/her reward (larger amount vested) based upon the company's success. The phantom carry model comes close to this, however, and is easier to administer. Though common, I believe the exit bonus model to be flawed - an associate or vice president in a three-year program is more incented here to find new deals as vs. to work towards the success of deals that may exit after they are no longer working at the fund.

Net-net: Entrepreneurs - don't be shy about asking if the associate that cold-calls you has an incentive for you to be successful! VC partners - there's a real competitive advantage in having your entire team work for your portfolio's success. The argument isn't to pay staff more, but rather to tie more compensation to portfolio success. A thoughtful approach here will be worth the overhead.

What other good approaches have folks seen? Ideas and comments welcome.

Burning Man Recipes: Bacon Burner Mashed Potatoes

Despite best intentions, the feeding frenzy over at Y Combinator (which reminds me...I need to post my top ten list!) kept me from posting the fan favorite recipes from Open Kitchen Camp. But if you're headed to Burning Man tomorrow, there's one recipe you'll want to make ahead of time - and that's Bacon Burner Mashed Potatoes.

Boiling potatoes on the playa is nigh-impossible. Something about altitude and desert conditions...but if you just take an hour to prep these mashed potatoes at home, you'll be camp hero. Read on for playa-specific cooking tips.

Ingredients

• 15 pounds of peeled, cut potatoes (preferably Yukon Golds, though other types will do)
• 4 pounds of bacon (hickory smoked adds a nice touch)
• 2 pounds of butter, room temperature
• 2 cups of half-and-half
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. AT HOME: Fill a large stewpot half full of water and bring to a rapid boil. Note that if you're making this dish at full quantity, you will need two pots of boiling water.
2. Add your potatoes and half-cover. Let boil for 20 minutes, or until potatoes feel soft enough to eat when poked with a fork.
3. Drain water and discard. Add half of your dairy ingredients and a first round of seasonings. Mash until dairy is just mixed in. Taste and let your palate guide you as to how much more you want to put in. Mix in dairy and seasoning until it tastes good enough to serve as normal mashed potatoes. Just be careful not to overmash as you're mixing, or the potatoes will get gluey.
4. Scoop your finished potatoes into freezer ziplocs and make flat packs. Freeze them, along with the uncooked bacon. They will serve well to keep your cooler cold, and will stay frozen several days.
5. IN THE DESERT: When you're ready to serve this meal, let the potatoes and bacon defrost several hours ahead if you can. Then, fry up your bacon and set aside. Make sure to reserve the bacon grease. Stand a guard at camp perimeter, since the smell of bacon will attract packs of hungry burners. (Ever see Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds?)
6. Reheating potatoes on the playa can be challenging, but I've had good success with just stirring them in giant fry pans. Use bacon grease in the pan as needed. Microwaving not an option...the water molecules just don't seem to respond correctly for microwave heating.
7. Cut your cooked bacon into big chunks and mix into the potatoes.
8. While you have been in the desert your body chemistry has been changing, and your palate has adjusted accordingly. Go ahead and add bacon grease and salt until it suits your altered taste buds. It will be much more than you think, so try not to be horrified. Just eat and enjoy!

Shopping tip: You can buy Yukon Golds by the 15-pound sackful at Costco, along with both hickory bacon and butter in four-pound packs. Round it out with a half gallon of fresh half-and-half (just $2.99!) and you have the key ingredients needed for this taste treat.

Author's note: If you're making bacon mashed potatoes at home, you don't need to add bacon grease on top of the butter. Simply substitute bacon grease for one-third of your usual quantity of butter, and you'll achieve the right taste balance.

Burning Man Recipes: Sangria a la Playa

Much to my Burning Man camp's detriment, I lost this year's game of "new parent roshambo" and will be staying home in San Francisco instead of hosting potlucks. In the spirit of community, however, I'm sharing a few of my Burning Man recipes.

Unsurprisingly, the first request I received was for the tastiest of liquid refreshment: Sangria a la Playa. It's fabulous on OR off of the playa, and easy to customize to your taste, but be warned that it packs a punch. Instructions are below, and I've also posted the recipe at Yummly for easy saving to your recipe collection, access to nutritional info (one glass has 72% of a day's vitamin C!), and so forth.

