(1/5) The VC industry has the highest level of dry powder after a record breaking fundraising season and a summer slowdown in deal pace. There is ~$290 B in dry powder available for startups in VC funds - when will the funding floodgates open? (2/5) Dry powder is a strong indicator of future pace - the numbers suggest that the VC industry will have only a modest slowdown this year and will see record levels of investment in 2023 and 2024. When the floodgates open, there will be a tidal wave of new capital for startups:

(1/4) The NBA finals begin tonight - it was only a few months ago that the league almost cancelled the entire season. With ~$1 B at stake, the "NBA Bubble" should be recognized as one of the fastest and most successful digital transformations in sports:

decibel.vc/content/krishn… (2/4) Hundreds of health + tech vendors, startups, and onsite + remote staff brought the Bubble online in ~100 days. Players had wearable devices for contact tracing and bio signals - analytical models were built to create an early warning system for COVID based on health data

(1/4) Timing can be everything in a transformational acquisition - and you have to give @Microsoft credit where it is due. Their last major social media acquisition of @LinkedIn back in 2016 was spectacularly timed and is one of the best performing M&A deals of the past decade: (2/4) Microsoft paid $26 B for LinkedIn in June 2016 - then a ~50% premium over the market price. But timing could not have been better - LinkedIn's valuation had fallen from ~$33 B in late 2015, to ~$14 B in 2016 in an unexplainable software selloff. They were at a cyclical low:

Today we go live w/ @Cisco's head of M&A and Investments @didemoto to dispel the myths of getting acquired. We'll get specific on the DO's and DON'Ts in M&A and how to create long term exit options for your startup.

Join us TODAY at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET: bit.ly/2ZzftwS First Question - is it appropriate to reach out to corporate development as a founder?

Or is conventional wisdom “don’t call us, we’ll call you”????

Many founders hope to be acquired someday. But they are coached not to focus on exit and believe “companies are bought and not sold”

This is a myth - many startups use corp dev playbooks to ensure they are close to buyers

When in doubt, be proactive. Hope is not a strategy Myth #2 in M&A - startups are told it is “too early” to talk to acquirers. In a promising company it is often the case that it is too early to sell. But relationship building with buyers takes time. Many regret waiting until too late in the game to start the process

(1/4) We're excited to announce that @otawakol, founder of Voicea (acq @Cisco) and Bluekai (acq Oracle) has joined @DecibelVC as a Founder Advisor. Omar has built startups across three decades and is an incredible resource for founders in today's world:

decibel.vc/the-blast/2020… (2/4) Some words of wisdom for founders:

"Entrepreneurship can be like surfing. Surfers don’t create waves – they learn how to listen to, read, and ride their power. There is a natural humility that comes from respecting where a wave comes from and where it may go"

(1/5) Many founders have asked whether the VC industry will fund companies through the downturn. There is widespread fear that the "dry powder" will run out. We ran the numbers and calculated there is currently ~$150 B available to invest from VC funds:

link.medium.com/ungcQQR8x5 (2/5) For companies that are already VC backed, there is ~$76 B in "reserves", which is capital earmarked to support companies that are already in VC portfolios. This is a surprisingly large number - more than half of the dry powder in the industry is for follow-on investments

If you are new to tumbling markets, let me give you a short primer:

It will feel like the world is coming to an end until @WarrenBuffett starts buying

Then everyone will know it’s OK to start buying again

Warren, we’re all waiting... This market needs someone to restore confidence - @WarrenBuffett is one of the few who can step up. He has done it before

Many software companies try to get access to C-level buyers. But often founders could be more effective in how they do so at early stages. We published a “How to Sell to the CIO” guide for technical founders with help from @DecibelVC CIO mentors: (I) Listen to feedback first before trying to sell your product - try to build a long term relationship

Great time at our “Founders Helping Founders” dinner at the #rsaconference celebrating the 10 year history of @duosec with founders @dugsong and @jonoberheide. Similar to most startups, they had many twist and turns before ultimately being acquired for $2.35 billion. Best quotes: “People ask me what we did right and wrong in the first three years. The honest answer is I don’t really remember there were so many iterations. I think all we really mastered was how to iterate” (@dugsong)

Has anyone seen a great post-mortem on the last wave of climate tech investing from 2002-2012? I feel there are many lessons learned that should be handed on to the next generation of founders. This time around can and should be different Some observations:

(I) climate tech has a complex regulatory ecosystem - one of your first hires should have this expertise

(II) the “buyer” of climate tech was not well understood - you need govt, utilities, and banks to work together. This takes time and money

I was asked to give a talk to a team of execs driving internal innovation in a large Fortune 100 company. I am often asked why startups have natural advantages at creating new products, and what large companies can learn from them. Some unique observations about startups: (I) Speed - never underestimate the power of small groups. It is easier to make fast and agile decisions when there are fewer people on a team, and iteration is critical in new product development

What were the most important tech innovations to launch in the past decade? The prior decade gave us:

cloud computing (Amazon,2006)
social networks (Facebook,2006)
smartphones (Apple,2007)
streaming TV (Netflix,2007)
electric cars (Tesla,2008)

What can we add from the 10’s? Sharing economy may be argued also started in prior decade in 2009, but I think they belong in this decade:

Home Sharing (AirBnB,2010)
Ride Sharing (Uber,2011)

We hosted a great group of entrepreneurs @DecibelVC last night and had @duosec founders @dugsong and @Jono
tell their founding story. After big exits, people forget that the early years of every successful start-ups are full of twists and turns - some surprises in their story: (I) they did not initially have an idea for their company when they started back in 2009

(II) they went to talk to customers first before coming up with their initial product (mobile two factor authentication). They didn’t love the idea but kept hearing the need from friends

1/ The effects of gender imbalance in the VC industry have been well documented. Recent data suggests women represent just 9% of the VC industry, and there are 16x more male founded startups than female founded startups backed by VCs 2/ Many studies have highlighted the historic implicit bias against female entrepreneurs from VCs. But I was excited to learn this past week from Professor Ilya Strebulaev @StanfordGSB that there is new data to suggest behavior is changing