StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Sep 25, 2015 · 20m · 20vc

FF 014: Making Great Founders, Idea Creation and The First 100 Days Of A Startup with Alice Bentinck, Co-Founder @ Entrepreneur First

Alice Bentinck · 13m spoken Harry Stebbings · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of Founders Friday on The 20 Minute VC, host Terry Stebbings interviews Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, on building tech startups from scratch. Bentinck shares actionable insights on selecting co-founders, executing during the first 100 days, and leveraging EF's talent-first accelerator model.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 26.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Harry as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.0 Harry pushing back 1.5
05100:0010:0020:001:51–4:25 · Harry as informed peer 1/10 Guest Welcome and Origin of Entrepreneur First Harry welcomes Alice and asks standard broad introductory questions regarding her background and the founding story of Entrepreneur First. Alice provides a smooth overview of her time at McKinsey and the core thesis behind EF.4:26–8:04 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Role of Non-Technical Founders at Entrepreneur First Harry asks focused follow-up questions about whether non-technical founders are accepted into EF. Alice clarifies that 90% of cohorts are technical, explaining that non-technical founders must possess deep domain expertise or a strong growth mindset.8:04–11:08 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Co-founder Matching and Equity Distribution Harry asks about co-founder networking and whether equity should always be split 50-50. Alice reframes common misconceptions about co-founder dating and explains that equity must be forward-looking based on future commitment rather than past contributions.11:08–13:41 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Focusing the First 100 Days of a Startup Harry introduces tactical concepts such as the 80/20 rule and asks whether startups should use a spray-and-pray approach or a niche target for feedback. Alice advises against broad feedback and notes that friendly advice from family can be dangerous.13:41–15:59 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Friends & Family Funding and Demo Day Preparation Harry pushes with a direct question on whether Alice agrees with friends and family funding rounds. Alice cautions against risking family savings and explains that pitch practice is secondary to building core business traction before demo day.16:00–19:50 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Personal Challenges in Growing Entrepreneur First Alice reflects on early skepticism toward EF and shares updates during the quickfire round. Harry asks a sharp clarifying question about whether their new fund is for EF corporate scaling or direct portfolio deployment.1:51–4:25 · Guest teaching 2/10 Guest Welcome and Origin of Entrepreneur First Harry welcomes Alice and asks standard broad introductory questions regarding her background and the founding story of Entrepreneur First. Alice provides a smooth overview of her time at McKinsey and the core thesis behind EF.4:26–8:04 · Guest teaching 3/10 Role of Non-Technical Founders at Entrepreneur First Harry asks focused follow-up questions about whether non-technical founders are accepted into EF. Alice clarifies that 90% of cohorts are technical, explaining that non-technical founders must possess deep domain expertise or a strong growth mindset.8:04–11:08 · Guest teaching 4/10 Co-founder Matching and Equity Distribution Harry asks about co-founder networking and whether equity should always be split 50-50. Alice reframes common misconceptions about co-founder dating and explains that equity must be forward-looking based on future commitment rather than past contributions.11:08–13:41 · Guest teaching 3/10 Focusing the First 100 Days of a Startup Harry introduces tactical concepts such as the 80/20 rule and asks whether startups should use a spray-and-pray approach or a niche target for feedback. Alice advises against broad feedback and notes that friendly advice from family can be dangerous.13:41–15:59 · Guest teaching 3/10 Friends & Family Funding and Demo Day Preparation Harry pushes with a direct question on whether Alice agrees with friends and family funding rounds. Alice cautions against risking family savings and explains that pitch practice is secondary to building core business traction before demo day.16:00–19:50 · Guest teaching 2/10 Personal Challenges in Growing Entrepreneur First Alice reflects on early skepticism toward EF and shares updates during the quickfire round. Harry asks a sharp clarifying question about whether their new fund is for EF corporate scaling or direct portfolio deployment.1:51–4:25 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Guest Welcome and Origin of Entrepreneur First Harry welcomes Alice and asks standard broad introductory questions regarding her background and the founding story of Entrepreneur First. Alice provides a smooth overview of her time at McKinsey and the core thesis behind EF.4:26–8:04 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Role of Non-Technical Founders at Entrepreneur First Harry asks focused follow-up questions about whether non-technical founders are accepted into EF. Alice clarifies that 90% of cohorts are technical, explaining that non-technical founders must possess deep domain expertise or a strong growth mindset.8:04–11:08 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Co-founder Matching and Equity Distribution Harry asks about co-founder networking and whether equity should always be split 50-50. Alice reframes common misconceptions about co-founder dating and explains that equity must be forward-looking based on future commitment rather than past contributions.11:08–13:41 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Focusing the First 100 Days of a Startup Harry introduces tactical concepts such as the 80/20 rule and asks whether startups should use a spray-and-pray approach or a niche target for feedback. Alice advises against broad feedback and notes that friendly advice from family can be dangerous.13:41–15:59 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Friends & Family Funding and Demo Day Preparation Harry pushes with a direct question on whether Alice agrees with friends and family funding rounds. Alice cautions against risking family savings and explains that pitch practice is secondary to building core business traction before demo day.16:00–19:50 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Personal Challenges in Growing Entrepreneur First Alice reflects on early skepticism toward EF and shares updates during the quickfire round. Harry asks a sharp clarifying question about whether their new fund is for EF corporate scaling or direct portfolio deployment.1:51–4:25 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Guest Welcome and Origin of Entrepreneur First Harry welcomes Alice and asks standard broad introductory questions regarding her background and the founding story of Entrepreneur First. Alice provides a smooth overview of her time at McKinsey and the core thesis behind EF.4:26–8:04 · Harry pushing back 2/10 Role of Non-Technical Founders at Entrepreneur First Harry asks focused follow-up questions about whether non-technical founders are accepted into EF. Alice clarifies that 90% of cohorts are technical, explaining that non-technical founders must possess deep domain expertise or a strong growth mindset.8:04–11:08 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Co-founder Matching and Equity Distribution Harry asks about co-founder networking and whether equity should always be split 50-50. Alice reframes common misconceptions about co-founder dating and explains that equity must be forward-looking based on future commitment rather than past contributions.11:08–13:41 · Harry pushing back 2/10 Focusing the First 100 Days of a Startup Harry introduces tactical concepts such as the 80/20 rule and asks whether startups should use a spray-and-pray approach or a niche target for feedback. Alice advises against broad feedback and notes that friendly advice from family can be dangerous.13:41–15:59 · Harry pushing back 3/10 Friends & Family Funding and Demo Day Preparation Harry pushes with a direct question on whether Alice agrees with friends and family funding rounds. Alice cautions against risking family savings and explains that pitch practice is secondary to building core business traction before demo day.16:00–19:50 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Personal Challenges in Growing Entrepreneur First Alice reflects on early skepticism toward EF and shares updates during the quickfire round. Harry asks a sharp clarifying question about whether their new fund is for EF corporate scaling or direct portfolio deployment.

speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Harry 72.3% · guest 27.7%0:00 · Harry 72.3% · guest 27.7%3:00 · Harry 10.8% · guest 89.2%3:00 · Harry 10.8% · guest 89.2%6:00 · Harry 16.4% · guest 83.6%6:00 · Harry 16.4% · guest 83.6%9:00 · Harry 13.4% · guest 86.6%9:00 · Harry 13.4% · guest 86.6%12:00 · Harry 16.3% · guest 83.7%12:00 · Harry 16.3% · guest 83.7%15:00 · Harry 12.5% · guest 87.5%15:00 · Harry 12.5% · guest 87.5%18:00 · Harry 45.6% · guest 54.4%18:00 · Harry 45.6% · guest 54.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:44 Pushback on Friends and Family Rounds

Alice reframes Harry's prompt on friends and family rounds, forcefully warning that taking uneducated capital like parents' pensions or house deposits is dangerous for early-stage founders.

 Hardest push from Harry ▶ 12:27 Challenging Product Testing Methodology

Harry interrupts to challenge product testing approaches, pressing Alice on whether startups should use a broad spray-and-pray method or focus on a narrow target audience.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:10 Reframing Equity Allocation Principles

Alice educates Harry on equity distribution logic, explaining that equity must be forward-looking for future execution rather than rewarding past ideas or early start dates.

