Up and Running

AUGUST 18, 2014

In comparison to traditional business ventures, startups are expected to grow rapidly, at a rate of between 5% and 7% per week in their initial stage – Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator. “Startups looking for angel investors or venture capital (VC) absolutely need an exit strategy because investors require it.

Small Business 154

Small Business Exit Strategy Cofounder Angel Investor 154

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. Thus is venture capital. Tempus Fugit.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. Infonautics went public in 1996 and Half.com was sold to eBay in 2000.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. side note: our last fund at GRP Partners is currently ranked as the 5th best performing fund of the year 2000.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

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. Today, some Momentum-centric venture capital investors have high paper returns.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Dave Kerpen, founder and CEO of Likeable Local , just published an interview with me on Linkedin, which I’ve included below. That’s a sizeable amount, especially in comparison to the US venture capital industry, which similarly invests over $20 billion annually. It’s also a fast way to lose all your money. 1961- 1996.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

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. some founders lose their life savings.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Here’s why.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Kevin Federline Search Engine Realistic Entrprenuer's Guide to Venture Capital Time Rich, Time Poor and Apple F2F Still Matters 8 Ways the Internet has Changed Software Marketing. Technology Jobs in Southern California – a Rebound.

Open Source 150

Open Source Business Model Technical Cofounder Southern California 150

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

The two most obvious are: Why did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? How did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? After raising our first round of funding for Loudcloud in 1999, we went to visit our new venture capital firm and meet their full team.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Partner 78

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

There’s a question on whether all this GPU hogging, and building capacity is not just a bubble waiting to pop, similar to the Telecom crash in the early 2000’s. Seth Rosenberg at Graylock published ‘ Product Led AI’ – pointing to opportunities for founders building AI-first companies.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI ChatGPT Artificial Inteligence Cofounder 78

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Manu Kumar is Founder and Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures. Kumar was the Founder, President and CEO of SneakerLabs, a company which developed software and services for web-based customer interaction. What led you to the venture capital world? We’re highlighting key members of the community to find out.

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Early Stage Portfolio Software Engineering 48

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I’m honored to be at a university noted for knowledge, and in a city with 2000 years of history – home of Gaudí one of the 20 th century’s greatest innovators. As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. Thank you for the kind introduction.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

SiliconHills

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Right now is the best time to be in the venture capital business in Austin. Austin Ben Scott Krishna Srinivasan LiveOak Venture Partners venture capital Venu Shamapant'

Texas 113

Texas Partner Austin Venture Capital 113

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

TL:DR : This post aims to recap significant changes in the venture capital industry over the past ten years, and then make some [biased] predictions as to major forces at play in the next five years. However, all three shifts are related and can be summed up simply as: Geeks are Taking Over Venture Capital.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. Venture Capital Firms. Last spring, Dave Graham , founder of software consulting firm Arizona Bay, learned that a major client, Jumpstart Automotive Media, had been acquired for more than $80 million. By Ryan McCarthy | @mccarthyryanj |.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

But investors with grey hair can remember the nuclear winter after the past recessions of 2000 and 2008 and can offer some historical patterns of crashes and recovery to CEOs running early stage startups – some who weren’t born when the crash of 1987 hit, were 10 years old in the crash of 2000 and 18 in the last crash of 2008.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

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. It was early 2000. They get a cheaper price, they wipe out much founder stock value and they reissue you new options.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital. But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. True story.) 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC.

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

Version One Ventures

JULY 22, 2014

AngelList makes it easier for founders to reach angels and there are hundreds of accelerators and incubators to choose from. We have all heard about the Series A crunch in the Valley (there might actually be up to 2000 companies in the Series A pipeline right now), and perhaps there’s a Series B crunch now too.

Finance 167

Finance Seed Money Bootstrapping Angel Investor 167

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Who Uses a Consulting CTO I’m going to focus on the needs of the founders of startup companies: Founders of startups use a consulting CTO when they have business vision but limited knowledge of the technology needed to launch their company. Though after the dotcom collapse of 2000-2001, there are many more than there were!

