Index Ventures Blog » Saul Klein http://blog.indexventures.com Index Ventures Blog Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:44:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Basecamp for the Next Social Revolution? http://blog.indexventures.com/basecamp-for-the-next-social-revolution/ http://blog.indexventures.com/basecamp-for-the-next-social-revolution/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:53:12 +0000 Saul Klein http://blog.indexventures.com/?p=189 Read more]]> Just a short note to offer big congratulations to the amazing team at The Gifts Project on their acquisition by eBay.

We’ve had a relatively short relationship since we were lucky enough to have been introduced 12 months ago by Yossi Vardi in Tel Aviv, but it’s been an absolute pleasure and privilege to work with Ron, Erez, Matan, Maya and Eyal as they set about defining the landscape for social commerce from a small but killer office above an awesome restaurant on what has become the most famous road in Israel in the last 12 months.

There are lots of changes afoot in the start-up nation and this team (killer), their mission (huge) and their approach (lean) is symptomatic of a much larger wave that I believe we will start to see rolling in the next 5 years from Israel. Spending the last 12 months in Herzilya has been a massive education for me personally and professionally – it’s been thrilling to get a much closer insight into one of the true gems of the global technology ecosystem.

eBay are both very smart and lucky to have these guys on board – and having been through the experience myself of working as part of eBay after the (first) Skype acquisition in 2005, I know how much you can learn as entrepreneur and operator being part of one of the world’s defining technology businesses. I first met some amazing friends in that time and learnt from some of the smartest and best people in the business.

We’ve made nearly 30 investments through Index Seed in the last 20 months (yes, we are due for an update!) and fellow travellers have always been a big part of our approach, so we were thrilled to partner with Yossi Sella and Gil Dibner at Gemini on this deal.

So Kol HaKavod to all involved and looking forward to many, many more waves of such positive, socially inspired light coming out of Israel.

]]> http://blog.indexventures.com/basecamp-for-the-next-social-revolution/feed/ 0 Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan http://blog.indexventures.com/success-has-many-fathers-failure-is-an-orphan/ http://blog.indexventures.com/success-has-many-fathers-failure-is-an-orphan/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:07:59 +0000 Saul Klein http://blog.indexventures.com/?p=66 Read more]]> This morning, Amazon announced they had reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares in Lovefilm International – http://bit.ly/gLT6c8

Lovefilm International has a complex history, but having been a founding member of one of the three core businesses that make up the family, and now a board member for Index, I have more than a passing interest in this deal and wanted to take a moment to post some thoughts and thanks.

Since 2003, Lovefilm has been built into Europe’s largest online home entertainment subscription service. This is a company which has built a great brand delivering a much loved consumer service of movies, TV and games to 1.5m subscribers across the UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Under the great management team of Simon Calver, Lovefilm has built a substantial business with over $100m in revenues and significant operating profits. To do this anywhere is great, to do this in the UK and Europe, makes Lovefilm a real success story.

But like any success, Lovefilm has many fathers. I don’t say this in passing, I say this because (1) it’s true and (2) I believe it. Lovefilm like most sucessful businesses is truly the product of many people’s work, energy and effort not just the few.

We have been fed, and fall too often, for the myth of the founder or the celebrity CEO. But the reality – as even businesses like Apple, Google and Facebook show – is that any successful business has many fathers, mothers, daughters and sons, let alone relatives. Great companies are inspired by great leaders but are run by great teams and staffed by great people.

So in the spirit of the great European movie that Lovefilm has become, I wanted to take a minute to roll the credits and acknowledge some of the cast of characters who have been a part of building the foundations of Lovefilm.

I also wanted to point out some of the movies some of the cast have gone on to star in, because as both Lovefilm and Skype are starting to show in Europe (as in the US) – ecosystems get built not just by great companies, but by what the people involved in them go on to do after and after and after.

Roll the credits….

Currently Starring in Leading Roles:

  • Fern O’Sullivan (from Screenselect)
  • Simon Morris (from Lovefilm.com)
  • Simon Calver (from Video Island)
  • Jim Buckle
  • Andrew Ground
  • Mike Blakemore
  • David Martin
  • Leslie MacKenzie
  • Simon Waldman
  • Charles Gurassa

These are the folks that everyday are leading the teams who deliver amazing service and value to Lovefilm’s customers – some of them like Fern and Simon Morris have been involved more or less since inception.

I should also mention here Pam Burton, Dave Webb, Mark Durnford, Darren Bignell and Mehul Hirani who have all played core roles since 2003 and 2004 – and continue to do so.

