GG:   Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, Jason. I’ve been at General Catalyst for two and a half years now and spend half of my time focused on consumer internet, the other half of my time on software. General Catalyst is a Cambridge, Massachusetts based venture capital firm that was founded by four guys who all went to high school together, became successful entrepreneurs, and really started General Catalyst as an entrepreneur centric VC firm. [We] have a huge amount of operational experience around the table in a variety of industries. We’ve been in business for about ten years and have raised a total of 1.7 billion dollars worth of capital since inception. We’re actively investing today, and I’m happy to answer whatever questions I can.

JR:    So, Gautam , I’m sure a lot of entrepreneurs are thinking to themselves, “In this down economy, how can I get my startup off the ground? Is it still too late to get funding? Is it too difficult?”

GG:   No, I think that there is plenty of money out there for great ideas, great people, big markets. Obviously, the statistics on the economy, on [the] venture capital industry are pretty well known. It’s a very tough fundraising market, but I would not let that deter you in starting a business.

JR:    If somebody like a Facebook or a social network, whose entire business model  falls around the network effect, came to General Catalyst and pitched a concept, would you guys take a second meeting, a third meeting? Would you potentially fund it?

GG:   Absolutely, I mean I think when you’re investing in businesses that depend on, a network effect–that depend on critical mass–we love to see a proven track record, both in terms of the team and the product. It doesn’t have to be a million users, but we like to see tens of thousands of users using the platform. We like to understand how they’re using the product. What the growth or the momentum of the product is. And most importantly, what the team’s passionate about, what their vision is for the company. And how big of an idea they think that they have. But we’ll certainly fund businesses like that. We’re happy to go the very early stage, and that’s usually whether there’s a team that we trust and that we’ve worked with before or that we’ve gotten to know over some period of time.

JR:    Would you invest in a network effect startup that doesn’t have traction? Would you be their funding to prove out their traction, or would they have to go to another source?

GG:   There isn’t a clear science to this but I’ll give you two thoughts: first, if the team is excellent, we’ll fund no matter what stage. We focus, first and foremost, on great entrepreneurs at whatever stage, whatever location, whatever sector they may be operating in. Second, in the days of consumer internet you don’t need a whole lot of money to get off the ground.  You don’t need a whole lot of money to test an effect. So if a company came to me and they said, “Hey, we’ve got a great idea. It depends getting to critical mass, and it’s in the internet space.” Most likely, my question back to them would be, “Why haven’t you tested it? My belief is that you should launch on friends-and-family money and that venture capital is something that you shouldn’t run towards taking at a very early stage. It should be a thought out decision. You know, it may not be the right thing for most…it isn’t the right thing for most businesses.

JR:    Where is your firm looking for the next innovation? Are you guys looking for young students coming out of college? Are you looking for larger stage investments, say…a series C, a series D?

GG:   We’re looking across the board; but traditionally, we focus on early stage–seed and series A, in that respect. A number of those are companies that we’ll work with a founder and develop the business plan and hatch right out of our office. Some of those are university spinouts, or university IP licensing. And some of those are more traditional series A type of venture deals. And then the other focus area for us is growth equity, which is where we’re partnering with entrepreneurs and established businesses. We’re usually the first institutional capital into a business, a business of five to fifty million dollars in revenue. We’re partnering with an entrepreneur to get from one inflection point to the next. And typically, we’re providing a lot of input around the growth strategy and helping to grow the company to fifty to a hundred million dollar revenue sales.

JR:    You are clearly in the know…as young entrepreneurs, where should we be looking if we’re thinking…five…ten years out…

GG:   Well, you know, I think that just traditionally speaking, you should always look for huge areas of dislocation. I think of some of the interest areas that I’m interested in five to ten years out… I think that synthetic biology is an area , robotics as an area of interest, and mobile. But that’s more your term. I actually feel very strong about opportunities in mobile over the next few years. I think that the creation of mobile platforms, and really the carriers starting early–we’re very early in this–starting to open up for the market is very interesting. So I think nearer-term opportunity in mobile. Longer-term opportunity in robotics and biology. Your point, about desktop computing…

JR:    Uh huh…

GG:   I don’t think that desktops are going away any time soon. I think they may take different forms. You could say that mobile computing is something that dates back to the laptop. And we’ve certainly seen more enterprise workers carrying laptops than before, and that number is increasing. You know, netbooks are another interesting evolution in this space. The netbook is just an easier, smaller, cheaper form factor. I think you’ll continue to see innovations around the edges of the desktop computer. But I don’t think that localized computing is going away. I do think that you’ll see more applications on the cloud and software service space application. No question in my mind about that. But I don’t see the computer going away. I think that people will still have local devices that they use to connect to the internet, that they use to work, computed active and lower latency, or kind of, standard intensive projects.

