2020, Entrepreneur, Founder and Vertical

An update on Version One’s thesis: Backing mission-driven founders who are early in new areas

Version One Ventures

MAY 15, 2024

Our current investment thesis, “backing mission-driven founders at the earliest stages,” was introduced back in 2020. It perfectly encapsulates our focus on backing a certain type of deeply passionate entrepreneur… and backing them at such an early stage when few people might believe in them.

Founder

Founder Early Stage Vertical Framework

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Sapient

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Sapient’s Sam Parks and Martin Koch have developed a smart outlet system for commercial deployment The Forrest Four-Cast: January 28, 2020 If Sam Parks , CEO and co-founder of Sapient Industries , weren’t working for his startup, he’d be working as a scientist, using his background in nanotechnology as an applied physicist.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Pennsylvania

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Votem

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Pete Martin , founder of CEO of Votem , and classic rock drummer The Forrest Four-Cast: February 20, 2020 Paging Iowa elections officials! One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020 , Votem is a revolutionary election management company that aims to give democracy back to the people. What is your top goal for Votem for 2020?

Technical Review

Technical Review Cleveland Software Review Iowa

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: New Assessment Tool For Entrepreneurs

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 23, 2011

We have done almost 90 roundtables so far and, based on this extensive experience of learning directly from entrepreneurs about their core issues, 1M/1M has just launched a new assessment tool for entrepreneurs. I asked him to review the TrueCFO project in my Vision India 2020 book. Discuss.

Spain

Spain Entrepreneur India San Francisco

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Looxid Labs

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 13, 2020 Imagine VR/AR/MR systems that truly understand how users think and feel. One of the 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020 , Looxid Labs is working on that, serving VR companies in gaming, healthcare, commerce, and education. What’s your top goal for Looxid Labs in 2020?

South Korea

South Korea Technical Review Open Source Vertical

SXSW Pitch Finalist: LexSet

Austin Startup

MARCH 3, 2020

The LexSet Co-Founders (left to right) CEO Francis Bitonti , President Leslie Oliver Karpas , and COO Azam Khan won $250,000 in Verizon’s Built on 5G Challenge The Forrest Four-Cast: March 3, 2020 LexSet serves AI engineers, especially those with limited resources, with a better way to annotate photos.

Technical Review

Technical Review Los Angeles Cofounder Silicon Valley

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Milis Bio

Austin Startup

MARCH 1, 2020

Milis Bio CEO and Founder Mike Sheehan winning the 2018 Bank of Ireland/IGNITE Business of Year prize. The Forrest Four-Cast: March 1, 2020 People are rightfully concerned about the threat of coronavirus, which has so far killed about 2,800 people worldwide. Mike Sheehan , CEO and Founder at Milis Bio, earned a B.S.

Ireland

Ireland Morocco North America Philippines

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Syndio

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 23, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 23, 2020 Seattle-based Syndio has a bold ambition: to eradicate unlawful pay disparities in the workplace. This SaaS company, one of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020 , enables global organizations to analyze and resolve pay gaps due to gender or race and stay in compliance over time.

Technical Review

Technical Review Seattle Elevator Pitch Equity

Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Check Out Stanzr

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Taariq Lewis, the founder of Voluble, is a 1M/1M premium entrepreneur. We invited entrepreneurs considering joining the 1M/1M premium program to the Stanzr chat room and did a one-hour Q&A session. Please note that I work exclusively with 1M/1M entrepreneurs. We thought it was very cool! PTA Portals.

Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur San Francisco Technical Review New Jersey

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: VCs Are Not Always Right

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

I know that many, many entrepreneurs are feeling dejected because of investor rejections. I suggested going for larger companies and also to pick some verticals where the value proposition really shines through. In that case, the verticals of choice could be manufacturing, wholesale and retail.

North Carolina

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet

TECHSTARS AUSTIN KICKS OFF 2020 MENTORSHIP-DRIVEN ACCELERATOR CLASS, REVEALS 10 SELECTED STARTUPS

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, announced the 10 startups selected for the 2020 class of Techstars Austin. This is a very strong group of founders building some of the worlds next amazing companies. ABOUT TECHSTARS: The Techstars Worldwide Network helps entrepreneurs succeed.

Austin

Austin Curation Startup Dallas

Brand Marketing vs. Product Marketing: What’s the Difference and Which Should You Invest In?

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

This is particularly true for complex verticals such as B2B SaaS products, where product marketing’s ability to pinpoint users with the most need and educate them on product features and benefits proves useful. clearly states what they do (“build web apps”), their benefits (“without code”), and who it’s for (“entrepreneurs”).

