Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

But it was early 2009 and not many companies were getting new financings at all so I thought they should take the deal. I saw it first hand in college, which is where I first developed the analogy. Since I didn’t originally source the deal I let my co-investor set the terms and negotiate the deal with my consent.

Term Sheet 356

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Reputation Partner 356

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

2009 has been the worst year for M&A in a decade. Projected IPOs for 2009 are an embarrassing 10 total deals, down from 86 just 2 years ago (it was 265 in the go-go years of 99-00) but at least up from 6 in 2008. They have data from surveys they did with corporate development officers (e.g.

Technical Review 241

Technical Review IPO Southern California Venture Capital 241

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The “big boom” in startup financing started around March 2009?—?more more than 5 years ago?—?and and hasn’t abated.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

Always developing. Next post: two “4-Hour Workweek&# like hacks I started in 2009 to try and take back control of my life that are saving me hours. And while I bounced back very easily, many of the bank elders did not. I swore never to let that happen to me. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Not on the deferred life plan.

France 295

France Spain Technical Review Hungary 295

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

This was 2009 and his understanding of audience engagement was far beyond anything I was hearing from most people at that time. So we discussed his moving to LA for a while and working in our offices and developing his ideas and we decided to formalize it. And I can’t wait to see you guys further develop your tech insights.

Houston 150

Houston Cofounder Audience Business Model 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2015

As an active investor in the Los Angeles technology market we’re always seeking to better understand the data and trends of why our market has grown so rapidly since 2009. Most importantly – this should encourage LP funds to back more local firms and I would hope to see more indigenous funds to develop.

LP 150

LP Los Angeles Marketing Partner 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

One company – Samasource – presented an incredibly inspirational goal of helping people in developing countries – not by aid but by engaging them in work. Yes, I still used a Blackberry in 2009. A “hats off” (see what I did there?) story about big bets and equally grand huevos. And also a “thank you.”

Las Vegas 150

Las Vegas Los Angeles Ireland Term Sheet 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

Founded in 2009 in Los Angeles by Michelle Crames. Total raised: $120.3mm; $43.5mm raised prior to 2006 recap; post-recap, raised $7.7mm; Series B in 2009 for $15mm; – Read more: VentureWire (requires subscription). Founded in 2009 in San Francisco by David Soloff (ex-Lead Architect of Rapt, which was sold to MSFT in 2008).

Founder 214

Founder San Diego SMS Los Angeles 214

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

As more consumers were skipping commercials the idea of authentically integrating brands into media seemed obvious to me and ended up informing a lot of my investments in 2009 and 2010. They did development in SF and had the ad sales team in NY. The idea immediately resonated. I believe investors had forced him to do this.

Partner 340

Partner Los Angeles South Africa Cap Table 340

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We’ll be conducting a series of educational programes covering: fund raising, team building, product development, sales, marketing, business development and how to prioritize your time as a CEO. The company has opened its API to approved sites for distribution and approved developers who want to build games, etc.

Los Angeles 276

Los Angeles Stealth Securities and Exchange Commission Southern California 276

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Do you work as a civil engineer on water projects and have great access to wealthy project developers? Most Venture Capital “A&# rounds (as of 2009) seem to start around $3 million pre-money and may go as high as $5-6 million pre-money if you’ve made a lot more progress or for some other reason the deal is “hot&#.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. As of near the end of September 2009, we’re up 46% since the March 9th nadir (yes, I need to find a way to use one of my SAT words ; – ).

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Gogii came in my office in 2009 with three of the most talented founders I had seen. “What you get&# is one of the most mature, seasoned & experienced mobile games developers that has existed. I’m on record all over place saying that 70% of my investment decision is the team & 30% is the market.

Later Stage 310

Later Stage South America Mobile Silicon Valley 310

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

StackOverflow is a free Q&A site for software developers, blending functionality from wikis, blogs, forums, and social voting (similar to Digg/Reddit); 7.1mm unique visitors per month; new funds will be used to build out engineering team and build out product. Invidi is based in New York and founded in 2000. Rumored to be appox.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

” And just – you develop a pattern over time that no matter how many times I try to say no to you, I can’t. Be an intern” And by the way, this is 2009. You remember what 2009 was like, right? ” Now suddenly I’m thinking, “That guy Derek, that was pretty cool of him. He seems nice enough.”

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

First, I’d like to quote (paraphrase) Brad Feld speaking at Twiistup in LA in 2009, “I keep hearing people in LA talking with a chip on their shoulders about building a tech business here relative to Silicon Valley. But we do have great technology developers. I have one message for you, ‘get over it! You don’t.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Technology Los Angeles Southern California 290

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

The biggest media attention in our industry went to the so-called “super angels&# during the 2009/10 timeframe and while I don’t believe there is such thing as a super angel I believe that much media attention was deserved. Amazon allowed 22-year-old tech developers to launch companies without even raising capital.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software PHP Open Source 334

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

Online social game network; make their own games (FarmVille, Mafia Wars, FrontierVille) in addition to allowing third-party developers to access network. Self-reported 60mm daily unique as of Dec 2009, games played by 250mm people a month (AppData). OTHER DEALS: 1.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. Chris Dixon made the point that he thinks investors should look for the founders to have the domain knowledge rather than them having domain knowledge themselves.

Angel Investor 284

Angel Investor Early Stage Cap Table Deal Flow 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

awe.sm (I have been an investor since 2009) has always provided these data through an API to allow developers to have social analytics embedded in their products or for internal use in their organization to drive more effective campaigns.

Technical Review 307

Technical Review Marketing SEM Campaign 307

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

This has worked very well in the 2009-2012 time frame because the tech market has boomed in this period. If I didn’t assume this I shouldn’t write the check because I have to get involved knowing that I might pay that price. But entrepreneurs – convertible notes have no MINIMUM! I’m starting to hear it more often.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We both felt that the critical reasoning skills and writing skills were critical to our career development. Recent competitive financings closed by Gilt Groupe ($35mm in 05/2010), OKL (undisclosed value in 12/2009) and Ideeli ($20mm in 12/2009). Social network app developer and ad network. Read more: TechCrunch.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Los Angeles Oakland Asia 217