4.0
3.7 
2.8 
2.8 
3.4 Simply "Shrinking" the Traditional VC Model Does Not Work
Fund: Charles River Ventures
Posted by goodform on 2007-05-18
When it comes to Seed Level Funding, The Problem is:
1) The Seed Level Funding pool is shrinking (+/- $500K)
2) Sourcing of Seed Level Candidates is haphazard at best.
3) Seed Level Funding is not economical in terms of ROI, Time, Overhead and Personnel Costs for Traditional VC Firms
4) The Seed Level Funding process is viewed by Funding Candidates as "Cautious" at best and "Adversarial" at worst - The Candidates genuflect and the VCs pontificate
5) After-Funding oversight of the Candidate is not consistent or effective
The Solution is Found in The Following Assumptions:
1) Funding a Candidate to Viability is getting less expensive - open source software, cheaper hardware, ASP-based services to handle back office processes, Web 2.0 buzz . . . .
2) The Funding Candidate is the "Customer" - simply spending less per investment while still maintaining the passive VC investment model will not work. Understand the Customer. Live in the Customer's World.
3) Seed Organizations want their Customers to succeed - incubators, local tech organizations, tech transfers, universities
There is a Solution to the Problem / Opportunity of Seed Level Investing - The START Fund
PRIVATE: Members Only