Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Founded in November 2007 in New York City by Alexis Maybank and Kevin Ryan (co-founder of DoubleClick); CEO is Susan Lyne (ex-CEO Marta Stewart Living Omnimedia) Revenue estimates: $50mm in 2008; $170mm in 2009 (versus budget of $150mm); $450mm forecasted for 2010. Note that I’m not defining who numbers 1,2 are. Time will tell.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. Sometimes this involves co-CEO’s. A close friend of mine in LA who is 3 years into his startup called me about 2.5

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

Summit is a hugely respected firm in Silicon Valley and a long-term “institution&# but they’re better known as more of a “private equity&# investor meaning that they do later stage investments in much larger companies that are profitable. What I found strange about this funded was the fact that it was led by Summit Partners.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2015

If you hire somebody with 3 kids and who doesn’t have a lot of savings you’re naturally going to have somebody who cares more about cash than equity even though you REALLY WANT everybody in your company to have the same motivations as you.

Oauth 150

Oauth Software Review Technical Review IPO 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. Once it’s set up I recommend bringing in a co-founder and giving them 10-30% of the company depending upon when you bring them in. You’ll be fine.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

It proved to be fortuitous because it allowed me the time & space I needed to get to know tons of founders and VCs and to hone my craft. Some Teams Create, Others Scale (Some do both) There is so much focus these days on founders and whether they should always remain in the CEO seat.

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2009

Yesterday I wrote a blog post ( here ) in which I urged people to not have too many founders. To be clear – it is not about being stingy with or hoarding equity – it is about having a prenuptial agreement. - What if the person performs OK, but not great and you need to hire above him? They agreed to all be co-founders.

Founder 251

Founder Cofounder Equity Stock Options 251

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice).

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Most founders have a strong sense of what they’re trying to achieve. They hire their initial co-founders and early employees and everybody has a sense of “mission.” We tend to stick by founders in tough times and often roll up our sleeves in the darkest hours. A Sense of Purpose.

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. If you’re a solo founder and haven’t built out your team or engineers I’m likely to want 15+%. million and the founder starts thinking, “yeah, $3.5

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

It is with this backdrop that I was really happy to learn from my friend Ethan Anderson (HBS alum & founder of RedBeacon) about an awesome program at HBS run by Tom Eisenmann called Launching Technology Ventures. Here is a sample of the reading list for the course that gives you a flavor for just how modern and practical this course is.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

I once mentioned this idea to a fellow SoCal VC when I told him I wanted a CIC in LA and he said, “Co-location is dead. Uh, I guess he won’t be co-sponsoring a technology lab in LA with me then? And you can tell that the founders have thought greatly about creating the right kind of space for startup companies.

San Francisco 285

San Francisco Incubator Silicon Valley Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

Revolution is a “stage agnostic&# fund (means they invest early or late) funded entirely by Steve Case , the founder of AOL and co-founded by two other individuals, Tige Savage (yes, pronounced like the golfer, minus the “r&# ) and Donn Davis. Revolution, what is it? It operates well in urban environments and college towns.

Cofounder 277

Cofounder Merger Founder Venture Capital 277

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

You are either bought for stock or for equity. But I owe it to my existing investors and co-founders to listen. But mad knowledge exists inside of every founder who has sold a business. Not as an enticement to get a buyer to pay up after the deal. Think about it. Let’s say you target LinkedIn to buy you.

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

management, founders, angel investors) get any money. I once told an entrepreneur in whom I was going to co-invest with a VC that brought me a deal and the CEO was considering changing that firm out, “I came to this dance with one VC and I’m leaving with that VC. The list goes on. Legacy deals have “hair.&#.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

But when the finally convert the debt to equity the round gets filed with the SEC and thus journalists often pick up on it. StackOverflow – We both have a love fest for Joel Spolsky who also co-founded Fog Creek Software. Swipely – Blippy competitor founded by TellMe founder, Angus Davis, in Fall 2009.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. It’s a very cool vibe at Founder’s Coop. That’s one model.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When you set up a board it is often initially a combination of the founders and the early investors. It can start 2–1 founders to investors and then sometimes moves to 3–2 but sometime around the A, B or C round the idea of “independent” directors comes up. When an entrepreneur takes on investors who take equity (i.e.

Warrant 187

Warrant LP Cofounder Founder 187

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2013

We co-led the A-round with IA Ventures. We co-led the next round with IA Ventures without even asking other VCs to participate so we did an A-1 round. And even in this growth equity round led by Insight Partners we asked for our full prorata investment and took as much as we were allowed to. Not so DataSift. ” Steve.

Iran 358

Iran API San Francisco Nigeria 358

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

I reinforced this view by referring to a very interesting article I had read by Andy Grove (co-founder & former CEO of Intel) on car batteries, china manufacturing and the problem of US outsourcing. ” Money is not debt or equity but a “license to use their capital.” Then there is a royalty rate.

Bankruptcy 403

Bankruptcy Offshore Liquidation Preference Balance Sheet 403

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was hanging out the other day with my buddy Jody Sherman, founder & CEO of EcoMom. Co-founded a company in the private jet business – sold to Virgin America. Part 2/3 of Interview: AngelList: A Quick Introduction and Interview with Founders Babak Nivi & Naval Ravikant – [Minutes: 23:00 – 55:00].

Valuation 292

Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Competition: Chegg (has raised $144 in debt and equity)—estimated by Steven Carpenter ( TechCrunch ) to be 10x more unique visitors than BookRenter (during peak book renting seasons) with nearly $140mm in revenues for 2010. No big shocker since it is co-founded by Biz Stone and Adam Ruegel. Founded in 2008 by Mehdi Maghsoodnia.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Los Angeles Oakland Asia 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

In the case of startups the “buyer” is the VC looking to part cash for “purchasing” equity in your startup. Many founders don’t understand why inside rounds are so difficult. Because we know in tough times we have to count on our co-investors to be good actors. Why Inside Rounds are Difficult?

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150