Times are getting tough for startups, whether here or in the Valley.

Who better, then, to give us an insight into the issues that Silicon Valley faces, with an Aussie twist, than ex-Perth boy  Jeremy Liew of LightSpeed Venture Partners, a leading global venture capital firm that manages over $2 billion of capital commitments and has invested in more than 150 companies over the past 2 decades.

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Tell us a bit about your background / projects you’ve worked on.

bio and investments can be found on the LightSpeed website.

When did you decide to make the move to Silicon Valley and what were your motivations?

I moved to the US for a job in ‘96. My old boss from McKinsey started CitySearch and I came out to join him. That company was based in LA. I first moved up to Silicon Valley in ‘98 to go to Stanford Business School. After graduation I took a job in NY and stayed on the East Coast for a few years. I moved back to Silicon Valley in ‘06 to join Lightspeed Venture Partners.

What made you decide to make the move into VC?

It was serendipity - I wasn’t looking. I got a call from a business school classmate at a venture firm who was looking to add someone with more consumer internet experience to their investment team. I grew pretty intrigued and ended up makign the jump.

Do you ever feel like giving it away and working on your own tech startup? Your education in maths and linguistics are an excellent background for a NLP/Semantic startup

Some people have the creativity and drive to be entrepreneurs. I do not and recognize my own limitations. I’m a better critic than a writer!

What are some of the most common mistakes you see aussie start-ups making?

Not thinking big enough. Focusing on technology instead of customer problems. Not looking for a global perspective in employees, leadership and investors early enough.

What do you think is stopping Australia from becoming a leading global tech-hub?

Market Size. Aussie companies need to look to global markets, and that means relocating closer to customers, so there is a limited runway that a company can have while based in Australia.

How will the economic downturn affect the global tech startup (and associated funding) industry?

Revenue will take longer to ramp. Venture debt will be harder to find.  As a result, companies will take longer to break even, need to be more concerned about burn rate, and may need to raise more money, more often. Angel capital will dry up. Some VC firms will be more focused on their portfolio and have less time to focus on new investments. Marginal companies will likely be the most impacted.

Do you buy the argument that a downturn is a great time to start a new business?

It isn’t a great time, but it isn’t a bad time either. You should time the starting of a business to when you see new opportunities and problems to be solved, not to try to coincide with economic cycles.

Are you still looking to invest in start-ups and, if so, what are you looking for?

Yes. Looking for great teams attacking huge markets with innovative defensible solutions.

Can you clarify the notion of a “huge market”? Does it matter to you whether that’s an existing or potential market? And dollar wise, what type of TAM/SAM numbers do you consider to be huge?

$1bn + (bigger the better) within 3-5 years

Also, around the notion of defensibility, and ignoring IP law for now, what types of defense strategies do you feel are winning in the tech startup space at the moment?

Solving hard technical problems. build a loyal community. dominating go-to-market channels. branding. distribution.

What is the one bit of advice you would give a startup founder?

You can change your team, you can change your technology, but you can’t change your market.

What advice would give an Aussie startup considering making the move to the US now?

The time to move to the US (or anywhere that is close to your markets) is when you’re ready to talk to customers. No need to move before that. But you must do it once you’re talking to customers. Otherwise, it is just too hard to stay top of mind as a startup.

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A big thankyou to Jeremy for taking the time to do the interview and to Kathy Drask for organising it.