Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

So why invest in that period of uncertainty unless it’s early-stage and thus valuation matters less. It will make follow-on financings much harder and people will have to consider whether or not to do inside rounds. If the next 30 days stays calm then investment will pick up. So plan your start date accordingly.

Stock 150

Stock Finance Marketing Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. So if you’re casually reading and don’t really care about angel financing – abort now!

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Austin Startup

MARCH 20, 2017

Since the field’s estimated beginnings in 2009 , subsegments like “feminomics” and “inclusive finance” have spun off, but at it’s core gender lens investing is: incorporating gender as a factor to guide investment strategies. Contrasted with an average VC fund size of $30M… there is a mismatch. Enter True Wealth Ventures.

Private Equity 54

Private Equity Venture Capital United States Equity 54

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. On Launching and Finding Early Traction. Our class was at least a third finance and a third consultants.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. April 14, 2009 3:09 PM Eric Santos said. But all things are never equal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007.

Cap Table 399

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Finance 399

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) Market stage is everything. They have raised company profiles and made follow-on financings easier.

Early Stage 290

Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles Coder 290

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The presentation was on outsourcing generally, not just software engineering and the audience was very early stage companies (some yet to be founded). Now, for very early stage companies, you may be thinking, “I don’t have any cash, so outsourcing isn’t an option.&# To that I say baloney.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

First Round became a very active investor in consumer internet and e-commerce, on a rather lean investment budget, with several notable exits (including Mint.com to Intuit in 2009 for $170M). and no, we didn’t. but the food was awesome, & the PR wasn’t bad either). Rise of Y Combinator, 1st Branded Entrepreneur Guild.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

How would Billy Beane have done as an early stage investor? Im still not convinced that "gut feel" isnt a good way to invest at the early stage, but this can certainly get rid of over-thinking and provides diversification and investments in entrepreneurial teams that would be otherwise overlooked. ► 2009. (7).

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

It had been written that NYC was built by industries of zero sum games like finance and real estate, and that DNA wouldn’t work in the startup community. That’s why you also need super early stage investors who can lead rounds, being willing to place bets when there isn’t much there there. You need both.

Community 174

Community Miami Portland Startup 174

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 4, 2019

While 2011 is only eight years ago, it’s a lifetime in the world of finance, private equity, venture capital, and business. 2006 was still the pits for venture capital, although a number of legendary companies (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) were in their early phases of getting started. What you say is, this feels like a bubble.”.

Private Equity 82

Private Equity Cofounder Equity Venture Capital 82

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. This was until about 2009 because most the investments in companies came from one, maybe two, sources.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Preserve your equity by using a consulting CTO to ramp up your company before securing early-stage financing and hiring a permanent technology partner. Reply What To Do When There’s No Venture Capital « Web Startup Help says: January 13, 2009 at 10:42 pm [.] Blog at WordPress.com. startupcto

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 12, 2018

Billion acquisition, Quentis Therapeutics picking up $48 million in financing, and Paige.ai Radformation , founded by Kurt Sysock and co-founders Alan Nelson and Elisabeth van Wie, is an early-stage oncology software company that works with state of the art radiation equipment. raising $25 Million--all to fight cancer.

United States 74

United States Cofounder Early Stage Algorithm 74

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 16, 2019

a16z played disrupter, launching their first fund in 2009, based on a bold set of statements which, even if they were not individually unique, had never been combined before into a firm. First Round went deep on “platform” far ahead of anyone else in this stage. Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz.

Silicon Valley 70

Silicon Valley Early Stage Valuation Cofounder 70

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

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

There has been a preponderance of early-stage deals that have seen quick exits. But if 2011 & 2012 look more like 2008-2009 than 2010 then one of the most important skills of angel investors will be whether they can get their companies financed (or ramen profitable, but this is harder to sustain over a long period of time).

Angel Investor 284

Angel Investor Early Stage Cap Table Deal Flow 284

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Reply Richard Jordan , on November 5, 2009 at 3:36 pm Said: Steve, best article yet.

Customer Development 266

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 266

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

Company counsel is usually doing more work than investor counsel in early stage deals: preparing the deal documents, disclosure schedules, diligence folders, pro-formas, filing the charter, issuing the stock (hopefully now on Carta !), And right there, the legal cost of a simple financing transaction balloons out of control.

