Angel S2 E2 hosted by Jason Calacanis| BoldStart Founder Ed Sim on 20 years, 50+ enterprise investments, how family history shaped his VC approach & more
about this episodeBoldstart Founder Ed Sim on 20yrs seeding 50+ enterprise co’s, how his father’s fleeing N. Korea shaped his VC, NYC deep tech, & being 1st dollar in to help move founder-product fit to product-market fit to self-sustainability.TIMESTAMPS
0:01 Thank you to Netsuite for sponsoring this show. Go to http://netsuite.com/angel to get your free guide called “crushing the five barriers to growth”.
2:24 Introduction to today’s guest: Ed Sim http://twitter.com/edsim. Founder & General Partner at Boldstart Ventures. Ed briefly explains how he got into Early-Stage investing.
3:47 Ed explains the story of his father escaping North Korea at age 14, and the amount of joy his parents had once he was accepted to Harvard University. Also, Ed explains the Harvard acceptance process back when he was accepted (1989).
9:04 Ed shares the story of his friend’s brother giving a speech at Harvard, and speaking about consulting, and Venture Capital.
9:52 How did you get a job after school? Ed explains the process he took, getting addresses for VC & PE firms and sending cold letters. Eventually landing a job at J.P Morgan and learning how to code to automate his work.
12:28 Ed explains his first time using Mosaic browser (1994), and making the transition into Venture Capital.
13:45 What do you look for in deals currently? Ed explains his simple philosophy for investing in startups.
16:43 How do you decide when to make an investment with zero data / product? Ed explains the qualifications he looks for in founders, prior to investing.
18:24 How do you value a company in the early stages? Ed shares why he never liked the unicorn fad.
20:00 Ed explains what a “Reverse Ratchet” is, with an example.
23:29 Thank you Netsuite for sponsoring. Go to http://netsuite.com/angel to get your free guide called “crushing the five barriers to growth”.
25:49 Ed shares some of his big cash-on-cash returns from Angel Investing. And the length of time it took. Also, Ed explains what a “Recap” means in Venture Capital/Angel Investing.
32:25 How many companies do you invest in a year? Ed explains the differences with his firm compared to institutional seed VCs. And why he likes to work closely with founders.
35:07 Jason and Ed discuss the current state of the bull market, and why they’re worried about it.
40:22 Jason shares why many business in Silicon Valley failed during the dot com era.
42:36 Why is seed investing slowing down, in terms of deals? Ed believes there are many unannounced companies, that are specifically staying quiet.
45:05 How has the New York startup ecosystem changed? Ed explains the high tech startups coming out of New York. Jason is surprised.
47:23 Ed unpacks his thoughts on the power of Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency. and ICOs. Is it a bubble? is it real?
51:57 Jason and Ed both share an appreciation for Amazon & Jeff Bezos. Ed explains that he would put his entire net worth into Amazon stock if he could only choose one company.
56:21 Want to get in touch with Ed? Ed explains why he only meets with founders through introductions. http://firstcheck.vc