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실리콘 밸리 최대 초기 스타트업 투자 펀드 회사 중 하나인 500스타트업 (500 Sartups)의 엘리자베스 인 (Elizabeth Yin) 총괄은 미국 실리콘 밸리에서는 다른 곳에서 할 수 없는 “눈이 번쩍 뜨이는 경험”을 할 수 있다고 한다.
그 이유는 첫째, 500스타트업의 두 엑셀러레이터 프로그램인 마운틴 뷰(Mountain View)와 샌프란시스코(San Francisco)는 스타트업들이 실리콘벨리의 소위 거물들과 즉시 연결 가능하도록 도와줄 수 있고, 둘째, 500스타트업의 사람들과 스타트업 종사자들이 생면부지인 다른 스타트업 종사자들을 위해 돕는 일에 열정을 쏟기 때문이라고 한다.
“하지만 동시에 실리콘 벨리는 아주 경쟁이 심하고, 바로 그러한 치열한 경쟁이 사람들을 더욱 빠르게 움직일 수 있도록 하는 원동력이 된다,”라고 엘리자베스 인 총괄은 서울을 방문한 지난 8월 16일 코리아헤럴드/인베스터와의 인터뷰에서 말했다.
실리콘 벨리에서 자란 엘리자베스 인은 500스타트업에 합류하기 전 5개의 크고 작은 스타트업을 직접 운영하기도 한 스타트업계의 소위 베테랑이다. 500스타트업의 엑셀러레이터 프로그램에 참여하기도 한 그녀는 4번의 창업 실패 후 5번째 설립한 온라인 광고 관련 스타트업인 런치 빗(LaunchBit)으로 나름의 성공을 거뒀다. 그녀는 2014년 런치 빗을 광고 플랫폼 시장의 선두 회사에 매각을 했다.
그녀는 과거 본인의 스타트업 실패의 원인을 “고객의 목소리를 듣지 않았고 오로지 ‘누구도 원하지 않는’ 제품을 만드는 데에만 집중을 했기 때문,” 이라고 진단했다.
그리고 지금 새롭게 시작하는 스타트업에게는 “제품을 만들기전에 고객과의 대화를 먼저하라,”고 추천하고 싶다고 말했다.
성공 레시피
500스타트업은 자사의 스타트업 지원 프로그램과 서비스에 대해 새롭게 시작하는 스타트업들을 치열한 정글에서 살아남을 수 있는 생존력을 길러주고, 더 나아가 기업 가치 10억 달러(한화 약 1조원)로 성장하는 스타트업을 일컫는 “유니콘”이 될 수 있도록 도와주는 성공 레시피(recipe)라고 부른다.
500스타트업의 성공 레시피에는 아주 실랄하지만 건설적인 비판 과정 또한 포함되어 있다. 스타트업 프로그램에 참여하는 기업들은 다른 기업과 500스타트업의 임원들 앞에서 자신들의 사업에 대해 소개하는 과정을 주기적으로 갖는다. 이런 행사에서 500스타트업의 대표이자 전 페이팔(PayPal)의 임원 출신 데이브 맥클러(Dave McClure)는 행사장 제일 뒤편 의자에 앉아 “안들려!” 혹은 “더 크게!” 라고 소리를 지르며 스타트업 대표들과 임원들을 궁지로 몰아 넣는다고 한다. 스타트업 정글에 살아 남기 위해 맷집을 기르는 것과 같은 과정이다.
엘리자베스 인 총괄은 500스타트업 프로그램에 참여하면 얻을 수 있는 가장 큰 혜택은 방대한 실리콘 벨리 네트워크라고 말한다.
“500스타트업이 제공해 줄 수 있는 같은 양과 질의 인적 네트워크를 얻으려면, 실리콘 벨리에 받을 딛자마자 최소한 일년 동안은 네트워킹을 정말 미치도록 해야 할 것,”이라고 엘리자베스 인 총괄은 말했다.
▶500스타트업 운영방식은?
현재 4개의 메인 펀드, 10개의 지역 펀드, 그리고 핀테크와 모바일 등 산업군에 투자하는 두 가지 이상의 수직계열 펀드(vertical fund)를 운영하고 있다.
2010년 7월에 설립된 500Startups는 현재까지 1,600여개의 회사에 투자를 했고, 2억 5천만 달러의 총 운영자산을 보유하고 있다.
