Vuoi fare il Venture Capitalist? Ecco che CV devi avere

ted job inteview

Investire in startup, finanziare l’innovazione, avere a che fare con l’entusiasmo degli imprenditori, osservare e cercare di capire dove va il futuro è senza dubbio un lavoro affascinante. Purtroppo, però, trovare un posto di lavoro nel Venture Capital non è impresa semplice visto il numero esiguo di operatori in Italia. C’è da dire, però, che l’industria dovrà per forza svilupparsi in quanto siamo tra i più arretrati in Europa e, verosimilmente, potrà esserci un maggior numero di posizioni aperte nel futuro. Come dunque possono prepararsi i ragazzi di oggi per essere i venture capitalist di domani?

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Specific Features of Internet Startup

The Internet has facilitated the creation of new startups with better measurement, greater customisation, rapid innovation and more awareness of market design. By analysing Internet markets in relation to technologies (often the source of the creation of new markets), distinctive characteristics can be noted in internet startups. These are specific features that distinguish them from traditional markets and can be summarised as the following:

  • Scalability (in terms of incremental returns);
  • Customisation (understood as matching users with opportunities);
  • Potential for Innovation (in terms of new products, new BMs etc.);
  • Measurability.

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Executive Summary Template for Startups

SleepingOfficeWorker

A well done executive summary cannot miss in your investor deck. What I prefer is a one page with all the main info summarized with an appealing design. Being really brief is the key: investors receive tons of docs from startups and they don’t want to read too much to understand what you do, so less is better. Also a good design is important because it can make your info more readable and keep your reader awake. (more…)

Customer Development for Startups

Market Validation

Startups I meet are sometimes too much focused on how much their idea is brilliant, not understanding that market validation gives always unexpected results. Moreover the majority of professional investors in Italy invest only when startups reach metrics showing a positive trend. To achieve this result I always suggest startups to study the Customer Development methodology. (more…)

How to start a Multi-sided Platform

Chicken egg dilemma in multi-sided platforms

Chicken egg dilemma in multi-sided platforms

Many investment decks I receive every day are from startups that aims to create multi-sided platforms. This kind of venture is especially difficult because the founders have to struggle with the well-known chicken and egg problem typical of these platforms. Entrepreneurs need what is called critical mass: a sufficient number of customers on both sides, and in the right proportions, in order to guarantee satisfactory value for both clusters of users and to achieve sustainable growth of the platform. If the critical mass is not reached in acceptable time the platform will implode.

So the main question when starting a multi-sided platform is how and when to gather the various groups of users that the platform aims to bring together. When I collaborated with Prof. Cellini of LUISS University in the writing of the book Internet Economics, we analyzed the multi-sided platforms as a distinctive case of internet economy and some useful insights for startups can be extrapolated. (more…)

Come scegliere l’Advisor e vivere felici e contenti

Advisor

Gli advisor sono persone che hanno network, reputazione, grandi capacità e importanti esperienze lavorative. Possono essere molto utili ma a volte possono rivelarsi inadeguati o il rapporto con loro può non funzionare. Ecco qualche semplice consiglio per la scelta giusta dell’advisor e per vivere insieme felici e contenti.

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6 trucchi per conquistare un investitore

The-Wolf-of-Wall-Street

Quando si raccolgono soldi da un investitore professionale avere un buon prodotto, le metriche giuste e un buon piano è fondamentale, ma non è tutto. Altrettanto importanti sono gli aspetti psicologici delle persone, la fiducia che bisogna creare e l’empatia. Qui di seguito 6 aspetti sui quali è fondamentale non sbagliare!

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