Ingredients

• 1     orange (sliced thinly, in halves)
• 1     lemon (sliced thinly, in halves)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup cointreau (or any of peach schnapps (cheapest), triple sec, or Grand Marnier)
• 1     bottle wine (sauvignon blanc, white zinfandel, chianti, or pinot noir)
• 1     cup fruit (halved seedless grapes, halved pitted cherries, quartered strawberries, or sliced peaches)
• 6     tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Decide if you're going for a white, pink, or red sangria. White is the most refreshing; pink, the sweetest; and red, the heaviest. For Burning Man, I recommend going with the white zinfandel. Fruity sweetness on the playa is heavenly, especially if you have it later in the week.
   -  If white wine: choose green grapes, white cherries, or peach slices as the third (optional) fruit.
   -  If white zinfandel or rose: choose green or red grapes, or strawberries as the third (optional) fruit.
   -  If red wine: choose red or black grapes, red or black cherries, or strawberries as the third (optional) fruit.
2. Prep lemon, orange, and (optional) third fruit of choice. Note that halving the lemon/orange slices means that they will fit through the mouth of reusable water bottles. Mix. Set aside in bowl.
3. Pop open your wine and pour it into any large container, ideally one that you can cover from dust. Note that box wine (I'm partial to Franzia white zinfandel) is highly recommended for the playa - less waste, and dust won't get into the open container. More importantly, one box equals five or six bottles, so it's easy to make a large batch and share with your neighbors. 
4. Pour in your lemon juice, brandy, and cointreau (or one of the cointreau alternates listed). Add sugar and mix thoroughly.
5. Add as much fruit mix as you like. If you prefer to go heavy on the booze and light on the fruit, you may have extra fruit, in which case cover it up and use it later in the next batch.
6. Chill using block ice from Arctica, and wait an hour if you can. If not, drink and enjoy.

Shopping tip: If you're camping with friends, the easy way to prep is to swing by Costco and pick up a sack of lemons, a sack of oranges, a box of your third fruit, a case of wine, and your bottles of booze. Leave the citrus and wine in the shade under (not in) your car once you get to Burning Man and it will survive a full week just fine without taking up valuable cooler space. Just remember to rinse off the playa dust before cutting into your lemons and oranges.

More good playa eats to come. Enjoy, and let me know how it goes!

Vote for my SXSW Idea! --> Not Just a Pretty Profile: Building Online Persona

Are you more than just a profile? Join me at SXSW to discuss how to build an online persona. Think about it: What does your twitter feed say about you? What reputation does your blog cultivate? Whether developing a public persona for yourself or for your business, establishing an authentic online persona is a key strategic decision. Be proactive and build an online persona that works, using the right blend of public and private identity.

Questions answered during the session:

1. What's my persona and why does it matter? How is that different from my identity?
2. How does my persona (and how I present myself/my brand) change from offline to online?
3. What steps should I take to build my online persona? How many personas do I need?
4. How much control can I realistically expect to have?
5. What are some concrete examples?

Thanks and a shout out to Amber Case, Cathy Brooks, and Kaliya Hamlin for their various seeds of inspiration. Please give the session your vote, and I hope to see you in Austin!

Top Picks from 500 Startups Demo Day

Big congratulations go out to the well-prepped companies that painted compelling pictures at 500 Startups Demo Day this week. (Disclosure note: I am an advisor to 500 Startups.)

It's hard to pick just one favorite, so here are my personal top ten, clustered along leading themes from the evening. Given that most of my interest nowadays follows a mobile <--> social <--> commerce <--> cloud continuum, this high hit rate is no surprise:

Commerce

• Appetizer – Automated mobile app builder for small businesses; the company can deliver a startingly complete app using existing Facebook Page information.
• Daily Gobble – Sabre for restaurants; their go-to-market plan targets fast casual chains. 
• LaunchBit – Ad network for email newsletters.
• Snapette – Photo sharing and fashion discovery.

Social

• Loku (FKA Borrowed Sugar) – A Flipboard-like experience for local news, deals, and search.
• OVIA – A video screening platform that sharply reduces the time and expense spent interviewing job candidates. Current clients ran the gamut from Hasbro to Taskrabbit.
• Singboard – Online karaoke, unexpectedly interesting and the best pitch of the night.

Cloud

• LaunchRock – Platform for product launches that moves customer relationships (auth and user management) into the cloud.
• Tinfoil Security – Security screening and live monitoring for SMB web sites. Know where hackers can crack their way in.
• ToutApp - Salesforce–like email and email templates, structured along a freemium model. This sounds bland, but is quite cool in action. I'm definitely signing up as a user on this one.

Note: after a bit of consideration, I removed "mobile" as a theme...given the trends around connected devices, most models incoporate a substantial mobile component. There's also a notable amount of small business targeting, given both the consumerification (an ugly buzzword) of business services and the surfeit of mindshare allocated to local deals.

Though I forced myself to pick ten (leaving out plenty of other interesting companies), the class was uniformly impressive and there are a bunch of betas I'll be signing up for. Check out the bunch for yourself.

 

What Mobile Platform Comes First? Why it's iOS Today, and Android Tomorrow

If you're figuring out which mobile platform to launch on, here's a quick sketch on why you should choose iOS today, but maybe start with Android in the future. (Thanks to Matias Duarte (Director of User Experience, Android), Steve Jang (CEO, Schematic Labs), and Jake Mintz (Co-Founder, Bump Technologies) for sharing their experience here at the Mobile First Crunchup.)

