20VC: If You Do Not Like VCs, You Have Not Worked With a Good One, How Andreesen Have Added The Same Level of Value As A Co-Founder, Why Market Is The First Thing To Consider When Angel Investing & Why Series A Is A Hiring Decision with Roger Dickey, Foun
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2017
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Roger Dickey is the Founder & CEO @ Gigster, the smart development service combining top developers and designers with artificial intelligence. They have raised over $30m in funding from the likes of a16z, Redpoint, Marc Benioff, Ashton Kutcher, Michael Jordan and then previous guests Rick Marini and Felicis Ventures. Prior to Gigster, Roger founded Mafia Wars, where he built the business to $1Bn in revenues and 100m users. Roger is also a prolific angel investor and LP in venture funds with a portfolio including the likes of Docker, ClassDojo and Addepar, just to name a few. If that was not enough Roger is also an advisor to 8VC, Lemnos Labs and OpenDoor.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Roger made his way from founding Mafia Wars to changing the world of software development with Gigster?
2.) Roger has said before "if you dislike VCs, you have never worked with a good one". So what makes a truly great VC to Roger? What does Roger believe are the core components VCs can add to a company? How should founders view investors when investing in them?
3.) Following Roger's discussion with Mike Vernal, Partner @ Sequoia, why does Roger believe that the Series A is a hiring decision? How does this change how founders should think about the A round & present themselves throughout the round?
4.) Why does Roger think it is important for startup founders to invest in other startups? What benefits does this bring to you and your own company? How does Roger prioritize, time-wise between LP, GP and founder?
5.) When angel investing, Roger admits that he takes the "market first" approach. Why is this? How does Roger assess the element of market creation? How does Roger look to balance between founder first vs company first?
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
Roger’s Fave Book: On Intelligence
Roger’s Fave Blog: Elad Gil
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Roger on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Founders Friday on the 20-minute VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and it'd be great to see you on Snapchat at H. |
| 0:05.3 | Stebbings with two Bs. However, to our fantastic founder today, and I think this is probably the hottest person I've ever had to summarize in one intro. |
| 0:12.0 | So here goes. Roger Dickey is the founder and CEO at Gigster, the Smart Development Service, combining top developers and designers with artificial intelligence. And they've raised over 30 million |
| 0:21.6 | in funding from the likes of Andruson Horrors, Red Point, Mark Benioff, Ashton Coutcher, Michael Jordan, |
| 0:27.4 | and then previous guests, Rick Marini and Felicit Ventures. Prior to Gigster, Roger founded Mafia |
| 0:32.1 | Wars, where he helped build the business to $1 billion in revenue and 100 million users. However, |
| 0:36.8 | that's just operations. |
| 0:38.1 | Roger's also a prolific angel investor and LP in venture funds, with a portfolio including the |
| 0:42.5 | lights of Docker, class dojo and Adapad, just to name a few. And if that wasn't enough, |
| 0:46.8 | Roger's also an advisor to 8VC, Lemnos Labs and Open Door. And I do also have to say a huge |
| 0:51.8 | thank you to Sundee, but Fel Felisys, Andy Rankin, |
| 0:54.3 | and Roy at Bloomberg Beta for the helping with the schedule today for Roger. It really was so |
| 0:58.4 | kind of them. But before we dive into the show today, if you're an early stage startup, the right |
| 1:02.9 | infrastructure and support systems are critical. And that's where First Republic is so good. |
| 1:07.3 | First Republic's resources, network and expertise allow entrepreneurs to customize a solid |
| 1:12.3 | foundation for your business across all stages. So why First Republic? Well, you get to leverage |
| 1:17.2 | their incredible network of VC firms to prepare you for future fundraising events. You get to count on |
| 1:22.0 | a single point of contact that will be there for you and your employees when you need them. |
| 1:26.0 | You get access to exclusive events and networking opportunities. |
| 1:29.2 | But don't trust me on this. |
| 1:30.3 | Their clients include the likes of Instacard, e-shares and Wish, just to name a few. |
| 1:34.5 | Check it out by heading over to innovation.1strepublic.com. |
... |
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