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Not so in venture capital. when you missed your targets, when your co-founder quit, when the competition chose your competitor or when the other investors around the table lost confidence? My chips were down in late 2000 / early 2001.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

I learned this lesson 127 times between 2000 and 2005. I started investing in 1994 and while there was some bumpiness in 1997 and again in 1999, the real pain happened between 2000 and 2005. I watched, participated, and suffered through every type of creative financing as companies were struggling to raise capital in this time frame.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

Dot.com Bubble ( 1995-2000): “ Anything goes” as public markets clamor for ideas, vague promises of future growth, and IPOs happen absent regard for history or profitability. August 1995 – March 2000: The Dot.Com Bubble. VC’s went back to basics, to focus on building companies while their founders worked on building customers.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

www.usatoday.com

JULY 16, 2012

But the ventures launched in recent years with gobs of venture-capital funding and targeting niche markets have accelerated the movement with user-friendly designs and a tight knit to social networks Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The dot-com boom of early 2000 saw a proliferation of similar anything-at-your-service start-ups.

San Francisco 105

San Francisco Technical Review Zimbabwe New York City 105

Genuine VC

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

There are a couple classic archetypes of internet/software founders, including the genius college student cooking up something quirky but ultimately disruptive in his dorm room who launches his company straight out of undergrad. Plus, on top of it all, with accelerator programs we’re net importing kick-ass founders from all over the world.

Boston 206

Boston Internet Entrepreneur .Net 206

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures). Founded in 2000 in New Brunswick, NJ. 406 Ventures.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Feld Thoughts

JULY 31, 2014

The prior fund that I had co-founded – Mobius Venture Capital – had blown up after having a very successful first fund in 1997. He was a partner and co-founder of Centennial Funds and he and Steve Halsted basically created the VC industry in Colorado in the early 1980s. Venture Capital fundraising VC'

LP 155

LP Advisory Board Venture Capital Early Stage 155

socialmatchbox.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The generally accepted hourly wage calculation used by the staffing industry is Annual Salary divided by 2000 Hours. If you sum up these costs and divide them by 2000 Hours then you are looking at $1.15 But then again, you may be better of going out and getting an investor to help you fund your even higher risk venture.

Part-Time VPE 41

Part-Time VPE Sweat Equity DC Washington 41

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

It seems like every day there is a new headline about an exceptional startup founder, investor, or corporate headquarters moving to Texas. Today, startup founders focus on the fundamental challenges of our time with energy, life sciences and industrial technologies dominating Houston’s tech scene. Joe Lonsdale. Drew Houston.

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

According to a study by CB Insights (2017), a software that gathers essential data from investors, companies and industries, more than 70% of startups do not exceed the first stage of venture capital investment. The rounds were conducted from 2008 to 2010, starting from seed capital. Why do so many companies fail? Losing focus.

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance United States 77

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 17, 2015

Twenty years ago 3i dominated venture capital in the UK with a very low touch model. Transparency provided by the internet makes this true at all stages, but it’s especially true at the earliest stages where capital requirements have declined precipitously. Uncategorized Venture Capital'

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Venture Capital San Francisco Silicon Valley 60

Feld Thoughts

JULY 19, 2018

In some cases, these rounds were with experienced founders who had previously had a success and could dictate terms. In this six month period, the need for an experienced founder vanished. For anyone that remembers 2000-2003, this obviously ended badly.

Early Stage 105

Early Stage Seed Stage Valuation Finance 105

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 27, 2015

by Scott Petty, co-founder of Signal Peak Ventures. When you think of the next big thing in venture funding, the corner store or local mechanic isn’t what comes to mind. Yet very small businesses (VSBs) are one of the last untapped bastions of innovation and, by association, venture dollars.

Utah 100

Utah Cofounder Small Business B2B 100

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

My favorite story of a fast failure was of a technology incubator started in the year 2000 with optimistic money from several angel investors, including me. Half of all professionally managed venture capital or angel investments fail. A personal story of failing fast. Is it the end of your entrepreneurial world to fail quickly?

Incubator 48

Incubator Angel Investor Venture Capital Reputation 48

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

My favorite story of a fast failure was of a technology incubator started in the year 2000 with optimistic money from several angel investors, including me. Half of all professionally managed venture capital or angel investments fail. A personal story of failing fast. Is it the end of your entrepreneurial world to fail quickly?

Incubator 48

Incubator Angel Investor Venture Capital Reputation 48