1. Are you a designer or a developer? There's a "cultural incumbency" for iOS with designers, so you tend to see better designed apps on iOS. Not to mention, iOS offers "pixel perfect" layout, so it's easy to get the design just as you like. On the other side, Android requires that you design for multiple layouts, which is just as complex as designing for different browsers. If you want a pretty app and only want to worry about one layout, you'll develop for iOS first. Advantage: iOS
2. How important is the app ecosystem to you? Apple wins hands-down on maturity of its app ecosystem. It's well-understood by users, there's content in all of the categories, and they support all flavors of app. The AppStore also supports in-app transactions for both digital and physical goods. Since Apple and Google will take a 30% cut, so there's it's a wash on the cost side. Advantage: iOS
3. How forward-looking is your vision? Android offers a great deal more platform flexibility than iOS does. And oh yes, here the cultural incumbency favors developers over designers. On Android, app makers can interweave apps, even without apps knowing about each other, and leverage all of the openness of the platform. Advantage: Android.

As Android's app ecosystem matures towards parity with the AppStore, there may be an even larger schism between the developer vs. designer faceoff happening today. Which is all well and good since in many ways, you can't go wrong with either platform - and realistically, you'll end up developing for both eventually.

 

How to Meet and Mix with VCs at SXSW

If you're headed to SXSW this year, it's a great opportunity to start forging relationships in the VC community. There are a number of Austin events (including one co-organized by yours truly) designed to drive dialogue and develop awareness around the business side of startups. Here are five good connection opportunities:

1. 10 Minute VC  - Sunday 3/13, 3:00-5:00 PM. Hosted by Intel Capital (yep, I'll be hosting a table) and Blumberg Capital, with an assist from Founder Institute.

Are you an entrepreneur, someone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, or a talented maker who would like to join a startup? Join Blumberg Capital and Intel Capital in Austin for 10 Minute VC, Texas-style. On Sunday, March 13th, Christine Herron, Lucy McQuilken, and Aldo Franciscolo from Intel Capital, along with David Blumberg, Bruce Taragin, and Jon Soberg of Blumberg Capital, will be your hosts in Austin. We'll be available for 10-minute chats, and you set the agenda. (Hat tip to Kent Goldman from First Round Capital for galvanizing the investor community around this concept!) Feel free to give us your quick pitch, ask questions, or just start a relationship. If you can't get a meeting time, then come join us for a drink - Vince Young's has five local beers on tap and the bar will be open.

Make sure to register to attend as capacity for both meeting and mixing is (sadly) limited. Grab your time slot when you register, and plan to arrive at least 10 minutes early so that the good folks from Founder Institute can get you checked in and ready.

2. Reverse VC Pitch Preparty at SXSW - Thursday 3/10, 11:10-11:20 PM. Organized by the Larry Chiang Experience.

Yes, you read the time right: This is an eleven minute party the day before SXSW. I am using this party to prove that with my help, you and I will do more in an 11 minute party than most people will get done in five days of SXSW. After my March 10, 11 minute party...I am going to enjoy my geek Spring Break. Speakers include Tim Draper and Ethan Kurtzweil.

***NEWS: There is an afterparty w/a VC Panel! ***

3. The Lean Startup SXSW - Saturday 3/12, 9:30 AM-6:30 PM. Organized by 500 Startups and Eric Ries.

An official SXSW Interactive track on March 12th from 9:30am - 6:00pm, The Lean Startup SXSW is a full day of talks and sessions on lean startup methods led by entrepreneurs who are killin' it.

Too much junk in the trunk? Get rid of those startup love handles at SXSW with 500 Startups & Eric Ries.

4. Mix + Pitch Party (UM Student Pitch Competition) - Sunday 3/13, 4:30-7:00 PM. Organized by the University of Michigan.

A bus packed with some of the best and brightest from the University of Michigan’s graduate programs rolls into Austin with an inaugural business pitch event.  Students from the Business, Design, Engineering, Information, and Natural Resources schools will showcase their creative ideas while bringing the college party to you.  In honor of those beer-soaked college days, join us at our pitch event supported by X PRIZE Foundation where you’ll mingle with our alums, entrepreneurs and VCs from coast-to-coast in an amped-up event with an on-campus vibe.  We’ll bring hoppy beer along with talented judges and you’ll hear some fresh ideas from enterprising young grad students.

Students will formulate their innovative business pitches while crammed together on a 20-hour bus ride from the Big House to SXSW... necessity is the mother of invention.  Emceed by the always fantastic Ingrid Vanderveldt, CEO of Green Girl Energy, Inc, the lightning-round pitch competition covers three themes: Mobile Apps, Sustainability, and Social Media; judging is also based on the creativity of the pitch—so expect something weird!

Update: We are ecstatic to announce the following pitch competition judges:

Jay Adelson—CEO, SimpleGeo, Inc (and Founder and Chairman, Revision3 Corp., Former CEO, Digg, Inc., Founder, Equinix, Inc.)
Kevin Koym—Co-Founder and CEO, Tech Ranch AustinMarc Weisser—Founder Managing Director, RPM VenturesChris Shonk—Managing Director,  Liahona VenturesJason Bornhorst—VP of Product, Mobiata
Blair Garrou—Managing Director, DFJ Mercury

5. SXSW Accelerator 2011 - Monday-Tuesday 3/14-15, 10:30 AM-6:30 PM. Organized by SXSW and Microsoft BizSpark.

The third annual SXSW Accelerator presented by Microsoft BizSpark will take place March 14-16 at the 2011 SXSW Festival in Austin Texas.