JR:    We’re having more and more applications.  Photoshop came out with their version of the online app. Microsoft is releasing their Office that’s been strictly online. There is computing power, and we have limitations on our bandwidth. How do you see those applications playing out? Do you think that’s just the fad they’re following right now, or does it have growth?

GG:   Yeah, it’s very interesting. I don’t think it’s a fad at all. I do think that this is really the next generation of computing, in my opinion.  I think that applications vendors, as I see it–are thinking about that in a very short term manner and not architecting new solutions for the web. I think we’re going to get better on that front as an industry, as a software industry, of having more intuitive design and being better at understanding web delivery. But I don’t think it’s a fad.  I think that we’re just seeing early versions of web delivered desktop software packages, and it’s going to just take a couple revisions to get all the kinks out.

JR:    How do you see that playing with the international environment, or are they behind on bandwidth and they can’t run these applications properly?

GG:   Well, it’s very interesting. I spent more time thinking about the emerging market and, the bottom of the pyramid type of market. I think that, really, their access point is through the mobile phone which is a little bit different, I think, from what you’re saying. Your point about international community, I think that in a certain income class and in certain countries where computer adoption, internet penetration, etcetera are pretty high. There is no reason for me to believe that adoption of software service model, or anything like that, is going to evolve or happen quicker or slower than U.S. Now, if we’re talking about lower income or emerging countries or developing countries, then I think you’ve just got to realize that the computer penetration and the internet penetration numbers are completely different.  That will take its time to get corrected. I think in the meantime, you’re going to see the mobile phone as the window to the internet and to various kinds of software.

JR:    What do you think about the emerging markets? You mentioned that you liked emerging markets and that’s really where you want to focus. What countries do you see the most innovations, and how are you actively taking a role to help entrepreneurs who help spur innovations in those countries?

GG:   The market that I’m most interested in is India. And that’s a market that I think has huge potential over the next ten, twenty years. It’s an area that I’m spending a lot of personal time learning about and trying to be helpful to entrepreneurs that I meet that are starting up businesses in India. But I’m not taking a very active role there yet.

JR:    Are there any lasting words? As an entrepreneur who’s pitching to Gautam, what’s the best way for me to get attention and get a follow up call?

GG:   In general I have a rule of thumb that I try and get back to any email or phone call that I receive within 24 hours. I’m rarely out of touch–very rarely unreachable via email. I would say, look, if there are ways in which we can be helpful, we’d love to be. And please do reach out, and let’s chat.

JR:    Gautam, thank you very much for your time. I’m sure everybody appreciates that. I’m going to go ahead and post your email address so readers can contact you.

GG:   Great. Thanks so much.

Gautam’s email address is   ggupta@generalcatalyst.com

You’ve been wondering why we haven’t hung out in a couple of months. Well, it’s because Virgin America “understands” me. She knows how to decorate the place with hip lights. She has my favorite Pop Chips available with a few clicks on the screen. She lets me freely chat with other people. Heck, she even encourages me to mingle! She keeps my costs low; and when I do spend money with her for food, at least it’s TASTY. The kicker? She doesn’t mind if I am on the internet working while I am with her.

JetBlue, it’s not me–it’s you. We had a great run together, and I want you to know that I’ve saved a special place for you in my heart. Maybe if you take a page from Virgin America’s book, you will be able to find your new soul mate.

Sorry…for what could have been…

Truly,
J

Company names in the tech arena go with the trend. When I started Paragon Lake, the trend was to match up two words that had nothing to do with each other, and call it a day. Heck, it was great at first! Paragon Lake…fun, original, provocative…the paragon of company names (pun intended). Looking back, however, the erratic pairing of two random words may have been more trouble than I bargained for. Almost every time someone asked me what my company’s name was, they got confused. Paragon Link? Paradigm Lake? And my personal favorite…Taragon Lakes? So then I would end up spelling out the letters. They, in turn, would end up mixing ‘P’ with ‘T.’ You get the point. Did I make a mistake by choosing Paragon Lake as my company name? Ultimately, no. The name succeeded because the company made a powerful dent on the market.

Trends, by definition, veer in a different direction. The trend now is to make company names as short as possible with some kind of misspelling. Insttant (an instant news site partnered with Twitter) and Clixtr (an iPhone app that allows photo sharing), are two that come to mind. Personally, I like to think a fellow dyslexic misspelled his company name, and the trend picked up.

As a tech entrepreneur, my job is to come up with the “perfect” company, quickly followed by the “perfect” company name. I am not saying that company names don’t matter. Merely, I am saying the business itself matters more. (Otherwise, I’d be in the business of solely coming up with company names.)

So…in answering the question, “Does the name make the company, or does the company make the name,” I say…

Don’t stress out about your company name. I promise it won’t matter if your company is making an impact on the market.

