Shadowing McClure for Pirates

InternMatch CompetitionOnLine – May 2011#KillTheCoverletter

Stefano Bernardi @stefanobernardihttp://www.stefanobernardi.com

http://thestartup.eu

AARRR!

AARRR!

Stefano Bernardi

2009-2011:• Startup Investor: Iubenda• Tech Marketing: GoWar, Coderloop• Advisor, Angel Investor: Iubenda, Coderloop• Conferences: TC Disrupt, LeWeb, FOWA• Lecturer: Universities, Events, Startup Schools

90’s & 00’s:• Entrepreneur: GoWar, Equeety, Hosteeo• Developer: SaveMyInbox, Equeety, GroupNum• User Groups: Italian Startup Scene, UpStart Roma, HackItaly• Engineer: Ruby / Rails BSc Computer Engineering

GEEK, CODER,

ENTREPRENEUR

Blogger, Marketing, Angel/VC Investor

dPixelSeed Fund & Accelerator

(8+ investments @ ~$150K avg)

Disclosure: Associate

[ The Application Process ]

Shadowing McClure for Pirates(best case scenario)

• Application: you apply for the position trough internmatch• Appraisal: a team decides you’re cool and crazy enough• Recognition: you’re told you’re a finalist• Response: email comes back after a phone call with Dave• Reward: you get to follow Dave for two weeks!

AARRR!

AARRR!

Shadowing McClure for Pirates(worst case scenario)

• Application: you apply for the position trough internmatch• Appraisal: team decides you’re at the “wrong stage”• Response: you’re told to come back with new metrics• Rejection: never hear again from dave or internmatch• Reward: none

AARRR!

AARRR!

Example Application Funnel(note: chances may vary based on your self-confidence level)

Stage Status Chances of being

the follower

Application Sent your application, now good luck

(while you submit you’re probably saying: “If I win, I’ll work with the InternMatch guys to fix that

product”)

0,3%

Appraisal 300 people to check

(stanford grads, entrepreneurs, vcs, hackers)

1%

Recognition You’re in the finals, with other 14

(let me assure you they rock pretty hard)

6,55%

Response You got to the final round

(that was lucky, now phone call with Dave!)

20%

Reward You’re the shadower

(now just try to survive the two weeks!)

100%

Shadowing Challenges

Dave has problems in 3 key areas:

• Scouting: Go to events, talk to people, find hackers

• Due Diligence: “Are those guys as awesome as me?”

• Raising Series-A: Demo-Days, Angelist, whatever (Sequoia, Union Square, First Round)

One Step at a Time.

1. Apply: Application and Appraisal

2. Market yourself: Appraisal and Response

3. Shadow Dave: Recognition and Reward

“I’ll probably say “fuck” three fucking times in this fucking sentence..” – DMC

[ Seed Investing in 2011 ]

Startup 0.1: “Bean Investor” Model

Method: Invest in startups using “spin the bottle”

(or russian roulette between founders and Yuri Milner). Start with lots of money, end up with none. Go ask Yuri some more money. Repeat.

• Incubator: $0-100K (“Seed in 2009”)• Seed: $100-$1M (“Seed in 2010”)• Venture: $1M-$5M (“Seed in 2011”) *

* must have at least an ex VP from a failed startup in your team.

Don’t Pitch Me, Bro.• 1st: Read my stuff (blogs, decks, tweets).• 2nd: Get a referral from someone I trust.

– dPixel founders

– Italian Startuppers

– *Not* Dave McClure

• 3rd: Be Concise. Don’t Suck.• 4rd: If your email sucks, I’ll forward it to

dave@500startups.com who’s gonna swear at least 500 times at you (and me).

Email

Links & ResourcesAdditional References:

• What qualifications should someone have to shadow Dave McClure? Quora

• Shadow Dave McClure InternMatch