Goldberg: Founders should not have to network their way to VCs
Alison Goldberg · 20VC: What Are The Big Questions Entrepreneurs & VCs Must Ask Corporate VCs, Why Corporate VCs Are Not Your Best Lead For Series A & Why The "You Have To Network Your Way To Us' Is Wrong with Allison Goldberg, Managing Director @ Time Warner Investments · Aug 23, 2017 · at 5:05
Alison Goldberg, Managing Director at Time Warner Investments, rejects the traditional venture capital requirement of needing warm introductions to pitch investors.
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“You know, we want to see a diversity of ideas from a diversity of different kinds of people, and so the whole concept of you have to network your way to us, I don't really believe in that.”
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More from Alison Goldberg
Goldberg: Corporate VCs are not ideal lead investors for Series A rounds
“So in my view, I don't think corporates are your best lead investor for a series A. If you do that, then I do think you run into those negative signaling issues when you go out to raise the series B, and people are asking sort of, why do you only have a strate…”
Goldberg: VCs should accept business plans sent via Twitter DMs
“And if people DM you or try to DM you or at you on Twitter and want to send you a business plan, say yes. You know, it's not that hard.”
Founders should be cautious of CVCs using investments as acquisition pipelines
“So if that is sort of the MO of the strategic group, I'd be cautious if I were an entrepreneur.”
Goldberg: Earlier startup exits yield better dollar returns, not just IRRs
“If you look at any, certainly our portfolio, almost anyone's portfolio, the earlier the exits, usually the better. Not just from an IRR standpoint, because that's just math, but just from a, just dollar over dollar standpoint as well, when we've looked at that…”
Goldberg: Esports and VR are overhyped in media
“Overhyped, I think, has been esports and VR, too, but definitely esports.”
Time Warner Investments maintains a 50/50 balance between financial and strategic returns
“I think for us, it's definitely both. So we need to make money. You know, we want to be competitive with VC returns and make money for our shareholders and our company. But the strategic piece for us is equally important. So it's sort of a fifty-fifty.”