View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? One thing that jumps out quickly is that TVPI between 2004-2010 (avg 2.6x) has underperformed 2011-2017 (avg 3.0x). Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. How have more recent vintages performed?

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

The Equity Kicker

APRIL 15, 2015

The beauty of M&A for examining valuation trends is that M&As reveal the dollar valuations of all assets at the time of the acquisition. These valuations include – among other assets – brands (trademarks) and customer relationships.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Merger Customer Product 60

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? One thing that jumps out quickly is that TVPI between 2004-2010 (avg 2.6x) has underperformed 2011-2017 (avg 3.0x). Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. How have more recent vintages performed?

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 2, 2023

2004 was the beginning of what I now refer to as “the grind,” which ended for me around 2007. I was wrong, and then 9/11 happened, and then Enron and Worldcom happened, and business kept getting worse. 2001 was a dreadful year for me. 2002 sucked, but it wasn’t as dreadful. But it still sucked. 2003 was hard.

Valuation 172

Valuation Revenue Portfolio Leadership 172

Berkonomics

JULY 10, 2014

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up premoney valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset?

Valuation 71

Valuation Cofounder Founder Revenue 71

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004). conference happened at the end of 2004). The terms and valuation for both offers were comparable and when the team debated which path to choose, we all agreed both firms would have made good partners. It was a pretty good valuation for the time. It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

We know many firms that build portfolios with great logos by buying into companies at later stages and higher valuations. FC’s portfolio is made up exclusively of seed stage investments at seed valuations. When Union Square Ventures’ 2004 fund was on fire, Fred and Brad raised their next fund at the same size.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

The Equity Kicker

APRIL 8, 2015

It seems to me there are two obvious explanations for the dramatic reduction in the time it takes for companies to achive $1bn valuations: The pace of change is increasing allowing new companies to develop and mature faster. We are in a bubble – at least for late stage companies.

Valuation 60

Valuation Finance Developer Startup 60

Seeing Both Sides

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

We looked at the companies in New England (call them "Boston and surrounding") that had exited in the last 10 years (2003-2013) with greater than $500 million in market valuation. 2004), Kayak ($1.8B/2004) 2004) and Fleetmatics ($1.4B/2004), 2004), although the latter was founded in Dublin. Essential Role of Immigrants.

Boston 55

Boston Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review 55

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Underwriters realized that as long as the public was happy snapping up shares, they could make huge profits on the inflated valuations (regardless of whether or not the company should have ever been public.) The valuations for acquisitions were nothing like the Internet bubble, but there was a path to liquidity, difficult as it was.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? One thing that jumps out quickly is that TVPI between 2004-2010 (avg 2.6x) has underperformed 2011-2017 (avg 3.0x). Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. How have more recent vintages performed?

Valuation 156

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 156

Growthink Blog

MAY 13, 2010

Of most interest is the story of Mr. Peter Thiel investing $500,000 into the company in 2004, at an effective valuation of $4.9 Peter Thiel, in investing in Facebook in 2004, channeled the Romans and their famous ode to luck - "Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat", "Fortune Favors the Bold." The question, of course, is will you?

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Social Media Valuation Channel 91

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. Read on for a fuller explanation.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2019

In the last decade or so, high profile consumer IPOs have often gotten lofty valuations. Google was a one such company when they went public in 2004 and Facebook was too at their 2012 IPO. I don’t follow the Chinese startup market as closely as I follow the US, but Alibaba’s 2014 IPO was a similar watershed moment.

IPO 180

IPO B2B B2C Institutional Investors 180

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz. Stripe (founded 2010) – at over $35 billion valuation, nothing seems to slow Stripe down on their quest to become the top payments solution online. ” What can companies expect apart from funding: Carta Ventures (founded 2012) – Carta recently raised $300 million at a $1.7

Balance Sheet 201

Balance Sheet Startup IPO Venture Capital 201

David Cohen

MARCH 30, 2020

One in 2004 and one in 2006. Uber took the shockingly low valuation of $4m when raising it’s first $1.5m. 3m valuation. Less than a $2m valuation for their seed round. The financial markets quickly gave up more than a trillion dollars. Travel, insurance, and similar industries took huge hits. Sudden change.

Founder 174

Founder Valuation Startup IP 174

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

What I’ve honorably been able to do, however, is share the deck I used to pitch LinkedIn to Greylock for a Series B investment back in 2004. the consumer internet landscape in 2004 vs. today. In 2004, the consumer internet was just beginning to rebound. Friendster’s valuation set the tone for the entire social networking space.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

techcrunch.com

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. Sometimes these loans have a valuation cap and/or a discount. The point, he says, is to avoid time-consuming valuation negotiations and allowing a variable amount of capital to be raised.

Equity 87

Equity San Francisco Technical Review Angel Investor 87

Feld Thoughts

JULY 19, 2018

“Historically, the $10 million valuation mark has been somewhat of a ceiling for seed stage startups. In 2003 the angels started to reappear (some of the best angel deals of all time were done between 2004 and 2007) and the super angel language started to be used around 2007.

Early Stage 105

Early Stage Seed Stage Valuation Finance 105

YoungUpstarts

MAY 5, 2017

In 2004, the man behind Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic (airline), Richard Branson, established Virgin Galactic to become “The World’s First Commercial Spaceline.” Joe Carlen is the co-founder of Value Guards, LLC and a practitioner of business valuation, patent valuation, and market assessment.

