Courtesy Fred Wilson, this chart and the data below (via Mark Suster)…
…using the math I laid out yesterday (roughly 1,000 startups funded each year by VCs), this means that on average between 1% and 3% of venture funded startups get to an IPO.
To recap, 1-3% get to an IPO and 5-10% get to an M&A exit over $100mm. So 85-95% of all venture backed startups will either fail or exit below $100mm.
…in which I break my self-imposed period of silence. I have a very good reason. I am very pleased and excited to now be formally involved in an extraordinary enterprise in India: Vindhya. Vindhya is extraordinary because:
…almost 95% of its staff of 200 youngsters comprises differently-abled and physically challenged youngsters
Read more about them in this post on my personal blog...and wish us luck in our bold plans for the future.
First the great piece of news: Elements Akademia got included in Gen Next India’s Hottest Start-ups (just 16 companies!):
Click here to read Elements’ story
…and here is the article (strong words but very thought-provoking): How I Judge Investors.
Presented some slides on building teams to a room-full of very keen and enthusiastic audience at the TiE Institute session last week at London Business School on “Leading High Performance Teams“..
I tremendously enjoyed Adam’s slides and his exercises…Will share my own slides on this post later…
Christian Chabot has a timely – and sobering reminder on IPO Dashboards re. how long it takes for a start-up to achieve meaningful revenues at scale (Hat Tip: Guy Kawasaki).
As he says:
…growth conversations between VCs and management teams often cause angst. One of the reasons is that people from both groups tend to have unsubstantiated beliefs about how long it takes to build an important company.
Maybe these conversations would be easier if we simply knew how long it takes to build a successful company?
Dear All: For those of you who may not already know, I am leaving Amadeus at the end of eight long years – of what has been an amazingly rich and educative experience.
I am leaving to spend more time in (and on) India and a few personal passions.
I will continue to scout for interesting seed and very early-stage investment opportunities in India but expect to spend less time on Venture Capital in general.
I have been very fortunate to experience, first-hand, the boom and the bust in this industry…
It has been a true learning experience – and a humbling one too.
I expect to spend progressively less time on this blog…so do not be surprised if you don’t hear from me over long stretches of time. If you are really curious to know what I am up to (or just want to email a “Hello”), pl. leave a comment here and I shall try and get back to you.
Here is wishing all of you the very best in your endeavours – now and in the future.
