Eric Feng’s advice to entrepreneurs: Get the product-market fit right before anything else.
That is, make sure your product is really going to be loved by potential users. The numbers don’t have to be huge at first, but someone out there has to like and actually use your product.
Once that’s established, it makes it far quicker and easier to get your startup funded.
He said the cost of technology is lower than ever, and that money is available for the right ideas. Proving the idea is a good one is Job One, he said.
Feng is a partner at Kleiner-Perkins, a venture capital firm from Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. He’s the former CTO at both Hulu and Flipboard.
Feng visited Google’s facility in Venice December 1, addressing a roomful of Silicon Beach entrepreneurs.
The event was hosted by TechFire, a locally-based event management firm with a focus on the local tech scene. Feng said he likes to get out of Silicon Valley now and then so as to escape the “Silicon Valley echo chamber.”
He said just because an idea might seem trendy in the Bay Area doesn’t necessarily mean it will work in the heartland.
On the contrary, he said if an idea works in the heartland, that’s a good reason for a Silicon Valley-based VC to look closely at what the entrepreneurs behind the idea are up to.
Feng said the venture capital industry seems to be “between waves of innovation” right now.
He said most agree that virtual reality, augmented reality, bots and drones will one day be hot – it’s just not clear when.
He said Kleiner Perkins, when evaluating deals, not only asks “why this idea?” and “why this team?” – but also “why now?”
Feng noted that he finds transactional sites (sites that make it easier for buyers and sellers of goods and services to hook up) interesting these days.
He’s not so keen on media plays that depend on advertising, he noted.
Overall, Feng said he’s very bullish about the positive impact technology will have on our economy — and society — for years to come.
Patrick Anding, an attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, interviewed Eric Feng before throwing it open to questions from the audience.
Wilson Sonsini sponsors the TechFire events, which are organized by TechFire CEO David Murphy, a veteran of the Silicon Valley startup scene.
Google made its auditorium available for this event. Venues for TechFire events change often; for more information about future events, visit techfire.co.
