ICCパートナーズ 小林雅のBlog

仲間が増えると楽しい。

昨年8月から独立＝一人で活動していたので、仲間が増えるということは大変うれしいイベントだった。　”仲間”とあるが、一部の方はご存知ですが、大学の同期でもあり、私とは異なる道を歩んできた。　仕事をするといろいろと面白い。　　これぞ求めてきたもの（環境・仲間）だ！　と本当に思う。

これからが楽しみです。

世界が認める頭脳が集結したガレージ--検索エンジンのPFI

世界が認める頭脳が集結したガレージ--検索エンジンのPFI

すばらしい。

Launch Pad にも登場していただき、非常によかったです。日本から世界へ飛躍してほしい会社の1社です。

「ウェブ時代をゆく」 (続） 私のロールモデル

「ウェブ時代をゆく」を読んで思い出したことをいろいろ書いていましたが、ロールモデルに関して書いてみたいと思います。　私のロールモデルとなっているのは、ほとんど話したことがない、見たことない人だということです。　ＫＰＣＢのジョン・ドーア氏もあったことも見たこともありません。　

ＡＤＬに入る前くらいのことろはまずはコンサルタントとして頑張ろう！と思っていたので、梅田さんはロールモデルでした。　

最近は、（Ｄａｖｅさんのブログの）シリコンバレーの若きベンチャーキャピタリスト Top5 　の中の二人のベンチャーキャピタリストをウォッチしている。　

• Danny Rimer（Index Ventures）「いつもアウトサイダーの立場で考える」
  36歳。代表的な投資先は、FON、Last.fm、MySQL、Skypeなど。
• Roelof Botha（Sequoia Capital）「天才数学者＆メンター」
  33歳（！）。PayPal IPO時のCFO。代表的な投資先は、YouTube、Joost、Meeboなど。

の2名だ。　また、ネット関連など投資をみても、Sequoia Capital と　Index Ventures は良い投資をしていて、ベンチャーキャピタルファームを今後運営する上で投資戦略やチーム構成など大変参考になる。　特にIndexi Ventures はヨーロッパのベンチャーキャピタル。拠点はスイスのジュネーブとＵＫのロンドンだ。　Rimer 兄弟（3人）がフォームを経営。長男の方は、グロービスの堀さんとＨＢＳの同級生だ（堀さんのブログにたまに登場します）。　

MySQL、Skype 、　Netvibes などグローバルの活躍する企業が生まれてきている。それを支援しているのが、Index Venturs だ。　シリコンバレーのように数多くのベンチャーキャピタルがあるわけでもないし、ヨーロッパのＩＴ産業って？　と思う人が多いだろう。

ホームページの投資戦略は現在、構想中のベンチャーキャピタルの参考にしている。

Teams

Index Ventures is dedicated to working with entrepreneurs who have the drive and ability to build world-class technology companies that can become global players in their market.

私は投資家という株主だーというベンチャーキャピタルではなく、起業家ともに歩む、ベンチャーキャピタルを目指しています。　Ownershipに関しては、「We do not seek to control a company through ownership. Our objective is to back founders and managers who wish to control their own destinies.」とあります。

Geographic Focus

We can and do invest globally, although our primary focus is on Europe. Our offices, located in Geneva and London, allow us to reach most European destinations within a couple of hours. Outside Europe, we co-invest with proven, local venture capitalists with whom we have long-standing working relationships and in companies seeking a value-added investor to complement their local investor base.

（Index Ventures はヨーロッパがフィールドならば、我々はアジアをフィールドにする。日本に加え、中国、ＵＳなどにも投資活動をおこなっていく。中国などは共同投資という形で関係をつくっていく　といったことを考えています）

Sectors

We focus on investing in technology and life sciences. These are markets in which we have direct experience and where our advisors, limited partners and our extensive networks can bring significant additional value to our portfolio companies.

（この分野はファームにｙとて異なりますが、Digital Media & Technology セクターでチャレンジしていきたいと思っています。

Preferred Stage of Investment

Our initial investment focus is on series A and B rounds. As our portfolio companies have matured, we have continued to support them with later stage investments.  We are also open to investing in more established businesses who would like to partner with us to accelerate their growth.

