“Startups die of indigestion, not starvation” is one of the rules for building “iconic companies,” Mayfield Venture Capital Managing Partner Navin Chaddha Ph.D. ’92 said in a Wednesday presentation as part of the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar series.
Chaddha, who completed his Ph.D. at Stanford in 1992, took a leave of absence to start VExtreme, a video streaming company eventually acquired by Microsoft. After starting two more companies, he took an executive position at Microsoft at the age of 26, overseeing Windows Media and working alongside now-CEO Satya Nadella.
“I came to this country with $500,” Chaddha said in his introduction. “I cannot thank Stanford enough for making me what I am today.”
At Mayfield Venture Capital, Chaddha has personally overseen investments in 50 companies, 16 of which have had successful initial public offerings and 18 of which have been acquired. He stressed that their philosophy was putting people first, and then aiding them through their entrepreneurial challenges.
“We embrace the unconventional, the different and the unusual,” Chaddha said. “Invest in relationships – don’t invest in transactions.”
Chaddha laid out his venture capital philosophy through various case studies of successful companies Mayfield has invested in. For example, Lyft was successful, Chaddha said, because of their strong and consistent values.
“What led to their success was their authentic vision of making people’s lives better … their values still are: be yourself, uplift others, and make things happen,” said Chaddha. “Codify your mission and values from day one.”
Elaborating on “Startups die of indigestion, not starvation,” he spoke about Marketo, a marketing company acquired by Adobe, which kept going back to the drawing board to solve small, crucial problems while keeping their larger vision of making marketing a science, not an art, in mind.
To illustrate another rule, Chaddha brought up the example of SolarCity, a solar panel company that embraced a lease-based pricing model.
“This non-technical example of innovation made SolarCity a breakout company,” said Chaddha, who encouraged innovation “across the value chain.”
Chaddha also spoke about brand intelligence company Moat, which started by building a Google-like search to see what platforms advertises were performing the best on.
“Make sure the product or service you are building is a must-have for your customers,” said Chaddha. “Painkillers sell, vitamins don’t.”
Finally, Chaddha detailed how Poshmark, a fashion reselling company that makes one sale a second, got their engagement rates to rival those of Facebook and Instagram through a strong commitment to customer service. Poshmark actually employs more customer satisfaction staff than software engineers.
Contact Sohan Vichare at svichare ‘at’ stanford.edu.