Early Light Ventures Managing Partner Scott Garber advises founders on vetting venture capitalists who claim they can make valuable introductions.
Disclosure
Garber: Web3 is largely a gimmick and has zero fund investments
“It's not web three where I don't believe in it at all. I'm just a gimmick to some extent, which is what I thought in fund one, which is why there's no web three companies in there. And that's why I've never invested in a web three companies.”
Insight
Garber: Acquirers stall low-runway startups to buy them at 10% of value
“And the M&A, the real smart M&A people are saying, okay, yeah, let's kick some tires and we'll go for a test drive and we'll look over everything under the hood. And then they realize, okay, you're basically running out of money. I'm just gonna, again, same th…”
Insight
Garber: LPs Require 1x DPI Before Backing Subsequent Venture Funds
“You have to produce basically a one X DPI in whatever fund you're in that they've invested in to get them to invest in the next fund. It doesn't matter how well it's shaping up versus the vintage. It doesn't matter if it's top core, top top decile. It doesn't …”
Insight
Garber: First-time founders in secondary markets possess irreplaceable hunger
“I think with the first time founder, especially one that went to a second tier school, like a good school, but not a great school. And some of that's in a second tier city. There's that chip on their shoulder. There's that aggressiveness, the pugnaciousness. T…”
Disclosure
Garber targets moderate return multiples rather than 100x outlier outcomes
“I'm basically the opposite, where I want to have a good outcome in almost every investment I make. I have to, because I'm not shooting for a hundred X, 200 X, 500 X outcomes. I'm shooting for In some cases, two or three X outcomes, but a lot of cases, four or …”
Insight
Garber: Pitching Modest Exit Targets Can Hurt Founders Raising VC Capital
“In some cases, it actually benefits founders to not be forthright because they don't know where the company is going to go and To raise money. If you got, if a founder goes out and says, Hey, I'm shooting for a 30 to 50, sixty million dollar exit... And if you…”