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Dafina Toncheva leaves Bulgaria at the age of 18 to study at Harvard with a full scholarship.
She graduated in computer science and started working as a software engineer at Microsoft. In a few years she decided to start an MBA in Stanford. So she enters the world of risky investments and sets off a very interesting and successful career. Currently, Dafina is working for one of the famous funds in the Silicon Valley - USVP, where she is the only female partner.
The Bulgarian was a special guest at The Innovators to share her experience from Silicon Valley and to give useful advice to Bulgarian entrepreneurs. According to her there is a lot of talent in Bulgaria, especially technical.
"I think our software engineers are very good, and I think that we have to bet on when we start to compete in the global marketplace." Solving complex problems through technology is one of the ways we could be distinguished and build our own niche, that's where we are good, and we have to start from there."
According to Dafina Toncheva...
The spheres in which start-up entrepreneurs from Bulgaria have to develop their skills are sales, marketing, and business skills in general. Since entrepreneurship, start-ups and the whole ecosystem is all very new in Bulgaria, people in it have a lot to learn. Such as how to position the products they develop, who to target, which are customers most appropriate for their business and how to reach them, how to grow. Knowledge in this area is still lacking.
When asked what qualities is she seeking in entrepreneurs, in which she chooses to invest, Dafina Toncheva meet succinctly:
"I work almost exclusively with people and ideas."
Rarely there is another asset behind the company at the stage in which USVP invests.
"The most valuable asset I appreciate as an investor is the team," she says.
Her job requires that she spend a lot of time with the team and use both her judgment and personal deta to make an investment decision. Other major factors influencing the investment decision are the understanding of the idea, the scale of the market, whether the product or service is designed to meet a really important customer need, how much money the customer would spend to meet that need and what is the competition. Typically, founders of large businesses share several common features, namely perseverance, strong ethics, discipline and tenacity. So the presence of these traits in the entrepreneurs is among the main motivations for an investment in startup at an early stage.
