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Venture Capital and Mobility

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Just got back from a VC Task Force event down in SJ.  It was a fun event, but one of the folks who accompanied me on the panel was Ray Taylor, President and CEO of Mobopia (small shout out there).

We were wrapping up on the panel, and got one of those 'what are you all looking for in mobile' last questions, when Ray actually posed a great question:  are venture capitalists ready for mobility?

I think we all agree there is a TON of upside in the industry, but his point was that we are still really in our infancy as an industry; as such, it's going to take longer for VC's to recoup the investments they make.  I absolutely agree with him.

In our industry, as opposed to the whole web craze, people are looking for real business plans.  This actually takes some thought :)  I see too many business plans that are focused on ad revenue, or somehow trying to make money off of a social graft.  For the long term, to pay out, you really need to be solid; I don't think there are any get-rich-quick schemes anymore.  And what ever happened to knowing your market and actually just charging a small license fee to use?

The folks I am interested in have a business plan; they have identified their markets; they aren't reliant on some outside focus to make their plans work.  These plans are also built on a multi-year strategy, and they're good.  My hope is that the VC's that see these plans have the patience to see what's right around the bend, and start seeding great start-ups in our industry that aren't an also-ran, me-too, Web 2.0, Social Networking, insert buzz-word here company.

I am definitely interested in you...

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