如何博得風(fēng)投大鱷的青睞
????俗語(yǔ)云,創(chuàng)意多得很,但要把創(chuàng)意轉(zhuǎn)化成一家公司是另一碼事。在《財(cái)富》(Fortune)雜志“下一代最有影響力女性峰會(huì)”上,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人艾琳?李(音譯)及旅游網(wǎng)站Peek.com創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官盧茲瓦納?巴希爾暢談了她們的融資訣竅,這兩位女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者均指出,融資依然是擺在女性創(chuàng)業(yè)者面前的一道難題。 ????艾琳?李是投資公司牛仔風(fēng)投(Cowboy Ventures)的創(chuàng)始人兼凱鵬華盈風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司(Kleiner Perkins)的戰(zhàn)略顧問。而巴希爾公司的投資者中,包括谷歌公司(Google)的埃里克?施密特和移動(dòng)支付公司Square的杰克?多西這兩位大人物。 ????李解釋說,現(xiàn)在的投資界已經(jīng)和15年前截然不同,當(dāng)時(shí)大多數(shù)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的團(tuán)隊(duì)都是由博士和業(yè)界資深人士組成。而現(xiàn)在,憑借可汗學(xué)院(Khan Academy)等在線課堂提供的編程速成課程,幾乎是任何人都能設(shè)計(jì)出一款應(yīng)用程序。“這是件很振奮人心的事情,”她說,“但同時(shí)也加劇了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)?!?/p> ????雖然創(chuàng)業(yè)環(huán)境取得了如此長(zhǎng)足的進(jìn)步,但涌現(xiàn)的女性企業(yè)家依然寥寥可數(shù)。李領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了一項(xiàng)調(diào)查,研究一家企業(yè)是如何變成擁有數(shù)十億美元資產(chǎn)的成功企業(yè)的。在她列舉的13家企業(yè)中,包括Facebook在內(nèi),沒有一家是由女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的。但她也提到,情況正在發(fā)生變化——在之后的排名中,開始有數(shù)名女性企業(yè)家嶄露頭角。 ????以下是巴希爾與李在融資方面的幾點(diǎn)心得: ????1. 建立人脈 ????投資者的戒備心都比較重。只要能和他們當(dāng)中的一個(gè)人建立關(guān)系,其他人就會(huì)愿意接近你。我曾經(jīng)在一家融資公司工作過,那些現(xiàn)成的客戶關(guān)系讓我有機(jī)會(huì)走進(jìn)了這個(gè)圈子。 ????——盧茲瓦納?巴希爾 ????2. 積極性 ????投資者希望看到創(chuàng)業(yè)者的積極性。類似于“首席執(zhí)行官有沒有能力把事情辦成呢?” ????——艾琳?李 ????3. 團(tuán)隊(duì)協(xié)作 ????聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人本身?yè)碛屑夹g(shù)背景當(dāng)然能發(fā)揮一定作用,但我們需要的是一個(gè)綜合了各種不同技能的復(fù)合型團(tuán)隊(duì),而不是把所有的工作都堆到一個(gè)人的身上。 ????——艾琳?李 ????4. 自信心 ????女性對(duì)于自己想要的東西,往往會(huì)表現(xiàn)得更加矜持。這會(huì)讓風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人拿她們與那些對(duì)于表達(dá)想法從不顧忌的男性創(chuàng)業(yè)者相比較。自信正是評(píng)估的指標(biāo)之一,擁有自信的人會(huì)讓人們覺得他的技能也要?jiǎng)儆谒?。作為女性?chuàng)業(yè)者,我們必須格外自信,表現(xiàn)得更加積極進(jìn)取。我們?yōu)橥顿Y者勾勒的前景,不能僅僅囿于幾個(gè)億的格局,而應(yīng)該是幾十個(gè)億。 ????——盧茲瓦納?巴希爾 (財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) ????譯者:南風(fēng) ????審校:薄錦 |
????There’s an old saying that ideas are ten a penny, but turning an idea into a company is a different matter all together. At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Generation Summit, venture capitalist Aileen Lee and Ruzwana Bashir, founder and CEO of travel site Peek.com unpacked their tips for raising capital, which they say is still a stumbling block for women. ????Lee is the founder of investing firm Cowboy Ventures, as well as a strategic advisor for Kleiner Perkins. Bashir’s company boasts Google’s GOOG -0.46% Eric Schmidt and Jack Dorsey of Square among its investors. ????Lee explained that today’s investing world has changed from 15 years ago where most start-up teams were made up of Ph.D.s and industry veterans. Today, thanks to coding crash courses like Khan Academy, almost anyone can design an app. “It’s exciting,” she says, “but also much more competitive.” ????Despite these strides, women entrepreneurs are still rare. Lee lead a study to find out what makes aa company a billion dollar hit. Of the 13 she listed, which include the likes of Facebook FB -0.77% , none were led by women. However, she said, things are changing: the next list has a few women on the name. ????Here are Bashir and Lee’s takeaways on raising capital: ????1. Build relationships ????Investors are gun shy. Get one name and everyone else wants to join. I had experience working at company that raised capital, those existing relationships gave me an in. ????-Ruzwana Bashir ????2. Hustle ????Investors look for hustle. It’s about, “Does the CEO have the ability to make things happen?” ????-Aileen Lee ????3. Teamwork ????It’s helpful to have a co-founder with a tech background, but we look to back teams where there’s a combination of skills, instead of having everything in one person. ????-Aileen Lee ????4. Confidence ????Women tend to be more modest about what they’re claiming. VCs then compare them to male entrepreneurs who aren’t as cautious about what they are willing to say. There’s a confidence delta, and people think it means a difference in skills. As women we need to be extra assertive, more aggressive than we would otherwise be. The vision we have to paint is not just hundreds of millions but billions of dollars. ????-Ruzwana Bashir |