Bill

Tai of Charles River Ventures is Documented@Davos Transcript Documented@Davos 2012 RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Welcome to our Documented@Davos coverage of the World Economic Forum. My name is Randi Zuckerberg. And I feel very lucky to be sitting here with Bill Tai, partner of Charles River Ventures and board member of Scribd, who is presenting the Dodumented@Davos series. Bill, how are you enjoying your very first Davos? BILL TAI: Excited to be here. It's a beautiful environment and wonderful people. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Any particular interesting stories or experiences you've had so far? BILL TAI: Oh, you know, I don't know that I can name one. I think just the random meeting of interesting people every minute of the day is, I think, something that makes Davos unique. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And how does it feel to see one of your portfolio companies featured so prominently in such an amazing event? BILL TAI: You know, I've always been a believer in Scribd's ability to reach a broad audience and spread reading around the world. So I'm glad it is part of the WEF effort this year. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Now I know that you recently started doing more global investing. You mentioned you had an investment in Australia, a few in Japan. Being that this is such a global event, what got you interested in expanding that scope? BILL TAI: You know, I think it's kind of following the natural flow. There's been, I think, a sea change in both technology and start-ups in that, I'd say, 10 years ago, the type of company that we would all fund and venture was the technology part of information technology. And it took clusters of 100-man teams and $50 million to get a product out. So company's start-ups were largely rooted in Silicon Valley, not all over the world. And I think the technology part has gotten so commoditized now that any two young kids in a dorm room with a bandwidth connection can start a company. And that can happen, really, anywhere in the world. So I think what we're seeing now is the spread of the start-up phenomena to really become a global phenomena. And young people can start companies for a few hundred K. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Do you think Silicon Valley will stay the center of innovation? Or do you think we'll see it spread over the next few years elsewhere?

BILL TAI: You know, that's hard to say. I think the starting of a company can happen anywhere. The scaling of the company is going to be a function of the kind of people you can attract. And I think Silicon Valley, in a way, has become what NASDAQ or the NYSE is to a piece of paper or security. It's a market, a liquid market, for things. Silicon Valley is that for people. So I think, if you want to find a way to rapidly scale an idea into something big, the easiest place to do it is in Silicon Valley, because there are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people that have done it before. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Social media is a very hot topic here at the forum this year. You were one of the lead investors in Twitter. Would you ever have predicted the amazing activity around Arab Spring and how Twitter is helping give a voice to people who are voiceless? BILL TAI: You know, so my firm was the first bridge money into Twitter that converted in that first round. And it has been amazing to watch the company grow in scale. I think, when I first started using Twitter, I used it to run events. And I'd have small groups of people subscribe to each other. So with a single SMS, I could reach everybody. And it has just been delightful to see it become, really, a social phenomena. So I can't say that I could have predicted it. I was also an investor in TweetDeck, which gave it a good user interface. It is now part of Twitter. And I think all of the companies and people that have contributed to the Twitter ecosystem have helped make it into something bigger every day and wonderful to see. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And now something that people may not know about Bill is he's also a professional kiteboarder. Now what I'm curious about is, in real life, you get to have a few different identities. You can be a kiteboarder. You can be a serious investor. Online, you get one identity, right? You have one Twitter profile or one Facebook account. How do you balance posting kiteboarding Bill versus serious venture capitalist? BILL TAI: You know, it's all driven by passion. And I think, for whatever reason, I've been passionate about both water sports and start-ups my whole life. And I don't know that it's two different identities. It has kind of merged. My handle in most networks is "kitevc". RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Cool. BILL TAI: And everybody knows me as that. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: It's a good differentiator, actually, in a crowded space.

 BILL TAI: I would have never expected it to be, but somehow it worked. I mean, there were days that I'd go kiting out at 3rd Avenue in Silicon Valley when no one else was there. And I would have never predicted that it would be a popular sport amongst all these web people. It's just great. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: I worked at Facebook for many years. Now, as an entrepreneur sitting on the other side of the fence, it's rare for me to get five minutes of captive audience time with a venture capitalist. So what are some of your top tips for an entrepreneur like me or others out there who are looking to raise money or start their next thing? BILL TAI: Know yourself and be authentic. I think if you're passionate about something, really understand the space organically, it goes far. I think people that are in it just to make money versus following their passion, you can tell. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Absolutely. Well, thank you, so much, for sitting with us. This is a really exciting program. And congratulations for seeing so many successful companies through. BILL TAI: Thank you, Randi. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Please stay tuned for the rest of our World Economic Forum coverage, scribd.com/documentedatdavos. Or follow our Twitter, #DavosDocs.