Agile VC

JUNE 24, 2014

The ecosystem of tech startups is a similarly efficient winnowing machine. As a tech entrepreneur you know that the odds are long from the outset, that most startups are ultimately unsuccessful. At times it may feel as though just a little more hard work can manufacturer success or the success of other startups feel like flukes.

South Korea 124

South Korea San Jose Argentina Brazil 124

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 10, 2015

to continue their prior commitments to NextView-backed startups and entrepreneurs. Thus, we can all work in concert within the broader startup ecosystem. the advisors’ companies form business relationships with startups NextView is ?vetting?. These individuals have all graciously agreed? In some cases?,? Advice Post?-?Investment

Software Review 100

Software Review Technical Review Entrepreneur Cofounder 100

Agile VC

OCTOBER 23, 2012

The same is not true for venture capital of course, since the underlying startups VCs invest in aren’t publicly selling their equity. Startup outcomes are a power law distribution rather than a standard distribution. Even if you’re top decile for your vintage year (e.g.

LP 176

LP Accredited Investor Carried Interest Portfolio 176

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Salesforce.com is a startup with 76,000 subscribers (over 2.1M I also joke with Reid Hoffman that this was back in the days before he was “Reid” Reid’s an incredible entrepreneur, startup investor, and human being. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Agile VC

AUGUST 22, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Odds Are, Your Startup Probably Isn’t a Platform. I have the great privilege of meeting lots of entrepreneurs every day and hearing about the startups they’re building. But the reality is that most software-based startups aren’t really platforms. And Why 20%?

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Startup Syndicate 113

Agile VC

MAY 13, 2013

Somehow first mover seems sexier, and to be fair some first mover startups have become category leaders or have successful acquisitions by larger companies. We sometimes think of being a fast follower in pejorative terms.

Cloud 205

Cloud B2B Software Review Technical Review 205

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. June 5, 2012. And Why 20%?

Java 170

Java Flash Software Azure 170

Agile VC

JANUARY 4, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. January 4, 2012.

Community 100

Community Estonia Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

MARCH 13, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I have some limited experience in dealing with patents though, both from my time as a VC and also back in my own startup days. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. vs Facebook: Lame Lawsuit, Good Timing. March 13, 2012. Yesterday Yahoo! And Why 20%?

IP 100

IP IPO Social Network Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

DECEMBER 19, 2013

I think the most important thing any new angel investor can do is to candidly assess their motivations for making startup investments. Angel investing, particularly for entrepreneurs and others who’ve chosen a startup career path, can be rewarding in many different ways. ” But as an angel one can overweight this factor.

Angel Investor 265

Angel Investor Early Stage Syndicate Syndication 265

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

VCs invest in disruptive startups that have the potential to build large ($100M+ revenue, enterprise value of hundreds of millions to billions) and durable businesses. What matters is the amount of money truly spent on a startup’s product or service. So think honestly and hard in defining your startup’s TAM.

B2B 246

B2B .Net Revenue Global 246

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. Cliff Notes S-1: Kayak.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Across both the startups I’ve personally been involved in (PayPal and LinkedIn) and the startups in which I’ve been an investor, I’ve seen a broad range of co-founder equity splits. As a result, one of the trickier things co-founders tackle is determining the equity split amongst the founding group of individuals.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255

Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. October 28, 2011.

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

Agile VC

JUNE 30, 2016

But a realistic understanding of the potential timeline for autonomous vehicle adoption is vital to decision making as a startup entrepreneur or investor in this area. . ==. As an investor, I am also bullish about the innovation wave already in its early innings around mobility and autonomy. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Virginia 100

Virginia Acquisition California Global 100

Agile VC

JULY 26, 2019

When meeting with founders we now often ask them what their favorite future is for their startup. You hear all sorts of fascinating things from folks when you give them an open-ended opportunity to talk about their aspirations for their startup.

Limited Partner 100

Limited Partner Founder Partner Startup 100

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

But B2B startups need to take a different tack. Arguably revenue is the best signal of product-market fit for B2B startups. So if you’re in the early innings of building a B2B startup, embrace early revenue rather than putting monetization off until the distant future.

Revenue 234

Revenue Product B2B Marketing 234

Agile VC

JANUARY 21, 2015

The startup ecosystem is often full of hyperbole, which is perfectly understandable when you think about it. Not every startup is going to “crush” their original milestones and financial projections. This is the vernacular of today’s startup ecosystem, for better or worse. Do No Harm. Don’t Blindside Them.

Cofounder 188

Cofounder Seed Stage Employee PR 188

Agile VC

MAY 15, 2014

Our first Growth Guide covers Content Marketing for Startups. This growth guide draws upon not only our collective experience but also what we’ve learned from running workshops and talking with a range of startups across stage and industry.

Seed Stage 193

Seed Stage Engineer Community Sales 193

Agile VC

APRIL 30, 2019

2019 is off to an exciting start for IPOs of VC-backed startups. 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. Reading Time: 3 minutes. This post also appears on NextView’s blog. Zoom is a B2B company Pinterest and Lyft are obviously B2C companies.