（同じ）

Investment Size

Our typical investment size is €3 to €10 million although we sometimes invest as little as €250,000 in seed rounds and as much as €30 million in a growth-stage company. We seek to invest €5 to €20 million in a company over the life of an investment. We prefer to take lead positions and an active board seat, supporting the management team with whatever resources and skills

そして、参考になるは、Distinction のところだ。悪い投資家ということが最初にあるのが面白い。　

Distinction

One of the biggest mistakes a start-up can make is selecting the wrong investor for the wrong reasons. The wrong investor on the wrong terms will jeopardize（危険にさらす） the prospects for your business.

A good venture capitalist will contribute far more than just money. Beyond issues of valuation, seek investors who can:

• Offer advice as a strategic thought-partner,
• Bring help with hiring and recruitment of engineers, sales people, senior personnel and relevant advisors,
• Make introductions to key partners,
• Bring your business profile and visibility,
• Help to internationalize your business,
• Assist with exit optimization.

Since the early 1990's, Index Ventures has been dedicated to building world-class information technology and life sciences companies. As one of the early venture firms in Europe, we are committed to the development of the venture capital industry across the continent and UK.

Read the stories on our website for more information about some of the ways we have been able to help the companies we have invested in.

Team

We seek out excellence in all of the people we work with. We believe in partnering with the entrepreneurs we back and in bringing to bear all of our collective resources and relationships in helping them build their companies.

Expertise

Our team has deep technology and scientific understanding and experience. We seek investments with unique value propositions.

Focus

We are entirely focused on investing in the equity of young technology companies.

Success

The success of the teams we have backed is our greatest source of pride. Since launching our first fund in 1996, we have helped launch many successful companies that have completed landmark IPOs and trade sales. We are also proud of our reputation for dedication, integrity and high standards.

Networks

Index has built and cultivated long-standing relationships with the world's leading IT and healthcare companies. We view these relationships as a source of competitive advantage for our portfolio companies.

Commitment

Our firm was started in 1996 by individuals who saw the opportunity to adapt the California venture capital model to Europe, and who were committed to the creation of great, long-lasting technology companies in Europe. This remains our commitment today and will remain so in the future.

などなど、いろいろと勉強になります。　

MITのビジネスプランコンテスト と Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students

ＭＩＴのビジネスプランコンテストのウエブサイトはこちら 。　サンプルのビジネスプランはResouces のページに掲載。　いろいろとコンテンツが充実している。

ビジネスプランコンテストといっても、　ウェブサイトの内容を見ると、通常の事業化のプロセスそのままだ。　プロセスも洗練されていると感じるし、サポート体制も素晴らしい。

ＭＩＴという大学というか研究所の成果を世の中に出す・役立てるという点を追求したプロセスと感じた。　

一方のスタンフォード大学は、Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Studentsという組織がある。その中にビジネスプランコンテストがある。

Stanford Entrepreneur's Challenge (E-Challenge) is an annual business plan competition conducted by the Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES) with the purpose of developing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

いろいろと勉強になります。

なぜ大学生のビジネスプランコンテンストから起業が生まれないのか？（ＣＮＥＴの記事など）とStanford ya

自称「VCオタク」が問う学生ビジコンの本質--3月10日～、京都でその後の起業前提に開催

は面白い。　私が学生のころ現状はあまり変わっていないようだ。　

昨年、面白いできことあった。２００７年３月　シリコンバレーの出張際に　Loopt のCEO のSam にあった（今年の３月も会う予定）。当時　の彼は２１歳。　いっしょにミーティングをいたMark のほうが年配（３０台後半）で、CEOだと思っていたら、　なんと若いSam がCEO の名刺をもっていた。

(当時の写真）右の方がＣＥＯのSam です。

帰国後　の　会社（当時はグロービス・キャピタル・パートナーズ）が購読していたVenture Capital Journal という業界紙（英語）があって、その表紙に見たことがあるヤツがいるなと思った。それが上記のＳａｍだった。　　記事を読むと、Stanford 大学のビジネスプランコンテンストから生まれた起業で、それを支援したのはNEA のパートナー(当時はプリンシパル？）という記事だった。NEA は一流のベンチャーキャピタルだ。

以下の記事は検索したら、当時の記事がそのまま掲載されていた。読む価値のある記事です。 Business Plan といっても、技術というかエンジニアリングをベースしたプランで、シリコンバレーのベンチャーキャピタルなどはこれ技術やアイデアをブラッシュアップし、マネジメントチームを採用し、お金も投資する　といったストーリーが描きやすい。　次のLaunch Pad のアイデアを練っているところなので、参考にいろいろと考えてみたい。

Venture Capital JournalのDate: 12/1/2006

Paper Chase

の記事だった。　以下引用。

Business plan competitions demand a substantial investment of time and money from venture capitalists. Are they worth it?

