Clearly, a regulatory overhang impacts the valuation, however, the fundamentals and prospects of the business are remarkable. On June 27th, a remarkable thing took place in London. PartyGaming.com, an on-line site best known for poker, raised $1.4bn dollars in an IPO. Revenues grew from $30m in 2002 to $600m in 2004. Is this an anomaly? MORE >>

When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. 5 million raised at a $9 million pre-money valuation or 35.7% How do you push valuation? What might future markets hold in terms of valuations? Today’s $15 million pre-money valuation might be tomorrow’s $20 million. MORE >>

ended with a suggestion that cash is gaining power relative to other assets and a suggestion that this will shift the balance of valuation and terms in favor of the root sources of capital (limited partners and above). Could the speculative return dynamics since 2001 have ended? Why is this important? from 1982-2000. That is huge. MORE >>

I know the standard line, “I want to do a small round now and raise a larger round later when we get A,B,C deal done and I can raise at a higher valuation.&#  If it works you’re a hero. This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs. Fail fast? MORE >>

Just ask anybody who was trying to close funding the fateful week of September 11, 2001 or even March 2000.  They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations.  First, they don’t want to have the cat-and-mouse discussions about valuation.  MORE >>