Roberto Saint Malo - Adara / Kibo Ventures

Last session we had Roberto Saint Malo, a VC of Kibo Ventures. Roberto explained us what usually a VC looks in a entrepreneur. In my view he did not say anything that was not already mentioned in other sessions or classes but it was good to hear directly from a VC.

So what makes an entrepreneur shine? Among all characteristics required the most important are: track record, competence, commitment, team leader. Even though having all those characteristic helps, Roberto told us that rarely an entrepreneur is able to excel all those requirements. They are still human beings!

Remember that also the entrepreneurs should choose their VCs

Professionality is required also on the other side of the river. You will easily notice the difference between an experienced VC that has invested many times and a brand new one without experience in dealing with entrepreneurs. We know well that a VC might require a big chunk of the shares or might be very pushy in expressing his ideas. As such, the choice of a VC might heavily influence the likelihood of success.

Having a lot of money financed is not always good

Between a few thousands bucks and a multi millionaire startup I would probably choose the latter. However, Roberto highlighted the importance of expectations. Since nobody expects big things from a poor startup, probably the entrepreneur would enjoy a lot of freedom in developing his ideas. On the other hand, having $20 Million on the company's bank account would force the entrepreneur to manage a bunch of pushy stakeholders.

Be there very early, act as co-founder

It is not true that all VCs want to have an already established and profitable company. The highest value creation is in the early stage. As such VCs look also in co-founding the company together with an entrepreneur that just has an idea. Of course this does not mean that VCs are willing to throw money out of the window just for the sake of co-founding. You've got to convince our VC!

The magic is in the execution

This is the most redundant concept in this course. It is good that also VCs believe so. You don't really need to reinvent the wheel every time. VCs will appreciate if you take an already used model and decide to copy and improve it. The most important thing is in the way you implement your idea. Sometimes this is even more important that the idea itself.

Make a proof of concept

Having a good idea is not enough. You need to proof that this idea may work. Once you have the result of your proof of concept it will be much easier to convince your VC.

Set short term targets

VCs like to see clear objectives in the short term. This is in line with their investment strategy. Alternatively give them an easy way out. Usually if the idea is not working after a short period of time investors want to leave and invest in other ideas. If you give them an exit strategy they might be more willing to invest on yours.

Try to impress in every single detail

Starting from the business plan document, try to take care of every single detail. Everything you do says something about your way to implement things.

Thank you Roberto for your insights. Hopefully following your suggestions it will be easier to attract good investors.