TAHER BADERKHAN ‒ NYA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Taher Baderkhan joined New York Angels in 2020, and he has had a profound impact already as a relatively new member. His industry experience in 3D media, VR technology, cloud architecture, data analytics and user experience design, adds critical expertise to the NYA. Taher is also the Co-founder & CTO at YouVisit, an immersive media company in the education Martech space. Taher built YouVisit into a successful profitable business generating 8-digit annual revenue without raising any outside funding. YouVisit was acquired in 2019 by EAB. Prior to YouVisit, Taher worked at Accenture building complex trading applications for financial institutions.
How did you meet New York Angels?
In 2008, I started YouVisit to create highly immersive, virtual experiences for various businesses, such as universities, who then use the platform to market to their perspective audience. During my ten years as CTO and Chief Product Officer, YouVisit was acquired by Vista Equity Partners. While I was still working with the company that acquired us, I knew I wanted something different. I wanted something that was fulfilling and exciting, while also allowing me to help other entrepreneurs and startups. I had heard about NYA over the years from my long-time friend, Alex Goldberg, and the organization definitely piqued my interested. He suggested I apply to NYA, and so far, it’s been a great experience.
Why did you choose NYA?
There are a lot of smart people across various verticals who have been successful in their careers as entrepreneurs or business operators. I have learned a lot over the past three years from this collection of incredibly smart people.
New York Angels also has a large network, so we see a lot of companies who are seeking investment and/or mentoring. We meet these companies, coach them, see them apply, and some may make it through to Due Diligence. While many investors just offer capital, we offer so much more, particularly through mentorship.
What has been your most memorable experience as a New York Angel?
I am always surprised by the companies that are unexpectedly great opportunities. There was one situation when I would not have even considered the company because it was a company in a vertical outside of my expertise. Another NYA member was very passionate about the company, so I decided to invest, and I learned a lot through this experience.
Some of the greatest NYA experiences are when I became an advisor for a company. There are a few examples where I invested in a company, and the team was excited about me helping them on the tech side or product side. Being a New York Angel is more than just investing in a company, it’s also actually helping them grow and overcome any challenges they may face.
What do you look for when you are investing in a company?
The companies that I'm very interested in pursuing further are companies that excel across these three criteria:
1) Entrepreneur: First, I look at the entrepreneurs themselves. Do they have what it takes to build a company? Do they have the strength and hustle? Can they go after things that are difficult? Do the partners work well together? How did they meet? What is the personality of the entrepreneur? How persistent are they? How easy is it to teach them something? In many situations you might find someone who's very smart in company, but if they are not willing to listen, it's extremely hard to coach them. A lot of NYA members want to invest, but more importantly, they want to help. So it’s critical to have an entrepreneur who is willing to listen.
2) Company Vertical: Next, I try to stick to companies in the verticals that I know. Once in a while, I do invest in something that’s different when another NYA member has expertise in that vertical.
3) Focus: I want to see that the company has some traction, but mainly I am looking for if they are focused. Do they know exactly what the problem is? Are they focused on fixing it? Do they have a solution that is going to make a dramatic impact?
What do founders like most about working with you?
I make myself as easily accessible as possible. If a founder needs help, I’m always there and try to answer them as soon as possible. Sometimes their team may need help on strategic items. My experience is in B2B2C and I also have extensive experience on the tech side, so I can help in these areas. I went through many of the same situations with my company, so I can be of great help, and I think the companies I’ve been working with have benefited from that.
What differentiates companies that you see at Screening versus those who make it through Investment?
The companies that usually make it to Due Diligence have a product that already has some traction. It's not just an idea and a good team. Typically, they are the companies that have an interesting idea that has massive potential and have started working on implementation.
The most important thing is whether the entrepreneur can deliver a clear message during their presentation. They must explain the problem they're facing, how they're working on it, and how they're planning on fixing the problem with their product. Sometimes the product doesn’t address the problem directly. It’s important they are focused on the problem, know exactly what the problem is, and have the team that can work together to fix it.
What advice would you give founders who are starting to fundraise?
1) Be clear in your message. We do not want to see 1,000,000 slides. We want to see focused attention from the entrepreneur on the problem. Again, focus. We want to know that you understand the problem, clearly articulate how you are going to fix it, and how you’re going to use the funds to make it happen. Make sure to include a detailed go-to-market strategy on how the funds are going to be used, how you’re going to hit your revenue targets, and then how you are focusing on the problem.
2) It’s a very long road. It’s not quick to raise money.
3) Be realistic with your valuations.
When you look at your past investments, what do you think is most critical for founders to be able to deliver a successful exit?
The companies that stand out are 1) very clear about their go-to-market strategy, 2) willing to adapt, 3) understand the problem very well, and 4) very persistent.
Overall, they need to be adaptable, persistent, and creative in finding solutions - not solutions in terms of product - solutions in terms of go-to-market. Basically, they need to be able to recognize when there is a problem and be able to adapt quickly to fix the issue quickly. For example, if you have a sales team and the sales team is not a 100% fit, you bring in people who have the ability to understand this is a problem. Typically, the companies that are open to feedback see quicker results because they are hopefully taking good advice from people with experience and expertise.
