David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

The classic scenario is when a VC has a signed term sheet to lead a round, but has left room open for another meaningful investor. At this point, the investor and the entrepreneur work together to develop their perfect list of potential partners, and then do targeted outreach to try to bring this investor into the round.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

View from Seed

MAY 31, 2023

For example, a 2009 study conducted by Paul Gompers and David Scharfstein, “Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship”, found that failed founders have the same chances of success¹ as novice founders, but prior success does increase the odds of future success. I reached out to a dozen founders using the criteria of: 1.

Silicon Valley 156

Silicon Valley Cofounder Term Sheet Founder 156

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

This also appears as a guest post at Fortune’s Term Sheet. 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.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

It’s hard to describe in words the palpable energy when a room is this packed full of incredible female entrepreneurs at the Women in Tech Summit at Capital Factory. On October 4th, five technology startup finalists will pitch to a panel of advisors and judges made up of successful investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.

San Antonio 107

San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Introduction This post originally appeared in the “ Ask the Attorney ” column I am writing for VentureBeat ; it is part of my ongoing series regarding venture capital term sheets. The Investors’ Right to Walk VC Term Sheets Are Non-Binding. VC Term Sheets Are Conditional.

Term Sheet 76

Term Sheet Due Diligence Liquidation Preference Redemption 76

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 15, 2020

On February 9th, during Capital Factory’s Black in Tech Summit, five technology startup finalists will be judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs, industry leaders and mentors. Any tech or consumer startup with a black founder can apply to pitch at our Black in Tech Summit. Apply now to be one of five teams selected to pitch.

Founder 98

Founder Dallas Houston Term Sheet 98

View from Seed

MAY 17, 2019

The venture fundraising process for founders has a certain rhythm to it, and so a lot can be read into the timing and pacing of the conversations. After a term sheet is signed, but before closing, I call the “venture limbo” period. S o as it’s often heard around the NextView office, “Time kills all deals.”.

Term Sheet 149

Term Sheet Reputation Security Conversion 149

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. This is where most founders err.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

This past summer, the Lightspeed Summer Fellowships program invited selected guests to provide aspiring entrepreneurs a perspective into all aspects of starting a new company. The program provides entrepreneurs the resources and mentoring they need to build their companies and develop their skills. Board and Stockholder Votes. .

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

In 2017 we began inserting an “Inclusion Clause” into our term sheets because we believe that the culture one establishes at the earliest stages of one’s business will set out the course of how it will grow and develop. Many of us had experiences of asking entrepreneurs, “Why are none of our candidates women?”

Term Sheet 284

Term Sheet Los Angeles Open Source Portfolio 284

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2017

She was an African-American entrepreneur, hair care industry pioneer, philanthropist, patron of the arts, political activist and one of the 20th century’s most influential businesswomen. This is similar to something we did at Austin Ventures to encourage startups to make a donation to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas.

Austin 54

Austin Angel Investor Startup Term Sheet 54

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

Managing short-term tactical outcomes with longer term relationship cultivation. Meeting new founders while collaborating, recruiting, analyzing, doing whatever it takes, to help our current founders build strong companies. Doing what excites me and gives energy. 1) Evaluate New Opportunities. .”

Software Review 103

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. I told him, “I know we don’t yet have a term sheet so you feel you need to listen to everybody’s request. But imagine you were expecting two term sheets imminently. link] Another entrepreneur was recently in my office.

Term Sheet 217

Term Sheet Later Stage Demand Email 217

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

These are really good founders and I think this is an interesting space.” Further, when additional people kept mentioning Airbnb to me and praising the founders, I should have asked myself how a smart, capable person would refine the idea.). Those two minutes showed me that Airbnb’s founders wanted to play in the big leagues.

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

DivInc is a pre-accelerator based in Austin that bridges the gap between underrepresented entrepreneurs and the resources they need to build profitable, high-growth companies. One founder/startup will walk away with a $100,000 investment that day! Submit your application Who can apply? Application deadline is March 20.

Houston 84

Houston Dallas Term Sheet Texas 84

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

DivInc is a pre-accelerator based in Austin that bridges the gap between underrepresented entrepreneurs and the resources they need to build profitable, high-growth companies. One founder/startup will walk away with a $100,000 investment that day! Submit your application Who can apply? Application deadline is March 20.