So, it has been a while since I oil painted, but lately I have been intrigued by lines and color shades. I call this oil on canvas piece, “Lines of the Sky.” I made it made with yellow, blue, black and white oil paint. Enjoy—let me know what you think.

Top Five points that I agree with:
1) Don’t let emotions cloud your decisions.
2) Don’t get too greedy… pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
3) Having a good business partner will be a key factor in your success.
4) Base your business decisions around metrics.
5) Spending money on good lawyers and accountants will save you more money in the long run.

Top three points that I disagree with and why:
1) It’s never a bad thing to know too many rich people. Whether you like them or not, they can always come in handy. So make sure you always play nice with them.
Why) If by “rich” you are referring to monetarily and not “rich” mentally, then I disagree. People rich or poor see through fakeness. Nothing gets me more riled up than fake people who are only there during the good times. You shouldn’t play nice with rich people for the sake of getting something in return. If you don’t get along with someone, then you don’t get along with someone. No need to suck up. You lose credibility within the network of people around you who genuinely are there to help you. If you know someone that boasts about having their “rich” Rolex watch out—their bite hurts the most and it will happen to you when you are the most vulnerable.

2) Try not to mix your family life with your business life.
Why) I think it depends on the stage and type of business. Many successful companies have been strung out of family businesses. At first Paragon Lake was a family business (leveraged my parents’ business) and as it has matured it is now just a stand-alone business. Also, when you are in the early stages of your start-up you have to view your business as your Family, Friend, Business, Baby and Dream.

3) Never stop networking.
Why) I hate this point because I think that many entrepreneurs get lost in the glitz and glamour of the “start-up world.” They go to every networking event, sometimes three a day, and boast as to how many business cards they received or who they rubbed shoulders with or, even worse, want to add publicity to their own personal brand and not the company’s. It pisses me off and makes me laugh at the same time though. As an entrepreneur your focus needs to be on building a company that provides value to its customer base, not whoring yourself out at events. I limit my networking events and if I do go I make sure to have a clear objective… e.g., connect with partner A or investor C. I find better ways to add value to my company. Also note that the people you actually want to “network” with don’t show up to most the “networking events.”

As an avid foodie I see wasted food whenever I dine out or sadly even when I cook in my own kitchen. It is depressing to see this food go to waste when are millions who are starving and don’t have the luxury to be able to put food on their plates let alone pay money for food that looks more like art than it does raw fish and rice.

When in Massachusetts I volunteered at a homeless shelter in Cambridge for a semester and saw first hand how the process of food distribution worked for the homeless. What struck me most was how difficult it was just to give free food to people. Cities around the country create laws around its distribution; and quite frankly, I believe they care less about the safety of the homeless and more on limiting the number of homeless people in their cities. For instance, in Orlando, police arrested a man who served food to 30 people in a public park for violating a city ordinance that prohibits sharing food with more than 25 people without a permit. He faced a penalty of up to a $500 fine and 60 days in jail for violating this law. In Dallas, anyone caught sharing food with a homeless person without a permit may be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to six months.

My plan is not to just use this blog post as a rant but to help spread the word as to how absurd these laws are. A nonprofit concept that I have been toying around to start in LA tries to tackle the problem around serving for to homeless people. If anyone knows a way around the roadblock of LA ordinance let me know.

The non-profit concept would work with LA’s large restaurant and homeless population like this:

The restaurant notifies the customer before the meal is served that they can sign up for the “Share your leftovers” program. The customer would sign a consent form stating that the restaurant will not be held responsible for sharing the leftover food. The restaurant would store the leftovers in a refrigerator. The nonprofit would do daily pickups from the restaurants and would give the food to homeless shelters. The homeless person would also sign a consent form that they will not hold the shelter, restaurant or person liable for the food.

If I have leftovers I go out of my way to take the rest home and try to find homeless people to give them to but most the time I can’t find someone and am left in an awkward situation when I do find the homeless person. I would love to see this concept roll out. If you are interested let me know and maybe we can get this going together.

RockSugar’s first location is in the Westfield Mall in Century City. Asian cuisine intrinsically works in the mass-customization world. The dishes have the same basic ingredients and with just a twist in the sauce they become a brand new meal—add some peanuts and you have a Thai flavor, add some curry and you give it an Indian flavor. The result is delicious, and combined with RockSugar’s excellent service, makes for an enjoyable dining experience.

We ordered from their Pre-Fixe menu: Appetizer- Coconut Chicken Soup, Meat- Claypot Beef and Starch- Thai Noodles. I suggest you visit the restaurant while it is in its early stages of growth, because I believe it will lose its quality as it grows to bring profit to the Cheesecake Factory shareholders.

Edited by Morgan Smith

Edited by Morgan Smith