why aren't all 12 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public
record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable
ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't;
assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card:
▮▮▮▮▮ certainty ·
▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
What-if
Clavier: Fitbit Would Have Died Without Brad Feld's Series A Investment
“Every single round of financing was either close to impossible, To raise, I had to beg Brad failed to invest in the Series A saving Fitbit, because without that investment from Brad, they would be dead, and even the Series B or the Series C were not easy, desp…”
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Clavier in 2015: Ambient Wireless Power Will Recharge Electronics by 2018
“So those two guys out of MIT have invented a well using a technology which has been refined lab at MIT, where, you know, in three years from now, you'll have a device or earlier You will have a device on your nightstand or your desk in the office that will aut…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Clavier: No VCs Were Willing to Fund Fitbit in 2010
“In 2000 10 there was basically no one to fund Fitbit, like no one would touch it despite the early progress and, you know, sort of early liftoff in terms of sales”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Clavier: One-Third of SoftTech Portfolio Companies Receive Preemptive Series A Offers
“The thing which is interesting is that about a third Of our companies actually don't go and raise a round. The round just comes to them in the form of a preemption.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Clavier: Hardware Startups Were a "No-Go Zone" for VCs in 2008
“It was a no-no or no-go or no investment zone for the other VCs.”
Disclosure
SoftTech VC Doubled Down on Fitbit's $9M Series A Across Two Funds
“After a couple of months of due diligence and reference checks and spending time with the team, they led a nine million dollar Series A that I we participated into, and we actually bought more shares of Fitbit from our other fund, Fund Three, which we had rais…”
Assertion Supported
Clavier: Micro VC Market Grew to 250 Funds and $4B by 2015
“By 2010, you were looking at a market of 20, 25 in sort of institutional micro VC funds. In five years, 10 X that amount has been raised. So we're now looking at 250 macro VC funds having raised a total of four billion dollars.”
Insight
Clavier: Startups Need 18 Months of Seed Runway to Reach Series A
“We've always sort of looked at a, an average of an 18 months runway as what it takes for a company to, you know, take the seed round, hire a few engineers, get the product to market, start building traction, do a few, you know, revisions of the product, and th…”
Insight
Clavier: Preemptive Term Sheets Now Avoid Bidding Wars, Not Bargain Valuations
“And it used to be that preemptions were a way to try and get a sweet deal, so not pay market price, whereas now it's to try and get out of bidding wars that end up happening if ever you have an interesting company that is raising through a process where you co…”
Assertion Partly supported
Clavier: Fitbit Reached a $10B Valuation on Just $40M-$50M in Equity
“In the case of Fitbit, they've gotten to where they are just using, you know, roughly 50, you know, 40, fifty million dollars in in actual sort of equity capital.”
Disclosure
SoftTech VC Reviews 3,000 Startup Pitches Annually to Make 15 Investments
“We get to see about 3000 or more companies per year, and we only invest in 15.”
Disclosure
Clavier: Hardware Startups Need $3M-$4M Seed Rounds Due to Longer Timelines
“Most of our companies will, you know, go out and raise a two million dollar seed round on average Unless, you know, they're a hardware company, in which case, they might go and raise a three to four million dollar listed round, because hardware is so hard and …”