If all goes well for Sam Altman(現在LooptのCEO), he’ll be the next great college dropout entrepreneur. The onetime computer science major dropped out of Stanford to start Loopt, which lets people track their friends via cell phone to find them in the real world. The hot startup raised $5 million from New Enterprise Associates and Sequoia Capital in January, launched its product in September and announced a major partnership with Boost Mobile just last month.

Altman would have plenty of company as a successful tech entrepreneur who left school without a degree. He’d be in rarer company in the way he did it: His startup grew out of the Stanford University business plan competition informally known as the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES). In true sophomore fashion, Altman and his co-founder filed an incomplete application for the 2004 competition and failed to make the first round. But they got their act together and went on to win the undergraduate competition. One of the final-round judges was NEA’s Patrick Chung, who kept in touch with Altman, even helping him make business connections before they talked about funding. When Altman was ready to raise a Series A round, he turned to Chung, who introduced him to his partners at NEA in late 2005.

(審査員だったNEAのPatrick氏が、資金調達の前にいろいろと支援したというのだ。　）

“We thought the whole business plan competition was stupid, and I don’t remember why we even did it, Altman confesses. But it turned out to be the greatest thing for us. Besides connecting him with Chung, the competition forced Altman and his partner to refine their ideas and even brought them together with their corporate attorney.

In the last decade, business plan competitions have popped all over the place. Venture capitalists are eager to involve themselves with these pitch-fests, at least with the big-name competitions like those at Stanford and MIT. Maybe the competitions provide a return on investment, but the truth is there’s little data to prove it. None of the seven VCs interviewed for this story could point to a company he or she funded out of a business plan competition that went public or was acquired. And most of the organizers of the competitions cannot provide hard data to prove they’re worthwhile. One fact that no one can dispute is that very few public companies have emerged from the competitions in the 20 or so years that they’ve been around.

Bragging rights

There is one competition that can show VCs the money: MIT’s $100,000 Entrepreneurship Competition. In its 17 years, it has produced at least 87 companies that have pulled in $640 million in venture capital. Of that number, three have gone public Akamai, C-Bridge Internet Solutions and NetGenesis and 17 have been acquired for total proceeds of $2.35 billion. Just this year, two participants in the MIT competition were acquired Harmonix was snapped up by MTV Networks in August for $175 million, and Brontes Technologies was bought by 3M for $95 million.

(MIT のコンテストは素晴らしい結果だ。１７年間で８７社。６４０Millionドルの資金を調達し、そして、２．３５Billion という結果だ。これだけやっていても、１００億円くらいのファンドでいいパフォーマンスがでる数字だ。　）

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"We thought the whole business plan competition was stupid...but it turned out to be the greatest thing for us." Sam Altman, Founder, Loopt

---

MIT is the exception in being able to quantify its results. Most universities don’t even track the performance of their business plan competitions, which is odd given that their VC boosters are so numbers driven.

For instance, the Moot Corp. competition at the University of Texas claims to be the oldest such event, having begun in 1984 (around the time Michael Dell’s little mail order computer outfit was outgrowing his UT dorm room). Moot Corp. itself has been a fabulous success. It is arguably the largest business plan competition, with preliminary rounds taking place at 17 universities around the world and whose winners meet in early May in a “Super Bowl” in Austin. But competition administrators at UT’s McCombs School of Business are hard pressed to name a single public company that has emerged from their competition. They aren’t even sure how many of the business plans churned out by Moot Corp. participants have grown into functioning companies.

That’s not to say Moot Corp. hasn’t produced any successes. The winner of the 2005 competition was smoke detector maker KidSmart Corp., which morphed into Signal One Safety. Also, two winners since 2001 have raised venture funding: Bigfoot Networks, which raised $4 million from an undisclosed venture firm in March 2006, and Alianza, which raised $6.27 million in two rounds from vSpring Capital, The University Venture Fund and an undisclosed investor in 2005 and 2006.

The University of Oregon’s Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship recently looked at the 100 competitors who entered its New Venture Competition from 1998 to 2003, and was able to find information on just over half of them. Of that group, 60% at least incorporated their business. A 2000 semi-finalist, Novadaq, a medical imaging firm, went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in a $21.6 million Canadian IPO. But Randal Swangard, managing director of the Lundquist Center, says he has no data on how many received funding. It’s like chasing ghosts, he says. All these students just disappear out of these universities.

