Key Takeaways

•  Dev.co highlighted that "VCs spend too much time searching for the right software developers."

• Furthermore, the source revealed that there is a huge gap between the challenges venture-backed businesses are attempting to solve and the technology at their disposal.

• To solve such problems, VCs employ the services of custom development services (such as Dev.co), which provides them with the consultation, technology, and development services they require to build from the ground up.

Introduction

• After an exhaustive search through news, press releases, articles, blogs, and expert opinions, there is no readily available data about specific challenges faced by small to medium VC firms, film/video production companies, and Kickstarter projects, when trying to develop a website. However, we've used the available data to pull together key findings such as the tech-related challenges faced by small/medium VCs, the best practices for setting up a website for film/video production companies, and the general web development challenges, with their solutions. Below you'll find an outline of our research methodology to better understand why the information you've requested is publicly unavailable, as well as a deep dive into our findings.

Web/Software Development Challenges: Small to Medium VC Firms

Finding the Right Talent

• According to Dev.co, a custom software development company, "VCs spend too much time searching for the right software developers."
• The company further opined that the Venture Capital industry is in need of technology solutions to aid with the management and growth of their businesses.
• As revealed by the source, there is a huge gap between the challenges venture-backed businesses are attempting to solve and the technology at their disposal.
• Also, The Washington Post said that in software and web development, talented programmers can be hard to find and harder to compensate.
• To solve such problems, VCs employ the services of custom development services (such as Dev.co), which provides them with the consultation, technology, and development services they require to build from the ground up.
• Players in the space such as Dev.co "advise VCs in emerging markets on how to effectively use technology and internet platforms to transform their businesses, offer customized software development services for venture capital, and build applications and web tools for venture capital firms, while providing ongoing support through release cycles."
• DEV.co claims to be a specialized software development shop for VCs and has developed both iOS Apps and Android Apps for companies in the space such as Balderton Capital, Summit Partners, and 1759 Capital.
• Also, for recruitment and sales, LinkedIn is the most commonly used resource.
•  61% of respondents use it for recruitment and 41% for identifying potential customers. Several others like Workable, Slack, and Angel list are used to find, research and contact candidates.

Deal Origination

• According to a survey of 137 respondents from largely smaller VC funds (<$200m in fund size), the top motivations behind VCs improving their technology stack is the need to improve their ability of finding and executing deals.
• Based on the survey, 59% of the respondents agree that keeping their records updated with the VC industry’s major data-trackers aids firms to market themselves to LPs.
• While most of the respondents opined that they regularly update their data on third-party databases such as Crunchbase (68%), Pitchbook (56%), CB Insights (43%), Preqin (24%), and Mattermark (17%), some VCs build their own tools to extract data from those platforms to try and identify high-potential companies.
• An example is CircleUp, which recently announced a new quantitative fund to invest in consumer packaged goods companies. Its proprietary software, Helio, incorporates machine learning as the key component to find and pinpoint investment opportunities more objectively and efficiently.

•  Mamoon Ismail Khalid, Venture Associate at Quake Capital Partners in New York City, describes their deal sourcing approach as follows: “We use a new Web Interface to collect information from our applicants in a standardized manner."
• The company's aim is to intelligently structure the information collected and combine it with additional information scraped from the web and social media.

 

Source

 

Data Mining

• Some early-stage investors are said to mine data from crowdfunding sites, angel group platforms, and product launch lists to identify investment opportunities.
• AngelList is by far the most popular platform (57%) amongst respondents, whilst about 39% of the VCs said that they don’t review any of those platforms for deal leads on a regular basis.
•  24% of respondents also said that they use Producthunt, while 17% use Seed Invest.
•  Gary Benitt, Managing Partner at SocialLeverage, explains how the company actively leverages AngelList, ProductHunt, and other crowdfunding sites to remain up to date regarding the industry.
• According to him, “It’s less about finding new deals that we might want to invest in, and more about getting a pulse for what types of companies and products seem to be launching or generating traction.”
• Furthermore, 30% of VCs have a full-time resource dedicated to data and engineering.

 

Source

 

Workflow Management

• To manage workflow, VC firms use a variety of project management tools, with Slack (50%), Trello (24%), and Asana (12%) being the most frequently mentioned ones.
•  Amasia, a VC that backs founders tackling the biggest global challenges opined that just the act of seeking new tools often helps it streamline an inefficient process.
• Another important use case for such tools is the organization of unstructured and structured data throughout a VC firm’s workflow, as Eliot Durbin, Partner at Boldstart Ventures confirms. Boldstart uses both Zapier and Catalytic for this purpose.
• In the relationship-driven world of Venture Capital, managers rely heavily on communication in their jobs and therefore require reliable communication tools.

