Ari Helgason's guest appearances

Ari Helgason

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The SaaS Revolution Show

Nicolas Dessaigne

Tak Lo

Eoghan McCabe

Peter Reinhardt

Olivier Pomel

Hiten Shah

Avi Meir

Jason Lemkin

Christian Reber

Rahul Vohra

Matt Lerner

Michael Treskow

Joel Gascoigne

Neeraj Agrawal

Des Traynor

OwlTail

Peter Bauer

Back in 2003, tech wasn’t exactly having its most glorious days. The bitter taste of the dot-com crash was still pungent. Few entrepreneurs would be blamed for not willing to take a punt by starting a new tech company. Peter Bauer, however, didn’t succumb to that too much. He sensed SaaS would outlive that and become the next big thing. Peter placed a bet on a cloud-based email management system and Mimecast was born. From the early days, Mimecast defied rules and expectations. While everyone advised Peter to focus on just one aspect of email, he and his co-founder were religious about creating a supercategory. 15 years on the journey, Peter has had the rare chance to lead the company through all stages, including an IPO. He knows equally well the problems of having 5k in the bank and 35 people on the payroll as well as having 140 million in the bank and figuring what is next. Listen on to hear:  How does the thinking behind the product change over time How do you know it’s time to move to a new market How Mimecast kept the cultural cohesion as it scaled What is the best way to approach compensation Which is the toughest stage on the journey and how to prepare for it  P.S. This conversation was part of a fantastic first stop of SaaStock on Tour in London. The next stop on SaaStock on Tour is Paris on May 3rd. Find out more information https://www.saastock.com/ontour

Back in 2003, tech wasn’t exactly having its most glorious days. The bitter taste of the dot-com crash was still pungent. Few entrepreneurs would be blamed for not willing to take a punt by starting a new tech company. Peter Bauer, however, didn’t succumb to that too much. He sensed SaaS would outlive that and become the next big thing. Peter placed a bet on a cloud-based email management system and Mimecast was born. From the early days, Mimecast defied rules and expectations. While everyone advised Peter to focus on just one aspect of email, he and his co-founder were religious about creating a supercategory. 15 years on the journey, Peter has had the rare chance to lead the company through all stages, including an IPO. He knows equally well the problems of having 5k in the bank and 35 people on the payroll as well as having 140 million in the bank and figuring what is next. Listen on to hear: <ul> <li>How does the thinking behind the product change over time</li> <li>How do you know it’s time to move to a new market</li> <li>How Mimecast kept the cultural cohesion as it scaled</li> <li>What is the best way to approach compensation</li> <li>Which is the toughest stage on the journey and how to prepare for it</li> </ul> P.S. This conversation was part of a fantastic first stop of SaaStock on Tour in London. The next stop on SaaStock on Tour is Paris on May 3rd. Find out more information <a href="https://www.saastock.com/ontour" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.saastock.com/ontour</a>

From Zero to IPO: Lessons in Scaling Mimecast with Peter Bauer and Ari Helgason

Ari Helgason is a VC at Dawn Capital in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system World on a Hanger and ecommerce clothing marketplace Fabricly.com. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships. In Today's Episode You Will Learn:  How Ari made his move into the VC scene? Why Ari decided to bootstrap his first business? Does Ari believe that Founders should always be fundraising? Should Founders take more money than they need, 'a war chest'? What type of goals do VCs want to see from founders? What do investors expect from startups at Series A? How can founders learn what KPI's make sense for their business? How can founders know when is the right time to fundraise? How can startup founders get their foot in the VC door?  Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:  Predictable Revenue: Aaron Ross (Mandatory Reading for All SaaS CEO's) Elon Musk: How The Billionaire of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future Saastr by Jason Lemkin AVC.com  As always you can follow Harry, Ari and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!

<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=5&amp;ved=0CDgQFjAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fangel.co%2Fari-helgason&amp;ei=fxicVZGJIcat7gbei6WYAw&amp;usg=AFQjCNEJwFTuA9pF7hgH2M3bsZ6cdWaEKA&amp;sig2=CtYMJF7cPiCtRW9vpDSmIw&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ari Helgason</a> is a VC at <a href="http://dawncapital.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dawn Capital</a> in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCIQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldonahanger.com%2F&amp;ei=NhicVbzEKcqd7ga7goHoBw&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6Tw0gldQDMRUisNJHXseXbyegQQ&amp;sig2=_bZVAnaWxg2E894ke62MKA&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">World on a Hanger</a> and ecommerce clothing marketplace <a href="http://www.fabricly.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fabricly.com</a>. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCIQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ycombinator.com%2F&amp;ei=ahicVZyGHeKv7Abii4SAAw&amp;usg=AFQjCNGO6JC1KEcS3mxcoPMK9PpcOMGnHw&amp;sig2=imZ_-RqMYc4BQY0KtmtDyA&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Y Combinator</a> startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: <ul> <li>How Ari made his move into the VC scene?</li> <li>Why Ari decided to bootstrap his first business?</li> <li>Does Ari believe that Founders should always be fundraising?</li> <li>Should Founders take more money than they need, 'a war chest'?</li> <li>What type of goals do VCs want to see from founders?</li> <li>What do investors expect from startups at Series A?</li> <li>How can founders learn what KPI's make sense for their business?</li> <li>How can founders know when is the right time to fundraise?</li> <li>How can startup founders get their foot in the VC door?</li> </ul> Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0984380213/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=0984380213&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thtwmivc03-21&amp;linkId=26GVG6EDMCP3DOPA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Predictable Revenue: Aaron Ross (Mandatory Reading for All SaaS CEO's)</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SIDCSWY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=B00SIDCSWY&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thtwmivc03-21&amp;linkId=DLD4AIJZFEWNVH46" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elon Musk: How The Billionaire of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCIQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saastr.com%2F&amp;ei=0d2cVZDfB4u17gbdnqDQBg&amp;usg=AFQjCNGFNFJugbQ5T8bC1OALbGU99cy0wQ&amp;sig2=fbNqb96zEKz5jCYbBco5vg&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saastr by Jason Lemkin</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCEQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Favc.com%2F&amp;ei=9t2cVcHaHcmu7Abmt5CABw&amp;usg=AFQjCNHAvmsRsUYdmjtqOHaXQU_EjqF5gA&amp;sig2=Wpya-7Y_YtXiLQVh_0pMzQ&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AVC.com</a></li> </ul> As always you can follow <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCIQFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fharrystebbings%3Flang%3Den-gb&amp;ei=akGdVZTOG-qf7gb43JXIBQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6KlmFwsIYJkOKRioQuLqGOR0U0w&amp;sig2=HGC3lp9EmevbucKF_ryG4A&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Harry</a>, <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCEQFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Farihelgason&amp;ei=fkGdVZrtOeHY7Aawjr-oCQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNG7FId5E53p5d51L_tNe7DzS15Heg&amp;sig2=Gmu6vkJqMdoRFdidv1phFg&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ari</a> and <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCEQFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Ftwentyminutevc%3Flang%3Den-gb&amp;ei=nEGdVaTHOsHq7AaI17iICQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcygppyqTNaiuOUOohQIk-Qg-1jQ&amp;sig2=MGPpH6OuUGbDawJ2vkgsTg&amp;bvm=bv.96952980,d.ZGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Twenty Minute VC</a> on Twitter here!

20 VC 052: How To Make The Leap From Seed To Series A with Ari Helgason @ Dawn Capital