

Will Google Ventures Disrupt Venture Capital? - yoseph
http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/56196/Will-Google-Ventures-Disrupt-Venture-Capital.aspx

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benologist
It's all a really great list of benefits you'll get going with Google Ventures
if you're lucky enough to get their interest but I don't think it's enough to
actually _disrupt_ the VC industry, the benefits aren't really gamechangers:

\- they can introduce you to other Googlers, this can be hard to achieve by
yourself but it's definitely not impossible, if you're working in a cool space
where Google has some platform or aspirations you will inevitably cross paths
with someone who can give you the same introductions

\- they can send you the rejects that applied for jobs which is for sure going
to include some amazing people, but they applied for bigcorp pay, benefits,
security, hours, stability and processes .... not startups

\- they can help you with their expertise, now this is the potentially really
interesting one _if_ you're in the tiny slice of startups that needs to scale
the crap out of what they're doing, but their more widely applicable UI
expertise is soulless, spartan and even ugly in spite of whole continents
converting/reacting well to it

\- they have mindshare outside of SV, which is of dubious value really ... I
mean they _own_ search and they _own_ online advertising, but they still have
to advertise like crazy to get Chrome users so I wouldn't imagine they can
just flick a switch and give you massive marketshare overnight

\- smart people work there and can give smart advice/insight, which is a big
plus of course but smart people are everywhere, you just have to look for them

\- work at the Googleplex, probably would be awesome but it's not exactly
going to make or break your startup

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janesvilleseo
"but their more widely applicable UI expertise is soulless, spartan and even
ugly in spite of whole continents converting/reacting well to it"

They are pulling UX/UI from not just Google proper but also from their other
properties such as YouTube.

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nestlequ1k
YouTube? Dear god help us

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iamelgringo
Problems I see that Google Ventures faces if they truly want to disrupt
Venture Capital:

They've _got to stop asking founders to opt out of an NDA before founders get
buzzed in to Google Venture's office. Otherwise, they are going to have a hard
time gaining an entrepreneur's trust. I'm sure it's a "It's not that big of a
deal" issue from Google's perspective, because everybody has to opt in/out of
an NDA on Google's campus, and it's the Google "normal". But, founders
pitching dozens of VC's are going to notice the dramatic difference in signing
in to a Google Ventures meeting and stopping by any of the hundreds of VC
offices on Sand Hill Road.

Google really needs to relax their "All your IP are belong to us" policy for
their engineers, if they are truly going to promote startup culture and have
founders want to pitch Google Ventures first when it comes to funding their
ideas. There is precious little boot strapping while working at Google. The
engineers that I know at Google that are boot strapping pretty much have to be
in stealth mode otherwise they run the risk of tripping over Google's IP
issues. If they are working on a startup while working at Google, they are
_very, __very quiet about it.

That creates a deafening silence silence within 5 miles around Google campus
when it comes to Googler startups. Hackers & Founders has been meeting 3 miles
away from the Googleplex for years, and I can count on one hand the number of
Googlers that show up. How many Googler's hang out at the Hacker Dojo? How
many ex-Googler companies are at 500 Startups accelerator, which is a couple
of miles away from campus? I hear SunFire is full of them. But, you don't see
those people hanging out at 106 miles too much.

Unless they work at Google, hackers in the Valley are getting creeped out by
how pervasive Google is, and how much data Google has on them. That very much
works against Google Ventures when it comes to founder mind share.

I'm sure to startups based in other parts of the country, Google is quite
sexy, and having access to advice from engineers who've worked at Google is
quite exciting.

As a VC in the Valley, you want to have a good enough reputation, network and
deal flow that you employ people to screen meetings and pitches away to
maximize a partner's time. If any other VC in the Valley started offering me
$10k per referral that I made to them, I'd run away screaming.

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Aloisius
I may be in the minority, but the idea of talking to Google Ventures makes me
nervous. As a tiny startup that is pre-launch, the last thing I want is Google
deciding they want to go into my business. It is kind of like Microsoft in the
90s.

I'm not saying it is a well founded fear, but it is enough to keep me from
talking to them.

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floppydisk
I think this will end up being Google's acquisition hunt fund in the long run.
Get in on the ground floor of promising startups in areas Google wants to
expand into and see how things shake out. If things go well, you have leverage
to get a Google buyout. If the tech takes a different tack from what Google
wants they can exert influence to push it in a different direction or help
shop them to other companies to recoup investment and grab top talent to come
work at Google. Sounds like a decent long term acquisition identification
strategy to me.

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gojomo
Do people who applied to bigco Google want their resume passed on to GV-backed
startups?

Do those startups want people who applied for a Google job but (presumably)
got passed over?

Hard to see how this candidate-sharing provides a big GV benefit.

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floppydisk
Unless Google quietly uses it as a pipeline to develop talent. If a person
fails to pass the Google test but has potential, a GV startup could be a low
risk way for Google to evaluate and develop talent. Once they consume the
startup or it sells, developed talent gets pulled into Google proper.

Kinda like a development league for software developers.

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daimyoyo
I'm not sure I'd want to work in a minor league company until google is
satisfied about my progress. That seems demeaning to potential developers.

~~~
mdwrigh2
My bigger worry with that mentality is it seems slightly demeaning to the
startups. "Here's a developer that wasn't good enough for us, maybe he's good
enough for you though". Given that Google is investing in the companies, that
should _not_ be the attitude they have towards them.

