Begin with the end in mind: IPO or M&A?
A roundup & KTAs from this week's VC and M&A meetups
While ideas are great, without successful execution & perseverance, most startups don't survive their 5th year, forget about becoming unicorns!
Startup Execution involves understanding the target market, building the product or service that solves a problem, Recruiting the right talent and acquiring paying customers
But then questions arise:
How do startup founders & builders cope with matters outside their technical expertise?
What to do to achieve Product Market Fit?
How to protect Intellectual Property?
How to raise capital and how to structure a financing deal?
How to ensure compliance with tax regulations of every country and every US state you operate in?
How to ensure accounting and bookkeeping will not be questioned at the time of due diligence for a transaction
TL;DR : Past few days have been full of such thoughts, questions and discussions here in my circle partly due to the excellent entrepreneurship, VC and startup events happening in silicon valley.
I see a rising trend as the M&A games in the Data & AI domain are beginning to shake down and shape up the landscape with hyperscalers ready to gobble up cash strapped startups full of talented staff.
And then today I received a call from a friend asking for key takeaways from the startup and VC events he saw me post about on Linkedin. So this post is inspired by that conversation and if interested, please continue reading for a recap for all my friends from 4 such recent events:
1. “Navigating the IPO & M&A trends” by Sidebar Summit at Hogan Lovells, Redwood City
Earlier in the week, Sidebar Summit kicked off the best discussions on “Navigating the IPO & M&A trends” with speakers Shivani Dasani, Bill Curtin, Kevin Hawkins, and Sandesh Mouli and moderator Vishal Verma.
Thank you to the team at Hogan Lovells (Joanna Nicholson, Mia Gallardo, Candice Ho, and Michael Shuff) for all your hard work in organizing this house full event enjoyed by over 100 folks!
The icing on the cake was the reconnection with several entrepreneur friends at this event, energized by the presence of Superbowl champions Guy McIntyre and Steve Bono from San Francisco’s 49rs,
I posted about this previously here.
2. “Innovation Ignited: Unleashing the Power of Collaboration” hosted by J&J innovation labs, South San Francisco
In 2023 seed funding was down nearly 30% from the year prior. As it takes longer to receive funding in 2024, challenges surface from a diligence and compliance perspective as belts are tightened before a transaction happens
IP protection, banking, accounting, tax considerations, compliance and due diligence processes were the highlight of this startup event especially as applied to biosciences & life science startups. Thanks Arjun Suresh & Milli Shroff for the invite!
a) Leveraging their visibility into over 100 early-stage life science companies, the opening session by Browne Consulting’s Dan Goddard covered the startup hygiene function well i.e. best practices for corporate records and charter documents, business plans and financial compliance, security issuances and capitalization, material agreements, and employment and benefits programs.
b) Next session by Laurie Mcnamara, Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati covered IP due diligence, patents, freedom-to-operate, IP licensing and IP litigation so a company can confidently present its IP assets to VCs and biopharma.
We discussed:
Importance of IP in the Life Sciences industry: Intellectual property, particularly patents, is often a critical asset in the life sciences industry and can impact the value and success of the company.
Patent Landscape: Understand the patent landscape of the technology or product under consideration, including potential infringement or invalidity issues.
IP Due Diligence: Conducting thorough IP due diligence to assess the strength, validity, and enforceability of the company’s existing IP portfolio, as well as its ability to protect future IP.
Freedom-to-Operate: Evaluating the freedom-to-operate of the technology or product to ensure that the company will be able to commercialize without infringing on third-party IP.
IP Licensing: Understanding the IP licensing landscape, including in- and out-licensing agreements, to assess the impact on the company’s IP portfolio and the potential for future licensing opportunities.
IP Litigation: Assessing the company’s exposure to IP litigation and the potential impact on the company’s business and IP portfolio.
c) Silicon Valley Bank (yes, one year after the infamous SVB debacle that rocked the startup world, they are still alive and kicking!) led the final panel discussion focusing on 2024 investment outlook, touching on several topics including therapeutic area focus, how early are investors willing to deploy capital, and what a CEO should do to increase runway if investment deployment remains static.
Despite my prior data, cloud and applied AI/ML consulting experiences with Lifesciences companies such as Pfizer, Genentech, Lifescan and J&J, this event and follow up networking discussions opened my eyes to so many things besides clinical trials and FDA approvals. Overall, this provided an excellent insight into the research to invention- to operation to exit cycle for the biosciences field and networking opportunity that I typically don't go to.
3. Idea to IPO VC Summit in San Mateo
Celebrating the 14th anniversary of founding, this Idea to IPO event was a big show with several VC panels and networking avenues with friends, entrepreneurs, VCs and angel investors many of whom I have known from previous shared speaking opportunities over these years.
a) The first panel on Investment and Latest Innovations in Energy and Climate Tech brought views from seasoned investors : Sanjit Singh Dang, UFirst Capital, Zoe Samuel, Venture Partner, Starshot Capital, Jordan Wahbeh, Managing Partner, SV Venture Group, Nare Janvelyan, Investor, Voyager Ventures & Raghu Madabushi, Investment Director, National Grid Partners
b) The next panel focussed on my favorite topic Investment and Latest Innovations in AI. The participants were Apoorva Pandhi, Managing Director, Zetta Ventures, Darwin Ling, Founder and General Partner, Good.ai , Evangelos Simoudis, Partner, Synapse Partners and my former IBM colleague from IBM ventures Deborah Magid, U.S. Fortune Capital
c) The last panel had VCs discussing What's Hot in 2024 with Bill Reichert, Partner, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Jennifer Vancini, General Partner, Mighty Capital, Yash Hemaraj, Partner, BGV Tae Yoon, Partner, Altos Ventures and Sheetal Nariani, General Partner, Global Health Impact Fund
Overall, while this event did not have any in-depth formal presentations or keynotes, it allowed participants to understand the investment thesis, current thinking and trend predictions from a number of VCs and angel investors. In short, was nice networking event with VCs at a picturesque location in the heart of silicon valley. Thanks Rob Lou for organizing and inviting.
4. “Conquer the M&A Game” by The Silicon Valley Podcast in Palo Alto
JPMC JPMorgan Chase & Co. Technology Center hosted this event by Shawn Flynn, Jason Nyeh and team who brought together a number of founders & entrepreneurs including solopreneurs, advisors, wealth managers, consultants and fractional CXOs to learn more on M&A exit process from the shared experiences from multiple panelists across the silicon valley community in an entertaining & informative way:
After the Giraffe +Zebra “Magic show” opening act, and “Happy 64th birthday” song for silicon valley veteran James cape , we heard from a number of panelists covering the following topics
1 The Exit Process: From strategy to success- a roadmap to a smooth exit
2 Life After an Exit: We discovered the joys (and challenges) of post-sale freedom
3 Taming the Banking Beast: How traditional bankers impact business growth & more
4 Unlocking Global Horizons: We explored the realms of cross-border business opportunities and nuances of navigating work visa complexities
5. Building Wealth Your Way: Learnt about wealth strategies for both business owners and employees.
The icing on the cake was meeting the AI Sherpa Tonya Long and getting an autographed copy of her book "AI and the New Oz” which is about the shift we're seeing for humanity with AI as a society-impacting change, a people-first transformation enabled by technology. Had an invigorating discussion about our shared passion for AI strategy and literacy amongst executives and boards who urgently need to be educated about the future of work.
Bottom line : The networking and conversations before and after the panels were second to none, and it was so great finding some new friends in the gathering.