廢話那麼多, 還是先寫出今天要推薦的部落格吧. 這篇部落格是由馬克安德森(Marc Andreessen), 網景(Netscape)的創業家之一(另外一個創業家為吉姆克拉克Jim Clark, 非常有知名度的矽谷創業家)寫的, BLOG.PMARCA.COM . 如果對於網路還有印象的人, 應該都對網景還有一點印象吧. 這間在1994年上市的網路公司, 開發出第一個網路遊覽器(Web Browser). 以我的創業老師, Mike Lyons講的, 網景可能算是打開矽谷對於網路公司這樣的商業模式(Business Model)的看法. 因為網景在完全沒有獲利的狀態下, 在上市的第一天就募資了2400萬美金. 也讓人了解到網路公司在市場上的前景.
為什麼我會想要推薦這篇部落格, 因為其實如果你在網路上谷歌一下, 上面超多創業家, 天使投資者跟創投寫出的部落格文章. 但是馬克的文筆, 真的是非常一針見血. 已經在矽谷創業家跟創投界引起了一陣風暴. 可能是因為馬克的成功, Netscape(賣給了AOL合併價值超過90億美金), Opsware(以16億美金賣給HP), 一直到現在的Ning(Web 2.0 Social Networking Site), 他已經算是矽谷所說的Successful Serial Entrepreneur. 也就是我常聽創投提到的, "If you done it before, it is much easier for you to do it again". 而常常對我講就是, "If you never done it before, what makes you think you can do it.".裡面有幾篇文章我覺得是所有的高科技創業家必讀的, "The truth about venture capitalist, Part 1~3"跟"The Pmarca Guide to Startups, Part1~9". 如果你整個部落格只讀這兩篇, 已經值回票價了. 免費的商業文章教你有關創投跟創業的概念, 一種不BS, 完全赤裸裸的寫法就是我的最愛.
The truth about venture capitalist, Part 1 (其中一小段)
"Startups that have a credible potential to be sold or go public for a 10x gain on invested capital within 4 to 6 years of the date of funding should consider raising venture capital. Most other startups should not raise venture capital. This includes: startups where the founders want to stay private and independent for a long time; startups where there's no inherent leverage in the business model that could result in a 10x gain in 4 to 6 years; and startups working on projects with a longer fuse than 4 to 6 years.
Notably, there are many fine businesses in the world -- many of them highly profitable, and very satisfying to run -- that do not have leverage in their model that makes them suitable for venture capital investment.
By leverage in this context, I mean: the ability to make something once (a piece of software, a chip design, a web site) and sell it (directly or indirectly) to a lot of people (1,000 business customers or 10 million consumers) -- which leads to the classic "hockey stick" revenue projection."
如果你了解創投的模式, 一檔創投基金的壽命大概在10年左右. 所以投資期只有在頭3~4年. 如果一間創投投資的公司沒有辦法在拿到資金內的6~8年成功售出或是上市, 創投幾乎不會投資你. 因為他們的是需要在投資你之後的5~7年內套現, 除了Google以外. 現在大家真的很愛用Google當例子, 但是那是上萬家創業公司裡面唯一一間的首選.
如果你的公司沒辦法有這樣的條件, 不代表你們做的很差, 只是你們的商業模式也許不適合創投的資金. 但是也代表著, 你們真的做起來的時候創業家的投報率會相對的高.
"If you look at a broad cross-section of startups -- say, 30 or 40 or more; enough to screen out the pure flukes and look for patterns -- two obvious facts will jump out at you.
First obvious fact: there is an incredibly wide divergence of success -- some of those startups are insanely successful, some highly successful, many somewhat successful, and quite a few of course outright fail.
Second obvious fact: there is an incredibly wide divergence of caliber and quality for the three core elements of each startup -- team, product, and market.
At any given startup, the team will range from outstanding to remarkably flawed; the product will range from a masterpiece of engineering to barely functional; and the market will range from booming to comatose.
And so you start to wonder -- what correlates the most to success -- team, product, or market? Or, more bluntly, what causes success? And, for those of us who are students of startup failure -- what's most dangerous: a bad team, a weak product, or a poor market?"
其實在這一篇馬克想辦法解釋出一個成功的方程式. 也是所有的創業家跟創投尋找的. 我認為這篇寫的不錯, 因為他的看法跟我接觸到的創投看法幾乎不太一樣. 因為大部分的創投跟天使投資者都認為一個好的創業團隊是成功的最大要件. 當然啦, 我個人也認為人是一間公司最大的因素, 不管你是小公司或是大公司. 但是以馬克的看法, 他認為市場其實也是很重要的. 如果這是一個高度成長力的市場, 相對好的人才就會往這個市場吸引. 代表公司可以吸引的人才相對的也變多, 可以創造更好的團隊. 其實每個想法都是有關聯的, 只是看你自己怎麼樣去思考.
希望我在這短短的一篇推薦文可以讓大家了解這篇部落格的吸引力. 如果你對高科技創業有興趣的話, 快上馬克的部落格拜讀吧. 保證可以讓你在你的創業路上, 吸收到不一樣的知識.註:
明天的推薦文裡面會寫到我今天要去打的球場, Point Roberts Golf Course. 如果喜歡打球的人明天肯定要來西恩的部落格裡面讀喔.
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