 Harry holds his own ▶ 17:52 Probing Venture Fund Capital Mechanics

Harry shows fund management awareness by immediately intervening during the quickfire round to clarify whether the £8.5 million raise was operational capital or portfolio investment capital.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicHarry as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementHarry pushing backWhy
Guest Welcome and Origin of Entrepreneur First 1200 Harry welcomes Alice and asks standard broad introductory questions regarding her background and the founding story of Entrepreneur First. Alice provides a smooth overview of her time at McKinsey and the core thesis behind EF.
Role of Non-Technical Founders at Entrepreneur First 2312 Harry asks focused follow-up questions about whether non-technical founders are accepted into EF. Alice clarifies that 90% of cohorts are technical, explaining that non-technical founders must possess deep domain expertise or a strong growth mindset.
Co-founder Matching and Equity Distribution 2421 Harry asks about co-founder networking and whether equity should always be split 50-50. Alice reframes common misconceptions about co-founder dating and explains that equity must be forward-looking based on future commitment rather than past contributions.
Focusing the First 100 Days of a Startup 3312 Harry introduces tactical concepts such as the 80/20 rule and asks whether startups should use a spray-and-pray approach or a niche target for feedback. Alice advises against broad feedback and notes that friendly advice from family can be dangerous.
Friends & Family Funding and Demo Day Preparation 3323 Harry pushes with a direct question on whether Alice agrees with friends and family funding rounds. Alice cautions against risking family savings and explains that pitch practice is secondary to building core business traction before demo day.
Personal Challenges in Growing Entrepreneur First 2201 Alice reflects on early skepticism toward EF and shares updates during the quickfire round. Harry asks a sharp clarifying question about whether their new fund is for EF corporate scaling or direct portfolio deployment.

Statements from this episode (14)

Disclosure
Entrepreneur First selects individual founders rather than pre-formed teams
“At EF, what we focus on primarily is co-founders. So we don't select teams, pre-formed teams. We select individuals.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 3:21
Insight
Founders waste months trying to craft perfect startup ideas
“They assume that unless they have the perfect idea, there's no point in even getting started. And they spend months, if not years, trying to craft the perfect idea, which just doesn't exist.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 3:50
Insight
Non-technical founders err by ignoring their existing domain expertise
“I suppose one of our frustrations with non-technical founders is that often we find people who have years of expertise in a particular industry, but they're not interested in using that to build a startup, and I think that can be an error.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 5:33
Assertion Supported
90% of Entrepreneur First participants have deeply technical backgrounds
“So we're about 90% that come from deeply technical backgrounds, so either computer science or engineering backgrounds or we take a couple of self-taught developers as well.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 5:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almost all Entrepreneur First founders pivot their idea at least twice
“We find that pretty much everyone who joins EF changes their idea two or three times at least before they settle on what they actually want to work on.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 6:24
Insight
Mindset predicts founder success better than technical skill or intelligence
“Actually the biggest indicator of all much more important than intelligence or even technical ability is mindset and how they approach building a startup.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 7:01
Disclosure
Almost all Entrepreneur First co-founder equity splits are 50/50
“So pretty much all of ours are fifty-fifty.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 10:11
Insight
Startup equity splits should be forward-looking, not backward-looking
“One of the important things to remember about equity is that it should be forward-looking, not backward-looking. So just because you started the company two months earlier or six months earlier or that it was your idea in five, 10 years' time will mean very li…”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 10:13
Insight
Early founders should ignore company setup and focus purely on product
“Stop building a startup and just build a product. So instead of worrying about all of the paraphernalia that comes with building a startup, just focus on the product that you want to build and the customers that might want that product. So what that means is, …”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 11:47
Insight
Gathering product feedback from well-wishing friends and family is dangerous
“Getting a ton of random views from your friends, from your family, from well-wishers who don't actually who won't eventually be users of the product, but they just want to be kind and give you feedback. Friendship friends being kind and families being kind and…”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 13:19
Insight
Founders should avoid raising capital from friends and family
“As a founder, you want to be taking money from people who understand how startup investing works who understands the risk and how long it takes to get a return. And often friends and family isn't the best place to find that.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 14:27
Assertion Supported
Entrepreneur First starts pitch prep just one week before Demo Day
“We only start a week before our demo day at Entrepreneur First actually helping them get the pitches together.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 15:27
Insight
A founder's role fundamentally changes every six months
“When you found a startup, your job changes pretty dramatically every six months.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 16:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pre-idea investing was considered stupid when Entrepreneur First launched
“I think a lot of people thought that what we were doing was pretty, pretty stupid when we first started out. Investing in, in people pre-team and pre-idea was not the way it was done.”
Alice Bentinck Sep 25, 2015 ▶ 16:28
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 1,200 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more