A live audience, as well as a panel of expert judges will discover advancements in social media, mobile applications, web entertainment, and more. The best part? Product demonstrations by the most ambitious talents in the world with the most creative new ideas to change it. A glimpse of the industry's future awaits, with a guided tour by emcees Mark Suster, Brad King, Blair Garrou, and Tara 'Miss Rogue' Hunt. We are grateful to them, as well as to our sponsors: Microsoft BizSpark, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, IBM, .CO, and Turner Broadcasting System.

Note that I haven't posted private events...there are a bunch of these to attend as well, if you can wrangle invitations.

If you see other great VC-entrepreneur connection opportunities, please share in the comments. Hope to see you in Austin!

Surprise Plays, and Changing My Jersey

Everyone knows that I love startups. I love working up logic models and key metrics on a whiteboard. I love brainstorming on product. I even love sitting on the floor with a stickered laptop at SXSW. All of which is precisely the work I've been enjoying at First Round Capital. So I have a surprise play to announce....I'm changing jerseys to Intel Capital. I’ll join the team next month to drive consumer and Internet deals from here in the Bay Area, and to deepen the fund’s exposure to early-stage opportunities.

Having told a handful of very surprised people this news in the past 24 hours, it's obvious that I need to tell more of the story. Back in July, the seriously kick-ass Lucy McQuilken reached out to me to see if I would consider working with her and the rest of Mike Buckley's investment team. I don't know that Lucy expected me to take her up on the breakfast invitation - I was at First Round Capital, after all - but it is an incredible rarity for a female investment professional to get recruited by another female investment professional. Don't worry if you don't get this...just take my word that it's very cool, and gets your attention.

From that unique starting point, here's what made Intel Capital so compelling:

1. I'm joining the Consumer Internet team to take point on investments I love, in spaces I know well, and with a high degree of flexibility. So while I clearly will continue working with US-based, seed-stage companies, I will also be able to consider investments based anywhere in the world that folks buy products with a chip. And I will certainly drive some investments into later rounds of funding, since there's nothing more frustrating than missing your shot at the brass seed-stage ring. This means more chances to work with the best entrepreneurs, and better odds that I'll be part of something meaningful.

2. Building structural value is something that First Round works on obsessively for its portfolio, so I know it well. Intel Capital is digging in to this area. If you are a venture business with a large portfolio, offering structural value is a change that you need to make. The Intel Capital portfolio has a deep bench, with great companies such as Betaworks, Joyent, OpenFeint, Skyhook Wireless, and Vostu on the roster, to name just a few. (Not to mention, we at First Round Capital were happy to work with Intel Capital as a coinvestor in both iovation and Transpera.) Given what we've been able to deliver with the FRC network, I'm excited to work on programs with the reach that Intel Capital needs in order to help its startups.

3. A big part of my job will be getting Intel Capital more active within the quirky and wonderful startup ecosystem that I currently inhabit. And working with these folks is what I love to do. I suspect there are a lot of missed opportunities (or misperceptions) because of a lack of familiarity. For example, does the investment process get bogged down in corporate hooha? Not in my experience. (This fall, they only spent two weeks from first meeting to final approval on a yet-unannounced deal I worked on at FRC.) Does Intel want to invest strategically? Of course. Happily, this includes apps and services that leverage a broad range of computing platforms, from PCs to connected devices.

Given this amazing opportunity, I'm proud to start wearing the Intel Capital badge next month. Though it's bittersweet as well, given my tremendous respect and affection for the team at First Round.

BONUS! There's a second personal announcement. I'm also excited to share that I will keep one foot firmly planted in the land of ramen as a venture advisor to 500 Startups. Hanging a bit with Dave McCure should ensure things stay lively! (If anyone can bring Yin to the new Yang in my professional life, it's Dave.) Though their approaches differ, both 500 Startups and Intel Capital have an intense commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. I expect this will be the start of something great.

Those are all of my surprises for today, I swear...

Think You'll Get Bought By Google? See How You Measure Up

Whether you're hoping to flip your business to Google in one year or planning long-term M&A, you should take a close look at this excellent infographic from Scores.org. One part Mythbusters and one part opportunity eye-opener, this Google acquisition analysis comes courtesy of Scores and ByJess. (Cheaper than hiring an MBA for sure!)

 

Research by Scores.org

 

Who Moved My Cheese? Building the Next-Gen Incubator

It's been almost two years since venture capitalists moved the cheese on startups, demanding more robust testing of a business hypothesis before writing a large check. Have incubators evolved to meet the new standard of proof?

