Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 8, 2011

How could I have figured out that there would be 221 IPOs in 2000 and 19 in 2001? It especially won’t make you feel one bit better when you shut down your company and declare bankruptcy. How could I know that half our customers would go out of business? Could anybody expect me to achieve a reasonable outcome given those circumstances?

Bankruptcy 78

Bankruptcy IPO New York Restful 78

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I remember having a merger called off at the last minute and having a planning meeting at a pub to figure out how to run a bankruptcy process (luckily, we never had to do it). There are many VCs who have been made partner since 2000 and haven’t previously had an exit of their own. What do you tell somebody in that situation?

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 1, 2016

We founded the company in 2000 and have since continued to grow our client base and revenues and, at the same time, have been named to a lot of ‘best places to work’ lists, including the big one, Fortune’s. I quit my stable job at IBM and launched DisputeBills.com.

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur Non-Compete LLC Social Media 48

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

3/31/2000: 73.4 In June of 2000, I raised money at an $820M post-money valuation. Down rounds are bad and hit founders disproportionately hard, but they are not as bad as bankruptcy. One would be wrong: 3/31/1995: 21.0 3/29/1996: 22.3 3/31/1997: 23.3 3/31/1998: 30.8 3/31/1999: 49.7 3/30/2001: 26.3 3/29/2002: 82.5

Marketing 46

Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation Down Round 46

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

I remember having a merger called off at the last minute and having a planning meeting at a pub to figure out how to run a bankruptcy process (luckily, we never had to do it). There are many VCs who have been made partner since 2000 and haven’t previously had an exit of their own. What do you tell somebody in that situation?

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

Pascal's View

APRIL 5, 2016

In America, Silicon Valley’s cycles of creative destruction and renewal continuously spawn many new challengers– by funding multiple startups that compete relentlessly until they reach dominant self-sustainability, acquisition by a competitor, or bankruptcy.

Austria 28

Austria Global Silicon Valley Advisory Board 28

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Our 2000 fund is the single best fund of its vintage. I’ve raised in boom markets and when everybody thought the Internet was a fraud. I’ve raised seed rounds and A-D rounds. Our 2008 fund looks spectacular.

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

We raised a seed round of capital in 1999 and our first venture capital round was the first week of March 2000 (e.g. But this was early 2000 and our US competitors had already closed rounds North of $45 million. We had a $40 million round lined up to close in the Autumn of 2000. We were weeks from bankruptcy.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley San Diego Non-Compete 308

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

But nine months after the first call was made in 1998, Iridium was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2000, new investors bought Iridium’s satellites and network for $25-million, or one half of one percent of the invested capital. Seven years after it was founded their satellites and ground stations were in place. iridium satellite network.

Business Plan 335

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 335

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

that did so in 1999 and 2000, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by Jay R. Scandal Shakes Trading Firm Peregrine Financial Group filed for bankruptcy as regulators scrambled to track down about $215 million of customer money allegedly missing from the firm. Subscriber Content Read Preview. Scandal Shakes Trading Firm.

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

In 2000, the 22,000 people on staff at Enron could be proud: they were spending their days at one of Fortune ‘s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America.” ” But on the morning of December 2, 2001, Enron declared bankruptcy.

America 169

America Bankruptcy United States Naming 169

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. In September 2008 this was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the rippling effect was massive. What is the True Sentiment of VCs?

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150