VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

I touched on this in my post “ Founder Investor Fit “ Passing the initial filtering process. Most of these can sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many founders skip this initial research. What should be in your pre-seed pitch deck. What would make an investor more interested in your pitch deck.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

Agile VC

DECEMBER 13, 2011

I recently was having one of these conversations with an entrepreneur I’ve known for a couple years. I looked at this founder’s prior startup, which ultimately had a successful exit, and then was happy to connect with him again as he launches a new project. Author howerl. Filed under Uncategorized. Read More ».

Seed Stage 185

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 185

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

My internal compass has always steered me strongly toward the belief that founders who can scale with their startup companies are better to back that founders who eventually need to hire a CEO. Very few founder CEOs go into the job ever expecting to give up their seat. We set out to find Jonathan’s “co-founder.”

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

View from Seed

APRIL 16, 2015

An easy way to think about it is that value over time doesn’t go up and to the right in a straight line like this: Instead, it’s more of a stair step like this: So, what are the value inflection points that create the stair steps, and how does one think about it at the earliest stages? These might include: Bring on a technical co-founder.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Early Stage Startup 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

At the seed stage and as companies scale, helping the founders I work with identify and reach their goals, personally and professionally, gives me energy and purpose. I made over a dozen angel investments and a few investments in VC funds as an LP, expanding my focus to new geographies, sectors, and stages.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

The sudden arrival of the global pandemic has shifted the playbook for founders and venture capitalists. As high-conviction, seed stage investors, we are inherently relationship-driven, and we value meeting exceptional founders face-to-face. Zoom calls have taken the place of in-person meetings.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

Thanks to all of the amazing founders, advisors, co-investors, corporate partners, and others that helped make 2018 an amazing year. To that point, we are most excited when our founders are able to go from slide deck to product-market fit and Series A and beyond. We are truly grateful for your support. First check to Series A?—?congrats

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

View from Seed

MAY 18, 2016

The purpose of a board is not simply to be the founders’ friend… it is to help govern the company and provide input into its strategic direction. Here at NextView, we are strong proponents of creating a board at the seed stage. And various stakeholders (investors, early founders no longer operationally involved, etc.)

Seed Stage 216

Seed Stage Cofounder Later Stage Government 216

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

of teams’ online pitch decks and recorded videos, as well as loved the dozens of second-round video conversations which we had with Founders working on quite compelling startups. Many of these Founders we wouldn’t have had an opportunity to connect with if we hadn’t launched this program.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Hearpreneur

MAY 4, 2019

Conversely, the integrated mindsets, mechanics, and methodologies of entrepreneurship and venture capital are designed and calibrated to discover new customer needs and devise innovative and new-to-the-world solutions. The MBA-driven methodology they use is about taking something big and making it bigger.

Cofounder 66

Cofounder Founder Entrepreneur Venture Capital 66

Up and Running

DECEMBER 13, 2021

Fundraising isn’t easy for most founders. No longer are founders being asked to drive up and down Sand Hill Road, meet in small coffee shops throughout SF or NYC, or spend a meaningful amount of money getting around to all of these meetings. Don’t interrupt your co-founder or the investor. Know when to stop talking.

Founder 85

Founder Cofounder SMS Seed Stage 85

View from Seed

JULY 17, 2019

Although you still hear stories of investors that require founders to move to SF, it’s more likely these days that investors see a winning business outside of the Bay Area as a positive, given the costs and competitive pressure in that local market. How should a founder go about it? But doing this takes extra work.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco Cofounder B2B Seed Stage 243

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet. But keep in mind at this point Reid’s a first-time CEO.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 29, 2020

Capital Factory Founder, Joshua Baer, introduces 2019’s Texas Startups Roadshow in Austin. Investors from across Texas who you can co-invest with. The top seed-stage tech and consumer startups in Texas. Meet local investors who you can co-invest with. Who should attend the roadshow? Why are we doing this?

Texas 97

Texas San Antonio Global Dallas 97

View from Seed

AUGUST 5, 2014

This is a guest post from Ben Rubin , co-founder and CEO of Change Collective , which offers courses for behavior change with world-class experts. For seed-stage startups, when resources are tight, trying to consciously build startup culture can feel wasteful. My co-founder Derek had the opposite communication style.

Cofounder 307

Cofounder Startup SCRUM Seed Stage 307

YoungUpstarts

MAY 8, 2018

Imagine having the tough conversation when things go wrong. All entrepreneurs want to demonstrate that they’re competent, courageous, and bold, however, always take a co-founder or trusted advisor along. If an investor is hierarchical and doesn’t see diversity as a competitive tool, look for capital somewhere else.

Seed Stage 114

Seed Stage Due Diligence Cofounder New York 114

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

Co-founder Naval Ravikant explains that 18 pilot companies in the program, including Transcriptic, Double Robotics and Tred, received $6.7 Investors included Founders Fund, 500 Startups and Marc Cuban. This is just the next phase of AngelList’s evolution into a one-stop shop for seed-stage companies and their backers.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

View from Seed

JULY 28, 2016

In episode 22 of our podcast, Traction , Unbounce co-founder and marketing keynote speaker Oli Gardner shared five key parts to well-optimized startup landing pages. It can be used to convert customers, convince co-marketing partners to collaborate with you, and build loyalty longer term. Social proof.

