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UW Faculty Entrepreneurship Seminar Series

UW Faculty Entrepreneurship Seminar Series. Greg Gottesman Madrona Venture Group December 5, 2006. Madrona Overview. Madrona is a leading venture capital firm focused on sourcing and growing early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest Founded in 1995, headquartered in Seattle

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UW Faculty Entrepreneurship Seminar Series

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  1. UW Faculty Entrepreneurship Seminar Series Greg Gottesman Madrona Venture Group December 5, 2006

  2. Madrona Overview • Madrona is a leading venture capital firm focused on sourcing and growing early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest • Founded in 1995, headquartered in Seattle • $425M+ under management across three funds • Investments made in over 70 companies • Current fund is $170M Madrona III fund (2005 vintage) • Average initial investment $2M – $5M (occasionally smaller) • Madrona team • 4 Managing Directors: Tom Alberg, Paul Goodrich, Greg Gottesman, Matt McIlwain • 6 Strategic Directors: Jack Creighton, Jerry Grinstein, Keith Grinstein, Pete Higgins, Bill Owens, Bill Ruckelshaus • 3 Venture Partners: Prof. Oren Etzioni, Prof. Dan Weld, Brian Goffman • 6 additional Investment Professionals • http://www.madrona.com

  3. Current Portfolio • Madrona invests in enterprise software & services, consumer software and services, and wireless & infrastructure • Current active portfolio of 27 companies Enterprise Software Consumer Software Wireless & Infrastructure

  4. NASDAQ: AMZN Acquired by MediaMetrix Acquired by United Online Acquired by EMC Acquired by ADP Acquired by MERQ Acquired by Microsoft Acquired by Thomson Exits Over 30 successful exits via IPO or acquisition • Recent highlights: • Acquisition of Employease by ADP in October • Isilon filed for IPO September 1 • Microsoft acquired Seadragon Software in February Selected Exits

  5. Deal Sourcing • Ideas and companies are discovered through multiple sources • During Q3 of this year, Madrona reviewed over 150 deals and listened to over 75 formal presentations • Primary sources include: • Extensive networks of Madrona team • UW Computer Science Department • Major local companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Real, McCaw Cellular) • Portfolio “alumni” • Referrals • A “trusted referral” is the most effective way to have your plan stand out

  6. Strong Partnership with UW • 10 spin-outs (and counting) from the University of Washington • Current portfolio companies: • Portfolio alumni: • AdRelevance (acquired by MediaMetrix) • Appliant • Asta Networks • Netbot (acquired by Excite) • Nimble Technology (acquired by Actuate) • Performant (acquired by Mercury Interactive) • Viatru

  7. What Do We Look for in Prospective Companies? Companies that scale … or a potential VC trap? Source: http://www.thevc.com/strips/strip36.html; Robert von Goeben and Kathryn Siegler

  8. What Do We Really Look for in Prospective Companies? • Great team • Large opportunity • Competitive advantage • Compelling business model/value proposition • Right market timing • Reasonable terms

  9. Current Investment Themes • Advertising increasingly moves online • Open source becoming more prevalent in the enterprise • Digital media explodes – especially “user-generated” content • Virtual applications and services emerge

  10. Top 10 Lessons Learned… • Good technology is not enough • Valuations matter • Hiring the wrong CEO is death • Too much money can be a bad thing • A great deal structure can’t rescue a bad deal • Control is underrated • Choose the right financial partners and service providers • Don’t invest in a crowded space • Listen to customers and build what they will pay for today • Cash is king

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