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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4637 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2018

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chris Hutchins is the Founder & CEO @ Grove, the startup reinventing financial planning allowing you to reach your goals with personalized financial advice. Just last week they announced their seed round from some of the best in the business including First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Box Group and SV Angel. Prior to Grove, Chris was an Partner & EiR with Google Ventures and before that co-founded Milk (acq by Google) alongside Kevin Rose.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Chris made the move from Google acquired Founder to Partner @ Google Ventures to now, founding First Round backed, Grove?

2.) What does Chris believe are the foundational elements founders must consider pre-fundraise? How does Chris suggest founders structure the process? How important is a fundraise deadline? How does Chris advise founders on getting warm intros, what is best?

3.) How can founders really optimise VC interactions? What is the biggest mistake founders make when meeting VCs? What should founders be looking to take from these meetings? How transparent should founders be about their meetings with other investors?

4.) What are Chris' view on the rise of SAFE's vs priced equity rounds? In what situations do SAFE's make sense? How did Chris think about this with his own fundraise recently? Does Chris believe there is too much money in the ecosystem? Where are there gaps and where is there overfunding?

5.) Why does Chris think hiring is a "big data problem"? Where do many founders make mistakes in recruiting in the early days? What hacks can be done to ensure a quality stream of candidates continuously?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Chris' Fave Book: Happy Money

As always you can follow HarryThe Twenty Minute VC and Chris on Twitter here!

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

Cooley are the global law firm built around startups and venture capital.  Since forming the first venture fund in Silicon Valley, Cooley has formed more venture capital funds than any other law firm in the world, with 50+ years working with VCs. They help VCs form and manage funds, make investments and handle the myriad issues that arise through a fund’s lifetime. So to learn more about the #1 most active law firm representing VC-backed companies going public. Head over to cooley.com and also at cooleygo.com.

Zoom, fastest growing video and web conferencing service, providing one consistent enterprise experience that allows you to engage in an array of activities including video meetings and webinars, collaboration-enabled conference rooms, and persistent chat all in one easy platform. Plus, it is the easiest solution to manage, scale, and use, and has the most straightforward, affordable pricing. Don’t take our word for it. Zoom is the top rated conferencing app across various user review sites including G2Crowd and Trust Radius. And you can sign up for a free account (not a trial!). Just visit Zoom.us.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You are listening to the 20 minute VC with me, Harry Stebbings at H. Stebbings, 1996 with two bees on

0:05.6

Instagram. I would love to see you there where you can see all things backstage from Team 20 VC. However,

0:10.9

to the show today, and we have a cracker for you today, debunking the entire fundraising process from

0:15.5

both sides of the table, both VC and startup. So to the show, and I'm very excited to welcome

0:20.5

Chris Hutchins. Chris is the

0:22.0

founder and CEO at Grove, the startup reinventing financial planning, allowing you to reach your

0:27.2

goals with personalized financial advice. Just last week, they announced their seed round from some of the

0:31.8

very best in the seed business, including first round capital, lowercase capital, box group and

0:36.8

SV Angel. Prior to Grove,

0:38.6

Chris was a partner and EIR at Google Ventures, and before that co-founded Milk alongside Kevin

0:43.9

Rose, which was ultimately acquired by Google. I'd also want to say a big thank you to Kevin

0:47.6

Rose for the intro to Chris today, without which this episode would not have been possible.

0:51.7

However, before we move into the show today, Cooley is the global law firm around startups and venture capital. Since forming the first venture fund in Silicon

0:58.7

Valley, Cooleys form more venture capital funds than any other law firm in the world, with over 50

1:03.3

years of experience working with VCs. They help VCs form and manage funds, make investments,

1:08.4

and handle the myriad of issues that arise through a fund's

1:11.1

lifetime. So to learn more about the number one most active law firm representing VC-backed

1:15.6

companies going public, simply head over to coolly.com, or you can check them out at coolly go.com.

1:20.4

And do not forget to check out Zoom, the fastest growing video and web conferencing service,

1:24.8

providing one consistent enterprise experience that allows you to

1:27.8

engage in an array of activities, including video meetings and webinars, collaboration enabled

1:32.5

conference rooms, and persistent chat all-in-one easy platform. Plus, it's the easiest solution

...

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