전통적인 스타트업 투자 방법이 유망한 한 두 곳의 스타트업에 대규모의 투자금을 투자하는 것이라면, 500스타트업의 투자 방법은 소위 “소액 분산 투자,”라고 할 수 있다. 그 이유는 100개의 스타업 중에 1개 정도의 회사가 유니콘으로 성장할 수 있는 가능성을 가지고 있고, 그 옥석을 가리기는 쉽지 않기 때문이라고 한다. 따라서 투자를 분산 시키는 방법이 스타트업 성장의 디딤돌을 깔아 줄수 있고, 투자 성공 확률을 높일 수 있는 방법이라고 500스타트업은 설명한다.
한 스타트업 당 12만 5천 달러를 투자 하며 프로그램 참가 수수료 명목으로 2만 5천달러를 받는다. 그리고 투자에 대한 대가로 500스타트업은 피투자회사의 약 5%-10%의 지분을 갖는다.
(코리아헤럴드/더인베스터 김영원 기자)(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
<관련영문기사>
500 Startups hunts for next unicorn in global market
►Start-up accelerator helps global start-up to survive cut-throat competition
[THE INVESTOR] For many global startups, a four-month accelerator program of 500 Startups, a US venture capital seed fund, is an eye-opener.
The startup accelerator program, held four times a year at two of 500’s offices in Mountain View and San Francisco, is a mixture of collaboration as well as fierce competition among startups from around the world. Mentors, called coaches there, also provide full support in a range of sectors, such as marketing and sales, for the participants.
“The two accelerators under the startup nurturing firm -- dubbed Mountain View and San Francisco -- help companies immediately get connected with influential people, and in many cases it is surprising to people as they find out how helpful people are immediately even if they don’t know you and how helpful people are in Silicon Valley,” Elizabeth Yin, the head of the Mountain View accelerator, said in an interview with The Korea Herald/The Investor in Seoul on Tuesday.
“But also at the same time it is very competitive, and that competition actually urges people to move faster,” said Yin, a startup veteran who keeps several venture failures under her belt.
Elizabeth Yin, the head of Silicon Valley seed fund 500 Startups’ Mountain View accelerator. The Investor / Chung Hee-cho
She founded and ran five startups as side projects before joining 500, and most of them fell short of success except for ad tech firm LaunchBit, which she sold to an ad platform operator in 2014.
The accelerator chief, also called a 500 Startups partner at the firm, pointed out that being unable to find out the precise need of customers was the primary reason for the past failures
“(Now) I recommend founders that they start talking with customers now before even they have a product,” she said.
Success recipe
500 Startups describes its programs and services as being like secret recipes for fledgling startups around the globe to survive the stiff competition in the global startup scene and become the next “unicorn” – a venture firm that grows to be worth $1 billion or more.
Among the recipes offered by the startup nurturing firm, a mix of criticism and harsh words being hurled from every direction during their pitches in 500’s programs are well known to Silicon Valley venture capitals and startups.
“The participants of the 500 Startups programs go to the rooms of the office and do their pitches and Dave McClure (founder of 500 Startups) will just yell at them in the back like ‘I can’t hear you,’ or ‘Louder’” Yin said.
She said McClure’s sometimes acid comments about the startups often serve as a wake-up call for those companies, which may have been in the top their local ecosystems, helping them realize that they are just one of many in Silicon Valley.
Receiving criticism and advice from mentors and a full range of support, the participants of the 500’s program are ultimately forced to work harder and faster than ever before, according to Yin.
One of the 500 program’s biggest perks is the network it provides, she said.
“If you wanted to get the same network offered by 500, you would probably have to fly to Silicon Valley, live there for probably a year and network like crazy in order to accomplish the same thing as you can in our program for four months,”
The company has invested more than 1,600 companies since July 2010 and it has more than $250 million in assets under management.
It runs four main funds, 10 regional funds, and more than two vertical funds, including those for fintech and mobile, and has two accelerators.
Unlike the traditional approach to investing in startups — pouring a chunk of money into a few promising start-ups -- 500 puts its eggs in many different baskets by making “lots of little bets,” in many companies in their early and mid-stages.
“Identifying winners in the early stages is difficult, and this difficulty is the basis for our investment thesis in having a large portfolio,” the company said.
According to the data provided by the firm, only 1 in 100 startups has a potential to become a unicorn, and the rate is becoming lower as competition gets fiercer. So diversifying bets also increases the odds of hitting the jackpot while reducing risks.
Some of the big wins of 500 include Twilio, which went public on June 23, raising $150 million, and SendGrid, an email services provider which has generated more than $60 million in revenue last year and is expected to go public next year.
McClure, a former PayPal executive, said in a media interview that he anticipated three to five large startup exits such as an initial public offering down the road.
The seed fund also tries to put more weight on investing in international startups rather than focusing on Silicon Valley-based firms.