Startup 136

Startup Seed Stage Cofounder Aggregator 136

YoungUpstarts

JULY 29, 2013

by Meng Weng Wong, co-founder and social engineer at JFDI Asia. Some founders stay at hostels. We spend tremendous energy recruiting between 100 and 200 angels and seed-stage investors who may invest in your business. Each founder who owns shares in the startup and has attended JFDI will be invited.

Asia 184

Asia Singapore Cofounder Incubator 184

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

That excitement took a sharp downhill turn when one of the top partners said to me, in front of my co-founders, “When are you going to get a real CEO?”. This conversation ultimately became the inspiration for Andreessen Horowitz. I was completely stunned—the comment knocked the wind out of me. Marc and I discussed this often.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Partner 78

The Equity Kicker

JUNE 26, 2014

Our model of backing entrepreneurs and then also investing heavily in a team and co-working space to support them is new. We invest in 1-2 companies per quarter that join us for a year long programme, and we invest in late-seed stage companies too. I like that about us.

eCommerce 98

eCommerce Partner Incubator Early Stage 98

Agile VC

JANUARY 12, 2012

When a startup doesn’t match the stage where a particular investor focuses, founders may get a response along the lines of “This is interesting to us, but come back once you get from X phase to Y phase” That could be from seed stage to a larger Series A financing need, or to progress from pre-product to post-revenue.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 100

Genuine VC

AUGUST 3, 2010

During the seed stage where Micro VCs invest, there are three primary diligence factors: Team and individuals – The information discovery here involves conversations with former coworkers, cofounders, partners, investors, and customers. Quicker diligence is not lesser diligence at the seed stage for Micro VCs. ?

Seed Stage 123

Seed Stage Cofounder Metrics Forecast 123

Rob Go

JULY 18, 2019

Although you still hear stories of investors that require founders to move to SF, it’s more likely these days that investors see a winning business outside of the Bay Area as a positive, given the costs and competitive pressure in that local market. How should a founder go about it? But doing this takes extra work.

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Cofounder B2B Seed Stage 48

Hippoland

JANUARY 1, 2017

In the beginning, I started the blog, because writing was cathartic for me and was a way for me to write down what I was advising founders already on a 1:1 basis. Special thanks to my co-founder Thea Koullias, CEO/founder at Jon Lou , who has helped me pull this all together. I feel lucky to have such a great team.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Cofounder Email Canada 48

Feld Thoughts

JULY 26, 2010

or the issues around signaling risk, I felt like there wasn’t enough discussion about why and when VCs were effective seed investors. Hopefully my perspective and examples will be additive to the conversation and helpful to early stage entrepreneurs, especially first time ones.

Angel Investor 122

Angel Investor Early Stage Seed Stage Cofounder 122

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

If you and all the people around your startup (co-founders, advisors, existing investors) feel strongly that the company A) could benefit from additional equity capital at this time and B) you’ve accomplished value accretive milestones since your last round of funding, then it might make sense to talk with potential new investors.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. MySpace became its own company, MySpace, Inc.,

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

Some disgruntled younger partners left in the mid-90s… two co-founded Benchmark Capital (Bruce Dunlevie & Andy Rachleff). But eventually some disgruntled younger partners left and two started August Capital (Dave Marquardt & John Johnson) and one co-founded Benchmark (Bob Kagle). But it’s not quite that simple.

Silicon Valley 240

Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

So I generally feel right at home in these conversations. Seed-stage investors are learning the metrics of traction, and are getting better at identifying those companies that are really achieving validated learning about customers. In other words, they are facing conditions of extreme uncertainty, just like startups.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

It’s a conversation that creeps up from time-to-time. This person had been introduced to me several times by angels and I was told that I’d be the perfect seed investor. Almost every deal I’ve ever funded I’ve gotten to know the founders over time. I was interested in learning more.

Early Stage 360

Early Stage Startup Venture Capital Seed Stage 360

Rob Go

JANUARY 10, 2012

One practice that we instituted early on was to create a co-working culture, much like what you see in the startups we invest in or the shared workspaces where startups are birthed. We are different people, and different types of founders may find that they have more chemistry with one person vs. another.

Due Diligence 46

Due Diligence Seed Stage Cofounder Deal Flow 46

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 11, 2019

Ann Miura-Ko is a founding partner at Floodgate , a seed-stage VC firm. She’s also a founding member of All Raise, a non-profit committed to improving diversity in both funders and founders. We were originally called Maples Investments, because my co-founding partner is Mike Maples, and we had that as a placeholder.

Founder 68

Founder Lean Venture Capital Cofounder 68

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2020

"I really like that resilience word," Robert Rhinehart told me in our conversation about his new organization, The Corona Initiative. You may know him as the founder of Soylent, the nutrition company he started in his kitchen and scaled nationwide. In addition, a complete transcript of our conversation follows the show resources below.

Technical Review 68

Technical Review Software Review Finance Technology 68

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

You can see the example deck embedded at the end of this post, but in summary, it’s a very short document (five to seven slides) followed by an extensive appendix that maps to the most frequently asked questions a founder is likely to face. You tell your story about how you decided to start your business and how you met your co-founders.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Startup Seed Stage Warrant 120