Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

“If you need to clean up your own cap table first – while very hard to do – it will make outside funding easier” Again, go read the post now – I’ll wait. I watched, participated, and suffered through every type of creative financing as companies were struggling to raise capital in this time frame.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Hunter Walker

MARCH 15, 2018

While reading Brotopia, we were also helping theSkimm finish up their new financing , with Google Ventures and Spanx founder Sara Blakely joining the cap table. Over the past five years, I’ve witnessed theSkimm be underestimated by the venture capital industry, by pundits and press.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Cap Table Venture Capital Finance 71

Version One Ventures

MAY 22, 2018

How do you decide who you should have in your cap table? Lastly, dig down into how an investor behaved during new financing rounds or during exits. The post The “reverse” pitch: Who should you have on your cap table? What is important to you? What reverse pitch resonated with you?

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 60

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . 645 Ventures released a cap table simulator to help level the playing field. Capital has built a free online tool for founders to calculate their cost of capital.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

We were targeting to raise around $3 million in investment capital. This should be clearly spelled out in your Capitalization Table , or “Cap Table” as it’s commonly called. A Cap Table shows who owns the company, what the ownership shares are, and what the owners have invested in exchange for that share.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. Bigfoot Capital. Decathlon Capital. Key elements: . “We

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

Morality aside, I’d say given the inherent riskiness of startups, I’m not sure this would be a great addition to your cap table. I’m a straight white dude who grew up in NYC and worked in finance. How about a Middle Eastern Prince that kills journalists (directly or through a Kushner)? Drug kingpin?

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

Back in the olden days of venture capital, company boards had wide discretion in pricing company options. These reports are generally quite lengthy and not always particularly comprehensible to non-finance professionals. Quick note: I’m not your lawyer. I’m not giving legal advice in this post. I was wrong.

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup. For those of you who fit that description, nice work.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 11, 2019

I've been in venture now twice. I was in Boston, working for the first time in venture capital as an analyst for this guy who was incredible and an amazing mentor. In a place where there are many, many venture capital firms, he couldn't think of a single female general partner. What's the message?

Founder 68

Founder Lean Venture Capital Cofounder 68

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A! 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007. It is less about actual money and more about structure of your Cap Table.

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

David Teten

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

I wrote recently about Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? That said, venture capital is just one of many options to finance your business, and it’s typically the most expensive. The first step is to decide the right capital structure for your financing.

SBIC 60

SBIC SBA Cap Table Database 60

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

On the heels of the announcement we made last month about our Series B financing , we are now announcing the launch of a new program called Bolster Prime and a new venture capital fund called Bolster Ventures. The middle” consists of venture-backed companies that are neither early stage nor mature.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Many entrepreneurs lose track of what they have been cooking up in the cap table. When it comes time to convert the notes, these entrepreneurs face ‘sticker shock’ about their post-financing ownership. They do not recognize that they may have already contractually sold a meaningful portion of equity in their company.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Haystack

APRIL 27, 2018

In some sense, it’s entirely rational to have this lens [ see stats for Haystack Funds I-III below ]; in other ways, I’d bet the prescient seed investors in companies like Coinbase, Roblox, or Giphy had no clue if any of these specific companies would ever attract real venture capital.

Naming 60

Naming Venture Capital Seed Stage Cap Table 60

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

Plus, if the business doesn’t raise enough the capital in the first round to become self-sustaining, the crowdfunding round’s cap table and/or terms may make the deal unattractive or not doable for follow-on, institutional investors. He’s formed multiple venture capital funds, founded angel groups, and is an angel investor.

Equity 100

Equity United Kingdom Cap Table Oklahoma 100

Haystack

DECEMBER 17, 2019

4/ Competitive Financings: As is the case with most breakouts, there was a competitive financing for the company in 2019, ultimately led by a16z. Email is a tool nearly everyone uses daily, across devices, from their personal to work life — obviously.

Cap Table 113

Cap Table Finance Database Software 113

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Even the best venture capital firms have a lot of failures and few successes. I wont bother going into details on start-up financing terms ( see this post for an overview of typical VC terms) except to say if you dont know and understand: the firms cap table and valuation. venture capital. innovation.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup. For you who fit that description, nice work.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Having a better overall portfolio of venture capital by adding funds into the mix. Diversification Finance 101 would tell you that, in the public market, you want to be in at least 20-30 names to eliminate a good chunk of the risk (as defined by the standard deviation of return) that you don’t actually get paid for.

