About
NestGSV’s mission is to incubate and accelerate innovation in the startup ecosystem in Silicon Valley. The Company is utilizing a comprehensive, services-driven model to provide full life cycle support for startup companies at the Company’s 45,000-square foot campus in Redwood City, CA. To drive this innovation, NestGSV has created strong partnerships with governments, top universities, leading technology companies, service providers, media companies, and other accelerators, and angel investors. NestGSV will ultimately create a network of campuses in selected major cities in the U.S. and internationally, with a focus on emerging economies such as Russia, India, and South America.
Thesis
The Startup Economy is in full swing, and it is here to stay. The information technology infrastructure that has been laid over the past 50 years now allows companies to scale from startup to billions of revenue in just a few years. More importantly, we believe that Silicon Valley is not a location, but rather is a mentality and global business ideal. NestGSV aims to play a critical role in supporting the Startup Economy around the world.
People
NestGSV is led by Kayvan Baroumand, the former Chief Operating Officer of Plug and Play Tech Center, a leading incubator in Sunnyvale, CA. In addition, Kayvan served as President of AlwaysOn, a leading new-media company in Silicon Valley. We also consider NestGSV’s partnerships with key ecosystem members to be an integral part of the “people” behind the Company.
Management Team
- Kayvan Baroumand, founder + CEO
- Formerly Chief Operating Officer of Sunnyvale, CA-based Plug and Play Tech Center; also served as President of AlwaysOn
Product
NestGSV’s premier campus (the former Excite@Home space) is an exceptional infrastructure for startup incubation and acceleration, ideally situated near Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley. The facility has a strong suite of amenities, including a gym, basketball and volleyball courts, café, indoor/outdoor common areas, and easy access to the area’s major transportation corridors. NestGSV will provide community members with up to 18 months of residency, incubating true startups as well as on-boarding “graduates” from feeders like YCombinator. The Company will provide full life cycle support for startups, including mentoring, education, legal services, financial services, and access to technology partners such as Microsoft, SAP, and Google.
Potential
Each year in the U.S., over 1,500 startups are funded by VC firms, and over 50,000 startups are funded by angel investors. We believe that NestGSV has the potential to support hundreds of these startups at not only its primary campus, but at other campuses around the country over the next few years. At $500 per month per tenant along with attendant paid services, the NestGSV model has the ability to scale very quickly across multiple physical campuses. In addition, NestGSV reserves the right to make equity investments in selected startup tenants, which could provide meaningful economic upside to the Company’s core services model.
Megatrends
- Knowledge Economy
- Globalization
- Internet
- Brands
- Demographics
- Outsourcing
How Big Can This Be?
NestGSV has the ability to be a major source of startup incubation and acceleration activity worldwide. We envision NestGSV campuses in major cities around the globe, providing support for potentially thousands of startups coming through the NestGSV doors.
Predictability
Because the NestGSV model is services-driven, we believe that the business enjoys much greater predictability than the typical incubator or accelerator—up to 90% of the economic gains from the model will be dependent solely on NestGSV’s execution and operational efficiency. In addition, the Company has secured a very attractive lease on the Redwood City campus, which provides for “square-foot arbitrage” over the near-term. NestGSV is also providing much longer residency times for startup tenants (up to 18 months), which reduces churn and optimizes occupancy rates. By utilizing a partner-centric model, customer acquisition cost should remain comparatively low, with up to 80% referral rates driving new business.
Risks
The incubator/accelerator space is currently dominated by a few key players, including Plug and Play, YCombinator, TechStars, 500 Startups, and RocketSpace, among others. NestGSV will need to undertake significant branding efforts to drive new tenants into its premier campus. Partnerships are also a key part of NestGSV’s business model, and the Company will need to convince very sophisticated potential partners of the merits of such alliances.
