Under The Radar

This week I attended and presented at the Under The Radar conference at Microsoft’s campus in San Jose. I saw some very cool presentations by Jangl (social voice), Hovr (mobile games), and Frengo (mobile widgets). I also had the very cool opportunity to meet Marc Andreessen (yes, the Netscape guy now chairman of Ning ) He seems like a very nice guy, and someone whose brain would be fun to pick.

For some reason MocoSpace was considered a graduate circle company. I guess because we’ve already raised some financing, and have traction in the mobile community space. So unlike most of the other companies, I didn’t get grilled by VC’s after my presentation, which is sort of a shame since I would have been curious to hear their feedback. Well maybe not.

In general, the feedback given to presenting companies was good, but not unexpected, ie “don’t try to be all things to all people”, “you’re too early”, “i don’t think it’s a big enough market” etc. etc. It’s not that VC’s aren’t smart, they are, but just because they are smart doesn’t mean they are right. Some of the people in the audience probably passed on Google way back when, as well as helped drive Friendster into the ground though I’m happy to see them make a bit of comeback.

If you are a technology startup looking for funding, you should give Under The Radar a shot. They do a nice job organizing the event with good food, drinks, and a solid crowd. Plus, my sense was that the VC’s there were serious about looking for companies to fund. A few tips for pitching:

1. One guy I saw pitch was argumentative, arrogant, and rude. Let the VCs have those qualities, but they aren’t likely to get you far with them. Be respectful, a good listener, and all the other things your mom taught you to be around people with hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal!

2. Be able to summarize your company’s goal in 2 sentences or less. If people can’t figure it out in the first few seconds, then chances are they’re going to check their blackberries until the next company comes up to pitch.

3. It’s ok to say “I don’t know” especially when you don’t!

4. Demo, demo, demo – Demos are worth a thousand words, and they demonstrate bravery since they ALWAYS fail when you need them to.

5. Keep your presentation short & simple. Focus on 3 areas. First, the team. Who are they investing in. Second, the market opportunity. Social networking, microwaveable popcorn, buggywhips, etc. In other words, what’s the market opportunity. Third, what’s the product. Why will your product work, matter, etc.

6. Don’t pitch. I think way too many people think they need to raise money to start their business. The longer you can go without taking money, the better off you’ll be in many cases. If you want to build an oil refinery (btw – we need a few new ones), then you need money before breaking ground, but if you want to build a consumer Internet site you can probably get pretty far along without taking money.