Some context: In the briskly moving startup ecosystem of the late 2000's, Y Combinator set the gold standard for a new breed of incubator (a class which includes TechStars, DreamIt, et al) based on the express goal of "getting you to the point where you've built something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale." Presuming that a startup could successfully meet this first major milestone, it could move on to raising seed capital - which funding needed to cover two major milestones:

1. Demonstrate that your product works

2. Show that people want to use it

With a compelling product and early signs of working customer acquisition, an early 2008 startup had a good shot at raising a $5 million Series A round. But then the market crashed and investors became more risk-averse, and late 2008 startups had to instead achieve three major milestones with their seed capital:

1. Demonstrate that your product works

2. Show that people want to use it

3. Prove that you can make lots of money with it

The rapid shift of the third milestone from a Series A goal to a seed round expectation took many startups by surprise. Many founders had to scramble in 2008-2009 to extend the runway of their pre-cheese seed funding in order to build up a baked-in, working business model. This requirement is easing up a bit in 2010 as VCs loosen their purse strings, but it's probably here to stay.

So what should a next-generation incubator do? Like the seed funder that comes after it, it has to go further downstream. A good next-gen incubator will help its companies hit both the first and the second key milestone. In addition to a zealous focus on product, incubator companies will need to develop (and test) customer acquisition models. They'll not only nail down important metrics, they'll also have a strategy for driving them.

Early indications are that YC will continue to evolve its program in this direction - this year's crop of startups is impressively mature - and it's a given that Dave McClure at 500 Startups will be running customer acquisition drills nightly. I strongly suspect that the soon-to-launch AngelPad will also be hitting on both cylinders given a Google experience steeped in metrics.

That leaves some open questions: How will the incubator-team relationship have to change, if the incubator is helping the company further along? Does the ecosystem then need resources that only address milestone #1, or is that simply not feasible any more? In any event, changing the coordinates of one point in the ecosystem means changing navigation throughout it. What else do we need to do?

Rentalic and appbackr Win $150,000 PayPal Challenge

Paypal's Osama Bedier announced that Rentalic and appbackr are the PayPal X Developer Challenge winners today at DEMO Spring 2010. Over 650 submissions were reviewed by the community, with the final winners selected by Pierre Omidyar, Scott Cook, Scott Thompson, Mark Andreessen and Roelof Botha.

First-place finisher Rentalic faciiltates peer-to-peer renting. Neighbors and family rent to each other, and transactions (including security deposits) are processed via PayPal. Like Neighborgoods, Rentalic can also be used to 'share with your friends to either save or earn money.' Runner-up appbackr is a wholesale marketplace for iPhone applications.

Bedier transferred cash portions of the $150,000 prize (Matt Marshall: "How much is the fee on $50,000?) with an iPhone bump. I was psyched for the shoutout to Bump, since I'm also a huge fan - using a physical input to trigger digital transfers has many potential applications.

Last Chance for First Round Office Hours in 2009!

It's been a great year of meeting entrepreneurs here at First Round Capital, in no small part due to the community outreach we've been doing via our Office Hours program. (Hat tip to Kent!) And as 2009 comes to a close, we've decided to slip in one last event. Because we're like that.

Please do join us tomorrow, December 9th, for LA Office Hours. We'll gather at Bar Chloe in Santa Monica from 3:00 - 5:00 PM, and the beers (or Equally Attractive Nonalcoholic Beverages) are on us. If you'd like to grab a quick conversation with me, Howard Morgan, Rob Hayes, or Kent Goldman, just click here to reserve a spot.

Hope to see you there!

Quick Followup: VCTips at Web 2.0 Expo

Just a quick post to take care of two VCTips housekeeping items:

1. A big thank-you to Amish Jani from FIRSTMARK Capital, Oren Netzer from DoubleVerify, and Avner Ronen from Boxee for joining me and Bryce Roberts at this week's VCTips workshop at Web 2.0 Expo New York.

2. If you'd like to get a copy of the workshop slides, you can download or view them below. (Though I uploaded them to the W2E web site, they still aren't appearing alongside the abstract. Grumble.)

Thanks again to everyone who participated, including all of the entrepreneurs in the audience!

VCTips Workshop 2009-11-16

View more presentations from spacejockeys.

What's the Secret Success of MINT.com? The Real Numbers Behind Aaron Patzer's Growth Strategy

Aaron Patzer, CEO of MINT.com, dropped by The Funded and Vator.tv's Juice Pitcher tonight to share some secrets of the company's success. (Just in case you don't plug the TechCrunch feed directly into your brain stem: MINT is the wildly successful, soon-to-be-acquired-by-Intuit, #1 personal finance site...and oh yes, full disclosure that First Round Capital is a thrilled investor.)

Everyone knows that MINT has a great product, but few know the strategic moves. To the point, what did it take to get there? How much did it cost to get started? When and how was it smart to raise money such that both the founder and the investors walked away happy? Aaron opened up MINT.com's books - and his old slide decks - tonight to share some shockingly frank details with the startups in attendance. Even more generously, he was happy to have his lessons be blogged for a more public audience:

The straight shot: Why should you raise money, and how much?

