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Fueled by a previous post, I sought to examine start-up companies that received funding early in their existence.  I term these “precocious companies” because they were founded in 2006 or later and received either Angel or VC funding at an early age.  I looked at this in an alternative way.  While I initially searched for companies that started in 2006 or later, I only selected portfolio companies financed by investors with 2 or more investments.  In this way, I cross-referenced the most recent start-up companies with the most active start-up investors.  One can view these companies as interesting because they received backing close to opening their doors; one can view these investors as opinion leaders (or risk takers) because they are financing companies with little time for proven experience.  I divided my analysis into types of investors: Individual Angels and VC Firms.  First I examined the most active angel investors for companies started in 2006 or later.  5 angel investors had at least 2 SV portfolio companies started in 2006-7: Ron Conway, Alexander Lloyd, Reid Hoffman, Jeff Clavier, and Frank Caufield.

Angel Map - Most Active SV Angels (2006-7 Start-Ups) Investment Map (Other investors filtered out).  Notes: (A) All of these angels are connected to each other; (B) Jeff Clavier has the most recent start-up investments (4), followed by Ron Conway (3); (C) Four of the start-up companies on the map were invested in by more than one of the angels: RapLeaf (Clavier, Hoffman & Lloyd) and edgeio (Clavier, Conway, & Caufield); Kongregate (Clavier & Hoffman) and PowerSet (Hoffman & Lloyd). Source: LinkSV.com

Next I performed the same procedure for VC firms with the most investments in start-ups founded in 2006-7.  14 VC firms had at least 2 SV portfolio companies started in 2006-7: Versant, Greylock, Mohr Davidow, Founders Fund, Morgenthaler, Trident, DFJ, Amidzad, Felicis, Hummer Windblad, Y Combinator, Khosla, Sequoia, & Sutter Hill. 

VC Map - Most Active SV VCs (2006-7 Start-Ups) Investment Map (Other investors filtered out).  Notes: (A) Only Felicis Ventures has more that 2 investments on the map (RapLeaf, Powerset, & Attendio); (B) RapLeaf, Powerset, and Fliqz are the only 3 companies that were present on the previous Angel Investment Map; (C) Several paths exist on the map as co-investments: Khosla-Y Combinator (Xobni); Greylock-Morgenthaler (ZeroG Wireless); Morgenthaler-Hummer Windblad (MuleSource), DFJ-Trident (Desi Hits); Sutter Hill-Amidzad (Bix, Acquired by Yahoo); Founders Fund-Felicis (RapLeaf & Powerset); Amidzad-Founders/Felicis (Powerset); (D) Alexander Lloyd appears as a co-investor with Felicis & The Founders Fund (Powerset & RapLeaf). Source: LinkSV.com

Summary Points:

• RapLeaf, Powerset, & Fliqz have Angel and VC connections
• RapLeaf & edgeio have the most active investors (4)
• Bix is the only non-private company (acquired by Yahoo)
• Jeff Clavier has the most Angel investments (4)
• Felicis Ventures has the most VC investments (3) 

Notes:

• Many of these companies are on the map because of their multiple first-round investors {e.g., RapLeaf (8); edgeio (15); and Powerset (22)} - note that these types of companies are spotlighted because multiple investors have the potential to add value based on their unique relational capital
• On the other hand, these companies may not garner dedicated attention because there are so many investors
• The Angel Map connectedness underscores the presence of key angels in the Valley - e.g., RapLeaf was co-founded by Auren Hoffman, a prominent angel investor in his own right
• The Angel Map contains (in the most part) Web 2.0 companies who do not require large amounts of initial funding - extant technology facilitates rapid deployment via ASP- & ad-based business models
• The VC Map denotes the prominence of Angel VC firms (e.g., Felicis Ventures) - these firms are presumably less risk averse
• The VC Map connectedness highlights strands of VC relations (more decentralized than the Angel Map) - e.g., both Amidzad and Morgenthaler provide linking roles two other firms  

Applications:

• Stealth/early stage companies should pay attention to the investors on the maps who are presumably willing to fund good ideas despite limited deployment (at least in principle)
• Investors can look at the companies listed on the maps as those that may be worthy of additional round financing
• Potential employees should consider the companies on the maps as having an increased probability of future financing based on the key investors involved at the early stages of operation
• Potential partner companies should consider alliances with these early stage companies to foster their own strategic connections (particularly in win-win situations)

Lessons Learned:

• Keep an eye on the connected companies on the map (i.e., those tied to two or more investors) - this may be indicative of future avenues toward securing future financing rounds
• Angel Map: Kongregate; edgeio; Powerset; RapLeaf
• VC Map: Desi Hits; ZeroG Wireless; Mule Source; Powerset; RapLeaf; Xobni
• Note the future co-investments of the connected investors on the map for “upside” companies
• Angel Map: Jeff Clavier; Ron Conway; Reid Hoffman; Alexander Lloyd
• VC Map: Amidzad; Felicis; Founders Fund; Morgenthaler

This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Company Analysis, Investor Analysis, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.