Feld Thoughts

MARCH 11, 2010

In the mean time, I noticed today that Dow Jones is running a seminar titled Negotiating an Angel Deal: What Angels, Entrepreneurs & VCs Need to Know. My partner Jason Mendelson is one of the panelists, along with several other notable lawyers and angel investors. If you are interested, sign up here.

Term Sheet 122

Term Sheet Angel Investor Entrepreneur Finance 122

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 30, 2011

I received an email from an entrepreneur today asking me about something that made my stomach turn. It’s a first time entrepreneur who is raising a modest (< $750k) seed round). In my email exchange with the entrepreneur, I asked two questions. Entrepreneurs – beware. The answer was no and no.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Vesting Cofounder Angel Investor 162

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I was thinking more about my post from yesterday titled Addressing The VC Seed Investor Signaling Problem. There were a bunch of good comments that caused me to realize that I wrote the post from the perspective of a VC, not an entrepreneur. Note that I explicitly said “other VCs&# and not angel investors.

Entrepreneur 133

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Early Stage Pay to Play 133

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 28, 2014

I remember in 2007 when the idea of a super angel appeared, where successful entrepreneurs were suddenly angel investors making 10 or more seed investments a year. Between 1994 and 1996 I made 40 angel investments with the money I made from the sale of my first company.

Angel Investor 140

Angel Investor Venture Capital IPO Sales 140

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

When I wrote my post titled An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit I expected to write my little rant and be done with it. A month or so later Jason Calacanis picked up the mantle and started a Jihad against the idea of angel groups charging entrepreneurs to pitch to them. The result is the Open Angel Forum.

Angel Investor 110

Angel Investor San Francisco New York City Colorado 110

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Six months ago, two Boulder entrepreneurs and angel investors approached me and my partners about investing in a new accelerator targeting women-led companies.

Angel Investor 154

Angel Investor Startup Leadership Programming 154

Feld Thoughts

MAY 15, 2013

Jason is a “ techie ” and entrepreneur. Jason is an active angel investor and has been with TechStars since 2011 with two very successful programs under his belt as Managing Director. From the TechStars blog: “The Managing Director of TechStars Austin is Jason Seats.

Austin 143

Austin San Antonio Angel Investor Engineer 143

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 1, 2013

I’ve lived my adult working life – first as an entrepreneur, next as an angel investor, and now as a venture capitalist and a writer – using this credo. It’s a core tenant of the Boulder Startup Community, which I discuss extensively in Startup Communities: How To Build an Entrepreneur Ecosystem in Your City.

Angel Investor 183

Angel Investor Equity Community Entrepreneur 183

Feld Thoughts

JULY 26, 2010

I got a note from Nivi, the creator of AngelList , over the weekend saying that he’d put up a special page for angel investors in Boulder. He’s looking for the local Boulder angels to add their names to the list. This rant bugs me as I think it’s incorrect and isn’t very helpful to entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 122

Angel Investor Early Stage Seed Stage Cofounder 122

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

Following is a post on super angels I wrote yesterday for PEHub. In the beginning, there were angel investors. As individual angel investors made more and more investments, they became super angels. And so the super angels became micro-VCs (or “institutionalized super angels”). And it was good.

Angel Investor 142

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Early Stage United States 142

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Geoff worked with Greg at Madrona for a decade and is one of the most prolific and successful angel investors in the Pacific Northwest. PSL was announced today and GeekWire’s conference and there’s an extremely comprehensive post explaining how it works at Top Seattle investors raise $12.5M

Seattle 70

Seattle San Francisco Angel Investor Syndicate 70

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 4, 2018

The entire experience was foundational for me, both as an entrepreneur and an early angel investor (I started investing in 1994 after I sold my first company at the end of 1993.). Over a decade ago, Brad Bernthal and Phil Weiser were putting real energy into Boulder Startup Community.