Houston 84

Houston Dallas Term Sheet Texas 84

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

Most often, VCs ask founders to pitch another member of partnership. Other methods of outsourcing work include assigning founder “homework” or having junior staff run some analysis, make phone calls, or write up a report. The challenge for some VCs is that real, deliberate diligence like that, takes actual work.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Term Sheet Seed Stage Partner 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. If you’re a solo founder and haven’t built out your team or engineers I’m likely to want 15+%.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

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

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 15, 2013

Provide some sort of seed capital to their founders. Take a small amount of equity (usually ~6%) and overall have terms that are favorable to entrepreneurs. Have a strong management team who are typically proven entrepreneurs. Take no less than 5 and no more than 12 companies at a time.

Global 179

Global Networking United States Seed Money 179

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2019

Over the past few weeks, two of my clients have received financing term sheets in which the investors requested super pro rata rights. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for founders to discuss these rights and to point out the problems they create for startups. Introduction. Pro Rata Rights.

Preferred Stock 56

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Dilution Stock 56

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The most successful serial entrepreneurs in the world may found three or four, perhaps even eight or ten venture-backed startups over the course of their careers. It should therefore come as no surprise that an asymmetry of information exists, mostly gleaned from experience, between founders and investors in a venture financing deal.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Series Seed Term Sheet (v 2.0). Series Seed Term Sheet. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. In reviewing these documents on the term sheet, last item, how is the term "double trigger" defined.   Series Seed COI.

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

View from Seed

JANUARY 30, 2020

But assuming success, a moment will come when a founder will have multiple funding options. Partnering with an investor and/or board member is very long term commitment, and I’m always surprised by how little diligence founders do prior to signing up for what could be a 10+ year collaboration. Raising money is super hard.

Due Diligence 195

Due Diligence Partner Term Sheet Finance 195

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

I was recently speaking with some founders about their fund raising process. They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. But what about once you have a term sheet? Focus on the companies that went through tough times – For some reason most entrepreneurs do.

Term Sheet 298

Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

Of key importance, which we emphasize with our NextView portfolio companies when they’re out raising their Series A, is to run the conversations in parallel rather than serially. Often for a myriad of often idiosyncratic reasons, an entrepreneur is introduced to an attractive new potential VC partner late in the game.

Lead Investor 100

Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

Startup Company Lawyer

AUGUST 31, 2012

Ted Wang believes that the “reason that capped convertible debt is the current market leader is that entrepreneurs have been conditioned over time to believe that convertible debt is (a) faster (b) cheaper and (c) better for them than equity investment.” Form of Convertible Security Term Sheet.

Convertible Security 73

Convertible Security Equity Security Preferred Stock 73

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

I’ve never met a founder who wasn’t acutely aware of his or her ticking time bomb and the sense that failure and humiliation is a real possibility. Very, very few founders have an easy time despite what you read in the press. Strangely, most founders I know don’t have this conversation with the inside investors early.

Burn Rate 238

Burn Rate Term Sheet CTO Hire Fractional CTO 238

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

My business is about investing in extraordinary founder talent so it pains me that I can’t write a Homebrew Term Sheet to Laura Weidman Powers. We partnered with Google for Entrepreneurs in 2015 to begin to bring our work national, with a focus on entrepreneurial ecosystems. I see all the talk as opening the door.

Programming 48

Programming Term Sheet Revenue United States 48

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. What are some of the unique benefits and constraints from the point of view of a founder? . However, founders shouldn’t take money from corporate VCs because of an exit expectation.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

David Teten

JULY 20, 2011

Ten Tips for Entrepreneurs when Working with Lawyers. One of the biggest sources of friction between entrepreneurs and their attorneys comes from a lack of clarity surrounding billing expectations. I recently worked on the sale of a company by an entrepreneur. Following is his counsel, with some edits from me. by Ed Reitler.

Intellectual Property 128

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Term Sheet Venture Capital 128

Austin Startup

MARCH 16, 2021

The challenge will occur on May 21 at Houston Tech Rodeo in partnership with Houston Exponential and will feature five technology startup finalists from greater Houston that will be evaluated by a panel of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. One will walk away with a $50,000 investment! Application deadline is April 26.

Houston 80

Houston San Antonio Dallas Texas 80

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. These are all real conversations.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 16, 2017

The founder and investor relationship is, in fact, a difficult one to get right. No one wants that kind of difficulty in an investor and it frustrates me on behalf of my founders to see that. Being a founder can feel like driving a car for the first time. Last week, I heard the word "difficult" describing investors twice.

Term Sheet 71

Term Sheet Salary Founder Equity 71

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 26, 2011

For any entrepreneur, these super-mentors are one of the secret weapons that can make a difference: answering difficult questions, making key introductions, or offering sage advice. And reading a term sheet has all the entertainment value of watching dried paint get even drier. It is not a how-to manual or a collection of tips.

Antidilution 148

Antidilution Term Sheet Silicon Valley Widget 148