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Anna Khan

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2020-08-14
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2020-08-14
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  1. “I invested in a company called Workstream, which is building the HR platform for the frontline workforce of America. And I really love this space because even though I'm a big fan of Workday, older platforms really struggle to build products for the deskless workforce, which is now almost kind of 2.8 billion people worldwide. So a massive market. And there's just enormous potential to build for mobile workflow and to really cater a product towards people that frankly don't sit on their desks and need a very different product to operate. And the founder there, it was one of those like quintessential valley moments where within 10 minutes of meeting him, I knew I wanted to invest in him. His name is Desmond Lim, and he has just this incredible mix of empathy and grit.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “I think working at an actual startup, I think opened up my eyes a lot. I had only worked in what I like to call corporate America because in the beginning it was like the right immigrant thing to do to get started in the US. Think Goldman and think Morgan, Stanley. And I was shielded from most problems and I really just had like a task to do every day and very little wiggle room. But working at a startup just completely flipped that training on its head. Stanford had exposed me to technology, but they only talk about the home runs and none of the negative stuff. And only when you work at a startup do you realize how much of a roller coaster it can be, even the best startups. You have these immense highs, but also really heavy lows. And it's given me really deep empathy in my work with entrepreneurs almost a decade later.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “When I joined CRV, I had a feeling it would be very different, but it was even more different than I imagined. You know, at CRV, because we focus so much more on the early stage and because our team is so much smaller, our conversations are almost more salon-like. We really dig into more of the philosophical and future-oriented dynamics of a company. And we talk a lot about the team. And at Best of our, we did a little bit of that, but at Bestsemer, we were the ones that came up with metrics on how to measure great cloud companies when no one knew how to measure cloud growth. And so as a result, we”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “That operators don't make good VCs, that's what I believe. I think it's really tough to have two CEOs in the boardroom. I think CEOs, when things work well for them, they're so used to repeating that. And sometimes it can work for another founder, but it's often a different company at a different time. And you actually end up repeating some of the same mistakes you did as a CEO. And I have this fundamental belief that if you want to be a good investor, nothing can make you a good investor other than just doing that more. It's sort of that 10,000 hours concept. And I always think VCs should be sounding boards and not the leader of the company. And if they are the leader of the company, that's a problem.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “You're going to say this is a political answer, but I really believe it. For me, it has to be Byron, Byron Dieter at Bessemer. And I think the reason why I think he's so good is he can so seamlessly transition between wearing the hat of the founder and the investor, but he has such high EQ in that he knows where to draw the line. So I saw him being relied on by entrepreneurs like they would rely on an employee, but also look up to him for advice. And as a result, I really try to now emulate that in my own board seats.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “The numbers. I hope that in my lifetime, in a perfect world, there would be 50% female partners and 50% of VC funding would go to female founded teams. I'd be very happy if that happened.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “No, he still makes fun of me that I have to sleep eight hours. He's like, you know, like little babies that are still growing need to sleep eight to nine hours, but it just gives you so much more energy. So he'll get there eventually.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “I stick to it. I stick to it on vacation, and anyone that vacations would be is just like, oh God, this Ana eight-hour Matt Walker timetable is just messing up our plans. But I'm just, I'm so laser focused on it. And it's changed the way I think. I have more energy than I ever had before. Highly recommend it.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “You have to because I was like you in the sense that I took a lot of pride in how little I slept in a day and I just said, well, I don't have time. And there are all these things that I want to do in a day, but he's going to open your eyes to how intricately linked sleep and performance is. So all those thoughts of I can do more if I don't sleep will just evaporate if you read that book. And now I to the Try to sleep eight hours every night after I read that book.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Yeah, and great founders, I mean, you've read all these stories of Airbnb and their founders had a completely different idea when they started. I think great founders can make new markets. And I think great founders, even if one idea fails, will pivot to the next. So I think especially at early stage investing, especially for what you and I do, I think really getting to know the person you're investing in versus looking at their traction slide is very important.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Women that I look up to do that better than anyone else. And I like to emulate that in how I build relationships with entrepreneurs.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “The role models that I think he was referring to in media, like in Oprah or a Christian Amanpur, what I like about them is more about how they ask questions and how they get to the truth earlier than anyone else. And also how when you have a conversation with them even for an hour, you think you've known them for years. And that's a true quality. And unfortunately, I see that less and less adventure because I think it's become so commoditized where within five minutes we're asking about the ARR and the net dollar retention and the growth rate and few people really take time to ask the questions like why are you building this? You could do anything in the world, why this, or where do you come from or who are you? And I think at the end of the day we're really just investing in people and we have to know them before we invest in them. And I think these particular”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Not no carry deals, I just mean hiring associates and analysts. You're not giving a big chunk of your carry away. Whereas when you hire a female GP, you're telling the rest of the world, I believe in this woman's work so much that I am willing to give more share of my dollars in my pocket to her. And more than that, I believe she is going to bring so much more to this GP pie that I'm happy to do that. And I think giving away Carrie is the most meaningful way to validate a woman's work in BC.