The Ledger
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Meehan: Overfunding Idea-Stage Startups Like Clinkle Ends in Disaster
“You know, you get things like Clinkle, where for some reason, investors invest in it in an idea which isn't fully formed in a prototype that isn't built, and of course, you know, it ends up being a, they invest too much, and it ends up being a disaster.”
Frank Meehan: Startup founders do not need to learn coding
“Oh, I think that's I don't think that's necessary. I think an understanding of it so that you can have an understanding of how things work and an understanding of the principles of the technology behind it is, is, is actually probably even more important so th…”
Meehan: The hottest seed rounds have 8 to 10 investors
“And, you know, the best rounds and the hottest companies in the valley now will not have one or two investors in them. They will have a good eight or nine or 10 because it's a network effect.”
Meehan: Spark Labs will not invest without top-tier co-investors
“We won't invest unless there's other very top tier investors in it, be that is, you know, private individuals or firms because you've got to get the collective validation.”
Meehan: Competitive Seed Rounds Do Not Drive Up Valuations
“Later on in a series C and a series D, when you've got Big, big players like a Goldman's or something jostling around, then the price does get driven up, but not in an early stage, not when you're trying to put that initial really core investor group together,…”
Meehan: European e-commerce is too saturated to be attractive
“I wouldn't invest in an e-commerce business in Europe because it's so saturated that it's all about just operations and how much cash you can raise. That's not interesting for me. It's just a brand play.”
Meehan: Understanding tech trends like blockchain matters more than coding
“So and, you know, just an understanding of how the world is moving, you know, it may be more important for you as a founder to know the deep ins and outs of how blockchain technology works than actual coding.”
Meehan: Early-Stage Investors Fail to Match Startups' Global Scope
“But investors are very local, and investors, especially at early stage, have not matched the global expansions of startups these days.”
Meehan: Only tech giants can afford proper two-factor authentication
“Only the very big guys, the Googles and Facebooks, et cetera, can afford to implement, like, proper two-stage authentication, which I didn't know, but is very, very expensive, so, which is why the only big guys do it”
Meehan: Asian e-commerce is early-stage and rapidly growing
“So in Asia, we don't do e-commerce really anywhere except in Asia, but in Asia, e-commerce is so early and so, and growing so fast that it's a fantastic opportunity.”