Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Thus, based on my experience as an entrepreneur as well as a startup investor, there are indeed situations where a non-disclosure is highly recommended, and others where the potential good far outweighs the risk. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 399

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. You still start the process with a business plan, but then you look for a philanthropist rather than an investor.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Bootstrapping 310

Bootstrapping Advisory Board Venture Capital Startup 310

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. Reducing Startup Risk.

Technical Cofounder 346

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. This could work to get you legal or accounting services, but won’t get you cash to pay employee salaries.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. In fact, far better if you haven’t raised venture capital.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Thus, based on my experience as an entrepreneur as well as a startup investor, there are indeed situations where a non-disclosure is highly recommended, and others where the potential good far outweighs the risk. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 254

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 254

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

A: Over the past decade, angels have invested at a healthy pace, averaging more than $20 billion annually in the US (see graph below). That’s a sizeable amount, especially in comparison to the US venture capital industry, which similarly invests over $20 billion annually. Q: What is the typical profile of angel investors?

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital New Hampshire 114

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 30, 2022

Startups represent an appealing prospect for a lot of investors, with the promise of an early injection of cash paying out in a big way if a business is catapulted to sustainable success over the ensuing months and years. A degree of diversification can go a long way to protecting you from startup failures.

Technical Review 130

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Startup 130

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

This is the final part of a 3-part series on the major changes in the structure of the software & the venture capital industries. Or the Cliff Note’s version: Open Source & Cloud Computing (led by Amazon) drove down tech startup costs by 90%. But … Downsizing Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. This could work to get you legal or accounting services, but won’t get you cash to pay employee salaries.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

At the outset, it is worth noting that when it comes to the world of venture funding, I am a bit of an outsider. Until a handful of years ago, I didn’t even know what venture capital was, let alone anything about the complicated process of actually acquiring VC funding. percent of venture capital deals, and received.33

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

Austin Startup

JULY 29, 2018

Raising funding from Angel Investors can feel like a catch-22. It’s easy to figure out who the active angel investors are but it’s hard to find the right time to pitch them. Not all investors are the same. Not all investors are the same. Angel Investors are investing their own money?—?they

Angel Investor 59

Angel Investor Technical Review Los Angeles Seed Stage 59

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. What happens at the A-round of venture capital? But it’s quite rare.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

These authors speak from their own wealth of experience in creating and growing technology startups, marketing, and fundraising. Here are the key elements of the strengths framework they have developed, with my own insights and experience added for your consideration: Money: the capital you have, or can easily raise.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. You need to know why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your startup.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

Up and Running

AUGUST 12, 2014

In as much as a scheduled interview with an angel investor can be, talking with Boris about what it takes to spark the interest of a venture capital firm was a coincidence. Were they down to him being a more open-minded investor? From the outset of the conversation, Boris was careful with his words, collected.

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Founder Angel Investor North America 90

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

Fortunately, many of the top VCs share their thoughts on their blogs and are full of advice for startups, both big and small. Inside the Minds of Top Venture Capitalists: Blogs You Need to Read to Understand How VCs Think. Eric Ries of The Lean Startup has called Andrew Chen’s blog “one of the best entrepreneurship blogs of all time.”

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2010

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t invest in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. You still start the process with a business plan, but then you look for a philanthropist rather than an investor.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 143

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Are you a startup or ongoing business? For example, many ongoing businesses have access to standard business loans from a traditional bank that would not be available to startups. Venture capital.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

Pioneering Program Launched by Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York and the National Association of Investment Companies. VCAP© Addresses the Gap between Venture Capital and Funding for Women and Diverse Entrepreneurs. Competitiveness Project and its call for HBS alumni to help continue U.S. competitiveness.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Angel Investor 278

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 278

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business. Equity investors.

Entrepreneur 150

Entrepreneur Startup Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Their only recourse is that first tier of investors, fondly called Friends, Family and Fools.

Sweat Equity 274

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Startup Equity 274

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

Seed rounds have grown substantially, and angels are actually investing twice as much in Seed rounds since the pandemic hit. The standard Seed round was once around $75,000 to $150,000 startup. This is because Angels make their money by investing in startups. Gust.com is the capital of Angel investors.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Startup 305

Startup Incubator Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. Success depends on finding startups that have identified acute customer pains in large markets where conditions are ripe for a new entrant. as a distribution channel have vastly reduced the amount of capital a startup needs at the early stage when the risk is greatest.

Early Stage 286

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

There is a common belief in the angel and venture capital community that you put your money on the best team, rather than the best idea. Solo entrepreneurs rarely find an investor. Solo entrepreneurs rarely find an investor. Do your networking with investors well before the funding pitch.

Sweat Equity 152

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Startup 152

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that Venture Capital and Angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268