In contrast, the Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Competition at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business knows it has produced 30 companies in its 11 years. Of that number, 22 collectively raised more than $100 million (not all of it from VCs) between 1997 and 2005, one was acquired for $70 million and another was acquired for an undisclosed amount.

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"That's like chasing ghosts. All these students just disappear out of these universitites." Randal Swangard, Director, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Oregon.

---

Guessing game

The lack of statistics doesn’t surprise Patrick Vernon, associate director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Vernon started researching the economic impact of business plan competitions and found that few know their success stories—or whether they even have any. His research stalled due to lack of data. Vernon believes the competitions are generally good for educating students on how to be entrepreneurs, but not so good at creating companies.

Vernon is not alone in that assessment. Business plan competitions might generate a jewel in the rough, but we think it’s not very efficient,says Cameron Lester, a general partner at Azure Capital Partners, a four-partner venture firm in San Francisco. Lester says Azure’s network of investors and entrepreneurs generates 700 to 800 worthwhile leads each year. Of that number, Azure funds just four to six.

Even VCs involved with the competitions say they aren’t high-return uses of their time. For one thing, business plans presented at a competition broadcast an idea to the world. That’s not how Google or Yahoo came about, or for that matter Sun Microsystems, the archetype of Stanford startups. Despite those smash hits, We had little expectation that undergraduate and graduate students would have the insights needed to build good business plans and companies,” says Gary Morgenthaler, a general partner at Morgenthaler Ventures.

Still, Morgenthaler is actively involved in business plan competitions. The venture firm endowed the grand prize at Stanford in honor of David Morgenthaler (Gary’s father). The elder Morgenthaler endowed the original MIT competition as part of his passion for training entrepreneurs. His son has judged the BASES finals since 1998.

Morgenthaler even surprised himself by funding a company he judged—Voltage Security, an identity management firm that won in 2001. Still, he starts to say that the competition is not the highest productivity use of time in terms of deal sourcing. Then he does the math and realizes that he’s probably judged close to 100 business plans, and funding one out of 100 is about our normal batting average for companies we take a serious look at. So it’s probably no worse than other sources of deal flow, but it isn’t a super-productive source of deals.

"Business plan competitions might generate a jewel in the rough, but we think it's not very efficient." Cameron Lester, General Partner, Azure Capital Partners.

Soft spot

So why stay involved with such competitions? It’s the soft benefits that keep Morgenthaler and others coming back. For one, being involved with high-energy students just makes them feel good. I get more out of it than just a sense of civic duty or public good, explains Morgenthaler. I enjoy interacting with the students and there are novel ideas and technologies that emerge each year. It’s one day out of my year, it’s a nice change of pace and you feel like you’re doing something positive for the students.

Venture capitalists say the competitions also help them connect with university researchers and technology transfer officials, which can lead to early access to ideas and deals. If you want to be on the forefront of what’s going on from a technology perspective it’s good to have deep relationships at universities, says Jean George, a partner with Advanced Technology Ventures, which sponsors competitions at Stanford, MIT, Harvard and Duke. You can't just take one route. These are big organizations and complex organizations and they span the globe.

Dick Kramlich, a founding partner of NEA, considers business plan competitions a research expenditure. As such, he says their proliferation is a great thing. He likens it to a market test that helps entrepreneurs tune up their ideas, and says that NEA likes to see potential deals that have come through a business plan competition. He’s also not worried about having so many other VCs see the same companies. These are not obvious hits; they have a lot of unresolved facets, he says. Kramlich can at least point to Loopt as a fundable company that came out of NEA’s “research.

Most VCs we spoke with look at the cash they shell out to business plan competitions as a marketing expense. BCE Capital, for example, paid approximately $35,000 to be a gold sponsor of this year’s MIT competition to raise its profile in the Northeastern United States. We’re really trying to grow our presence in the Northeast, says Mark Faucher, a principal at the Toronto-based early stage firm. BCE opened an office on Boston’s version of Sand Hill Road in Waltham, Mass., last year. The firm plans to look closely at the results of sponsoring the MIT competition before it considers renewing.

BCE also sponsors a competition at the University of Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business. But that commitment costs it a fraction of the MIT competition, and besides, three of the BCE partners went to the Ivey School (do not underestimate school spirit as a motivation for VC behavior).

Gaining stronger ties with university faculty and technology licensing offices are also reasons cited for being involved with business plan competitions. But VCs readily acknowledge that they can make those connections without the competitions.

