Phin Barnes is a principal at First Round Capital, a venture capital firm that backs some of today's buzziest startups, like Fab, Uber, Turntable.fm and GroupMe.
Before that, he worked for two startups. One was a success; the other was an utter failure. Both experiences taught him how to interact with entrepreneurs and how to pick startups for First Round's portfolio.
He tells us entrepreneurs get to make three choices:
- The idea
- Their cofounder
- Their investors
When you don't pick all three of those things correctly, your startup doesn't stand a very good chance.
Barnes also says he looks for a "damn factor" in startups. The Damn Factor is a product that's so attractive, it makes people stop, look, and share it with friends.
Produced By: Kamelia Angelova & Robert Libetti
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