Marketing

Marketing Product Audience Equity

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Top 10 Vertical and Social Web Trends For The Decade

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 6, 2011

6, 2011 we hosted our 64th free One Million by One Million (1M/1M) strategy roundtable for entrepreneurs, and the first for this year. As usual, then, I worked with three entrepreneurs working on specific businesses. In the Entrepreneur Journeys methodology, we focus on customer validation as early as possible. Mava Consulting.

Vertical

Vertical Web San Francisco Entrepreneur

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Plantible Foods

Austin Startup

MARCH 3, 2020

Tony Martens , Co-Founder at Plantible Foods , moved his company to San Diego from the Netherlands The Forrest Four-Cast: March 3, 2020 Plantible Foods wants to contribute to a more sustainable and responsible future while meeting the food needs of a hungry planet. What is your top goal for your startup for 2020?

San Diego

San Diego Memphis AJAX Netherlands

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Skilllab

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 17, 2020 Skilllab has a clear mission: to develop technology-based solutions to empower employment services to better integrate refugees into local labor markets. Skilllab’s co-founders won the Google AI Impact Challenge in 2019. What is your top goal for Skilllab for 2020?

Cofounder

Cofounder Vertical Austin Conversion

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Quicc

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 2, 2020

Quicc co-founders Jason Toevs and Mike Mathia. The Forrest Four-Cast: January 31, 2020 Make video captioning easier and better in a world where audiences now watch extensively without sound. What is your top goal for Quicc for 2020? If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track , which runs March 13–17.

Wichita

Wichita Kansas Kansas City Cofounder

SXSW Pitch Finalist: FilmChain

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Maria Tanjala and Irina Albita , the co-founders of FilmChain. The Forrest Four-Cast: February 16, 2020 Maria Tanjala , co-founder of FilmChain , is passionate about tech solutions that bring transparency and automation to creative industries. What is your top goal for FilmChain for 2020? film and tech?—?and

Cofounder

Cofounder Vertical Austin Revenue

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Quantstamp

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Richard Ma , CEO and Co-Founder at Quantstamp , says, “We focus on helping our customers stay safe and succeed because our philosophy is that technology is only a tool to solve people’s problems.” The Forrest Four-Cast: February 20, 2020 Quantstamp is a Y Combinator-backed company building the standard in blockchain cybersecurity.

San Francisco

San Francisco Cofounder Colorado Security

Q3 2020 Portfolio Review

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 1, 2020

Outreach was named to the 2020 LinkedIn Top Startups list, which uncovers the 50 companies that have stood out this year, attracting investment, employees and attention. No matter the vertical, geography, business model, macro or micro trends, entrepreneurs form the nucleus of a generational company.

Portfolio

Portfolio Software Review Cofounder Canada

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Cove.tool

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Cove.tool CEO Sandeep Ahuja recently won a Forbes 30 under 30 award The Forrest Four-Cast: January 30, 2020 Bringing together sustainability and efficient architectural practices, the team at Cove.tool is committed to fighting climate change one building at a time. What is your top goal for CoveTool for 2020?

Atlanta

Atlanta South America San Francisco Artificial Inteligence

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Radiobotics

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Stine Mølgaard Sørensen, co-founder and COO for Radiobiotics, based in Copenhagen. The Forrest Four-Cast: January 29, 2020 Here’s a problem: worldwide, there aren’t enough radiologists to meet patient needs. What is your top goal for Radiobotics in 2020? All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

Denmark

Denmark Cofounder Vertical Europe

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Flugauto

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Flugauto Co-Founders (left to right): Frank Noppel , CEO, Gerrit Becker , CCO, and Alexander Xydas , COO. The Forrest Four-Cast: February 27, 2020 A B2B tech company, Flugauto is developing a world-class UAV platform for aerial delivery of industrial cargo for the energy industry. What is your top goal for Flugauto for 2020?

San Francisco

San Francisco Cofounder Georgia B2B

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Winding Tree

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 27, 2020 Winding Tree has created the world’s first open marketplace for travel. Winding Tree Co-Founders: CEO Maksim Izmaylov (left) and COO Pedro Anderson (right). What is your top goal for Winding Tree for 2020? How Winding Tree works to improve travel bookings.

