Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 11, 2022
Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 12, 2019
The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. Between 1999–2005 the costs went down by 90% and between 2005–2010 they went down a further 90%. I launched my first startup in 1999 so I know the economics of launching from first-hand experience.
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Start Up Blog
DECEMBER 29, 2019
It’s pretty easy to forget how much a new technology changes our lives once it’s adopted. Sure, some new technologies are like shooting stars, but some change everything forever. The problem was this created a dangerous idolatry of any innovation big tech companies launched at us.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 25, 2010
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. million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. It was December 1999. Let me start with a story. I’ve done it.
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. Valuation. I wanted to call out special attention to valuation in this debate. You really need to subtract the final month.
Both Sides of the Table
OCTOBER 15, 2009
M y company had raised a seed round of capital in late 1999 even before either of us were full time in the company (ominous side note: on the way to pitch our seed investor, Delta Partners, a man walking right in front of me died of a massive heart attack making me late to the meeting. He was to head up UK operations. I did the grunt work.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
Either would be fine with startups, so long as they can easily change their valuation. When I was raising money in late 1999 I had an investment team in Germany (I was in the UK) suggest that they should get a lower valuation than others because they were ex McKinsey guys and had better access to industry. I chuckled.
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