• Step 1: When you're ready with an Idea: Raise $100K from friends and family, and use it to build a prototype.
• Step 2: Once the prototype is done: Raise < $1M in seed capital, and get into market with an alpha launch.
• Step 3: After that initial launch has traction: Raise $5-10M, and use it to prove/scale the model.

Garage Phase: What are the costs and milestones?

Here's how MINT spent its $100K of garage money:

• Founders: $30K/year living expenses
• Engineering 1st hires: $30-50K/year
• Office: $400/cube/month
• Tech: $10K
• Legal: Deferred payments for 0.50 - 0.75% of company

Roughly, 2 founders + 1 engineer/contractor = $150K/year burn. This gives you 6 - 9 months of runway before you need to raise a seed round.

In order to get that seed round, you'll need to understand your competition, and come up with projections. Everyone knows this will change...but you need to show your thinking around it anyway. As an example, MINT originally projected $30/user/year for lead-gen and CPA. (Aaron noted that the company is pretty close to this today. But this is the exception rather than the rule.) Know how the business model works. People do X behavior and it turns into $Y income, add up those $Ys and it's a $Z business. If you can walk people through these assumptions convincingly, you'll get that seed round.

Seed Round: What are the next costs and milestones?

• Salaries: $50 - 90K/year ($450K/year for 5 people)
• Overhead: +20% ($100K/year)
• Legal: $25K + $2K/month ($50K/year)

MINT.com raised $750K in its seed round to cover these expenses for 12 months, which is about how much time you'll need to develop into the Series A stage. [UPDATE: when the funding market is moving slowly, you need more time, and therefore more seed $. The 2009 market is moving more slowly than is the market in which MINT raised its Series A.]

What model do you build next in order to raise the Series A? Testing and learning from your seed model, show user growth, retention, COGS, revenue per sale/user, and profit. The accumulated loss is how much you need to raise, and a well-thought-out funding strategy combined with an understanding of (hopefully good) business economics is what will speed the Series A process along.

Series A: Now what?

• Salaries + Overhead: $200K/year/person
• COGS: Varies, but even one-time expenses magically add up to $150K/month
• Legal: $10-50K/month

Total burn for a 30-person team: $6M/year. Naturally you don't start out burning this much, as it takes time to grow the team. However the numbers work out, your goals should be the same: Get profitable within 2 years. Raise the capital you need to do this without much distraction.

If you want to raise more after this in order to grow more aggressively or extend otherwise, your success in achieving those first two goals will speak for itself.

A Wealth of Woman-Founded Startups, from a Twitter Shout-out

I haven't been a heavy user of the Twitter shout-out before, but I had such great response and feedback yesterday that I wanted to share. Before chatting with a reporter this morning about woman-founded startups, I thought it would be worthwhile to ask the Twitter community if there were any such companies that they thought were interesting.

The responses (and generous retweets!) were terrific, so I wanted to share them here - many folks wanted to see the list. And isn't it flattering to know when people characterize your hard work as interesting? Apologies in advance for cut-and-paste rather than an organized list, but I couldn't resist. The links all worked and it was a nice way to credit everyone.

Many thanks to all that suggested ideas and/or retweeted:

1. 
   heathr20x200, neighborgoods chick-started start ups
2. 
   RossAdina Levin is my co-founder [Socialtext]
3. 
   bpm140Micki Krimmel's Neighborgoods and Cyan Banister's nudie thing.
4. 
   
   0 more result since you started searching. Refresh to see them.
   
   tismoi@christine Check out @astianyc; contact Springboard Enterprises; @collectivee; @astiasf - they should all have info on women led cos!22 minutes ago from web
5. 
   gregoryleroy@christine RT: "woman-founded startups" Very cool. Thanks for posting that!
   