Fountain of youth

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"If you’re an early stage technology VC, [business plan competitions] are an important source of deals. If you’re a late stage investor they are probably cute but not critical." Erick Straser, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures

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When pressed, VCs have trouble showing the benefits of connecting with students at the competitions. You meet these young entrepreneurs, and even if you don’t fund them through this plan, you’ll likely run across them again in the future, says ATV’s George. But she hasn’t actually run across one yet. Kramlich says NEA has hired at least one partner who once was a competitor in a business plan competition, but he wasn’t sure if NEA first learned of the partner through a competition.

VCs say the kinds of companies most likely to emerge from business plan competitions are consumer and consumer Internet startups, rather than more capital-intensive companies, such as semiconductor startups or, especially, biotech outfits. Exceptions in both categories exist, such as T-Ram Semiconductors, which came out of BASES, and NanoString, which won the 2004 University of Washington competition and eventually was funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and OVP Venture Partners.

Stanford’s BASES competition lists half a dozen VC-funded companies on its site, including T-Ram, Ingenuity, and Voltage Security. Stanford says it doesn’t know how many companies from its competition have received venture backing or went on to go public or get acquired.

But BASES co-founder Erik Straser, now a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures in Menlo Park, says: “Look at the Nasdaq100. It’s full of college students who decided to go change the world. He says MDV funded a company from last year’s BASES competition, though he declined to give its name because it’s in stealth mode.

Straser clearly thinks of the competition as part of the soft tissue of marketing MDV. He puts it in with a portfolio of marketing activities that keep his firm’s name in front of potential entrepreneurs and top faculty members. MDV, like many VC firms, also likes to market itself through sponsoring events like this year’s California Clean Tech Open, a business plan competition with $500,000 in prize money spread across five categories: energy efficiency, renewable energy, smart power, transportation and water management.

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"If you want to be on the forefront of what’s going on from a technology perspective it’s good to have deep relationships at universities. You can't just take one route." Jean George, Partner, Advanced Technology Ventures

---

MDV sponsored Stanford’s winning entry in the transportation category. Among the dozen other VCs that sponsored the competition were ATV, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Khosla Ventures, NEA and Venrock. Straser says the Clean Tech Open was a fun way to get the message out that MDV wants to fund clean tech entrepreneurs.

While Straser talks soft benefits first, he does think such competitions help with deal flow, especially because they aggregate a large number of potential deals and then filter them. If you’re an early stage technology VC, this is an important source of deals, he says. If you’re a late stage investor, this is probably cute but not critical. If you’re a consumer Internet investor, it’s probably really important.

Teen dream

Case in point: Chung, who specializes in consumer Internet and mobile deals for NEA. Loopt is one of three companies he has funded since joining NEA. He says business plan competitions are an incredibly efficient place to hunt for consumer Internet deals. Many of the consumer oriented startups aim at the youth market, which means a successful startup will be valuable to advertisers and marketers, who remain baffled by the under-25 market. This is a large, important, affluent, highly mobile and highly social demographic, Chung says.

Even so, Chung remembers the looks he got from NEA’s partners when he brought in Altman and his co-founders. Bringing a group of sophomores in front of the NEA partnership was a little bit daunting for me, he says. It was one of my first deals, so when they walked into the room, some people looked at me, or I interpreted their looks as, ‘Who on earth are these kids?’ That went away when the presentation started, he says.

“I really like Sam Altman, says Kramlich. But he acknowledges that finding a company like Loopt at a business plan competition is probably a best case scenario.

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"I enjoy interacting with the students and there are novel ideas and technologies that emerge each year. It’s one day out of my year, it’s a nice change of pace and you feel like you’re doing something positive for the students." Gary Morgenthaler, General Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures

---

Chung is a big fan of business plan competitions partly from personal experience. Before NEA, he worked for Zefer, a consultancy that won the 1998 Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest and pulled in $100 million in funding in a single round.

（ＮＥＡのＰａｒｔｉｃｋ氏もＨＢＳのコンテストを経験した会社に在籍していたことは面白い）

Zefer later died like so many other dot-coms. That fate, though, also befell companies run by serial entrepreneurs with excellent track records, and it is indeed the fate that most portfolio companies suffer, regardless of pedigree. VCs, then, should school themselves in the extra risk of funding untried and unseasoned entrepreneurs before plunging into business plan competitions.