More than a third of the startups in 500’s programs are from global markets, including South Korea and Japan.
The startup seed investor’s initial investment scheme is that it invests $125,000 in each startup, from which it deducts $25,000 as program fees, and in return obtains 5 to 10 percent of the company. The company said, however, it would change its terms this month. The fee is expected to rise due to an increase in the operational costs of the company.
By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
500 Startups hunts for next unicorn in global market
►Start-up accelerator helps global start-up to survive cut-throat competition
[THE INVESTOR] For many global startups, a four-month accelerator program of 500 Startups, a US venture capital seed fund, is an eye-opener.
The startup accelerator program, held four times a year at two of 500’s offices in Mountain View and San Francisco, is a mixture of collaboration as well as fierce competition among startups from around the world. Mentors, called coaches there, also provide full support in a range of sectors, such as marketing and sales, for the participants.
“The two accelerators under the startup nurturing firm -- dubbed Mountain View and San Francisco -- help companies immediately get connected with influential people, and in many cases it is surprising to people as they find out how helpful people are immediately even if they don’t know you and how helpful people are in Silicon Valley,” Elizabeth Yin, the head of the Mountain View accelerator, said in an interview with The Korea Herald/The Investor in Seoul on Tuesday.
“But also at the same time it is very competitive, and that competition actually urges people to move faster,” said Yin, a startup veteran who keeps several venture failures under her belt.
Elizabeth Yin, the head of Silicon Valley seed fund 500 Startups’ Mountain View accelerator. The Investor / Chung Hee-cho
She founded and ran five startups as side projects before joining 500, and most of them fell short of success except for ad tech firm LaunchBit, which she sold to an ad platform operator in 2014.
The accelerator chief, also called a 500 Startups partner at the firm, pointed out that being unable to find out the precise need of customers was the primary reason for the past failures
“(Now) I recommend founders that they start talking with customers now before even they have a product,” she said.
Success recipe
500 Startups describes its programs and services as being like secret recipes for fledgling startups around the globe to survive the stiff competition in the global startup scene and become the next “unicorn” – a venture firm that grows to be worth $1 billion or more.
Among the recipes offered by the startup nurturing firm, a mix of criticism and harsh words being hurled from every direction during their pitches in 500’s programs are well known to Silicon Valley venture capitals and startups.
“The participants of the 500 Startups programs go to the rooms of the office and do their pitches and Dave McClure (founder of 500 Startups) will just yell at them in the back like ‘I can’t hear you,’ or ‘Louder’” Yin said.
She said McClure’s sometimes acid comments about the startups often serve as a wake-up call for those companies, which may have been in the top their local ecosystems, helping them realize that they are just one of many in Silicon Valley.
Receiving criticism and advice from mentors and a full range of support, the participants of the 500’s program are ultimately forced to work harder and faster than ever before, according to Yin.
One of the 500 program’s biggest perks is the network it provides, she said.
“If you wanted to get the same network offered by 500, you would probably have to fly to Silicon Valley, live there for probably a year and network like crazy in order to accomplish the same thing as you can in our program for four months,”
The company has invested more than 1,600 companies since July 2010 and it has more than $250 million in assets under management.
It runs four main funds, 10 regional funds, and more than two vertical funds, including those for fintech and mobile, and has two accelerators.
Unlike the traditional approach to investing in startups — pouring a chunk of money into a few promising start-ups -- 500 puts its eggs in many different baskets by making “lots of little bets,” in many companies in their early and mid-stages.
“Identifying winners in the early stages is difficult, and this difficulty is the basis for our investment thesis in having a large portfolio,” the company said.
According to the data provided by the firm, only 1 in 100 startups has a potential to become a unicorn, and the rate is becoming lower as competition gets fiercer. So diversifying bets also increases the odds of hitting the jackpot while reducing risks.
Some of the big wins of 500 include Twilio, which went public on June 23, raising $150 million, and SendGrid, an email services provider which has generated more than $60 million in revenue last year and is expected to go public next year.
McClure, a former PayPal executive, said in a media interview that he anticipated three to five large startup exits such as an initial public offering down the road.
The seed fund also tries to put more weight on investing in international startups rather than focusing on Silicon Valley-based firms.
More than a third of the startups in 500’s programs are from global markets, including South Korea and Japan.
The startup seed investor’s initial investment scheme is that it invests $125,000 in each startup, from which it deducts $25,000 as program fees, and in return obtains 5 to 10 percent of the company. The company said, however, it would change its terms this month. The fee is expected to rise due to an increase in the operational costs of the company.
By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
