The Startup Magazine

JULY 21, 2021

Kevin Wu, co-founder and CEO of job search optimization program Pathrise , says “Digital marketer roles are some of the most in-demand positions in the tech industry.” Not only do SEO and CMS skills stand out on a resume, but they can also be demonstrated in a portfolio to further impress recruiters. And he’s right.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review PPC SEM Marketing 78

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

We see this all the time at Forward Partners where we invest right from the idea stage and most of the companies get a first version of their product live for less than £30k (that generally includes founder salaries and time spent doing customer research). We add value in different areas and should compliment each other nicely.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

When you’ve been playing the game a bit longer or when you have responsibilities at the fund level you start thinking more about “portfolio construction.” Almost every successful company is a mixture of very hard work by the founders mixed with a pinch of luck, good fortune and perseverance. You’re thinking about one bullet at a time.

Bankruptcy 294

Bankruptcy Bridge Financing Portfolio Angel Investor 294

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 17, 2019

That said, there are two portfolio modeling/management tips that I do think are valuable exercises for every Fund I. If Your Portfolio Model Assumes Outperformance Across Multiple Metrics, I Don’t Believe It: Every VC fundraise has an Excel sheet that forecasts the performance of the fund.

Portfolio 104

Portfolio Forecast Dilution LP 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

People are even talking about “decacorns" -- investable companies with net worth now exceeding $10 billion -- like Dropbox and Pinterest. Ron Conway , of SV Angels, and Reid Hoffman , LinkedIn's founder, are names often mentioned in this category. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. Frothy startup valuations.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

Thanks to all of the amazing founders, advisors, co-investors, corporate partners, and others that helped make 2018 an amazing year. To that point, we are most excited when our founders are able to go from slide deck to product-market fit and Series A and beyond. AWS Reinvent Survivor Dinner with founders, Fortune 500 execs, and VCs.

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). What ends up, usually went down first. All startups always need more money. They will need more money.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 120

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Up and Running

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Firstly, let me introduce myself — Libby James, Co-founder of Merchant Advice Service , we specialize in helping business owners when they have been terminated or declined card processing both of which can be common when starting up a company. Think of a rolling reserve as your safety net.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Security Cofounder eCommerce 147

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. Unfortunately as we’ve learned from recent experience, using Return on Net Assets and IRR as proxies for efficiency and execution won’t save a company when their industry encounters creative disruption.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

LP’s who invest in funds are typically university endowments, public & private pension funds, insurance companies, large corporations and very high net worth individuals called “family offices.&# To give you an indication of how bad, for example, university endowments are suffering check out this chart.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

So we as VCs search for entrepreneurs/founders who have the whole package or as much of it as possible. Partners in VC funds only wanted to fund entrepreneurs who had a certain percentage of their net worth tied up in their venture. I want our associate to have empathy for the customers we serve — our portfolio companies.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur CTO Hire South America Salary 293

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

The sudden arrival of the global pandemic has shifted the playbook for founders and venture capitalists. As high-conviction, seed stage investors, we are inherently relationship-driven, and we value meeting exceptional founders face-to-face. The majority had dedicated more time to guiding the portfolio companies through the pandemic.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

David Teten

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Net Income (Loss). In addition, we typically ask portfolio companies to report on the following non-financial metrics: Universal Metrics. Net MRR Churn %. Even if you don’t have a formal board of directors, I’d strongly recommend that founders create an informal board of advisors and run it like a formal board of directors.

Metrics 60

Metrics Analytics Balance Sheet .Net 60

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

This is the home of Jason Cohen, software startup founder, bootstrapper, investor, and mentor. Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital doesn’t publish frequently, but his essays on market trends and Benchmark portfolio companies are a window into how VCs view the world and the kinds of business models that they find most interesting.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

They are high net worth individuals who are also accredited investors. The requirement for accredited investors either $200,000 in annual income or over $1,000,000 net worth. They’re looking to diversify their portfolio from just stocks and bonds. According to Money Morning, Angel investments typically start at $100,000.

Accredited Investor 90

Accredited Investor Angel Investor Initial Public Offering Due Diligence 90

Rob Go

OCTOBER 14, 2012

I’m thrilled by the companies we are investors in, as well as the founders that lead them. This is of particular risk if the founders of the firm never really worked together before, as was the case for us at NextView. OUR PORTFOLIO. I’ve done little portfolio overviews from time to time.

New Hampshire 50

New Hampshire Croatia Omaha Portfolio 50

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

An investor called the founder, spoke for 30 minutes on the phone and committed to funding having never met the team. Where I think Robert’s comments are slightly wrong is that AngelList is a net positive for VCs. If I were a founder I would personally start with these kinds of seed funds. Isolated incident? Hear, hear.

Southern California 267

Southern California Angel Investor Early Stage Silicon Valley 267

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Starting with the notion that you can’t fix what you don’t measure, Marlo captures anonymous micro-feedback after each meeting to calculate a Net Meeting Score. Earlier this year, my partners and I at NextView invested in Boston-based Marlo to help address this work meeting suckiness.

