BUILDING A TRACK RECORD ONCE...
In summer 2006, I decided to co-found a mobile start-up backed up by Nokia Ventures named NAd Service.
For this new venture, we raised about <5m€ in total and I moved to Paris working as COO (Sales, Marketing, User Experience, Management Team). During the next 15 months, I generated with a new team a turnover of 15m€. We then "merged' with Enpocket in order to speed our Go-To-Market in the US. We then "sold" the combined entity for 150m€ to Navteq Interactive.
SEARCHING FOR A 2ND OPPORTUNITY TO BE GOOD...
Sarah Lacy wrote "Once you are lucky, twice you are good".
With my venturing experience and 1st success story, I am looking for another opportunity in order to build my track record. This time, I would like to remain in the domain of mobile content and services (advertising, applications, ...).
In early 2008, I joined Mobiletag as COO/CFO or Directeur Général. Within 2 years, I orchestrated a commercial contract with AT&T Business Solutions with 3m$ downpayment and raised with Management 7m€ with SEB Venture Capital, Alven, IdF and XAnge.
TRANSITING AS A VENTURE PARTNER WITH TRUFFLE CAPITAL...
Wikipedia: an Venture Partner (VP) is an entrepreneur who partners with a venture fund.
A role as a Venture Partner with a venture fund is a very coveted role for many entrepreneurs. The role of a VP varies from fund to fund (and entrepreneur to entrepreneur), but typically it involves an individual that wants to start a company. The entrepreneur may enter the position with an idea at various stages of development. Sometimes an entrepreneur has already spent a great deal of time on the idea and is leveraging the position for office space and mindshare with VCs.
Another Venture Partner role is to act as an “Entrepreneur in Residence” and help VCs evaluate potential deals where the entrepreneur has a particular expertise. An EIR might also spend some time with an existing portfolio company to provide his or her functional expertise. In this scenario, the EIR will sometimes enter the company as a full time executive (typically CEO or some “C” level role) if the company and the executive feel there is a good fit.
It is rare that a venture fund will place a job listing for a VP position. Typically, these positions are filled based on existing personal relationships that develop over long periods of time. A VP may be an entrepreneur from a past portfolio company of the fund or a well known CEO that has delivered solid returns for the investment community. Sometimes VPs are chosen from large public companies such as Nokia, eBay, Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc. Most often the individuals chosen are at the Vice President level and up, but it is not unheard of for someone at the Director level to be chosen. As a rule, the VP or EIR positions are so coveted that they are only available for “brand name” entrepreneurs, highly visible public company executives or the very well connected.
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