Private Equity 71

Private Equity Colorado Angel Investor Community 71

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2010

They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur. And importantly, Mark encourages all entrepreneurs to make sure they understand a VC’s seed strategy before taking money, which I strongly agree with. Mark Suster: Understanding a VC’s Seed Funding Policy is Critical.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 152

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 20, 2019

Since then, I’ve been a founder of a number of companies, a CTO of a public company that acquired my first company, an angel investor, a VC in two different firms that I helped start, and an LP in a bunch of VC firms. One of the concluding lines in my dad’s Birth of an Entrepreneur post stood out to me.

LP 108

LP Angel Investor Cofounder Leadership 108

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 4, 2010

Jason Calacanis came up with a great format when he created Open Angel Forum and David Cohen has done an awesome job of hosting and coordinating the two Boulder events. 20 qualified angel investors – to qualify you must be active making angel investments (at least three in the past year). The format is ideal.

Angel Investor 130

Angel Investor Seed Stage Early Stage Texas 130

Feld Thoughts

JULY 13, 2010

The second Boulder Open Angel Forum event is happening on August 4th at 7pm. In case you aren’t familiar with the Open Angel Forum , the organization is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with access to the angel investor community based solely on merit and without any fees.

Angel Investor 100

Angel Investor Hosting Community Email 100

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 7, 2010

The event is also great for angel investors and venture capitalists who would like to learn more about how the TechStars program works, and how to get involved. Angels In The Architecture : A group of local angel investors, me, and a few angel backed entrepreneurs will discuss the role of angels investors in the VC / angel ecosystem.

Los Angeles 119

Los Angeles Seattle Angel Investor Silicon Valley 119

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 2, 2015

The other day, Mark Suster wrote a critically important post titled One Simple Paragraph Every Entrepreneur Should Add to Their Convertible Notes. As an angel investor, I have never asked for a liquidation preference on conversion that is greater than the dollars I’ve invested. Go read it – I’ll wait.

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Cap Table Angel Investor Post-Money Valuation 70

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Today, my partners at Foundry Group and I are contributing $100,000 to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to help with the Boulder Flood Relief Effort. The entrepreneur who worked out of his basement, which is now a swimming pool. The floods in Boulder and the surrounding area the past week have been devastating.

Community 161

Community Colorado Angel Investor Equity 161

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 2, 2010

If you are a VC or angel investor that supports this effort – same drill ( email me ). Let’s end this madness (which I’ve been dealing with for 16 years and an angel and VC investor) once and for all – the entrepreneurs that we work with deserve better from us.

Finance 133

Finance Term Sheet Angel Investor Early Stage 133

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Joanne is awesome – if you don’t read her blog, you should start right now, especially if you are interested in NY entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs, food, and the thoughts of an amazing woman. She is one of the most thoughtful angel investors I’ve ever met.

Seed Stage 133

Seed Stage Angel Investor Conversion Entrepreneur 133

Feld Thoughts

JULY 8, 2014

.” Reid is well known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, a partner at Greylock, an angel investor in many successful companies including Facebook and Twitter, and one of the kingpins of the PayPal Mafia. He’s also a successful entrepreneur, having started Comcate, his first business, at age 14.

Retention 147

Retention Cofounder Angel Investor Employee 147

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Recently, several entrepreneurs and investors have asserted to me that they don’t think the terms on a convertible debt deal matter much. In one of the entrepreneur cases, I explained how it was likely that they were going to be on the wrong side of the valuation discussion in the next financing based on one of the terms.

Term Sheet 125

Term Sheet Seed Stage Angel Investor Valuation 125

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Over the next six months, we worked with many of the mentors and entrepreneurs that have participated in TechStars. Our goal was to write a unique book full of useful information for any early stage entrepreneur.

Early Stage 142

Early Stage Angel Investor Community Programming 142

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 18, 2011

Led By Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs vs. Government. Angel Investors Must Be Organized. The Beginning of the Next Wave (2003 – 2011). Principals of a Sustainable Entrepreneurial Community. Have A 20 Year Commitment. Welcome Everyone Into The Entrepreneurial Community. Leaders vs. Feeders.