6. 
   StructuralInt@christine It's my own startup, so I'm biased: http://structuralintegrator... I write software for engineers to share data between apps.
7. 
   MaryTreselerRT @ericries: RT @christine putting tgthr a short/diverse list of women-founded startups... please reply w/ any that U think R interesting!
8. 
   brantcooper@christine I'm working w/ San Diego-based social commerce startup headed by women. Contact me if you'd like details.
9. 
   Eric_ModCloth@christine ModCloth!
10. 
    crcarletonRT @ataussig: @christine Boston Power is one that comes to mind in energy. ME: Christine, let me know if you need info on Boston-Power?
11. 
    annimaniac@christine Wordnik and Modcloth are two amazing female-founded startups
12. 
    geekstack@christine Don't know of any women-founded startups but I'd love a copy of the list to feature in the GeekStack game
13. 
    michaelanschel@christine Check out @NicaGuide a woman owned startup based in MN that does guided eco tours to Nicaragua www.tourstonicaragua.com
14. 
    tara_kelly@christine women-founded startups -> that's me. Tara Kelly, Passpack.com online password manager. Based in Italy (coming to SF next month)
15. 
    marcuthay@christine Take a look at @annavikky she is fight poverty with @2aidorg
16. 
    WonderEventsRT @christine putting together list of women-founded startups for someone-please reply with any that you think are interesting!
17. 
    apsinkus@christine 3 women-founded Boston companies I follow: Communispace (@CommunispaceCEO), RunMyErrand (@labusque), Daily Grommet (@julespieri)
18. 
    apsinkusRT @christine putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups... please reply with any that you think are interesting!
19. 
    williampietriRT @christine putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups... please reply with any that you think are interesting!
20. 
    bkalex@ericries @christine I'd say @jessicamah has a great thing going with indinero! Check them out :)
21. 
    Kaltura@sethkenvin Thanks, Seth! Michal definitely rocks. @christine Let us know if you'd like to connect with Michal directly. http://bit.ly/L8Eys
22. 
    ideasprojectRT @christine putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups for someone...pls reply with any you think are interesting!
23. 
    GreenbizStartupMe, though - for now- we're still preping 2start RT @ericries @christine putting together a list of women-founded #startups. pls reply!
24. 
    ventilla@christine Ohai by Susan Wu, Whatever Niniane Wang is working on, and Parrotview by Elizabeth Yin. Look forward to the list.
25. 
    ericriesRT @christine putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups... please reply with any that you think are interesting!
26. 
    hatchmyhouse@christine http://bit.ly/dudqu :)
27. 
    thinkmaya@christine My startup Memetales, was founded by me. We are in closed beta
28. 
    merigruber@women2 For @christine Here's a few Aspera Software, Mobissimo,: Kachingle, Integrated Archive Systems, Blurb, Offerpal Media
29. 
    shaheroseOH: when they say you can't, you just do it! Msft pearls of wisdom event with @Christine @women2 + more http://yfrog.com/abjakj
30. 
    anarsimpson@christine Samasource.org CEO is one that should be on your list @leila_c
31. 
    Vosmek#Astia clients respond to @christine who is putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups.
32. 
    Vosmek@christine I have such a long list... but let's start with SimOps http://www.wildpockets.com/about 20 hours ago from TweetDeck
33. 
    herstartup@christine in response 2 your rqst. my company www.HerStartup.com . pleased to meet you.
34. 
    herstartupRT @women2 @christine putting 2gether a short/diverse list of women-founded startups. plz reply w/any u think are interesting!
35. 
    women2RT @christine putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups... please reply with any that you think are interesting!
36. 
    jbposell@christine MyShape
       
    
37. 
    manukumar@christine In re: women founded startups, 2 more for your list: @wildpockets @backboard
38. 
    ataussig@christine Boston Power is one that comes to mind in energy.
39. 
    aptuscollab@christine @batchblue by @pmohara, @mriggen. Epivax by Annie de Groot.
40. 
    shaherose@christine i do! happy to help. when do you need this? we are working on one for @women2 anyway!
41. 
    alexismichelle@christine ---> RT @toddcronin: @alexismichelle I believe foodzie has a female founder
42. 
    sethkenvin@christine Kaltura (Michal Tsur 25% of a pretty egalitarian founding team & she's especially impressive)
43. 
    alexismichelleRT @christine: putting together a short/diverse list of women-founded startups for someone...please reply w/ny that u think are interesting!
44. 
    LoganFrederick@christine Check out Elizabeth Lessner from Columbus Ohio. Might not count as "startup" with four/five restaurants, but great entrepreneur
45. 
    launchboxdig@christine KeenGuides (http://www.keenguides.com) has two female founders.
46. 
    kevinmarks@christine @oneforty by @pistachio, @sixapart by @dollarshort, @dabble by @maryhodder, @neighborgoods by @mickipedia, @hunch by @caterina
47. 
    agoldfisher@christine women founded startups of interest: Moxsie.com and Mobissimo Travel. If I give it some thot, I can come up w/ more
48. 
    zachcoelius@christine susan co-founded Triggit with me.
49. 
    joshpaul@christine Revolution Foods (http://revfoods.com/)
50. 
    AvramC@christine ZipCar, Robin Chase, a very important company that could eventually be a big part of the US transportation infrastructure
51. 
    mikesimonsenRT @christine: putting together a list of women-founded startups...please reply with any you think are interesting! [want to see the list]

Quick & Dirty How-To: Employee Stock Option Allocations

A great question came up recently in discussion with one of First Round's CEOs: how much equity should I allocate for hiring my next round of employees? For a company that has raised a first institutional round of capital, this question is important not only when making competitive job offers, but also when calculating what size option pool the company will need before raising the next round of capital.

Stock option comparables are hard to come by, so I thought I should post what I dug up for our CEO. Here's the best quick and dirty breakdown that I was able to find, courtesy of Venture Hacks - the ranges are from two years ago, but they still seem about right given what I see in the range of cap tables hitting my desk.

