700位初创公司创始人眼中的2017年

12月1日上午，首轮资本公司发布了对700多位初创公司创始人的年度调查，调查对象是很复杂、甚至很矛盾的一群人。这不奇怪，因为创业的人或多或少有点不够理智。调查结果显示：

近20%的受访者坚信公司市值明年会达到10亿美元，尽管很多公司今年不得不裁员。

受访者预计如果公司倒闭，最重要的原因不会是执行力差，也不是产品不符合市场需要，更不是烧钱太快，而是后续资金没到位。然而，只有39%的受访者在提高公司的盈利能力，另外61%都在拼命推动增长。难怪超半数（51%）受访者表示公司烧钱率比一年前高。仅有13%的受访者表示已有盈利。

57%的受访者认为目前存在泡沫（去年认为有泡沫的占73%）。多数人预计今后几个月的募资难度将加大，三分之二的受访者认为投资人将占上风。这种情况下受访者竟能保持乐观，仅有15%的受访者承认公司估值可能没机会达到10亿美元。

还有一些方面能看出他们不够理智：

受访者认为，初创公司的性别和种族平等意识平均只比商界整体水平落后14年。可实际上，目前有11%的受访者旗下公司没有一位女员工，61%的受访者所在公司董事会成员均为男性。发展到后期阶段的初创公司表现最差，董事会没有女性的可能性比其他初创公司高三倍。

至于性别议题，半数受访者认为是晋升通道问题。受访女性都认为这是无意间形成的歧视。（一位女性受访者原以为科技领域有很多女同胞，也许可以尝试拓宽自己的人际圈子。）缺少女性榜样也影响了女性在初创公司的表现。经常被援引的科技业榜样都是男性——特斯拉和SpaceX等公司创始人伊隆·马斯克、苹果之父史蒂夫·乔布斯和Facebook创始人马克·扎克伯格。 （财富中文网）

作者：Erin Griffith

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

First Round Capital released its annual survey of more than 700 startup founders this morning. It paints a picture of a complicated, sometimes contradictory crew of people. Which isn’t surprising – you have to be at least a little irrational to start a startup. Case in point:

Nearly 20% are certain their companies will be worth $1 billion, but just as many had to lay off staff this year.

The number one reason those surveyed believe their company could fail is an inability to raise follow-on capital. Not bad execution, not a lack of product-market fit, not burn rate. And yet! Only 39% are optimizing for profitability, versus 61% optimizing for growth. That explains why a majority (51%) said their burn rate is higher than it was a year ago. Only 13% are already profitable.

57% believe we’re in a bubble (down from 73% last year). A majority think it’ll get harder to raise capital in the coming months, and two thirds think investors will have the upper hand going forward. And yet! There’s that pesky optimism, with only 15% admitting their company is not likely to be worth $1 billion or more.

Irrationality can manifest itself in frustrating ways:

On average, respondents think gender and ethnic parity in the startup world is just 14 years away, despite the fact that 11% of them currently run companies with companies with zero women employees and 61% of them have all-male boards. Late stage companies are the worst offenders, with a three times higher likelihood of not having a single woman on their board.

Regarding the gender issue, half of the men surveyed believe it’s a pipeline problem. The women surveyed know it’s an unconscious bias problem. (One womansplain-y thought: There are lots of women in tech; perhaps try expanding your network. For board members, try TheBoardlist.) The lack of female role models hurts, too. The top tech heroes cited are Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.