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates Switzerland Cofounder France

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Arist

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 10, 2020 Here’s the problem Arist set out to solve: too often video-based learning and training is ineffective, inaccessible, and expensive. What is your top goal for Arist for 2020? Lately, I’ve been a big fan of Patrick Collison (co-founder of Stripe). why not teach using text messages??—?and

Cofounder

Cofounder Portland Boston SMS

SXSW Pitch Finalists: Arist

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 10, 2020 Here’s the problem Arist set out to solve: too often video-based learning and training is ineffective, inaccessible, and expensive. What is your top goal for Arist for 2020? Lately, I’ve been a big fan of Patrick Collison (co-founder of Stripe). why not teach using text messages??—?and

Cofounder

Cofounder Portland Boston SMS

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Virsix Games

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 23, 2020 One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020 , Virsix Games reimagines how people play together by remixing analogue play with cutting-edge emerging technologies such as AI, voice-activated smart speakers, augmented reality, near field communication, machine learning techniques and more.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Cofounder Artificial Inteligence Vertical

SXSW Pitch Finalist: AVA Byte

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Valerie Song , CEO & Founder of AVA Technologies Inc. plans to revolutionize indoor growing The Forrest Four-Cast: February 5, 2020 Are you an urbanite craving a connection with nature? Valerie Song , CEO & Founder of AVA Technologies Inc., What is your top goal for Ava Byte for 2020? AVA Technologies Inc.

Green

Green Harvest Vertical Austin

SXSW Pitch Finalist: AVA Byte

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Valerie Song , CEO & Founder of AVA Technologies Inc. plans to revolutionize indoor growing The Forrest Four-Cast: February 5, 2020 Are you an urbanite craving a connection with nature? Valerie Song , CEO & Founder of AVA Technologies Inc., What is your top goal for Ava Byte for 2020? AVA Technologies Inc.

Green

Green Harvest Vertical Austin

SXSW Pitch Finalist: StrongSalt

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Ed Yu , CEO and co-founder of StrongSalt The Forrest Four-Cast: February 3, 2020 Is it possible for companies to protect their customers with data privacy that complies with regulations and is easy for developers to use? StrongSalt Co-Founder and CEO Ed Yu says yes it is. What is your top goal for StrongSalt for 2020?

San Jose

San Jose Cofounder API Silicon Valley

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Betmarkets

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 10, 2020 Did you win big on the Super Bowl? Or maybe you can’t wait to make your picks for Euro 2020. André Flórido , Betmarkets’ Co-Founder & COO, answered questions about his company, shared some book recommendations, and explained why he thinks obedience is overrated.

Portugal

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder

SXSW Pitch Finalists: Betmarkets

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 10, 2020 Did you win big on the Super Bowl? Or maybe you can’t wait to make your picks for Euro 2020. André Flórido , Betmarkets’ Co-Founder & COO of Betmarkets, answered questions about his company, shared some book recommendations and explained why he thinks obedience is overrated.

Portugal

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder

SXSW Pitch Finalist: PurePlus

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Amy Keller’s startup PurePlus transforms produce that would be wasted into healthful candy The Forrest Four-Cast: February 24, 2020 If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and the U.S. What is your top goal for PurePlus for 2020? Female entrepreneurs must have grit.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Stealth Cofounder Bandwidth

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Intvo

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Intvo’s AI technology spotlights pedestrians to make for safer streets The Forrest Four-Cast: January 27, 2020 Meet Intvo , a startup with the target audience of everyone on the road. Assam Alzookery , Intvo founder and CEO, explains, “Our product solves the lack of communication between drivers and pedestrians. I don’t get tired.

Artificial Inteligence

Artificial Inteligence Michigan New York City Vertical

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Praxis Labs

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Left to right: Heather Shen , CTO; Melina Lopez , CPO; and Elise Smith , CEO The Forrest Four-Cast: February 25, 2020 As the saying goes: Before you judge a person, walk a mile in their shoes. My co-founders and I all met at Stanford so Palo Alto is really where it all began. Palo Alto will always be special for the Praxis Labs team.

Cofounder

Cofounder Vertical Green Austin

The VC Industry Norms Which Changed Over The Past Decade

Haystack

JANUARY 18, 2020

To be fair, not all of them held this view and many of them were investing nationally earlier, but as we flip over to 2020, there is a general acceptance among Bay Area VC partnerships that they need to be able to invest across the country, not just NYC and LA or Seattle. The AUM of many VC funds has increased dramatically.

Seattle

Seattle Seed Stage Deal Flow Vertical

SXSW Pitch: NeelAgil Technologies

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Neelam Dwivedi of NeelAgil Technologies Private Ltd aims to help millions of people treat their diabetes The Forrest Four-Cast: February 19, 2020 The next time you’re out in a crowd, look around. NeelAgil Technologies Private Limited , one of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020 , is determined to change that. million Americans.

