What an Investor Looks for in Early-Stage Product | Barrel Kfir (Dell Tech Capital)

Description

Barrel Kfir, a partner at Dell Technologies Capital (Michael Dell's investment fund), comes from computer science, cyber R&D and product management at MAFAT, and has spent almost a decade in venture capital. In this episode he describes an investor's day to day before and after an investment, what the fund looks for (seed-to-B companies with technological depth that sell to the enterprise), the differences between the Israeli and European ecosystems, and the trends he sees: defense tech, cyber and AI, including the hype around it. The core of the conversation is the importance of a product manager in early-stage companies: why product experience resembles an early-stage CEO's thinking, why product thinking must be connected to go-to-market and market dynamics, which product person to hire first, and how to hand-wave to the right degree when selling a vision. Finally, Barrel shares how to move from product into venture capital.

Key moments

1. 0:55 · Who is Barrel: from computer science and MAFAT to venture capital
2. 3:20 · An investor's day to day: before and after the investment
3. 4:54 · What Dell Tech Capital looks for, and which founders
4. 14:50 · Trends: defense tech, cyber and the hype around AI
5. 19:55 · How product skills help an investor
6. 23:02 · Key product manager skills: technology vs. go-to-market
7. 29:46 · Why a product person is critical from the seed stage
8. 33:44 · Which PM to hire: senior, executor, or someone with something to prove
9. 40:18 · Hand-waving, storytelling and selling a vision
10. 43:08 · How to move from product into venture capital