They should also think about Altman. After winning the undergraduate competition at BASES, he hopped the red-eye to Boston and met with Y Combinator, which seeded his idea. Y Combinator Partner Paul Graham wrote in his blog: Within about three minutes of meeting him, I remember thinking Ah, so this is what Bill Gates must have been like when he was 19.

How much is that chance worth?

Done Deals: Venture Capitalists Tell Their Story: Featured HBS John Doerr

Done Deals: Venture Capitalists Tell Their Story: Featured HBS John Doerr

「ウエブ時代をゆく」から思い出したことなど

梅田さんの「ウェブ時代をよく」をいまさらですが、地元の本屋で買ってみて、すこしづづ読んでいる。　ロールモデルのところで、梅田さんのコンサルタントとしてのモデルが、エスター・ダイソン氏のPC Forum や　ニュースレタービジネスで、それがＡＤＬ時代の情報電子産業フォーラムにつながった　ということだった。

ＡＤＬに1998年新卒で入社することになった私は、大学4年生のとき（内定時代）にこの梅田さんが担当していた情報電子産業フォーラムに参加していた。　日本の大手企業の幹部の方や経営企画など経営の中枢を担うだろうという方が参加していた。Microsoft と Netscape の争い　などホットなテーマを扱っていた。　私にとって貴重な経験だった。　梅田さんは1997年5月？に独立。内定したとき梅田さんといっしょというのは良いなーと思っていったが、友人が購読したいたフォーサイトに独立って書いてあったよということを聞いて大変ショックだったことを覚えている。

New Industry Leaders Summit (NILS) や 現在のInfinity Ventures Summit は元のアイデアはPC Forum だった。　リゾートに２泊とか缶詰で産業の将来などを議論する場である。

梅田さんが情報電子産業フォーラムで得た人脈　や　コンサルティングの仕事というのは私のとっても同じで、独立後はコンサルティングの仕事（Ａｄｍｏｂ）も依頼があったが、投資案件の発掘などにもつながっている。　　

私が独立しようと思ったのは、NILSのおかげだ。NILSによって様々な人と出会ったことが最大の財産だ。

さてに次に面白いのは、梅田さんはＫＰＣＢのジョン・ドーアの若い頃をロールモデルとしうに若い人を発掘する・会うということをすると決めたときに、上記に登場する当時ＣＮＥＴの山岸さんに日本にいったときに若い人とのあっていくということをしている。　私も山岸さんに声をかけれた一人で、2004年の11月ことだった。はてな　で行われた勉強会に参加。第一回ＮＩＬＳの開催の前日である。　グリーの田中さんははじめて出会った。梅田さんとも「再会」した。もちろん、梅田さんは私が学生時代に会ったことは記憶にない。当然だ。当時はただの学生だった。

私は大学時代にいろいろとビジネス雑誌を読んでいたのですが、シリコンバレー、ＩＴブームがよく特集になっていた。KPCBのジョン・ドーアはよく登場していて、私がベンチャーキャピタリストを目指すうえでの「ロールモデル」となった。

いろいろとジョン・ドーアに関してはいろいろとキャリアを調べたものだ。かれは1974年のインテルのエンジニアとして入社した。ＫＰＣＢの入社したは1980年だ。　詳しくは彼のDone Deals の特集を見るとよい。

私が大学3年生(1996年）のことろはジョン・ドーア氏は有名であった。彼は別の自分自身で起業してＣＥＯになったという経験がない。ビジネススクールは卒業していたが、インテルの数年のキャリアでKPCB に転進（アソシエイト）だ。　私のジョン・ドーア氏以外のロール・モデルはAccel Partners のジム・ブレイヤー氏であるが、彼も若くしてベンチャーキャピタルファームに入って現在に至る。

よく起業経験がないとかビジネス経験がないベンチャーキャピタリストは駄目だ　とか叩かれることが多く、だだいた、若いときに「ベンチャーキャピタリスト」になりたいんですといっても、だいたいビジネスと技術の経験がしっかりないとできないとか諭された終わった。

ジョン・ドーア氏はインテル時代はField Engineerだったではないか？　すでに3000人もいる大きな企業だ。結局、何をしていたが関係ない。ベンチャーキャピタリストになって何をするかだと思っていた。　若くして起業して成功する人もいるではないか　と思っていた。　

Intel: 1974

The summer of 1974 was pivotal in my career. Intel was a promising, well-managed, $130 million revenue company with 3,000 employees. They had just introduced the 8080 chip, the first 8-bit microprocessor.

