Event Report: Show Me The Money
Rory Cellan-Jones introduced the Show Me The Money event on Tuesday night with effusive gratitude for the scorching summer temperatures, England’s Ashes triumph, Goldman’s bonuses and the fact that VCs are throwing money at entrepreneurs again.
Of course only one of those statements is true – and it isn’t the one about VC’s throwing money around, but Goldman bankers have been spotted looking smug of late.
In fact, Nic Brisbourne of DFJ Esprit, who opened for the panel said that VC investment in Q1 was down to 114m from around 200m the same quarter the previous year. His analysis of the current situation wasn’t all doom and gloom however. He reckoned that the ecommerce growth story is still strong but anyone with a revenue model dependent on advertising would struggle to raise money in the current market. Overall things are still happening ‘but for sure, these are not heady days’ he concluded.
Michael Birch pointed out that raising money is only one factor in being a successful entrepreneur and warned against allowing it to become too much of a focus of time and energy. ‘No-one would give me money before the bubble burst, and no-one would give me money afterwards,’ he said. Now that he is part angel funder, part VC through PROfounders Capital, he did concede that a tier-one VC could bring credibility and connections as well as cash.
Andreas Lazar of Allen & Co., Bebo sale advisor, spoke up for traditional values like patience. He cited the fact that it took his firm 85 years of hand-wringing before deciding to open another office outside of New York City, so waiting out the downturn a couple of years to grow the business in Europe was just fine. He pointed out that although the recession we are currently experiencing is much more fundamental than the dot com bubble burst of 2000, A-list names like Accel and Index Ventures had both raised funds in the last 6 months, successfully attracting money from institutions.
Spurred on by Rory, the panel made some key observations for the benefit of the entrepreneurs in the room:
• Money from the right kind of connected VC will bring commercial opportunities beyond the capital investment to help your company grow. These value-adds are even more beneficial in a downturn.
• Have a business model that you can explain easily in terms of how you will make money.
• If you can’t raise VC money, focus on growth and survival instead, you can’t monetise zero traffic.
• When it’s time to sell, introducing a competitive dynamic into the process helps to create value.
In conclusion the panel were asked for their ‘next big thing’ and also to reflect on which internet business they would resurrect among those failures that were simply too far ahead of the market. Michael Birch singled out music as the sector he’s most excited about mentioning Glasshouse’s next guests, Spotify, as the ones to watch. Andreas pointed to virtual goods like Playfish and the gold in World of Warcraft as innovative money spinners, whilst Nick praised Just Giving for providing a useful service and, at the same time, being a force for good.
For a flavour of the evening, watch the clips below
Photos – a taste of the evening!
Press and blogs review
People in Glasshouses
The Naked CTO
Tech Crunch
Smarta
Introductions
Many of you have contacted us asking to be introduced to others who attended the event. We always respect member confidentiality, and never hand out details of guests without their express permission, but we would be delighted to forward emails or introductions on your behalf. To that end, please let us know if you would like help in making contact with a fellow guest.
We hope that you enjoyed the evening and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.
We value diversity of thought, business and background, and believe there's a wealth of experience and contacts that can be shared across all industries. Most of all, we aim to encourage, stimulate and promote those with an entrepreneurial passion who want to shape their own future.
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Companies on the guest list included:
121movies, Alfabeats, Ardent, Athena Advisors, Atomico Ventures, Audioboo, Bet4Masti, BookingBug, Broadsight, Bryan Garnier & Co., Busara, C Four Limited, Carderoo, cleverTV, Clickstream Technologies, Climate Capital Ltd, Clore Leadership Programme, Coax Collective, Cognitive Match, Coolroom Limited, CoreObjects, Cvseeme.com, Digital Retail Solutions, Dilettante Music Limited, Dystribute.com, Dystribute.tv, eBay, Eden Development, Enerizon Partners, Ephor Technologies, Ephor Technologies, Eton Digital Limited, Extechnology, Eyetoeye Digital, Falter Ltd, Fasken Martineau, Fincision, Findababysitter.com, Fintricity, Firebox.com, First Capital, FootballUnited.com Ltd, Fraser Finance, Fubra, Fully Green Ltd, Gamesbrief, Girl Meets Dress, Global Sustainability Challenge, Go4Venture Advisers LLP, Google, Growth Company CFO, Gymboo.com, HashBangTV, Hellman & Friedman, Horsesmouth.co.uk CIC, IAC, icanplayit.com, Insead, IntelliCap Solutions, Jargon Public Relations, Joost, Last Mile Communications Ltd, Liquid Media, Loaded Limited, Loaded Hd, London Business School, Lumen Film & Media Limited, Maison Ltd, MaxBips, MixMatchMe, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, Mosaic, MVP, nDreams Ltd, Net Communities Ltd, New Cavendish Communications, Nickelodeon UK Ltd, Oxford Capital Partners, QinetiQ, Quick.tv, Quickstart Global, Quiet Riots, Quinto Investments, Quirk, Quotes2Me Ltd, Reevoo, Renesola, Rent Your Rocks, Result, RSA Films Ltd, Scrmblr, Seraphim Capital, ServiceMagic Europe, Sheridan Evans, Smokerlife, Soccer Millionaire, Solarcentury, Spark Ventures, Spotify, Stealth Startup, StegoStik Ltd, StorySearch Limited, Stravencon Ltd., Struq, Teachable.net, Technovate, The All In Group Ltd, The Big Charity Shop, The Business Voice (BVo), The Supper Club, Thebluedoor, Think, Think Inc, TouchLocal, Touchnote, University of Oxford, University of Westminster, Vestra Wealth, VingoTV, Vivedia, Wellington Partners Ltd, WEXO (Work Experience Online), WISH Information & Communication Technologies, wishli.st., Yahoo, Zap Corporation LTD, Zkatter, Zookel