Portfolio 134

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 134

Haystack

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Part of being a founder is simply about being able to finance the operation. Maybe an accelerator should take lower cap table ownership unless they deliver investors who convert? However, that doesn’t mean founders in those programs should assume their accelerator will help them land financing.

Deal Flow 106

Deal Flow Cap Table Early Stage Institutional Investors 106

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. In February of last year, Fortune magazine writers Erin Griffith and Dan Primack declared 2015 “ The Age of the Unicorns ” noting — “Fortune counts more than 80 startups that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists.”

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? But should they?

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 2, 2021

The founders, the CEO, the CFO, the executives, the employees, and the venture investors. These are the parties on the cap table prior to the transaction. Why would a founder or CEO want an investor on the cap table who was only interested in “paying attention” to the company if there is a large, free, one-day incentive?

IPO 82

IPO Customer Matching Silicon Valley 82

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

It is gently laying the foundation for a subsequent financing, helping the CTO set sensible milestones to be achieved that can demonstrate execution skill and release cycle management. It is helping with recruiting by leveraging my networks and experience in a particular domain.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 21, 2017

We need massively successful companies like Facebook, and even Uber to generate growth, employment and the profits needed in the venture industry to finance the next generation of companies. Recognise that the system is imperfect, but not broken. Some unicorns are bad, but lots are good.

San Francisco 90

San Francisco Cap Table Angel Investor Valuation 90

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

West coast founders now fully understand why having a NYC investor on their cap table pays huge dividends and west coast VCs are regularly leading Series A and B rounds in NYC. Having more capital will only further our mission, not change it.

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Dividend Institutional Investors 60

ithacaVC

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

I recently got a question from a person in a large company who is thinking about joining a startup that expects to raise venture capital. For example, let’s say Exec X is asking for 10% of the fully diluted cap table via a stock grant or option grant that is non-dilutable. Actually, I got many questions.

Dilution 53

Dilution Employee Cap Table Stock 53

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 26, 2022

From Box to Glossier, and Comms to Venture Capital, Ashley Mayer Is Carving a Pretty Unique Path. The first was in July of 2014, when we made the unusual move of raising and announcing another round of private financing while on file to go public. What She’s Learned, And What You Can Learn From Her.

IPO 91

IPO Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 91

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

Having started and sold 3 successful bootstrapped businesses, and am now running 1 venture capital backed business ( Coach ), this is a topic I know a thing or two about. You can also getaway with giving up zero-to-little equity if you finance the business out of your own pocket or through other means, such as consulting.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2015

A company raises $1m of seed money from angels in a convertible note with a $6m cap. Assuming equity is raised at or above that cap, the total dilution, before the new money, is 16.6% (equivalent to an equity financing of $1m at a $6m post money valuation. The company spends the $1m building and launching their first product.

Recapitalization 70

Recapitalization Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Angel Investor 70

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 2, 2015

We’ve been regularly running into another problem with doing a financing after companies have raised convertible notes. This can be especially confusing, and ambiguous, when there are multiple price caps. Mark has a superb example of how this works on his blog.

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Cap Table Angel Investor Post-Money Valuation 70

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 2, 2010

I’m sure you’ll start seeing some rounds that essentially should be B rounds according to what the current cap table looks like, except that there’s a Series A level of progress, and about a million bucks in product overspend that didn’t really lead to a business. Tags: Venture Capital & Technology. Drive one key metric.

Cap Table 106

Cap Table Seed Stage .Net Venture Capital 106

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

This post will be perhaps a bit longer than usual, but certainly of great interest for those with interest in or have need for more capital… This stage is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. For you who fit that description, nice work.

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 69

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

I understand the appeal of having many VC firms on your cap table. You may feel as I did in 1999 that the more smart people around the table the more intros you’ll have, the more sage advice you’ll receive and the more impressive you’ll seem to outsiders. .&# The Perils of Many.

Dilution 314

Dilution Cap Table Due Diligence Option Pool 314

Professor VC

AUGUST 14, 2012

FC is the latest Kickstarter type site to launch to give entrepreneurs the opportunity to raise financing from a large number of individuals. Micro Ventures ) or provide a secondary marketing between investors (i.e. And the company has only one investor on the cap table but can (if they wish) take advantage of a larger group network.

Accredited Investor 42

Accredited Investor SEC Cap Table Angel Groups 42

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

However, founder agreements are not set in stone and it is common for them to be tweaked by a little or a lot during the first financing by professional investors. The only way to remove their equity holding in the cap table is by buying them out or through a recapitalization of the company. more details ].

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44