Paige Craig Managing Partner, Arena Ventures

1. CUTTING
THROUGH THE
FOG OF WAR

2. Military
West Point, USMC,
Asia & Mid East,
Intelligence
Community
Private Military Company
Tech + Human Ops + Warfighting.
Scaled across Iraq, Afghanistan,
Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Africa, SE
Asia…
1992 - 2003 2003- 2007 2008 - 2014 2015
Angel
100+ Deals
Lyft, Postmates, Wish,
Angellist, Styleseat,
Klout, Zenpayroll,
Livefyre, Quizup,
Plated …
VC
Seed Deals $500k to $1M
Growth checks $20M+
SHARING ALL DEALS ON
AngelList
Paige Craig

3. Well Defined Targets:
i.e. “On Demand Mobile Apps”
Undefined targets
i.E “Any startup”
Hunting
Trading Trapping
Farming
Outbound
Activity
Inbound
Activity
Four Methods to Find Deals

4. HUNTING
Activity: OUTBOUND
Target: UNKNOWN
• Meet everyone > scan
for targets > Drill in
• Search Online & Offline
• Hunt in your backyard
first
Hunting

5. TRADING
Activity: OUTBOUND
Target: DEFINED
• Have “target” in mind
(Thesis / ideas /
startups)
• Meet investors
• Share First / Trade Later
Trading

6. TRAPPING
Activity: INBOUND
Target: DEFINED
• Set Bait:
• Share Ideas
• Host events
• Judge Hackathons
• Act Fast
Trapping

7. FARMING
Activity: INBOUND
Target: UNKNOWN
• Pays off over long time
• Invest expertise,
money, resources
• Help founders,
accelerators, schools…
Farming

8. Well Defined Targets:
i.e. “On Demand Mobile Apps”
Undefined targets
i.E “Any startup”
Hunting
Trading Trapping
Farming
Outbound
Activity
Inbound
Activity
DEAL PROCESS OVER TIME

9. Well Defined Targets
i.e. “On Demand Mobile Apps”
Undefined targets
i.E “Any startup”
Hunting
Trading Trapping
Interlyne
Mobstreams
Farming
RUMR
Outbound
Activities
Inbound
Activities

10. TARGET CONFIRMATION
Five Questions
1. Would I start a company with them?
2. Do I love what they’re doing?
3. Will I add value?
4. Can they have a major impact?
5. Is this the right time for this idea?
Target Confirmation

11. ArenaVC.com
@arenavc
Paige Craig
@paigecraig
paige@arenavc.com