Dayna Grayson, Partner at NEA, discusses founder evaluation and fundraising dynamics with 20VC host Harry Stebbings.
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“One saying that I really do not like in venture and in entrepreneurship is the idea that raising capital is like dating or investing in entrepreneurs is like dating. That's quite silly if you think about it. A VC and an entrepreneur should be quite up front”
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More from Dayna Grayson
Insight
Valuation does not matter for Series A venture investments
“I subscribe completely to the mentality that price does not matter at the Series A. At the Series A level, we as venture investors, anyone with more than a 25 or fifty million dollar fund should be looking for these outsized exits. They should be looking for c…”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 26:0620VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
Insight
Board members serve companies by empowering CEOs to make final decisions
“When I said we're there as a board to serve the CEO, I call that sort of one in the same as serving the company because the CEO is the ultimate leader of the company. Yes, you could say hierarchically, I guess the CEO works for the board, but the CEO is guidin…”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 31:0720VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
Opinion
Generalist venture capital investing is not dying
“I do not think we're seeing the end of the generalist investor.”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 6:4920VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
PredictionNot checkable as stated
SaaS business models will transform the manufacturing industry
“So you can actually employ this software-like, SaaS software-like business model. As we know, totally transformed the software world over the past two decades, and I think can now have an effect on the manufacturing world.”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 8:1820VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
Insight
New VCs should maximize meeting volume to calibrate founder judgment
“I would say if you're just starting out in venture, and even if you're not Definitely take as many meetings as you can to really understand what great looks like, not in terms of the idea and the business necessarily, but in terms of the people.”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 10:2520VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
AssertionNot checkable as stated
NEA's Scott Sandell decides on investments within 15 minutes
“I've seen some of the greatest investors Do just that. Meet with an entrepreneur. Within the 1:15 minutes, they're either excited or they're not. If they're excited, they're investing. Scott Sandell at NEA is a great example of that. It's very much his style.”
Dayna GraysonApr 8, 2019▶ 14:3120VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
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