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Hire great female analysts and associates. You after hiring them will realize that you will see more female CEOs pitch you because through hiring these analysts, you are getting access to networks that you just have no access to. I'd say you probably know one or two female GPs, call them and ask them who they really admire, whose work that they've been impressed by that are either VPs or principals and have a chat with them. Ask them the areas that they're focused on, ask them the companies that they've sourced, and talk about bringing them on at the partnership level. Because the reason the partnership”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Yeah, so I change it in always. You have to focus on the bottom, the top, and your portfolio. And I think that's what we're trying to do at Launch X is just give women access and also demystify what this crazy VC black box is all about. And so if I became a consultant to a venture firm, I would tell them the following. The first I'd say is start a program or work with LONJX to teach very high potential female entrepreneurs who are raising their first round of institutional financing about what it takes to raise a great round. Tell them the difference between a seed stage firm and a multi-stage firm. Tell them how they should pitch you because no one's told them. They don't have droves and droves of male CEO friends or male VCs that will pass on that information to them. So do that education and access work. Second,”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “It's very fair. It annoys me too. But when I started an adventure, we didn't even have that. I was the only woman at the firm for half a year until we started hiring more. And now it looks very different, which makes me really happy. But you're absolutely right. They're not getting pulled up to the partner ranks. They're not making the key investment decisions or fund decisions. And what I like to say is women still get promoted for results while men get promoted for potential. And that's what we need to change. The women in venture that have been successful, there's a deal that they sourced that made a lot of money for the firm or a deal that they led or a deal that they pushed for that got them where they are while men there's potential there they're worthy of a shot and i just like us to give more shots to women in the same way”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “This is a very hot topic for me, and anytime someone says a pipeline problem, it actually makes me angry. I think pipeline is a lazy crutch. I think the reality is it's only a pipeline problem if you believe the best VCs have to be technical, which if you look at the MIDAS list is not the case at all. And yes, there is data that women are getting fewer technical degrees than men, but it does not translate to VC. People come from, as you heard from my background, like people come from very different backgrounds and experiences and it's not directly correlated with success at all. You haven't tried hard to find incredible women and the fact that your network is limited to men is also the reason that they haven't worked with incredible women founders or female partners in the past. Pipeline is just a very lazy crotch of people that don't think it's valuable enough.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “I really like that framework because I've seen it play out. For me, the answer is really simple. I just tell my founders it's like a basic economic principle, which is opportunity cost. You always have the chance of working with the multi-stage fund down the line and they really excel at the C's and the D's, but you don't with the early stage fund. And they are almost much more aligned with your incentives as an early stage founder. They think like the founder seat versus the late stage investors who you can work with down the line if you outperform and they'd be happy to price your growth round, but it's just a very different kind of relationship and skill set that an early stage fund brings.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Early stage funds that have been around the block and can really help you navigate that time in your company's history. I think multi-stage funds kind of slap on playbooks. They're not very customized and it's hard to launch with those kind of plain vanilla playbooks.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “Yeah, I think a lot of firms have found ways to market around that, but an entrepreneur still feels very uncomfortable if that fund makes a competitive investment. A lot of multistage firms, I think as a result, really worry about betting on a space too early. And I think that's where people like you on the seed side or people like us on the early stage side can really be competitive. And then I think it's just most people don't talk about this, but multi-stage firms and the experience they bring to the board, they really excel in my opinion, in taking you from a 3 million to a 30 million AR company or a 30 million AR company to going public. They'll tell you when it's the right time to hire a VP of sales. They'll tell you what the right quota should be. But when you're sitting with a pitch deck and a market and you've just built a product, I think it's the”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Connections with our founders because going back to the point I made about Owen and Intercom, it's really hard to forget the person that bet on you when no one knew your name or used your product. And I think that is sort of that secret weapon that early stage funds can use because they come out of it with a much deeper and much more emotional connection with the founder that I think multi-stage firms kind of struggle to form.