"To allocate the option pool from the hiring plan, use these current ranges for option grants in Silicon Valley:

Title Range (%)

• CEO 5 - 10
• COO 2 - 5
• VP 1 - 2
• Independent Board Member 1
• Director 0.4 - 1.25
• Lead Engineer 0.5 - 1
• 5+ years experience Engineer 0.33 - 0.66
• Manager or Junior Engineer 0.2 - 0.33

"These are rough ranges – not bell curves – for new hires once a company has raised its Series A. Option grants go down as the company gets closer to its Series B, starts making money, and otherwise reduces risk.

"The top end of these ranges are for proven elite contributors. Most option grants are near the bottom of the ranges. Many factors affect option allocations including the quality of the existing team, the size of the opportunity, and the experience of the new hire."

If you'd like to get more precise information on total compensation (both cash and equity, by specific title), you can get very robust data from the Radford technical job survey. Survey data is free in exchange for participating in the survey, so you can't beat the cost if you're on a tight budget. If I remember correctly from my own founder days, their 'small company' compensation ranges were appropriate for 25+ employees but a little off-market for a seed company. So if you get hold of a Radford survey, you may want to swing some comp from the cash to the equity side if your startup is still seed-stage.

If anyone else has good comparables to share, please do post them in the comments.

First Round Capital Office Hours Comes to...Our Office

Yes, it's true - for the first time, First Round Capital Office Hours will actually be held in our offices. Our San Francisco doors are open and entrepreneurs are welcome to drop on by for a few minutes of conversation. The entire First Round Capital investment team will participate, and Josh, Howard, Chris, Rob, Kent, and I will all be available for micro-meetings.

The details:

Thursday, June 11, 2009
12:00 - 2:00 PM

First Round Capital
217 Second Street, Fifth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Walk-ins are welcome. That said, we'd like to load balance as is possible - so if Office Hours is a definite on your calendar, please do visit our sign-up sheet to let us know you're coming. Questions? E-mail us here.

Pocket Protectors Never Looked So Good: Women Who Tech

I just wanted to share news of what may be the largest, longest online conference call ever: the Women Who Tech telesummit on May 12th, 2009. Conference organizers have put together an agenda that includes:

•    Launching Your Own Startup
•    Women and Open Source
•    Breaking Through the Digital Ceiling
•    Tech Marketing in a Recession
•    Social Networks and Diversity Barriers
•    ROI of Social Networking

Panelists will include Joan Blades of MoveOn and Moms Rising, Allison Fine of Personal Democracy Forum, Shireen Mitchell of Digital Sistas, Amy Muller of Get Satisfaction, Lynne D Johnson of Fast Company, Charlene Li, Holly Ross of NTEN, Rashmi Sinha of SlideShare, and Lisa Stone of BlogHer.

For more information, visit womenwhotech.com, and feel free to drop by a live afterparty that evening if you're in Washington, DC, NYC, San Francisco, or London.

If Sigmund Freud and Gautama Buddha Ran Marketing: Six Simple Rules for Campaigning

Mark Rovner and Katya Andresen shared an unusual take on online outreach at today’s Nonprofit Technology Conference: what can Freud and Buddha teach us about marketing communications? Together, Rovner and Andresen came up with these six simple rules for campaigning:

1. Crap offline is still crap online. ‘If you put crap on Twitter, it won’t smell any better.’ Really no need to elaborate further on this point.
2. Your audience is not an audience. Recognize that they’re people, and find common ground if you want them to respond to your call to action. Both Microsoft and Brian Solis have articulated this quite nicely. Net-net: If you don’t need a conversation, then don’t use social media. If you don’t want a shallow relationship, then don’t use broadcast media.
3. Convey a humbling vision. Or in Buddhist terms, ‘give profit and gain to others, take the loss upon yourself.’ Can you share credit with your supporters and clients? Put the members of your community – your customers and clients – at the center of your marketing story.
4. Emotions rule. Why do technologists suck at storytelling? Stories are fundamentally emotional, and technologists work in a left-brain community. (I must admit, I was surprised to come up 'right-brain' in the controversial spinning dancer test, though the Hemispheric Dominance quiz claims I'm split-brain.) But overcome your fear of feeling - the consumer’s right brain decides, while the left brain justifies decisions. And for nonprofits, ‘emotion powers the fundraising engine.’ By telling stories with emotional (rather than statistical) impact, you’ll be more likely to connect with your supporters.
5. Humor is a basic human need. Have you noticed how easily humor can form a personal connection? Try using humor in your next campaign...but make sure to test it out on a funny person before springing your attempt on the general public. There’s a lot to be gained by making people laugh. And even if humor isn’t a fit for you, it’s still a good idea to lighten up in your campaigns. 'If you can’t be hilarious, be hopeful.' Fear messaging only works if there’s a clear and simple solution being offered. Intractable problems are paralyzing.
6. Keep it simple. Lots of choices + too much noise = paralysis. No matter how many balls (marketing messages) you throw at someone, they will still just catch one...or if you throw too many, they’ll catch none. If you want someone to catch multiple balls, try throwing them one at a time.