Earlier this week I connected with John Backus of NAV and asked him if he would be willing to do a short interview. He agreed:

Question No. 1: What sort of deals do you plan to look at in 2008? Early stage, information technology, with a focus on wireless, new media, online business services. What are you excited about? Recurring revenue models and capital efficient business models. Companies that can and want to get to profitability quickly. What are you tired of? Operating losses, big burns, enterprise software, network security.

Question No. 2: When you agree to meet with prospective startups do you Google the founders? Yes. Check for their profile on LinkedIn? Yes. Search for their Facebook or Myspace account? Yes. Review their Twitters? No Read their Blog? Sometiems If so what are you looking for? Color.

Question No. 3: What does it take to get a meeting with you? An original big idea with a team that can pull it off. How should an entrepreneur prepare for the meeting? The entrepreneur should be prepared any time if they know their business and its competitive landscape. What should he bring? a presentation of 20 slides or fewer and an intellectual curiosity coupled with sound business judgment.

NAV has $250MM under management and recently had their first closing on a new $175MM early-stage fund. Before starting NAV, John served as founder and CEO of InteliData Technologies. The Standford alum serves on the board of FTRANS and RemitPro.


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