Startup Investor School Day 4

Conway says he moved from founding Altos Computer into angel investing after mentorship from Sequoia’s Don Valentine. He and Ben Rosen focused on disruptive industries with rapid growth, and Conway says SV Angel evaluates the founder’s character before the idea. Determination, integrity, and focus on users and goals stand out in founders such as Mark Zuckerberg.

Conway says 40 to 60 percent of invested companies may fail, so investors need a portfolio where a few large wins can cover losses. He identifies founder dishonesty and co-founder conflict as problems, and recommends meeting the whole team and watching how co-founders interact. He cites Google’s early team as a reason to look beyond the most visible founders and understand a company’s culture.

Conway says investors can help startups hire, find distribution partners, and access useful contacts at companies such as Apple, Twitter, Facebook, and Google. He also urges investors to push founders to make decisions and execute, while remembering that founders run their own companies. His advice to new investors is to choose a sector they understand and build a portfolio across five or ten companies.

Conway describes being a good investor as contributing to the community, including encouraging founders to be civically engaged. For Demo Day, he recommends taking notes, paying attention, and making decisions promptly. He closes by urging investors to act with honesty and transparency, including sharing how investment conversions are calculated.