20 VC 070: Do Investors in California Outperform The Rest of The World with Eric ver Ploeg @ Recursive Capital

Eric ver Ploeg has sat on both sides of the table as an entrepreneur and a VC. Eric started his career as an entrepreneur with the founding of Adknowledge, the 1st internet ad serving company, which was sold for $193m. He then went on to Angara, a Kleiner Perkins backed startup which led to his move into venture with VantagePoint, where he led VantagePoint’s investment activities in the mobile arena, leading over $160m in investments. Eric is also a fantastic writer and his articles can be found on Medium here!

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In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Eric made the move from Angara, Kleiner Perkins company, to his role in venture?

2.) Did being a founder affect how Eric interacted and investing in startups?

3.) How can founders learn the skills of interacting with their investors and board?

4.) What makes the hot companies, hot and the others struggle?

5.) Does Eric agree with startups raising a ‘warchest’ of funds if they can? How can startups determine what is the right amount to raise?

6.) Why are SF angels so much more successful than other investors? What do they have that other do not?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Eric’s Fave Book: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Crossing The Chasm by Geoffrey Moore

Eric’s Fave Newsletter or Blog: Tomasz Tunguz

Research Provided by CB Insights

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Eric on Twitter here?

To see a more colourful side to Harry’s personality and a few mojito sessions, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!