{"id":43800,"date":"2023-10-20T15:31:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/what-seek-co-founder-paul-bassat-looks-for-in-a-startup\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:31:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:31:15","slug":"what-seek-co-founder-paul-bassat-looks-for-in-a-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/what-seek-co-founder-paul-bassat-looks-for-in-a-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"What Seek co-founder Paul Bassat looks for in a startup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s one thing that Square Peg Capital co-founder Paul Bassat always looks for first when he\u2019s considering investing in a startup.<\/p>\n

In an AMA hosted by Blackbird Ventures, the Seek co-founder says his starting point is always to have an in-depth look at the problem the company is looking to solve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it a real problem and is it being solved in a unique way?\u201d Bassat says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost importantly, who are the team solving the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA good example in our portfolio is Vend, which is a cloud-based point-of-sale software business. It is really clear that small retailers will move to the cloud and incumbents are at massive risk of disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Square Peg Capital is now four years old but Bassat says he is still learning what his role should be as a VC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main role is meeting a range of great entrepreneurs and making judgements around which we think have the potential to build really important businesses,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we make the investment our role is to be a great partner to our entrepreneurs. It is about supporting them based on what they need rather than just a cookie-cutter approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bassat also dished out a number of useful pieces of advice and key takeaways for founders and entrepreneurs in the AMA session.<\/p>\n

The biggest decision he made as an entrepreneur<\/h3>\n

Bassat, who founded Seek with his brother Andrew and Matt Rockman in 1997, says picking your co-founders is “just about the most important decision you can make”.<\/p>\n

“It is incredibly important,” he says.<\/p>\n

“Having complementary skills is really important. Even more important is having an ingenious vision and values and a high level of mutual respect.<\/p>\n

“I was incredibly fortunate with Andrew and Matt as co-founders.”<\/p>\n

The importance of culture<\/h3>\n

Bassat says one of the hardest things for founders is maintaining a positive and productive culture while other aspects of the business are developing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is really important that you try to maintain the things that are special and unique about your culture,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard part is to constantly invest in improving your systems and processes and your people capability but maintain your culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really hard but it is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the government needs to do to help startups<\/h3>\n

According to the investor and entrepreneur, there\u2019s only so much a government can do to nurture a startup ecosystem \u2013 the rest comes down to those within it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think government can play an important role in providing the platform and framework for a successful tech ecosystem,\u201d Bassat says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEqually folks like Square Peg and Blackbird are important, as are accelerators and incubators.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the key ingredient is smart and passionate entrepreneurs and management teams. That is the scarcest ingredient and we need to encourage and back those men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The difference between Australian and Israeli startups<\/h3>\n

Square Peg Capital focuses on the Australian and Israeli ecosystems, and Bassat says there are a number of key differences between the two tech communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the Israeli entrepreneurs we are backing are a bit older than their Australian peers and have been involved in previous startups, either as founders or members of the team,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are also typically more focused on deep technical problems whilst in Australia there are a few more businesses based around the business model differentiation, rather than the technical differentiation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter,<\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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