Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Union Square Ventures (USV) has been one of the most successful venture capital firms of the past 10–15 years and continues to be a leader in our industry. Lindel is no stranger to thorny venture capital issues — he was arguably amongst the most successful LPs of his generation.

Leadership 161

Leadership LP Venture Capital Silicon Valley 161

Austin Startup

AUGUST 10, 2017

Take a look at some of the emails between us from 2010: We were attending NYU from 2008–2012. We were roommates at the time and launched two different companies out of a kind-of dumpy apartment: We both went on to raise millions in venture capital and build meaningful businesses in interesting spaces. Factom, Inc.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Austin 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

“I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” But as an LP you can’t count on that any more than VCs can. The goal of an LP is to get into the top decile. In 2000 our industry had more than $100 billion in LP money.

LP 374

LP Later Stage IRR Term Sheet 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. One of the points I tried to make is that as venture capital investors as an industry we seem to have a healthy disdain for public market investors. This will be seen as a watershed moment in the wake-up call and rationalization of our industry.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate San Francisco Private Equity LP 150

David Teten

MARCH 2, 2013

I recently had an extensive debate with Tom about why and whether small funds (like mine, ff Venture Capital ) tend to outperform large funds (like his). I argue that, just as with hedge funds and mutual funds, the larger the venture capital fund, the more difficult it is to generate strong returns.

LP 114

LP Securities and Exchange Commission Silicon Valley Venture Capital 114

Haystack

APRIL 27, 2018

At a minimum, getting to the Series A derisks (perhaps temporarily) a seed investment in a world where the shapes of investment outcomes can take a decade or more (consider, Uber is now a decade old and DocuSign, which just went public, was started in 2008). Historically, startups have by default relied on venture capital as financing source.

Naming 60

Naming Venture Capital Seed Stage Cap Table 60

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 11, 2013

I was chatting with a friend last night about the lack of institutional investor (LP) interest in European venture capital as an asset class. We both believe that now is an attractive time to invest in European technology startups and started why we think so differently to most of the people we would like to invest in our funds.

LP 143

LP Europe Institutional Investors Venture Capital 143

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’ve seen friends (and family members) lose much of their savings that way over the years because “Black Swans” happen and in 1987, 2001, 2003 & 2008 (just to name a few from my memory) huge market gyrations caused much financial distress to people seeking short-term gains. At least later stage investors.

Stock 150

Stock Finance Marketing Valuation 150

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 14, 2017

K9’s last fund, K9 Ventures II, L.P., It was a conscious decision to maintain the fund size at the same level, despite both market pressure (larger rounds at earlier stages) and demand pressure (lots of LP money entering the stage) to raise a larger fund. I first thought about starting K9 in 2008. was a $40M fund.

Technology 96

Technology LP San Francisco Portfolio 96

thebarefootvc

MARCH 8, 2012

I remember writing a blog post in 2008, post-financial crash, on how the recession was going to re-vitalize the city’s tech startup community, which would eventually help diversify the NYC economy. I helped launch NYCSeed in 2008 in response to the lack of seed funding available in NYC.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Ghana Venture Capital India 69

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I attended the annual LP meeting for a venture capital firm this week and got into a discussion about the above question. The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. ► 2008. (14). Congratulations on the Best Venture Capital Investment. Venture News. ProfessorVC. ► July. (1).

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

K9 Ventures

JANUARY 19, 2009

VentureBeat just blogged about some new statistics published by Thomson Reuters and the NVCA in this post: Venture fundraising: Going, going, gone? Here is the most damning/shocking excerpt from this post: Venture capital funds raised only $3.4 percent) from the same period in 2007, when venture firms raised $11.7

LP 48

LP Venture Capital Portfolio 48

Altgate

MARCH 8, 2009

As everyone knows, what is being reported as dry powder isn’t real as many of those LP commitments would not survive a capital call (and thus capital calls aren’t being made). Share and Enjoy: This entry was posted in Venture Capital and tagged collapse , economy , series B , startups , venture capital.

Later Stage 34

Later Stage Early Stage Venture Capital Portfolio 34

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

I was a limited partner in Angel Investors, LP, Ron Conways fund in the late 1990s. In looking at that data, if Im a VC and promising LPs a 42% return, my "gut" might be telling me to to find another job when the fund is done. Labels: due diligence , financial analysis , venture capital. ► 2008. (14).

San Jose 33

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Mezzanine 33

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

So why would raising venture capital be any different. Our 2008 fund looks spectacular. I once had an LP tell me that when Sequoia fund raises they place the first call and say “we’re closing in 6 weeks – you need to decide quickly if you want an allocation.”

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There are some obvious structural reasons why a shakeout in the venture capital industry takes a long time. There was a healthy amount of capital ($20-30B annually) invested in VC funds during the 2003-2008 timeframe. 2) Rebirth of Some Firms - Mobius Venture Capital is now defunct.

LP 154

LP Portfolio Venture Capital IRR 154

VC Cafe

JULY 6, 2010

On June 22, 2010 - Perfecto Mobile closed an undisclosed third round of funding from new investor Vodafone Ventures and returning investors Carmel Ventures and Vertex Venture Capital. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Herzlia Pituach, Israel. Carmel Ventures; Sequoia Capital 6.

Private Equity 98

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity 98

VC Cafe

JULY 6, 2010

On June 22, 2010 - Perfecto Mobile closed an undisclosed third round of funding from new investor Vodafone Ventures and returning investors Carmel Ventures and Vertex Venture Capital. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Herzlia Pituach, Israel. Carmel Ventures; Sequoia Capital 6.

Private Equity 98

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity 98

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 6, 2016

I asked him what motivated him and he told me, “I started it in 2008 as a project with my daughter helping canvass for Obama. When I went to add partners at Upfront I called an LP of mine and told him I was trying to recruit a new partner named Kara Nortman. I shot back quickly at my LP “ You’re kidding me, right?

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles LP Nevada South Korea 150