Opinion certainty 3/5 debate potential 2/5

Unprecedentedly favorable conditions for founding a company in the Bay Area

David Wu · 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron · Jul 29, 2015 · at 4:45

David Wu, General Partner at Maveron, reflects on the dramatic expansion of micro-VCs and seed programs in San Francisco.

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“It's probably never been a better time to start a company in the Bay Area if you're a founder.”

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More from David Wu

Opinion
New York's rational financial mindset limits growth compared to Bay Area ambition
“One of the big differences between the financial mindset of New York is and in the Bay Area, New York starts off with, well, you know, this is as big as you possibly can get, and this is what's rational for, you know, what could happen in the Bay Area is still…”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 7:01 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
Insight
Consumer startups offer minimal IP differentiation compared to founder execution
“There's less and less differentiation on the IP of consumer deals and much more around how well the team understands how to connect with end consumers.”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 13:25 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
Insight
Revisionist history is one of the most common traits among successful CEOs
“I think on the entrepreneur side, I almost, I often tell people that one of the most common traits in successful CEOs and successful entrepreneurs is revisionist history.”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 18:46 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
Assertion Partly supported
Maveron exclusively invests in direct-to-consumer startups
“Every investment we make is something that is direct to consumer, so no enterprise, infrastructure, and hardly even B to B to C.”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 3:16 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
Assertion Supported
Series A deal volume remains flat despite the seed funding explosion
“There's so many seeds getting funded out there, but at the end of the day, the A's are still happening, and they're happening later in larger figures, but there's not that many more Series A deals getting funded.”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 5:14 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Easy seed funding creates peak competition in startup recruiting
“On the right team side, I think the recruiting environment's getting as competitive as it's ever been, and that's sort of the downside to how easy it is to get seed funding, and not only in terms of the talent”
David Wu Jul 29, 2015 ▶ 8:09 20 VC 058: 10 Key Traits To Be A Successful Founder with David Wu, General Partner @ Maveron
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