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The Shift from FOMO to FOLD in Early Stage Investing

View from Seed

For the last several years, the early stage investing market was driven largely by the F ear O f M issing O ut, AKA FOMO. My prediction is that FOLD will permeate through the early stage investing landscape and have some pretty broad effects. VCs are always founder focused no matter the market environment.

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Early-stage Regional Venture Funds–part 2 of 3 of Bigger in Bend

Steve Blank

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. Few entrepreneurs find this scalable and repeatable business model because it’s not easy. What’s Missing Is Early Stage Capital.

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Grant Applications Often Provide Early-Stage Funding

Startup Professionals Musings

A critical stage for most first-time entrepreneurs is getting their idea developed into at least a prototype to validate their technology. This process costs money, which professional investors are not willing to contribute, since their interest is in scaling a proven product and business model into a growth business.

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Is a Venture Studio Right for You?

Steve Blank

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.

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6 Sources of Help For Early Stage Concept Exploration

Startup Professionals Musings

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Specialized VCs start to jump in at this stage.

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Even the Smartest VCs Sometimes Get it Wrong – Bill Gurley and Regulated Markets

Steve Blank

He illustrated his talk with regulatory horror stories in the telecom market , electronic health records , and Covid antigen tests. Unfortunately, for startups entering a regulated market following this advice this might not be the optimum path. It’s the antithesis of how founders want to build a business. Why is it bad?

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Venture Capital Firms Broaden Horizons: Early and Late-Stage Investments Fuel Innovation and Growth

The Startup Magazine

In this exploration, we’re diving deep into how venture capital firms like Steve Streit’s SWS Venture Capital are broadening their horizons, not just dabbling but deeply investing in both early and late-stage opportunities. The strategic importance of late-stage investments cannot be overstated.