Successful entrepreneurs begin with the support of a few #earlybelievers. Gopi Rangan, founding partner at Sure Ventures, interviews venture capital investors in the Silicon Valley and beyond. Guests share insider stories on how they invest in early stage startups. Do you want to learn from real-life challenges, inspiring missions and important decisions by CEOs, founders, VCs, angels, and advisors? Listen to https://podcast.sure.ventures.
https://podcast.sure.ventures
episode 60: Prioritize cash, team and momentum in that order
Mark Fernandes is a managing partner at Sierra ventures - a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm focused on early-stage emerging technology companies. Mark invests in cloud infrastructure, security software, digital health, and data & analytics. He shares relatable lessons from his professional journey from software engineering to investment banking to startup investing. He also offers insights into his philosophy for startup success - prioritize cash, team, and momentum.
Highlights
[3:34] Lessons from my first venture deal: It’s better to be lucky than good, but it’s good to be prepared.
[6:55] Why investors like to hear more “No, I don’t know the answer to that; I haven’t thought about that.”
[13:32] The super power of an extensive CXO (Chief Experience Officer) network.
[19:01] The Mark Fernandez startup success philosophy: Cash, Team and Momentum
Non-profit: India Literacy Project