1999 Dilution Early Stage Entrepreneur 
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 22, 2010
Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I’ve started from day one trying to build total transparency into my process with entrepreneurs.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
Not that they’re “such a bad idea&# but more that there are inherent problems for entrepreneurs in the process of raising angel money that need to be addressed. This leads to the problem of “herding cats&# for entrepreneurs raising angel money. Here’s where I feel common ground : 1. and not a min.
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Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company).
thebarefootvc
MAY 8, 2012
As an entrepreneur at heart, I often innately grasp the potential of entrepreneurs and ideas that I meet with. These days, I am seeing a large number of first time entrepreneurs with great ideas, which is fantastic to see. There is inherent risk taking when you haven’t done it before, which often leads to true innovation.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 25, 2010
A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.” When I was raising money for my first company we had closed a seed round in 1999 and were working on our A round. We had many term sheets (it was 1999 and we had a pulse) and we were deciding which one to take.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 22, 2011
You may feel as I did in 1999 that the more smart people around the table the more intros you’ll have, the more sage advice you’ll receive and the more impressive you’ll seem to outsiders. And I always encourage entrepreneurs to do reference checking. If you select a lead VC make sure they’re stage appropriate.
abovethecrowd.com
APRIL 20, 2016
Many modern entrepreneurs have limited exposure to the notion of failure or layoffs because it has been so long since these things were common in the industry. By the first quarter of 2016, the late-stage financing market had changed materially. In 1999, record valuations coexisted with record IPOs and shareholder liquidity.
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