ASV Flashcards
Why venture capital? Why not a startup or something else?
I want to spend my career working with startups, and I see this fellowship as an invaluable learning experience. At this point in my career, I believe I would learn more by working with a number of growing companies than I would by founding or joining a startup. I’ve been in the weeds with operations, customer research, and business development for startups but I’m super eager to develop my perspective from the investor side.
Why ASV in particular?
I’m drawn to ASV over other VC firms because of the mission and the match to my background and learning objectives. Coming from Skaneateles, the firm’s focus on regional investment really resonates with me. I think that the availability of venture capital and related job creation represents significant support for the community. I feel that I am a good match for the fellowship because of my previous work with startups, as well as my networking, analytical, and communication skills. The role aligns really well with my passion for working with startups, and I think I could learn a tremendous amount by approaching entrepreneurship from a VC perspective. As a final point, I’ve had the pleasure of engaging with ASV team members, investors, and founders in the past and I feel that the culture would be an excellent fit.
Why aren’t you applying to a biotech-related job?
Ultimately, I’m most interested in entrepreneurship in healthcare and life science, but at this point I feel like I will learn the most from seeing the general principles on which new ventures can be successful, regardless of the industry.
What are your strengths and weaknesses as a candidate?
I believe that my greatest strengths in this type of role are my communication skills, analytical skills, and networking skills. In my consulting and business development roles, I’ve had the chance to analyze complex business problems and articulate my findings and insights to clients and coworkers. I’ve devoted a great deal of effort to expand my network in Philadelphia by joining startup communities like the venture initiation program through wharton, the national inSITE fellowship, and the Philly Startup Leaders. I’ll end by highlighting one more critical skill, which is my unwavering desire to learn and explore new fields. Of the thirty or so students in the inSITE fellowship, I was the only person from the engineering school. I knew it would be challenging to keep up with the MBAs at first, but I saw it as a learning experience and ultimately really excelled as a fellow. Throughout my academic and professional career, I’ve learned by stepping out of my comfort zone and proven to myself that I can adapt to any difficult environment.
I think one weakness is that I probably have less formal training in accounting and number-crunching as compared to other candidates. With that being said, I’ve taught myself the fundamentals outside of the classroom and I’m extremely driven to sharpen and apply these skills in a professional setting.
Digital Health
Digital Health: One industry that I think that ASV should be looking at is digital health. To be clear, I think the software side of digital health is much more interesting for ASV than the hardware side. It has been a rapidly growing industry for some time, but I think that COVID has really served as a trigger for widespread adoption. Digital health software does in some respects seem like a departure from ASV’s typical investments, but I think there is enough overlap with B2B (enterprise) SaaS that ASV could make prudent investments. Furthermore, there have been some really interesting digital health companies coming out of the region. One, of course, is UCM Digital Health, and I’ve come across some others like a company called Patient Pattern out of Buffalo. Between ASV’s competency in software, the timing, and the industry prospects, I think that the firm should be keeping an eye out for opportunities in digital health.
Agriculture
Agriculture: I think agriculture technology, and specifically smart agriculture, is a very interesting industry for ASV. It certainly falls outside of ASV’s core investment focus, but it is nonetheless attractive based on the firm’s commitment to regional investment. The agtech industry is slated for significant growth, but my primary reasons for talking about this industry are practical. Cornell is a global leader in agriculture technology, so there is a lot of domain expertise in the upstate region. Furthermore, there is significant support for startups through academic and state organizations like the Cornell Tech Farm and Center of Excellence for food and agriculture. Based on the unique qualities of upstate ny, I think it makes sense for ASV to consider opportunities in the agriculture technology industry that they might otherwise ignore. (1:10)
Patient Pattern
One company that I think is really interesting is called Patient Pattern, located in Buffalo. They offer software products to help assess the needs of elderly patients in skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare systems. The product that really caught my attention is their PDPM coach, a software product that helps SNFs streamline reimbursement. From what I’ve seen, they have a solid customer base already, and their customers apparently see an average increase of 20% in reimbursement revenue. This is a very strong value proposition, and the software is highly scalable, so I think they have real growth potential. In the long term, I think some of their other offerings on risk assessment and collaborative care also hold promise. I don’t have any of the company’s data, of course, but based on what I’ve seen I think it is a company that’s worth looking into.
Blackbird
One startup that I think could be a great fit is Blackbird.AI. This company offers an AI platform for disinformation detection and response. As an early-stage SaaS company headquartered in Rochester, NY, I believe they align with ASV’s general investment focus. The company is generating revenue with customers in enterprise, government, and law, which suggests that their technology goes beyond the obvious application in national security. They appear to be growing rapidly, with a significant increase in job postings. Their technology is highly-scalable, so I think that they could be poised for significant growth in the near future. Although it is hard to get a handle on their true market potential and strategy with the information I have available, I believe they are worth investigating on the basis of the founding team’s domain expertise and track record in entrepreneurship.
In our portfolio, what companies are you really excited about?
Among the more recent ASV investments, I’m very excited about Jorsek. I’m generally interested in knowledge management, and it seems like easyDITA is really focused and resonating with their customers. I think it’s very impressive that Jorsek continued its customer growth during the pandemic, and even more so that they have maintained such excellent customer retention during these times. With their market traction and the expansion of their team, I think they could have a really great year ahead of them.
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
In 5-10 years, I will be working with startups in some capacity. It is difficult to say whether this will be through venture capital or through my own entrepreneurial venture, but my true passion is in startups so I will undoubtedly be in a related role.
What metrics would you look at to evaluate potential investments?
I would first confirm that their company and capital needs fit with the general investment focus of ASV. If so, I’d start by asking for all of the standard information that goes into a pitch deck - market, competitive advantage, team, business model, et cetera. Then I would request financials and try to look at metrics that speak to growth. For a SaaS company, for example, I’d likely start with things like net new ARR, churn, cost of customer acquisition and customer lifetime value. I’d want to calculate the LTV/CAC ratio with a conservative 12- or 24-month LTV.
Is there anything we should know that is not reflected in your resume?
One significant activity that’s not listed is working on my own venture concepts with a friend. We typically look at ideas in the healthcare industry. Most recently, we’ve worked on validating a software product for medical supply purchasing. In the last three months, we’ve conducted over 30 interviews with stakeholders across the supply chain. I think this is relevant to this job because it demonstrates primary research skills, a data-driven approach to entrepreneurship, and a commitment to startups.
Big Wheelbarrow
One agriculture-related startup that I find really interesting is called big wheelbarrow. It is a supply management SaaS company out of Texas that connects small, local farms with wholesale customers like grocery store chains and food halls. It’s relatively simple software that makes it easier for retailers to meet demand for locally sourced goods. It enables retailers to save time and money by consolidating local vendors on a central platform and easing the sourcing process.
Challenge:
One significant challenge I faced was my first main task when I joined New Day Diagnostics over the summer. I needed to find a POCT that was immediately revenue generating to bring into our pipeline to support our big ticket diagnostics that are still relatively early in development. To do so, I had to not only source candidates primarily from international markets and validate them for the US market. The approach I took was identifying an unmet need in the United States and validating it through primary research. I then found a suitable European diagnostic and worked with the rest of the team to negotiate a deal with the Finnish company and develop a regulatory and market strategy to bring it into the US market.