Term Sheet 114

Term Sheet Due Diligence Stock Early Stage 114

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 26, 2022

Box had just 50 employees and was hitting an inflection point when I joined in 2009, so there was far more work to do than people to do it. The first was in July of 2014, when we made the unusual move of raising and announcing another round of private financing while on file to go public. Two additional moments stand out to me.

IPO 91

IPO Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 91

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Early stage startups have to survive one day at a time and are often presented with limited choices of the moment that enable them to continue. At early stages you probably don’t have an assembly line and can’t clearly define any particular job. But, later on they often wish they had the ability to erase many of them.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

I strongly believe (at least for very early stage technology ventures) that you will get diminishing returns and arguably negative returns once you get past an initial threshold of team, product, market and financial diligence. ► 2009. (7). I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. Email This BlogThis!

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 28, 2013

YCombinator had a great run from 2007 through early 2009 investing at a time when there weren''t nearly as many seed funds and accelerators as there are now. My own track record as a VC across First Round Capital and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures actually starts in January of 2010, *after* the Airbnb class of Winter 2009.

Venture Capital 164

Venture Capital Cofounder IRR Dilution 164

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A! There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Posted on November 14, 2009 by Travis Biziorek. Here is the original post: Early Stage Web Application Start-Up Seeking Developer/Designer. Hi D, Gosh, this post was way back in late 2009. I, too, like you were back in 2009, am involved a start up project. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009. ▼ 2009. (7). I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

It had a good mix of viewpoints with east ( James Geshwiler, Common Angels ) and west coast (yours truly) angels, early stage venture capitalist ( Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group ), and a couple of attorneys ( Dan Hansen and Mario Rosati ). Labels: Angel Investors , fundraising , term sheets , venture capital , venture financing.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Was Paul Graham right in his “high resolution” financing post? This has worked very well in the 2009-2012 time frame because the tech market has boomed in this period. You rarely find full ratchets in early-stage deals any more. Nobody I know accepts multiple liquidation preferences in early-stage deals.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009. November 19, 2009 8:17 PM. November 20, 2009 8:26 AM. November 21, 2009 6:58 PM. December 29, 2009 9:11 AM. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley. Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? If you are interested in getting involved in the E-Lab, there are a few opportunities.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

This will also serve as a good pointer for all the entrepreneurs who ask why I am not interested in their company led convertible note financing round. This can make it much more difficult to get any bank financing, new investment, and trade credit. In cases where it is truly a bridge financing (i.e. Steve Bennet. at 1:33 PM.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

I got a job at a bank, and I worked in their corporate finance group. You’ve got entrepreneurs and founders who are really – a lot of them are in the very early stage of their startup. Be an intern” And by the way, this is 2009. You remember what 2009 was like, right? Maybe you misheard me.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

VC Adventure

AUGUST 30, 2010

I think the answer to these questions are that 1) it’s not at all clear that this trend is as definitive as Graham suggests; 2) it’s a mixed bag for entrepreneurs (more positive in the short run, potentially negative in the long term); and 3) it’s clearly not a positive trend for early-stage investors. Has Convertible Debt Won?

Angel Investor 103

Angel Investor Early Stage Equity Valuation 103

Altgate

DECEMBER 16, 2010

The data set is about 1,200 rounds of financing for US tech companies that completed the 2010 CompStudy survey. Hardware / semiconductors is stereotypically a capital intensive business, but the data suggest that more money is going into early stage deals than later stage deals. Not sure how to explain that.

Liquidation Preference 59

Liquidation Preference Early Stage Venture Capital Later Stage 59

Austin Startup

JUNE 21, 2010

Disclaimer: I am an investor in Sparefoot, and they were in the 2009 Capital Factory program where I am a Managing Director. In early 2009, the founders of Sparefoot (then called Homstie.com) had a vision of allowing people with extra storage space in their homes to make a match with people who wanted to store things.

Los Angeles 72

Los Angeles Aggregator Early Stage Partner 72

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. Often times when companies raise “bridge” financing (this is money from internal investors. Swipely – Blippy competitor founded by TellMe founder, Angus Davis, in Fall 2009. Short answer: no.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

There has been a preponderance of early-stage deals that have seen quick exits. And the best early-stage investors know this. So where are we now? It’s hard to say. If 2011 & 2012 look like 2010 then the current crop of angel investors will look great.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cap Table Early Stage Deal Flow 152