New Mexico 138

New Mexico Albuquerque Mexico Egypt 138

thebarefootvc

MAY 8, 2012

This is also what I advise entrepreneurs when discussing dilution and valuation — think of the bigger picture and the end game of what you are looking to build — and who will help you get there.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Syndicate Syndication Bandwidth 78

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

approx 2004-09. Villalobos & Payne: “Startup Pre-Money Valuation: The Keystone to Return on Investment” 117. Sohl: “The Angel Investor Market in 2009: Holding Steady but Changes in Seed and Startup Investments”. DeGennaro & Dwyer: “Expected Returns to Angel Investors” 603. approx 1999-07. 1961- 1996.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2022

For these companies, the next round might not be at the valuation they wanted, but it’s still going to be there—because despite what you hear about pullbacks, there is still far more money chasing far rarer good ideas. So, yeah, that’s going to come down—especially because they likely got over their skis on valuation.

Stock 97

Stock Marketing Valuation Later Stage 97

Agile VC

APRIL 30, 2019

In the last decade or so, high profile consumer IPOs have often gotten lofty valuations. Google was a one such company when they went public in 2004 and Facebook was too at their 2012 IPO. I don’t follow the Chinese startup market as closely as I follow the US, but Alibaba’s 2014 IPO was a similar watershed moment.

IPO 100

IPO B2B B2C Institutional Investors 100

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 5, 2019

The Airbnb Way is my ninth business book since 2004. The company also provides a fascinating perspective on how a business can go from three air mattresses to a $38 billion dollar valuation in just over a decade. I write business books about brands that entrust me to consult for them and/or tell their story.

South Africa 127

South Africa Africa Leadership Singapore 127

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

When speaking with founders and private growth investors, we hear countless references to “multiples paid” on current or near-term revenue; both obsess over this because a higher multiple translates to a higher valuation. How valuation multiples work Why did multiples become a shortcut-heuristic for estimating valuations in the first place?

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. No wonder the platform is rumored to be raising a round at a $150 million valuation or more. Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. The site is also a data goldmine.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 26, 2014

As further market proof of the power of Drupal in the enterprise, Acquia has received about $100 million in funding in the past 3 months, which puts its valuation at over $1 billion. It gained recognition during the 2004 presidential campaign when Howard Dean’s IT director decided to use it as a platform for community and campaigning.

Founder 42

Founder Los Angeles PHP Open Source 42

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

One of the earliest and most well-known of the Micro-VC funds was First Round Capital , founded in 2004 by Josh Kopelman , a former entrepreneur who sold Half.com to eBay in 2000. However, while YC was growing in prominence & valuation, and scaling the # of companies it was funding every 6 months, something else happened.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

The Equity Kicker

MAY 17, 2012

I think all this criticism is a function of the valuation rather than a reflection of the quality of the company. I think that if I the valuation was considered to be low everyone would instead be focused on what a great business Zuckerberg and his team have built over the last eight years.

IPO 96

IPO Valuation Venture Capital Demand 96

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

If I think back over the sixteen years I’ve been investing in startups the market for private company investing was tough from 2000-2004, from 2008-2011 and is getting tough again now. Over seven years it is almost inevitable that the markets will turn bad at some point.

Startup 60

Startup Metrics Valuation Operations 60

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 3, 2020

Anyone involved in Internet related high-tech businesses at the time learned much from the loss of easy to raise capital with high valuations and quick IPO/RTO exits. That business was sold in 2004 and provided JAMCO with its first profitable exit which resulted in the creation of a sizeable pool of capital to use going forward.

Partner 147

Partner Uganda Angel Investor Bulgaria 147

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Just think about where Nokia might be today if 100 of their best ideas and patents had been spun off as separate companies back in 2004, with Nokia owning 20% of each startup. This solves many problems and the teams are turned into real entrepreneurs. Nokia is only one example.

Finland 150

Finland Bankruptcy Cofounder Leadership 150

Start Up Blog

MAY 13, 2019

The Valuation: Uber was priced at $45 USD per share giving it a valuation of around $82 billion USD. Google IPO 2004 – 5 years after it was founded. So get ready for some finance meets tech nerdocity below. This means Uber is a more valuable company than Ford and GM combined.

IPO 48

IPO Valuation Stock Cost 48

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. 3/31/2004: 31.6. So, the average company on the S&P 500 IT index with $10M in annual earnings would be worth $210M in March of 1995, $820M in March of 2002, $310M in March of 2004 and $155M in March of last year.

Down Round 78

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 78

thebarefootvc

MARCH 5, 2017

Roomba vacuums, launched in 2004, are an example. Entry valuations for these teams were high, often bid up by the interest in the sector (and scarcity of talent). Many teams, while discussing VC investment, were acquired by larger companies for their asking valuations.

Artificial Inteligence 84

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Valuation Aggregator 84

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 30, 2015

Would you be surprised to know that almost half of the dot com companies founded when the boom started in 1996 were still around in 2004--four years after the peak of the NASDAQ? But at what valuation? Seed and early investors might get bought out--perhaps by the growth funds that were fueling the valuation growth.

Hockey Stick 60

Hockey Stick Valuation Startup Maryland 60