Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

I’ve decided to take all of my private conversations and subjective points-of-view on the topic and make them public in a keynote speech at the Founder Showcase in San Francisco on June 15th. I raised my A round at a $31.5 million post-money valuation with no revenue. It was early 2000. That was market.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). As a result I had to do a down round. Down rounds are psychologically really difficult on companies and can make it harder to do later rounds. I eventually needed more money.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I know that most people who are close to them tend to deny their existence, as we saw in the great housing bubble of 2002-2007 and the dot com bubble of 1997-2000. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. New investors hate down rounds.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or perhaps you are a consumer company and expected that you would be valued on users rather than revenue like the last time. 3/31/2000: 73.4. In June of 2000, I raised money at an $820M post-money valuation. Yes, we did a down round. But they most certainly are not.

Down Round 78

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 78

David Teten

AUGUST 7, 2019

Likely signs of a Value investment: the company has challenges in filling out the round; the investors have more negotiating leverage than the founders during the closing process; the company has significantly better metrics (e.g. LTV / CAC, revenue growth, etc.) were clearly Momentum, but [in hindsight] they were also Value.”

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or perhaps you are a consumer company and expected that you would be valued on users rather than revenue like the last time. 3/31/2000: 73.4 In June of 2000, I raised money at an $820M post-money valuation. Yes, we did a down round. But they most certainly are not.

Marketing 46

Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation Down Round 46

Altgate

MARCH 8, 2009

Growth stage investors are usually the Series B or C investors who come in when the product is in the market but there is little or no revenue and the team is probably in the 20-something range with the goal to ramp it up to 40-50 employees with the new money, build out a sales team, etc. But some will be saved.

Later Stage 34

Later Stage Early Stage Venture Capital Portfolio 34