That summer Andy Grove taught new employees the first course on "Intel's Organization Philosophy and Economics" (iOPEC). Andy's management genius and personal commitment to education were evident even then. By summer's end Andy and I had trained Intel's sales' force in the U.S. and Europe. Our benchmarks showed the superiority of Intel's 8080 processor versus Motorola's 6800. And even more fun, we won major design contracts selling major customers like Siemens and ICL. I promptly forgot about venture capital and decided to build a career at Intel.

I returned to grad school to finish a degree in business and continued working twenty hours a week for Intel as the field engineer assigned to DEC. We dragged DEC kicking and screaming into the brave new world of microprocessors. DEC's engineers were skeptical of computers on a chip, but that's another story.

After business school my next job was at Intel's factory "headquarters," working first with engineering and then product marketing. However, my friend and marketing manager, Jim Lally, advised me that if I someday wanted to be a successful marketing or general manager, I'd better learn how to sell and how to motivate a field sales force. He told me to "get out into the field, and carry a bag!"

So I transferred to Intel's Chicago sales office and had a blast, calling on small accounts in farming and industrial communities. It was the one of the best and most educational of jobs: solve a problem, get an order. Then I was called back to Intel's factory to be a marketing manager, still working with microprocessors, software, and people.

実際に私の場合、工学部であったが、ほとんど勉強していなかったため、エンジニアになっても駄目だと感じていた。　ジム・ブレイヤー氏のキャリアはマッキンゼーのコンサルタントということもあったので、コンサルティング会社におって経験をつもうということを考えた。
情報通信産業に強いところにいこう。それがＡＤＬだった。1998年ＡＤＬに入社2001年6月に当時のエイパックス・グロービス・パートナーズ(AGP)に入社した。

ジョン・ドーア氏が1980年のＫＰＣＢに参画したときは以下のような感じだったそうだ。　

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers: 1980

In 1980 a friend introduced me to Kleiner Perkins. They wanted a gofer to help check out new business plans. I was still interested in someday starting a venture, but I wasn't so sure about venture capital. During my interview, the KP partners - Eugene, Tom, Frank, and Brook - promised that if I worked for them, they would someday back me in starting a new venture. They pointed to their success backing Bob Swanson, an associate who incubated Genentech, and Jim Treybig, who incubated Tandem Computers.

Kleiner Perkins offered me a job and within the first year I was fortunate to meet two professors at the 1981 Cal Tech VLSI Conference: Carver Mead from Cal Tech, and Jim Clark from Stanford. Carver and Jim would later play key roles in ventures that KP backed.

Carver Mead told us about his research into new tools for chip design. He called it "silicon compilation." True to their word, the KP partners backed Carver and me in co-founding a new venture, Silicon Compilers. After eighteen months we recruited a more qualified CEO from Intel, Phil Kaufman. Later, Silicon Compilers merged with Silicon Design Labs, and in 1991 Mentor Graphics acquired Silicon Compilers for $142 million.

Meanwhile, Jim Clark was developing his geometry engine, which led to Silicon Graphics. Jim later worked with KP in building great companies like Netscape, Healtheon, and currently myCFO.

Throughout the 1980s, the microprocessor was the common denominator - the base technology - for successful KP ventures, from Compaq to Lotus, and from Sun Microsystems to AOL. None of these new digital, personal computing, information, or network products would have been possible without the microchip.

ジョン・ドーア氏はその後はコンパックとか、サンマイクロシステムズ、ネットスケープ、アマゾンなどご存知の会社の支援することになる。

私の場合もロールモデル思考法だ。大学生のときから、ジョン・ドーア　とか言っていたと思うので、当時にしたら相当　変人だったと思う。　Accel のジム　もロールモデル。

ネットワークやコミュニティをしっかり形成されているのがシリコンバレーの特徴とすると、NILS そして、IVS はコミュニティを形成する場である。このコミュニティというかネットワーク　と　上記のKPCB のジョン・ドーアとかビノット・コスラとかのような人材が集まるファームがあれば産業を創造することができるのではいか？

というのが独立後の構想である。　ベンチャーキャピタルファームは一人やろうと思ってはいなかった。自分にあるのは情熱とか実行力そのものであり、　別に起業して成功したとかの実績はない。　別の経営などの経験がなくてもベンチャーキャピタリストにはなれるが、当然ながらそういった経験も重要だ。　自分にないなら、チームとして持つべきだ。　起業家のとって価値のあるチームを作ることが一番重要。

