Jessie Chuang

Task

in-depth interview

Status

Completed

Date

Aug 7, 2023

Completion Time

Interviewer

Segment

investor

Subject info

Name

Role / Job title

Experience

Decision making

Purchase summary

Company info

Name

Size

Type

Maturity

what’s the value / who’s contributing?

investing decisions… traditional VC managers don’t ??? — that’s why they’re professional / have track record

angel networks have more diversified members in the group, they can have different industry perspectives

before using Harmonica, should we select who can participate?

Decision-Making Timeline

What are the key factors you consider when deciding to invest in a startup?

(before getting into DD) the first steps are always about some signals that catch your attention, previously important / successful investments + founders work experience (highly relevant or not) + the company itself (what they do, the product) + ???

(how we find companies) two ways: bottom-up (angel networks, go through this process, we filter the deals, we have our own judgement / homework to do), and top-down (the whole landscape, what are the big emerging trends that we believe will have significant impact and returns)

Can you describe the process you followed the last time you evaluated a potential startup investment?

they were from a good deal source (already filtered, their process is good)

factors (see above), maturity, match our thesis

if ??? , our team will meet with them

internal process (we want to go further or not)

what are we discussing, how to improve the process (team of 6 or 7)

not enough data, new territory, reach out to experts, form advisory panel

…

Which of these stages were the most difficult for you?

Can you share an example of a difficult investment decision you had to make and how you navigated it?

the process wasn’t efficient enough / it took too much time → temptation to take cognitive shortcuts

top 10% of VCs still have about 50% of their deals fail (very hard to have disciplined system)

some will just invest in FAANG (?)

…

maybe you can help us with SURVEY? we don’t want to feel offensive… it should be anonymous… it’s for ??? (partners or industry advisors?)

angel networks can have 400-500 members, everyone can vote, THIS IS NOISY! they don’t have expertise / context

angel groups use a tool https://dealum.com/

…

first there’s learning from the advisors, making sure they answer the questions, advisors make it more comfortable (?)

…

the QA that goes back and forth… it could be like a forum… one meeting is very limited

when all the questions are answered, what can the future look like, what can we expect? previous investors can say they’ve lost a lot of money… but if we make the same investment… with early stage is always not enough data

anonymous SURVEY of what we believe in after the panel (both for internal team and advisors)

the question is, if we have investor group, should we let them vote?

How decisions to invest are made

🧑🏻‍🔬

The aim of this part of the interview is to figure out what intentional change if any, the consumer was hoping to make. You also want to gather info on events and things that happened that helped bring those desires to the surface.

Learn about what they bought and when. Discover the circumstances of that purchase

Ask about when they first heard / learned about that product

Ask about relevant events that happened in-between learning about the product and actually buying it. If it took 1 day or less, why do fast? If it took 6 months, why so long?

Ask about how they shopped. Did they look at reviews, talk to other people?

How did they know it was the right solution - at the time - for them?

When they used the product, how/when did they realize it was “working”?

What were they hoping to change as a result of using the product?

Did the product help deliver that change? Why / why not?

When was the last time you changed how you gather due diligence and make decisions?

Ask for the trigger, pain of the old, hope for the new

How would you rate your overall experience with the solutions you currently use?

What was hard about changing to what you have today?

Is it living up to your hopes? What’s still missing?

What challenges or frustrations have you experienced with these solutions?

Decision-making step 1

Decision-making step 2

Decision-making step 3

Decision-making step 4

Decision-making step 5

To understand how [a solution] was first used and why, go to Switching section below

If we don’t know what solutions were hired, but we know for what job / problem, then we ask what the customer used to [solve the problem].

If we know what solutions were hired, then we ask to describe the order of purchases, pick the most interesting story and ask to talk about it in more detail (in the context of hiring this solution).

Switching between solutions

To understand the usability of [a solution] in particular situations, go to Hiring section below

Regular usage: in what situations do they normally use the solution? Write out specific situations of different types, and look into the most interesting one…

Most recent situation: when was the last time they used the solution? And before that? Describe the situation in detail…

Hiring situations

Making decisions together

Who are the key stakeholders involved in your investment decision-making process? Why those people? What roles do these individuals play in the process?

How do you manage communication and collaboration among these stakeholders during the decision-making process?

How do you handle disagreements or differing opinions during the decision-making process?

When was the last time you had to resolve disagreement or conflict among stakeholders? Can you tell me more about it?

How do the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders change depending on the type or size of the investment?