Technology

Technology Cofounder United States India

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Hemafuse

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 20, 2020 Technology impacts all facets of human life, and sometimes it can save it. That’s the mission driving products like Hemafuse , one of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020. Carolyn Yarina , Co-Founder and CEO of Sisu Global Health. What is your top goal for Sisu Global for 2020?

Baltimore

Baltimore Africa South Africa Michigan

1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Ownership Matters

ReadWriteStart

MAY 6, 2011

An incubatee with Indian Angel Network, Anirudh Motwani from New Delhi, India, discussed IndiaCollegeSearch , a vertical search engine to address the problem of finding detailed information about various colleges and institutions in India. What a great product - truly an excellent value for entrepreneurs. IndiaCollegeSearch.

India

India Vertical Entrepreneur Connecticut

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Spotlight On India

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 10, 2011

Manivel Karuppasamy from Bangalore, India, presented FEED (Funding Entrepreneurs, Encouraging Dreams), a crowdsourced funding marketplace for India. Edward Varghese from New Delhi, India, pitched i-Globify , an outsourcing service catering to the niche travel vertical, focusing on building Web 3.0 Discuss.

India

India Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Vertical

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: 2 Really Cool Companies

ReadWriteStart

MAY 12, 2011

Today, he has over a thousand, and he has chosen to focus on the realtor vertical. Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond.

San Francisco

San Francisco Entrepreneur Silicon Valley India

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Three Open Opportunities For 2012

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 8, 2011

At today's roundtable, we discussed three major trends and opportunities for 2012 and also worked with an entrepreneur from Europe. Our audience of readers is full of entrepreneurs. And what do entrepreneurs do? If you are an entrepreneur looking for an open problem to solve, look no further. Social Contacts.

Greece

Greece Entrepreneur India Silicon Valley

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Personalization Remains An Open Problem

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 20, 2011

I am sure most entrepreneurs have. He has run some experiments within the entrepreneurship training vertical, and has seen success when he has brought on known thought leaders. However, I'd like to see a more focused, vertical specific go-to-market strategy in Udemy. You can register for the next roundtable here. Discuss.

Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Vertical Massachusetts

Flexible VCs With Structures Between Equity and Revenue-Based Investing

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? This is a summary of: Revenue-Based financing: State of the Industry 2020.

Equity

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Lofty AI

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

The Lofty AI team includes (from left to right) Jerry Chu , Alysia Silberg , Mark Keane , and Max Ball The Forrest Four-Cast: February 24, 2020 Lofty AI serves both full-time and part-time real estate investors by helping them make more data-driven decisions yielding higher returns. What is your top goal for Lofty AI for 2020?

Technical Review

Technical Review San Francisco Artificial Inteligence Cofounder

An update on Version One’s thesis: Backing mission-driven founders who are early in new areas

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Sapient

Trending Sources

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Votem

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: New Assessment Tool For Entrepreneurs

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Looxid Labs

SXSW Pitch Finalist: LexSet

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Milis Bio

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Syndio

Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Check Out Stanzr

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: VCs Are Not Always Right

TECHSTARS AUSTIN KICKS OFF 2020 MENTORSHIP-DRIVEN ACCELERATOR CLASS, REVEALS 10 SELECTED STARTUPS

Brand Marketing vs. Product Marketing: What’s the Difference and Which Should You Invest In?

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Top 10 Vertical and Social Web Trends For The Decade

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Plantible Foods

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Skilllab

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Quicc

SXSW Pitch Finalist: FilmChain

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Quantstamp

Q3 2020 Portfolio Review

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Cove.tool

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Radiobotics

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Flugauto

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Winding Tree

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Arist

SXSW Pitch Finalists: Arist

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Virsix Games

SXSW Pitch Finalist: AVA Byte

SXSW Pitch Finalist: AVA Byte

SXSW Pitch Finalist: StrongSalt

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Betmarkets

SXSW Pitch Finalists: Betmarkets

SXSW Pitch Finalist: PurePlus

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Intvo

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Praxis Labs

The VC Industry Norms Which Changed Over The Past Decade

SXSW Pitch: NeelAgil Technologies

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Hemafuse

1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Ownership Matters

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Spotlight On India

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: 2 Really Cool Companies

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Three Open Opportunities For 2012

Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Personalization Remains An Open Problem

Flexible VCs With Structures Between Equity and Revenue-Based Investing

SXSW Pitch Finalist: Lofty AI

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