Seed Capital 222

Seed Capital Syndicate Syndication .Net 222

View from Seed

AUGUST 13, 2014

So to successfully raise a seed round of capital, founders should possess at least a basic understanding of the different types of angel investors they’ll encounter. It can also help founders better approach angels in the first place. The Domain Angel. The Previous-Colleague Angel. The “Sport Fisherman” Angel.

Angel Investor 334

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 334

Austin Startup

MARCH 8, 2021

Pictured left to right: three Sputnik-backed female founders?—?Jennifer Jennifer McEwen (founder of Datum), April Dominguez and Nikki Dominguez (co-founders of Handsome) As a female-led and majority female-run VC, today and every day we celebrate women.

Early Stage 63

Early Stage Cofounder Washington Startup 63

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Dave Kerpen, founder and CEO of Likeable Local , just published an interview with me on Linkedin, which I’ve included below. million households in the US with a net worth of $1 million or more. Of course, investing in a diversified portfolio is a significant time commitment. It’s also a fast way to lose all your money.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

Austin Startup

JUNE 14, 2017

Even with modern technology that enables casting a wider net for your market reach, most professionals rely significantly on a local client base. There is no set of advisors for whom a founder/management team should care more about their independence than company counsel. And sometimes you can’t.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Houston San Antonio Austin 48

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 22, 2019

Venture capitalists are often trusted advisors to entrepreneurs and use their connections to build a customer base or help the businesses in their portfolio overcome obstacles. Still, they are not obligated to be involved so support and mentorship may vary between investors depending on their portfolios.

Angel Investor 123

Angel Investor Venture Capital Accredited Investor Equity 123

Eric Friedman

MARCH 26, 2019

However it is usually met with “thanks” I have found that more times than not founders do not have an answer to this question. Founders usually have a laundry list of things they need to get done, and I say apply that to the investor to see if they can actually be helpful. It also is a net benefit to the company.

Cofounder 101

Cofounder .Net Portfolio Founder 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

In a startup, that needs to be the founder or CEO, and that person has to be regularly and personally involved. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. Net result and reward. This is an imperative. No risk, no innovation.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 247

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

We also talked a lot about Geodelic , a portfolio company of Clearstone, who is trying to change the metaphor of how people discover location based information by partnering with large companies and brands. If this figure is accurate – it’s certainly a very large business even when you look at net revenues.

IPO 236

IPO .Net Venture Capital Strategic Investors 236

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

Today I called it, “our own little VC led, portfolio-by-portfolio company version of RIP Good Times from 7 years ago.” ” It goes like this: What is your net burn rate? And the truth is that I think this is just a harbinger of what we will see in the private markets very, very soon. What is your cash balance?

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate San Francisco Private Equity LP 150

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 26, 2022

So, think of the typical two founders with a pitch book in a garage. Instead, that’s the sort of pre-series-A investment where companies or founders have visions of where they think there are underserved market needs, and they’re coming up with something super excited to try to solve that. . We’re a crossover fund.

Partner 132

Partner Cofounder Retention Acquisition 132

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2011

In a startup, that needs to be the founder or CEO, and that person has to be regularly and personally involved. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. Net result and reward. This is an imperative. No risk, no innovation.

Intellectual Property 234

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 234

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 21, 2017

After putting our family’s net worth into a spreadsheet one day, I was shocked to find out that my net worth was – $250,000. Today I own and manage a company specifically designed to help people grow their portfolios. #5 – Teaching. Image Credit: Jason Bond. Thanks to Jason Bond, Jason Bond Picks ! #6

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur Investment Bankers PR Social Media 48

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Creating and showing constant momentum through personal portfolio projects and volunteering is a powerful means of landing a new job as a product manager, especially if one has never officially held the professional title “Product Manager.” Creativity is also a must for product managers.

Management 85

Management Product Technical Review Software Review 85

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

However, in private markets, there is more room to optimize across all 11 steps of the investing process: firm management , marketing, fundraising , origination , manage relationships, due diligence, negotiation, monitoring, portfolio acceleration , reporting, and. 3) Raise capital. They read reviews of the products of target investments.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

K9 Ventures

MARCH 20, 2017

Of all the advice I have given founders over the years, one of the most important ones is to make sure they do reference checks on their prospective investors. When founders do their homework on investors, they make informed choices about who they will be working with for many many years to come. Know how to ask the right questions.

Founder 99

Founder Dilution Partner Curation 99

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

Sometimes you get great founders with an average idea; but because they’re so good, they make it work to a degree. So having both a great founder and a great idea at the outset is super important. The industry classic is NPS – the Net Promoter Score; and we encourage all our companies to track that as soon as they can.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Associate position at a top tier VC fund or lead dog for a random pool of high net worth money that no one's ever heard of? That's why people often take the portfolio approach when managing their career. A lot of times, the roles that are open to non-founders at companies aren't necessarily the ones they wanted.

Non-Compete 115

Non-Compete Design Hiring Incubator 115

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

If you’re interested in sports betting (or adding a fresh element to your investment portfolio), Betmarkets thinks it knows how you can boost your profits. André Flórido , Betmarkets’ Co-Founder & COO, answered questions about his company, shared some book recommendations, and explained why he thinks obedience is overrated.

Portugal 62

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder 62