FF 012: Acquired by Microsoft for $200m with Javier Soltero @ Microsoft

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The Twenty Minute VC

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

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2015

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Javier Soltero is Corporate Vice President of Outlook @ Microsoft. This position arose due to Javier's startup, Acompli, being acquired by Microsoft for $200m in 2014. Prior to Acompli, Javier spent a year at Redpoint Ventures, where he assisted in helping the firm extend their reach into both enterprise and mobile markets. However, Javier's entrepreneurial career did not start with Acompli, as he co-founded Hyperic, which he bought for $1 and within 5 years turned into a $10m+ revenue generating company.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Javier start his entrepreneurial career and what were the origins of Acompli?

2.) What was Javier's biggest takeaway from the failure of his first startup, back by Sequoia?

3.) How did Javier control his burn rate once large amounts of VC money was in his company?

4.) How does Javier approach product market fit?

5.) How did Javier meet his investors for Accompli and how did Javier find the fundraising process?

6.) What were Javier's reasons for selling Acompli? Was there any conflict with his investors in selling the company?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Javier's Fave Book: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Javier's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Wait but Why?

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Javier right here on Twitter!

If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to The 20 Minute VC with your host, Terry Stebbings, and on this incredible episode of Founders Friday, we welcome the amazing Javier Soltero, corporate vice president of Outlook at Microsoft. Prior to Microsoft, Javier co-founded Accompli, the mobile personal information manager acquired by Microsoft for $200 million in 2014.
0:22.6	Before making a compil, Havier was also EIR at Red Point Ventures.
0:27.6	However, Havier's entrepreneurial exploits did not begin with a compley,
0:31.6	as he was also the co-founder of Hyperick, a monitoring and management software company acquired by SpringSource in 2009.
0:39.6	And before making his move into the world of entrepreneurship, Javier began his career at none
0:44.2	other than Mark Andreessen's Netscape as a software engineer.
0:48.3	We have an amazing and hilarious in-depth chat about company building, product direction,
0:53.6	and much, much more. But ladies and gentlemen,
0:56.4	you've heard enough from me, so without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to welcome
1:00.3	the legend, Javier Saltero.
1:02.7	Three, two, one, zero.
1:08.3	You have now arrived at your destination.
1:11.5	Well, Javier, a huge welcome to this very special episode of Founders Friday.
1:15.4	Thank you so much for joining us today.
1:17.5	It's great to be here.
1:18.7	And I'd love to delve a little into your background,
1:22.0	and can you provide us with a little insight into your career before Accompli and how a compi came about. Sure. The quickest way
1:31.8	to summarize it is I started off as a software developer. My first job out of university was
1:41.1	at Netscape, which is kind of interesting given where I work now.
1:46.0	And I hope you do remember Netscape, Harry.
1:49.0	I don't know how old you are.
1:49.9	I'm going to be honest.
	...

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