VC Adventure

JUNE 14, 2022

But it certainly highlights the need for a deeper level of conversation between venture investors and their portfolio CEOs about where and how they can truly be helpful. I suspect some of this relates to expectation setting and how VC investors “pitch” themselves to prospective portfolio companies.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Due Diligence Portfolio Venture Capital 150

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Every fundraise process should start internally with the financing needs and goals that the business is looking to hit. Every ask implicitly suggests a valuation range. Conversely, a series A with a $6M ask suggests a lower valuation. Because every ask suggests a valuation, make sure it is market appropriate.

Valuation 418

Valuation Founder Conversion Demand 418

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

why the hell has seed financing declined so much in the past 3 years?? was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. if you want to download the deck it’s here on SlideShare ) Why Did The Seed Market Emerge in the First Place?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital. That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. What Has Changed in Financing? On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. even before the pandemic itself has been fully tamed.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 10, 2022

I like the quote she pulled out of me in our conversation. Brad Feld] says his “strong belief” that “just doing a clean resetting — at whatever the valuation so that everybody is aligned and dealing with reality — is much, much better for a company.” If you can do this cleanly, take the money. and a bunch of other things.

Down Round 162

Down Round Ratchet Liquidation Preference Participating Preferred 162

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

#13- Sustainability and ethical investing Photo Credit: Zach Larsen I'm really excited to see how technology will continue to shape the personal finance space in 2023. All of these changes should make managing our finances easier and more accessible for everyone. #19- Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls ! #29-

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later. “And if you have a valuation cap; a higher cap is always better than a lower cap.” ” The Cost of Financing.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The valuations were too high! This is only true when: 1) there is funding available to finance short-term losses and 2) when there is a lucrative positive unit-economics business when you become the winner. Act III was the “I told you so” comeuppance of anybody who we sure that the electric scooter market would fail.

South America 250

South America Global New York City Software Review 250

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

The key to being able to run a business that isn’t yet profitable (on operating margin) is availability of capital to finance losses and preferably at a cost that isn’t too punitive to the founders and employees. So it might actually be more productive for you to improve your conversion than to improve your ad buying, for example.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

This financial leader could well have come through the finance org at another startup or at a larger company but they often also can come from strategy consulting (Bain, BCG or McKinsey) or through investment banking (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc.). What Happens When Startups Turn from Their Innovation Stage to Operational Excellence?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Start Up Blog

MAY 28, 2020

Perception also informs finance. Some people (not us) nod politely and move onto the next conversation. Uber has lost $38 billion since 2013 and yet still has a market valuation of around $60 billion. – Tesla $ valuation per car sold = $302k. – GM $ valuation per car = $5k. I work for Tesla.

Valuation 48

Valuation Technical Review Singapore India 48

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2023

The last money has the first say – in valuation and in sometimes forcing draconian terms that require prior investors to contribute a proportional new investment to retain a semblance of their original rights and avoid dilution or worse yet, involuntary conversion to a lower class of stock. Draconian terms?

Liquidity Event 116

Liquidity Event Initial Public Offering Dividend Valuation 116

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

ICOs certainly have a place in startup financing. was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

To provide relevant perspective, listing past convertible note(s) and/or equity financing(s) including total round size and valuation (caps) is helpful. What not to include is directly stating valuation expectations. My partner Rob has previously written some thoughts on how to approach that conversation.

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

Offering debt is better than offering direct equity, especially in early stages when you have no valuation for setting equity percentages. Many use a convertible loan note that may be converted into equity upon the closing of the first formal angel or VC round of financing, with a more realistic valuation.

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. As a result, unfounded hockey-stick graphs and unicorn promises give way to financial fluency, realistic expectations, frank conversations about what a business can credibly achieve, and transparency. .

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Series Seed Financing Documents Blog. Series Seed Financing Documents. Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Series Seed Financing Documents : 1 Reblog. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. Sets the valuation at the time of the investment. SeriesSeed.com.

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

ithacaVC

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

I have written about startup valuations previously. If you are advising startup founders, I strongly suggest having them read all 4 of the posts to get the lay of the startup valuation land. Here is Walla’s post: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation. Valuations of other companies like you.

Valuation 69

Valuation Startup Down Round Early Stage 69

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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. A term sheet for a convertible note deal may run two or three pages, versus 8-10 pages for a typical Series A Preferred Stock financing.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. In finance they call it “terminal value” but the truth is the price is as arbitrary at your A round as it is at your seed round. Him: $12 pre.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Feld Thoughts

JULY 29, 2011

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital for the business.

Equity 137

Equity Finance Pre-Money Valuation Denver 137

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. But it is also a topic that many find esoteric and difficult to grasp.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

Satya and I were having lunch (yummy Chinese food) with our LPAC and the conversation turned to generally “how much more did venture portfolios have to fall before they found their true current value?” Valuations. ” That is, for the class of funds institutional LPs tend to back, on average, where was bottom?

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Gust

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? ” Ressi in particular seems to be passionate about removing the “debt” component from convertible debt seed financing transactions. .” I won’t rehash all of the customary convertible note financing deal terms and points of negotiation here. (For

Finance 134

Finance Convertible Security Equity Seed Stage 134

Scott Edward Walker

APRIL 22, 2012

This post is the second part of a three-part primer on convertible note seed financings. Part 1, entitled “ Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Convertible Note Seed Financings (But Were Afraid To Ask) ,” addressed certain basic questions, such as (i) what is a convertible note? (ii) What Is a Conversion Discount?

Pre-Money Valuation 72

Pre-Money Valuation Finance Liquidation Preference Founder 72

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. To Participating Founders : To avoid signaling issues, we intentionally will not lead the next round of financing.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I had an enjoyable conversation this morning with a young team straight out of college this morning and they were calling to ask advice on how to approach fund raising (angels vs. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) You don’t really have much to go on to decide who would make a good fit. Reputation of firm? Of partner?

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

The Equity Kicker

MAY 14, 2012

Twice in the last week I found myself coaching founders on how to build a financing plan around value creation milestones so I thought I would share what I said here. Given that the valuation of a startup increases when milestones like these are hit it makes sense to build a financing plan based on when they are likely to come in.

Finance 118

Finance Valuation Venture Capital Dilution 118

ithacaVC

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

I recently dealt with a tense situation regarding the “Qualified Financing” trigger in a standard convertible note financing. For background, convertible debt documents typically provide that the debt will automatically convert into a future0 Qualified Financing equity round. I am now going to use it again.

Finance 40

Finance Equity Valuation Security 40

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Last week , we took the plunge and began dissecting an example term sheet for a convertible debt financing round piece by piece. In Part II, we looked at the mandatory conversion language that is at the heart of any convertible debt financing. First, a word about the maturity date.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

.” There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets – both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. They point to some widely known facts: financings & valuations are up massively over the past 7 years and non-VC money has entered the system.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing. You benefit from the capital and investors benefit from a nice discount at conversion, usually in the range of 20 percent. We were able to raise $750k this way.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

In Parts II and III, we looked at commonly used mandatory and voluntary conversion language in convertible notes. To account for scenarios in which the startup is acquired before it has a chance to complete a priced equity financing round, most term sheets and deal documents contain a “ change in control ” provision.

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79