Founding Fathers:

  • Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain (now Zoopla), William Reeve (now DFJ Esprit amongst other things) and Fern O’Sullivan (then Wake) from Screenselect
  • Graham Bosher (now Graze), Mark Livingstone (now Touch Local) and Simon Morris from Lovefilm.com
  • Mat Taylor (now BT), Dave Webb and Pam Burton (still at Lovefilm) from Video Island

While I never worked with Graham, Mark and Simon we competed against them – they were fierce, great competition and it was great to finally all be on the same team. Alex, Simon and William are all people I learnt a tonne from – lessons I still carry with me, they are all world-class at what they do. Mat, Dave and Pam – what can I say, other than memories of the first four of us in a basement in Kings Cross getting ready to turn on Tesco’s is still clear as a bell. Thanks to you all.

  • Arts Alliance: Adam Valkin (Accel), Nish Bhutani (Saffronart) and Thomas Hoegh
  • Benchmark (Balderton): then George Coelho (Good Energies) and Jerome Misso, now plus Dharmash Mistry
  • Cazenove (DFJ Esprit): Simon Cook, now plus Stuart Chapman
  • Index: Danny Rimer (who mentored me as a CEO and inspired me to become an investor) – so now plus me!
  • Simon Murdoch
  • Redbus: Anthony Ceravolo, Simon Franks
  • TAG: Robin Klein

Too many entrepreneurial lessons learned from this group – I’ll save that for another post. But with Robin, of course and with Dani, Mel & Hanna, I leave the best to last – luckily I had to follow alphabetical order :)

]]> http://blog.indexventures.com/success-has-many-fathers-failure-is-an-orphan/feed/ 2 The London List – If You’re Smiling, The Sun Shines inside Your Head http://blog.indexventures.com/the-london-list-if-you%e2%80%99re-smiling-the-sun-shines-inside-your-head/ http://blog.indexventures.com/the-london-list-if-you%e2%80%99re-smiling-the-sun-shines-inside-your-head/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:05:31 +0000 Saul Klein http://blog.indexventures.com/?p=50 Read more]]>
I’m singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin’
I’m happy again
I’m laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love
- Lyrics Arthur Freed, music Nacio Herb Brown (dance moves Gene Kelly)
It seems that it remains fashionable to knock the London startup community – especially if you’re a former resident. There is no question that London (and Europe) has a long way to go. But we really believe London has a lot to offer as world-class design & marketing, access to global markets and significant capital become more and more of a competitive advantage for ambitious companies.

Our experience investing in London over the last 10 years, is that this is a city that attracts great entrepreneurs and has consistently produced very significant technology start ups. Although we love investing in other established and emerging technology hotbeds like Palo Alto, San Francisco, LA, New York, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow and Tel Aviv – we love London.

So while the sun may not shine and the rain often dulls the spirit, we humbly submit a first cut at The London List.

Below are 45 London companies, who we know well that have either exceeded $10m in annual revenues (in many cases $100m) or have established and are leading their markets globally.

These companies show that there’s a lot more to London’s future than Wimbledon, the Royal Wedding and the 2012 Olympics.

So next time you’re in town rather than get depressed, why not spend a couple of hours with each of these companies. If you were working Valley hours and keeping to this list, it will only take you 5-6 days. So, still lots of time for visiting the Tate Modern, going to the theatre, a gig at the Round House, the beautiful game at the Emirates or whatever takes your fancy.

No need to even bother with the very significant bases Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Yahoo, AOL, eBay and apparently Twitter are planning in London to see why they find London so compelling. In fact, let’s hope the London List doesn’t get too much beyond 50 otherwise you’d be staying for at least a month each time :)

Looking forward to your comments on the list below, any additions or corrections – and most of all, looking forward to helping the next generation of world-beaters to get their start from London.

A good place to start might be Seedcamp London – you can still apply.

So….

In the last 10 years:

  1. ASOS
  2. Betfair
  3. King.com
  4. Lastminute
  5. Lovefilm
  6. Messagelabs
  7. Miniclip
  8. Moneybookers
  9. Moneysupermarket
  10. Net-a-Porter
  11. Ocado
  12. Photobox
  13. Rightmove
  14. Shazam
  15. Skype

In the last 5 years:

  1. Alfresco
  2. Badoo
  3. Canonical
  4. Huddle
  5. Just Eat
  6. Livebookings
  7. Mimecast
  8. Moo
  9. Moshi Monsters
  10. Not on the High Street
  11. OpenX
  12. Playfish
  13. Quidco
  14. Scansafe
  15. Seatwave
  16. Simply Business
  17. Spotify
  18. Viagogo
  19. Wonga
  20. Zoopla

On the way:

  1. Alertme
  2. Astley Clarke
  3. Fizzback
  4. Glasses Direct
  5. People per Hour

Emerging Category Leaders:

  1. Amee
  2. Groupspaces
  3. Seedcamp
  4. Songkick
  5. Tweetdeck
]]> http://blog.indexventures.com/the-london-list-if-you%e2%80%99re-smiling-the-sun-shines-inside-your-head/feed/ 1 Introducing Index Seed – Going back to our roots http://blog.indexventures.com/introducing-index-seed-back-to-our-roots/ http://blog.indexventures.com/introducing-index-seed-back-to-our-roots/#comments Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:18:02 +0000 Saul Klein http://blog.indexventures.com/introducing-index-seed-going-back-to-our-roots-2/ Read more]]>

Zippin’ up my boots
goin’ back to my roots
- Richie Havens (choose your poison disco or acoustic)

At Index, seed investing is part of our DNA. Since 1995, we’ve made over 40 seed deals, with over 30 in the last 5 years including Moo, DimDim, Moshi Monsters, Boku, Songkick, Weatherbill and Viagogo. We are really energized by seed investing, because it gives us a chance to work with entrepreneurs at the earliest stages and really help them shape their businesses.

