In our article discussion, we talk about management principles for highly functioning teams, how to pitch your app to investors, and calculating your total addressable market and making a great TAM slide! In the news, Thales acquires Gemalto for $4.8B, Amazon rumored to acquire Sqrrl for $40M, Convercent raised $25M in equity/unattributed, and ADT filing for IPO!
Article Discussion on Leadership, Innovation, and Startup Success
Disagree And Commit - A Management Principle For Highly Functioning Teams
http://tomtunguz.com/disagree-and-commit/- First - expect and demand colleagues voice their disagreement
- Second - once a decision is made, everyone commits to its success
- If you don’t have both, you create toxicity
The Startups Most Likely to Succeed Have Technical Founders Who Quickly Hire Businesspeople
https://hbr.org/2017/11/the-startups-most-likely-to-succeed-have-technical-founders-who-quickly-hire-businesspeople- This applies to security teams, too. We can teach security. Or we can teach business. The key is the blend. What problem are you trying to solve?
- Consider investors (and executives) routinely citing the importance of the team
- “Technical skills are typically required to implement a new business idea, while business skills are required for conducting market research and finding a promising niche or for securing financing during research and development stages.”
- “One theory for why technical skills seem to matter more for a founder is simply that the average technical founder has better business skills than the average business-trained founder has technical skills.”
- “With respect to innovation, it seems desirable for technically-trained founders to augment their firms’ knowledge bases by hiring employees who are trained in business.”
- This applies to your security team, too.
5 CTAs Secretly Sabotaging Your Sales Emails (& What to Use Instead)
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/bad-email-ctas- CTA = call to action; what do you want someone to do after reading your email (or listening to your presentation)?
- Worst is no call to action
- Also unhelpful is the unfocused CTA with too many options
How to Pitch Your App to Investors
https://www.appsterhq.com/blog/app-idea-investor-pitch/- Love the detailed breakdown here
- Lists 10 essentials - starting with problem and value
- This works for internal teams, too, when ‘raising funds’ for the team and project
- Breaks down 3 phases: pitch deck, establishing communication, live presentation
How to calculate your total addressable market and make a great TAM slide
http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/calculating-tam/- The importance of TAM is to understand if the potential outcome is big enough to invest in
- Founders need to know this to demonstrate they understand the market, and how they fit
- Three basic ways to calculate TAM: top-down, bottom-up, and value theory
Startup & Security News You Need to Know
Steve Case’s $150M Rise of the Rest seed fund launches with an impressive roster of investors
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/04/steve-cases-150m-rise-of-the-rest-seed-fund-launches-with-an-impressive-roster-of-investors/- This underscores our common point: build it where you are
- This backs up the tour and pitch competition
- Promises funding and mentorship
Thales (not Atos) acquired Gemalto for $4.8B
- https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/17/thales-agrees-to-buy-gemalto-in-digital-security-deal-worth-5-43bn/
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/137635/gemalto-company-profile
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/132988/thales-company-profile
- “Thales is a provider of security systems and solutions for the aerospace and defense industries.”
- https://findbiometrics.com/thales-gemalto-412204/
RUMOR: Amazon to acquire Sqrrl for $40M
- https://www.axios.com/scoop-amazon-in-talks-to-buy-cybersecurity-startup-sqrrl-2518230342.html
- “Amazon might buy cybersecurity startup Sqrrl for around $40 million, according to Axios. Founded in 2012, Sqrrl has raised more than $25 million in equity financing from the likes of Accomplice, Matrix Partners and Rally Ventures. The company secured a $40 million valuation with its most recent round in June.”
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/173136/sqrrl-company-profile
- Raised $26.5M over 4 rounds since August 2012
Convercent raised $25M in equity/unattributed
- https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/19/convercent-raises-25m-to-keep-companies-out-of-ethical-quandaries/
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/141667/convercent-company-profile
- “Convercent develops a SaaS-based platform that enables enterprises to design. implement and operationalize ethics and compliance programs.”
- Raised over $74.1M in a series of rounds that include equity, debt, and traditional rounds
ADT Files for IPO
- https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/53128/Security-analysis-ADT-files-for-an-IPO-that-could-raise-$1.5-billion
- We recently talked about ADT bridging physical and cyber security
- And IPO proposed to raise $1.5B is a big deal and worth watching
