Dropbox Case Study

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Baseline Ventures

Founders: Steve Anderson

Industries: Software and web companies

AUM: NA

Successful case: Instagram

Lowercase Capital

Founders: Chris Sacca, Matt Mazzeo

Industries: consumer based and web technology

AUM: NA

Successful case: 9gag

Benchmark

Founders: Bob Kagle, Bruce Dunlevie, Andy Rachleff, Kevin Harvey

Industries: Web, Social media and cell apps

AUM: NA

Successful case: DropBox

Part II. [15 points] Review and write one-page summary for the documentary. What are your thoughts on the documentary? (typed, double-spaced, using standard margins, type size and spacing).

It is known that great ideas come to several people in different locations simultaneously, for example Newton and Leibniz. The reason for that is that the conditions became mature enough for those ideas to float. This is the case with VC companies, it started both in San Francisco and in the East cost with two different approaches but with the same result – a company that helps startups in various ways.

In the documentary we see a few examples of “startups” that needed the help of a VC in more ways than just capital. Usually, young companies lack the capital to run the business but also the experience in managing the company or the networking needed to create the business opportunity - this is the case for Atari, Genentech, Apple and more. Genentech, for example, didn’t know the potential of their product; Robert A. Swanson, a venture capitalist, needed to show it to them.

Like every partnership, the partnership between the entrepreneur and the VC companies has its benefits and challenges:

Benefits – if the idea is good and the VC company knows how to manage it than both parties win bigtime.

Challenges – typically, the two sides pull to different directions and it can cause major damage to the company (i.e. Cisco). The entrepreneur looks at the idea as his baby while not realizing that once a VC company is involved the entrepreneur is not the only owner and therefore can be let go.

To summaries, VC is an industry that helps our economy by creating new companies. It helps startups overcome the obstacles in creating a new business and helping navigating the ship if and when it is necessary

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