Today, we’re announcing the formation of Index Seed, to build on our heritage but most importantly to take the service we can offer entrepreneurs to the next level.

Why are we doing this?
This is what we love to do. Oh, and we also think it’s a great opportunity – both for entrepreneurs and investors.

Over the last decade we’ve all seen the economics of startups change radically and we’ve been lucky with our investments in companies like MySQL, Zend, Skype, Right Scale, Moo, Playfish and Boku as well as our involvement with Seedcamp and TAG to have a front row seat supporting the evolution of the startup economy.

On the cost side, founders now can rely on the foundations of open source, Skype, cloud computing and software-as-service to rapidly and cheaply build out their infrastructure and on the distribution and revenue side, we are only just starting to be able to appreciate the incredible leverage startups can gain from emerging platforms for both distribution (Facebook, Apple, Twitter) and monetization & payment (AdSense and Paypal).

These are exciting times to be an entrepreneur and compared to when I was starting businesses in the mid 90s, not only is it a lot cheaper (I still remember our $1m SGI Indigo web server in 1995!) but the wealth of information and support for startups out there today is incredible. The world has opened up to entrepreneurs and you can really get a running jump by becoming part of the conversation on Twitter, going to one of 80+ OpenCoffee Clubs around the world, reading great blogs from the likes of Fred Wilson, Mark Suster, Brad Feld, Chris Dixon, Steve Blank, Eric Ries, Sean Ellis and Dave McClure, getting your news from Techcrunch and getting your first support from Seedcamp, YCombinator and Techstars.

But let’s not kid ourselves, its still super difficult to be an entrepreneur even though costs have plummeted and the opportunities have only increased.

So what are we doing?
First, we are allocating a dedicated pool of capital to do seed deals. We aim to do around 20 seed deals in the next 24 months.

Second, we are putting a clearer face and focus on what we do in seed – Index Seed will be the new umbrella for our seed investing and you can follow us here and @indexseed.

Three, we’re strengthening our team by joining forces with Robin and TAG. We are really excited to pool our collective intelligence to better support founders at the seed stage. TAG has done over 60 seed deals in the last decade, over 10 with Index and built a great track record of supporting great European founders. Robin will be spending two days a week at Index as a Venture Partner and working with us to lead the Index Seed initiative.

Four, we are creating a dedicated team for our seed investing. Robin & I will be joined here by Danny, Mike and Neil – all of whom will lead seed deals and be the key points of access for entrepreneurs looking for seed investment.

Five, to make us as easy to do business with as any other active seed or angel investor we are optimizing our process for due diligence and legals. We can make decisions quickly, don’t need a board seat, expect rights that are the same as other seed investors and can invest as little as $50k or as much as $1m in a seed round.

What kind of deals do we like to do?
We will have a technology focus, obvious but we also have a thriving seed approach in our Life Sciences team (a recent example is Pangenetics).

We are still looking to back the same types of businesses – ambitious entrepreneurial teams from Europe, Israel and the US with global ambitions for their companies.

In addition, we will work very pro-actively with fellow travelers. We think building great businesses takes time and is a team game. We love to work with other seed investors and believe that the combination of a great team of investors to compliment a great team of founders is a vital ingredient in successful seed investments.

Who do we love working with?
The notion of fellow travelers – investors (angels, seed and venture) who share our philosophy of active engagement with seed stage teams – is the central part of our investment philosophy. In the nearly 100 or more seed deals, we have collectively done, we have seen time and again how important it is for founders to have not just relevant investors at the seed stage but investors who are accessible, honest and engaged.

In addition to TAG, we look forward to continuing to work with great fellow travelers at this stage including from left to right on the map; Jeff Clavier, Dave McClure, Aydin Senkut, Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman, Satish Dharmaraj, OATV, YCombinator, Betaworks, Union Square, First Round Capital, Stefan Glaenzer, Klaus Hommels and Joi Ito. We are also super excited by the emergence of dedicated seed and early stage funds in the US and Europe like True, Floodgate, Founder Collective, Eden and ProFounders so we can continue to expand our network of fellow seed travelers.

What’s next?
Business as usual, with a twist – leave us comments, follow us on @indexseed or reach us through our fellow travelers. We look forward to hearing about your game changing business.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.indexventures.com/introducing-index-seed-back-to-our-roots/feed/ 34