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Yeah, so obviously there are some fantastic multi-stage firms, but by default, if you are a multi-stage firm, you have to spend time doing early, mid, and late stage investing. And the more capital you raise, the more incentive you have to not exclude yourselves from future rounds and competitive companies by doing deals too early. But when you're a fund, and I'll give you, I'll give you some examples, obviously CRV is one, but there are others like USV and benchmark. When you intentionally limit your fund size and you're focused 100% on doing just that, so we have to, because of the parameters we've put around our fund size and around our strategy, we have to make the right calls at the A because we're likely not going to do the Series D or the E. And through that, what I've seen is that we seem to form much closer bonds than”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Yeah, it's very hard, especially now after COVID, the supply of good companies has decreased and the best companies, frankly, aren't going through a formal fundraising process. So you have to spend time building real relationships. I think when to know whether to lean in or stretch in valuation has everything to do with your belief in a founder and a market. If you spend time on a market and see strong precedent there for meaningful exits, I wouldn't wait. I would stretch on valuation, make it a deal that is hard for the entrepreneur to say no to, especially at the early stage, because the more late stage you go, the more difficult I think it gets to underwrite to a larger number because then that public market ceiling comes out of the blue.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Saying my success is so aligned with yours in a way that it might not be for the 20 year VC veteran. If you build a phenomenal company and you're part of my portfolio, we will both be successful. And that clicks with entrepreneurs in a way that would surprise you. And then I think the last thing that has really worked for me is just always showing up with more information and saying I may have only eight years of venture experience, but I know your space so well, I have deep sector experience. And in a lot of ways, I think that trumps years of what I like to call orthogonal experience.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Yeah, you know, I can't sit here and tell you that winning is easy. It's still really tough going against the heavyweights in the industry. But I think there are a lot of ways you can put up a good fight and sometimes win. Spending more time with the entrepreneur is one of the main ways because as I mentioned in sort of our analyst conversation, partners are really busy and they have made a commitment to 10, 12, sometimes 15 other entrepreneurs that they have long-term relationships with. They can't just drop all of that and focus on kind of the new entrepreneur they want to win over. Whereas a partner that is earlier in their career, they have maybe 20% of that load. And so spending more time, whether it's meals or phone conversations or customer intros, I think that goes a really long way. And then I think just being upfront with the entrepreneur, because the entrepreneur, they are also an underdog just like you.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “One of the reasons I was really excited to join CRV is that they have this laser focus on early stage investing, which is not just driven by data because there is no data. But it's much more a belief in teams. We like to call it founder market fit, but also in products. Do we think this product is right for this evolution of technology in 2020? Or what do we think is the right product that workers will need in 2025? And earlier in my career, I was much more data driven, but I think what's really evolved over this time is my ability to take a leap of faith based on early signs, whether that's chatter about a product, whether it's a founder that spent time in the industry that he's trying to change, and not just ARR and net dollar retention.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “You know, if you're starting out, you don't have to go to every networking event. It's just people talking about the same thing that everyone else is talking about. It's not going to differentiate you. Get to know a really small group that you connect with and that you have kind of openness with. And then where else I find deals for me, kind of hanging out with product or engineering leaders.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Yeah, so I have a little bit of a contrarian viewpoint and all my kind of venture friends make fun of me because I believe this. But I think that hanging out with other VCs as fun as it is antithetical to good sourcing. If we're very honest, the only deals you pass on to other VCs are deals that you don't want to do, especially if you're collaborating with firms that invest at the same stage. And I think, and what's worked for me is a much better use of time than happy hours is spending time getting to know a small group. And I really struggled with this because you have to find a group that is a really good fit. And so I have one of female VCs that I'm really grateful for. And the best part is we got to know each other when we were analysts and associates. And we've kind of grown in our careers together, which has been really helpful to talk through everything, whether that's the sourcing funnel, whether it's internal fund dynamics. So I'd say”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “So much has happened since that email. It's such an incredible company. But every time we talk, he still remembers that email. And so it matters what I said and how I said it and that I believed in him way back when. So first impressions matter. That's the second point. And then the last thing I'd say about people, and I love that question because no one's ever asked me that. I think it says a lot about you as a founder in how you treat an analyst when they first email you. If I look back at all the outbound emails that I sent when I started and the founders that responded to me and the way in which they responded to me, the ones that ended up being very successful, they responded honestly. They were transparent with their numbers and they were respectful. And they treated me exactly how they would treat the person number one on the MIDAS list. The ones that are flippant or who kind of circumvent analysts, I personally think kind of lose steam quickly.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “I learned more about venture as an analyst than I did in any other role that I've had, and I've had a lot of roles. You know, I've been analyst, associate, senior associate, vice president, and now GP. And I think it boils down to three things. The first is never forget that sourcing is still the heart of venture investing. Getting to a founder earlier than anyone else is how you succeed. And a lot of partners forget that because once you reach that level, you sort of think sourcing is below you. And I would just say it's the heart of the job. So never stop doing it and always make time to do it. The second thing I'd say is first impressions matter. Don't have a throwaway conversation. Don't send a one-line email. I still remember the first email that I sent Owen at Intercom and I talked about why I like his product, why I wanted to meet him, why Bessemer would be the right fit.