Continuing on our profiles of active supporters of Hong Kong’s startup scene, we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Guzy – entrepreneur, venture investor and the founder and managing partner of Arbor Ventures.
Before moving to Hong Kong in 2007 to build the investment team for VantagePoint Capital Partners, Melissa was the CEO of a startup in Silicon Valley before holding the managing director post for 12 years at a large VC firm. As her experience spans both startup team leadership and investment, Melissa is a great example of an “outside” investment guru bringing her expertise into Hong Kong’s ecosystem.
In the past, Melissa has invested in two Hong Kong startups – InvestLab when she was at VantagePoint and then DemystData with Arbor Ventures. She relayed her preference for investing in CEOs whose ideas are drawn from personal experiences and she uses DemystData’s CEO Mark Hookey as an example.
“He had just sold his first startup in Australia successfully when he decided to go to Columbia Business School. When he arrived in the US, he was rejected for a credit card – not because he had bad credit, but because there was a lack of data about him in the US,” said Melissa. “[So] he started coding to extract 50,000 columns of data from online sources to build a credit profile for consumers. The company today is supplying analytics to banks, insurance companies and auto lenders.”
As she’s contributed to the success of two startup turned global firms, Melissa stresses to first time CEOs the importance of having a mentor, and to heed the advice of experienced leaders.
Besides having a strong support network, she lists qualities that a CEO should embody to attract investor attention. “In order to secure funding, a CEO must demonstrate integrity, perseverance, a great work ethic and the desire to build a great company. These are necessary traits beyond an interesting business plan,” she said. “[Also], finding the right investor and partner is more important in the beginning than maximizing the valuation in the early stages.”
Having moved to Hong Kong before the startup scene began to take shape, Melissa says it takes time to build a self-sustaining ecosystem and that education plays a monumental role. “I am a firm believer that entrepreneurship starts with educating students at university that there is an alternative career path to large conglomerates,” she said. “We need the cooperation of the universities, experienced entrepreneurs for mentorship as well as the investment community to come together.”
Here is Melissa on the venture capital panel at Silicon Dragon last year in Hong Kong:
Melissa Guzy on Startbase.HK: Melissa Guzy
Arbor Ventures on Startbase.HK: Arbor Ventures
