View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

By definition, all entrepreneurs should think that their endeavor is truly exceptional and above average. But, also by definition, that just can’t be the case. For example, even once you’ve determined your initial pricing ask, the reality is that different seed investors have varying degrees of sensitivity to pricing.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” We did a seed deal this week that would surprise you.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 337

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 19, 2017

The old adage of “Always be selling” definitely applies to fundraising. One of the things I didn’t realize as an entrepreneur was that at the seed stage, *anyone* could potentially be an investor. A lot of entrepreneurs just think to pitch to VCs or well-known angel investors or people who have signaled they are angels on Angelist.

Angel Investor 48

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I told my friend that I felt that in 2014 too many new VCs feel the pressure to chase deals, to be a part of syndicates with other brand names and to pounce on top of every startup whose numbers are trending up quickly. If your favorite angel investor is sending you what looks like a form email it likely is. I don’t.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

By definition, all entrepreneurs should think that their endeavor is truly exceptional. But, also by definition, that just can’t be the case. Probably the most price-sensitive seed investors I know are sophisticated individual angel investors. Above market.

Valuation 136

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndicate 136

Hippoland

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

Founder: And then that angel investor said, “This is definitely interesting. This has happened 3x in the last 2 days but none of these angels have written a check - is this bad signaling? Angel investors are not professionals, so it’s not necessarily bad signaling since they may not do many investments.

Angel Investor 48

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication America 48

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 11, 2014

DON’T tell other investors that “Hunter suggested” you reach out if I didn’t actually say you could use my name. If we’ve gotten this far, I’m definitely curious about how you progress. Hopefully that helps you get more investor <> investor introductions.

Seed Stage 125

Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 125

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

In my experience, venture investors are more focused on percentage ownership, which obviously requires a trade-off with the amount invested and valuation. I had a discussi on with another angel investor a few months ago and he was bragging about the deal he just struck that included a 3X participating liquidation preference.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

K9 Ventures

JULY 19, 2012

K9 Ventures II will still be syndicating most investments with other seed and angel investors. No distributed teams, no overseas teams, and definitely no companies that rely on “outsourcing” to build their core technology. Hyper-local : The entire team should be located in the SF Bay Area.

Technology 132

Technology Seed Stage San Francisco Limited Partner 132

K9 Ventures

JULY 19, 2012

K9 Ventures II will still be syndicating most investments with other seed and angel investors. No distributed teams, no overseas teams, and definitely no companies that rely on “outsourcing” to build their core technology. Hyper-local : The entire team should be located in the SF Bay Area.

Technology 132

Technology Seed Stage San Francisco Limited Partner 132

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

However, I view pari passu as a more intrinsic definition that goes beyond simple legal definitions. I''m a strong believer in fairness (although my daughters may not agree) and investors and entrepreneurs working together as a team to create something valuable to all stakeholders (customers, employees, founders, investors).

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you. There are a lot of options to expand your deal sourcing, like AngelList, syndicates, angel groups, etc. Other thoughts?

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you. There are a lot of options to expand your deal sourcing, like AngelList, syndicates, angel groups, etc. Other thoughts?

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Individual accredited investors in typical angel deals put personal capital at risk for an equity share of growth-oriented, start-up companies. These angel investors generally invest $25,000 to $100,000 in a round totaling $250,000 to $1,000,000. A local network of angels is critical to achieving a diversified portfolio.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

An excellent question to ponder as the school year begins, but the answer depends on whether you are looking for a plumber or an angel investor. According to the Center for Venture Research at UNH , there are over 260,000 angel investors. These angels invested $17.6 What does it take to be an Angel Investor?

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups San Jose Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

And this is a company that has managed to get an A+ list of investors and is executing very well. There are definitely some lessons in the story for entrepreneurs and angel investors, but before discussing, I thought Id share a bit about the early financing history for iControl. What does it take to be an Angel Investor?

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

If your friends or family happen to be rich, the line blurs betweenthem and angel investors. At Viaweb we got our first $10,000 ofseed money from our friend Julian, but he was sufficiently richthat its hard to say whether he should be classified as a friendor angel. Angel Investors Angels are individual rich people.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

If you’re working with an open source project, for example, it’s important that you have a definitive business model to drive revenue — though not at the cost of alienating your community of core contributors. For example, angel funding is more prevalent in the United States than in Europe. All Rights Reserved. startupcto

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77

Professor VC

MARCH 12, 2015

It was a great product addressing a large market opportunity and was interested in seeing how the AngelList syndicate process worked. Due to confidentiality provisions, I can''t disclose details, but there are many very unhappy participants who invested through the syndicate. Syndicates can either be company led or investor led.

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley Common Stock 28

Up and Running

AUGUST 4, 2015

The failed pitches to investors, the difficult conversations with loved ones, and even the negotiations among cofounders are all recorded here as they happened, giving a unique look at one man’s entire experience from concept to company. See Also 11 Angel Investor Blogs You Should Be Reading. Listen to StartUp here.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Hosting Syndicate Syndication 60

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

Early-stage seed and angel investors all realize that a business will encounter a huge range of flux very rapidly. Partners W3 EDGE Concentric Sky Rackspace Intridea Dynect DNS Webtrends Global Syndication Partners ABCNews CNN Metro USAToday Yahoo ©2005-2011 Mashable, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Publisher Platform (P3).

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Hunter Walker

MAY 19, 2014

It was easier to just discuss privately with other investors, but Jason Calacanis tweeted this morning about VCs trying to take entire seed rounds , and so, here it goes. Previous to the prevalence of angel investors, it was a bunch of VC funds fighting over deals. No one tweeted about it. Or wrote blog posts like this one.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Founder 100