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.

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Valuations were enormous relative to progress in companies. Companies with less than $2 million in revenue were asking for $50-60 million valuations and getting them. I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. In 1998 it was 150 million, 1999 250 million and by 2000 it had crossed 350 million. I’ve written in detail about that in this post, “ On Bubbles, And Why We’ll Be Just Fine.”.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

While not 1999 all over again but I am observing first-hand the signs of funding frenzy. VC funding is definitely back from the constipation that was 2009 replete with frothy valuations chasing dreams of the next Facebook, Groupon or Zynga. VCs get paid to “put money to work.&#. I know not everybody agrees.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Technical Review Balance Sheet Government 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

I freely admit this (along with nearly everything between 1999-2000) was a mistake. We set our sites on our IPO price and then worked back to our current valuation and showed potential employees what we thought they could earn (with all legal caveats) if the company was successful. rounds and still be competitive.

Stock Options 294

Stock Options Stock Valuation Liquidation Preference 294

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

The trend of funding anything from the first $25k to funding $50 million at a billion+ valuation is unlikely to last as the skills and style to be effective at all stages are diverse enough to warrant focus. When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 million in infrastructure just to get started and another $2.5

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software PHP Open Source 334

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

If you take a snapshot during an extraordinary surge in valuations, M&A activity, IPOs and thus wealth creation you’d echo John Doerr’s famous quote from 1999 that, “The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history.&# That’s how it felt then and a bit how it feels in May 2011.

IPO 391

IPO Finance Valuation Naming 391

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Let’s assume that the company raised it at a normal VC valuation, which means it gave up 33% of the company and thus $5 million / 33% = $15 million post-money valuation. It was 1999. OK, you would own 0.25% of the stock. They raised $5 million in their B round. It was easy to do these calcs.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

I believe the massive valuation increases in cryptocurrencies we’ve witnessed of late are not based on any fundamentals other than speculation and a drive for a quick profit by many who have gained from the market hype. Why would pouring hundreds of millions into even earlier stage startups with even less or no oversight be a good idea?

Government 280

Government Distribution Stock United States 280

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

I’m surprised how few people talk about valuations, term sheet terms, how much to pay recruiters, etc. The CIC, founded in 1999, is located adjacent to MIT and has more than 100,000 sq ft of space for nearby startups that qualify to be housed there. We know prices of deals, compensation, who’s doing well / poorly, etc.

San Francisco 285

San Francisco Incubator Silicon Valley Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Not the successful companies themselves but the entire b t culture of swash-buckling startups who define themselves by hitting some magical $1 billion valuation number and the financiers who back them irrespective of metrics that justify it. It seemed like a message in a bottle opened from a shipwreck in 1999. And I blame unicorns.

Detroit 150

Detroit Government Syndicate Syndication 150