20 VC FF 031: James Beshara @ Tilt on Crowdfunding For A Mobile World, Finding The Perfect Co-Founder & Beer Pong!
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 ā¢ 637 Ratings
šļø 22 January 2016
ā±ļø 23 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
James BesharaĀ is the Co-Founder @Ā TiltĀ the micro-crowdfunding platform that allows you to receive funding from friendsāchanging the way collaborative funding works. Tilt has raised $37 million from 3 rounds of funding fromĀ the likes of Andreesen, SV Angel, Alexis Ohanian, Naval Ravikant and Sean Parker just to name a few. As for James Before co-founding Tilt, he studied Development Economics as an undergrad and then went on to buildĀ dvelo.org, a site for crowdfunding loans and donations to poverty-alleviation organizations in developing countries. In order to vote for who you think will win James and Harry's beer pong match, head over toĀ @twentyminutevcĀ on Twitter and vote using our poll.
1.) What were the originsĀ of Tilt? How did James go from a micro loans collector in Africa to founder of one of SF's hottest startups?
2.) What does James make of the current crowdfunding landscape? What will it take for crowdfunding to go mass market?
3.) What are Tilt doing to make crowdfunding more bite sized and consumer friendly? How important is the on boarding process for Tilt? How are Tilt approaching customer retention? What are James'Ā targets for the year ahead with Tilt?
4.) With investors likeĀ Andreesen, SV Angel, Naval Ravikant, Sean Parker just to name a few, what the investment journey like? I heard the first funding took 6-8 months and the series A took 6 days with a16z. What changed to turn it around?
5.) On PH LIVE James stated that founding a company is a destination less journey and although admirable I struggle with that from the investors perspective. How did James sell a startup in a pitch with no exit strategy?
6.) What was it that attracted James to the investors that he chose? What value add was James most attracted to?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the 20 minute VC with your host, Harry Stebbings, and as it is Friday, |
| 0:04.7 | that can only mean one thing. It's time to bring out a world-beating founder. So joining me today, |
| 0:10.5 | I'm delighted to welcome James Bashara. James is the co-founder at Tilt, the micro-crowfunding platform |
| 0:17.1 | that allows you to receive funding from friends, changing the way collaborative funding |
| 0:21.4 | works. Tilt has raised $37 million from three rounds of funding, and it's probably got one of the |
| 0:27.2 | most insane cap tables I've ever seen, with the likes of Andriesen Horowitz, SV Angel, Alexis |
| 0:33.7 | O'Hanian from Reddit, Naval Ravocant from Angel List, and Sean Parker, just to name a few. |
| 0:39.6 | And as for James, before co-founding Tilt, he studied development economics as an undergrad |
| 0:44.8 | and then went on to build devello.org, a site for crowdfunding loans and donations for poverty |
| 0:51.2 | alleviation organisations in developing countries. |
| 0:59.3 | Now, in today's episode, I challenge James to a beer pong match, a bit out of the ordinary for the 20 minute VC, but you can have your say on Twitter as to who will win, so head over to |
| 1:04.5 | at 20 minute VC on Twitter and vote using the poll pinned to our page. |
| 1:09.6 | But before we dive into the Tilt fundraising journey now, |
| 1:12.9 | I'd like to say a huge thank you to Mattermark for providing all the data and analysis for the show today. |
| 1:18.4 | Anyone looking for more startup and VC reading material, check out the amazing Mattermark daily by |
| 1:23.9 | Nick Frost at Thinker on Twitter for all the best startup and VC articles. |
| 1:29.6 | However, enough from me. |
| 1:31.0 | So without further ado, I'm delighted to hand over the reins to James Bashara, co-founder at Tilt. |
| 1:37.6 | Three, two, one, zero. |
| 1:43.1 | You have now arrived at your destination. |
| 1:46.2 | James, a very warm welcome to the 20 minute VC and founders Friday today. |
| 1:50.5 | It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. |
... |
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