Lessons from Start-Up Ville

By Marcus SegalMarch 19th 2012

2 CONFIDENTIAL I FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY. 25

Zynga Fun Facts

•FarmVille has 29 million farmers, compared to 2 million real-life farmers in

the U.S.

•During 2011, more than 125 million apple trees were planted, 13 billion

strawberries plants tended, and 230 million foals born in FarmVille.

•More than 1.3 million virtual businesses, 3.1 million houses, 8.6

million sidewalks and 1.7 million community buildings are built in CityVille each day.

•Words With Friends currently processes approximately 1,300 moves per

second.

•More than 800,000 people are playing Zynga Poker at any given moment

•Zynga.org has raised over $10M USD for disaster relief, educational programs and

environmental causes

zynga

240 million monthly active players

54 million daily active players

450 million social interactions per day

locations

Let’s Get Down to Basics

• Raising Money

• Hiring Great People & Building Great Teams

• Other Important Things to Consider

Raising Money

• Do I have a great idea? • Should I raise money from Friends and

Family?• How much should you raise?• What about Angel networks? • Why won’t the VC call me back?

Some Sobering Stats

• The average VC funds 6 out of every 1,000 business plans received each year

• Around 60% of funded high-tech start-ups go bankrupt

• Around 30% get acquired by other companies or never “hit it big”

• Less than 10% go public

Do you still want to do it?

Blood, Sweat and Tears (of Joy)

There are benefits a family gets from a parent who is an entrepreneur other than the wealth that he or she may be accumulating.

They also get a role model. A parent who is doing what they love, who is creating value, employing people, making a difference in the world. All of that is very good.

But it is only good if you make the time to have a meaningful relationship with your spouse and your kids.

Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures

Back to Raising Money

• Do I have a great idea? • Should I raise money from Friends and

Family?– How much should you raise?– What about Angel networks?

• Why won’t the VC call me back?

VC’s – What You Need to Know

• Desperation is an ugly cologne

• He or She just “Might not be that into you”

• It’s worth the wait for the right VC

Inside the Mind of One of My Favorite VC’s:“So many of the business plans that I see (and often don’t read) have endless vague generalities and extremely optimistic assertions about what the company will accomplish.  Keep it short, simple, and direct.  Don’t be afraid to have a big vision, but make sure it’s a clear one.”

Brad Feld, The Foundry Group

Let’s Get Down to Basics

• Raising Money

• Hiring Great People & Building Great Teams

• Other Important Things to Consider

Hiring Great People

• Swiss Army Knives and Scalpels

• Have senior leaders participate in the interview process

• Avoid Title Inflation

• Be Transparent in the interview process

Maslow and Transformative Leadership

Let’s Get Down to Basics

• Raising Money

• Hiring Great People & Building Great Teams

• Other Important Things to Consider

What Else Should We Talk About?

• Office Space and what to outsource

• When Should I Launch?

• Time Management

Time Management

Forget “Either/OR”

Resources

• Books & Magazines– “Getting to Plan B” by Randy Kommissar– “Do More Faster” by Brad Feld– “Peak” by Chip Conley– “High Tech Start-Up” by Brad Neshiem– “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh– “The No Asshole Rule” by Robert Sutton

Thank You

• Follow me on twitter @marcussegal