Community 142

Community Silicon Valley Incubator Colorado 142

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 6, 2014

As exits have been flowing nicely again the past few years, many of the entrepreneurs I work with have experienced their first big exit. I was making plenty of money consulting and, while I was investing much of the money I made from the sale into new companies as an angel investor, the idea of living in Homer was attractive.

Alaska 166

Alaska Widget Colorado Angel Investor 166

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 18, 2014

I set out to be an entrepreneur and then an investor. I had become an angel investor using some of the money I’d made from the sale of Feld Technologies, and those experiences provided plenty of blog fodder. I thought it would be fun for my last article in Inc. I became a writer almost by accident.

Cofounder 182

Cofounder Angel Investor Venture Capital Finance 182

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 10, 2010

One of the events on our Do More Faste r book tour will be something we are calling Angels in the Architecture. Mike Platt from Cooley (one of our book tour sponsors) came up with the idea of doing an hour long session with a panel of entrepreneurs, angel investors, and VCs discussing the dynamics between angels and VCs.

Architecture 111

Architecture Los Angeles Seattle Angel Investor 111

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 13, 2016

Jon Hallett , a prolific angel investor and successful entrepreneur who I’ve gotten to know over the past few years, dropped a major knowledge bomb on me yesterday afternoon when he sent me a post from David Politis titled This is How You Revolutionize the Way Your Team Works Together… And All It Takes is 15 Minutes.

New York 70

New York Angel Investor Partner Email 70

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 2, 2012

If you are an angel investor working with VCs, this book is for you. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to know a lot more about venture capital, this book is for you.

Venture Capital 136

Venture Capital Exit Strategy Angel Investor Deal Structure 136

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 19, 2010

Info on the two events and how to register are listed below: November 10th – Open Angel Forum , 7pm : Join Jason Calacanis, Andy Sack and many other angel investors for the first meeting of the Seattle chapter of the Open Angel Forum! Register online here: Angels , Entrepreneurs , Service Providers.

Seattle 107

Seattle Angel Investor Cofounder New York 107

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 10, 2010

We decided that we wanted to bring in some experts to help us with the business and together flew around pitching the business to a small handful of strategic angel investors to pull together a small syndicate that became the initial Trada investor base. Recently Google Ventures led the a $5.75m “Series C&# round.

Syndicate 120

Syndicate Syndication Angel Financing Finance 120

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 7, 2011

Each of the two nights we are there we have a great dinner with a bunch of the execs in companies we’ve invested in as well as friends of Foundry Group (other VCs, some journalists, angel investors, other entrepreneurs who are friends.) The first dinner is always somewhere fancy (this year it was at Bouchon ).

Las Vegas 109

Las Vegas Angel Investor Cloud Engineer 109

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Regardless, it has had an undeniably huge impact on angel and seed investing in the past few years. Will it impact a new generation of successful entrepreneurs and angel investors or will it result in a big money pit? At the minimum, it’s interesting to watch the social dynamics of it.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor RSS Email Web 143

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Mid-year I felt compelled to write a post titled Suggestions for Angel Investors. When I reflect on that post, my fear is that most seed investors aren't implementing a "double down on the first round" strategy. The optimist would have a different view (e.g.

Florida 137

Florida Venture Capital Angel Groups Angel Investor 137

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 15, 2010

Since then, Ive been involved with creating and funding hundreds of companies both as an angel investor and a VC (now at Foundry Group). We decided to write a book by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Each of the chapters stands alone and includes a first-person account from me, David, a TechStars entrepreneur or mentor.

Term Sheet 106

Term Sheet Seattle Angel Investor Bootstrapping 106

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 28, 2015

We made a bunch of intros for David and he reached out to a number of the successful entrepreneurs and a few investors (as individuals) around the Techstars network that existed in 2009. David was now visible as a highly desired angel investor across the country. Before he knew it David had $2.5 million lined up.

LP 70

LP Seattle Angel Investor Partner 70