IPO 100

IPO B2B B2C Institutional Investors 100

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Across both the startups I’ve personally been involved in (PayPal and LinkedIn) and the startups in which I’ve been an investor, I’ve seen a broad range of co-founder equity splits. As a result, one of the trickier things co-founders tackle is determining the equity split amongst the founding group of individuals.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. June 5, 2011. And Why 20%?

North America 100

North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

As many of you know, in the past I’ve done a series of posts deconstructing the S-1s of VC-backed internet startups going public. A few years ago this was sort of a novelty… not that many startups were going public and not that many bloggers or mainstream journalists took the time or had familiarity with combing these SEC filings.

IPO 194

IPO Aggregator B2B Internet 194

Agile VC

APRIL 28, 2014

Today’s journey from startup to $19B acquisition by Facebook must seem comparable to turning base metals into a pile of gold for the average 13th century man on the street. But we can also hopefully admit that not every startup is truly changing the world. Hard work is always involved but occasionally we simply get lucky.

Silicon Valley 150

Silicon Valley Acquisition Software Restful 150

Agile VC

JANUARY 27, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Something has clearly changed within the last 5-6 years in terms of the speed with which monster startups are created in the software and internet space. Multi-billion dollar valuations for late stage startups like Dropbox, et al. Are Google-Scale Outcomes More Frequent?

Hockey Stick 113

Hockey Stick Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate 113

Agile VC

JANUARY 21, 2015

The startup ecosystem is often full of hyperbole, which is perfectly understandable when you think about it. Not every startup is going to “crush” their original milestones and financial projections. This is the vernacular of today’s startup ecosystem, for better or worse. Do No Harm. Don’t Blindside Them.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Seed Stage Employee PR 100

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

He was wrapping up GrabCAD’s participation in the Seedcamp accelerator program, and the Seedcamp startups were in the US to visit potential advisors and investors in Boston, New York, and SF. As part of Stratasys, who’s also acquired MakerBot and other startups, there’s a lot more to do with the GrabCAD community and platform.

Boston 154

Boston Acquisition Estonia Viral 154

Agile VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

We’ve met with many startups working in this area over the last 2-3 years. It’s easy for a startup to pitch itself as “mobile first” just as entrepreneurs pitched “cloud” a few years ago and “web” more than a decade ago.

Term Sheet 173

Term Sheet Cofounder Mobile Cloud 173

Agile VC

OCTOBER 1, 2013

I believe we’re going to look back in 2-5 years and realize that we’ve been in a once a decade boom for internet & software startups. More Ways Than Ever to Raise Startup Capital - Plenty has been written about AngelList’s new funding & model (good summary here ), as well as crowdfunding more broadly.

IPO 147

IPO Cloud Valuation Mobile 147

Agile VC

JANUARY 18, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Being a startup founder isn’t for everyone ultimately, in fact it probably isn’t for most people. 2) The Pyramid Scheme of Startup Equity - Just like multi-level marketing schemes, in startups it pays to get in on the ground floor. How To Think About The Future.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Cofounder Silicon Valley Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

MAY 21, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. And it’s not just because there will be more transactions and more competition for exciting startups. I think that’s about right, 2-3 dozen exits a year for VC backed startups in the $100M+ range. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future.

Acquisition 162

Acquisition Silicon Valley B2B Seed Stage 162

Agile VC

MAY 16, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Thematic investing is where VCs research a macro trend or specific market, form a thesis around why this trend/market will serve as a good basis for building great startups, and then pursue as many exceptional investments in this theme as appropriate for the VC’s strategy. May 16, 2012.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Silicon Valley B2B Syndicate 124

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

APRIL 13, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Urbanization of Startups. I spent some time with some startups in San Francisco proper, as opposed to the heart of Silicon Valley (see Note 1). Also all the big anchor companies that a startup might want to partner with at that time (eBay, Google, Oracle, Yahoo!, April 13, 2012.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley San Francisco San Jose Startup 185

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I wanted to touch on ‘golazo’ as it’s my fault we use this strange verbiage, but also a critical element we look for in all the startups we invest in. These are the same qualities we’re looking for in terms of ambition and potential scale of the startups we invest in.

South Korea 124

South Korea Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate 124

Agile VC

APRIL 27, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Apple’s not a startup but thanks in large part to the spirit Steve Jobs infused in the company, they do an incredible job of imagining a product from scratch as it should be. On the startup side, Square’s done a particularly good job of this in payments. April 27, 2012.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 124

Agile VC

APRIL 2, 2013

It occurred to me that we usually refer to entrepreneurs associated with a startup as being “behind” the company or phenomenon. As in Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard drop-out behind Facebook or so-and-so, the folks behind startup X. I mean this not simply as a paean for entrepreneurs.

Founder 100

Founder Entrepreneur Employee Startup 100