CRM Tools

• Whilst there are numerous custom solutions for PE/VC funds, the survey revealed that most funds bank on more generalist CRM and sales funnel solutions like SalesforceIQ (23%), Streak (22%), and Pipedrive (14%).

•  Sevanta Dealflow is the most used CRM-system dedicated specifically to VC/PE, however, only 4% of respondents reported using it.
• One of the reasons may be that generalist CRM tools tend to have much more reliable support resources. VCs more than anyone else are fully aware of the risk of putting critical infrastructure onto the back of an early-stage startup.

•  5% of the survey respondents reported that they are building their own proprietary CRM system.

•  Semil Shah, General Partner at Haystack Fund, observed that “to be successful in sourcing companies and winning deals, (larger) VC firms need to invest the time and money to build their own CRMs and databases, as existing solutions don’t do it.”

Web Development Best Practices: Film/Video Production Companies

Creating an Exciting Homepage

•  Curious Refuge defined a Home Page as "where the majority of the visitors to a site will decide to stick around or jump ship, meaning that it is necessary for it to make a great first impression.
• A video production home page should be able to act as a stand-alone page on the website. Users should be able to get an overview of the services, demo reel, location, and contact information all from the home page.
• The source recommends that a video production home page should feature a captivating headline, a short explanation of the service offerings, trust indicators, demo reel, service locations, and a contact form.
• Also, Bin Press (bP) recommends presenting the site’s data in a clear and concise language to welcome web users for a deeper investigation into the other content.
• A headline encapsulates the goals or desires of the target client. Aside from the demo reel, the headline is the most important part of a video production company website.
• Another important factor is the ease of navigation through the home page. First-time visitors shouldn’t feel confused when they try to find the necessary pieces of data.

Creating a Portfolio Page

• A portfolio page is for organizing great examples of previous client work (case studies).
• The portfolio page is an art gallery. As such, it is vital to make it the best representation of the service offerings. This is the place to include only the cream of the crop.
• A portfolio of the past works is the first and foremost reason why visitors go to a video production company website. That is so important for a filmmaker to have prominent YouTube and Vimeo video accounts to showcase its projects.
• In order to keep the site’s loading speeds on the maximum level, bP recommends embedding videos from the YouTube and Vimeo channels instead of loading them on the server.
• Curious Refuge is of the opinion that the portfolio page top should house the demo reel. Below that, include a cascade of the best examples of your previous work.
• If possible, the source further recommends an in-depth overview of a few key projects. These "case-studies" are a great way to prove that a company knows what they are doing. Some companies have dedicated blogs for sharing the stories behind their client work.
• At the page bottom, it is necessary to include a simple gallery of all of the remaining videos. A trust indicator (logo cascade, reviews, etc.) should also be provided on this page and a link to the contact page.

Creating a Contact Page

• The contact details should be presented in the easy-to-reach style.
• As a rule, organizing all contact details on the contact page is the best way to provide users with the choice of channels to reach you out in person.
• A good contact page should include a contact form, company email address, location, phone number, photo studio/description, and trust indicators.
• It’s a great benefit if there will be a built-in contact form on the site.

Creating an 'About' Page

• According to Curious Refuge, the 'About' page is where you sell trust to visitors to the site.
• The about page is where people go to figure out if they want to work with you as an individual. Think about the type of person that your client wants to work with and become the embodiment of that ideal.
• The source recommends that the About page should include "a short paragraph explaining the story behind your production company, logos of previous clients, reviews from people who have worked with you, professional photos of yourself and your team, behind-the-scenes photos of the team on set, and the location and studio space."

Landing Pages for Service Offerings

• It is necessary to create individual 'landing' pages for the key services that a company offers.
• For example, if a video production company does a lot of 'Drone Cinematography', it should have a page on the site that includes examples of that work and a couple short paragraphs or lists about what types of services it offers in that niche.
• Try to include as much text as possible on these pages and any great examples of previous projects.
• Also, endeavor to include lots of keywords on this page.
• For example, if a company creates a wedding videography page, it should include lots of terms like 'wedding video', 'wedding videographer', and 'wedding video production'.

General Problems with Web Development Projects and Their Remedies

•  Freelocks identified some of the general problems experienced while handling a web development project.
• These include the cost of the development project, clear-cut explanations of what the site should look like or do when completed, changes in requirements due to business reasons, launch time challenges, security challenges, backend problems, among other problems.
• The source also provides insights into the recommended remedies for the different challenges faced.
• Other sources such as SAG ipi, Disruptor League, Studio Labs, and TP and P, also identified various problems associated with web development in general.

Research Strategy