いろいろなことを思い出したり、考えたりしました。

　

ベンチャー・プライベート・カンファレンス（ベンチャーキャピタリスト座談会）

ベンチャー・プライベート・カンファレンスの案内（ＰＤＦ）がアップされていました。

2月8日の以下に登場予定です。

≪座談会≫ 3:50～5:10PM
『ベンチャーキャピタリストが語り合う』
九州ベンチャーパートナーズ株式会社 取締役 水口 啓 氏
株式会社東京大学エッジキャピタル 代表取締役社長 郷治 友孝 氏
ケイ・アンド・カンパニーＬＬＰ 代表パートナー 小林 雅 氏
司会 NTVP 代表 村口 和孝

仲間が増えた！

2007年8月1日に独立して、今年2008年から本格展開に向けていろいろと準備しておりました。準備に向けて、今後　ベンチャーキャピタルの共同のGeneral Partner となる仲間が一人増えました！

ベンチャー投資の仕事を通じて、スタートアップ段階での創業メンバーの重要性や相互補完関係のあるチーム　、価値観の共有といったところをきわめて重要という点と、　　1名代表のワンマン・ベンチャーキャピタルというよりかは、チームで一人ではできないような大きなことを実現したいとずっと考えていました。　

まだまだチーム構築はこれからです。Admobのコンサルの仕事は一部継続しつつも、全力で新しいベンチャーキャピタルの本格立ち上げ　と　Infinity Ventures Summit などの産業のプラットフォームを構築する活動していきたいと思っています。

2月のバルセロナ　、3月のシリコンバレーとは上記のパートナーの2名で行く予定。　これからが楽しみです。

Convertible Notes

USTREAM.TVの投資に絡んで、エンジェルラウンドにおける「Convertible Notes」での投資を経験した。　日本では馴染みのない用語だと思う。

日本の「資本政策」を呼ばれるものは、創業チームがお金を出し合ったり、また創業チームの親族や友人・知人のお金を集めて創業する。最初の段階なので、株価は同じ株価（1株1万円のスタートだったら1万円という意味）になる。　

上記の場合、親族・知人に高い株価で増資するにはちょっと気が引けるなどの理由がある。しかしながら、創業チームは希薄化する。

資金調達は行いたい、それもベンチャーキャピタルのようなコントロールしたがるような投資家ではなく、支援いただける個人などに最初のラウンドに参加してもらいたい、そして創業チームは希薄化したくない　

といったようなニーズを背景にConvertible Notesというスキームができたそうだ。Convertible Notesとは株式に転換できる借用書だ。たとえばシリーズＡのラウンドの30％ディスカウンした株価で株式に転換できる（and 6％の金利がつくＤｅｂｔ）といった契約内容になっている。シリーズＡでは通常　ＶＣが１－２社でラウンド（３－５億円の調達）を組成してしまう。

USTREAM を通じて、WTI のようなベンチャー企業のローンの専門投資（融資）会社とかあったりして、実績がたとえばＧｏｏｇｌｅだったり、Ｆａｃｅｂｏｏｋだったりするから面白い。　

Specialist in Venture Lending to
Start-up and Emerging Growth Companies

Western Technology Investment (WTI) is a leading provider of debt financing to start-up and emerging growth companies.

WTI's strong customer orientation is made possible by the extensive background of our officers and directors in banking, finance, as well as start-up and large company management. Their broad experience is a valuable resource that is frequently utilized by customers.

Flexible Solutions to Needs

An important element of our value-added offerings is our willingness to structure transactions to specific conditions and achieve the best solution for the company. This flexibility and responsiveness sets WTI apart from other lenders, and contributes to our growth.

この会社は銀行ではない。　ファンドを運用している。　

シリコンバレーでは、エンジェルラウンドといっても個人もさることながら、上記のような専門会社が存在したり、個人でやっているブティック型ベンチャーキャピタルとか、いろいろなプレーヤーが存在している。

日本でも Convertible Notes という仕組みは面白しろいと思っていますが、そもそも、ベンチャーキャピタルの投資手法があまり進歩がないため、優先株式が活用されていないといったまだまだ課題が多いように思います。　　シリーズＡで5000万円といった規模のファイナンスは日本では多いですが、シリコンレーではエンジェルラウンド程度またはそれ以下と認識する必要があります。　

日本はまだこれからなのですが、改善余地も大きいのでまだまだ面白い展開ができるのではないかと思います。