Building Success Without a Traditional Background: A Journey from Entrepreneurship to VC

As a three-time entrepreneur turned investor, Paul Bragiel shares his unfiltered views on building successful ventures, overcoming traditional VC barriers, and the importance of gut feeling in the pursuit of startup success.

1. It's a myth that you need to be from a top university like Stanford or Harvard to get VC attention as a founder.
2. The most important thing is to start building and keep trying, even if you face failures.
3. Junior people in VC firms can sometimes be cocky and arrogant, which is not helpful for the industry's reputation.
4. Paul Bragiel is a three-time entrepreneur turned investor with seven funds and over 430 investments across 40+ countries.
5. He has no finance background and his first company was bootstrapped without knowing what VC was.
6. After selling his third company in 2010, he started a venture capitalist kind of fund called IO ventures with a group of successful friends.
7. They focus on high-risk deals that can potentially become huge successes.
8. VC industry has grown due to increased entrepreneurship and more technology verticals requiring investment.
9. However, supporting companies and returning money to investors is harder than it seems.
10. To be successful in VC, one needs to be humble, put their head down and grind, and be supportive of the community.
11. Pre-seed and seed stage investing requires more gut feeling and people skills, while series A and beyond require more numbers and calculations.
12. When raising a first fund, you're mostly relying on your personal track record as an entrepreneur or angel investor.
13. Paul Bragiel opened up the Warren Fellowship to anyone who wants to get into VC or see what the other side of the table looks like as an entrepreneur.
14. Great teams are more important than great ideas in venture capital.
15. When evaluating a startup, Paul prioritizes people and market potential over specific verticals or ideas.
16. To get VC attention, show up, network, and start building on weekends and nights, focusing on making things happen rather than just talking about them.
17. Common mistakes founders make when pitching include being too robotic, not allowing for conversation, and focusing too much on the product without explaining the problem it solves.

Source: EO via YouTube

❓ What do you think? What is one key aspect that sets apart successful founders from those who struggle to get attention from VCs, regardless of their background or education? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!