Rocket Fuel Ventures Speaker Event: Sean Simons
By: Brian Li and Chelsea Braithwaite
Sean Simons came to speak to us about his journey in VC and his current role at Newark Venture Partners (NVP).
About Newark Venture Partners
NVP is a $100 million fund in their second fund. They work in seed in two investing which constitutes $1–2 million checks to companies that are past their “garage stages”. This means the company has good revenue coming in, about $1 million per year, and needs help in hiring and growth. NVP is backed by corporations including Audible, Amazon, Panasonic, and TD Bank, and they mostly invest in B2B software. They also have investments in digital media, audio, supply chain, e-commerce, and healthcare.
Sean Simons’ Journey
Sean is in his late 20s and started out at Quinnipiac University studying Business. At QU, he started the club hockey program, which had to be off-campus due to current lawsuits, thus, he had to find ways to get funding. This was his first view into entrepreneurship. After graduation, he worked in sales at a Wall Street trading firm for about a year, making phone calls all day. Sean then jumped to an early-stage Series A photography start-up called Photo Shelter. There, he experienced a very different culture compared to Wall Street, consisting of more soft selling and cold emailing. He broke sales records at the firm, booking 50 meetings and closing 10 sales a month. After this, Sean moved across the country and bartended for a bit. He came back East and started work at a beer start-up doing door-to-door beverage sales. Both the company and Sean were in discovery mode, learning what worked and what didn’t in terms of selling, advertising, and more. Sean’s last stop before entering the VC world was working at a trading desk doing analyst work. It’s well known that VC is a very tight-knit community and most people working in the space come from the top 10 schools, worked at bulge bracket banks, or started their own companies, making it very hard to get into this space. At first, Sean came from more of an educational standpoint and just worked on talking to people in VC, learning from them, and making those connections. He realized that they needed support and offered sales help, landing a fellowship with NVP. After a couple of months, he became the program manager for their accelerator managing SDRs for two years. Now, Sean is doing more investment work at the firm.
Q&A with Sean Simons
How were you able to continue to grow your network and establish your connections?
There is no rulebook. Excel at what you’re good at and people will start to realize who you are. See who goes to the events that you’re interested in and reach out to chat with them.
What goes on during the due diligence process and what are some metrics to look for when conducting due diligence?
It depends on what you’re investing in, how much time you have, and the dynamics of the round. In a typical seed investment, the call is about 30 minutes and Sean lets the founder take the stage. It is important to see how well the founder talks about their company. If the founder cannot talk to Sean well, how are they going to present their company to potential customers and earn capital? There are 5 main points that Sean looks for: team, concept, traction, customer calls, and fundraising. Is the team diverse? Do they get the game of VC? Does the concept have an addressable market size? What has the company done and do they have a product? Have they sold that product? What is the retention rate with the customers? Do they have a sales process? How much is the company raising and what are its fundraising capabilities?
If you don’t have that career experience in sales, where would it be best to gain this experience to convey that to potential investors and VC firms?
It’s a must to pick up the phone and practice. Sales cannot be taught in the classroom, it is a trial and error process. Offer to intern at a start-up and talk to founders to learn more.
What does a day in Sean’s life look like? (pre-pandemic)
Most of his day is taking pitches, about 10 a day. Outside of pitches he works on sourcing, portfolio support, helping the start-ups with whatever they need, and going to events and pitch competitions. Value in a VC is in the non-monetary benefits like aid in networking, consulting, and hiring.
What opportunities do you see coming up and what market sectors do you see emerging?
Sean sees supply chain and e-commerce as emerging markets, especially with the Amazon expectation of one-day or two-day deliveries. To see emerging markets, look at where the capital is flowing.
How do you differentiate between startups to find something that you’re more interested in? Also, what’s the ratio between people you approach versus people who approach you?
Some VCs don’t take unsolicited calls, however, it also depends on what stage the start-up is. It’s hard to know if companies are good because they’re early. Quite often, there is no traction or product, so trust goes to the founder. VCs also get reps in. Last year NVP reviewed 2000 start-ups. You get to know the language of the email, the concept, the LinkedIn profile, and if the founder is thoughtful or not at first glance.
What is your advice to aspiring VCs and entrepreneurs?
Surround yourself with hardworking hungry people. If you follow people, not the job you will learn more and will grow your network versus just going after a job title
Tips from Sean Simons
Check out the John Gannon blog to see job postings. VCs like to hire through their networks so they do not post their job openings on LinkedIn or Indeed often. Also, check out the Gen-Z slack channel to network and connect with other people. Do not get discouraged by the bubble and always provide value!