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “You work that you would have to do, and then you're actually seeing well, now they've gotten in the door, can they actually help me? And is this a sign of what is to come with a partnership with this firm?”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “Yeah, so you're absolutely right. It's changed a lot. When I was an analyst, there were very few young people, as I mentioned before, and now there's a lot. What I always tell my founders is you should reply and then you should get them to do work for you. It's very easy to send an email to an entrepreneur, but when they reply and they ask you to do something, I think that's when you can really shine both as an individual analyst, but also show your firm's worth. And so tactically, what does that work mean? It means, great, tell me what you think about my space. Like, why are you excited about my product in particular when there is A, B, C competitor out there? Or I'm really struggling to find a head of engineering, and I would love your support. Or I noticed that you have XYZ customer in your portfolio. We've been dying to get an introduction. And so you're not wasting your time because you're getting them to do work.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “Of the entrepreneur, and great examples of that, like real companies, Intercom, which I sourced, Twitch, ProCore, and I can go on and on. And these are multi-billion dollar exits or valuations.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “Yeah, so this is something I'm very passionate about, and I have to give the caveat that I'm very biased as a former analyst myself. But I think they are so incredibly critical to the venture ecosystem. What I like to say is that people don't realize that most partners are busy with 10 plus board companies. They're busy with LP fundraising and internal fund management and all the politics that come with that. And they say they're still meeting new companies, but the reality is it's a very small portion of their time and they depend on their analysts or junior investors to be the feet on the ground. So people think the analyst is the gatekeeper, but I say take it one step forward. They are the gatekeeper, yes, but they're also going to be your fiercest advocate. And in my kind of seven to eight years adventure, some of our best deals would have never gotten done had an analyst not pounded the table and made the argument on behalf”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “I think I just wanted to make an impact, and a lot of it was my parents. I think they said very early on in my life that we can give you the right tools, but we can't change the way that a lot of this country treats women in professional roles. And so you should do everything you can here. And I had access to an incredible high school, again, a lot of support. But the career that I wanted and the impact that I wanted to make, at that time, I couldn't have it back in Pakistan. And the US was sort of this country on a pedestal. It was the place that you go to kind of quote unquote make your”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “A class schedule. And now, when I think of doing that, I'm like, oh my God, like I would never do that at this age. But when you're 17, you feel really invincible.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “Very lucky and grateful to be in this position. On the sides of my household, it's true. I grew up in a very large family, which was very close and tight-knit. And yes, it was 21 people. And it wasn't even 21 people that lived close together. It was 21 people under one roof. It was my grandmother who's the head of the household, four uncles and aunts, 11 cousins, 12 including me. And we did everything together from schoolwork to dinner to birthday parties. You know, we didn't even have to invite other friends because instantly you had like a 20 person birthday party. And my husband likes to joke. He says, for anyone that remembers a family from home alone, it was sort of like that, but every day. And going from that kind of environment all the way to the West Coast was a huge change. I was all alone. I had no family here, no family friends even. And I didn't know anybody. I just had kind of my Stanford ID card.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “Growing up outside of the US gives you a lot of perspective. When I look back, I'm actually really proud to be an immigrant and proud of the values and the grit that it instilled in me at a young age. And to give you context, I lived through a military coup. I lived through a former prime minister getting assassinated. And so when you live in Pakistan, you kind of don't have time to worry about the incredibly privileged things we can worry about here in Silicon Valley. So when I moved here, I just learned don't take anything for granted. And all that being said, you know, it was a very volatile country, but in my childhood was incredible. I had a lot of support and encouragement from my parents and some amazing high school teachers that I still very vividly remember. But outside of that bubble, I honestly couldn't dream of having the career that I have in the US today.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “Experience in coming together in one role, which I then quickly fell in love with. And I spent six great years at Bessemer, where I sourced companies like Intercom and New Voice Media for the firm and worked with some incredible founders at Sengrid, Xilo, Adaptive Insights, and Intact. Then I joined CRV as a general partner a little less than a year ago, still focused on all things software.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “Sure. So when I graduated from Stanford, I honestly had no idea what venture was. Today, every senior at Stanford knows what a VC is, but back then it wasn't really an industry that was accessible to young people. So I began my career like any type A student and spent some time in finance at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. And then as a chief of staff to the CEO at a mobile advertising startup, right when the mobile ad ecosystem was exploding and I loved a lot about both those experiences, but neither felt 100% right. And then one night I got an email from one of those college email lists that you forget to unsubscribe from after you graduate about a role at Bessemer. And the more I learned about the role and about venture, it was like the finance and the startup ecosystem having a baby. So it was a lot of good elements from both those industries that I had had.”

    2020-08-14 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source